Hearthstone: Deck Guide - Protoss Priest (StarCraft is Back!)

Patch 33.0.3 nerfed some of the strongest decks from the first few weeks of The Lost City of Un'Goro, but it also opened some space for new decks to triumph.

Priest was one of the classes that changed considerably after this patch. In fact, Fishing Priest is significantly less dominant now that Brain Masseuse and Menagerie Jug were nerfed.

On the other side, a new Protoss list that plays some cards from the Heroes of StarCraft miniset started winning a lot more than other current decks. Nowadays, Protoss Priest has a 58.1% win rate on HSReplay, which is more than Fishing Priest itself (data taken on July 22nd, 2025).

Another detail that sets this list apart from the others is that it only plays one legendary card and four epic cards. This means it costs less Arcane Dust to craft than most meta lists.

We at Cards Realm decided to try out Protoss Priest and then write this guide to show you its main cards, win conditions, matchups, and how to mulligan with it. Check it out!

Unlike other Protoss lists (which play as many Protoss cards as possible), this list doesn't even play the legendary Artanis.

The main strategy is discounting the cost of your Protoss minions with cheap cards that also help you survive through the earlier turns, like Photon Cannon and Sentry. Then, all you have to do is play Mothership.

Artanis doesn't fit this strategy all that well because it is more expensive, and you want to play your Protoss cards for cheap as soon as possible. Besides, without it, this deck costs far less Arcane Dust, so it is more viable for new players or free-to-play players.

Usually, you'll be able to discount your Protoss cards four or five times, so Mothership will cost 8 mana or less. Most importantly, the minions it will give you will also cost less, so, as soon as you play these cards, you'll be full of resources that cost zero mana or one mana - just like the image below.

Your goal, then, is to survive until you can get to this stage, which is practically lethal for your opponent.

Now that we know the main game plan, let's go through the main cards.

Main Cards

Because this list is a bit slower than usual (after all, you'll often play your win condition on turn 8), you should always have many ways to handle early game pressure, such as low-cost minions. Trusty Fishing Rod and Catch of the Day, for instance, are crucial. With the Rod, you'll be able to remove minions with 1 life and also summon a 3/3 with rush.

You must have realized that these are Hunter cards. That's because, just like Fishing Priest, this list plays Chillin' Voljin as well. This single legendary card lets us use cards from this other class.

Other tools that will help you survive are Holy Smite, Power Word: Shield, and Orbital Halo. The last two cards are only useful indirectly, as they buff and give Divine Shield to a minion. Nonetheless, you can then use this buffed minion to kill more enemy cards through combat.

Some Protoss cards are very useful in that sense as well. Sentry has Lifesteal and Photon Cannon is a removal, so they're excellent. They're also often the first cards you'll use to discount the other cards. Void Ray is another relevant Protoss card, as it has Rush and Divine Shield. It will be able to kill many enemy minions quite easily, particularly if it costs zero and its other effect is active.

Finally, when you run out of ways to fight early game pressure, you can just use Resuscitate and create another headache for your opponent.

You'll always bring back Catch of the Day as your 1-cost minion and Sentry as your 2-cost minion, which, by itself, is already great. You'll have a minion with Rush to clear the board and a 2/2 with Lifesteal to take a break in the next turn. They'll also have Reborn, so Sentry's Deathrattle discount will trigger two extra times.

Now, as for your 3-cost minion, it can be both Void Ray and the Zealot Chrono Boost summons. Regardless of what you get, they'll be able to attack on the turn you cast Resuscitate.

If you stay alive and discount the cost of your cards, you'll be set to play Mothership in the final rounds and win. Both its Battlecry and Deathrattle give you Protoss cards - and they'll all cost less mana than usual.

And, because Mothership is a big minion with Taunt, you won't be as vulnerable to attacks as you would otherwise. Your opponent will hardly be able to go through it and deal damage to your Hero directly, for instance.

The last card we'll mention is Hallucination. This spell will create a copy of an allied Protoss, but it will take double damage.

You can use it on a Sentry for more Lifesteal and a way to discount the cost of your cards, or on Mothership if you need to build a solid board and add more resources to your hand.

The fact this copy will take double damage isn't relevant at all. What does matter is that it will have the same stats, effects, and keywords as the original minion. So, if you buff a Mothership with Divine Shield and more life - with Power Word: Shield and Orbital Halo, for instance - the copy will also have these buffs. In fact, it will have the same Deathrattle, so it will give you other minions as well.

The image below is a perfect example of how Hallucination can completely transform a match. With just one mana, I created a copy of an 11/11 minion with Taunt and Divine Shield. It also gave me 2 Protoss minions when it finally died.

This deck's win condition is quite specific: it's the combo we showed above. A copy of Mothership (particularly if it's already buffed) is nearly always enough to win a match.

If you play a Mothership from your hand and copy it with Hallucination, you'll be able to create 6 Protoss minions in your hand, and they'll all cost four or five mana less. Even if your opponent manages to defeat Mothership and its copies, you'll still have enough resources to rebuild your board, just like the image below:

Your mulligan will nearly always be the same.

I don't recommend you look for Catch of the Day, even though it is your only 1-cost minion. You actually want to summon it with Trusty Fishing Rod to filter your deck and to also not give a 2/1 minion to your opponent. So, focus on getting this weapon.

Obviously, Protoss cards that discount the cost of your other cards are your priority. Always look for Sentry and Photon Cannon.

Aggro

Protoss Priest performs really well against aggro decks, including Quest Paladin, which has become stronger ever since The Lost City of Un'Goro came out. Mulligan as always, but also keep resources like Holy Smite and Orbital Halo. They'll be very helpful early on.

Always remove enemy minions, and try not to lose that much life that early. You need to stay alive until you can play Mothership.

Overall, you can follow your standard game plan step by step. Fast lists tend to put pressure on their opponents with minions, so just use your resources to remove them. You'll probably win the match if you do.

Control

You'll need to keep a few details in mind to win this matchup. Slow decks play just a few minions, sometimes none at all (like Quest Mage), so you won't be able to activate Photon Cannon as usual.

In these situations, you need to be creative: from playing Catch of the Day directly from your hand so you can use Photon Cannon on the 2/1 minion it will summon to using this spell on one of your own minions, such as Sentry. You need to discount the cost of your cards, after all.

Control decks are also known for their many removals, including ones that kill big minions. So, more than ever, you'll have to discount the cost of Mothership as soon as possible.

Even if they can deal with one or two of your giant minions on turns 7 or 8, they'll struggle to remove all the other Protoss cards you'll play next for very little mana. So, this is still your main win condition.

Protoss Priest is back in the meta. I highly recommend this budget version, particularly if you're a free-to-play player or if you want to revisit some mechanics from Heroes of StarCraft.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!