Hearthpwn

(EDIT: Updated since the full reveal! Added some improved Taunt minions and a new end-game combo revolving around Sulfuras and Auctionmaster Beardo! Not sure how this will pan out when it goes live, but I'm more than happy to explore a new use for a card that's been gathering dust (hurr-durr) in my Collection for a few months!)

Welcome to the Auction Block!

"Today's first item is an ancient artifact from the Elemental Plane of Fire! Left behind by a recently departed 'Elemental Lord', this exquisite piece bestows upon the wielder the power of ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION!!!! *ahem* Bidding starts at one Taunt minion, do I hear two...?"

 

The beginning of a new control deck is here! With the advent of so much Taunt Warrior love plus the new quests, I had to dive in. I've always been stoked about the concept of Taunt synergy in Control Warrior (Bolster the King, anyone?), and it seems like Blizzard has given us a huge gift in that regard. 

As a Taunt Warrior, you ideally want to have a number of creatures with high health, both to soak damage and complete the new Quest, and this is a perfect storm for the state of control! Critters with big butts will also have the added benefit of triggering our two types of card draw in Fight Promoter and Battle Rage. Fight Promoter in particular should nearly always go off with the wide range of high-health minions we possess. All in all, the synergy is absolutely present.

Stages of Gameplay:

Early game, this deck wants to play on-curve as much as possible, trading efficiently with small targets where possible and comboing Whirlwind / Ravaging Ghoul with Execute, Brawling as needed with the big hordes. 

Moving through turns, we want to play intelligently based on the current board-state, sacrificing as few of our combo tools as we can in order to be ready for the late-game.

Eventually, we'll be able to complete our quest and acquire Sulfuras, which is when the fun begins. Hopefully, by this point you will have drawn Auctionmaster Beardo and a couple small spells. I added our old friend Soggoth the Slitherer as a potential late-game quest finisher, considering he's the stickiest Taunt minion in Hearthstone, and he'll ideally provide a perfect wall behind which we'll play our combo and go nuts.

From here, we're immediately threatening at least 12 damage to face, which can be lethal in some situations. What's more, Beardo lets us combo with all sorts of minor warrior spells, Inner Rage being the gem of our collection. Assuming we need a second turn, we ought to be able to finish things off by clearing minions with a swing from Sulfuras and a combo of Iron Hide, Shield Slam, and additional fireballs, provided Beardo survives a turn. 

Card Combos:

1. Auctionmaster Beardo + Sulfuras (Duh.)
2. Inner Rage OR Iron Hide OR Shield Slam OR Whirlwind to trigger Beardo.
3. Any bigger Taunt minion + Fight Promoter
4. Whirlwind + Battle Rage

Card Choices:

For Taunt minions, there was a wealth of minions to consider, and my list will no doubt get updated once I can get to playtesting and discover the perks and flaws of various minions. (Especially if my fellow players can give their own feedback!) I tried to create a low-cost curve, containing minions that can both take a beating and stick around, or otherwise facilitate the quest ending.

I chose Cornered Sentry over Dirty Rat because three 1/1's seem easier to deal with (Whirlwind) than potentially giving your opponent something you can't deal with (Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound rings a bell), but feel free to swap this in if the meta shapes up one way or the other. Public Defender might work out on a budget, but that zero Attack seems useless.

Stonehill Defender is another potential swap, but like many Discover cards before it, I get the sense it's going to be a train to value-town. Alley Armorsmith is another great option if we revise our curve a bit. Finally, I'm considering also adding The Curator to the deck just to draw our Direhorn Hatchling (or created token), but that's going to require some playtesting. 

Mulligans: 

This will be updated after the patch goes live, but I think you want to draw into Sentry and Stonehill, with Whirlwind as a potential coin card. Do your best to play on-curve. 

Matchups:

Coming after the patch drops and the meta begins to resolve!

 

Thanks for reading everyone! Upvote if you like what you see, and by all means throw me some suggestions. Here's hoping this deck (and the Beardo/Sulfuras combo) gain some traction on the ladder! (Let us shake off the chains of our Pirate Overlords!!!)