As new sets are released, such as with Worldbreaker, players will look for ways to fit the cards into established decks. After they begin adding cards to existing decks, people seek to create new deck ideas. Today's Classic Constructed deck is a little of both.

In 2007, one of the most common decks you would find at tournaments was the [Omedus the Punisher] Rush deck featuring [Shadowfiend]. The deck fell off the face of the Earth when [Form of the Serpent] was released in Servants of the Betrayer, and it seemed [Shadowfiend]s everywhere would be sitting in binders destined to collect dust. However, at the Darkmoon Faire in San Francisco in 2009, a rush strategy featuring [Witch Doctor Koo'zar] that allowed the deck to pump out tons of damage thanks to the resource acceleration that the Troll hero could provide gave the class a breath of new life. The old aggressive [Shadowfiend] decks combined with a few new printed cards and a draw power engine in [Divine Spirit] led my team and I to this concoction:

Hero: [Witch Doctor Koo'zar]

Allies: 32

4 [Broderick Langforth]

4 [Bloodsoul]

4 [Shadowfiend]

3 [Vuz'din]

4 [Twilight Vanquisher Knolan]

3 [Nathanos Blightcaller]

3 [Munkin Blackfist]

4 [Saurfang the Younger, Kor'kron Warlord]

3 [Thrall, Warchief of the Horde]

Abilities: 13

3 [A Taste of Divinity]

3 [Shadow Word: Death]

3 [Power Infusion]

4 [Divine Spirit]

Locations: 4

4 [Kor'kron Vanguard]

Quests: 11

4 [Dark Horizon]

3 [Torek's Assault]

4 [For Great Honor]

Side deck: 10

3 [Mind Sear]

1 [Vuz'din]

2 [Gathering of Wits]

3 [Talisman of the Horde]

1 [A Taste of Divinity]

To start off, this deck began as a Core Constructed list that Kyle McGinty was playing online to test for the current Core format. Unfortunately for Kyle, he forgot that the cards from the March of Legion block all cycled out, and the deck pretty much falls apart without its key card: [Divine Spirit].

The Discipline talent was printed in Hunt for Illidan, and sadly it has left the Core format, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use it for Classic Constructed. [Divine Spirit] is clearly a good card, even though Priest hasn't seen much play recently. For just five resources, Priests have the power to ready either three resources or push themselves ahead in cards each turn. The great thing about playing [Divine Spirit] with [Witch Doctor Koo'zar] is that it grants the player access to some of the craziest turn fives in the game.

Imagine the following scenario: You have [Divine Spirit] in your hand along with [Saurfang the Younger, Kor'kron Warlord]. An easy turn five play here is to exhaust your five resources, and then play your five cost Ferocity ally. Normally this would be the correct play, but with Witch Doctor’s flip, you will be able to play the [Divine Spirit], exhaust it to ready three resources, and then use one of those resources to flip and ready the rest of your resources. Now with 5 ready resources and an exhausted talent in play, you can play the ferocious 4/4 ally, search your deck for a [Kor'kron Vanguard] and hit the opponent for some damage.

Nice. Turn.

While you think this may be outrageous, it's not the only insane play this deck is capable of. The quest and location lineup in the deck is so important in bringing the Koo'zar to its powerful turn five plays. Also of note, this deck plays more quests than the average deck in order to smooth out draws and to ensure that you have two 5-drops to play on turn five.

[For Great Honor] is in the running for best Horde quest ever printed. One resource allows the player to see three cards deeper while digging for a [Divine Spirit] or [Saurfang the Younger, Kor'kron Warlord]. Should they manage to not see either of the powerhouse five drops, 21 other cards in the deck can still be selected from the quest.

[Torek's Assult] is the quest that is somewhat sketchy to include in this deck. When Kyle and I spoke about the deck, we both debated what should fill up the last three slots for quest draw. We both agreed that it needed to only cost one to complete because [Shadowfiend] allows us to complete quests on curve. That lead to a slight debate over [Torek's Assault], [Question of Gluttony], and [Forces of Jadenar]. Forces quickly got cut because there just aren’t enough abilities in the deck, and Question was soon to follow as the quest was not working well when the deck hit average to awesome hands that usually included a turn one play already. That led us to play [Torek's Assault], the only card not in the deck’s original 60 cards. Torek’s is fairly effective because of all the early creatures in the deck, the Twilight Vaquisher’s free play ability, and of course [Shadowfiend].

If you disagree with this quest, and have any better ideas please toss them around in the forums, I am open to suggestions about this slot because the deck has not been tested enough with Torek’s to prove it is the most effective choice out of all the quests that can be played.

The last of the quests is the only one that draws two cards, but is also the only one that cannot be activated on curve. [Dark Horizon] is almost always a pay three to draw two with the fifteen different ways to deal shadow damage. [Shadowfiend] again is the easiest way to activate the quest, but [Bloodsoul] and [Twilight Vanquisher Knolan] also help get this quest upgraded The least common way to turn the quest on would be with [Shadow Word: Death], where you ideally use it against an opposing ally but you also have the option of just shooting both heroes for the extra card.

The allies in the deck are pretty standard for Horde midrange decks and most don’t need to be discussed on why they are there over other choices. The deck is designed to be quicker than most midrange decks.

One ally I do want to discuss however is [Thrall, Warchief of the Horde]. It is not often that a card sparks my attention as much as this guy has, and I frequently make decks designed around maximizing value off of this insane epic. Thrall is on curve at six ATK and six health for 6-cost. He has two amazingly relevant keywords in Protector and Frost Resistance, but shines because of his two other powers: putting a Horde card from your graveyard into your hand and giving all other Horde allies you control +2 Attack and +2 Health. Both effects are insane. He is good at grabbing a recently used Saurfang, where he will be a 6/6 ally with Ferocity if Thrall goes unanswered for a turn. The coolest part about Thrall’s keyword however is that is says Horde card, and not just Horde ally. Of course out of the two of us, this excited Kyle more than myself because his favorite card to play in every deck is [Talisman of the Horde].

[Talisman of the Horde] is a lot like [Fizzle] as the power creep for both cards continues to go up as more powerful abilities and equipment are designed that require an immediate answer. For both equipments and abilities, there’s the talisman, and while it can blow up the [Divine Spirit], [Power Infusion], and [Mind Sear], it is still a great answer to annoying threats when used correctly. It is one of the cards in the deck that truly rewards understanding not only your own Priest deck, but the opponents deck and what to expect from it. If you know that the opposing Orc deck plays [Girdle of Razuvious] in order to put a [Betrayer of Humanity] in to play, then you know you can play out your [Divine Spirit]s and [Power Infusion]s without fear of blowing up your own cards. However, if the opposing Mage deck plays [Spell Suppression], and has shown a willingness to attach the ability to non [Divine Spirit]s, then I’d look to hold off on playing your ongoing abilities in order to draw out their cards you can destroy.

The ability package in the main deck and side deck are the last things that make this deck unique. The [Shadow Word: Death] is really there to deal shadow damage, and act as that last little bit of reach to finish off opposing heroes. After all, sometimes your allies are just going to be protected against, [Squall Totem]ed or [Eye of the Storm]ed. The [Taste of Divinity] has become a staple in all form of Priest decks, as card advantage in the class is hard to come by outside of discard.

The oddest choice in the main deck has to be [Power Infusion]. I’ll be honest. I believe it is the worst card in the deck, but it has done some work in the past. Powering out turn five Thralls while being able to play around [The Taste of Arcana] from pesky Mages is awesome, and just playing out [Divine Spirit] on four isn’t to shabby either. The problem with the card is that it doesn’t affect the board immediately, and it doesn’t help you against the troublesome matchups like [Ringleader Kuma] and [Nicholas Merrick].

The last abilities in the side deck are a little slow, but are both very effective in dealing with allies. With only 26 health and no access to the sweepers that the other clothies have, the Priest need to deal with allies somehow. [Mind Sear] was an ability that when previewed saw great hype, but since then has yet to see play in a major tourney. However, it effectively deals with a large portion of the Horde and Alliance ally pools. [Gathering of Wits] has seen a ton of play, but not in constructed. It has often remained a major threat in Scourgewar booster drafts everywhere. It can also be an effective way for this deck to deal with spirit wolves from a [Ringleader Kuma] deck. Why kill their allies when you can use their allies to kill them right?

On an unrelated note to this deck, I wanted to say sorry to disappoint everyone this week who was looking forward to a DMF LA write-up. Being in college takes away from my ability to play sometimes, and the geniuses at my math department decided to schedule a math final on the Saturday that I wanted to be gaming. I made it out to the event late that night just in time to hang out with a bunch of friends. I chatted with some interested newcomers, and I saw the top eight draft of the largest North American Darkmoon Faire. I want to congratulate Cryptozoic on their first set. It looks awesome, and I think I’ll start looking for ways to integrate some of these Worldbreaker cards into decks for Classic.

I'd love to hear anything you want to ask or talk about in the forums related to this Witch Doctor Midrange deck. I’ll see you guys next time!

-Corey Burkhart


Corey Burkhart is one of the most recognizable faces from the Southern California WoW TCG community. He has placed high in multiple large-scale events, and his consistent play earned him a win at the 2009 North American Continental Championship event. He went on to place in the top 8 again in the 2010 NACC. Corey and his play group from 4-Color Fantasies holds both the season 4 and season 5 titles for the Tanaris Realm Championship.