Once all-powerful, demons trampled in Battlegrounds mode without worrying about a rival. But in Hearthstone, nothing is ever settled, and the nerf to Floating Watcher has drastically reduced their popularity and effectiveness. Still, they haven't lost any of their greatness, and they can be just as dreadful as the other tribes. The purpose of this guide is to show you how to build a terrifying demonic composition.
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Overall strategy
The nerf to Floating Watcher has changed a few small technical details. The fact that he's now a Tier 4 minion slows down the rise of a demon composition. But it remains a good minion and can quickly be boosted if you still have enough life points in reserve for it.
Then, starting from the idea that you need this minion, you will have to protect your hero before finding it. It is necessary to privilege a solid board, even if it is not composed only of demons, in order to avoid losses and to still have enough life points to buff your Floating Watcher during the mid-game. The optimal situation is to have 30 life points or more when you find it.
Early game
The only minion you will recruit on turn 1 that is not a demon, but will stay until the end, is the Wrath Weaver. It's more than obvious that you have to have him on your side of the board from the start. You can quickly take advantage of its passive, which will be essential to buff your Floating Watcher in the mid-game. Once you have it, all the other demon minions are good choices. You'll have to choose between, the Vulgar Homunculus with his very good stats and the Fiendish Servant. The choice is complex and will require a good analysis of the situation. Don't forget, you must preserve your health points. If you want a Wrath Weaver that ensures your win, you should restrain yourself from leveling-up the tavern quickly.
You can find another demon on turn 2, level up and roll on turn 3 and choose 2 demons on turn 4, ideally Imprisoner and Nathrezim Overseer. Alternatively, take useful minions to help you win your next duels. Do so until mid-game. This is a rather slow strategy, but it allows you to avoid losing too many health points instead of quickly leveling up to find the Floating Watcher. Once the tavern at level 3, the Soul Juggler offers a very powerful synergy in early/mid game with the Imp Gang Boss and the Imprisoner.
As the opposing minions are still quite weak, the 3 points of damage inflicted by the Soul Juggler, each time a demon dies on your side, can chew up your work. The Crystalweaver is not bad at this point of the game either, if you have a few demons, and his body can be useful.
Mid game
You got here safely and you still have a lot of life points. You find the Floating Watcher on a lucky triple or after the level up of the tavern. This is the turning point of your game. From now on, you'll only play demons to buff your Floating Watcher as much as possible through your Wrath Weaver.
If you find a second one quickly, the underworld is on your side. The rest of your game will consist of recruiting a lot of demons to boost your board as much as possible.
Make sure you have a powerful taunt minion, such as a Siegebreaker, in order to protect minions such as a Soul Juggler. Avoid putting a Defender of Argus on two floating Watchers, you must be able to protect them from potential servants with toxicity so that you don't lose them at the beginning of the fight. Chain the Nathrezim Overseer and the Crystalweavers, sacrifice your life points, become powerful.
Late game
You don't have many life points left, but your minions are already breaking records. Don't hesitate to continue to sacrifice your health points by recruiting for example the Voidlord. The repops 1/3 will add demons to be sacrificed for the Soul Juggler, in addition to continuing to protect him from a cleave. It is also important to recruit the Annihilan Battlemaster. His life points will adjust to all those you have lost, hence the interest in going as low as possible. Then, if you still have the means to buff your other demons, do not hesitate to put everything on this last minion.
It will complete your collection of unmanageable demons. If you want to have room to do the Brann Bronzebeard/Annihilan Battlemaster combo, remove the Soul Juggler.
The particularity of the demon archetype is that it is not necessary to level up the tavern to level 6. As a general rule, you will already have your final board before you get there, and then, unless your opponents force you to, you won't need a level 6 minion.
Cards that make a difference:
Mal'Ganis
Sometimes you will have done your job so well that Mal'Ganis will not have to be recruited. But some times, you will be stuck at 1 life point without being able to put a demon to buff the others. That's where Mal'Ganis comes in. At the expense of the Floating Watcher buff, he will allow you to avoid dying from Wrath Weaver while continuing to pose demons to boost it. As a rule, his recruitment betrays an early game that didn't go as planned. It is strongly advised to find it on the level up at level 5 to continue to boost your board if you have lost too many health points during your game.
To play with darkness, you have to make sacrifices. Only when you're on the brink of agony can you find victory!
