Mastering the Midrange Druid: Beginner Guide

This is part 1 of this extensive deck guide series. Be sure to check out the other sections:

Introduction

Midrange Druid (sometimes called Fast or Combo Druid) is a very popular deck both on the ladder and in the tournaments. During the Beta people realized the strength of the Force of Nature and Savage Roar combination and started creating decks around it. The deck is much more aggressive than Ramp Druid, but slow enough that it can play the Control game against many of the decks.

The idea behind the deck is to ramp up (with Wild Growth or Innervate), then fight for the board control and once you deal enough damage and get some board presence, finish enemy off with your combo. By running sticky minions, Midrange Druid increases his chance to have minions on the turn he uses the combo, because the bigger board he has – the more damage Savage Roar adds.

Most of the deck lists are really similar and only switch out some tech cards. To read more about the possible changes to the list, check out the Advanced part of the guide.

Summary

The deck is a mix between classic Midrange deck and Combo deck. On the one hand, you have the flexibility to play faster or slower game and you shine in the mid game due to a lot of strong minions. On the other hand, your main win condition is your combo – you usually want to stall the game until you draw into it to finish enemy off. If you enjoy “rampy” play style (cheating out the mana curve), flexible deck with a potential to deal a lot of burst damage, Midrange Druid is gonna be a good choice.

Strengths:

Wild Growth and Innervate put you ahead of your enemy in terms of mana.
Potential do deal a lot of burst damage – 14 damage from empty board is really standard.
Strong mid game creatures, including Taunts like Sludge Belcher and Druid of the Claw.
You might put a lot of pressure on your enemy and not let him play any of his threats.
Swipe is a great removal against Aggro decks.
Really flexible – not only it can play faster or slower, but many of the cards have multiple uses – Wrath, Keeper of the Grove, Druid of the Claw, Ancient of Lore all have “Choose one” effect.
Since the core of the deck is rather small, you might fit in a lot of tech cards depending on the meta.

Weaknesses:

Druid class has no hard removal, so it’s tricky to deal with a lot of big minions.
Swipe is good against Aggro, but the AoE is almost non-existent against Control decks. If you lose the board control, you’re gonna have hard time coming back.
Combo pieces are dead if you draw them too early, some games may be lost just because you’ve drawn your Force of Nature and Savage roar in opening hand.
Your deck is proactive, so if enemy pushes you hard, Druid has a pretty hard time playing the reactive game. You need to be the one dealing damage in order for your combo to work.
Drawing into your ramp cards is really important – the game is often decided on whether you got Wild Growth on turn 2.
It loses to many decks that are currently popular on ladder.

Favored against:

Handlock
Malygos Warlock
Control Warrior
Freeze Mage
Control Priest

Equal against:

Oil Rogue
Face Hunter
Midrange Hunter
Ramp Druid
Midrange Paladin

Unfavored against:

Patron Warrior
Zoo Warlock
Aggro Paladin
Tempo Mage

Card Choices

Most of the Midrange Druid deck lists look really similar. The only difference is couple of tech cards and whether or not you want to run a big, late game threat. We’re gonna go through the list and explain the choices, what are their role in the deck and how to use them.

Innervate

Innervate is your first ramp tool. The card is pretty straightforward – it gives you 2 mana for 0 mana. When you play it, you trade card advantage (because you use an additional card to play something) for tempo (because you play ahead of the curve). The card is really strong, because 2 mana is a lot in Hearthstone. For example, getting out Druid of the Claw on turn 3 is insane, because it can contest anything enemy played until this point. Innervating out Shade of Naxxramas on turn 1 is a huge investment in the future. You use two cards and don’t gain any immediate threat, but your Shade is gonna grow much faster and get out of range of enemy AoE removals. Innervating out Keeper of the Grove on turn 2 usually counters most of things Aggro decks might play. Generally, really strong card in the early and mid game. Its power falls later in the game, because 2 mana on turn 10 is not as much any longer. However, it allows you to do some crazy combos like Force of Nature + 2x Savage Roar on turn 10.

Wild Growth

The second card you use to ramp up. This one is much slower, because you sacrifice the tempo on turn 2 to gain more tempo in next turns. Probably one of the strongest turn 2 plays in the game, especially if you start first. When your enemy is using a 4-drop, you answer it with a 6-drop etc. It makes your plays much stronger and you might be able to get out big threats before enemy can answer them. Coining out Wild Growth on turn 1 is a decent play if you have a turn 3 follow-up and a smooth curve. For example, if your hand is Wild Growth, Shade of Naxxramas, Piloted Shredder, Sludge Belcher, going for Coin + Wild Growth is a good play. You want to mulligan for it in every matchup, getting it is a really big deal. If you use your Wild Growth when you already have 10 mana, it gives you Excess Mana card. It means that if you’re already close to turn 10 and you don’t need to use it, keep it and you’re just gonna cycle it for 2 mana.

Wrath

Your early game removal spell. Great at dealing with enemy small minions. The 3 damage is pretty good for the whole game, but in some matchups, especially the Control ones, you want to use it as a cycle. Think of it this way – if you’d rather have another card instead of Wrath and you have free 2 mana, you might just use it on any opponent’s minion to deal 1 damage and cycle it. Against Aggro decks, unless you’re at low health or your hand is really bad, you generally prefer to use your Hero Power instead of cycling Wrath. Wrath gets great value in Aggro matchups, it might serve as a way to deal with enemy Knife Juggler or Piloted Shredder, which can put a lot of damage if left on the board. If you’re in desperate situation and need to draw, you might use it on your own minion to cycle the card.

Savage Roar

One part of your combo. While it’s best when used alongside Force of Nature, it can get nice value even without it. Good when making trades (makes your minions trade up) and pushing for damage. It deals 2 damage at the base (your Hero is a character, so he gets +2 attack) and gets 2 more damage per minion on the board. It means that with 4 minions on the board, it’s 10 damage for 3 mana. Besides Force of Nature, it has good synergy with Druid of the Claw in charge mode. The combo deals 9 damage (including Hero Power), which is often enough to get lethal in late game.You might use it as a 3-mana removal in Aggro matchups. If you have no other play, instead of passing you might kill their 2-drop. Calculate the possible damage every turn – with couple minions on the board and Savage Roar in your hand, it’s surprisingly easy to kill the enemy.

Big Game Hunter

Druid has really hard time dealing with big minions, because he lacks strong spell removals. Big Game Hunter helps him, because he counters a lot of popular big minions like Dr. Boom or Ragnaros the Firelord. In the current meta, Big Game Hunter is really strong because almost every Midrange and Control deck runs some 7+ attack targets. On the other hand, he’s pretty bad against Aggro – you’re gonna usually drop him as a 3-drop, but with 2 health enemy gets easy trades.

Shade of Naxxramas

It’s a great tool to put enemy on the clock. Minion that grows every turn and has stealth. After couple of +1/+1’s, it’s gonna get out of range of enemy AoE removals. In faster matchups, don’t try to get maximum value and use them to trade with their minions. Keeping him in stealth is often a mistake. Just wait until he he can kill something and survive and go for it – getting 2 for 1 in Aggro matchup is enough. In slower matchups, however, you don’t want to reveal those too fast. Main role of your Shade is having a guaranteed, big minion on the board to boost your combo. Let’s say a 6/6 Shade makes your combo deal 22 damage. With double Shade, you might often kill enemy in one turn. And you can afford to sacrifice some tempo against slower decks.

Swipe

The only “AoE” you run in the deck. It’s great against decks flooding the board with a lot of small creatures (e.g. Face Hunter, Aggro Paladin). The problem is that the 1 damage AoE is usually useless against slower decks and it’s mainly used either as spell burn or for the 4 damage on main target. Against some cards like Grim Patron or Acolyte of Pain, the 1 damage is actually unwanted. In slower matchups, you usually use swipe to deal with their mid game threats or damage their late game threats. You can also use it as another source of burst besides your combo – 2x Swipe + Hero Power is 9 damage.

Keeper of the Grove

Your defensive 4-drop. It’s great because of the versatility. As a Druid, you can easily run two Silence minions in any meta, because if you face someone with no good Silence targets, the 2 damage can always come handy. In the current meta, however, Silence is really great. Pretty much any deck runs couple of Silence targets. Keeper of the Grove gets great value in almost any matchup. Great against Aggro decks, because not only 2 damage usually kills everything they drop early, but also the 2/4 body can get good trades with their small drops. Against Control, you often want to save him for the Silence part – Silencing key minions like Sylvanas Windrunner is really crucial. You might also use the Silence to bypass Taunt when you’re pushing for damage. The 2 damage sometimes comes handy when enemy Taunts up at low health and you need to finish him off.

Piloted Shredder

Really aggressive 4-drop. Most of the time has to be dealt with it twice – first the 4/3 body and then whatever drops from him. It’s good at pushing the damage in mid game. It’s great against slow decks, enemy either wastes 2 removals or takes a lot of damage. Piloted Shredder is sticky and you want that for your Savage Roar. The problem with Piloted Shredder is that it’s bad in fast matchups, because it can’t really trade down without dying. There is a lot of RNG involved when it comes to Shredder. The 2-drop outcome may sometimes win you the game and other times lose it. Popular examples are getting Millhouse Manastorm on turn 4, it might straight win you the game if enemy has no way to deal with it. On the other hand, if you have a full board and you’re pushing for lethal next turn, getting Doomsayer might completely ruin your plan. The average outcome, however, is good enough for Piloted Shredder to be the strongest 4-drop in aggressive decks.

Azure Drake

Solid, straightforward 5-drop. Azure Drake always gets value – it cycles itself, so you are not losing a card when playing him. A 4/4 on turn 5 is not that great, but it’s big enough that enemy has to kill it. If you trade it with something, you’ve got 2 for 1 in terms of card advantage. The +1 Spell Power works great with your two spells – Wrath and Swipe. With Wrath, you might deal up to 5 damage (counting your Hero Power), killing most of the 4-drops and 5-drops. You might also deal 2 damage and cycle it (up to 3 with Hero Power), which is really strong against Aggro. It gets even more value with Swipe – 5 damage to main Target and 2 damage AoE is suddenly a way better version of Consecration. Great thing to top deck in the late game.

Druid of the Claw

One of the most recognizable minions in the Druid deck. A 4/6 Taunt is big enough to stop Aggro decks, and 4/4 Charge is good when you’re pushing enemy. While most of players drop it in the Taunt mode (bear form), especially against slower decks, you should often use the Charge mode (cat form). You often care about 4 damage more than about 2 health on your minion. Also, against the decks that run a lot of buffs (like Zoo Warlock), you might consider charing it into small minion (so enemy can’t take the Taunt with help of the buffs, and you’re still left with let’s say 4/1 after trading). It has nice synergy with Savage Roar when played in cat form. The bear form, on the other hand, might be used to stop late game combos including Charge minions (like Patron or Oil Rogue combos).

Harrison Jones

Great tech card in the current meta. It helps you in many matchups that would be much harder otherwise – Midrange Hunter, Grim Patron Warrior, Midrange/Aggro Paladin. All of those decks rely heavily on their weapons to deal damage or keep the board control. In case of Grim Patron Warrior, taking out Death's Bite means he can’t do his Grim Patron combos so easily. Against Midrange Hunter and Aggro Paladin, it stops a lot of damage or protects your minion. And on the top of everything, you draw cards when it hits a weapon. If you face a non-weapon class, a plain 5/4 for 5 mana is an overpriced Lost Tallstrider, but it’s still not the worst minion ever. If you drop him in the mid game, it’s a pretty big threat enemy has to kill or it’s gonna push for good amount of damage.

Loatheb

Another 5-drop, really flexible and strong. The 5/5 stats are pretty good, but the effect is what’s important. Blocking enemy spells for the next turn means that he has much less ways to interact with your board. Dropping him when you already have some board presence, alongside something like Druid of the Claw, means that enemy has almost no way to clear your board with spells – the only way are his minions. If you however drop him on already sticky board, you can be pretty sure that some of your minions will survive. He’s great when you prepare for a big combo turn – the more minions you have going into it, the better it is for you. Loatheb is also great against some spell heavy decks like Oil Rogue or Freeze Mage. It might completely block some of their turns. It’s also fine in a mirror match if you want to stop enemy from doing their combo.

Sludge Belcher

Your defensive 5-drop. He has two roles. First one is stopping enemy aggression, and he’s great at that. 7 effective health means that if not Silenced, he’s gonna stop a lot of damage and probably kill something too. The 3 damage is not that great against Control decks, but if you’re the aggressor, it might protect your other minions. The second role is just being a sticky minion. It’s pretty hard to kill it completely, so you’re pretty much always left with some board presence. Like you know already – more board presence means more damage from combo. He’s a little vulnerable to Silence, especially if you play against Aggro.

Force of Nature

The second part of your combo. This one summons three 2/2 minions with Charge. It hasn’t really got any synergy with your deck besides Savage Roar, but it may still be useful alone. The good thing about it is that you get three minions – you might distribute damage among couple of small drops, you might pop Divine Shields with it. It’s also a great way to pop enemy Freezing Trap. The 6 damage might be sometimes useful when pushing for lethal without the Savage Roar. Even though you often rely on your combo to win the game – don’t worry about using it as a removal. The most important thing is to keep enemy minions in check, because once you completely lose board control, you lose the game.

Emperor Thaurissan

Really strong card. You aim to put him on the board with some of your combo pieces in the hand. The 5/5 body for 6 mana isn’t that big and will probably get removed easily. But even one discount on two of your combo pieces means that you can do the Force of Nature + 2x Savage Roar without Innervate. It does mean that you might push for 22 damage from your hand. It’s usually more than enough to kill the enemy. With just one minion sticking to the board, you might deal close to 30 damage in one turn. Really big deal. Besides the combo, putting discounts on your minions means that you might play more of them each turn. Dropping let’s say 3 mid game threats onto the board in one turn means that enemy is gonna have a lot of problems with removing them. Since you rarely run out of cards when playing Druid, Emperor is usually gonna get at least some value. The best case scenario is dropping him when enemy has no minions on the board – it forces him to have a spell removal or at least Silence. Two or more discounts may lead to a really explosive OTK turns.

Sylvanas Windrunner

Since Druid has no way to deal with big minions, he might as well steal them. Sylvanas is pretty good counter to slow, control decks, especially those without Silence. Even if it doesn’t get any big value, it often stalls the game and disrupts enemy turns. Oftentimes opponent doesn’t want to drop his big minion into your Sylvanas just to get it stolen. So he’s gonna flood the board with smaller minions, making his play much more awkward. Sylvanas sometimes works as a comeback mechanic. Druid has really hard time coming back after he lost his board presence, and Sylvanas might force enemy to either sacrifice all of their minions or give you something. Not as good in Aggro matchups, because most of Aggro decks run Silence, and a 5/5 minion for 6 is slow enough to just get ignored. Sometimes, however, when enemy is gonna have no answer, you might get 2 or 3 for 1 with your Sylvanas.

Ancient of Lore

Probably the strongest Druid card. Ancient of Lore is a pretty flexible minion. A 5/5 body for 7 mana is definitely not big, but threatening enough that enemy has to kill it. He can’t leave a 5/5 minion against Midrange Druid. Drawing two cards is absolutely insane. Not only it cycles itself, but it also gives you +1 card. It’s like a 5-drop and an Arcane Intellect for 7 mana in one card. It’s your main way to refill your hand. Another way to use it is healing for 5. The 5 heal isn’t really big, but it might save you against Aggro decks. It’s also targetable – so if you don’t need the heal on your Hero or card draw, you might even heal your minions. Innervating Ancient of Lore on turn 5 is also pretty big play, because it gives you a threatening minion without losing card advantage and you cycle through your deck, drawing closer to the combo.

Dr. Boom

Your run Dr. Boom as a late game threat. One of the best legendaries in the game right now. Even though the main body is often gonna eat the Big Game Hunter the Boom Bots usually do a lot of job by themselves. Dr. Boom is really sticky – if not the main body, the 1/1’s often survive. Thanks to that, he has a great synergy with Savage Roar. Just a Dr. Boom, if nothing gets removed, can push for 17 damage on the turn after thanks to Savage Roar. Great proactive minion, you force enemy to have an answer or take a lot of damage. Great thing to top deck in slower matchups, even if removed, it might stall the game long enough for you to draw into the cards you need.

General Strategy

Midrange Druid is one of the more straightforward and easy decks to play. While there is some decision making, especially against Aggro decks, during most of your turns you have a one, clear option. You play proactive, so you often completely ignore what enemy drops and play your own game. What’s really important for Midrange Druid is to play on the curve – even if you get a good Swipe opportunity on turn 5, you might prefer to play Druid of the Claw instead to not waste your mana. Using every point of mana is really important, because once you start playing behind the curve, enemy might out-tempo you. Even though the deck is rather easy, it’s also pretty flexible in the way that it might take different approaches. Against Aggro decks, you might play a slower, more defensive game with Taunting up and clearing enemy board, while against Control decks you might play the Aggro game, push them hard and not let them develop their own threats.

Early Game

As a Midrange Druid, you don’t have much things to do in the early game, unless you get your Innervate. The most important thing when playing Midrange Druid is planning your curve. For example, if you have Innervate, Shade of Naxxramas, Piloted Shredder and Ancient of Lore in your starting hand (going first). You might consider Innervating out your Shade on turn 1. While it’s not necessarily wrong, you skip your turn 2 and 3 if you don’t draw anything you might play. In other words, you rely on the top decks to fill out your curve. On the other hand, if you skip the first turn, you can Innervate out the Shredder on turn 2 and play the Shade on turn 3. Your curve is much more smooth, because you skip turn 1 (much less important in Druid) instead of 2 and 3. By the turn 4, there is a bigger chance that you’re gonna draw into something you can play (because you have 3 draws instead of 1). While this is just a basic example, it illustrates how you should think when playing the Druid. Skipping turns put you behind, so don’t do that.

Wild Growth is probably the best turn 2 play no matter against what deck you play. It gives you much more options in next turns – even if you have to take some damage from an Aggro deck, you usually should go for it (unless they put a high priority target like Knife Juggler and you have let’s say Wrath to kill it). It’s especially important against slower decks. You probably won’t get any Wrath targets on turn 2 against Control deck, and just Hero Powering and passing is really slow.

If you didn’t Wild Growth, the turn 3 is gonna be Shade of Naxxramas or Big Game Hunter. If you’re playing against deck which has no Big Game Hunter targets, or you can’t afford to lose even more tempo (because you for example Hero Powered on turn 2 already), you might drop him as a 4/2 minion. Not the best, but it might push for some damage or sometimes trade up. Shade of Naxxramas is much better. While it’s really slow, it’s like investing into your future – it’s only 3/3 on the turn you can attack with it, but 2 more turns and you have a 3 mana 5/5, which is great.

When it comes to turn 4, you have couple of possibilities. Against Aggro decks, sometimes on turn 4 Swipe is great. If it’s gonna kill 3-4 minions, you should definitely go for it. In some matchups, like Aggro Paladin, you have to be pretty greedy with it. Don’t throw it on let’s say 2/2 and 2/1, because it might get much more value later. You need to determine if the Swipe is good in your current matchup or not – if yes, keep it, if not – go for it when you get a good opportunity. Another turn 4 reactive play is Keeper of the Grove. It’s great when there is either a good Silence target (e.g. Nerubian Egg) or a 3/2 minion. One of the best cards in your deck against Aggro decks. Against Control, it usually won’t get value until later turns. But if you really don’t have another turn 4 play, you might consider using the 2 damage on enemy face and just playing him as a 2/4 minion. The most proactive and aggressive play you have is Piloted Shredder. Against Aggro, it’s not that good, but against slower decks it’s gonna push for a lot of damage and be pretty tricky to remove completely.

Your general early game plan is to curve out nicely. Against Aggro, you want to start removing their threats and playing defensively. Trading with your Shade and using Keeper of the Grove on 4 and typical plays against Aggro. And versus Control, you want to put the threats yourself and push your board presence. You don’t want to reveal the Shade and the best turn 4 minion is Piloted Shredder.

Mid Game

Your Mid Game game plan against Aggro decks is stabilizing. Turn 5 is where your Taunts come into the action – both Druid of the Claw and Sludge Belcher are good against Aggro. Azure Drake is usually too slow, but Loatheb might get some nice value. Enemy can’t remove him with spells, so you might easily get 2 for 1 by trading. You don’t worry about the value too much, because your deck is much slower than most of the Aggro ones. All you want is to survive. On turn 6, you might get some clears with Force of Nature. Your combo isn’t that important against Aggro, and if you can clear 2-3 minions with FoN, definitely go for it. Sylvanas Windrunner also might be a good anti-Aggro minion if you aren’t under too much pressure. If enemy has no Silence (he often uses it for your Taunts on turn 5 or even Shredder on 4), Sylvanas is making things awkward for him. Most of the Aggro decks are gonna ignore her and start pushing for damage. It might work if they’re close to lethal, but if you get two attack with Sylvanas and then steal a minion afterwards, the game might completely turn around.

Against Control Decks, you still want to push. You’re often gonna end up playing Druid of the Claw in Charge mode, just to get additional damage. Azure Drake is also a great turn 5 play. Even though it’s slow, enemy has to deal with it in some way, and you don’t lose any card for that. Harrison Jones comes on the perfect time to counter Truesilver Champion and Death's Bite. Playing Harrison on curve is really strong, especially if enemy spent his whole turn 4 equipping the weapon. It’s not a common practice, but you’re sometimes gonna see opponent pre-equipping a weapon and not attacking with it. If he does that, punish him. Emperor Thaurissan is great against Control on turn 6. If you’re on the roll, you should have some board presence alongside him. Enemy is gonna be forced to remove it – and if he can’t, he’s in a really bad spot. Even if he does and you have something else on the board, you still are pushing damage and 1 discount is often enough of value from your Emperor. Try to not use Force of Nature as a removal, because against most Control decks you’re gonna need more damage than your minions can push by themselves. Sylvanas is better later in the game, but if enemy has some minions on the board, dropping her on turn 6 is also a decent play.

Your general mid game strategy is keeping the board control against Aggro and board presence against Control. Against fast decks, you’re gonna be forced to initiate the trades. Try to be efficient and let your minions stick on the board. On the other hand, against Control decks you want THEM to make the trades. But if you get a great trade opportunity, take it. You’re aiming for a longer game, so you don’t want to completely go for the tempo. Even though the tempo is most important against slow decks, some value is also fine.

If you didn’t use the Innervate yet, you might Innervate some of your late game minions on turn 5. Both of them are really strong then.

Late Game

Against Aggro, you should have stabilized by the late game or you’re pretty much dead. If you survived until turn 7, you might consider using your Ancient of Lore to heal. If your hand size or quality is bad, drawing is much better. However, if you’ve already stabilized, but you’re nearly dead, the 5 health might save you. Another turn 7 play is Dr. Boom, which is great if you’re pushing against Aggro, because almost no fast deck runs Big Game Hunter. The Boom Bots are also gonna get immense value against low health minions Aggro decks tend to run. At this point, you should combine the plays from earlier turns. Still, try to play on the curve. For example, on turn 9 try to drop 4 drop + 5 drop if you can. Also, Hero Powering is really important. Every single point of Armor may matter. Using Hero Power for three times against Hunter might sometimes give you two additional turns! While the combo is more important in Control Matchups, Aggro decks often run no defensive cards. They usually don’t have Taunts or ways to heal. It means that if you push a little damage in the mid game, you might usually finish them off with combo on turn 9.

Against Control decks, it’s much more tricky. In perfect world, you got a big enough push to kill them on turn 9 with combo (or even on turn 7 with Innervate + combo). It, however, doesn’t always happen. You often don’t draw into your combo, don’t have enough damage or enemy has Taunted up. If you need the combo, try to stop your push a little and play a slower game. Still put the threats on the board, but trade a little and try to stall the game to draw into the combo. If enemy is low enough that you might kill him without it – definitely try to go for it. Sometimes just one part of the combo, or things like Druid of the Claw / Swipe might push for enough to kill your opponent. Ancient of Lore is absolutely best in the late game, because not only it puts a threatening body on the board, but also it draws you 2 cards – gives more options, puts you closer to drawing combo. Loatheb works nicely in the late game when you have big enough board. Even without combo, if you lock enemy spells with it, you might get a big push to kill the enemy. Dr. Boom is another great late game play. Enemy used most of his removals earlier, on your mid game threats. If he has no Big Game Hunter, Dr. Boom may win you the game just like that. Sylvanas also gets better in late game. Enemy Control Deck should be stabilizing and putting their own threats. Using Sylvanas stops them for another turn or two – they have to deal with her somehow before dropping their big bombs. Remember that you might use the Keeper of the Grove to kill off your own low health Sylvanas if you want to force a steal on something.

While your deck has some late game potential, you’re not gonna last through the long game. With enough card draw and pressure, you might play a pretty long game, but almost any Control deck is gonna outlast you anyway. Remember to calculate your damage every turn if you have the combo in your hand. The base is 14 damage, and you add +2 for every minion on your side of the board (plus minion’s damage, obviously). Even with one or two minions on the board, you might easily deal about 20 damage. Don’t miss lethal because you didn’t expect that you can do so much damage.

Win Conditions

The Midrange Druid doesn’t have many ways to close the game. The deck might sometimes amass board presence strong enough to kill enemy without combo. However, it’s still your main win condition in most of the matchups, so keep that in mind.

Ramping up. While not exactly the win condition, it’s what can win you a game. If you get a Wild Growth on turn 2, Innervate the Emperor Thaurissan on turn 3 and some way to refill your hand on turn 4 – you’re gonna leave enemy so far behind that he has no way to catch up. It’s almost impossible to deal with threats 2-3 turns ahead of what you play.
Mid game push. Sometimes, you might win the game by sheer mid game aggression. Midrange Druid has really strong turns 4 to 6. If you play a big threat every turn and enemy doesn’t have enough answers, you might win the game before you even have an opportunity to play your combo.
Force of Nature + Savage Roar. It’s your main win condition in most of matchups. If you didn’t finish the enemy with a mid game push, you could still deal enough damage to kill him with your combo. 14 damage from empty board, 20+ damage with some board presence – it’s hard to survive that if you’ve been under the pressure for the whole game.

Closing

Midrange Druid is a strong deck that we can definitely recommend for novice players. It doesn’t require too much decision making, and playing it is pretty easy. It’s not the strongest deck in the current meta, but with proper tech cards is might beat every deck on the ladder.

If you like playing a proactive deck, dictating the tempo of the game and finishing most of the games in explosive style – Midrange Druid is gonna be a good deck for you. If you want to read more about the complex tactics, alternate & tech cards, matchups and mulligans – check out other parts of the guide! Feel free to ask any questions concerning the guide or the deck in the comment section below.

This is part 1 of this extensive deck guide series. Be sure to check out the other sections:

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