[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!
Hello, would you change anything after two expansions? Possibly what?
It's a pretty good deck, I really like it. I still miss some legas, but I got the most important ones.
Could you give me pls an updated list, where I can find the whole deck? I've seen that you updated the list, and I can't figure out what's the new version.
How do you think about prismatic lens? Sometimes it hits combo pieces
Sometimes it hits one of the combo pieces. Last game was against a odd warrior, so I should have won. But he hitted my ancient brewmaster with dirty rat. But earlier in the game my prismatic lens pulled out my garrison commander and switched the cost with consecration. Making that combo piece useless. That felt really bad...
I am thinking of replacing it with another card that draws.
Yes, that's definitely one drawback of Prismatic Lens. Unfortunately Paladin as a class doesn't have many cards that draw more than 2, but I agree maybe it should be cut for cards such as Acolyte of Pain or Jepetto Joybuzz. Against Odd warrior though, you shouldn't use Primatic Lens until you have drawn your Garrison Commander because it's an otherwise unlosable matchup (side question: how can an odd warrior has Dirty Rat? Is it from a Stonehill Defender discover?).
Yea well, i am still learning the deck, so now I am more careful with Prismatic Lens . I am trying to climb with it, it does pretty good. Most deck are control style decks, when I play Crystology or Sir Finley Mrrgglton (<= I don't have Sir Finley of the Sands). After few turns u can see the confusion :p
to answer ur side question, yep from stonehill defender, I guess I had alot of bad luck that game and my opponent alot of luck.
Replacements for Enter the Coliseum ?
Try Unstable Ghoul or Hammer of Wrath
Thoughts on The Curator? Might be too slow but we have 3 dragons, a beast, and a murloc, so it can thin out the deck pretty well and although unlikely, can be a mech for Zilliax.
I actually tested on the Curator because of that reason, but it turns out that I usually can just draw a beast, so I eventually cuts it. I would say though, Jepetto Joybuzz is closer to making the cut, and you can totally slot him in.
How important is corpsetaker? and how do you tag a card (or whatever its call)?
Corpsetaker is alright for a proactive early game play, but it's one of the worse cards in the deck - I'm think about cutting it. Let me know if you have a good alternative in mind.
You can tag a card by selecting the card name you typed and then clicking the Hearthstone classic cardback icon on the second row of text editor UI.
Is Nozdormu the Timeless worth crafting for this deck? If not, what replacements do you suggest?
Nozdormu is one of the better cards in the deck - so I would say it's worth crafting. If you have to replace it, I would recommend Hammer of Wrath for an additional card cycle.
Hey friend, any updates for recent play? Love his archetype, thanks!!
Just updated the deck - Paladin has gained some good support cards in recent expansions, but the core of the deck remains.Amber Watcher can be swapped for Loatheb if you encounter too many Quest Mage (it's still a highly unfavored matchup until they nerf Waygate).
Excellent. Thanks. I’ll try it out!!
This looks like a really cool deck! Are there any particular changes you would suggest now that DoD is out?
Yeah. I’m wondering the same thing. Just not sure if he’s checking/updating it anymore. :( it IS still pretty good. I’m going to start trying it again now that I’m at rank 5.
BigDaddy: you are right, I mostly been play Battleground since DoD released (actually, before it released), so I haven't been updating this deck.
But I did play wild ladder for a bit. I have to say the current Wild meta is not great for the deck, with the popular Quest Mage and Darkest Hour Warlock being able to assemble their win condition almost always before we do. Mecha'thun Warlock and Cubelock are tough matchups, too. The deck is still decent versus aggro in general and in particular Secret Mage, given the amount of healing we have. I might replace Holy Wrath and Baleful Banker because those are bad cards vs aggro and mostly useless against combo decks (too slow).
Yeah, I think so too. Maybe more removal in their place?