Hearthpwn

NOTE: Upon a new core set and a large number of changes to the game including nerfs and nerf reversions, this deck is out of date. It reflects a prior time period for the Wild Format.

 

Someone's Gotta Lead the Charge.

---

In July 2020, Season 76, I hit Legend in Wild with this Pirate Warrior deck. I went 31-15, for an overall win-rate of approx. 67%. Originally, I ran one Livewire Lance and one Wrenchcalibur, but ended up cutting the Livewire Lance for a second Wrenchcalibur after getting a few losses under my belt. (I must also note that I used Discard Warlock to gain a few wins along the way, but Pirates are how I made my push to Legend.

My Match up stats:

Demon Hunter: 1-0

Druid: 6-1                                         

Hunter: N/A

Mage: 5-3

Paladin: 3-0

Priest: 3-2

Shaman: 1-3

Rogue: 1-0

Warlock: 5-4

Warrior: 6-2

---

Overall Game Plan

This version of Pirate Warrior is more board-centered. We want to flood and overwhelm our opponents on the board. Using weapons to go face and also protect our minions creates a lot of repetitive damage. Skybarge and Ship's Cannon are excellent tools to help accelerate face damage and even kill off other minions without trading. We really want to take the board fast and just smash face as often as possible, while keeping our minions alive. Sometimes, we don't need to put as much as possible down on the board, since some classes run a good number of cheap board-clears, meaning forcing them out early can allow us to splash down more Pirates to regain the board. In some cases, your weapon is just another 'burn' tool to deal more face damage. This is going to be relative to the match up you're in, but viable in ones where you can get away with attacking your opponent relentlessly. Like most good Wild decks, we have mana-cheating in Patches the Pirate, Dread Corsair, and Parachute Brigand.

Mulligans

So most of the time, you want to keep Sir Finley Mrrgglton, Sky Raider, N'Zoth's First Mate, Parachute Brigand, and Sharkfin Fan. These are all usually fine to hold for the beginning of each game. The Coin allows for the Ship's Cannon and Southsea Captain to be very good with greedy plays. Sometimes, you can keep Ship's Cannon without The Coin and play it on curve depending on the match-up you're in. Without The Coin, I typically wouldn't keep Southsea Captain. 

Specific Mulligans

There's a few match-ups that require a slightly different mulligan. Against Warlock and Priest specifically, keeping one Corsair Cache and/or one Wrenchcalibur is ideal. Shuffling Bomb cards into your opponent's deck turns off their Highlander payoff cards. The inevitable 5 damage to their face later on is also potentially lethal for our opponent, gaining a large benefit for us as well. Southsea Captain is also a very reasonable keep against these two classes, as it buffs your minions to increase damage and avoid more board-clear cards. It is also worth considering these cards against Mage, as they can also be Highlander at times, but more often than not, I ran into more Secret Mages.

---

Card Subsitutions

• Leeroy Jenkins can be swapped for Captain Greenskin. This is another weapon buff to shuffle more Bomb cards into your opponent's deck or potentially draw more Pirates with Ancharrr. This upgrade is usually better for Wrenchcalibur, however.
• If Sharkfin Fan isn't cutting it, you can remove it and Skybarge in favor of Bloodsail Raider and Kor'kron Elite respectively.

Tech Cards

• Shieldbreaker is the only Tech Card I can think of or recommend for this tight list.

---

Sir Finley's Options

Sir Finley Mrrgglton is one of the most skill-testing cards in decks both aggro and control. This inclusion is no different. In the first place, each Hero Power you can select is varying in power level, regardless of what match-up you're in due to the skew our deck is in: aggression. Generally speaking, Demon Claws, Life Tap, Steady Shot and Fireblast are good choices for Pirate Warrior to use. Life Tap helps us grab more cards and resources whereas the other three help us output more damage simply. The other Hero Powers are generally less-than-optimal to use or select, but sometimes you aren't left with much of a choice. Here are some general rules of thumb:

• Life Tap is great against slower decks. We need to rush out more cards each turn if we're going to be ahead most of the time.
• Steady Shot is a very good choice overall. It's good for edging out the last bit of damage you need to finish games. I take it a lot of the time, especially against Mages.
• Demon Claws is extremely versatile, as it is 1-mana and allows for flexible plays. If you don't get Steady Shot, take this!
• Fireblast is definitely one of the better Hero Powers to select in aggro vs. aggro match-ups. The pings will allow you to help fight for the board.
• Shapeshift and Dagger Mastery are the awkward sub-optimal area you can be offered. I tend to take Shapeshift over Dagger Mastery and any other options below this.
• Reinforce is by no means the best choice for this deck, but it is at least more board to put out. 
• Totemic Call is horribly unfortunate here. Its only real use to maybe roll all but the Wrath of Air Totem off of it in this deck.
• Lesser Heal is arguably the worst Hero Power you can be offered. The only time I've ever picked this was to heal myself against a Priest who had turned into the Death Knight Hero Card. I still lost!

---