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Resurrect Priest deck list guide - Ashes of Outland - Hearthstone (April 2020)

Resurrect Priest has some interesting new toys - here's how to use them.

With the Standard format rotation, a lot of decks are changing significantly. Chief amongst these is the Resurrect form of Priest, which has both lost and gained a lot.

This deck is a weird one, and pretty tough to pilot. Depending on the matchup, you’ll play the game very differently. Against aggro, you just need to survive the initial onslaught, whereas when playing a control opponent, especially a mirror match, you want to save as much value as humanly possible.

Of course, the main thrust of this deck relies on you bringing back your minions from the dead, much in the same vein as Big Priest, Wild format’s most hated deck. You do very well against decks that try to play fair and beat you with minion combat, but struggle heavily when facing off against combo decks, as you’ll be repeatedly stifled and get less value from Deathrattles than you need.

We’ll be updating this deck if it changes throughout the meta, but here’s the most popular version at the moment.

Resurrect Priest deck list and strategy

Here is the version of Resurrect Priest we’re going for in Ashes of Outland. Expect further refinements as the meta shifts, as always.

PriestNeutral
2 x Renew1 x Acidic Swamp Ooze
2 x Penance2 x Bad Luck Albatross
2 x Shadow Word: Death2 x Bone Wraith
2 x Breath of the Infinite1 x Archmage Vargoth
2 x Psychopomp2 x Khartut Defender
1 x Shadow Word: Ruin
2 x Holy Nova
2 x Grave Rune
1 x Sandhoof Waterbearer
2 x Convincing Infiltrator
1 x Skeletal Dragon
1 x Catrina Muerte
2 x Mass Resurrection

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

Deck Import ID: AAECAa0GBooH1pkDk5sD0aUD2MIDptUDDMkG0wqClAOZmwOhoQOvpQPypQOZqQPZrAPyrAP9sAOTugMA

More great Priest guides:

General strategy

This deck is excruciatingly slow, so be wary of aggro decks killing you dead before you get the chance to react. Below, we’ve put together a step-by-step guide in piloting Resurrect Priest successfully.

Early Game: Depending on who you think you’re up against, your opening hand will look very different. In general, you want to stop your opponent snowballing early on, so keep cards like Penance to take down strong enemies. Minions like EVIL Totem and Crystal Merchant can be scary early on, so getting rid of them is essential while your deck gets up to speed. After that, you just need to get your minions out there. Heal yourself with Renew and make sure you choose the Discovered spell carefully - adapt to your opponent's actions.

Survive the early game and you’re good to go, with some extremely strong plays available later on.

Mid Game: If you’ve had minions like Archmage Vargoth or Sandhoof Waterbearer die off already, you’ll be able to get them back with resurrection effects in the future. In the meantime, keep out of lethal range with cards like the newly-buffed Holy Nova, now only 4 mana, and Breath of the Infinite to deal decent AOE damage

Against control decks, or decks that aren’t minion-based, you’ll want to avoid making too many low-value plays throughout. In particular, if you’re up against another Priest, don’t play strong minions into an empty board, as you won’t receive the value from its Deathrattle, and in that matchup, value is everything. Unfortunately, against control-focused Warrior decks or Malygos combo decks, you’ll struggle regardless so will have to make low-value plays as much as you can in order to try to get lucky.

Late Game: By the time the late-game comes around, you should have a decent bit of value in your resurrection pool. Blatant Decoy is a great option to force extra value from your hand, summoning you the cheapest minion from there. Considering the high cost of your minions in general, this'll usually put you in a stronger position than your foe, as well as hopefully deprive them of Battlecries and the like.

You should have enough value late on to beat out most foes, especially if you're lucky and manage to get Catrina Muerte or Archmage Vargoth off of a Mass Resurrection, generating even more value. Eventually, either you or your opponent will run out of value and lose. Most of the time, you’re able to out-value them.

Resurrect Priest Mulligan Guide

Mulligan for removal, except in very special situations.

1. Keep hold of damage spells like Holy Smite in order to get rid of the likes of EVIL Totem, Crystal Merchant and other strong early minions.

2. The same is true for Forbidden Words - removal of early threats is vital to your survival.

3. Breath of the Infinite can save you in a pinch against wide boards while you wait for your bigger plays.

Resurrect Priest tips, combos and synergies

Keep in mind the card synergies and combos to best play Resurrect Priest. It’s a deck you’ll need to get the hang of, but should be able to learn if you keep your head in the game:

- Catrina Muerte is more likely to resurrect a minion that's died multiple times. If your resurrection pool is full of Sandhoof Waterbearers, and only one Scrapyard Colossus, you'll get the waterbearers most of the time.

- Mass Resurrection can bring you even more than the 3 minions it promises. If you resurrect Archmage Vargoth or Catrina Muerte, you’ll get extra resurrections on board.

- Shadow Word: Ruin destroys all minions with 5 or more attack - make sure your minions have already struck when you cast it!

- Kael'thas Sunstrider makes every third spell you cast each turn cost 0, which could be used to cast a super cheap Mass Resurrection when you shouldn't be able to yet.

- Psyche Split summons a copy of a minion that's already been buffed, meaning the copy benefits from the +1/+2 as well. It combos well with Archmage Vergoth, who'll recast it for you.

- Plague of Death is extremely valuable as your only 100% board clear. Save it for when there’s no other option.

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About the Author
James Law avatar

James Law

Former Guides Writer

James was part of Rock Paper Shotgun's guides team from 2020-2021, bringing his expert knowledge about FPS games, Hearthstone, Path Of Exile and more from his time at Metabomb. He's also a dab hand at Hitman 3, and making his own jam - things which may or may not be related to one another.

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