Shapeshift Through the Diverse Ranked Ladder: A Guide to Ramp Druid

When approaching the Hearthstone ranked ladder, you unfortunately will never know what you will be combatting. Trying to prepare for everything from Zoo to Aggro Mage to Control Warrior can be very challenging, but with a versatile deck, you can have a fighting chance against any opponent.

The Druid class allows for versatile play by offering you cost efficient cards with choices! In this guide, we will be analyzing the Ramp Druid deck by Team Dignitas' James “GreenSheep” Luo in the EU Regionals, discussing alternate card options, and breaking down key meta-game matchups!

Ramp Druid excels at gaining strong board pressure by playing more powerful spells earlier than other classes. Ramp Druid gains its name from two cards: Innervate and Wild Growth. These two cards allow for the manipulation of your mana, so you can beat your opponent in the board game. Another strength of Ramp Druid is that its higher mana cost cards have much to offer in mid to late game, such as card draw, life gain, taunts, and minion buffs! By having a presence early, mid, and late game plus having cards that let you adapt to your opponents plays, Ramp Druid is extremely versatile and competitive. Building Ramp Druid can cost you between 9k and 13k dust, depending on your epic and legendary card selection.

GreenSheep piloted the Ramp Druid deck to much success at the EU Regionals. His list has a balanced mana curve, and a unique meta-game approach. His deck list is below.

 

 

Spells

First off, we have the standard repertoire of Druid class spells with 2x of Innervate, Wild Growth, Wrath, and Swipe. GreenSheep also decided for to compliment his spell package with 2x of both Savage Roar and Force of Nature (FoN). Some other competitive deck lists of Ramp Druid may only have 1 copy of Savage Roar or FoN. Having doubles of Savage Roar and FoN allows for increased burst potential and game-ending combos. This is especially useful against control decks, as you can deal lethal damage before they get the board locked down. FoN is also useful for defensive plays, as it can help you balance and recover dominance of the board.

Minions

The minion selection of Ramp Druid can vastly vary. GreenSheep’s list has the tools to combat aggro decks, such as Zoo and Deathrattle Priest, but it also has tools to cause disruption to control opponents.

 

-Bloodmage Thalnos: Thalnos is a great addition to the deck. Thalnos allows for potent Swipes, as the extra damage helps to get past Sludge Belcher, Chillwind Yeti, and more. His aid to Wrath is also very good, as we can now do 2 damage to minions such as Flame Imp, Knife Juggler, Undertaker, Dire Wolf Alpha, plus draw a card! The now 4 damage option allows for the easy 2 mana clean-up of potential threats such as Armorsmith, Unbound Elemental, Azure Drake, Gadgetzan Auctioneer, and the hatched 4/4 Nerubian.

-Big Game Hunter (BGH): BGH basically has two jobs, which are to hurt Handlock and to hurt Control Warrior. He has decent stats (4/2), but his real strength comes with his battlecry, which makes him efficient removal of the annoyances Molten Giant, Mountain Giant, Ragnaros, Grommash Hellscream, and Alexstrasza. The decision for 1 copy of BGH respects these two competitive decks, while allowing a free slot for a card that has more effective uses in other match-ups.

-Harvest Golem: The golems have good early game presence, which allows us to get a minion back after its death. It is just an overall efficient card for almost any match-up.

-Chillwind Yeti: Chillwind Yeti is the flagship of ramp decks. Chillwind Yeti boasts great stats (4/5) making him very hard to remove, and he can slam onto the field as early as turn one (with coin + innervate) or on turn two with just an innervate. This guy allows for early aggression, and efficient defensive trades.

-Keeper of the Grove (KoG): KoG allows for the choice of removing a small minion with two damage (or cleaning up a damaged big minion), or the option of silencing a minion. This choice is a core part of the versatility of the deck (which got notably better after the Naxx expansion), as the 2 damage can stop core, early game threats from decks like Zoo, while the silence can deal with annoying taunts, deathrattles , divine shields, and legendary powers.

-Druid of the Claw (DoC): DoC is another great card that allows you to change your play depending on the situation. With the option of becoming a 4/4 charge, he can help deal down needed burst damage against control decks, especially Handlock, or clean up a threat that can’t remain on the board. His other option, becoming a 4/6 with taunt, really hurts aggro decks, and can often make them burn valuable removal or silences.

Loatheb: Loatheb is one of the Naax cards to see consistent play in a variety of decks. He has a strong 5/5 body, while providing tempo-crushing disruption with his battlecry. Loatheb’s battlecry can buy you the extra turn needed to finish of a control deck before it stabilizes or the extra turn before getting double-casted Soulfire from Zoo, plus it can also crush the Ramp Druid mirror match.

-Spectral Knight: Spectral Knight is a card to help improve the control match-ups. By being untargetable, he forces your opponent to trade one of their minions to kill him. In the event he gets silenced, priests still really have trouble killing him as there isn’t a “Power Word: Kill Maim.”

-Cairne Bloodhoof: Cairne is a Chillwind Yeti on steroids. He is a threat that almost always requires your opponent to burn a couple cards to remove him completely due to his stats (4/5) and deathrattle.

-The Black Knight (BK): BK is a tech card that is seeing a huge rise in popularity thanks to all the new taunt cards from the Naxx Expansion. BK destroys those pesky Sludge Belchers and those Giants Handlock gave taunt. He is also strong in the mirror match, as he can kill DoC and Ancient of War.

-Ancient of Lore (AoL): AoL is a late game winner. He offers two extremely valuable choices in addition to providing a strong 5/5 body. His card draw can help you get needed cards to finish a game, such as Savage Roar and FoN, or his lifegain can help you stabilize from vicious aggro decks. Having two copies of AoL is a must!

-Cenarius: Cenarius is the class legendary for Druid. Often, he is viewed as a “Win More” card, but he does have very useful powers. His minion buff can help provide you with the extra damage to finish a game, while his small 2/2 taunting buddies can help protect your face and your valuable minions. His stats (5/8) are not anything to overlook either.

 

While GreenSheep’s list is very strong, there are cards that can be changed depending on your preferences and what you are seeing on the ranked ladder. Notable changes and budget swaps are listed below.

3 mana: Harvest Golem/BGH for Shade of Naxxramas (SoN) or King Mukla. SoN is really good if you can get it down early. Its stealth is also very useful. King Mukla is a big body that can be ramped into easily. His bananas can speed up Handlock, but hurt control when they don’t have an efficient minion to buff up. Improved match-ups: many control decks; Worsened match-ups: Handlock and Shaman.

5 mana: Spectral Knight/ Loatheb for Sludge Belcher or Sylvanas Windrunner. Sludge Belcher is a really annoying card to remove, but can be weak to silences or Priest’s
“Power Word: Pain.” Sylvanas can be removed by Priest’s “Power Word: Death,” as well as silenced. Your opponent can also manipulate Sylvanas’ deathrattle so you don’t get much value from her. Improved match-ups: Hunter aggro, Aggro Mage,and Zoo; Worsened match-ups: Control Priest and Control Warrior.

6 mana: Cairne Bloodhoof/FoN for Sunwalker or (7 mana) War of Ancients(WoA). Sunwalker really helps establish board presence, but it completely crippled from a silence. WoA is an extra mana, which is significant, while susceptible to reduced value by being silenced. Although, he can be a huge roadblock for aggro decks that don’t have an easy way to get past him. Improved match-ups: Any aggro deck, and sometimes Handlock or Ramp Druid; Worsened match-ups: Control Pally, Priest, Warrior, Shaman, and Mage.

9 mana: Cenarius for (8 mana) Ragnaros or Kel’Thuzad (KT). Rag can win games by himself if he sits on the board, but he is not entirely reliable. If your opponents have a bunch of small minions on the board that you haven’t cleared with a Swipe, his value is decreased significantly. KT is a menace if he sits on the board. He can allow you to use your big minions to trade efficiently, and he can make a wall of unsurpassable taunts. KT is more efficient if you decided to run Sludge Blechers, Sunwalkers, and Sylvanas. Improved match-ups: Aggro decks (using KT), Ramp Druid, and Control Warrior; Worsened match-ups: Control Priest, Shaman, and aggro decks (using Rag).

 

Overall Match-ups

As said earlier in this guide, Ramp Druid, and specifically GreenSheep’s list, has a competitive chance against any other deck; however, it does have match-ups that are more or less favorable than others. A general overview is listed below. *Remember! It is more about the cards and how you play, less about the match-up!*

Very Favorable

Warlock Zoo, Warlock Handlock, Deathrattle Priest, Control Paladin, New Miracle Rogue, Secrets Mage, Token Druid, Combo Warrior.

 

Manageable

Warrior Control, Tempo Rogue, Ramp Druid, Aggro Mage, Hunter Midrange.

 

Difficult

Hunter Aggro, Midrange, Control, or Malygos Spellsplinger Shaman, Murloc Warlock.

 

 

General Deck Tips

-Try to play Wild Growth on turn 2 if you think you are playing a control match-up (or turn 1 if you can coin into it). It helps you get ahead of your opponent.

-Don't let your opponent's board get started strong. Be sure to use Wrath, and take out those Undertakers, Knife Jugglers, and others quickly!

-Use your Hero Power to get rid or 1/1 or 2/1 minions in the early game. This will help you control the board, and not burn your removal spells too early.

-Save your KoG for the silence if you think you might need it! They are the only 2 silences in the list!

-Innervate into a minion on turn 1 or 2. Waiting will cause you to miss the valuable opportunity to establish huge board pressure and control.

-Watch using Thalnos and Swipe. If you can, avoid hatching the Nerubian Eggs by getting rid of Thalnos. 

-Fon + Savage Roar is a huge damage swing. If you are in a stalemate, watch for this combo. 

-If you are in the Druid ramp mirror match, drop Loathleb asap. If your opponent didn't innervate before Loathleb hits, he/she will be devastatingly behind.

-Try to prioritize using AoL for card draw, unless you are against aggro and need the lifegain. 

-Practice!!! As with any deck, learn the ins and outs, so you can make good decisions and win games!

 

I hope this guide proves useful and helps you in mastering the Druid class and the Ramp Druid variant! Good luck on the ladder, and thanks for reading!

 

- Rob "Yusnaan" Gootz