Hearthpwn

Update August 29th

- 2 x Inner Rage, 1 x Stampeding Kodo, 1 x Arcanite Reaper

+ 1 x slam, 1 x Armorsmith, 2 x Sludge Belcher

After the last wing of Naxxramas was released I started having some troubles with the old version of the deck but in the last few days I have been using this new updated version of the deck that has been working a lot better.

The inner rages were not working as well for me as they used to for a few reasons, one I only have one spelldamage minion in the deck instead of the 3 I used to have meaning that as offense it usually only does one damage. The second reason is that I'm just not facing as many good targets for it as I used to, instead of Leper Gnomes and young priestesses I'm seeing Undertakers and Haunted Creepers. Lastly the deck has another way to enrage Grommash now in Death's Bite.

I took out an Arcanite Reaper because I was finding myself with a bit too many weapons sometimes and I wanted some extra minions in the deck instead, the 2 Sludge Belchers fit the role perfectly. I added another Armorsmith because I found myself without anything to play on turn 2 too often. The Stampeding Kodo is still decent but I was not getting as much use out of it as I used to either since a Haunted Creeper for example is not exactly a great target most of the time. The Slam fits in to make up for the lack of removal the 2 Inner rages have left in the deck.

I also changed the video at the end with a new more recent one of myself playing the new version of the deck.

Update August 13th

- 1 x Slam, - 1 x Arcanite Reaper, + 2 x Death's Bite.

The new Axe from Naxxramas is good, so I added two of them, because of the extra weapons in the deck I removed an Arcanite Reaper, and because the weapons are good against Zoo I decided to remove a slam to make room for the second one.

Update August 12th

- 1 x Argent Commander, + 1 x Slam.

I made this change to improve the match up vs Zoo since sometimes I just didn't have enough removal, at the same time it shouldn't hurt the match up vs control much either since you can use it as a card cycle instead of direct removal as well.

I also changed the video to one of me playing the current version of the deck in the game that took me to legend for the season.

Update August 7th

- 1 x Armorsmith, + 1 x Azure Drake.

As other people have noted as well the new version of the deck was a bit light on card draw, this change helps with that. The reason for the removal of the Armorsmith is that it was mainly there as a counter to rogues, now that rogues are not as popular anymore they are not as essential.

Update August 2nd

After a lot of experimentation after Naxx I have finally come up with a new version of the deck that I'm happy with and that I have been winning with.

- 2 Slam, - Bloodmage Thalnos, - Loot Hoarder, - 2 Azure Drake

+ Execute, + Spellbreaker, + Loatheb, + Stampeding Kodo, + The Black Knight, + Grommash Hellscream

I have removed the outdated videos and added a new one of me playing the deck early in the new season on my way back to legend.

Update july 10th

I have made some small changes to the mulligan description and added a card replacement section. I have also added a link to a one minute guide from Tales of Lumin featuring the deck. Lastly I have reached legend now in season 4 with this deck and added a video featuring my 3 attempts at getting the last star needed.

Update july 6th

-2 Argent Squire, -1 Cleave, -1 Arathi Weaponsmith

+2 Armorsmith, +2 whirlwind

Added new video with gameplay of the new version of the deck.

Introduction

Hey everyone, I have reached legend the last 5 seasons and I ended last season as legend rank 94 with the aggro mill rogue deck. I played that deck up to legend this season as well but I wanted to try something new. I got the idea to make a tempo warrior deck, inspired by the tempo rogue. I figured the warrior has a lot of similar tools, inner rage as the no cost removal backstab, fiery war axe in place of deadly poison+hero power, cruel taskmaster in place of SI:7 agent and so on. I crafted the deck and it did pretty well, I kept adjusting it until I could get into the top 50 legend with it, and this is the result.

Tempo talk

This deck is not a pure aggro deck instead it has more value based minions and a bunch of removal it aims to get board control and never let go of it. The deck also has a lot of card draw to keep it going until the end, it is not uncommon that I end up with 6+ cards in my hand at turn 5 even though I have been using all my mana every turn thanks to acolyte pain/taskmaster synergy and so on. As well as all the card draw the deck also has a lot of weapons and chargers to gain and keep board control quickly.

It is not an ordinary control deck either, even though it does aim to control the board it does it while filling up the board with minions at the same time instead of just stalling until you can get late game legendaries out like with the usual control warrior deck.

That is why I call it tempo warrior, it gains control of the board and game with fast and mana efficient plays.

Mulliganning

Against control mulligan for Armorsmiths/Loot Hoarders/Amani Berserkers/Fiery War Axe I will also keep harvest golem/Acolyte of Pain if I already have one of those 4 cards. Against aggro also keep taskmasters and if I am going second vs aggro meaning I have an extra card I will even keep whirlwind.

Replacements

The Black Knight, He can be replaced by a Spectral Knight, it's a different kind of card than The Black Knight but it fits into the deck extremely well. Harrison Jones or Acidic Swamp Ooze can also work as good replacements if you are facing a lot of weapon users.

Grommash Hellscream, If you don't have him I would replace him with a second Argent Commander, the Commander does less damge but it does have the advantage of being cheaper which can actually be a pretty big advantage in some games. I got to legend in a previous season without Grommash, so don't worry too much if you have to make this change.

Gameplan

Board control, board control and more board control. Get the board under control at all cost, after you get board control it is perfectly fine to hit face with your weapons if you have another weapon ready to go, but not before that.

Since most of the decks in the meta right now are extremely burst heavy the warriors hero power can be quite useful mid to late game buffing yourself out of combo range. Armor is especially powerful vs freeze mages, if you can have 5+ armor up by turn 9 while keeping board control they're in trouble.

Overall I find that this deck feels very similar to playing tempo rogue, so if you have played that before it should feel familiar, but I actually think this deck is stronger than tempo rogue at least right now.

Thanks for reading this far, if you like the deck go ahead and show support by ranking it.

Video

Video of myself using the deck at legend near the end of season 5.