[Spark] Battle Master (S9 + BRM Update)
- Last updated Sep 20, 2016 (Karazhan)
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Wild
- 22 Minions
- 6 Spells
- 2 Weapons
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Aggro Paladin
- Crafting Cost: 9140
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 12/27/2014 (GvG Launch)
- Sparkaz
- Pro Player
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Tournament Decks:
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Ladder Decks:
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Reached Top 10 during Season 10 using this Deck and my Midrange Hunter !
The Deck has also been declined to Dragon Master since BRM and Battle Master since TGT !
Introduction
Hello everyone ! I'm Spark, Legend player from Hearthstone, and today you'll be surprised to see me diving into the Paladin class.
I know that some people, like Trump and Powder, already explored some similar builds so the concept is not entirely new but I'm not aware of their exact lists so I wanted to share with you my own take on Midrange Paladin ;)
The strategy of the Deck fits my main playstyle as you may already know as it is a Midrange build. You're looking to control the board throughout the game while maintaining some form of pressure from your side.
It is definitely more on the Control stance but I felt like its versatility makes it a solid Midrange Deck.
Deck Breakdown
Zombie Chow and Shielded Minibot are here for early game presence, they are just too good at fighting early aggression so mulligan for them !
Knife Juggler and Muster for Battle comes along with them to annoy Aggro Decks and apply pressure onto slower Decks.
Note that those 2 cards combos pretty well together and can completely shut down swarm strategies.
Aldor Peacekeeper is too good of a card since it provides you some great Tempo swings, especially when dealing with a very big threat like Mountain Giant. Don't hesitate to use it on minor threats against Aggro Decks though !
Truesilver Champion has always been a stapple for Paladin because of its ability to deal with midgame threats while mitigating some damage ;)
Piloted Shredder and Sludge Belcher are here to provide some sticky mid game presence. Those are just good cards overall, especially when played on curve.
Quartermaster is an awesome addition to the class as it makes your hero power more relevant and combos insanely well with Muster for Battle.
The simple fact that this card exists forces your opponent to deal with Silver Hand Recruit, sometimes leading to pretty valuable Tempo gain for you or inefficient plays from your opponent !
Lay on Hands is more or less the dreamt late game card for this kind of build, healing yourself and refilling your hand are both very relevant against Aggro and Control Decks ;)
Equality combos allows you to board clear very efficiently in any Match Up :
- Consecration is already good on its own against Aggro Decks and using it with Equality at the right timing against slower Decks is key to succeed with the Deck !
- Avenging Wrath completes this set because it brings some more finishing potential and allows you to use one of the AoE spells without Equality, which can be very useful against specific board states.
- Muster for Battle can also be a good follow up to Equality in case of emergency as the weapon can clear the main target and having a Knife Juggler on board while doing so can clear up a big part of the opponent board.
As you don't want to waste those combos for a lonely threat, I added the trinity of tech cards :
- Big Game Hunter has many targets in the current meta since every Decks are playing Dr. Boom and it can save you against Handlock or Control Decks ;)
- The Black Knight is here to bring some powerful Tempo swing and won't have a hard time finding targets since Sludge Belcher is still very dominant !
- Harrison Jones is very valuable in the current meta as weapon classes are at the top and it provides you some more draw options.
The Deck includes some late game threats to help you closing games :
- Tirion Fordring is a stapple for these kinds of Paladin Decks as the card is so powerful, especially when you can bait Silences before playing it !
- Dr. Boom is just too good overall as it's impossible to deal with it on a one card play and works pretty well against any board state ;)
- Bolvar Fordragon is probably the most expandable one but I find that the card is completely underrated as you'll bring a load of Silver Hand Recruit onto the battlefield that your opponent will have to deal with, therefore powering it up. It's versatile enough to be played at different stages of the game and often baits a Silence to make a free way for Tirion Fordring so it fits the Deck pretty well.
- Sylvanas Windrunner, Ragnaros the Firelord and Loatheb are some other universally strong cards to consider, especially if you are running on a budget ;)
Gameplay Videos
I've uploaded some basic recordings of interesting games ! Beside the results, it shows some of the Deck's interactions against different archetypes ;)
Check out the entire playlist containing the following Match Ups : Midrange Paladin, Control Rogue, Mech Druid and Zoolock.
I've also started a new Series called Legend Grinding Session in which I play the Deck on ladder.
As I've used it quite a lot this season during my climb, I ended up posting 4 sessions with the Deck so I definitely recommend to check out the entire playlist for more Gameplay ;)
Update Section
Revision History 1 :
I replaced Harrison Jones with Loatheb because I was facing less weapon classes and more Druids and Mages which can be stopped by its effect ;)
Revision History 2 :
With the release of BRM, I decided to include Dragon Consort along with Ysera for the great synergy and also because a 5/5 for 5 mana is already pretty decent on its own !
Expect more Dragon synergies coming out with next weeks of BRM ;)
Revision History 3 :
I re-adjusted the build towards a more standard playstyle, avoiding the few Dragon synergies (keeping it for my Dragon Master build) to add in all the useful tech cards and come back to the original strategy with double Quartermaster.
Closing
I was really happy to discover some new stengths for this class as I felt it was kinda underwhelming before GvG, especially since it fits a Midrange playstyle, which has always been my favorite.
The Deck is pretty versatile and can fight a pretty wide variety of Decks.
I didn't used it on ladder during Season 9 as I was more or less try-harding with my Beasty Zoo Midrange Hunter but after a lot of playtesting against stapple Decks, I can definitely say that this is a strong choice to ladder with and I'm getting some awesome win streaks in Ranked play during Season 10 ;)
Here are my winrates in Ranked during S10 (Top 10 Legend) :
That's it for the guide guys, I hope you'll enjoy the Deck as much as I do !
Don't forget to show your support by upvoting the Deck if you liked and don't hesitate to discuss about it or ask any question in the comment section below ;)Follow me for more content and updates !
- Twitter : SparkazHS
- Youtube : Spark Hearthstone
- Hearthpwn : Sparkaz's Decks
- Facebook : Spark Hearthstone FR
Spark I am thinking about cutting TBK because I dont see any druids or handlocks right now. I think a Sky Golem would be better then?
Yeah either that or Sylvanas ;)
Here are the mulligan rules : http://hearthstoneplayers.com/legend-midrange-paladin-sparks-battle-master/
Well you could try including Healbot to strengthen the Aggro match up, else Rag or Sylv are fine also ;)
Hello!Nice deck Spark!!! I made some changes
-2 Zombie Chow, i never had it in my starting hand..
+1Ironbeak Owl
+1 Sword of Justice, becauce it buffs [card]Silver Hand Recruit[/card].
How do you think about that changes?
That's very fine although it weaken Aggro match ups a bit, but if it works for you that's good ^^
I'm not sure if SoJ is better than Coghammer however but it's up to you ;)
Having horrible luck against the new Miracle rogue ):
Shit happens =/
Hi spark . Wanted to ask you about the lack of draw in this deck (love your deck by the way)
I've seen other decks use acolyte of pain or cult leader. Any reasons why you don't use those? As the only draw card in this deck being lay on hands, i feel that the lack of draw can be a setback.
Because I don't personally feel the need of it, but if you are more comfortable this way why not just toss one of these in the deck ;)
Hi Spark,
Is Fatigue/Freeze Mage one of the worst matchups with this deck?
I feel extremly hard to win against them.
Not really but I wouldn't consider it a good match up either ^^
It's always hard to push for enough damage against them, I don't know much I very rarely face those archetypes. I think you can find some games against in my numerous laddering sessions with the Deck last season ;)
Against freeze if you do not have lay on hands and one equality by the time alex gets put down your screwed. I found the best method is if you have at least one creature on the field. You get alex'ed you equality kill alex (since you cant BGH and lay on hands) and then lay on hands. Otherwise if he alex's you bgh and then he gets two fire balls and a frost bolt to your face you lose the turn after.
Yep that's generally how you recover from Alex ^^
Hey Spark) I really like your decks) I just switch 1 zombie for 1 Owl, sometimes Zombie could be useless, but owl always finds her aim. By the way you replaced Harrison with Loatheb, but i really like Harrisons work. My question is: what if we replace 1 Quartermaster with Loatheb? Will it be good? In my opinion often second Quartermaster is useless.
Yeah as I always state on my deck's comment : if you're more comfortable with a silence go for it, I'm perfectly fine without it but it's something very personal you know ;)
No, I just switched Harrison for Loatheb because of obvious 70% Mech Mage on the ladder and not much weapons out there. If your meta is still loaded with weapon classes, you should just keep the initial version but don't remove Quartermaster ;)
could you tell me why not?)
Because its effect is too powerful for the Deck and you want to optimize variance so you generally see it once per game, therefore playing 2 copies.
This card just wins too many games, especially "race" ones (which happen quite a lot because of Aggro decks)
ok, i see) But 1 Owl is good?
Yes if you feel like you need it yourself ^^
spark would you please suggest a replacement for Bolvar ?