Hearthpwn

Welcome to our Rule the Horde Warrior Guide.

Motivation

This is a Control Warrior deck for the Standard format. The idea behind this list is to get rid of Elise Starseeker to increase flexibility in playing and finishing matches. Compared to an Elise Warrior the gameplan with this list is a more proactive one, because you are able to play a lot of big threats without the constraint of having no spells, which was the case after you played the Golden Monkey. 

Introduction

The deck we present is an adaption of the good ol' Control Warrior, made to fit the Standard format on the newest patch. A thing that didn't change is that Control Warrior has always been one of the most expensive decks in Hearthstone. This list costs 14.800 dust, which is why this guide is adressed to players who are a bit more dedicated to Hearthstone.

At the top of the guide you can see the classic mana curve of a Control Warrior deck. It includes a lot of cheap minions and spells which make sure you survive and reach the lategame. Once you got there the heavy lategame curve pays off, as you are able to play big threats till your opponent runs out of answers for them. This is the general gameplan for a Control Warrior deck. From that position it's easy to figure out the good and bad matchups:

Very agressive decks have a hard time facing Control Warrior, because minions like Cruel Taskmaster, Acolyte of Pain, Ravaging Ghoul and Fierce Monkey can deal with their early game pretty effectively. On top of that the insane health gain through Armor stops aggression in general. 

Control decks also fear a Control Warrior deck because of the large ammount of big legendaries the deck is running. Other control decks often don't have the tools to deal with all your threats and might end up being completely exhausted. Another factor is the access to a strong burst combo through Grommash Hellscream + Cruel Taskmaster, which hits for 12 damage. Often that combo is used to finish your opponent in a control battle.

The weak spot of a Control Warrior is the matchup against Midrange decks. You can clearly see that in the mana curve of this deck, as it doesn't run much Midrange minions. Also Midrange decks often create a board state where Brawl doesn't hurt them too much. Those factors combined often lead into a maximum of 3-4 cards in your hand during those games, which limits your decision making.

After we explained the gameplan and the matchups, let us take a closer look at how to play a Control Warrior deck in detail.

Guide

The guide is build up like a normal match with this deck, so we start with the early game. To survive the early stages you need cheap and effective removal tools for small minions like Fiery War Axe and Bash. Good minions for the start of the game are Cruel Taskmaster, Acolyte of Pain, Ravaging Ghoul and Fierce Monkey. But keep in mind that saving one Cruel Taskmaster for the combo with Grommash Hellscream is key in some matchups. 

Once you reach the mid game you want to take control over the board. Using cards like Bloodhoof Brave, Brawl, Sylvanas Windrunner or even Cairne Bloodhoof is key. Cheap removals like Execute and Shield Slam can help a lot here. Using card draw engines like Acolyte of Pain and Shield Block wisely is very important and it will increase your options for each turn. If possible you want to bring out your Justicar Trueheart to increase your Armor gain through the hero power. When playing against a flood/token deck a well timed Baron Geddon can win you the game single-handedly.

When you enter the late game you have survived the worst part. Now is your time to shine with this deck. Cards like Gorehowl, Ragnaros the Firelord and Ysera will dominate in this stage of the game and force immediate answers by your opponent. If you don't have to rely on the Grommash Hellscream + Cruel Taskmaster combo as a finisher, you can use Grommash Hellscream for efficient trades. When playing agaisnt other control decks you want to avoid drawing more cards in this stage of the game, as the game could end up in a fatigue fight.

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