[Wild] 72%WR Legend Exodia Paladin
- Last updated Apr 15, 2020 (Outland DH Nerfs)
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Wild
- 17 Minions
- 12 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Reno Pally
- Crafting Cost: 16760
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 10/27/2019 (Shaman Nerfs)
- DittoLander
- Registered User
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- 8
- 27
- 86
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Region:
CN
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Total Deck Rating
335
Guys this is Dittolander, an arena main who always try to hit Legend within a few days of each month using completely original decks.
Last month there were lots of Mech Handbuff Paladins, surprisingly they are gone this month (at least I didn't encounter any). Even Shaman, Secret Mage and Reno decks and some Murloc decks (shaman and pally) are dominating the ladder.
Today I started from Rank 4 and climbed to Legend with this home-brew Exodia Paladin deck. 72% WR surprises even myself (see below for details). I thought my last month's Reno Shaman is certainly stronger, but with Handbuff Paladin gone that Shaman deck loses its top prey. With this Reno-Exodia Paladin, I struggled at the beginning (spent most of the time waggling at Rank 4) and adjusted many cards. I also got better at reading games, too, so R3 to Legend actually felt like easy. Given the average winrate of 72%, I think the final version must have an incredibly high winrate. I can't wait to share.
Why Reno-Exodia Paladin?
By playing Reno Shaman, I realized that all of Exodia enablers (Brewmasters, Zola the Gorgon) are also very good with Zephrys the Great and Reno Jackson. Those bounce effects synergize so well with those two cards that you are justified to include them in any Reno deck. In pure Exodia Paladin (not Singleton), those bounce cards are usually dead against aggro, but now with Zephrys online they are suddenly useful.
Well, another reason is... I opened a golden Sir Finley of the Sands! The upgraded hero power can help you a lot if you draw him early, and makes Garrison Commander's effect relevant in aggro matchups too (double armor up / heal / draw or deal 2 damage twice every turn is no joke). All those factors considered, I believe the Reno-Exodia build can stand a chance against any opponent.
Echoing my last month's remark, play Exodia Paladin to surprise you opponent! Especially if you manage to play Crystology on turn 1, watching opponent gets panic is part of the fun.
Any Guide?
As far as I love this deck, writing a good guide takes time. It would be sad if my effort goes unnoticed. So if you want some guidance on piloting this deck, leave a +1 to let more people know!
Let's set up some milestones:
+5: Mulligan guide, and a brief explanation of win conditions
+10: Card explanation (i.e., why I include these cards), as well as card replacements
+20: Gameplay insights, interesting decisions
How Do You Win & Mulligan
There are three win conditions you should aim for:
1. Survive until an aggro opponent runs out of resources.
Applicable matchups: Secret Mage, Mech Paladin & Hunter, Murloc Shaman & Paladin, Odd Rogue, Odd Paladin, some (but not all) Even Shaman, Pirate Warrior
How: Try to make use of all cards you have to stall the game. No need to save any card for Exodia or Holy Wrath combo. Most commonly achieved by playing either Zephrys the Great, Reno Jackson, or a discounted Shirvallah, the Tiger multiple times.
Mulligan: Crystology, Zephrys the Great, Reno Jackson, Sir Finley of the Sands, Corpsetaker, Muster for Battle, Truesilver Champion, and Righteous Protector if you don't have Crystology.
2. Activate Uther of the Ebon Blade's hero power! (aka Exodia)
Applicable Matchups: Reno Warlock, Reno Mage, Reno Priest, Cube Warlock, SN1P-SN4P Warlock, Resurrect Priest, Control-style Warriors, Quest Mage, Jade Druid, Combo Druids, some Even Shaman
How: Play Uther of the Ebon Blade ASAP -> Bounce back two different horsemen with Zola the Gorgon, Youthful Brewmaster, Ancient Brewmaster, or, as a last resort, Baleful Banker -> Play two horsemen from hand, play Garrison Commander and roll hero power twice.
Mulligan: Uther of the Ebon Blade, Crystology, Zephrys the Great, Reno Jackson, Sir Finley of the Sands, Corpsetaker, Muster for Battle, and Prismatic Lens.
3. A 25-damage Holy Wrath
Applicable Matchups: Reno Warlock, Reno Priest, Cube Warlock, SN1P-SN4P Warlock, Resurrect Priest, Quest Mage, some Even Shaman
How: With an empty deck, play Shirvallah, the Tiger and Baleful Banker on tiger, send an emote, and point Holy Wrath to your opponent's face
This only serves a back-up plan in case you have to use all of your Brewmasters and Zola on Reno/Zephrys to help you survive or your Garrison Commander is milled or Dirty Ratted. If you decide not to pursue this win condition or opponent can easily heal/armor up out of the range, feel free to use Holy Wrath as a card draw.
Mulligan: same as above.
Card Explanation & Replacement Guide
Understanding the role of each card can help you ladder faster. In choosing which card to include, I looked at cards that do well in three areas: Cycle/Draw; Survive (including good tempo cards, removals and healing); Combo. Some card may cover multiple areas. Let's go over each area, and I will list some replacement cards for each area if you are missing them.
1. Cycle / Draw
Card draws are very important for a deck that wins most games with a combo.
Currently included: Crystology, Novice Engineer, Flash of Light, Solemn Vigil, Holy Wrath, Prismatic Lens, Call to Adventure
Worth considering / Good cards for replacement: Lay on Hands, Jepetto Joybuzz, Hammer of Wrath, Bloodmage Thalnos.
2. Survive
Basically everything. Cards in this bundle are highly replaceable(except Zephrys and Reno) and honestly I think someone can come up with a better version of the deck. I made the choice only based on my understanding of the power level of each card and my local meta .
MVPs (these cards are not replaceable for this deck): Zephrys the Great, Reno Jackson, Shirvallah, the Tiger
MVPs' sidekicks (often used on MVP cards to help survive against aggression): Zola the Gorgon, Ancient Brewmaster, Youthful Brewmaster
Good tempo cards: Righteous Protector, Zilliax, Muster for Battle, Corpsetaker, Spikeridged Steed, Stonehill Defender
Good removals: Consecration, Truesilver Champion, Subdue, Shrink Ray, Wild Pyromancer, Zilliax, Uther of the Ebon Blade
Good healing / stall: Time Out!, Flash of Light, Crystalsmith Kangor, Zilliax, Corpsetaker, Uther of the Ebon Blade
Honorable inclusion: Sir Finley of the Sands. Depending on what hero power you obtain, Sir Finley can do a lot of things: draw, remove, heal. I'll write a section on him if we reach 20 upvotes!
Worth considering / Good cards for replacement: Enter the Coliseum, Equality, Aldor Peacekeeper, Keeper of Uldaman, Doomsayer, Siamat, Eadric the Pure, Antique Healbot, Humility, Elven Archer, Nozari, Forbidden Healing, Emperor Thaurissan
Tech cards (not recommended, but can include if meta is predictable): Dirty Rat, Harrison Jones, Gluttonous Ooze, Eater of Secrets, Loatheb
Resist your urge to include...
Tirion Fordring: cool in a midrange deck / a N'Zoth deck, but those are not in our meal. His high cost can be prohibitive, too.
Sunkeeper Tarim: looks good on paper but disappointed me most of the times I drew him. Just don't wanna buff their totems and 1/1's. Perhaps when big priest / jade druid are still popular this could shine.
3. Combo
Our win conditions. Usually not replaceable (not many cards exist with similar function).
Currently included: Uther of the Ebon Blade, Garrison Commander, Youthful Brewmaster, Ancient Brewmaster, Zola the Gorgon, Baleful Banker, Holy Wrath, Shirvallah, the Tiger
Worth considering: Getaway Kodo. I tried including this card for many games - it's a liability most of the time, only works well with horseman / Zephrys / Reno. But if you are missing Zola, you can try using it as another way to bounce back critical minions.
Blackwald Pixie: cheap alternative to Garrison Commander but requires Emperor Thaurissan to hit him. Not recommended but it's a possibility.
Some Details
1. On Zephrys the Great
Zephrys is the trickiest card to use in this deck and many others. Knowing when and how to use Zephrys is absolutely critical in trying to get any success on ladder. In 99% of the cases you will NOT play Zephrys on turn 2 (the 1% exception is when your opponent is playing a tempo-based deck but has an empty board before your Zephrys turn, you have Zola on turn 3 and is pretty sure opponent can't kill your Zephrys). In most aggro matchups, you would want to use Zephrys more than 1 time, and it would be game-losing if only use him once and you can't communicate your wish to him. You must know what Zephrys would give you in any situation. You must know every card in Zephrys' possible card pool. (No pressure, you can learn through trial and error :)
The difficulty is, Zephrys isn't smart enough to know exactly what you need. Too often it will consider this: with the amount of mana left, playing what SINGLE card can best help with the board WITHOUT knowing you have other useful cards in hand as well.
Therefore, mana control is very, very important. If you want a Silence or a Sacrificial Pact, leaving no mana left can help quite a bit. (for Sacrificial Pact, I also found that having a low health will significantly increase my chance of finding it even if I have 3+ mana left.) If you want a weapon removal, leave 2 or 5 mana so that Zephrys can get you an Acidic Swamp Ooze or a Harrison Jones. If you want a Secret removal, leave 2 or 4 mana left (though you have to be mindful about Explosive Runes). If you want a Brawl, leave exactly 5 mana left because at 6 you will likely get Blizzard.
Kripparrian has made a nice video guide on how to communicate you wish to Zephrys, check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwIw5WyJHH8
2. On Sir Finley of the Sands
Which hero power should you choose?
The answer depends on what your opponent is playing and what's your game plan. Against aggro / midrange decks, your top priority is survival. Generally, I would rank the hero powers in the following order:
Tank Up! > Dire Shapeshift > Heal > Soul Tap > Fireblast Rank 2 > The Silver Hand > Poisoned Daggers >Totemic Slam > Ballista Shot.
If your opponent is slow and your game plan is Exodia, the general ranking is:
Soul Tap > Tank Up! > The Silver Hand > Fireblast Rank 2 > Dire Shapeshift > Heal > Poisoned Daggers > Totemic Slam > Ballista Shot.
If you are going for a Holy Wrath finisher, you likely need some damage chipping to get there, so:
Soul Tap > Fireblast Rank 2 > Dire Shapeshift > Ballista Shot > Tank Up! > The Silver Hand > Poisoned Daggers > Heal > Totemic Slam.
But really it depends on the situation. If you need to kill a 2-health threat immediately, give up Tank Up! for a Poisoned Daggers is more than reasonable. If you already draw Uther and will only use the new hero power once of twice, situation > long term value. You won't always get the top hero powers but considering how bad Paly's base hero power is, you will usually be satisfied for playing Sir Finley.
3. On Time Out!
Time Out! is a great mid/late-game card, but it can be hard to decide when to use it. A sneaky use of it is:
- Zephrys the Great to find board clear + Zola the Gorgon / Ancient Brewmaster / Youthful Brewmaster + Time Out!, and use your board clear next turn;
More commonly, you play your card draws as much as possible, Time Out!, and play your removals / heal next turn.
If you will win via Exodia next turn, you can play Time Out! to prevent your opponent's unexpected lethal. When you have a weapon equipped, play Time Out! before you attack into a minion.
That's all I have for now. Thank you all for the upvotes and I hope you enjoy every game you play!
How are the testing going with the nerf to echo cards?
The results are kinda mixed - there are games where Sathrovarr is great but there are more games where he just clogs in your hand when not comboed with a fully discounted Tiger. Even if its cost is down to 8 by Thaurissan, spending a whole turn to do DK Hero Power and Sathrovarr is often too much of a tempo loss. Maybe he will shine someday in wild, but currently I'll stick with my original build.
Thank you very much for the deck and the thorough guide :) I am playing very similar deck atm, but its always nice to see some other ideas and variations, keep up the good work ;-) (I just created an account to write this and upvote :D )
You made my day, man! I've been with Bob lately lol but I'll definitely return to ladder once expansion hits
Man... I always love your decks! your guides are so helpful I really appreciate your effort!
I have lots of fun playing it after a year long pause without HS, its complex but also simple to get into. Changed Call to Adventure for Sathrovarr cause its like the only new card in the deck (except for the legendaries which I just crafted).
This deck reminds me of the Death Knight meta in Standard. Though I disliked how they defined the format, they did add layers, in some cases.
I played Exodia Paladin for months, and your creation makes me feel really nostalgic.
It's damn good. And very similar to some of my earlier, albeit less refined, homebrews.
I may attempt a Legend grind this month, thanks to you.
Looks great and thanks 4 the explanation.
Sathrovarr is ridiculous in this deck
Yes it works wonder with Tiger. I'm testing a version including Sathrovarr and Emperor Thaurissan. I'll update the deck if they feel right.
Update #2: Winrate is up to 6-9 now, so I'm 4-2 in the last 6. I put Harrison Jones in to deal with a lot of weapons that I'm seeing, and also for some more card-draw. I took out Sir Finley of the Sands and Crystology (cuz it was useless most of the time) and I put in Hammer of Wrath and Equality, seems to be working a bit better.
Update: Well, I guess my whining paid off.......I've just won three in a row.....I know it's not much, but it gives me hope. I was almost regretting crafting garrison and Uther. I just have to suck it up and deal with the Hearthstone ups and downs. :)
wow. here's another update already. I really wish you could watch me. I am getting absolutely destroyed. It's at times like these that I usually switch decks, or take a break. But, I think you had a good run, and this deck is not really that viable in the current meta. Sorry.
I totally get it - I lost a lot at the beginning but my winrrate got better as I adjusted the deck based on meta and just played more. Glad that you won some games ;)
Your inclusions sound reasonable to me, and teching against the meta is always part of the game. I do think this deck will struggle against mech handbuff Paladin, so if you queue into a lot of those, consider switching to another deck. Otherwise, if you can tell me what your local meta consists of, I may give you some suggestions.
Can't delete, sorry
Upvote for the nice and in-depth guide there. Will give it a go and see what happens :D
Thanks, man! Hope you enjoy the deck!
How sad is it, that you only faced one Hunter and no Warriors, 2 Druids and 2 Rogues. The state of wild is absolute dogshit at the moment. There basically only exist 4 classes. Priest, Warlock, Shaman and Mage. All of them with auto-play decks.
On: Quite the interesting take on the OTK/Highlander deck. Garrison Commander might be one of the most under-rated cards, both in here and in Taunt Warrior it's a beast.
But you know what? The nice thing about wild is that each class has accumulated so many good cards/synergies that you can build a competitive deck with your own ideas with basically any class. There are no "weak classes" in wild per se; but people are just lazy and copy the most popular decks on the internet regardless.
Nice deck idea! I am only missing Sir Finley of the Sands. Do you have a suggestion for a replacement? (I also have some ideas, but would know your opinion first).
Hi! I just updated the session on card replacement. Yes, Sir Finley is replaceable, and don't feel bad because he is kinda useless if you draw him late game, especially after you already turn into Uther DK and working toward Exodia. I would replace him with another mass removal, particularly Equality and Enter the Coliseum.
Well, thank you for your statement. Enter the Coliseum sounds good as it helps against wide boards (N'Zoth...). Actually I use Deathlord because of the aggro meta and will change it, when the meta becomes slower.