For those who don't know what I'm referring to, it's the one where they drop Baron Rivendare with dreadsteeds on the board then flood the board with dreadsteeds, thus ensuring they always have an undying army of dreadsteeds. Actually I've always seen great potential in the dreadsteed warlock deck. However, I'm wondering if the deck is even viable or not because I don't want to waste 800 dust crafting 2 dreadsteeds. How does it fare against the decks in the meta? I just lost to it with my Control Warrior and even then, it was actually a pretty close match and I only lost because I didn't draw Justicar or Grommash until the last few cards(which made me really salty).
I have no idea where this deck came from, how long it's been in the meta, or why I haven't seen this until now. But for everyone that says Secret Paladin is mindless and has no counterplay (you're wrong, but you're entitled to think it), check out what I'm dubbing the Dreadlock (if it isn't already named such or has another name).
When I first saw it, I thought I was facing a Zoolock. Every match opened with Nerubian Egg shenanigans and spot removal. What caught me off guard was the turn 4 Hellfire into Dreadsteed the following turn. It wasn't until a couple turns later when he dropped Baron Rivendare, swung Dreadsteed into my Silver Hand Recruit, followed by another Hellfire that I realized this was a whole new beast. I then lost 3 straight matches to it (all on Midrange Paladin).
Am I complaining? Yes (and no). Am I begging for a nerf? No. In fact, it's a breath of fresh air to see new things being introduced. But holy crap! This thing came out of nowhere (at least in my experience).
I will also say this. I'm not sure how viable it is. I just know I was cruising my way up the ranks (after finally devoting some time to ranked, which I rarely do), and I literally faced this deck in enough matches to fall back to 15 from 13 (there were some Face Hunters, Tempo Mages, and Drago Priests along the way, but I beat as many of those as I lost to for the most part).
I feel like there are definitely counters to this deck that I simply didn't switch to during that stint (I played exclusively Midrange Paladin). Had I been on one of my control decks, it may have been different. The board flood would have obviously been susceptible to Brawl (especially with Sylvanas Windrunner) or Frost Nova + Doomsayer had I been on my Control Warrior or Freeze Mage.
This leads me to two questions:
1) Are there any other ways to deal with this deck, outside of the above mentioned, Poison Seeds, or using Silence before Baron Rivendare can flood the board? (Obviously Mass Dispel would work as well)
2) What other decks are out there that I'm not prepared for?
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If at first you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you.
You cannot destroy Dreadsteed - things like Poison Seeds will just spawn the Treants and more 'Steeds. It has to be silenced. Things that alter the amount of 'Steeds on the board like Baron Rivendare & Kel'Thuzad will ensure that the minion just floods the board. Silence is the only way to stop it.
At least if they do flood the board, it'll be with 1/1 minions. If they fill it all the way before they can drop a Mal'Ganis, they will be effectively stuck with a static board of weenie minions.
Well first, I do somewhat disagree about Secretdin not being mindless. There is no thought in "Turn 6 - drop MC" and I don't think there's a scenario you don't cast MC on turn 6 with that deck (which you'll have well above 50% of the time just through natural draws assuming ou have 2x in deck).
More to your point, the Dreadsteed deck has been around since TGT released. It was fringe for two reasons: 1) it was really weak to Patron and Dreadsteed just gives you a full board of Patrons, and 2) it's not that powerful.
Even when you combo you get a ton of 1/1s that won't die. But that's both a blessing and a curse. With often no way to get rid of your steeds once you multiply them, you're basically left with a potential board of 6-7 1/1s. That's not super threatening. Basically it's a combo deck with no OTK or even near OTK - that's something that's not great in HS. You kind of rely on Baron and Dreadsteed and then maybe something like Wailing Soul as your only out to locking your own board out.
If it works yes it can be OP and fun as hell to play but you will lose 99/100 games vs Priest due to Cabal shenenigans and if you don't draw yourstuff vs Aggro decks you will splat by turn 5-7 too. Been playing Dreadsteeds for a week now (R5-2), and people are surprised when I drop it or they see a minion which they can't remove at all. Also you can't just overkill steeds with the Baron up because you'll end up with a board of 1/1's whilst not being able to play anything else (like Mal'Ganis or Healbot.) It requires some thinking and planning ahead, unlike other decks on the ladder.
its been around since TGT launched. you're probably seeing it today because Savjz played it to legend yesterday (at least for the last stretch; I don't know if that's what he laddered with exclusively)
its far from brainless, and not particularly consistent, though it can be pretty wild when it does work.one way to deal with it if they manage to get a bunch of ponies going is to treat it something like Maexxna in Naxx: a board full of 1/1s don't do much if you can apply pressure and heal up. apply pressure and heal up are probably the best general advice, and hopefully you have a silence before they can start cloning ponies, and a big removal for Mal'ganis
The Dreadsteed deck was always a deck, however there was one deck that completely crushed it.... Grim Patron warrior. You can just hit grim patrons into the never ending dreadsteed and you pretty much win. Now that the deck has been nerfed (completely destroyed I should say), this deck is finally seeing some play.
If they fill it all the way before they can drop a Mal'Ganis, they will be effectively stuck with a static board of weenie minions.
Isn't the maximum number of Dreadsteeds only 6? (Unless you play your second Dreadsteed from your hand onto a board that already has 6 of them, which seems ridiculously dumb.) Baron Rivendare or Kel'Thuzad take up at least one position on the board, and they'll stop multiplying when the board is full. When you're ready to play Mal'Ganis, just suicide the Baron or Kel into the opponent's minions. That should be easy, and probably unnecessary because Baron and Kel are always priority targets anyway. Let your opponent waste their removal getting rid of the Baron, then drop the Turtle.
If they fill it all the way before they can drop a Mal'Ganis, they will be effectively stuck with a static board of weenie minions.
Isn't the maximum number of Dreadsteeds only 6? (Unless you play your second Dreadsteed from your hand onto a board that already has 6 of them, which seems ridiculously dumb.) Baron Rivendare or Kel'Thuzad take up at least one position on the board, and they'll stop multiplying when the board is full. When you're ready to play Mal'Ganis, just suicide the Baron or Kel into the opponent's minions. That should be easy, and probably unnecessary because Baron and Kel are always priority targets anyway. Let your opponent waste their removal getting rid of the Baron, then drop the Turtle.
It's a combo deck and slow at that. Baron Rivendare is a one off, as he is a legendary, so it's very much possible that he's in the last 5-10 cards of the deck which really limits the potential. About counters:
1. Kill the Baron or Kel'Thuzad before he can duplicate too many.
2. A silence on a lone Dreadsteed will probably win you the game.
Hard counters:
1. Druid. Yes, to this deck too. When you have 4 mana for a Dreadsteed he will have 4 mana for a Keeper, which completely ruins your game.
2. Priest. Shadow Madness and Cabal Shadow Priest have new, easy targets in the steeds. Not uncommon that the Priest ends up with more Steeds than the Warlock. A Mass Dispel is a ridiculous hard counter.
3. Shaman. Earth Shock.
So it's no more "OP" than any other deck out there. A deck that has counters isn't OP. It's strong against certain decks and weak against others. Not sure why anyone here is complaining...
I feel like there are definitely counters to this deck that I simply didn't switch to during that stint (I played exclusively Midrange Paladin). Had I been on one of my control decks, it may have been different. The board flood would have obviously been susceptible to Brawl (especially with Sylvanas Windrunner) or Frost Nova + Doomsayer had I been on my Control Warrior or Freeze Mage.
Sure, there are counters - as there are to pretty much everything in one way or another.
But, something that just never leaves the board is powerful, even just a 1/1 (which has synergy with plenty of cards, some more practical that others, but synergy none the less).
People always imagine games where both players have 6 cards, and the answers in there hand and "shOUT - WELL! This will counter it!" But, what about the times you don't draw the answer or had to use it on something else that could have gotten outta control.
I think a dreedstead will stay more times than people will draw answers. Especially if you have more than one. If they silence it, well, that's almost good, one less silence for the other threats Mal'Ghanis, Sylvanis, anything buffed... well... we can all imagine other theats.
I've played a few different Dreadsteed variants over the last few weeks. I haven't found one that I could manage more than a 55% win ratio with though. While Patron was basically an auto-lose, it does fairly poorly against Face Hunter as well, which has seen a resurgence.
I feel like there are definitely counters to this deck that I simply didn't switch to during that stint (I played exclusively Midrange Paladin). Had I been on one of my control decks, it may have been different. The board flood would have obviously been susceptible to Brawl (especially with Sylvanas Windrunner) or Frost Nova + Doomsayer had I been on my Control Warrior or Freeze Mage.
For those who don't know what I'm referring to, it's the one where they drop Baron Rivendare with dreadsteeds on the board then flood the board with dreadsteeds, thus ensuring they always have an undying army of dreadsteeds. Actually I've always seen great potential in the dreadsteed warlock deck. However, I'm wondering if the deck is even viable or not because I don't want to waste 800 dust crafting 2 dreadsteeds. How does it fare against the decks in the meta? I just lost to it with my Control Warrior and even then, it was actually a pretty close match and I only lost because I didn't draw Justicar or Grommash until the last few cards(which made me really salty).
My last encounter with Dreadsteed Warlock was Dreadsteed - Cabal Shadow Priest - concede.
/not impressed.
If they're smart enough they will combo dreadsteed with baron rivendare and sacrificial pact.
I have no idea where this deck came from, how long it's been in the meta, or why I haven't seen this until now. But for everyone that says Secret Paladin is mindless and has no counterplay (you're wrong, but you're entitled to think it), check out what I'm dubbing the Dreadlock (if it isn't already named such or has another name).
When I first saw it, I thought I was facing a Zoolock. Every match opened with Nerubian Egg shenanigans and spot removal. What caught me off guard was the turn 4 Hellfire into Dreadsteed the following turn. It wasn't until a couple turns later when he dropped Baron Rivendare, swung Dreadsteed into my Silver Hand Recruit, followed by another Hellfire that I realized this was a whole new beast. I then lost 3 straight matches to it (all on Midrange Paladin).
Am I complaining? Yes (and no). Am I begging for a nerf? No. In fact, it's a breath of fresh air to see new things being introduced. But holy crap! This thing came out of nowhere (at least in my experience).
I will also say this. I'm not sure how viable it is. I just know I was cruising my way up the ranks (after finally devoting some time to ranked, which I rarely do), and I literally faced this deck in enough matches to fall back to 15 from 13 (there were some Face Hunters, Tempo Mages, and Drago Priests along the way, but I beat as many of those as I lost to for the most part).
I feel like there are definitely counters to this deck that I simply didn't switch to during that stint (I played exclusively Midrange Paladin). Had I been on one of my control decks, it may have been different. The board flood would have obviously been susceptible to Brawl (especially with Sylvanas Windrunner) or Frost Nova + Doomsayer had I been on my Control Warrior or Freeze Mage.
This leads me to two questions:
1) Are there any other ways to deal with this deck, outside of the above mentioned, Poison Seeds, or using Silence before Baron Rivendare can flood the board? (Obviously Mass Dispel would work as well)
2) What other decks are out there that I'm not prepared for?
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you.
You cannot destroy Dreadsteed - things like Poison Seeds will just spawn the Treants and more 'Steeds. It has to be silenced. Things that alter the amount of 'Steeds on the board like Baron Rivendare & Kel'Thuzad will ensure that the minion just floods the board. Silence is the only way to stop it.
At least if they do flood the board, it'll be with 1/1 minions. If they fill it all the way before they can drop a Mal'Ganis, they will be effectively stuck with a static board of weenie minions.
"Speculation is foolish when the tools of certainty are available." —Cinna, Vedalken Consul
Well first, I do somewhat disagree about Secretdin not being mindless. There is no thought in "Turn 6 - drop MC" and I don't think there's a scenario you don't cast MC on turn 6 with that deck (which you'll have well above 50% of the time just through natural draws assuming ou have 2x in deck).
More to your point, the Dreadsteed deck has been around since TGT released. It was fringe for two reasons: 1) it was really weak to Patron and Dreadsteed just gives you a full board of Patrons, and 2) it's not that powerful.
Even when you combo you get a ton of 1/1s that won't die. But that's both a blessing and a curse. With often no way to get rid of your steeds once you multiply them, you're basically left with a potential board of 6-7 1/1s. That's not super threatening. Basically it's a combo deck with no OTK or even near OTK - that's something that's not great in HS. You kind of rely on Baron and Dreadsteed and then maybe something like Wailing Soul as your only out to locking your own board out.
Balancing busted cards version 1.0.
If it works yes it can be OP and fun as hell to play but you will lose 99/100 games vs Priest due to Cabal shenenigans and if you don't draw yourstuff vs Aggro decks you will splat by turn 5-7 too.
Been playing Dreadsteeds for a week now (R5-2), and people are surprised when I drop it or they see a minion which they can't remove at all.
Also you can't just overkill steeds with the Baron up because you'll end up with a board of 1/1's whilst not being able to play anything else (like Mal'Ganis or Healbot.) It requires some thinking and planning ahead, unlike other decks on the ladder.
its been around since TGT launched. you're probably seeing it today because Savjz played it to legend yesterday (at least for the last stretch; I don't know if that's what he laddered with exclusively)
its far from brainless, and not particularly consistent, though it can be pretty wild when it does work.one way to deal with it if they manage to get a bunch of ponies going is to treat it something like Maexxna in Naxx: a board full of 1/1s don't do much if you can apply pressure and heal up. apply pressure and heal up are probably the best general advice, and hopefully you have a silence before they can start cloning ponies, and a big removal for Mal'ganis
"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear turns into a cat and eats you." - Anonymous Druid
The Dreadsteed deck was always a deck, however there was one deck that completely crushed it.... Grim Patron warrior. You can just hit grim patrons into the never ending dreadsteed and you pretty much win. Now that the deck has been nerfed (completely destroyed I should say), this deck is finally seeing some play.
Isn't the maximum number of Dreadsteeds only 6? (Unless you play your second Dreadsteed from your hand onto a board that already has 6 of them, which seems ridiculously dumb.) Baron Rivendare or Kel'Thuzad take up at least one position on the board, and they'll stop multiplying when the board is full. When you're ready to play Mal'Ganis, just suicide the Baron or Kel into the opponent's minions. That should be easy, and probably unnecessary because Baron and Kel are always priority targets anyway. Let your opponent waste their removal getting rid of the Baron, then drop the Turtle.
Why would they bother removing Baron?
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My mandibles which are capable of pressing down and tearing, my talons which are known to intercept and hold.
Dreadsteed was kept in check by Grim Patron deck. Now that Patron has been nerfed Dreadsteed can see play.
Also, Light's Champion is now possibly a tech card if things get way out of control :)
not gonna see much play and will stay as a tier 4 deck.
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Old tricks like Hex or Polymorph works as well
So it's no more "OP" than any other deck out there. A deck that has counters isn't OP. It's strong against certain decks and weak against others. Not sure why anyone here is complaining...
Wait, what? Brawl or Doomsayer + Frost Nova don't do anything against a board full of Dreadsteeds (Frost Nova only stop them one turn, but usually that is not a big deal)...
Sure, there are counters - as there are to pretty much everything in one way or another.
But, something that just never leaves the board is powerful, even just a 1/1 (which has synergy with plenty of cards, some more practical that others, but synergy none the less).
People always imagine games where both players have 6 cards, and the answers in there hand and "shOUT - WELL! This will counter it!" But, what about the times you don't draw the answer or had to use it on something else that could have gotten outta control.
I think a dreedstead will stay more times than people will draw answers. Especially if you have more than one. If they silence it, well, that's almost good, one less silence for the other threats Mal'Ghanis, Sylvanis, anything buffed... well... we can all imagine other theats.
I'm gonna try this deck...
Nightblade Argent Lance Flame Imp
Argent Watchman Argent Squire Frost Giant
Aviana Hogger Snipe Sea Giant
Haven't tried the deck but I feel like the tempo lost is simply too much to play dreadsteed.
My legendary count excluding adventure legendaries, dupes and old murk eye: 40
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I've played a few different Dreadsteed variants over the last few weeks. I haven't found one that I could manage more than a 55% win ratio with though. While Patron was basically an auto-lose, it does fairly poorly against Face Hunter as well, which has seen a resurgence.
Nope.
Problem is that with dreadsteed your damage output is drastically lower. You will still end up losing to freeze mage anyway.
My legendary count excluding adventure legendaries, dupes and old murk eye: 40
$$$ spent on this game: 0
Check out my card collection: http://www.hearthpwn.com/members/MCFUser175154/collection