First off, I know I am going to get hate for this one. But, as I have always done, I will discuss the deck I played and the state of the meta. I was able to go from Bronze from reset to this rank in 2 play sessions. The second one being about 5 hours of gameplay.
I played Lamplighter Rogue. Feel free to throw the tomatoes, but at the current high ranks it is NOT a popular deck. I would say at minimum 40% of my matches were against Chalice/Concierge Druid. I consider how many losses I handed out to Druids on my climb to be a public service.
I want to talk a bit more about the current meta before jumping into the deck. Right now there are a few very powerful decks at high ranks that I saw more than others. In order of prevalence: Chalice OTK druid by far, Hydration Warrior, Pirate Shaman, OnlySpells Mage(surprised by how many), Lamplighter Mage, then finally Lamplighter Rogue. I was incredibly surprised by how few I saw, but I have a few ideas as to why.
Talking about Druid first. The deck is insane. There is no other way of putting it. The consistency it has with 3 ramp spells combined with a ton of draw make it one of the most consistent decks I have ever played against. Its biggest weakness is it often has a very slow start and begins popping off turn 4 and after. Turn 3 if they coin/innervate into ramp. If you can force them to burn resources to not die you can put yourself in an incredible position for the mid game. Countless games I would curve 1 2 3 with elementals and then Preparation Dubious Purchase a dragon, play another elemental, then go for face. More often than not by turn 6 Lamplighter + Shadowstep gets the job done. That being said, the deck can 100% pop off turns 4-6 if you are not putting on full pressure and they get fantastic draws.
Hydration Warrior, my poor poor control deck. This is by far my FAVORITE match. They are literally a free win. This version of warrior has become so insanely greedy that the 1st 5 turns are them just doing nothing but trying to kill off your elementals or drawing cards and immediately dying. I will say. If Lamplighter did not exist, winning this match would become nearly impossible. Getting passed looped Ziliax is just not viable.
Pirate Shaman is by far one of the hardest if not the worst matchup. They agro better, trade better, and can just pop off with Wave of Nostalgia and you get crushed by damage. It is winnable, but definitely favored hard for Shaman.
OnlySpells mage is a very strange matchup. I would definitely say Rogue is favored, but sometimes Mage just has every answer and can do a Chalice/Go With The Flow/Elemental Companion combo and you lose on turn 5. They sometimes also get Cosmic Keyboard out and some sick picks off Spot the Difference and get burned out. Hard mulligan to be aggressive and you should have a positive win rate vs it though.
Lamplighter mage has way better elementals than you do. Overflow Surger is backbreaking and you really have no good way of dealing with it. It is pretty even.
Finally I will speak on the Lamplighter Rogue mirror. The more aggressive Rogue almost always wins. Most games I did not wait to combo with Lamplighter. I used to for tempo and to hold board control. Once you lose the board in the mirror it is almost impossible to bring it back. Then you can often finish the job by Breakdancing/Shadowstepping a Lamplighter that’s been beating face for a turn or two.
Discussing Lamplighter Rogue:
I know people hate Lamplighter. I get it. But, I think it is currently a necessary evil with Ziliax and OTK Druid running rampant.
Pros:
It is tailor made for punishing all the greedy combo/control decks that are taking up the majority of the ladder. It does well against midrange decks and and can defeat Paladin handbuff and swarm. It is pretty consistent. You have a pretty good amount of draw.
Cons:
Hyperagro just takes you out. AS IT SHOULD! If you do not see your draw then you run out of gas very fast. Your minion, aside from Lamplighter, are honestly just mediocre compared to other minions. Having a Flame Revenant live for a turn drastically changes how good the deck can play the agro strategy.
How to play:
Play curvestone with elementals. This is 100% true for the first three turns. After that you need to be deciding if you are going to use Lamplighters for tempo or for combo. I feel like many players will hold onto them for way too long thinking they HAVE to combo. If a Lamplighter can kill a 5/5 taunt and let your 4 minions swing in for good damage, do it! Now, it is best to do this if you have a way to bring it back to hand, IE Breakdance or Shadowstep. This is also paramount to setting up for Sonya plays your opponent may not have realized were coming. I have also lost count of how many times I used Breakdance on Eroded Sediment. Do not be a miser with your Breakdances. Be thinking a couple turns ahead. Imagine what your opponent can do and plan accordingly. Will they have 7 mana as a Warrior/Druid? Are they going to gain 15 armor? How much life/armor could they maximally gain the turn before you plan to combo? Always be thinking about these things.
Is the deck strong? Yes. Incredibly so. Do I think Lamplighter needs to be nerfed? No. Agro decks chew this deck up very easily. I would say that a hefty amount of my climb’s success was because I face well over 50% greedy control/combo warrior and druids.
Deck code for those that care! I did brew this myself and I have no idea if it is close or not to anyone else’s build:
Elemental
Class: Rogue
Format: Standard
Year of the Pegasus
2x (0) Preparation
2x (0) Shadowstep
2x (1) Breakdance
2x (1) Fire Fly
2x (1) Gear Shift
2x (1) Glacial Shard
2x (1) Tar Slime
2x (2) Flame Revenant
1x (2) Hidden Gem
2x (2) Quick Pick
2x (2) Rolling Stone
2x (2) Shale Spider
2x (3) Eroded Sediment
2x (3) Lamplighter
2x (4) Dubious Purchase
1x (4) Sonya Waterdancer
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