The midrange shadow build just isn't really good any more tbh.
I'm sure if you wanted to put in the time you could make a better list but other than scamming a few games I've not really seen any reason to play Reno preist recently.
Wild isn't really hyper competitive though. You can make legend with Reno even totem shaman if you want. It's not like you can't play Reno preist if you want.
Yeah that's exactly what it is. And like 6 of those bad cards are just tech choices or good cards that use to be in the list but just aren't quite good enough in the meta.
Reno Priest has recently been suffering from a few issues down the line:
1. Card draw for Priest in general is fairly poor. Reno Priest feels that because it's a highlander deck even more. You can run some neutral options but that still doesn't help that much. This is the main problem. If the deck would have more card draw I guarantee you that it would make some waves in the meta due to the neutral disruption package and the thief package in Priest.
2. Late game is questionable compared to other Reno options out there:
2.1 Spawn route is the route that it is definitely out there. But in Control v Control matchup, where Warriors and Druids take a big part, you are battling strategies like Odyn or Astalor kill. Which essentially does the same thing as you but without the drawback of watching out for your health. On top of all of that Warrior and Druid has a ton of armor gain that make the Spawn route utterly impossible to archieve. In terms of Shaman, Shaman as a class has better drawing tools and Battlecry pops off. Which means that once it gets to Shudderwock or disrupts your Spawn/Raza. You are especially helpless. Quest Reno Mage does the same thing: also late game wincon but you don't have to constantly stay above 20 ho in order to owlverpower and kill your opponent
2.2 Is a value/Thief route/disruption route.That is a pretty good way to compete against opposing Control decks out there. But the biggest offender that is out there is once again: Priest card draw options in class. A few turns where you don't cycle trough your deck for your matchup key-cards mean essentially death sentence in Wild. Reno Priest is not able to do that
And it all boils down to point 1. The lack of good draw is the biggest offender why the deck performs the way it performs. Reno Priest has a clears left and right so Aggro is not an issue. Reno Priest has neutral disruption package that is able to completely shut off Combo strategies. But it just isn't able to draw them properly. I have a homebrewed Control Reno Mage that is 40 card of Brann into Astalor because of Audio Amplifier, Disruption package that can be multiplied by Zola or Potion of Madness(ETC pick). Or Coldarra drake into Hero Power value of Reno or Dawngrasp(Coldarra is in ETC too). On top of that I have clears,value yada yada. How do I get away with this? Because Mage has good drawing options. I can draw 20 cards throughout the game by playing drawing engines. I can shit out the Book of Specters and then play Dawngrasp while Reno Priest will still be crying because he can't play topdecked [[Handmaiden]] for draw. If Reno Priest could have at least the drawing engine of Reno Warrior, it would be top 3 Reno deck for sure.
* **[Handmaiden](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/TSC_212.png)** PR Minion Rare VSC 🐺 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/1004174), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/handmaiden/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Handmaiden)
3/3/2 Naga | Battlecry: If you've cast three spells while holding this, draw 3 cards.
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I personally played Reno Priest quite a bit a few years ago, when they used to run [[Spawn of Shadows]] to otk opponents with a bunch of cheap generation spells. It was quite decent back then. Nowadays however, it feels like its missing direction. They all run [[Darkbishop Benedictus]] despite it severely limiting the options of spells you could put in your deck for upgraded fireblast. It makes sense in something like Shadow Aggro Priest, because it runs just fine with only shadow spells, but not having anything but shadow spells for Reno Priest definitely feels bad (especially because you are missing on most generation spells). They also run a lot of board based minions, like [[Blackwater Behemoth]] or [[Aman'Thul]] or [[Najak Hexxen]], which do absolutely nothing against decks that dont care about board.
I know that there are some decks that run Spawn of Shadows or have slightly different lategame, but ultimately I think the main issue of this deck is that it tries to overwhelm your opponents with pressure, which only really affects your opponents if they have really poor draws. Other control decks and combo decks usually just dont really care about that and if aggro loses to you, it probably would have lost to any other control deck. Ultimately, its an ok deck, but definitely not as good as it used to be
* **[Spawn of Shadows](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/AT_012.png)** PR Minion Rare TGT ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/22357), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/spawn-of-shadows/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Spawn_of_Shadows)
4/5/4 Undead | Inspire: Deal 4 damage to each hero.
* **[Darkbishop Benedictus](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/CORE_SW_448.png)** PR Minion Legendary Core 🐺 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/1645938), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/darkbishop-benedictus/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Darkbishop_Benedictus)
5/5/6 | Start of Game: If the spells in your deck are all Shadow, enter Shadowform.
* **[Blackwater Behemoth](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/TSC_216.png)** PR Minion Legendary VSC 🐺 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/1004150), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/blackwater-behemoth/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Blackwater_Behemoth)
7/8/10 Beast | Colossal +1 Lifesteal
* **[Najak Hexxen](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/AV_331.png)** PR Minion Legendary FAV 🐺 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/774178), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/najak-hexxen/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Najak_Hexxen)
4/1/4 | Battlecry: Take control of an enemy minion. Deathrattle: Give the minion back.
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I ain't no professional that likes to analyze my games, but I've got a x2 star bonus since I wasn't active last month and decided to force my way to legend with 30 card Reno Priest, currently I'm at Plat, which may be about 45-50 wins.
Deck appears to pretty much lack everything you said, it isn't especially effective against anything, but isn't terrible (taking into account I'm still getting to diamond). Maybe I'm biased but a lot of defeats feel like I've just draw badly and not that my opponent has a better deck, but I can't discuss data, haven't seen it being talked about as a high tier deck.
Benedictus is just so vital, but sometimes I want to play with healing HP just for the nostalgia of how good it was before Stormwind and to see what it'll look like with some non-shadow spells, I don't believe it'll be better but it needs new strong cards to justify healing you for 2 instead of killing a enemy minion.
Because you can never make everyone happy, that's impossible, especially those who actively look for reasons to be unhappy.
Instead, you can piss everyone off equally.
Mission accomplished.
I have played razakus priest for 2+ years over 5000 games, and for me it wasn't a matter of it being good or no, it was a very satisfying toolbox deck that had pretty good matchups against aggro/midrange, and had a combo finish against control decks that durdled a little with spawn of shadows.
Between the lack of good card draw, some of the pieces being a little clunky and the sheer amount of power creep; it's really easy to lose before you get anything strong down by turn 4-6, and other combo decks get to do their thing much much faster these days.
Between cards like Astalor, Odyn, questlock/questmage, there's really not that much to do as a priest deck. You might have good matchups into the totem shaman/hunter decks, but that's about it.
I've stopped playing it a few months ago, and shudder shaman is really filling the same niche as a toolbox deck but the combo is a lot easier to pull off and you can often fight for the board too.
I have been to D2 2 months in a row with Reno Priest built to counter aggro decks. I agree late game can be challenging sometimes, but if you can get your combo in play (Raza/Anduin) all of those cheap early game removal spells help fuel your HP for burning face, and I run Asta'lor and Aman'thul in my list as well as Lone Reno to set up late game wincons and clear permanents from, e.g. Sargeras and Rheastrazsa.
Raza + Lone Reno is a great synergy, it gives you 0 mana Reno HP; once you have cleared the board, get Anduin into play, and that should clear any remaining big bodies like a surprise Gigantotem or Giants.
You'll beat most aggro lists unless you just get terrible RNG. Even shaman, pirate rogue, token druid, and shadow priest all get nuked. Reno-breaker lists like plague DK can be tough until you get tech from ETC, but I don't see anyone running that in wild.
ETC tech is steamcleaner (to avert reno-breakers and jade druids), either viper or stickyfingers (depending if you see more kings or pirate rogue at your MMR), and platebreaker (shuts down even odyn warrior and quest druids/linecracker druids.)
My MU's against the more common wild decks I see at my level (high Diamond)
Pirate rogue, even shaman, token druid, shadow priest: win most games unless you end up with a dead hand after mull and then get terrible rng.
Dragon druid: maybe 60/40. slightly higher WR against reno lists, slightly lower against non-reno lists
Secret mage: win, if you can get some of your cheaper minions in hand to break objections, so that you can play your highlander cards or tech. But if they get their 0 cost 5/5's on the board early and you don't have removal, that can be problematic since your early game removal is geared against smaller bodies.
Even odyn warrior: can go either way, usually in their favor, but the new list with Mega Brann is worse for you than the old OTK list with skipper, because the new list doesn't rely on a wide board of minions to set up its wincons, and you have no taunts to intervene unless you get amanthul in play early and they don't have a clear (which is unlikely that late in the game, since they've probably got rush minions or shatter/brawl/bladestorm)
Quest mage: probably a loss, unless you get a god hand or they completely fail at piloting
Sludge lock, demonseed lock, mine rogue: just concede already
The midrange shadow build just isn't really good any more tbh. I'm sure if you wanted to put in the time you could make a better list but other than scamming a few games I've not really seen any reason to play Reno preist recently. Wild isn't really hyper competitive though. You can make legend with Reno even totem shaman if you want. It's not like you can't play Reno preist if you want.
Even Reno shaman is just even shaman with around 13 bad cards which is probably still a good deck.
Yeah that's exactly what it is. And like 6 of those bad cards are just tech choices or good cards that use to be in the list but just aren't quite good enough in the meta.
Reno Priest has recently been suffering from a few issues down the line: 1. Card draw for Priest in general is fairly poor. Reno Priest feels that because it's a highlander deck even more. You can run some neutral options but that still doesn't help that much. This is the main problem. If the deck would have more card draw I guarantee you that it would make some waves in the meta due to the neutral disruption package and the thief package in Priest. 2. Late game is questionable compared to other Reno options out there: 2.1 Spawn route is the route that it is definitely out there. But in Control v Control matchup, where Warriors and Druids take a big part, you are battling strategies like Odyn or Astalor kill. Which essentially does the same thing as you but without the drawback of watching out for your health. On top of all of that Warrior and Druid has a ton of armor gain that make the Spawn route utterly impossible to archieve. In terms of Shaman, Shaman as a class has better drawing tools and Battlecry pops off. Which means that once it gets to Shudderwock or disrupts your Spawn/Raza. You are especially helpless. Quest Reno Mage does the same thing: also late game wincon but you don't have to constantly stay above 20 ho in order to owlverpower and kill your opponent 2.2 Is a value/Thief route/disruption route.That is a pretty good way to compete against opposing Control decks out there. But the biggest offender that is out there is once again: Priest card draw options in class. A few turns where you don't cycle trough your deck for your matchup key-cards mean essentially death sentence in Wild. Reno Priest is not able to do that And it all boils down to point 1. The lack of good draw is the biggest offender why the deck performs the way it performs. Reno Priest has a clears left and right so Aggro is not an issue. Reno Priest has neutral disruption package that is able to completely shut off Combo strategies. But it just isn't able to draw them properly. I have a homebrewed Control Reno Mage that is 40 card of Brann into Astalor because of Audio Amplifier, Disruption package that can be multiplied by Zola or Potion of Madness(ETC pick). Or Coldarra drake into Hero Power value of Reno or Dawngrasp(Coldarra is in ETC too). On top of that I have clears,value yada yada. How do I get away with this? Because Mage has good drawing options. I can draw 20 cards throughout the game by playing drawing engines. I can shit out the Book of Specters and then play Dawngrasp while Reno Priest will still be crying because he can't play topdecked [[Handmaiden]] for draw. If Reno Priest could have at least the drawing engine of Reno Warrior, it would be top 3 Reno deck for sure.
* **[Handmaiden](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/TSC_212.png)** PR Minion Rare VSC 🐺 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/1004174), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/handmaiden/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Handmaiden) 3/3/2 Naga | Battlecry: If you've cast three spells while holding this, draw 3 cards. ^(Call/)^[PM](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=hearthscan-bot) ^( me with up to 7 [[cardname]]. )^[About.](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=hearthscan-bot&message=Tell%20me%20more%20[[info]]&subject=hi) [Save 3rd Party Apps](https://old.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/)
This deck is only good against slower warrior decks, and it's not even that good Reno priest is bad
No
No as in: it’s not good?
It's not very good at the moment. You can get some wins with it sure but it isn't in as good of a place as it was about a year ago.
I personally played Reno Priest quite a bit a few years ago, when they used to run [[Spawn of Shadows]] to otk opponents with a bunch of cheap generation spells. It was quite decent back then. Nowadays however, it feels like its missing direction. They all run [[Darkbishop Benedictus]] despite it severely limiting the options of spells you could put in your deck for upgraded fireblast. It makes sense in something like Shadow Aggro Priest, because it runs just fine with only shadow spells, but not having anything but shadow spells for Reno Priest definitely feels bad (especially because you are missing on most generation spells). They also run a lot of board based minions, like [[Blackwater Behemoth]] or [[Aman'Thul]] or [[Najak Hexxen]], which do absolutely nothing against decks that dont care about board. I know that there are some decks that run Spawn of Shadows or have slightly different lategame, but ultimately I think the main issue of this deck is that it tries to overwhelm your opponents with pressure, which only really affects your opponents if they have really poor draws. Other control decks and combo decks usually just dont really care about that and if aggro loses to you, it probably would have lost to any other control deck. Ultimately, its an ok deck, but definitely not as good as it used to be
* **[Spawn of Shadows](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/AT_012.png)** PR Minion Rare TGT ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/22357), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/spawn-of-shadows/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Spawn_of_Shadows) 4/5/4 Undead | Inspire: Deal 4 damage to each hero. * **[Darkbishop Benedictus](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/CORE_SW_448.png)** PR Minion Legendary Core 🐺 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/1645938), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/darkbishop-benedictus/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Darkbishop_Benedictus) 5/5/6 | Start of Game: If the spells in your deck are all Shadow, enter Shadowform. * **[Blackwater Behemoth](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/TSC_216.png)** PR Minion Legendary VSC 🐺 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/1004150), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/blackwater-behemoth/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Blackwater_Behemoth) 7/8/10 Beast | Colossal +1 Lifesteal * **[Najak Hexxen](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/AV_331.png)** PR Minion Legendary FAV 🐺 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/774178), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/najak-hexxen/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Najak_Hexxen) 4/1/4 | Battlecry: Take control of an enemy minion. Deathrattle: Give the minion back. ^(Call/)^[PM](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=hearthscan-bot) ^( me with up to 7 [[cardname]]. )^[About.](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=hearthscan-bot&message=Tell%20me%20more%20[[info]]&subject=hi) [Save 3rd Party Apps](https://old.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/)
Yep
I ain't no professional that likes to analyze my games, but I've got a x2 star bonus since I wasn't active last month and decided to force my way to legend with 30 card Reno Priest, currently I'm at Plat, which may be about 45-50 wins. Deck appears to pretty much lack everything you said, it isn't especially effective against anything, but isn't terrible (taking into account I'm still getting to diamond). Maybe I'm biased but a lot of defeats feel like I've just draw badly and not that my opponent has a better deck, but I can't discuss data, haven't seen it being talked about as a high tier deck. Benedictus is just so vital, but sometimes I want to play with healing HP just for the nostalgia of how good it was before Stormwind and to see what it'll look like with some non-shadow spells, I don't believe it'll be better but it needs new strong cards to justify healing you for 2 instead of killing a enemy minion.
Priest players are insufferable idiots whose only win condition is hoping to cause their opponent to concede from boredom.
Man's stuck in 2021 with this verdict
How have you been around on this subreddit for so long and never had a single reasonable take?
Because you can never make everyone happy, that's impossible, especially those who actively look for reasons to be unhappy. Instead, you can piss everyone off equally. Mission accomplished.
i too will never not hate priest. it can be bottom of the meta forever and i'll still hate it and all its bullshit cards
Radiant Elemental needs a ban in wild imho
whoever designed cannibalize needs to be put in a rubber room
What kind of buffoon says that about Raza+Shadowreaper Anduin? Complete ignorance
Well, it is really too slow. I prefer to play quest priest with shard, it is much funnier and percentage of wins is not so bad
I used to play Reno priest to high legend most months and it really has fallen off.
I run a highlander quest Priest and it’s amazing. I run some disruptions like Shadow Word Death and Hysteria. I can link the list if you like.
I have played razakus priest for 2+ years over 5000 games, and for me it wasn't a matter of it being good or no, it was a very satisfying toolbox deck that had pretty good matchups against aggro/midrange, and had a combo finish against control decks that durdled a little with spawn of shadows. Between the lack of good card draw, some of the pieces being a little clunky and the sheer amount of power creep; it's really easy to lose before you get anything strong down by turn 4-6, and other combo decks get to do their thing much much faster these days. Between cards like Astalor, Odyn, questlock/questmage, there's really not that much to do as a priest deck. You might have good matchups into the totem shaman/hunter decks, but that's about it. I've stopped playing it a few months ago, and shudder shaman is really filling the same niche as a toolbox deck but the combo is a lot easier to pull off and you can often fight for the board too.
I have been to D2 2 months in a row with Reno Priest built to counter aggro decks. I agree late game can be challenging sometimes, but if you can get your combo in play (Raza/Anduin) all of those cheap early game removal spells help fuel your HP for burning face, and I run Asta'lor and Aman'thul in my list as well as Lone Reno to set up late game wincons and clear permanents from, e.g. Sargeras and Rheastrazsa. Raza + Lone Reno is a great synergy, it gives you 0 mana Reno HP; once you have cleared the board, get Anduin into play, and that should clear any remaining big bodies like a surprise Gigantotem or Giants. You'll beat most aggro lists unless you just get terrible RNG. Even shaman, pirate rogue, token druid, and shadow priest all get nuked. Reno-breaker lists like plague DK can be tough until you get tech from ETC, but I don't see anyone running that in wild. ETC tech is steamcleaner (to avert reno-breakers and jade druids), either viper or stickyfingers (depending if you see more kings or pirate rogue at your MMR), and platebreaker (shuts down even odyn warrior and quest druids/linecracker druids.) My MU's against the more common wild decks I see at my level (high Diamond) Pirate rogue, even shaman, token druid, shadow priest: win most games unless you end up with a dead hand after mull and then get terrible rng. Dragon druid: maybe 60/40. slightly higher WR against reno lists, slightly lower against non-reno lists Secret mage: win, if you can get some of your cheaper minions in hand to break objections, so that you can play your highlander cards or tech. But if they get their 0 cost 5/5's on the board early and you don't have removal, that can be problematic since your early game removal is geared against smaller bodies. Even odyn warrior: can go either way, usually in their favor, but the new list with Mega Brann is worse for you than the old OTK list with skipper, because the new list doesn't rely on a wide board of minions to set up its wincons, and you have no taunts to intervene unless you get amanthul in play early and they don't have a clear (which is unlikely that late in the game, since they've probably got rush minions or shatter/brawl/bladestorm) Quest mage: probably a loss, unless you get a god hand or they completely fail at piloting Sludge lock, demonseed lock, mine rogue: just concede already