Hearthpwn

Quote from Paly_Noob »

Quote from LaCaipirinha »

I think if it wasn't for Undertaker and Mechwarper then yes, Paladin would be strong. But not being able to reliably remove these two minions in the early game means that we remain toward the bottom of the pile, due to hunter and mech mage making up the majority of the current meta.

I haven't had problems with Hunter or Mage at all, it's the plague of locks that have been doing me in (the only class I'm under .500 WP against). Anyone have any tips/strats to share vs. locks? (especially the new GvG zoo, haven't beaten a single one, they're just too damn fast for me)

If you have the full catalog of cards to work with, I would recommend a strong control Paladin - there are many viable decks running around and I've already posted my style/deck. The one thing I can say is get more valuable minions. Throw down the sticky 2 and 4 and 5/6 drops you have while healing and combined with board clear, you should be good. Against aggro (zoo, deathrattle hunter/priest) you really have to be conscious of the cards being played and think of their potential threats. Once you get to the big dudes (or if you can get off a Quartermaster on 2 or more dudes early enough) you have this in the bag.

Quote from Grumhul »

Here it is:

Legend Quarter Midrange Unknown Deck by Grumhul - Dec 29, 2014 View Deck String Export to BBCode Export to Cockatrice Export to MarkDown Export to Html Clone this deck
Minion (21) 1x Bolvar Fordragon 1x Dr. Boom 1x Harrison Jones 1x Tirion Fordring 1x Big Game Hunter 2x Quartermaster 2x Aldor Peacekeeper 1x Bomb Lobber 2x Knife Juggler 2x Sludge Belcher 1x Ironbeak Owl 2x Piloted Shredder 2x Shielded Minibot 2x Zombie Chow	Ability (7) 1x Lay on Hands 2x Equality 2x Muster for Battle 2x Consecration	Weapon (2) 2x Truesilver Champion
Loading Collection

With so much early game presence, have you tried running a Cult Master? I do think Lay on Hands comes a bit too late and by then you are running ... 'short' on answers, but I may be wrong - decks always play out differently on paper.

Quote from LaCaipirinha »

So how do you guys respond to turn 1 UT + leper gnome or turn 1 mechwarper?

Turn 1 Zombie Chow turn 2 Shielded Minibot is ideal. If you don't have any 2 or 3 drops (Aldor Peacekeeper might be able to stall out long enough) or force them to spend mana or attacks on muster army you probably lost the game but unless you are running something as consistent as mech mage or zoo that's what happens in a card game when you don't get the draws. If the worst case happens, you stabilize with consecrate or equality + consecrate (don't be afraid to use equality to take out a high threat minion or two btw if you dont draw into the combo) and start throwing down bigger minions. That's why I named my deck 'guile' because 90%+ of the time when I win, Guile's theme should be blasting in the background :)

That's the nature of a control deck though. Try to stabilize early with some minions that are sticky and trade up followed by a board clear and then you start taking over.

Given the consistency of the deck I am personally running (or my luck, haha) I haven't found aggro matchups to be that bad. Versus Hunter, I am over 70% & vs Mage I am slightly above 50% with an overall win rate JUST above 60% which is pretty good for me. I can post stats for a week or something if you want to take a look.

Edit: assuming you have the coin in your scenario, I think you have the advantage - turn 1 Shielded Minibot followed by dude into Muster for Battle or coin into Truesilver Champion into a board clear. It's really not that bad but when it happens it feels really frustrating because those decks steamroll when they win.

Quote from MvonTzeskagrad »

If you ever feel bad about GvG paladin, remember that rogues are still trying to find any deck who performs now that miracle is almost unplayable. Pallys can still be Midrange, Control, Aggro, and may we find a "Mechadin" with Spare Parts and Bolvar to give stealth and things like that.

The only "safe" rogue is Tempo, maybe Mech, Pirate or even mill turn out to be good enough, but until then, pally is no longer at the bottom of the meta.

 

P.D.: Many people say that Bolvar is bad because you have to kill your own minions. The key is that many times you would kill it anyway, in fact that's the correct way of playing it, just to gain value from inevitable deaths (being pally, will be a lot thanks to hero power) instead of actively feeding him. I think sometimes pallys expected a second Tirion or something alike. Bolvar serves another way of playing. It's not like Cobalt Guardian, that one is just bad, not as Gnomish Experimenter, but is the worst pally card at the moment. Any other of their cards are good or at least playable.

Bolvar Fordragon is NOT a bad card at all. It doesn't have tangible value because everyone is running silence, Big Game Hunter or hard removal but it's a 5 cost card that control Paladin, depending on the matchup, often keeps in hand and because of that, it not only is a HUGE early game threat that MUST be removed but it also draws out hard removal/silence and clears the road for your bigger threats. It fits aggro as well because it tops out at 5 mana and if you're playing aggro, by turn 5 the board should be yours thus taking focus away from your other (probably buffed) minions in play. That's the purpose of this card - bait. Haha, even in lore he dies, right? :)

I for one think Bolvar is a fine legendary card. And.. if you have the dream with a Finicky Cloakfield... well GG. He's like Gahz'rilla if you can protect them. At least he's no Flame Leviathan *womp* *womp*

Quote from Magiicguy »

Quote from LaCaipirinha »

I think if it wasn't for Undertaker and Mechwarper then yes, Paladin would be strong. But not being able to reliably remove these two minions in the early game means that we remain toward the bottom of the pile, due to hunter and mech mage making up the majority of the current meta.

I have to disagree with this. Shielded minibot, muster for battle, piloted shredder, in almost all of my games I deal with the undertaker shenanigans easily. Hunter and mech mage are matchups I actually like, because of the new early strenght of the paladin.

Aggro definitely has a tough matchup against Paladin these days: the heal is still there, as always ... so are the big minions but you have all these early game threats as well. Muster for Battle, Shielded Minibot, Seal of Light and Quartermaster  really round out the class. I am actually going to say that Paladin are probably the most well rounded class for the basis of a deck - yes, more so than mage and warlock. They have early game removal, ability to swarm the board and the best all around board clear in the game (Equality + anything) and if you combine that with sticky minions and strong lategame bodies (or just swarm them and rush face) you have a solid class that should be getting 60%+ win rates.

It might just be me or the opponents I am playing but the 3 decks listed in my signature & a control hunter deck I have been running has given me quite a bit of success, especially vs Mech Mage. I am not finding undertaker Hunters or Priests to be that problematic honestly. With Shielded Minibot, Zombie Chow and Muster for Battle, I really do feel we have a solid early game. Yes, we don't have a single turn removal on a 3/4 or stronger undertaker, but at that point, the opponent had nearly a perfect draw... That aside, your hero power dudes are a constant threat, especially as turn 5+ comes about because of Quartermaster so play that to your advantage and force the opponent to trade into your dudes. Minibot + Muster generally leads to pretty efficient turn 3 removals AND board control/presence.

I don't think aggro is a problem as it once was.

Legend rank 6? Paladin are far from  being 'top tier' in constructed, but they are much stronger than they were pre-GVG

I think I've gotten to the final edit of the deck, finally. Relatively strong given the current meta and am seeing a 70+% win ratio.

Let me know what you think!

Tone doesn't carry over in text format very well - let's hug it out :D

I think, given the current meta, a silence card is absolutely necessary, especially with Paladins gaining favor. 

Have you tried running 2 sheep instead of 2 brawls? I gave it a shot, but almost always, when you end up needing the 2nd brawl, the game is already lost and you're relying on one of 3 mines to get drawn or gg. That being said, aggro, specifically mech mage and all those random ass classes running murlocs to throw you off (at least in the US West 10-1 rank range) I am actually considering running a Deathwing

Thoughts?

@Sykomyke - thanks for the advice. Check the updated decklist :D 

Seeing far more wins and finally got past that lv 8 wall.

As I play, I find myself getting closer and closer to your choices, @simplejax. Removed a recombobulator for a 2nd brawl.

Quote from simplejax »

didn't want to be redundant, but the most glaring choice being recombobulator. the reality is it's actually not that great on 5 or 6 drops and certainly don't warrant 2 spots in the deck. at first glance it looks like you had to drop a late game minion like rag/ysera and sludge belcher for it. like other posters have already mentioned, that feels questionable. 

You're right. I generally find value on the shieldmaidens. I still kept 1, but replaced the 2nd one with an alexstrasza.

Quote from NextTrap »

Have you considered Alexstrasza for this deck? Down to 15 HP and then drawing mine is deadly combo IMO.

Yes, I have added 1 Alexstrasza and removed 1 Recombobulator.

Removed a Piloted Sky Golem for a Cult Master since I am now running 2x Muster for Battle. This and Spellbreaker really make me want to run Coghammer instead of Arcane Nullifier X-21, though I am not sure how I feel about running 5 weapons.

Hi all. I was doing my daily quest (had 2 warrior ones) and I stumbled across this deck:

Essentially, it takes a lot from control warrior and throws in a bit of 'focus' around Iron Juggernaut. It's been doing well in ladder play though I have yet to hit legend after GVG launch. 

Please, take a look, give it a shot and let me know what your thoughts are on improvements. Note that the deck originally started off with some Dancing Swords and a bunch of enrage minions with the sheep and of course a Bouncing Blades but after many many tweaks, this seems to fit the NA ladder meta as of now.

Hi fellow Paladin players - I decided to come back to HS and made some changes to a deck that was viable since open beta through the first 7 or 8 seasons with minor tweaks. Lo and behold, a few more minor tweaks and it's still viable. Take a look, play a game or two and let me know what you guys think!

Decklist above should be current.