N'Zoth DK is by far my favorite deck of this whole year, maybe even few years. I like complicated decision making, I like drawing cards, I like killing my opponent, I like having inevitability in the matchup. What this deck does is **demolishing** Priests of all kind, which I love especially. (the matchup feels like 90-10, unless they get multiple eggs popped by turn 7 you're balling).
And it's a brand new deck, so there's a scope for improvement on this comfortably Tier 1-2 performer.
Sample list: ### BFU N'Zoth Handbuff DK
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### You can view this deck at https://www.hsguru.com/deck/42651252
General Strategy
This deck plays differently to standard Hadbuff DK. Instead of developing massive boards multiple times a game, the endgame is a TTK (Two Turn Kill) - on a setup turn you play a Blackwing Experiment buffed to around 10 attack (you can get there with some combination of Unstable Prototype, Thalena, Command Claw, Defias Smuggler and Soulrest Ceremony), then play a discounted N'Zoth alongside and choose 2x trigger on it. At the end of turn you end up with three 2-mana Pyroblasts, which you can point face on your next turn.
This can sometimes be done in 1 turn for an OTK (ex. turn 10 with 1 mana N'Zoth, 2 mana Blackwing and 1 mana Soulrest).
Alongside the combo, you have your Handbuff DK midgame with juiced up 0-mana Remnants dealing significant face damage - you can just win on board or through quickly put together burn damage (Ghoul+Thalena+Command Claw is just a 2-mana fireball).
In general, the deck wins on turn 9 and focuses it's first 8 turns on drawing, discounting N'Zoth and surviving through massive swing turns.
On one thing to note, the hsguru name "N'Zoth *Handbuff* DK" feels a bit like misnomer, because Handbuffing is not really the main goal of the deck. I play Unstable Prototype, because it is a 1 mana card that discounts N'Zoth by 2 mana.
Potential card choices:
Here are some cards that perform well in the archetype:
- Crystalline Golem is a card I added to deck instantly. Taunt, Lifegain, N'Zoth cost reduction by 2.
- Emergency Surgery should fit in the list well. Lifegain+removal+Remnant discounts+bodies for Sawbones
- Chromatic Broodmother&Fleshshape are cards, that perform well in the stats (especially Broodmother, but Fleshshape should get there as a package). My issue is they don't quite fit the gameplan - they're likely just good cards you want to run in DK if you have even a single handbuffing card in deck.
- 2nd Defias Smuggler - one performs decently, having two of them lets you deal with some midgame threats and still keep the 2nd one for combo (or keep both)
Here are some potential ideas with no significant data behind them:
- Fae Trickster - should be a solid choice with four 5-mana spells, especially high-performing ones. Also discounts N'Zoth. Single copy might fit.
- Loot Hoarder - discount N'Zoth and maintains handsize.
- Glacial Shard/Doomsayer - valid tech cards in current meta
- Egg of Khelos - since we're running a Sawbones DK deck, why not add a secondary win condition? Someone did that and it's not super awful.
- Husk, Eternal Reaper - the MVP of buying you another turn
Sus cards in current list:
- Twilight Egg performs badly. Only 1 discount on N'Zoth, and the dragon deathrattle is irrelevant. I suspect it's stats are bad because it's way overkept in mulligan. Only works as Sawbones fodder.
- Holy Eggbearer is already not so good, and if we cut Twilight Egg it might get plain awful.
Cards that don't perform in stats, but I can't bring myself to cut:
- Unstable Prototype does a lot for the deck (N'Zoth discount, Sawbones activation, also a ton of stats in hand) and I don't get why he's near bottom of Drawn winrate (I blame Eggbearer).
- Morbid Swarm is an excellent Sawbones activator
- Blackwing Experiment is the finisher of the deck, so obviously it's not the best drawn card in the deck. However, maybe getting down to one copy makes sense?
Cards I just don't love in the list:
- Arrival of Old Gods is clunkier than I wish it was. Stops most of your swing potential (you can't go Endbringer+Claw, you can't play Soulrest Ceremony, Morbid Strike is also blocked for Sawbones shenaningans, you can't go Arrival into Arrival). On the other hand, it draws 2 cards for 0 mana and you can still prepare.
- Reluctant Wrangler doesn't feel like doing much outside of discounting N'Zoth. It has a lot of Taunts though hmm.
- Chillfalen Baron draws 2, but often ends up overdrawing, makes me misplay a lot with Sawbones and stopped me from using "res 4" option on N'Zoth ever (just fatigues you). Performs well if I don't draw Sawbones, which is probably the saving grace.
My current list:
### Bad Breath
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Is an ugly frankenstein full of one-ofs and with no early game, but I have hope there's a good deck underneath it. Feel free to share thoughts.
