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Combo Priest deck list guide - Descent of Dragons - Hearthstone (January 2020)Our advanced guide to playing Combo Priest in the Descent of Dragons meta.

Our advanced guide to playing Combo Priest in the Descent of Dragons meta.

In this edition of our Combo Priest guide, we’re highlighting the most competitive version of the deck that’s seeing play right now. We’ve also added in loads of strategy and Mulligan advice to help you pilot the deck to your best ability. If this one continues to be popular, we’ll continue updating this article!

UPDATE - December 2019

With the release of Descent of Dragons, we’ve got a new version of Combo Priest to show you.High Priest Amethas brought this deck into the spotlight, as well as new cards likeInjured Tol’virandPsychopompoffering this archetype a fair few backup plans.

Combo Priest deck list and strategy

Here is the version of Combo Priest seeing the most play in the current stage of the Descent of Dragons meta. We’ll update our recommendations as the meta evolves over time.

Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game.

Deck Import ID:AAECAa0GBqUJ+wzl9wLQ/gKnhwOppQMM+ALlBPYH1QjRCtIK8gz3DK+lA9KlA/2nA4SoAwA=

More great Priest guides:

General strategy

Combo Priest is all about building to that one moment in a game when you have all the pieces you need in hand to create one giant minion with a ludicrous attack value that can kill your opponent in a single hit. That’s the dream scenario, so to get there you’ll want to play the slow and steady control game Priest is known for, while drawing through your deck to find the cards you need.

While the concept of the deck has remained the same between expansions. Cards from the Year of the Dragon have helped this deck on its way though.High Priest Ametis the clear star of the show, offering any minion summoned alongside it a health bonus to a whopping 7. As well as this, you have access toPsychopomp, a persistent chap who’ll revive your dead minions and give them Reborn, something that’ll make them stickier. They also synergise excellently withHigh Priest Ametwho will raise their health from 1 to a big 7.

Early game:Your early turns are all about card draw and control. Try and orchestrate a situation where you’ve gotNorthshire Clericon the board, and use it to draw cards with your Hero Power. You can buff its Health withPower Word: Shield, or even use one copy ofDivine Spiritto give it survivability so you can kickstart your card draw engine if needed.Wild Pyromancercombined with many of your cheap spells is a good way to maintain board control as well, while the area of effect damage can trigger card draws fromAcolyte of Pain.

Mid game:Continue maintaining board control and drawing through your deck as you head into the mid game. If there’s a chance for an early victory, take it. Opponents might not deal with your earlyNorthshire Cleric, and after a couple ofPower Word: Shields andExtra Arms, you might be able to sneak in aDivine Spirit/Inner Firecombo to close the game out early. Of course, this isn’t your primary plan, but it works wonders on occasion - Murloc Paladin for example has very few ways to deal with a big minion if they don’t drawToxfinearly.

Late game:At this point, you should have completed all the setup and have all the cards you need to pull off the combo. If you have a high-health minion on board then chuck it out there, and ifHigh Priest Ametis serving you well you can summon a whole bunch of high-health minions that your opponent will struggle to clear.Sand Drudgecan get you a board of 1/7s quickly, andPsychopomp’s revives and Reborns benefit from this too.

Stormwind Knightis present as aChargeminion you can get a combo from too, doubling its health and hitting face for big damage. Regardless, you should hopefully have enough in your arsenal to find a way to deal lethal damage, be it through Amet’s health buffs or your Reborn minions healing up over time.Topsy Turvyis in this deck too, in order to make absolutely sure you draw enough for this combo to work properly - a solid alternative toInner Firefor a finisher, it swaps attack and health rather than changing one to match the other.

Aggro opponents

Some important things to keep in mind when against aggro decks:

Control opponents

Here are a few tips when facing control opponents on ladder:

Combo Priest Mulligan guide

In the Mulligan phase you’ll want to emphasise card draw so you can gather all the necessary combo pieces together.

Combo Priest tips, combos and synergies

We’ve already outlined your game-winning combo elsewhere in this guide, but here are the other card synergies you need to be aware of when playing this list:

-Power Word: Shieldprovides more Health for its target and also draws you a card in the process.

-Injured Tol’virstalls the enemy whilst simultaneously offering a reasonably big body forPsychopompto resurrect.

  • When you castDivine Spiriton a minion its Health is immediately doubled from whatever value it is currently on, not itsmaximumHealth.

  • As the key combo of the deck,Inner Firecan be applied on a minion you’ve buffed withDivine Spiritto set their Attack to be equal to their Health. The damage potential with this can be monstrous.

  • You can combineNorthshire Clericwith the healing from your Hero Power to draw additional cards, or use cheap spells such asCircle of Healingto restore the Health of multiple creatures and draw many more cards at once.

-Sand Drudge’s 1/1 Zombies with Taunt benefit fromHigh Priest Amet’s ability, and have their health raised when they are summoned.

  • When you cast a Spell withWild Pyromanceron the board it’ll trigger an effect that deals one damage to all minions. You can exploit this as a way to clear the board of your opponent’s creatures, but be careful as it can kill off your own minions too!

Card choices and substitutions

There are some very key cards that are essential for making Combo Priest priest. We’ve listed all the important ones you need to know about below: