Enemy drawing into a combo? Taking you down with the super-powerful Dragonqueen Alexstrasza and Zephrys the Great? Tough luck, their deck is now filled with useless 1/1 Albatross. Navigation: We’ve got a lot of information on the history of the albatross in folklore and superstition, but if you’re just here for some hardcore deck list action, click through this section.
The History of the Albatross The Deck List Guide
The History of the Albatross
Why is it called the ‘Bad Luck Albatross’?
In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge illustrates the folly of murdering an albatross. The beast had brought the Mariner and his crew great fortune. They believed it had led them out of the icy Antarctic after a terrible storm, and brought about a south wind to steer them to safety. Despite this, the Mariner shot it down with his crossbow, and the crew were furious. They changed their mind, however, when the boat began float into warmer waters. They grew to regret this change of heart. Malevolent spirits stalked the ship, and the wind that had once blessed the crew took them into uncharted waters with no way out. Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. The crew grew thirsty, and blamed the Mariner for their thirst. They were unable to speak, and forced the Mariner to wear the dead albatross around his neck as punishment for his crime, or perhaps to signify to the evil spirits regret for their actions. Ah! well a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung. The crew are visited by Death and Life-in-Death. Casting dice amongst themselves, the ghostly skeleton Death wins the lives of the crew members, whilst Life-in-Death is given dominion over the Mariner. His life will be a fate worse than death. Whilst all the crew members die, he remains suffering as punishment for killing the albatross. The many men, so beautiful! And they all dead did lie: And a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I. Through his suffering, the Mariner eventually begins to appreciate the sea creatures and their beauty. As he prays and blesses them, the albatross fell from his neck, ‘like lead into the sea’. The reanimated bodies of the crew steer the ship towards the Mariner’s homeland, and the ship is swallowed up by a whirlpool. A local hermit brings a boat out to rescue the Mariner, and is shocked to discover the Mariner still living. The Hermit prays while the Mariner rows furiously towards his homeland, finally ending his cursed journey. And now, all in my own countree, I stood on the firm land! The Hermit stepped forth from the boat, And scarcely he could stand. His cursed journey is not over, though. The guilt rides with the Mariner, causing him great agony. The Mariner is compelled to tell this tale to whomever he meets for the rest of his life, lest the sin continue to weigh him down. The wedding guest being told this story leaves, and is forever changed by the Mariner’s tale. The lesson learned from that cursed voyage must be relayed to as many as possible. So lonely and hopeless was the Mariner, and he will continue telling his dreadful tale to whomever will listen. He went like one that hath been stunned, And is of sense forlorn: A sadder and a wiser man, He rose the morrow morn. Anyway, here’s our deck list and how best to pilot it. Your opponent will tell the tale of their suffering for years to come.
Albatross Priest deck list and strategy
We’ve updated the Bad Luck Albatross deck list after testing it out in the Ashes of Outland meta - here’s what we’ve come up with. Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game. Deck Import ID: AAECAa0GBM6+A9MKk5sDn6kDDZibA6ylA5mpA++SA/2wA7alA9msA8kGr6UDptUDgpQDlroDmZsDAA== General strategy
- Best Budget Decks - Hearthstone: Best Budget Decks 2. Tier List - Hearthstone deck tier list (Ashes of Outland) 3. Resurrect Priest - Resurrect Priest deck list guide (Ashes of Outland) 4. Albatross Priest - Albatross Priest deck list guide (Ashes of Outland) 5. Highlander Priest - Highlander Priest deck list guide (Ashes of Outland) 6. Quest Resurrect Priest - Quest Resurrect Priest deck list guide (Ashes of Outland) 7. Quest Priest - Quest Priest deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
Your win condition is frustration. You want to be shuffling as many 1/1 albatross into your opponent’s deck as possible, and with all your potential resurrection and Deathrattle effects, this shouldn’t be too difficult. Your main worry is aggressive enemies, so keep an eye out and plan accordingly. Early Game: It’s essential you draw Bad Luck Albatross as quickly as possible, but you have some survival tools until then. Shadow Word: Death now costs 2 mana rather than 3, and Penance works to heal you and get a pesky enemy out of your way. For the early game, you’re looking to stay alive, so this might not even be wholly necessary for the start of the match. If you’re up against control or combo opponents especially, you’re in for a treat, and it might even be best to avoid polluting your resurrection pool to give you more of a chance to get Bad Luck Albatross back. Mid Game: By this point in the game you’ve hopefully got a Bad Luck Albatross on board. If any survive, you can start playing cards like Psyche Split and Grave Rune, as well as Embalming Ritual and Shadowy Figure to get even more Deathrattle triggers. It’s a true torturous experience for your opponent. A fate worse than death, as the Mariner from Coleridge’s tale suffered, constantly haunted by the albatross he killed. Psychopomp can bring back your Bad Luck Albatross too if you’re lucky, and Shadowy Figure is another way to copy it when it’s already on board. Reliquary Prime (and Reliqiuary of Souls) is strong when you’re resurrecting things too, and if you end up failing to get the Bad Luck Albatross coming in constantly, it’s well worth having this super-strong backup. Late Game: Later on in the game, your opponent should hopefully be running low on fuel. Their deck filled to the brim with 1/1 albatross, they’ll be on their last legs. Rub salt in the wound with your big ticket cards - Mass Resurrection and Catrina Muerte. These give you the chance for even more Bad Luck Albatross, but also allow you to raise from the dead other strong minions like more Catrina Muertes and Convincing Infiltrators. Reliquary of Souls, if you can get a few copies resurrected, can protect you from fatigue for a bit longer too if necessary.
Albatross Priest Mulligan Guide
Below is our guide on what to keep in your opening hand when playing Albatross Priest.
- Bad Luck Albatross obviously needs to be there. At 3 mana (and with good stats!) you can get it into your resurrection pool, or start duplicating it if your opponent can’t immediately kill it.
- Forbidden Words can kill almost any minion, and early on you’ll be needing this one to foil your foes’ plans to get ahead early.
- Reliquary of Souls can contest the board early and slow down enemy aggression.
Albatross Priest tips, combos and synergies
Below are some tips for how to best play Albatross Priest in the upcoming Ashes of Outland meta:
- Remember: Bad Luck Albatross is your win condition, but you can always grab a win out of nowhere with Divine Spirit and Inner Fire.
- Wretched Reclaimer triggers Bad Luck Albatross’ Deathrattle and brings it back to life, giving you a huge amount of value and your opponent absolutely none.
- Augmented Elekk isn’t essential to this deck’s success, but if you can double up on Bad Luck Albatross’ Deathrattle, you’ll be in a great place.
- Shuffling lots of 1/1 albatross into your opponent’s deck cancels out any bonus they’d get from playing a Highlander deck. This means the likes of Dinotamer Brann, Dragonqueen Alexstrasza, and Zephrys the Great won’t trigger their Battlecries when played.
- Grave Rune obviously works great with Bad Luck Albatross, but you can add it to Injured Tol’vir if you’re worried about getting shanked by aggro decks.
- Think of the Mariner when you play this deck. The point is to make your opponent have as bad a time as possible, so play as if you’re an evil spirit haunting a doomed voyage. We’ve found that helps in life too.
