A lot of the hype before the Realm Championships was surrounding the Lionar the Blood Cursed Orgrimmar aggro deck that took some very hardy Orcs, threw in their capital city, a few bits of spot removal, and then ran riot over the majority of the opposition. It was thought to be both the fastest and most accessible deck in the format, but one man was set to prove everybody wrong with his incredibly fast Witch Doctor Koo’zar rush deck. The man in question was Andrew Farrel who stomped to a second Realm Championship victory after beating down Darkmoon Faire San Francisco Champion Rob Victory. The deck has grown in popularity, drawing on the synergy between Koo’zar’s flip and the Priest’s array of Shadowfiends to claw away at the opponent so fast they don’t even have the time to bleed out. The deck is being piloted by a number of players this weekend, including Jordi Sunol from Spain.

The most startling aspect of the deck is that nearly every card in it is brought along as a playset, something that has not been seen very frequently in the last few Faires. Bloodsoul and Offender Gora, synonymous with any Horde aggro deck, are joined by Waz’luk in a deck that is defined by efficiency rather than race. The Troll Mage is not as chunky as his Orc Warlock counterpart, but his immediate 1 fire damage on entering play means that he is rarely a dead top-deck late game and can force through those final points of damage. The deck then curves up into Kagella Shadowmark and Shadowfiend to bring heavy damage at a steam-roller pace, with Marksman Glous helping the resource shenanigans so that Woe or Grow, Dispel Magic and Shadow Word: Death can do their thing without a tempo loss incurred by the Priest player.

The tricks curve out with a quest base eager to draw two cards per completed mission. Orders from Lady Vashj, Akama’s Promise and Falling to Corruption encourage the player to just drop their allies into play and rush down hard against the opponent. Finkle Einhorn, At Your Service allows for the rejuvenation of once dead allies, and it’s clear that this is a very fast deck that just wants to throw bodies all over Azeroth to achieve victory.

Of course, no deck would be complete without a trick or two, and Power Word: Courage from Arena Grand Melee bulks up every ally in your party, making common removal abilities like Gut Shot and Steal Essence worth less than the paper they’re printed on. A bulky 2/4 Bloodsoul is a lot harder to deal with than the one with three, allowing the Priest to get more legwork out of him and help push through those final points of damage.

Jordi just faced off against Brad Watson’s Plague Demonsoul in round two, so the deck will have to overcome very stiff opposition to ensure a Top 8 finish.