I've been working on a divine shield pally deck centered around getting a fully buffed Corpsetaker and or buffing the rest of your minions with flexibility and adapting to your opponent on the fly
OO, this is a lot of what my 'handbuff' paladin turned into (no it's not 'handbuff' anymore :P).
Basically, this is a Tempo deck in design. You're using the sticky minions to grab the board then the buffs as a finisher. Overall it seems to have its plan put together along with its win condition.
If I may ask afew things though given that I haven't tried the deck yet:
Young Dragon hawk: Has this...actually worked? Yes, you can buff it to a 2/2 or 3/3 but we're not talking about a turn 1 3/3 here. We're talking a turn 3, at best, 2/2 or a turn 4 3/3. If it its it's great but it seems...hard to not have the thing die without killing anything which is a critical card that's then wasted. Myself I prefer Grook Fu Master as the windfury card as a 3/5 is harder to remove and threatens 6 damage before buffs. It's also a 5 drop which sets you up for a Steed.
Speaking of which, where are your Steeds? The idea behind Steed would be less for the taunt and more for the stickiness. Steed a Corpse and you have a 5/9 windfury minion. 10 damage a turn with more health than a giant! And killing still means another minion to get buffed by something else!
In a deck that relies on having minions on the board for buffed kills, a spell that applies superglue to your cards is insane. Also works with with Manipulator.
Tarim: YEAAHhh.. I think you have a point there. He's useful, but many many times I've not really gained much from him compared to other cards.
Sword of Justice: The issue I have is that it's a Tempo deck. With no real recovery tools. Thus the second you lose tempo, such as playing a 3 mana card that can only do 1 damage to something, you lose the game. You'll be building it back later with slightly stronger minions but by then your opponent has the board and can find a much easier time keeping them down.
I sort of feel the same for Small Time Recuits. It's 6 mana (to draw then drop) 3 1/1s (or 3 2/2s.. but still, 6 mana for 3 2/2s).
OTOH, Wisdom and Adaptation are interesting. You do end up with a good few areas for windfury.
on Aldor: I found he's very useful in decks like this. It's the whole 'Tempo, not Aggro' reasoning. This deck needs to hold the board and will be willing to trade to hold it. Aldor makes for powerful trades. You also can go aggressive, using Aldor to stop your opponent from trading down a minon while you go face. I've locked a few games this way. That he then is a body for additional pressue is also useful. They drop a 3/2 at turn 2. You Aldor it so they are now facing a 3/3 with a 1/2.
Overall I do like the deck and it has a good idea going. Also I imagine it can gain a good bit form the expansion.
@iandakar Thanks for the response. As to your questions: Young Dragonhawk has worked. It helps maintain tempo early on and can be comboed late in the game. Yes, it's bad when you start with it in your hand, but if that's the case, I have seen draw a ping or a card out of fear. Grook Fu is good, but this works well with Small-Time Recruits (which is a great mid-late game tempo boost (especially after Dr. 2).
Sword of Justice is slow, but so far it seems to provide enough boost with 1-cost minions that helps force bad trades and get you into the mid-game.
Re: Small-Time Recruits, yeah I hear you on 6 mana for 3 2/2s BUT... its meant to assure you have three viable targets sticky enough to last a turn to get buffed. Not a guarantee, but it's helps revitalize me mid-game.
Re: Aldor.... yeah, I've gone back and forth. Honestly, this deck started as a 'let me use some less used cards' and it worked. I'm sure it could be tweaked, but part of the concept is: go big FAST. I wanted to make a deck that could end games before Druids ramp into UI or Highlander Priest could get their mojo going. In that sense, this card doesn't fit. I have felt its absence, but not enough to squeeze it in.
Blessing of Wisdom has consistently provided great value (also good to put on your opponents minions in a pinch) if played right - that's draw + bait out cards.
Finally, re: Steeds... Just felt too slow for the decks concept. It's a great card, but I decided on offensive buffs (Blessing of Kings and Bonemare).
Hey all,
I've been working on a divine shield pally deck centered around getting a fully buffed Corpsetaker and or buffing the rest of your minions with flexibility and adapting to your opponent on the fly
Check out the deck and detailed write up. Would love to get some feedback. Give a try and see if it works for you like it has been for me.
OO, this is a lot of what my 'handbuff' paladin turned into (no it's not 'handbuff' anymore :P).
Basically, this is a Tempo deck in design. You're using the sticky minions to grab the board then the buffs as a finisher. Overall it seems to have its plan put together along with its win condition.
If I may ask afew things though given that I haven't tried the deck yet:
Young Dragon hawk: Has this...actually worked? Yes, you can buff it to a 2/2 or 3/3 but we're not talking about a turn 1 3/3 here. We're talking a turn 3, at best, 2/2 or a turn 4 3/3. If it its it's great but it seems...hard to not have the thing die without killing anything which is a critical card that's then wasted. Myself I prefer Grook Fu Master as the windfury card as a 3/5 is harder to remove and threatens 6 damage before buffs. It's also a 5 drop which sets you up for a Steed.
Speaking of which, where are your Steeds? The idea behind Steed would be less for the taunt and more for the stickiness. Steed a Corpse and you have a 5/9 windfury minion. 10 damage a turn with more health than a giant! And killing still means another minion to get buffed by something else!
In a deck that relies on having minions on the board for buffed kills, a spell that applies superglue to your cards is insane. Also works with with Manipulator.
Tarim: YEAAHhh.. I think you have a point there. He's useful, but many many times I've not really gained much from him compared to other cards.
Sword of Justice: The issue I have is that it's a Tempo deck. With no real recovery tools. Thus the second you lose tempo, such as playing a 3 mana card that can only do 1 damage to something, you lose the game. You'll be building it back later with slightly stronger minions but by then your opponent has the board and can find a much easier time keeping them down.
I sort of feel the same for Small Time Recuits. It's 6 mana (to draw then drop) 3 1/1s (or 3 2/2s.. but still, 6 mana for 3 2/2s).
OTOH, Wisdom and Adaptation are interesting. You do end up with a good few areas for windfury.
on Aldor: I found he's very useful in decks like this. It's the whole 'Tempo, not Aggro' reasoning. This deck needs to hold the board and will be willing to trade to hold it. Aldor makes for powerful trades. You also can go aggressive, using Aldor to stop your opponent from trading down a minon while you go face. I've locked a few games this way. That he then is a body for additional pressue is also useful. They drop a 3/2 at turn 2. You Aldor it so they are now facing a 3/3 with a 1/2.
Overall I do like the deck and it has a good idea going. Also I imagine it can gain a good bit form the expansion.
One does not simply walk into Mordor,
unless they want to be the best they can be.
@iandakar Thanks for the response. As to your questions: Young Dragonhawk has worked. It helps maintain tempo early on and can be comboed late in the game. Yes, it's bad when you start with it in your hand, but if that's the case, I have seen draw a ping or a card out of fear. Grook Fu is good, but this works well with Small-Time Recruits (which is a great mid-late game tempo boost (especially after Dr. 2).
Sword of Justice is slow, but so far it seems to provide enough boost with 1-cost minions that helps force bad trades and get you into the mid-game.
Re: Small-Time Recruits, yeah I hear you on 6 mana for 3 2/2s BUT... its meant to assure you have three viable targets sticky enough to last a turn to get buffed. Not a guarantee, but it's helps revitalize me mid-game.
Re: Aldor.... yeah, I've gone back and forth. Honestly, this deck started as a 'let me use some less used cards' and it worked. I'm sure it could be tweaked, but part of the concept is: go big FAST. I wanted to make a deck that could end games before Druids ramp into UI or Highlander Priest could get their mojo going. In that sense, this card doesn't fit. I have felt its absence, but not enough to squeeze it in.
Blessing of Wisdom has consistently provided great value (also good to put on your opponents minions in a pinch) if played right - that's draw + bait out cards.
Finally, re: Steeds... Just felt too slow for the decks concept. It's a great card, but I decided on offensive buffs (Blessing of Kings and Bonemare).
Give it a whirl. Let me know what you think.
I'm keeping starts this season:
Wins: 6
Pally, Hunter, Priest, Mage, Hunter, Mage
Losses: 3
Warlock, Pally (VERY close game), Rogue