For me main problem is,blizz tried to push milion paladin archetypes and in the end most were mediocre at best
we had reborn,control,otk,dragon,mech,divine shield,murloc and god knows which else support cards,in the end it was clownfiesta and class got some tier 2 decks through entire year.
Pally has always been successful as either small minion budget agro decks or 10k plus dust control decks.. I’ve drank MC pally out of my memories.. Being said I love the reborn quest midrange it just needs more support then shotbot. Keep reborn a ongoing keyword blizz, don’t let it die like inspire Exp Dragonsbane %100 should say inspire but dead keyword.
Aggro is the go to for paladin forever in hs and whenever there was a control pala there also was a far better aggro pala so either accept face is the place for the class or drop it .Dont cry for tools to make it controlish competitive not all classes meant to be played as control.
I do appreciate everyone's responses so far. Let's hope with the rotation Blizz gives us a solid package since we are losing almost all the mechs. Still hoping for more support for control, dragon, and Highlander paladin. Should start seeing new cards next month since rotation is in April.
Been trying so hard to make my Dragon Highlander Paladin a successful deck but constantly stuck between ranks 4-6.
I've quit for a long time because of the state of Paladin, I really really wanted a Control Paladin to work (not otk), unfortunately this hasn't been the case for 2 years.
Here are some things missing from the class imo.
1. Efficient removal:
Whether it's single target or AoE, Paladin's removal options are pitiful. Paladin removal (single target) takes the form of stat manipulation(Aldor/Humility/Subdue/Equality/Shrink Ray)or weapons(mostly just Truesilver). Stat manipulation is inefficient as removal for the Paladin class because direct damage is almost non-existent in the class, therefore you end up having to hit minions yourself with your weapon or with a minion on the board. The problem is that as a Control deck you are often behind on tempo, meaning that having a minion on the board is difficult. If you don't remove the minion straightaway after using your removal on it, keep in mind it can still be bounced to hand or hidden behind a Taunt minion. This is especially problematic in the case of minions with special effects (ongoing effects, start/end of turn effects).
With weapons, Truesilver is really good, efficient removal early, but falls off hard in the mid~late game since it is unable to help against high-health minions (anything 5 health and above is impossible to deal with).
With AoE even before the Equality nerf one of the problems was that all AoEs effect your side of the board symmetrically, which made it more difficult to build a board (which, in the absence of single target removal, Paladin has to rely on for board control). After the Equality nerf there is a dearth of mana/card efficient AoE (as all AoEs require comboing with Consecration/Wild Pyro). Cards like Veranus being given to other classes is a joke.
2. Card draw (?)
I think this might have changed now, but my opinion of Paladin draw cards are that they are consistently limited. Cards like Lay on Hands are too expensive for what they do and the others are limited in ways that make it unfavourable for a Control deck to play them. This might be different now, though, since I haven't played for quite a while, with neutral draw options like Big Ol' Whelp, and cards like Crystology being buffed to 1 mana (still think you wouldn't really want to put Crystology, at least two copies of it, in a control deck).
3. Lategame
This is one of the big things, but Paladin simply does not have a lategame value bomb like other classes do. If you want to just hang on until late game, Paladin can do that decently, but once you get there, what are you gonna do? Play Tirion and...hope it doesn't get answered? Meanwhile, other classes are playing Galakrond and other late game infinite value cards, or finshing the game with cards like Dinotamer Brann and other finisher cards. Paladin has no finisher (no direct damage, bar the highly inconsistent (in a normal deck) Holy Wrath), nor does it have a lategame value card, so it struggles to compete in the late game.
4. Midgame tempo
Personal feeling this, but I kinda feel like on 1 and 2 you had some really good cards you could throw out to gain tempo. From 3~6ish however, the class minions you have access to are badly statted and don't stick. You look at cards like Rotnest Drake which are obscenely powerful as a tempo tool, in the meantime Paladin gets a mixed bag of stuff that is usually bad on tempo despite a heavy reliance on tempo (despite Blizzard purposely making it ao that Paladin's reliance on board is the greatest out of all classes by flat out refusing to print removal). Whoever printed the Saviours of Uldum cards, by the way, needs to get fired - that expansion might as well not exist.
There are no Rush cards or anything really that helps you come back on the board that can be thrown out on curve. The only Rush minion in the class that I can even think of was severely overcosted (5 mana 3/4 rush, Divine Shield). Everything is throw something on the board, hope it sticks, then try to get a value trade off. This was less of a problem in the old days but in todays' game where you have Rogues using up to 80 mana a turn (maximum - 7 for Gala, 3 for Togwaggle wand, 7 cards for 0 mana that can cost up to 10 mana apiece), Druids using effectively two cards at the cost of one every turn after they complete quest, Hunters with incredibly efficient minions, etc, this passive board building strategy rarely works. This is also the same problem with the existing Paladin removals - they presuppose that you have a minion on the board to trade with, when in fact minions rarely last longer than the turn you play them. How is Paladin supposed to build and maintain boards when minions don't last past the turn they're played, unless they are extremely mediocre tempo plays? The tools are only for snowballing a board, not taking it back.
From this expansion specifically there were a lot of questionable cards, Sand Breath and Amber Watcher/Bronze Explorer/Nozdormu the Timeless don't fit (Sand Breath is great as a tempo tool, but lacks value to fit in a lategame deck which both of the class dragons want to get to - goes back to problem 3 as well. What are you gonna actually play in the late game that's worth playing?), not enough Pure Paladin removal cards to play late game with a Pure deck (Lightforged Zealot probably can see play in a more aggressive Pure Paladin deck if such a deck works), a bunch of swarm cards (the only archetype Blizz is actually pushing enough to get played)...
Obviously, this is just my opinion, feel free to disagree
Paladin is a garbage and failed class. You either have coinflip aggro or nothing. Class identity doesn't exist, most of the basic and classic cards are just garbage, has no way od dealing with basically any minions, theme of buffing minions and shielding them with bubbles is just useless, like 90% of the cards are just weaker than other classes cards. If paladin is ever to be viable, he needs class rework as priest had
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For me main problem is,blizz tried to push milion paladin archetypes and in the end most were mediocre at best
we had reborn,control,otk,dragon,mech,divine shield,murloc and god knows which else support cards,in the end it was clownfiesta and class got some tier 2 decks through entire year.
Pally has always been successful as either small minion budget agro decks or 10k plus dust control decks.. I’ve drank MC pally out of my memories.. Being said I love the reborn quest midrange it just needs more support then shotbot. Keep reborn a ongoing keyword blizz, don’t let it die like inspire Exp Dragonsbane %100 should say inspire but dead keyword.
Aggro is the go to for paladin forever in hs and whenever there was a control pala there also was a far better aggro pala so either accept face is the place for the class or drop it .Dont cry for tools to make it controlish competitive not all classes meant to be played as control.
I’ve been trying to make a quest mech reborn agro deck work since shotbot has been release.. not a lot of success lol
I do appreciate everyone's responses so far. Let's hope with the rotation Blizz gives us a solid package since we are losing almost all the mechs. Still hoping for more support for control, dragon, and Highlander paladin. Should start seeing new cards next month since rotation is in April.
Been trying so hard to make my Dragon Highlander Paladin a successful deck but constantly stuck between ranks 4-6.
I've quit for a long time because of the state of Paladin, I really really wanted a Control Paladin to work (not otk), unfortunately this hasn't been the case for 2 years.
Here are some things missing from the class imo.
1. Efficient removal:
Whether it's single target or AoE, Paladin's removal options are pitiful. Paladin removal (single target) takes the form of stat manipulation(Aldor/Humility/Subdue/Equality/Shrink Ray)or weapons(mostly just Truesilver). Stat manipulation is inefficient as removal for the Paladin class because direct damage is almost non-existent in the class, therefore you end up having to hit minions yourself with your weapon or with a minion on the board. The problem is that as a Control deck you are often behind on tempo, meaning that having a minion on the board is difficult. If you don't remove the minion straightaway after using your removal on it, keep in mind it can still be bounced to hand or hidden behind a Taunt minion. This is especially problematic in the case of minions with special effects (ongoing effects, start/end of turn effects).
With weapons, Truesilver is really good, efficient removal early, but falls off hard in the mid~late game since it is unable to help against high-health minions (anything 5 health and above is impossible to deal with).
With AoE even before the Equality nerf one of the problems was that all AoEs effect your side of the board symmetrically, which made it more difficult to build a board (which, in the absence of single target removal, Paladin has to rely on for board control). After the Equality nerf there is a dearth of mana/card efficient AoE (as all AoEs require comboing with Consecration/Wild Pyro). Cards like Veranus being given to other classes is a joke.
2. Card draw (?)
I think this might have changed now, but my opinion of Paladin draw cards are that they are consistently limited. Cards like Lay on Hands are too expensive for what they do and the others are limited in ways that make it unfavourable for a Control deck to play them. This might be different now, though, since I haven't played for quite a while, with neutral draw options like Big Ol' Whelp, and cards like Crystology being buffed to 1 mana (still think you wouldn't really want to put Crystology, at least two copies of it, in a control deck).
3. Lategame
This is one of the big things, but Paladin simply does not have a lategame value bomb like other classes do. If you want to just hang on until late game, Paladin can do that decently, but once you get there, what are you gonna do? Play Tirion and...hope it doesn't get answered? Meanwhile, other classes are playing Galakrond and other late game infinite value cards, or finshing the game with cards like Dinotamer Brann and other finisher cards. Paladin has no finisher (no direct damage, bar the highly inconsistent (in a normal deck) Holy Wrath), nor does it have a lategame value card, so it struggles to compete in the late game.
4. Midgame tempo
Personal feeling this, but I kinda feel like on 1 and 2 you had some really good cards you could throw out to gain tempo. From 3~6ish however, the class minions you have access to are badly statted and don't stick. You look at cards like Rotnest Drake which are obscenely powerful as a tempo tool, in the meantime Paladin gets a mixed bag of stuff that is usually bad on tempo despite a heavy reliance on tempo (despite Blizzard purposely making it ao that Paladin's reliance on board is the greatest out of all classes by flat out refusing to print removal). Whoever printed the Saviours of Uldum cards, by the way, needs to get fired - that expansion might as well not exist.
There are no Rush cards or anything really that helps you come back on the board that can be thrown out on curve. The only Rush minion in the class that I can even think of was severely overcosted (5 mana 3/4 rush, Divine Shield). Everything is throw something on the board, hope it sticks, then try to get a value trade off. This was less of a problem in the old days but in todays' game where you have Rogues using up to 80 mana a turn (maximum - 7 for Gala, 3 for Togwaggle wand, 7 cards for 0 mana that can cost up to 10 mana apiece), Druids using effectively two cards at the cost of one every turn after they complete quest, Hunters with incredibly efficient minions, etc, this passive board building strategy rarely works. This is also the same problem with the existing Paladin removals - they presuppose that you have a minion on the board to trade with, when in fact minions rarely last longer than the turn you play them. How is Paladin supposed to build and maintain boards when minions don't last past the turn they're played, unless they are extremely mediocre tempo plays? The tools are only for snowballing a board, not taking it back.
From this expansion specifically there were a lot of questionable cards, Sand Breath and Amber Watcher/Bronze Explorer/Nozdormu the Timeless don't fit (Sand Breath is great as a tempo tool, but lacks value to fit in a lategame deck which both of the class dragons want to get to - goes back to problem 3 as well. What are you gonna actually play in the late game that's worth playing?), not enough Pure Paladin removal cards to play late game with a Pure deck (Lightforged Zealot probably can see play in a more aggressive Pure Paladin deck if such a deck works), a bunch of swarm cards (the only archetype Blizz is actually pushing enough to get played)...
Obviously, this is just my opinion, feel free to disagree
Paladin is a garbage and failed class. You either have coinflip aggro or nothing. Class identity doesn't exist, most of the basic and classic cards are just garbage, has no way od dealing with basically any minions, theme of buffing minions and shielding them with bubbles is just useless, like 90% of the cards are just weaker than other classes cards. If paladin is ever to be viable, he needs class rework as priest had