Hearthpwn

Hello everyone!
I'm Valenash, an Italian Hearthstone player currently playing for Liquid Gaming Italia.

Some of you may remember me for my [legend in 5 days s31] pew pew tempo mage guide . This month, i wanted to test extensively Dragon Warrior, since it is a deck that i believe is becoming a really strong option for tournaments.

INTRODUCTION:

Proof
Decklist
Stats

After hitting rank5 on the first day of the season, i started playing the standard Curator Dragon Warrior for a few dozens games in ladder but with mediocre results. While the deck did really excel at putting up early pression, i found that it wasn't really good at closing games, often finding myself not being able to do the last 5-8 points of damage after losing the board on turn 6+. I identified one of the primary reason for this was the tempo loss that The Curator caused, because even though the value was there, only playing a 4/6 in a spot where you usually would have wanted to keep the aggression going was a really poor play. For this reason, i decided to completely cut the Curator package, and switch to a more tempo-oriented build. I replaced the The Curator with Malkorok in the 7-mana slot, being able to play one of the biggest tempo cards available to Warrior decks, and replaced the Fierce Monkey with two Blackwing Technician, cutting an Execute to make room for the second one, as i often felt that after the nerf, playing two copies of Execute was too clunky. After trying this list for a few games, i also decided to swap out a Blood To Ichor for one copy of Slam, which serves the same purpose Ichor does as a Grommash Hellscream activator, while being less clunky, due to its ability to cycle itself if needed.

DECKLIST AND CARDS DISCUSSION:

1x Blood To Ichor: Great tempo card that helps fighting for the early board, dealing with 4 Health minions (Totem Golem, Azure Drake, etc) and is really versatile in general. Two copies are too clunky in my opinion.
1x N'Zoth's First Mate: A good early game card, great to fight for the early board or just to start the aggression, at worst it can represent 3 damage for 1 mana, which is good. I always swing with the weapon on turn1 except against Zoo, as you will usually just need 1-2 charges of the weapon on minions, and you don't want to potentially lose value if you need to play Fiery War Axe.
1x Sir Finley Mrrgglton: One of the strongest cards of the deck. The best hero powers to look for are usually Hunter, Warlock and Mage, but Druid is often good and Rogue is decent. Priest, Shaman and Paladin are the worst ones (in this order). Depending on matchups you can pick Priest over Rogue. Consider keeping your hero power vs Tempo Mage, as you usually lose to burst from hand, or against Hunter if you don't have Sir Finley Mrrgglton on turn1.
2x Alexstrasza's Champion: The MVP of the deck. Charging an Alexstrasza's Champion into a 1/3  Tunnel Trogg is one of the best feelings.
1x Execute: A good card to deal with taunts, provide the extra damage on minions, or just as a tempo play. I feel like two copies are too clunky, that's why i only run one.
2x Faerie Dragon: A great cheap dragon which is incredibly strong against Druid, Mage and Rogue, since they can't deal with it easily so it will often deal around 9 damage to the opponent face.
2x Fiery War Axe: A 2-of staple in any Warrior deck.
1x Slam: Instead of the second copy of  Blood To Ichor. Still serves as a  Grommash Hellscream activator, but with the abily to cycle itself if needed.
2x Blackwing Technician: A really solid 3-drop, the 5 health makes it resilient to spell powered Lightning Bolt and more resilient to AoE's in general. You will almost never have to play it without activation, as the chances of not seeing a dragon in the mulligan and first X draws is really low.
2x Frothing Berserker: One of the strongest cards of the deck, it can win games on its own especially against Zoo, Hunter and Tempo Mage (since they tend to play many minions on board, so a  Ravaging Ghoul + trades can make it really big in one turn).
1x Ravaging Ghoul: A solid 3-drop to ping stuff and enable better trades. It is usually correct to play it for tempo in absence of other plays.
2x Kor'kron Elite: Awesome to go aggressive or to take value trades
2x Twilight Guardian: Standard in any Dragon deck, a really solid body which also helps against aggressive decks.
2x Azure Drake: Another standard 2-of in Dragon decks, a nice body which also provides cycle is good. In rare cases the spell-power will be useful, but it is worth mentioning that this card synergizes with Ichor and Slam
2x Blackwing Corruptor: Playing an activated Blackwing Corruptoron turn 5 is one of the strongest tempo swings on the board. 
1x Book Wyrm: This is purely a ladder tech against Shamans, occasionally good to remove a Fandral Staghelm or Violet Teacher against Druid. Being able to use the effect on a  Thunder Bluff Valiant is game-winning.
1x Drakonid Crusher: A solid 6-drop, potentially a 9/9 on curve.
1x Malkorok: A really strong tempo card which allows you to keep the aggression going while developing a nice body. The weapon can either serve as minion removal or as face damage. If you pull Cursed Blade too many times in a row you can consider cutting the card.
1x Grommash Hellscream: A great card to turn the aggression, able to trade while presenting a really big threat, or just punch the opponent in the face for 10 if combined with Blood To Ichor or Slam (or occasionally with a Fireblast from Sir Finley Mrrgglton).
1x Ragnaros the Firelord: YOU BURN!
1x Deathwing: This card is basically the Yogg-Saron, Hope's End of the deck. It's either a board removal against Shaman or aggressive decks (which also places an awesome body on the board), or just a 12/12, Battlecry: discard one card against slower decks, which is awesome. Deathwing has won me a lot of games.

EDIT: i swapped out a Ravaging Ghoul for a second copy of Faerie Dragon, i like the additional dragon synergy, and as i said, second ghoul was a flex spot anyways.

MATCHUPS AND MULLIGAN:

Stats

The mulligan with this deck is pretty straightforward. You generally want to look for a good curve, keeping in mind the opponent's plays aswell, so for example if you are on coin you keep Blood To Ichor against Shaman with a Fiery War Axe in hand.
You always keep N'Zoth's First Mate, Sir Finley Mrrgglton (except against mage if you already have a play), Alextrasza's Champion, Faerie Dragon, Fiery War Axe, Frothing Berserker and Twilight Guardian. You do also keep Blackwing Technician with a dragon in hand or a turn 2 play. I do usually keep N'Zoth's First Mate with a Fiery War Axe only if the pirate is good in the matchup, but i always play him anyways if i happen to have both cards after mulligan. You can also consider keeping Azure Drake if your curve would be nuts with a dragon activation (like double Alextrasza's Champion on coin or similar scenarios).
Lastly, you do also keep Ravaging Ghoul against Zoo and Execute against Druid (to counter innervate plays)

Tempo Mage (9-2): One of the best matchups, as Fiery War Axe is so strong against mage, and they usually run out of removals way before you run out of threats. Take control of the board and push as hard as you can before turn 7. Play a Drakonid Crusher on t6, even if not activated, to counter Flamestrike or Firelands Portal. Sometimes they just burn your face or have the nuts start and kill you by turn 5, but that's how Tempo Mage works.

Midrange Shaman (8-2): Shaman Destroyer! This matchup is fairly easy (it was way harder when i was playing with the Curator version). Your threats line-up well against theirs, the deck is teched against them, and they usually can't get the board back in time. Be really careful not to overextend onto the board, i usually never play more than 3 minions on the board to play around Lightning Storm, and try to always make your board as resilient as possible against Aoe's, even if that means not taking a value trade.

Malygos Druid (6-3): A good matchup, but definitely not the easiest one as Feral Rage or early Innervate plays can ruin your day. Try to go as aggressive as possible, and recognise when to just ignore the board and go face. Sometimes you just win by letting their emperor live and go wide on the board for example.

Secret Hunter (2-0): Even against the most aggressive hunter variants, you are still the aggressor. They usually lose because you just out-SMOrc them and win the race. Still be careful, play around secrets and kill their early board.

Malygos Rogue (5-0): This matchup is extremely favoured, as any aggressive deck against Rogue. Just punch him hard in the face. Always take Steady Shot from Sir Finley Mrrgglton and you should be fine.

Zoolock (4-1): It is key to fight really hard for the board in this matchup. Don't waste coin if you have a Kor'kron Elite in hand, so you can charge it into their Imp Gang Boss. A well-protected Frothing Berserker can win the game on its own.

CONCLUSIONS:
This is it!
If you liked this guide, and want to remain updated on the decks i play and whatnot, make sure to follow me on Facebook (Valenash)!
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Enjoy!