Hearthpwn

My name is MTGOStark and I've been playing strategy games for the better part of a decade. I've placed either at Rank 1 or somewhere in the Top 100-200 in nearly every strategy game I've played, including League of Legends, Dawn of War II and Magic: The Gathering Online. I started playing Hearthstone last year, and so far have reached a peak ranking of Legend Rank 2 in September 2015. I consistently make Legend every season and usually play in Top 10-100 Legend when I'm not testing new decks.

Control warrior has been around for a while, but constantly needs to adapt to new metas so there are still plenty of ways to build the deck. The philosophy behind this deck is to be able to deal with pretty much any of your opponent's threats, single or multi, while playing your own proactive game with cards like Ysera, Grommash, Alexstrasza and Dr. Boom. 

The focal points of this deck are 2 Brawls+Baron Geddon+Deathwing+Whirlwind+Revenge, and Gorehowl. A lot of people have opted to use something like 1 Brawl+Geddon as board clear, but I simply don't think this is sufficient for the meta. You always want to be able to clear board if you need to, especially in this meta filled with Secrets Paladin, Patron, and Tempo/Mech Mage. As long as you can keep the board clear, your late-game threats will carry you to victory. 

Gorehowl is a way to really grind out druid matchups or opposing warrior matchups. An uncontested Gorehowl will easily 4-for-1 your opponent at least, and hardly cost you much in return with a Justicar-powered hero power, and cards like Shield Block, Bash, and Shield Maiden. 

I think the deck is extremely versatile; unlike more passive variants it can take advantage of tempo gaps in your opponents play, and unlike more aggressive variants it has maximum capability of clearing any board.

I've only played it a few games but have something like a 80% winrate in Top 100 Legend. I'm currently Rank 36 Legend as I write this, and I'm not done climbing. 

I think this is a solid and exciting build of control warrior that you should check out if you're interested in playing control warrior, or climbing ladder. 

Card Choices

Armorsmith/Taskmaster/Acolyte - I've never liked these cards in CW because it always felt like wasted slots when I play them. They aren't very good at contesting board early on, and CW doesn't really need to draw extra cards off acolyte because it's already playing such a high-value strategy. Armorsmith is actually bad vs. everything but face hunter, and you don't really get that much armor off whirlwind effects in CW. I'd much rather have instant, unconditional effects like Whirlwind or Bash. 

Emperor - Emperor Thaurissan doesn't really fit the game plan of the deck, which is to control board until you stabilize and drop huge threats. Emperor is more of a tempo card, and this isn't really a tempo deck. Its slot is much better utilized by Justicar, 2nd Shieldmaiden, 2nd Brawl etc.

Nefarian/Chromaggus - Both of these cards seem like high value but usually aren't. Nefarian rarely gives you anything you want and Chromaggus almost always dies before you can draw a card off of it, and the card you draw isn't necessarily great. 

Varian Wrynn - This card has proven subpar in testing; it's basically win-more. If you can drop this card and win, you were probably already winning, he doesn't help you in a losing situation. He's also completely unplayable if you draw him in the bottom-10 cards vs. a control mirror, because he just gets Brawled and puts you closer to fatigue. 

Mulligan

In general, you want to mulligan for a) a curve and b) the best cards in your deck. In this case, we want to mulligan for early removal that will allow us to survive the early game so we can play our strong mid-late game. 

Mulligan for: War Axe, Death's bite, Execute, Shield Slam, Bash

Matchup-specific cards:

Brawl (Warlock, Mage, Patron, Pally)

BGH (handlock, demonlock)

Justicar (Control Warrior, Freeze Mage, Patron)

Whirlwind/Revenge (Pally, Hunter)

You're not always going to know what you're playing beforehand, but you can make an educated guess based on your meta. Also, you want at least one form of earlier removal; if Death's bite or Brawl is the cheapest removal you have in your hand pre-mulligan, you should probably mulligan everything. 

Stream

Thanks for reading my guide. I also have a stream at twitch.tv/mtgostark. My focus is on coaching players of all ranks on how to be better for FREE. I consistently get Legend every season and usually play at Top 10-100 Legend skill level. I also test new and creative decks, or make unique variations of established decks. If you're interested in getting FREE coaching, watching others get coached, or seeing some solid Legend gameplay, I welcome you to tune into the stream! The current schedule is Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday @7:30pm EST.