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Priest has had an interesting meta in Hearthstone with the release of cards from Journey to Un'Goro, Knights of the Frozen Throne and Kobolds & Catacombs. These sets will be rotating out in 2019 and Priest will be losing some great cards. Before the 2018 Standard Rotation, Big Priest was the menace in both Standard and Wild. Play only big minions in your deck (except Barnes), Shadow Essence and Eternal Servitude and you have an army of big minions.
Although that deck is not a problem in Standard anymore, Priest's meta will change and maybe for the worse (depends on the cards from the next expansion). Check out our pieces on Druid, Hunter, Mage and Paladin. Here are the most impactful cards leaving Standard in 2019 for Priest.
#5. Psychic Scream
Expansion: Kobolds & Catacombs
Psychic Scream is a powerful board clear for Priest. Although it doesn't kill any minions, Psychic Scream can shuffle many useless token minions or buffed minions into your opponent's deck. It also stuffs their deck and the chances of drawing good become significantly lower. A good anti-top deck spell!
Priest does not have powerful board clears. Holy Nova and Spirit Lash deal only 2 and 1 damage respectively and that's why Psychic Scream is so powerful
#4. Radiant Elemental
Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro
Someday I'll be just like you! Oh wait, wrong class. Radiant Elemental is a really strong 2-drop for Priest, which gives you 0 mana Power Word: Shield, 0 mana Inner Fire, 1 mana Divine Spirit and more. The one mana discount on spells is extremely useful for Priest. It was initially used to combo with Lyra and get multiple Priest spells. But Radiant Elemental found a place in many decks, including the weird but wildly popular deck APM Priest.
#3. Duskbreaker
Expansion: Kobolds & Catacombs
Duskbreaker is extremely strong for its Mana cost. At 4 mana, dealing 3 damage to all minions is not something other classes have. Although it is conditional with having a Dragon, Priest already has many Dragons in its pool of cards. Even in non-Dragon focused decks, Duskbreaker was an auto-include because like I mentioned earlier, Priest has weak board clears. Even though Psychic Scream was released in the same set, Duskbreaker at least kills minions.
#2. Shadowreaper Anduin
Expansion: Knights of the Frozen Throne
Shadowreaper Anduin is an extremely strong Death Knight card. It removes minions with 5 or more attack and his Hero Power puts the classic card Shadowform to shame. There was a time when Raza the Chained was in the meta and made your hero power 0, which gave birth to Machine Gun Priest. Even after Raza rotated out, Shadowreaper Anduin was included in many Priest decks to deal with big minions and deal lots of damage.
#1. Shadow Visions
Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro
Shadow Visions is a perfectly balanced card which now sees over 90% inclusions in all Priest decks in the game. You can double Seance to get a copy of a minion, double Mind Blast to get 10 damage, double Psychic Scream for the extra clear and more. Cards like this are not seen often in Hearthstone, so let's hope Blizzard prints more balanced cards like it!
Honourable Mentions
Awaken the Makers
Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro
Awaken the Makers is a Quest which is also very balanced. It is not OP and takes a while to finish the quest. Getting 40 health doesn't make you immortal but it is quite powerful when you summon Amara. The Quest was used in many different meta decks over the past 2 years, most recently in Mecha'thun Priest.
Lyra the Sunshard
Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro
Lyra was released parallel with Awaken the Makers and saw a great amount of play in many Priest decks. Even though it is a little RNG dependent, Lyra proved to be surprisingly strong especially when combined with Radiant Elemental.
Obsidian Statue
Expansion: Knights of the Frozen Throne
Initially used as a Big Priest tool, Obsidian Statue is also a surprisingly balanced card. It is balanced if you play it on Turn 9, not turn 4 or 5. It has a strong death rattle, a lot of health for a taunt and the ability for your hero to gain back a lot of life.
Archbishop Benedictus
Expansion: Knights of the Frozen Throne
Archbishop Benedictus is by no means a good card. He was always used as a meme card, to copy your opponent's deck and use it against them. Archbishop Benedictus can also make you avoid fatigue or delay fatigue in case you draw too much too fast. There is no card quite like him and he will be sorely missed!
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