Post any ideas about heroic strats here.

Rafaam: http://imgur.com/a/BAqEf

So, I tried to use both warlock and paladin, hoping that the AI would use a Renounce Darkness or Vilefin Inquisitor to change his hero power. Unfortunately, the AI will never use it. Back before Karazhan, I've seen the AI used Renounce Darkness, so the new AI must've been updated to not use it.

There are also old youtube videos of the AI using Jaraxxus and Sac Pact to kill himself, that also doesn't work anymore.

The decks still do well though, winning most of the time. Both the warlock and paladin decks seems to be equally good. Although there's still a bit of chance to lose if the AI got a strong early game from his hero power that we can't handle.

Most other classes could also probably do well, although I haven't tried it.

K&C New strat for Steel Sentinel - Majordomo + Treachery Combo: https://imgur.com/a/SjwUF

Usually goes between 4.5 minutes to 6 minutes, but it's possible to go as quick as 3 minutes if you're very lucky. My old C'thun Rogue have a slower average time, could be as slow as 7 minutes if you're unlucky.

Remember to watch out for his board clears (1x Brawl and 1x Enter the Coliseum). It's not safe to put your Majordomo on board if he haven't used his Brawl.

---Old post with C'thun Rogue--- Steel Sentinel: http://imgur.com/a/XQqd1

Uses C'thun Rogue. Blade of C'thun and the numerous 'destroy' spells/minions is really suitable for this boss.

Shadowstep and Shadowcaster also helps in bouncing the battlecry minions such as C'thun itself. (Could also use Youthful Brewmaster instead of Shadowcaster) Twilight Geomancer end up being useful, because a taunted C'thun will stop any of the enemies from attacking your face.

Managed to consistently win, although I'm not sure if the deck composition is optimal yet. The amounts of card draw (Shiv/Harbinger), Doomcaller, and 'poison' minions might still be adjusted.

Haven't tried any other methods although I can't think of any methods that could be better than this for now.

You can find my decks here: http://pottary.imgur.com/all/ some of them are really bad, needed 40 minutes for Chieftain Scarvash and 50 minutes for Lord Slitherspear. I wasn't able to find my deck for Zinaar. But I am also missing a lot of cards so it is probably possible to improve this decks.

Skelesaurus: http://imgur.com/a/AQYt4

Uses Mill Rogue just like what Pottary did, but with some adjustments. Can't think of any other ways for this since this boss have no weakness. (Strong early game and late game, with some sticky minions and huge burst damage from King Krush and Tail Swipe...)

It seems I managed to make this kinda consistent, with a winrate of above 50%. Losses usually seems to be from bad early RNG, when you don't draw the right cards or the enemy have a crazy opening from the hero power. One thing that makes this deck less consistent is the fact that you are really dependent on drawing the Coldlight Oracle. (Edit: After more tries, it seems the winrate is above 70%)

Usually I mulligan for Oracle, Doomsayer, Sap or Deathlord. If you already have these cards, it'll also be useful to keep Shadow Strike, Backstab, Vanish and Healbot. Although I'm still not sure if my mulligan method is optimal.

Some unusual tech cards:

• Shadow Strike: I used this instead of Eviscerate since the 5-damage seems to be really useful.
• Hemet: The boss mostly uses beasts, although can easily be replaced with something like Assasinate.
• Curator: Draws your Oracle, and acts as a taunt.
• Betrayal: Found this to be pretty useful overall.

I've also previously tried to put anti-secret cards such as Eater of Secrets, but I think you don't really need these cards and you can just easily prevent triggering 2 out of his 3 secrets. Bear Trap can be prevented by not attacking his face, since you usually will have enough fatigue damage for lethal anyway. Dart Trap can be easily ignored since your hero power is usually useless anyway.

Also, a tip in speedrunning with this deck. Write a note on the values of '1+2+3+4+5', '2+3+4+5+6', and so on. This helps in calculating the fatigue damage with Oracle combos. I often made misplays when I tried to play fast while calculating these values at the same time.

K&C update: Now I'm using Token Druid instead of the Hunter in my old 1:05 run. https://imgur.com/a/FGzWm

This boss becomes harder after recent AI improvements. She seems to use her Coin on the first two turns more often, which gives her stronger early tempo and it could easily snowball if you don't have good defensive tools or board presence. My hunter deck's winrate is significantly lower now. So I'm using a Token Druid which aims to put minions starting from the first turn.

This deck have 50% winrate, which is the best that I can do with all the decks that I've tried. It's not so consistent because it doesn't have any board clears and if she manage to win the tempo within the first 5 turns, it's very unlikely to win. The good thing is that the defeats are usually quick and will only cost 1-2 minutes, since I'l just restart if she's able to dominate the board early on.

This boss also have a really huge variance in the finishing time, could go between 3-8 minutes...

Old post about my old strats: https://pastebin.com/CZszaaTe

Slitherspear: http://imgur.com/a/HdhDR

Uses mill rogue. After 11 tries, managed to get 8-3 with 2 losses from stupid misplays, so it seems consistent enough. The game normally takes about 13-15 turns. Can't think of any other ways for now.

Usually I mulligan for Oracle, Doomsayer, Vanish and Deathlord. Gang Up and Shadowstep are also good to be kept when you already have Oracle in your opening hand.

Good things about this boss are that the early game isnt that strong and he only have little burst damage from the Curse of Rafaam.

Note that Shaman have Earth Shock and Devolve which are really suitable for this boss. So maybe in the future, Aggro Shaman can be a reliable deck if it gains more aggro tools. I haven't tried Aggro Shaman, although I doubt it can be reliable right now. (Midrange Shaman is the one I have tried but I cant make it work at all)

Temple Escape: http://imgur.com/a/hxJPC

This is a simple one, just keep stalling and freezing the opponents.

There's one timesave trick that can be done in this level, by using Saboteur before turn 3 to prevent the Rolling Boulder from appearing. This could save more than 5 seconds because the Rolling Boulder's animations won't trigger.

Other way of saving a bit of time is killing the Obsidian Destroyers to stop the Scarab animation.

Giantfin: http://imgur.com/a/ylxlw

Uses Paladin. The gameplan is to stall early on with the help of board clears, then get board presence with Volcanic Drake or Anyfin to finish the boss. I can consistently win with this, I don't think I ever reached more than turn 15. Although I'm not sure if this decklist is optimal yet.

Divine Favor and Solemn Vigil are really good card draws for this boss. I usually keep Divine Favor in opening hand.

Volcanic Drake end up being really good here, there's 2 times where I win in turn 6-7 after putting two Volcanic Drakes early on the game. (And my Volcanic Drakes usually hits face most of the time)

Mind Control Tech and Sacred Trial is also useful in this boss. Saboteur might be useful, but I'm not playing a tempo deck so I'm not sure if it will be suitable for this boss.

There's probably other reliable ways of beating this boss but I haven't tried to make any other decks yet. Hunter have very good control tools for this boss (Explosive Trap, Unleash, Powershot, etc) but I can't think of a reliable way for card draw and finishing later on.

Edit: Just realized Old Murk-Eye is also useful for this boss. I think I'll replace Equality with Murk-Eye since I never really need Equality on my attempts

(Edit: Outdated strats, Paladin is better. Look below for the updated strats) Scaarvash: http://imgur.com/a/koM29

Uses Warrior. This deck is still not that consistent, maybe about 50% winrate or less. Scarvash's early game is just damn strong which prevents this deck from being consistent. There's no obvious weakness that can be countered, he have several burst cards that can kill you even if you managed to clear the board, and he even have Confuse to counter a turn-2 Doomsayer sometimes...

Gameplan is to just defend on the early game, then try to take board control later on with your minions. The main concept of this deck is to have even-cost minions and odd-cost spells. Mulligan for Doomsayer, Fiery War Axe, Explosive Sheep, Bash and Bouncing Blade.

I also put Deathwing as a last resort card. It usually works well since the boss doesnt have any removals other than Keeper of Uldaman.

I've also tried to use Priest, Paladin and Shaman, but can't make a reliable deck in those classes. There could be a lot of ways to beat this boss that I haven't thought of. So, if anyone is actually reading this and want to help, feel free to try this boss ;)

(Edit: Outdated strats, Exodia Paladin is faster. Look below for the updated strats) Rafaam Unleashed: http://imgur.com/a/4Uciz

I've tried Token Druid, where the gameplan is to have a deck that can easily build up a huge board later on in the game, and use Savage Roar/Wisps of Old Gods to score lethal when the boss isn't immune. Note that Rafaam have 2x Flamestrike and Twisting Nether for a board clear, so my deck aims to be able to easily refill the board when he used a board clear.

I normally get lethal on the 4th or 5th staff charge, though there's a few times where I got really lucky and killed him on the 3rd staff charge. Once in a while, I still lost though which might be caused by my misplays. I doubt that this is the best method since I haven't tried to think of any other methods.

Explanation on some of the card choices:

• Feral Rage/Swipe: He have lots of 4-HP minion for the early game. Feral Rage can also be used to heal later on.
• Auctionmaster Beardo: Could be used later in the game to use the hero power multiple times in order to find the artifact you need. Not that important and could easily be replaced with other cards though.
• Moonglade Portal: The heal makes it safer.
• Innervate: Not sure if I need this but I often have a large hand, so it could help in playing multiple cards.

Some other cards that can be put in this deck:

• N'zoth: I've tried to use N'zoth to make a version of the deck with N'zoth too, not sure if it's better or worse than my current version. http://imgur.com/a/1knrs
• Faceless Manipulator: Could be used to copy the 10/10 minions, but usually it'll be Entomed anyway.
• Leatherclad Hogleader: The boss often have more than 6 cards in his hand, so a 6-mana 6/6 charge should be a decent minion

Few tips on using the Artifacts:

• Left Greave (3 damage board clear): Normally I'll keep this for Rafaam's Mirror of Doom.
• Khadgar's Pipe (both players got 0-cost random card): Better to use this when the boss have 10 cards in his hand, so he won't get an extra card that might screw up our gameplan.
• Medivh's Locket (Turn your hand into Unstable Portals): Useless card, don't use this.

Edit: Token Druid is faster, I used a deck similar as the one used by Mirin.

---Old post with my old Shaman strats--- Archaedas: http://imgur.com/a/HfMuv

Uses Shaman. Gameplan is to control the board and clear his statues until you managed to dominate the board. When things are going well, the fight is normally finished at turn 8-10. Although it could be significantly slower if you don't draw the right cards (such as Evolve or Bloodlust) early enough.

I usually mulligan for the 1-mana and 2-mana cards except for Ancestral Knowledge. I'm not sure if the card composition in this deck is optimal enough.

Some other cards that might also be good in this deck: Sea Giant, Totem Golem, Whirling Zap-o-matic, Gormok.

Nice work :D

K&C Update: I'm using Token Paladin now, better average speed compared to Mage. https://imgur.com/a/So4lW

This boss have two features which really suits Paladin:

1. He have a strong early game, so you need good early game defensive tools. I've tried Token Druid but it's not consistent because it's hard to defend against his early game.
2. This boss don't have any board clears, so a token-based deck works well. Paladin got a significant boost thanks to Call to Arms.

---Old post about my old strat---

Zinaar: http://imgur.com/a/Gj7AO

Uses mage, similar to Potarry's deck. Gameplan is to control the board on the first several turns, then use one of the 'cast a spell' synergy cards to solidifies the board advantage. Seems consistent enough.

The game normally lasts 10-13 turns, though there's one time I'm lucky and the game's over in turn 8. There are probably optimizations that can be done in this deck.

Edit: After I've started doing run attempts, turns out this deck isn't as consistent as I thought, and I end up doing lots of resets on the first fight. Not sure if I was just really lucky back when I'm testing this or I played wrong. I added Doomsayer and Healbots to hopefully make the deck more consistent.

Un'goro update: The mage quest can easily be completed on this boss, but I can't think of any good way to use the quest. Anyone have any ideas?

Phaerix: http://imgur.com/a/Ve6f7

For now, I'll use a control priest. This isn't the fastest method, but it is somewhat consistent as long as you draw a Silence/SW:P/Doomsayer early to clear up his Rod, still have some chance to fail though. I've also tried Dragon Priest for a faster but riskier method. (I still haven't spend a lot of time optimizing this boss though, there's probably quite a lot of optimizations that could be made)

Even though this boss is pretty easy to beat once casually, it's pretty hard to be consistent in this boss since he doesn't have an obvious weakness to exploit (other than the fact that he have no late game minions). He hava a good early board presence, good mid-game minions, board clear from Flamestrike, and lots of burst from his weapons/spells that can easily kill your face or minions.

Shaman might be a good alternative, since Earth Shock and Hex can easily deal with the rod. Although I haven't try to play with this one.

Un'goro update: http://imgur.com/a/qhgVN Quest Priest works really well in this boss. I can consistently win even without a SW:P on Silence during the early turns, and it's also faster than the previous control priest. Although the finishing time still have quite a huge variance. Note that if the Rod goes to your side, it'll count for the quest since the Rod is a Deathrattle minion.

K&C update: After the recent major patch (with nerfs on Raza etc), this boss is a bit bugged. The first copy of Rod of the Sun won't have the +3/3 buff, which makes the early game easier. It'll regain the buff though if Phaerix managed to resummon the Rod by killing your own Rod.

Witchwood update: The Rod bug is fixed, and the Rod is now buffed as how it was supposed to.

I found out that the Priest Quest isn't that useful and I made huge changes to the decklist so it's now a regular Midrange Priest. https://imgur.com/a/72Csowf Hemet Jungle Hunter turns out to be a really useful for late game, since it guarantees you to draw other big minions during late game. Squashling is also a really solid card overall, since you sometimes need healing against this boss and it's really flexible to use.

New strategy for Rafaam Unleashed with the new Paladin hero card?

All you need to have is Auctionmaster Beardo + Ysera's Tear + 2 more 0-cost spells (1-cost spells from your own deck will also work, such as Humility).

One of the main advantage of this strategy is that the DK Uther's hero power will probably bypass Rafaam's immunity.

New trick for heroic Chieftain Scarvash, his hero power set the cost of your cards to 11. With the new way of how Giants work, your Molten Giant will be 14 mana cheaper, and you can potentially play a 0-mana 8/8 on turn 3 with 19 HP.

Although it probably won't break the game, and he is probably still a hard boss even if you got the minion on turn 3. If you only have 19 HP at turn 3, there's a huge chance you'll die pretty soon 4Head Still should be a solid card to put in the deck though.

Rafaam Unleashed with Exodia Paladin: https://imgur.com/a/xhdTC AAEBAZ8FBu0F1hGnFZ29AvDCAo7TAgyKAfsBnALcA/QF1gb2B/gHjwndCvkMiq4CAA==

Uses Uther DK + Auctionmaster Beardo + Emperor Thaurisaan (or Ysera's Tear, although you can't reliably get a Ysera's Tear). This deck wins around turn 10 - 16, while the old Druid deck usually wins at turn 13 (4th charge) or 16 (5th charge). As for the time, this deck takes 3.5-6 minutes to win, while my old Druid deck takes 5-8 minutes.

If you got a choice between drawing cards (Novice Engineer/Loot Hoarder) or using your Hero Power, it's mostly better to draw cards, since our priority is to get the combo pieces as quick as possible.

Although there's still a bit of chance to lose, especially if you can't efficiently remove his Scarvash. It's also pretty hard to play this deck fast.

Made a video to show this strategy, since I'm not planning to do a heroic run anytime soon.

Scarvash with Paladin: https://imgur.com/a/haWz4

Significantly better winrate and speed compared to the old Warrior deck. Molten Giant, Sunkeeper Tarim and Ivory Knight are really useful. Although you'll still want to mulligan for your early game cards (including Molten Giant).

Doubt the list is optimal yet though. I have Deathwing in this list although I never need to use it, so you can replace it with any other card (Maybe another late-game minion such as the Lich King, or a 4-mana minion such as Sen'jin Shieldmasta).

Naz'jar update: I just recently realised that Corridor Creeper is a really good minion for Naz'jar. My 59:40 PB still don't have Corridor Creeper in the decklist.

https://imgur.com/a/94QbtPV Here's a version of the hunter decklist that I tried with Corridor Creeper. I also switched some 2-drops into 1-drops, not sure if it's better or not.

The bad thing about Corridor Creeper is that there are lots of understatted 7-drops, so they often transform into a minion whose stats are only worth 5 or 6 mana.