Hearthpwn

---

Hi guys, Zenthon here, updating this Control Warrior deck that has been up since MSG. Knights of the Frozen Throne has given us fantastic tools to aid the more midrange side of warrior, but some cards have made the control aspect stronger, which is what I would like to share with you here!

I am, however, extremely disgusted by the nerf to Fiery War Axe that has caused a shift in the entire way that Warrior as a class is played. I forsee that it would no longer be viable even as a 3-mana weapon, which usually by then is too late to deal with aggressive minions, therefore I am suggesting a possibly more viable change in the form of Doomsayer. I do predict that Priest is going to be the class to tech against in the future and this is purely my speculation based on the nerfs we are staring down at.

---

The inclusion of N'Zoth, the Corruptor presents a switch from the reactive traditional control warrior, introducing a proactive play style. In this deck, you would want your deathrattle minions to die, so as to provide a swing finisher turn.  Never have him in your hand in the early game, focus on rushing out your deathrattle minions and play N'Zoth, the Corruptor as soon as you get him to avoid an instant loss to Dirty Rat, especially against many control and jade decks.

This deck revolves around the extensive use of board clears and AOE damage, while using Deathrattle minions to gain tempo and foothold of the board. It also features heavy cycling to fish for answers to the opposing deck. In the past iteration, it was normal to have multiple minions on the opponent's side of the board as the objective of the deck is to wear out the opponent's minions before the mass clear.

---

Death Army!

The swing turn provided by N'Zoth, the Corruptor brings back the following minions which do have their applications in the early to mid game. They provide a mixed balance of offensive and defensive power, which will indeed be frustrating to play against. 

Mountainfire Armor: Very solid early control minion, which can sway games to your side if played on curve. Think of it as an aggressive deathlord without taunt - an opponent wouldn't want to kill it, but they may have to in order to stop the repeated onslaught caused by it. It is also a good anti-board clear minion which can force trades into your various other minions. It is a good minion on a full board as well, as it can force single removal instead of a mass clear. 

Direhorn Hatchling: Statted relatively fair yet has the edge of being able to be brought back in a wave by N'Zoth, the Corruptor. Such value is incredible... and its really REALLY cute. In the extreme late game, you can look to a Direhorn Matriarch army to close it.

Bone Drake: An interesting dragon card that can high roll into different dragons like Drakonid Operative and other strong dragons like the previously run Ysera. Against a priest's Dragonfire Potion during the swing turn provided by N'Zoth, the Corruptor, a pair of 6/5 dragons would remain assuming you have attained full value. Overall, its flexibility and ability to threaten the board state in almost any situation is the reason for its inclusion.

Cairne Bloodhoof (not listed): Solid minion that can swing games, especially against priest which has no answers to this minion except silence. When facing an enemy Doomsayer, be sure to drop this minion to retain board presence. However, Bone Drake has proven to be a viable and more flexible substitute for more value plays, while this minion is susceptible to ignoring and also value clears by Dragonfire Potion. Regardless, it is still a viable substitution based on each of your preferences.

---

Other minions

 

Armorsmith: To face the current situation of highly aggressive minion-based decks, 2 copies are included to combo with the few whirlwind effects and the board-building of N'Zoth, the Corruptor, for extreme amounts of life gain. This allows for the deck to go out of range against Razakus Priests and also many aggressive decks while this minion hides behind the likes of Direhorn Hatchling and Direhorn Matriarch.

Acolyte of Pain: Mandatory card draw to find the answers in this deck, i run 2 copies against the meta that threatens to generate value to find my answers almost immediately. Never drop him when you cannot guarantee at least 2 draws off him.

Ravaging Ghoul: Absolute mid-game board clear against aggressive decks and also a better curve filler in this deck. The 3/3 body is a better plus than Whirlwind and compliments cards like Sleep with the Fishes and Acolyte of Pain very well. With the surge in more tempo based decks, this minion has found its way back to ensure a body to contest the board.

Doomsayer (not listed): Very effective clear against aggressive minion-based decks that were rampant before the expansion. It can force trades into it and also stall for your Deathrattle charge the next turn. The nerf to Fiery War Axe means that your ability to control the early game has been drastically reduced, which is why a minion-based mass clear instead is an optimal replacement, however inflexible it could seem. Against secret mages, this is also a good minion to throw down to test for a Mirror Entity. However, there is enough defence against aggressive decks to begin with in this meta right now, therefore the removal of this card.

The Curator: Drawing the only beasts and dragons in the deck, Direhorn Hatchling/Direhorn Matriarch, Bone Drake and Primordial Drake, is very important. Pivotal offensive and defensive minions are pulled while thinning out the deck for more consistent draws later on is a very big deal. I found the re-inclusion of the Curator package a relief to the poor defensive capabilities of the deck in the late game.

Primordial Drake: This card is the epitome of the end-be-all taunt. At 4 attack, this minion can dodge the priest's shadow words, while its 8 health is a dead instant concede for aggressive decks, coupled with the 2 damage AOE, which can combine well with Sleep with the Fishes  for a 5 damage board wipe. This minion's quantity has been reduced to 1 to accommodate a second Bone Drake which can still bust out this dragon from its deathrattle, but increases the deck's attacking power.

Ysera (not listed): Previously a key in this deck, her dream cards are immensely important to us for utility value. She is relatively tanky and can indeed win games outright when she sticks to the board for multiple turns, especially against priests. However, she is not spectacular across the other matchups but she is indeed worth an inclusion in the event there are cards to replace.

---

Living the Dream ~ A Thing of the Past

Laughing Sister provided an impressive body with the handy ability to elude spells and hero powers. 

Emerald Drake was good for late game pushes along with Direhorn Hatchling, with the 7/6 body seemingly very threatening. 

Nightmare was an interesting utility card, which could either give you the final push for lethal situations, or aide your defensive play especially when combined with Direhorn Hatchling.

Ysera Awakens is an ultimate AOE card that could combine with the extra board damagers in this deck, perfect for extreme board clears. Its combination with Sleep with the Fishes can potentially deal 8 damage on both sides on the board, which can deal with many popular minions like The Lich King and Bonemare combinations.

Dream, while very much underestimated, was the real reason why Ysera is even run at all. The potential for multiple N'zoth turns and shuffling of Direhorn Matriarchs is too good to pass up too.

---

 

Removal

Rule of thumb:

Always consider the following levels before using removal:

1. How much damage does the opponent have on the board. Only consider using removal if he deals 4 more damage than your rate of armor gain. It is often the best play to do nothing and wait for a much more valuable play.

2. Minion or spell? Sometimes it is better to use minions to intimidate opponents' bigger minions and force inefficient trades, or placing a taunt minion to safeguard against the smaller minions. Sometimes your thought process would end at this level.

3. How do you want to remove minions? Board clear or targeted? It happens often that the best play is to remove only one minion when you are facing maybe 5 - 6 minions on the board, because you know that if you do use an AOE, you would not be getting full value from it.

That being said, the deck contains a variety of AOE spells that deal with aggressive boards:

Execute: Not much to explain for the best hard removal a warrior can get.

Slam: Flexible removal yet also a cycling spell, which is crucial in this deck. i have found that Shield Slam, while handy, is very situational and has more cons than benefits in many situations. This deck definitely needs more obscene cycle to obtain its answers especially against Druid, hence the switch.

Brawl: Ultimate board clear against many token or big decks, which are rampant everywhere. *Hint hint*, Shaman hates this card.

Sleep with the Fishes: by far the only card worth playing in control warrior from MSOG, this card contains insane value against enemy boards when combined with the various AOE damage effects the deck runs. *Hint hint*, Shaman hates this card too!

---

Other Spells

Shield Block: 5 armor and card draw is vital for both survival and cycle in this deck. Cycle in the deck is crucial to find answers, which is why i have opted for this spell over Bring It On!.

Dead Man's Hand: Mostly to reshuffle more cards back into your deck. The "infinite loop" combo is indeed the new standard for this deck to survive the late game, do try to draw as many cards before playing this spell to shuffle their copies in.

Weapon: Blood Razor is your only weapon in the deck, so use it wisely.

Blood Razor is especially good when combined with various spells and minions, to damage the board or proc their abilities. Try to ensure at least 2 draws from Acolyte of Pain by timing the whirlwind effect efficiently.

 

---

The Tech Cards: Exodia Mage and Jade Druid

The ladder is swarmed with mages playing the quest Open the Waygate and the 5 card combo of Sorcerer's Apprentices, Molten Reflections and Archmage Antonidas, sometimes combined with the new card Simulacrum.

Dirty Rat (not listed): This minion is the card to cripple that formation called "exodia mage". You would want to wait till the mage has played minions like Babbling Book, [/card] to pull out specifically [card]archmage antonidas. However, it is relatively niche, which is why only 1 copy is run. This deck already features absurd card draw which should be able to bring this card out in your time of need. If the need arises when more Exodia Mages are seen, you may consider running another copy of this minion in place of a copy of Sleep with the Fishes. However, I have expected to lose all the time against Exodia Mage, therefore I have made changes to stabilise the deck towards its other matchups.

Jade Druid is the natural enemy of Control decks, running cards that spawn the powerful Jade Golems that grow by 1 each time they are summoned. Jade Idol is a key card in this deck as it allows for infinite value and minions that can grow up to 30/30 powerhouses. The current state of the ladder is dominated by Druid, with the Jade variant being highest I have encountered.

Skulking Geist: This is our failsafe minion against Jade Druid, mulligan especially hard for it when facing a Druid no matter what. We dont have any 1-drop spells anyway. Armor would be a priority once they have exhausted their jades and you are safe to drop bigger minions. There are many other decks from other classes that run 1 drop spells that warrant his minion to be run as well, therefore this card will always be a solid inclusion in the long term, even after the rotation of Jade Idol.

---

Mulligan

Always search for Doomsayer and Acolyte of Pain. Against Priest, if you happen to chance upon Mountainfire Armor, you may opt to keep it too. Against Druid, mulligan especially hard for Skulking Geist after the above cards have been obtained, or get hold of any card draw you can to draw into this Jade-Killing minion. Against Aggressive decks, aim for Ravaging Ghoul and Armorsmith especially.

In this deck, you have to prioritise making a threatening board before anything else, as armoring up is secondary. Cycle to find your answers and make sure that the opponent overextends instead of using single removal on each of his minions. N'Zoth, the Corruptor is the key card to save for a late game push to victory. You would want to trigger your Dead Man's Hand when you have N'Zoth, the Corruptor, the other copy of Dead Man's Hand, Acolyte of Pain and your various board clears and hard removals in the extreme late game.

---

Tech Choices: Harder Control

  

Tech Choices: Extreme Aggro                                         

Matchup Replays

---

With the new set in, I playtested Rotface, finding it a little too clunky for the legend-chock deck. It can be another substitute for the above suggestion in the event that Elise the Trailblazer is unavailable. Bring It On! seemed to be an auto include on paper, but I still am hardly convinced after testing it out on the ladder. I still am immensely disappointed with Scourgelord Garrosh's poor abilities to control the late game, while the weapon is a great bonus to have on the board, the hero power as a trade off is hardly worth the effort of playing this Death Knight, however strong he is.

Knights of the Frozen Throne is a very interesting set with tons of support for the various classes, but I believe that the main thing that we need to do is to have fun and experiment on our own with the new cards! Hope you enjoy the breakdown and happy laddering, do feel free to leave any comments below!