Hearthstone: The failure of Undertaker Rogue.

Qualifying for the Road to Blizzcon in both Europe and North America, the owner of popular Hearthstone team Tempo Storm, Reynad went into the Road to Blizzcon qualifiers confident and promising huge innovation to the meta. Playing Ramp Druid, Handlock, Freeze Mage and then a Rogue deck which, up until that tournament, had never been seen before. Despite the popularity of Miracle Rogue, even after the nerf of Leeroy Jenkins, Reynad saw a different direction for the deck and created a version of the old tempo/backspace aggro Rogue deck, but added the strength and power of the new Naxxramas deathrattle cards into the deck. The deck saw limited success. With good draws and maintaining a steady curve, the deck picked up several key victories and provided a solid surprise factor, at least against the first opponent. Although Reynad was ultimately unsuccessful in travelling the long road to Blizzcon, his plays were solid and the never seen before Rogue deck performed amicably at least.

So why hasn’t the deck been seen since Reynad’s attempt? Why didn’t other professional players play it in an attempt to pull a surprise against an opponent? Or why not on constructed ladder for that matter? There isn’t one answer, but a plethora of reasons spelled doom for the new aggro deck from the same man who created the infamous Warlock Zoo deck.

First, Reynad decided to reveal his new deck in the middle of a meta dominated by control decks, laminating the fact that Hunters were now dead (oh how wrong we were). Control Warrior, Control Paladin and Handlock were the most played decks at the European Road to Blizzcon tournament, and it’s hard to run an aggro deck against a deck that centers around having unlimited armor, unlimited healing or some giant taunts.

Second, the deck wasn’t as consistent as Zoo or Undertaker Hunter, the other two Aggro decks that are popular on this patch. Zoo, as infuriating as it can be, has been one of the most consistent and popular decks ever since it was released and has adapted very well to any meta changes, arguably became even stronger with the release of the Naxxramas cards. Hunter has remained an incredibly strong aggro class, even with the nerf to Starving Buzzard, and was by far the most banned deck at the recent Seatstory Cup. On the other hand, Deathrattle Rogue has less direct face damage and a harder time drawing cards, making it less reliable than its aggro counterparts.

Finally, Miracle Rogue is still straight up better. In recent weeks since the Leeroy nerf, several types of Miracle decks have emerged to rise out of the ashes. Malygos Miracle, Violet Teacher Miracle or Arcane Golem Miracle are all viable replacements to fulfill the old legacy of Leeroy Miracle that once dominated Hearthstone. While these decks may not be as strong as the Leeroy Miracle, which was the reason for the nerf, they are all consistent and deadly in their own ways, much more so than Reynad’s Undertaker Rogue.

So if the deck is so bad, why did Reynad attempt to pull it out at arguably the most important tournament of his life? Well first, in an interview with Blizzard, Reynad stated that he doesn’t consider a deck to be a success unless he can become top 5 legend with it ( http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/blog/15834297/victory-road-to-blizzcon-reynad-9-12-2014 ). Also, there was the surprise factor mentioned earlier of people preparing for Miracle Rogue. The deck has potential, that much can’t be denied. The deck did take games off top players at the road to Blizzcon tournament and it wasn’t a complete flop. However, it really just lacked the consistency that makes a deck good for tournament play.

So what's the deal then? The deck is still a fun, powerful deck, and on ladder you have an even greater surprise factor because most players still assume Miracle when facing against a Rogue. I’ve had pretty good success so far with the deck, mulliganing for Undertakers and deathrattle creatures almost guarantees a solid early game in which you can have board control against most decks. You do have a weakness against other aggro decks, but like other aggro decks, Undertaker Rogue is good against combo decks (like Miracle or OTK Warrior) and control decks if you can get a great early start. To be fair, if you can get a good Undertaker start, you should win against almost every type of deck due to snowballing from your early game.

In conclusion, Undertaker Rogue really isn’t that bad. However it just lacks the consistency and the precedent for it to be taken seriously as a deck in Hearthstone. As for now, its still a fun deck to take people by surprise on the ladder, don’t knock it until you try it!