It has been a while since I’ve done a Hearthstone deck guide. Despondency had overwhelmed me due to overplaying the game and the lack of deck diversity on ladder. Like always though, Blizzard hooked me back in with the news of the release of the upcoming expansion:
Whispers of the Old Gods. Over the weekend, I’ve had to travel to Massachusetts from New Jersey (4-6 hour drive) and I was able to get some games in thanks to my lovely girlfriend chauffeuring me there and back. Since I had a lot of time to kill, I scoured the internet in search of an indestructible control deck to play. And after searching for over 20 seconds, I found it; an extremely slow control warrior deck that has an incredible win percentage. The German streamer Biood, created this deck and got into the top 30 on the EU ladder with a seventy percent win rate! So if you’ve got 20-30 mins to kill per game, and want a high win-percentage, then this is the deck for you!
How to Play:
Like most Warrior decks, the key to success is to outlast the opponent. Over the past few seasons, Warrior decks have slowly evolved into what we see today, which is less taunt and high-costed minions, and more spells and removal. More than half of this deck consists of spell cards and if you include the weapons, 21 out of 30 of the cards are not minions. Right now you must be thinking: but Joe, how can you actually win games without minions? Well my dear reader, it’s simple, this deck takes full advantage of
Elise Starseeker more than any other deck I’ve seen to date. With a plethora of removal and nine AoE spells, you’ll find that this deck is actually geared towards survival and that getting to the late game is easier than you’d think. Removal in the early game is crucial for a smoother mid-late game transition. Depending on the archetype you’re going up against, you’ll usually want to hold onto AoE spells for big clears and use the individual removals, like
Bash,
Execute, and
Shield Slam, for those harder to kill minions. By the time you get the mid-stages of the match, the board should be relatively clear and you should be ready to start setting up the pieces for late game. Cards that help transition to the late game are
Shieldmaiden,
Justicar Trueheart, and
Dr. Boom. Knowing when to use the
Golden Monkey is one of the trickier aspects of using this deck. Essentially the GM should be used when you are depleted of all removal cards. Using the GM too soon could stymie your deck because there are no guarantees of attaining the right cards. Holding on to cards like
Brawl, and
Execute is essential to remove larger late game minions. Additionally, Starseeker has become a more popular card the last few seasons and it always advantageous to drop the GM second because you’ll have more control over your own deck, opposed to the opponents random conglomeration.
Key Cards:Baron Geddon: This is one of the complex cards to use in this deck because if it isn’t played correctly, you can quickly lose the game. When timed right, and played correctly,
Baron Geddoncan single handedly win the match. 2-damage AoE plus a 7-5 body makes Geddon a force to be reckoned with and in the late stages of the game, this card is usually a game winner when going up against aggro/mid-range decks.
Shieldmaiden: A 5/5 body that gives the hero five health and it only cost six mana. It’s a great card and it can almost always be dropped. If you wait until turn-6 you can combine it with Shield Slam to garner a huge tempo-swing. Unfortunately, when the new expansion comes out, this fantastic card will no longer be available. Sure, you can use it in “Wild” mode, but who cares about that mode when it’s not even recognized professionally; the
Shieldmaidenis gone with
Whispers of the Old Gods, rest in peace malady.
Justicar Trueheart: Luckily, Ms. Trueheart isn’t leaving our decks anytime soon thanks to its recent release in The Grand Tournament. Once Trueheart is dropped it almost always feels like you’ve won the match; like come on, 4-armor for 2-mana, forever?! The thing is though, is that this fine lady usually can’t be dropped unless the board is clear or you already have a sufficient stockpile of armor already built up. If the board isn’t mostly clear than you are leaving a huge opening for the opponent too late in the game and risk losing too much tempo. But if you do drop her on an empty board, its game-set-match.
Elise Starseeker: The reason this deck doesn’t need a bunch of minions is because
Elise Starseeker will provide you with a plethora of insanely strong ones late in the game. By the time that the
Golden Monkey actually gets to be played, it will usually be very late in the game. Traditionally, you’ll have around 10-15 cards left (including the ones in your hand), so you’ve already had a couple of 10-mana turns. Like I’ve already iterated above, timing is everything with the GM and misjudging its use can sometimes be worse than never using it at all!
Gorehowl: Because this deck is so adept at garnering additional armor, using the
Gorehowlto clear larger minions is essential. The ability to clear multiple minions in the later stages of the game is crucial for control and midrange deck matchups. Additionally, the ability to do 7-damage to the opponent can help burst them down with the right combination of cards. This card is so good in this deck that if you’re going up against multiple control decks on ladder, two
Gorehowl’s might be feasible.
Possible Replacements:-1 Antique Healbot +1 Sludge Belcher: The
Antique Healbot is a very good card for when you are in precarious situations but when you have 20-30 armor and full-life, the card just seems to waste away. Adding one
Sludge Belcher will help stymie the opponent while also allowing you to set up the subsequent turn.
-1 Bouncing Blades +1 Deathlord: Like the
Anitque Healbot, having two
Bouncing Blades is usually overkill.
Bouncing Blades is a very situational card because it can kill ANY minion on the board, and not just the opponents. It specializes in removing stealth minions and is a great single-target-killer in the later stages of the game. Unlike
Bouncing Blades, the
Deathlord helps against faster decks and has really become a staple card for many control decks because its “negative” effect is not as bad as it was previously perceived. The Grand Tournament created many
battlecry minions and the expansion has helped the card effect by adding key tech-cards with the expansion. So when the
Deathlord’s deathrattle affect triggers, giving the opponent a map-less
Elise Starseeker or a useless Justicar, its effect actually becomes advantageous in certain matchups.
-1 Dr.Boom +1 Reno Jackson: Since Dr. Boom isn’t long for this world, replacing him with
Reno Jackson might actually work. The fatigue warrior always goes the distance and since you’re usually down to only a handful of cards at the end of games, Reno can just be another tool to outlast the opponent in a battle of the card-less!
Additional Notes:
In summary, this a great deck to climb with if time is not an issue. In my case, 10-12 hours on the road justified my cause and if you are in the mood to bunker down for a Hearthstone marathon, then I suggest checking this out. All things Biood could be found
here, and if you are feeling generous check out my blog at
gssguy.com where I talk about a myriad of subject matters.