New legendaries Genn Greymane and Baku the Mooneater have encouraged players to think about deck-building in entirely new ways, admittedly more than I expected. Odd and Even lists of aggressive and midrange Paladin have shined in the new meta, though Warlock’s steadfast dominance keeps that meta from shifting to something altogether new. Control Warrior and Face Hunter — some of the oldest archetypes in Hearthstone — have even returned to our collective consciousness. Odd Taunt Warrior really happened.
The meta seems to be settling a bit around these and a few more familiar decks, but new archetypes constantly threaten to upend our understanding of ladder dynamics. The meta often constitutes a rock-paper-scissor game skewed toward Paladin one day, changing to reflect a similar standoff the next. Warlock, of course, holds its own through most combinations of thirty cards. A few have threatened Guldan's reign on ladder. We have seen Shudderwock Shaman rise and fall from grace and Face Hunter race through the early days of The Witchwood, while Quest Rogue now seems a sure-fire pick to wade through an ocean of Warlocks. As these decks challenge Cubelock, and others challenge them, the ladder once again feels like a game of chance.
Destroy the Tokens!
Kibler assessed the meta over last weekend and brought to play Monday an archetype we all theorized about but haven’t seen much since the rotation: Rush Warrior. Veteran players will recall a time when Dragon Warrior dominated the meta. The tempo deck was a close cousin to Rush Warrior, using powerful (now Wild-only) Dragon tribal synergies to trigger cards like Alexstrasza’s Champion to operate like The Witchwood’s Rush minions. The idea that sparked Rush Warrior (in general, not necessarily Kibler’s list) is to use Rush minions in a Tempo Warrior shell that dictates trades immediately. In this way, it’s good against aggressive decks, which rely on squeezing value out of low-cost minions with buffs and the like. Denying that provides a huge advantage, but the biggest appeal is Blood Razor versus a meta full of Paladins. Destroying the Odd variant's tokens four turns throughout the game helps stifle pressure, steal tempo, and develop an overwhelming board.
Most versions of Rush Warrior use the entire suite of Warrior cards with the new mechanic. Curving out with Town Crier, Woodcutter's Axe, and either Rabid Worgen or Redband Wasp will be ideal, but curve or not you have plenty of early game, and the Rush mechanic makes losing initial tempo not so bad. Darius Crowley stands out, operating first to provide efficient trades, but quickly becoming a threat to the opponent’s life total if left unchecked. Don’t try to find a substitute for him, nor the Frothing Berserkers, which coupled with Blood Razor in this meta can win games early. Matched against Warlock, mulligan hard for Spellbreaker (and cross your fingers).
There's One for Everybody
With Rush Warrior, Kibler targeted the aggressive Paladin and Rogue decks that populate the high ranks before Legend and, well, it worked. He achieved a high legend rank with a downright ridiculous 80 percent win-rate, but noted frequently that the list wasn’t optimized. Countess Ashmore performed favorably against control decks, but another Spellbreaker would benefit you in the Warlock matchup. The idea of Tempo Warrior using Rush cards to more quickly interact with the board was also an idea that secured an appointment with the Deck Doctor himself: Firebat.
He took the archetype a few different directions with good results. One noteworthy if polarizing experiment: he cut the low-cost spells, added Lesser Mithril Spellstones, and jammed Spiteful Summoner in there. Mind Control Tech made up for the loss of Whirlwind and Slam.
It’s a testament to the flexibility of the archetype and the power of the Rush mechanic in this meta that so many variations found success. As with all tempo decks, of course, curving out is good. But an armory's-worth of weapons coupled with Rush minions' penchant for stealing tempo translates to a gameplay experience that feels smoother than others. As long as these aggressive decks remain in the meta, expect a safe counter in Rush Warrior.
Where is the deck script ?
All the paladin players on here saying “omgah suks vs voidlock no play this dek”. They just don’t want players to start playing this and crushing their Baka aggro deck.
I visit Hearthpwn daily, cause here I can always find some useful or fun stuff.
Not is this totally-wrong-calling article you say ? - Yes.
But in those totally-right-calling comments!
( it sucks vs cubelock in many fun and useful ways )
That's so poetic that I can't tell if your english is poor or you're just being artistic.
https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1083365-rush-tempo-warrior
I had the idea of tempo rush warrior at the beggining of the new meta, worked pretty good against aggro, but its hard against cube :)
I got a 25 attack berserker against a Tempo Mage today...feelsgood
Rush warrior is really fun. As for standart meta they are way under the curve compared to tempo mage / call to arms / spitefuls / cubelocks. Even steal rogue seem better.
They do work well in bakufuras warrior though. Giving some tempo removal on top of your taunts. And you actually have a end-game and win condition with the quest.
Cubelock is like
Cubelock doesn't care
W A R R I OMEGALUL R
Is the Garrosh death knight actually good in this deck? The hero power "upgrade" seems like a joke compared to the other death knight hero powers.
It means you always have activators for warrior removal, which is why it is played in DMH warrior, and also is amazing against aggro and helps with enrage-like cards with frothing berserker.
Warrior: Look at me I'm controlling the board!
Warlock: * 7 Void Lords *
Warrior: K nvm
woah this expansion made such impact for warrior 2 of them featured cards of the 3 (pics) are so old now.
Sadly this is so true. Also, Warlock highly profits from his board clears - they kill his Lackeys or upgrade his Spellstone. Really bad time to introduce the Rush mechanic when everyone is dropping Voidlords
rush warrior omegalul
unfortunately, a lot of decks are useless against Warlocks. Those who aren't usually get beaten up pretty hard by Paladins instead.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
That'S the main problem in the meta right now. There are enough decks that can reliably stand up to Paladin or Warlock, but none that can reasonably deal with both at the same time, thus turning the whole mategame into a one-sided tech war where you just attempt to counter the one class you encounter the most.
Warlock matchup is actually still winnable... if they don't have skull on 5 and cube their doomguards/voidlords or have a mountain giant on 4
You mean if their deck doesn't do what it's built to do? Good luck with that.
Don't forget that the control decks that beat both are eaten alive by quest rogue