[SA] Markdd27’s Control Highlander Warrior
- Last updated Aug 10, 2020 (Scholomance Academy)
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Wild
- 17 Minions
- 12 Spells
- 1 Weapon
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Control Warrior
- Crafting Cost: 14900
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 8/7/2020 (Scholomance Academy)
- Markdd27
- Registered User
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- 2
- 10
- 21
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Region:
EU
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Total Deck Rating
166
If you want to play Control, there is nothing best than Warrior. This time is even more fun and skill-based, having its best list as an Highlander! This deck is outperforming most of the decks out there and it’s going to help you climb fast to Legend.
Libram Paladin, Big Beasts Druid, Tempo Aggro Demon Hunter, Tempo Rogue, Token Druid, Spell Burst Shaman and Totem Shaman will be your farming preys with this list. Check out this guide to learn how to play it and how to overcome your opponents!
Thank you for your comments and suggestions, enjoy this guide!
MULLIGAN:
In these first days of the new expansion different decks within a same class are being tried. Therefore these mulligan suggestions will cover the most used archetypes and they will be uploaded in the following weeks.
- Zephrys the Great is a must keep for every matchup. It is particularly useful to have it in your opening hand during these first days of the new meta, where people are trying new decks and you might not know which archetype you are going to face;
- Lord Barov and Ramming Speed are great keeps against big decks such as Big Beasts Druid. The later, in particular, is a great response to an early Guardian Animals from the opponent, as it will likely kill both beasts, even if one of the two is a stealthed Twilight Runner;
- Sword and Board is a fantastic cheap removal to keep against Aggro Demon Hunter and Aggro Shaman. In the first case you will either trade a Battlefiend or a Satyr Overseer, in the latter you will be able to trade any totem;
- Coerce might be a useful keep if you are against Miracle Rogue to counter an early big Edwin VanCleef or a buffed Questing Adventurer;
- Acidic Swamp Ooze is a must keep against those classes which are currently using many weapons, specifically Rogue, Demon Hunter and Warrior
PLAY STRATEGY:
- Minions below 5 mana are mainly used for trades and board control. As a consequence, it will be very difficult to have minion advantage before the mid/late game. Here you’ll have powerful tools to take over the board, in particular Headmaster Kel’Thuzad,Troublemaker, Dragonqueen Alexstrasza and Kargath Prime;
- Lord Barov is the real star of this deck and having so many activators for its effect is the main reason why Highlander is viable. In particular, a board clear is possible with Whirlwind, Risky Skipper (to be played before Barov), Bladestorm plus the cards which allow you to destroy Barov and trigger it’s deathrattle such as Shield Slam, Sword and Board and Warmaul Challenger,
- Be aware of the deck weaknesses: in particular card draw and value generation. The first one can be an issue against Aggro decks, where you will be tempted to use all your removals and you will end with no cards in your hand. This is an issue especially in the upcoming meta, where most of Aggros will have powerful card draws such as Secret Passage. The second can be an issue when playing slower matchups, such as against Control Priest or Libram Paladin, which will have an advantage in cards generation. For this reason, you will need to put early aggression and always have minion advantage on the board to close and he game before their value generation overcomes your deck
DECK TIPS:
- Use wisely your Playmaker: this card is incredibly powerful with Restless Mummy and Kargath Bladefist. However, if you use it in combination with the latter, you will shuffle two Kargath Prime in your deck, nullifying both Zephrys the Great and Dragonqueen Alexstrasza;
- Do not waste Athletic Studies: even if this card doesn’t look much powerful, it allows nice combos. If you are playing against Aggro, playing before turn 3 will allow you to play a powerful rush minion one turn prior to its cost. If you are playing against slower decks, you will keep this card in order to play it in combo with Playmaker. In fact, you might either be able to play one or two Kargath Bladefist (if you are lucky to discover another one) and, as a consequence, to put 2 or 4 additional cards in your deck to delay fatigue. If fatigue is not an issue, you might also play it to discount a Kargath Prime to be played on next turn in combination with Playmaker for a powerful board swing (this combo is also possible if you keep the Coin);
- Do not waste your Zephrys! This may seem pretty obvious, but you should play Zephrys the Great as a last resource or to access mechanics not included in this deck. Specifically, you might be looking for a silence such as Hex or Polymorph if you are facing a Libram Paladin or a Big Warrior with Rattlegore; a The Black Knight if you can’t deal with a buffed Winged Guardian; a Lay on Hands if you need both card draw and healing;
- Headmaster Kel’Thuzad is one of the most powerful comebacks of this deck, so always keep it in combination with another removal. Your desired outcome is always a cleared board on the opponent’s side and 2+ minions on yours;
- Lord Barov is not only important for its battlecry: most of the times you will clear the board and your Barov will remain as a 3/1. Its deathrattle could be used again next turn for another clear, having the optimum in combination with Plague of Wrath (this two turns board clear is incredibly powerful against Big Druid)
SUBSTITUTIONS: (do not craft cards in these first days of the new expansion)
- Lord Barov: very hard to substitute as facing Big decks will require frequent board clears and this one is the cheapest and most flexible. For these reasons I don’t think you will be able to substitute this card, but if you like to play Control this one is surely a safe craft as long as it remains in Standard;
- Kargath Bladefist: another card which will lower your win rate if not included. If you want to substitute this legendary, you will also need to remove Playmaker, as there will not be enough Rush minions to justify its presence. Possible substitutions for those two cards are Corsair Cache and Livewire Lance if you need more presence in the early game, or In formation and Frightened Flunky if you need more value generation;
- Deathwing, Mad Aspect: it’s a good flexible card, as it will likely clear the board and put a big treat but it might be replaced. You could try using the original Deathwing if you are looking for a similar (but more radical) effect, Grommash Hellscream if you are missing that kind of damage to close your games, Batterhead if you are missing the previous legendaries;
- Headmaster Kel’Thuzad: this card is particularly good against Libram Paladin and Big Druid, but some substitutions are possible. If you want to increase your presence on board and you are facing slow matchups you could try King Phaoris (The biggest spells in this deck are 5 mana, but might get good value out of this card), Big Game Hunter or Faceless Manipulator if you are facing lots of Big decks, Cobalt Spellkin if you want a little bit of extra value and cheap removals;
- Zephrys the Great and Dragonqueen Alexstrasza: impossible to play this deck without them
- Epic cards: most of them are removals, and they are hardly replaceable in a Highlander deck. Warmaul Challenger is probably the only one which can be replaced, specifically with either Frozen Shadoweaver or a Livewire Lance;
- Risky Skipper: some people will not have this card if they didn’t purchased the adventure, so here are some suggestions. You could try to substitute it with cheap removals like Rocket Augmerchant (which can be used in combination with Barov); a silence like Ironbeak Owl if you are facing lots of Libram Paladins; or put a Transfer Student if you just want a fun card which might be quite useful with some boards (like deal 2 damage, discover a dragon, add a random Plague or add a random biclass
POSSIBLE META ADDITIONS:
- If the meta becomes slower and value based decks will be top tier, Rattlegore could be a fitting add, due to its stickiness to the board. However this card is terrible against Aggro/Tempo, Token and Spell burst decks, which are currently being played;
- If Libram Paladin is your major encounter and you are having difficulties in beating them you could add a Bad Luck Albatross to counter the Lightforged cards. This will basically kill their playing strategy as they will run out of cards in hand pretty fast;
- If Big Beasts Druid or Libram Paladin are your major encounters and your removals are not enough, you could include either a Tinkmaster Overspark or a Ironbeak Owl to add a silence option other than Zephrys;
- If you are having troubles with priests you could try running Archivist Elysiana to force the match into fatigue and use it as a viable win condition;
MATCHUPS (if you have any requests/suggestions write down in the comments):
- BIG BEASTS DRUID: this is one of the easiest matchups for this deck. As already said,Ramming Speed is your best counter to an early Guardian Animals, Coerce, Execute and Shield Slam are your best response to kael’thas sunstrider. Zephrys the Great is your best response to Winged Guardian, specifically at 8 mana to get a The Black Knight. Brawl, Plague of Wrath, Lord Barov and Bladestorm will be your answers to big boards (the deck has a limited amount of minions, once you have traded them Druid will automatically lose).Headmaster Kel’Thuzad is a strong win condition as Druid will have difficulties in trading 1+ big minions and you will obtain board advantage;
- LIBRAM PALADIN: one the most popular decks right now, it’s not a difficult matchup as long as you play on the weakness of that deck. The basic idea is to always control the board so the opponent will not have good targets for its Librams other than its Silver Hand Recruit (not a major treat). You have two cards to deal with the weapons equipped by Lightforged Zealot. Use your single target removals to destroy buffed minions such as the 8/8 from Libram of Hope or a buffed Argent Braggart. Your Zephrys will be useful to get a silence. Make the opponent exhaust its cards, knowing that its only card “draw” is Lightforged Crusader. Divine shield minions such as Devout Pupil, Goody Two-Shields and Murgurgle Prime are the main treats as they will allow your opponent to have several minions on the board. The main answers to these cards are the AoE removals, especially Bladestorm is a good response. With these strategies this matchup will be easy to play. If you are still having trouble with this matchup, add a Bad Luck Albatross to counter it and always search for it in your mulligan;
- TEMPO AGGRO ROGUE/DEMON HUNTER: this is obviously the easiest matchup as the combination of armor gains, AoE removals and single target removals will prove more than enough to beat these decks. The only suggestion is to always keep one of the two weapon removals (if not in hand while the opponent plays the weapon you might also get it from Zephrys) and always be aware of potential damage coming directly from the hand, such as Eviscerate and Glaivebound Adept;
- TOKEN DRUID: Risky Skipper for sure shines in this matchup. Do not keep your Bladestorm without any other cheap single target removals as it will be useless alone if the opponent plays a Gibberling followed by buff spells (you will only kill the last spawned Gibberling with 1 health). For this reason, Sword and Board is a good card to have in combination. Keep in mind that this matches usually ends by turn 4, after you cleared their board and they will have nothing in their hands, so do not be afraid to use all your resources in the first turns to shut down their board
CURRENTLY TESTING: (if you have any suggestions let me know in the comments)
- - Kobold Stickyfinger / + Harrison Jones: surely this increases the overall cost of this deck, but Harrison Jones card draw might prove useful, addressing one of the weakness of this deck;
- - Kobold Stickyfinger / + Rattlegore: moving up the mana curve and including a hard to remove treat might prove useful against slower matchups
meh
I just hit Legend with this. https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1362902-legend-22-8 .. Think about Bulwark weapon.
this deck doesn't work in this meta. sorry. It's just too slow for every other deck to win easily. the only time you win is when someone else is playing a home grown deck themselves. against meta decks it just can't keep up.
0-4.............
Sorry to hear that :/
Oh hi Mark!
Fun deck, and it somewhere reminded me how strong Highlander Warrior can be.
I did however have a bad run with your iteration, and made some changes to it. My main concern was that you included too many activators for Barov, and lacked any sort of pro-active play. Barov is strong, really strong, but the activators, namely Whirlwind, are very bad cards on their own. Other than that, I made a few decisions based on my ladder experience, which was mainly Druid, Paladin and Priest.
So, all in all, a very strong shell of a deck. But people need to learn to adjust the deck to their own ladder experience. Especially with Highlander decks.I don't like Playmaker for example, and I've found Troublemaker and Scrap Golem far too slow.
Thank you for the deck though, it has reignited my passion for the Warrior class.
I guess that sort of answered my question... neither Playmaker nor Troublemaker are worth crafting for this deck?
Good feedback.
Agreed to this comment. From what I've experienced, it boils down to somewhat like this:
Playmaker feels rather weak. Troublemaker can be decent but quite inconsistent and it's better with Ripper. So I cut these.
With a lot of self damage cards, Battle Rage is pretty good draw.
Ancharrr is great. I tried with Corsair Cache too (replace Slam). Pretty consistently drawing skipper is great. Help drawing stickyfinger too.
Livewire Lance is cool with skipper and armorsmith. Most of the time it's better than Warmaul Challenger, but sometimes I miss that card.
Galakrond, the Unbreakable package with Kronx helps a lot against Priests, much more so than Archivist Elysiana. Most of the time, Priests almost always get your Elysiana from Thoughtsteal/Madam Lazul/Mindrender Illucia (0 mana because of that priest dragon) anyway. Or I end up dying before they die to fatigue because they have so much threats (especially Galakrond priest).
Ironbeak Owl singlehandedly wins game against Paladin. It and Zephrys both help immensely.
Bloodsworn Mercenary is decent sometimes from few games I tried. Armorsmith/Kar'gath/Siamat/Lord Barov/Mummy are all good copy candidates.
Deck feels good to play. The only downside is that warrior's deck in standard is solid on paper, but too fair. Sometimes it can't compete with some OPness in the meta.
Thanks for your suggestions! They definitely can improve this deck, I’ll try out in the next days!
Can you add your deck list here please? Thanks
Playmaker vs. Troublemaker... which one has the better utility in this deck so far? I always hesitate before crafting anything this early into the release. But I like this deck a lot and I’ve been playing without either one with 40-50% WR (just a guess) and wonder if maybe I should go against that rule. Both cards appear pretty fun/good but the difference in crafting cost is significant. Just wondering what people who’ve been playing this deck think if they could only craft one of them?
Also, I’m playing Harrison Jones and he’s been a pretty good add... just my two cents.
Paladin plays Blessing of Autorithy, have 12 health minion on board, I play bladestorm and laugh
Hey guys!
I went and tried out this deck hoping that I can snipe some recruit druids but I ran into token druid with insane start and did not get there. I had two nice wins though against some variant of egg warrior and then I got really clutch win against reno priest - he basically took all of my good cards and almost killed me with my own deck but I got him in the end.
I hope you can enjoy the gameplay video:)
Nice deck, played some game even tho I miss some card, had some good results, but it feels like it's missing value... I mean I'm not overplaying stuff but I often found my hand with just cheap removals and no threats to play. Not sure what I should add/do
Value generation is surely a weakness of this deck, it will never keep up with Priest for instance.
My suggestions if you often encounter value based matchups is to add Rattlegore for a consistent treat over turns, or In Formation if you don’t have much dust and you want a cheap value generation
First of all very nice job making this detailed guide and explanation. Very pleasing to read and easy to understand.
However, the deck itself. It doesn't seem to work in this meta,atleast highlander.
Biggest flaw with this is that you are playing catch up and reactive cards to whatever cards your opponent plays. Therefore being highlander, if you don't draw the proper answers required in the situation,you will lose.
My ladder is filled with druids,mages and paladins. Haven't seen any Demon hunters, shamans,hunters. Maybe a few rogues.
Paladins can be beat if you get lucky removals and bait out their buffs. Mage is not so easy because generally they don't play minions so most of your removal cards are dead.
Druids,on the other hand are just broken. If they manage to ramp up,which they will like 70% of the time. It's a loss. No matter how many silences,big removals,etc you put in. It's just simply not enough to catch up when they have 2-3 10/10 minions on turn 8. And there is still Ysera to deal with and so on.
Don't get me wrong,i really like this deck and i would like it to work. But this deck is just fair. And by that i mean there are simply no "cheat" mechanincs that other classes get atm.
yeah I'd have to agree, I really like this deck and I always hope HL Warrior will be a competitive list one day but the deck just loses to most decks. It's like do nothing warrior vs do nothing druid but do nothing druid has an explosive turn.
props for the huge guide my man, as a big warrior fan i will try this deck for sure ( well of course i nned to get some dust first)
Thanks!
Nice guide man!