You heard it all: "Paladin is dead" - "Worst class in the game" - "Paladin is the epitome of inconsistency"
Ok, the last one was maybe phrased a bit differently ;)
But still, I believe I have found the cure to all our woes, fellow Paladin players! I have so far played 16 ranked games with it and I am currently standing at 11-5.
At the very least, this is a very fun and surprisingly viable deck, I want to present to you. It's only real weakness is that it will get rotated to Wild pretty soon ;)
Without further ado, here it is:
My INSPIRE MURLOC PALADIN deck!
You heard it right - this deck tries to mix the basic Anyfin Paladin up a bit by adding a little surprise factor: The Inspire mechanic. Let me explain some key combos and cards to you:
1. Grimestreet Outfitter + minions in your hand: No real combo actually, but having this in your starting hand with 2 or more other minions is such a strong opening, I had to write it down here. As this deck doesn't have lots of spells, it is pretty consistent, too. A 3/2 Bluegill Warrior, 3/3 Argent Protector or a 2/4 Acolyte of Pain are suddenly becoming awesome cards to play on curve! One of the very few new cards I actually run in this deck.
2. Vilefin Inquisitor + Murloc Knight or Mukla's Champion: The little 1/3 has the neat ability to transform your hero power and this will be exploited in this deck! Similar to Justicar Trueheart this ability refreshes your hero power, too! That means, you can use Mukla or Murloc Knight TWICE or even more in ONE turn. For example: On turn 9, you can play the following combo: Murloc Knight --> Hero Power --> Vilefin --> Hero Power. This results in a full board (almost).
It is vital for you to have board presence in this deck. The board doesn't need to be completely stacked, but if you don't manage to have 1-2 minions on your board, when your turn starts, you'll have a bad time! (unless you have Equality + Consecration)
The thing with this deck is: You don't need to wait for turn 9 or 10 to do these combos! More precisely said, you shouldn't wait to play your cards in most cases. You need to apply pressure consistently. Bait your opponent into thinking your armada of 1/1 murlocs is useless (when Vilefin has been played) just to overwhelm them wíth a Murloc Warleader follow-up! A very important play to keep in mind! This deck has some huge burst damage potential, which can surprise your opponents a lot!
Vilefin is one of the key cards of this deck and knowing how to use him is important. That said, sometimes opting for that turn 5 "Hero power --> Vilefin --> Hero Power" combo can be good, when you don't have anything else, as it fills your board with some minions at least. What I want to say is: Don't desperately hold onto your combo pieces! Sometimes you'll win, because you didn't play your combos. Think about the fact that your opponent could sense some combos, too!
For instance, a simple turn 7 Mukla's Champion + Hero Power combo can bury your opponent, for example a Jade Druid player, as his Swipe suddenly becomes fairly useless!
One more thing: Knowing when to play which card is vital here. To give you an example: Sometimes it can be good idea to play your 3/4 (or buffed up to 4/5, 5/6) Murloc Knight on turn 4, when you suspect that your opponent doesn't have an out to it and/or you have Vilefin ready. Then, in turn 5, you can completely overwhelm your opponent with the doubled use of your hero power.
Also keep in mind that when you get Finja out of the Knight, you have the right to emote endlessly, as you just got the ticket to a free win :D
3. Equality + Consecration/Wild Pyromancer: Your emergency combo and the only reason, we don't run two Divine Favor. Equality can even help you on its own, as you'll mostly have lots of smaller minions out there. It is an awesome tool for removing big minions, especially taunts!
I really hope, you guys like this deck and give me an upvote!
Now I am standing at 16-7 with Jade decks being my biggest weakness.
Warrior 4-0 (every Pirate Warrior crushed) Priest 3-0 (2 Dragon Priest decks and 1 Reno Priest) Warlock 2-0 (Renolock twice) Mage 1-0 (Secret Mage) Shaman 2-1 (1-1 against Midrange Shaman, 1-0 against Jade Midrange Shaman) Druid 3-3 (only Jade Druid - pretty hard matchup) Rogue 1-3 (Against pure Jade Rogue I am 1-1, but I have lost to very greedy N'Zoth Jade Rogues twice...)
EDIT: You read that correctly - no Hunters or Paladins faced.
Paladin is not even close being dead. Buff decks with all buffing cards included plus Dopplegangster which is really powerful in these decks are pretty strong and they are beating jade decks in how fast they drop out their big minions. Paladin also has one of the cards that counters aggro face pirate warriors and that is Burnbristle (sorry if I wrote it wrong). I think Anyfin won't have effect after new meta comes except you are running only bluegill warrior and murloc warleader because a lot of AoE's came with MSG. You should also add another pyromancer.
Edit: Just to add, Anyfin can happen and Vilefin Inquisitor in same deck is pretty bad idea. Also adding Sir Finley is good exactly for hero power combo you mentioned so even if you get some bad hero power in that situation you can play vilefin Inquisitor again and a lot of times you will have 7 minions on board so your basic or murloc hero power will do nothing except triggering inspire so consider adding Finley it can't be bad.
Paladin is not even close being dead. Buff decks with all buffing cards included plus Dopplegangster which is really powerful in these decks are pretty strong and they are beating jade decks in how fast they drop out their big minions. Paladin also has one of the cards that counters aggro face pirate warriors and that is Burnbristle (sorry if I wrote it wrong). I think Anyfin won't have effect after new meta comes except you are running only bluegill warrior and murloc warleader because a lot of AoE's came with MSG. You should also add another pyromancer.
Edit: Just to add, Anyfin can happen and Vilefin Inquisitor in same deck is pretty bad idea. Also adding Sir Finley is good exactly for hero power combo you mentioned so even if you get some bad hero power in that situation you can play vilefin Inquisitor again and a lot of times you will have 7 minions on board so your basic or murloc hero power will do nothing except triggering inspire so consider adding Finley it can't be bad.
1. Anyfin is not nearly as crucial as in the "usual" Murloc Paladin build in this deck. Therefore you can take the "sacrifice" of the potentially weaker outcome of the effect. Its real purpose is to apply some final/close-to-final pressure to your opponent by filling the board mostly. If you see your opponent is a Druid player, you could even go with not playing Vilefin unless he really provides you a big advantage, just to make sure that Anyfin gives you the cards you want. In my experience, you still get awesome boards most of the time. You might not have 2 Warleaders and 2 Bluegills, but you'll get Bluegill Warrior and/or Warleader at least once most of times as great threats - and then there is Murloc Knight as a third that needs to be battles in an instant as well with Mukla or another Warleader waiting in your hand...
2. Burnbristle is a nice card in Buff Paladin, but in this deck it's bad (I know you didn't make that suggestion ;) ). Pirate Warrior might be the best matchup of this deck.
3. That one Wild Pyromancer is really hitting the sweet spot for me. I needed that tad bit more consistency, when it comes to Equality plays - and this tech choice provided it. I wouldn't run 2, it is not needed and can get a bit too cloggy.
4. I had Sir Finley in previous versions of this deck and he certainly isn't bad at all, but you don't need him actually. Yeah, triggering the hero power more than twice more consistenly is nice, but tell me: How much will this situation occur? ;)
Also, if you only have him and no Vilefin you won't get more minions by using your hero power onto the board (except with Totems), which is needed in this deck. On the other hand, having the Warlock hero power can bail you out, when you run out of steam against, let's say, Jade decks...
When it comes to changing this deck, I see Argent Protector and the two legendaries as potential flex spots, maybe even Truesilver...
As I was finishing some quests with other classes (mainly Warlock - during that time I played Renolock), I didn't play a lot more games with this deck until today. But I am still going strong, here are the stats:
Never write "16 ranked games with it and I am currently standing at 11-5" without telling at what rank... Each rank-range has its own meta.
I have played with this deck from 15 all the way up to 7 so far. So no Rank 5/Legend so far...
I believe that this deck has potential nonetheless, as I have been seeing every current meta deck right now. I think that I will win a little less games (70%+ WR isn't too sustainable probably), as I reach rank 5. But so far, I have been steaming through almost all of my opponents.
Overall drawing: Small-Time Recruits +3, 2xRunic Egg +2, 2xSolemn Vigil +4, Lay on Hands +3, Loot Hoarder +1, total 13. Plus 10 cards in 10 turns and 3 or 4 at the beginning, it is almost certain to hit the 2 waves of murlocs at t10 and t11. It's doing good vs reno and pirate decks for me so far, but I haven't played it that much =(
Hello guys,
You heard it all: "Paladin is dead" - "Worst class in the game" - "Paladin is the epitome of inconsistency"
Ok, the last one was maybe phrased a bit differently ;)
But still, I believe I have found the cure to all our woes, fellow Paladin players! I have so far played 16 ranked games with it and I am currently standing at 11-5.
At the very least, this is a very fun and surprisingly viable deck, I want to present to you. It's only real weakness is that it will get rotated to Wild pretty soon ;)
Without further ado, here it is:
My INSPIRE MURLOC PALADIN deck!
You heard it right - this deck tries to mix the basic Anyfin Paladin up a bit by adding a little surprise factor: The Inspire mechanic. Let me explain some key combos and cards to you:
1. Grimestreet Outfitter + minions in your hand: No real combo actually, but having this in your starting hand with 2 or more other minions is such a strong opening, I had to write it down here. As this deck doesn't have lots of spells, it is pretty consistent, too. A 3/2 Bluegill Warrior, 3/3 Argent Protector or a 2/4 Acolyte of Pain are suddenly becoming awesome cards to play on curve! One of the very few new cards I actually run in this deck.
2. Vilefin Inquisitor + Murloc Knight or Mukla's Champion: The little 1/3 has the neat ability to transform your hero power and this will be exploited in this deck! Similar to Justicar Trueheart this ability refreshes your hero power, too! That means, you can use Mukla or Murloc Knight TWICE or even more in ONE turn. For example: On turn 9, you can play the following combo: Murloc Knight --> Hero Power --> Vilefin --> Hero Power. This results in a full board (almost).
It is vital for you to have board presence in this deck. The board doesn't need to be completely stacked, but if you don't manage to have 1-2 minions on your board, when your turn starts, you'll have a bad time! (unless you have Equality + Consecration)
The thing with this deck is: You don't need to wait for turn 9 or 10 to do these combos! More precisely said, you shouldn't wait to play your cards in most cases. You need to apply pressure consistently. Bait your opponent into thinking your armada of 1/1 murlocs is useless (when Vilefin has been played) just to overwhelm them wíth a Murloc Warleader follow-up! A very important play to keep in mind! This deck has some huge burst damage potential, which can surprise your opponents a lot!
Vilefin is one of the key cards of this deck and knowing how to use him is important. That said, sometimes opting for that turn 5 "Hero power --> Vilefin --> Hero Power" combo can be good, when you don't have anything else, as it fills your board with some minions at least. What I want to say is: Don't desperately hold onto your combo pieces! Sometimes you'll win, because you didn't play your combos. Think about the fact that your opponent could sense some combos, too!
For instance, a simple turn 7 Mukla's Champion + Hero Power combo can bury your opponent, for example a Jade Druid player, as his Swipe suddenly becomes fairly useless!
One more thing: Knowing when to play which card is vital here. To give you an example: Sometimes it can be good idea to play your 3/4 (or buffed up to 4/5, 5/6) Murloc Knight on turn 4, when you suspect that your opponent doesn't have an out to it and/or you have Vilefin ready. Then, in turn 5, you can completely overwhelm your opponent with the doubled use of your hero power.
Also keep in mind that when you get Finja out of the Knight, you have the right to emote endlessly, as you just got the ticket to a free win :D
3. Equality + Consecration/Wild Pyromancer: Your emergency combo and the only reason, we don't run two Divine Favor. Equality can even help you on its own, as you'll mostly have lots of smaller minions out there. It is an awesome tool for removing big minions, especially taunts!
I really hope, you guys like this deck and give me an upvote!
Cheers,
Traambone
Now I am standing at 16-7 with Jade decks being my biggest weakness.
Warrior 4-0 (every Pirate Warrior crushed)
Priest 3-0 (2 Dragon Priest decks and 1 Reno Priest)
Warlock 2-0 (Renolock twice)
Mage 1-0 (Secret Mage)
Shaman 2-1 (1-1 against Midrange Shaman, 1-0 against Jade Midrange Shaman)
Druid 3-3 (only Jade Druid - pretty hard matchup)
Rogue 1-3 (Against pure Jade Rogue I am 1-1, but I have lost to very greedy N'Zoth Jade Rogues twice...)
EDIT: You read that correctly - no Hunters or Paladins faced.
Paladin is not even close being dead. Buff decks with all buffing cards included plus Dopplegangster which is really powerful in these decks are pretty strong and they are beating jade decks in how fast they drop out their big minions. Paladin also has one of the cards that counters aggro face pirate warriors and that is Burnbristle (sorry if I wrote it wrong). I think Anyfin won't have effect after new meta comes except you are running only bluegill warrior and murloc warleader because a lot of AoE's came with MSG. You should also add another pyromancer.
Edit: Just to add, Anyfin can happen and Vilefin Inquisitor in same deck is pretty bad idea. Also adding Sir Finley is good exactly for hero power combo you mentioned so even if you get some bad hero power in that situation you can play vilefin Inquisitor again and a lot of times you will have 7 minions on board so your basic or murloc hero power will do nothing except triggering inspire so consider adding Finley it can't be bad.
2. Burnbristle is a nice card in Buff Paladin, but in this deck it's bad (I know you didn't make that suggestion ;) ). Pirate Warrior might be the best matchup of this deck.
3. That one Wild Pyromancer is really hitting the sweet spot for me. I needed that tad bit more consistency, when it comes to Equality plays - and this tech choice provided it. I wouldn't run 2, it is not needed and can get a bit too cloggy.
4. I had Sir Finley in previous versions of this deck and he certainly isn't bad at all, but you don't need him actually. Yeah, triggering the hero power more than twice more consistenly is nice, but tell me: How much will this situation occur? ;)
Also, if you only have him and no Vilefin you won't get more minions by using your hero power onto the board (except with Totems), which is needed in this deck. On the other hand, having the Warlock hero power can bail you out, when you run out of steam against, let's say, Jade decks...
When it comes to changing this deck, I see Argent Protector and the two legendaries as potential flex spots, maybe even Truesilver...
As I was finishing some quests with other classes (mainly Warlock - during that time I played Renolock), I didn't play a lot more games with this deck until today. But I am still going strong, here are the stats:
I believe that this deck has potential nonetheless, as I have been seeing every current meta deck right now. I think that I will win a little less games (70%+ WR isn't too sustainable probably), as I reach rank 5. But so far, I have been steaming through almost all of my opponents.
+1 for that name-picture pairing
Cool deck, but I don't have lightlord, so I am running a cheaper murloc deck like this:
It has a really quick mana curve, and with Getaway Kodo, you can recycle key murlocs or Aldor Peacekeeper.
Smuggler's Run made Runic Egg somewhat viable, but since it's only 1 cost, I can always squeeze it with Doomsayer or Equality combo.
Overall drawing: Small-Time Recruits +3, 2xRunic Egg +2, 2xSolemn Vigil +4, Lay on Hands +3, Loot Hoarder +1, total 13. Plus 10 cards in 10 turns and 3 or 4 at the beginning, it is almost certain to hit the 2 waves of murlocs at t10 and t11. It's doing good vs reno and pirate decks for me so far, but I haven't played it that much =(
Sounds super fun, I will try it soon. But I don't play too much right now ;)
(Regarding the Lightlord: He isn't vital to this deck. Instead of him you can run any healing/protecting card)
Still, I can now finally claim that this deck can reach Rank 5, as I did it on my phone today :D