I’m Nikica, a fairly new player in Legends but I have played a ton of Hearthstone and have used that experience to get to legend fast in this game. My highest legend rank was #3. This article will be an in-depth analysis of Ramp Scout by a guy that has exclusively played it!

I will start with a summary of the deck and basics of how to play it. After that we will go into some details.

Ramp Scout is, in my opinion, the most powerful control deck in the game. This is largely

due to Hist Grove and Blood Magic Lord being super valuable cards that, with a lot of magicka, can fill a board in one turn and overwhelm your opponent. This deck requires a deep understanding of the game since you need to manage your resources well, take face damage for card draw, and stop your opponent from gaining momentum at just the right time. This is harder then it might sound since good players will wait, build a board, and only attack face when they feel like they have what they need to close the game.

Unlike Midrange and Aggro decks, this means you will sometimes pass turns even though you have a perfect answer for the threat that´s on board. You do this to encourage your opponent to go face so you draw cards from your runes.

Depending on the meta you find yourself in, you can make all kinds of card substitutions and still have a deck that challenges everything. Scroll down to see what substitutions you can make to deal with different threats.

Card Choices

The Varanis Courier is the latest addition to my Ramp Scout. This card serves to fill out turn three, challenging a sea of early 1-health creatures, most notably Slaughterfish Spawning that has gained a lot of popularity in constructed decks. In control matchups this card is valuable for the cycle, getting you to the good stuff in your deck.

The Giant Snake can straight up win you games against Aggro and Midrange decks. The card completely cuts off your opponent’s tempo allowing you to not take damage, which is the equivalent of healing. It also lets you use your superior magicka to build a board and pick off the shackled minions in a way that suits you. The longer you can go without using the Snake, the greater its effect will be. This is a must have card in this deck. It is superior to Restless Templar which is vulnerable to silence and gets its healing effect on turn five at the earliest just like the Giant Snake.

Murkwater Witch is also a card that`s a must-have to combat the 1-health creatures and ping unreachable creatures that you can finish off.

Wabbajack is a card I originally put in for fun but has proven to be invaluable in control matchups. Silence is a premium feature in this game and you can not have enough Shadowfen Priests. This is where Wabbajack steps in to deal with Blood Magic Lord and other big threats. You can also use it to buff your own weaker creatures for tempo.

The Snake Tooth Necklaces are your healing. You only need one to recover with the help of a big creature but you put in three to draw the one. If you do draw more then one in an Aggro matchup, you can use one to make a favorable trade and effectively give that creature Guard.

Shadow Shift is not just cycle. Your opponent is likely to ignore a Fighters Guild Recruit that`s in the other lane even though they can deal with it. Shadow Shift makes them regret that and allow you to take out any target.

I think that the rest of my deck is very standard Ramp Scout stuff so I wont get into those choices to much. There used to be some discussion about putting in Night Talon Lord over BML but since I  haven’t seen any Night Talon Lords in a long time, I think that discussion is over.

Substitutions

The number one substitution that people bring up and that I consider is Leaflurker over Finish Off. Its not hard to justify. For the cost of three more magicka you get a 4/3 body and you can target Nahagliiv. Nahagliiv is a serious threat to this deck as it is. Feel free to make this substitution but know that it will make you slower versus Aggro.

If you are struggling against Aggro you can remove shadow shift for Wind Keep Spellsword. You can also remove Varanis Courier for Blacksap Protector. I wouldn’t go Midnight Sweep instead of Protector since you often defend only one lane vs Aggro and Midnight Sweep is a bit underwhelming in those situations.

If you want to have a bigger edge in control matchups, mainly replace Finnish off with Leaflurkers. You can aslo cut a Snake Tooth Necklace for one Territorial Viper and cut the Giant Snakes for Enchanted Plates . That`s as  greedy i can imagine someone being on the ladder. You basically want card draw, ramp and removal in control matchups.

Matchups/Questions

Its difficult to cover all the matchups in this game in detail, but I will bring up some of the most important poor ones.

Combo Battlemage is a hard matchup for Ramp Scout. They largely bypass taunts using Silence and threaten lethal the moment you lose a bit of health. One Supreme Atromancer and two Raiding Parties does sixteen damage from hand on turn nine. This reminds me of the Savage Roar Hearthstone combo now that I think about it, but it’s even more powerful. This is a matchup I would like to practice and really grind out. The good news about the matchup is that it’s fun to play!

The fastest Aggro decks, on the other hand, are not so fun to play and can be very linear. If they get the Elixir of Magicka they can simply fill a lane and overrun you. I say take those losses and move on. Aggro doesn’t always get those openings and the point of playing Aggro is that sometimes you are able to get those plays. This deck is still more consistent than any Aggro deck as far as i know.

Some common questions:

Q: Why don’t you bring your opponents health down to 26 ?

A: My opponent’s health is a resource that I can use to refill my health when the time comes using Drain without breaking additional runes.

Q: Why no Night Shadow ?

A: This form of healing is expensive, vulnerable to silence, and can even be Cast Out into your hand by the Action and Belligerent Giants. The main reason though is that the card has Breakthrough which might give your opponent cards.

That`s all I can think of for now. I stream often so feel free to check me out. I hope i have inspired people to play this deck since I will be playing Battlemage!

Have fun!

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