Weekly Legends: Murloc Paladin

Introduction

Aggro Paladin is back on the menu boys (and girls)! While we’ll be diving headfirst into some Knight spoilers (stookkkkeeeddd) in just a few weeks, there is still some climbing to be done before that point. There are some interesting decks having success onto the ladder right now, but (as always) I geared myself towards Uther. The list we are breaking down this week is the murloc aggro-ish list Jambre took to rank 1. While it is easy to see this is as a more midrange build at first glance, it has a very strong aggro slant that focuses on damage. That is important to note before we begin because you do not want to play the long game here. Damage is king.

Key Cards

Hyrdrologist

Unlike most Paladin decks, Hydrologist has a wide range of utility here that goes beyond just getting Getaway Kodo. In slower midrange you want to use this card to set up your big finishers and generate value throughout the long game. That can work here, but most of the time you want to use this to protect your board. Redemption is great at eating your opponent’s removal, kodo can be used to give you mid-game value, Noble Sacrifice saves high-priority threats, and even Repentance is a great way to push through tempo. You are going to be faced with many choices, and you want to adapt them to the situation at hand. Know what you need the most and play to it. Protecting your board is great if you’re being aggressive, but if you need gas it is better to go for value.

If you do go with either Getaway Kodo or Redemption you need to be careful that your opponent hits the target you want them to. Unlike bigger midrange builds, this deck does not have a lot of taunts. That means you cannot force your opponent to kill something you want to die (like Tirion Fordring). Rather, you need to structure your board where your opponent has no choice but to react. For example, playing down a Murloc Warleader backed up with a Redemption. This is a great because it gives your opponent no good choice. No matter what they kill, it is going to comeback. This then eats up their mana and keeps you in control. Look for those type of plays and don’t let your opponent play around you by easily removing a 1/1 or the like.

Murloc Warleader/Gentle Megasaur

Murloc Warleader and Gentle Megasaur both get lumped together because they each work on the same principle: keeping murlocs on the board. Anytime you can build into either of these cards you should be able to take over the game. Even buffing one murloc can be a great way to get in damage or push through tempo. Using a warleader to trade in and set up an empty board forces your opponent to use removal, which then helps you build up stronger the following turn. If your opponent doesn’t have removal, you get a ton of value from your board. That is the principle the deck is built upon and you want to make sure you constantly think about your murlocs when either of these cards are in hand.

As with any aggro deck, you need to control the early board. Each of these cards rewards you for winning the first two or three turns. So much so that you should do whatever you can to protect your on-board murlocs when playing to megasaur or warleader. Though it may seem dramatic, you should treat these cards as finishers a lot of the time. They are extremely powerful, and structuring the cards in that way will help you understand how to sculpt your early turns. Do not be afraid to go out of your way to keep board presence. Burning resources to keep two 1/1 murlocs may seem odd, but when those become 3/2’s alongside a 3/3 it will be worth the investment.

Blessing of Kings

I bring up Blessing of Kings because it is going to be one of your most important cards from both an aggro and tempo standpoint. The 4/4 buff helps you protect your minions, trade well, and stack up pressure. All of those things are important and they each give you a lot of utility builds like this typically do not have. The use for the buff is going to change every game. However, the main rule for the spell is if you’re playing against an aggro deck you want to use it for damage or trading, and if you’re up against a slow deck you should use it to blast through taunts. Many decks have walls these days. You do not want to get caught up trading your board into a big minion. Kings helps you with this and gives you a way to take down anything your opponent may have for protection.

What makes Blessing of Kings so powerful is that it instantly builds you a threat. Many aggressive decks do not pack a lot of big bodies. Rather, they typically build up masses of small minions. For that reason, slower decks can often run out taunts or put down strong bodies to control the board. That then allows them to conserve removal and helps them pace the game in the way that they want to. However, if you set up Blessing of Kings while ahead it will force your opponent’s hand to negate damage. In addition, you can also use the buff to force tough decisions. Your opponent wants to take down your Murloc Warleader, but what about your 6/7 Rockpool Tidehunter? Taking heat off of high-priority targets is a great way to advance the board. You can also put this down on something you want to die to get value from a secret.

Truesilver Champion

I often find that, when discussing Paladin, people often downplay Truesilver Champion. While the card seems very mundane (“ho, hum, it’s a weapon”) being able to balance both board control and damage is a central theme to any aggro deck. Many belittle aggro as “mindless” but the truth is that it is not easy to determine which mode is going to be the best. Sometimes you don’t care about what your opponent plays, and sometimes it is vital that you tempo them down. Four damage is nothing to sneeze at, but the sword kills every midrange card in the game right now. Do you just push for that eight life against Jade Druid before they drop a taunt? Or is it better to take out their Mire Keeper to stop them from being able to trade into your warleader? Making the right or wrong choice with this card can often be the difference between winning and losing.

How you use Truesilver Champion is going to be largely affected by how likely your opponent is to play a taunt. Getting in damage before a wall is key, but so is using the weapon to clear one out. The best way to use this card is to think about what your opponent might have and the ways they can limit its value. If you’re scared of something that can threaten your board save truesilver for it. However, if you’re in a race then you should just press. The last note is to remember that Truesilver gives you life. Two points of healing is not going to light the world on fire, but it will allow you to stay above damage. There have been many games where I’ve won because I attacked face and got that life back.

Spikeridged Steed

While Spikeridged Steed works similarly to Blessing of Kings, it is distinctly different because of the fact that it gives you two taunts. If you go back throughout the history of Hearthstone, you will see that every good aggro deck has had a way to deal with other aggro decks. This game, at it’s core, is always going to be tempo based. As a result, you need to be able to fight for the board, regardless if you want to go face or not. Steed is this deck’s anti-aggro, defensive tool, and you want to set it up anytime you are on the back foot. When you are up against aggro you want to fight for the early board. However, there will come a point where you need to throw caution to the wind and press for damage. That can be costly, but it can also be right with the steed. Your opponent’s may see this card coming, but it is rare that aggro decks that are busy fighting for board control will be able to do anything about it. If you are up against something like Pirate, Hunter, or Token Shaman you should pace the game and fight for the board in a way that sets up the 2/6 buff. That will quickly lock your opponent out of the game and give you a way to press for the advantage.

Matchups

The five decks I see the most while playing grinding up the ladder.

Discover Mage

One of the best parts of being an aggro deck (or a deck that loves to stack up damage) these days is how strong you are against Mage. Jaina only has Mana Wyrm and Arcanologist to fight the early board with. If you get going early and win the first three turns your opponent is going to be on the back foot for the rest of the game. Just be aware that you need to work hard to keep them off of any early bodies. They don’t have much, but the ones they have pack a punch. You want Mage playing burn each turn. The more they are focused on what you are doing the less they are going to play to their end-game plan. That can then give you more time, which you can use to stack up more damage.

You want to push this game during the middle turns. That is traditionally Mage’s weakest point, and it is where you can punish them from taking slow or weak turns. It does not take much to push Mage back against the bars. Even if they have strong answers (such as Fireball) it is often going to cost them damage. This is going to play out in a way where your opponent is going to be forced to win the game through burn damage. However, in order to do that they are going to need a window where you don’t apply pressure. As a result, it is key to get through to their Ice Blocks at any cost. Go hard when you see an opportunity to do so, even if that means ignoring the board. It is always going to be worth resources to break down their protection.

Pirate Warrior

This matchup is going to be fought in two phases. The first of these is going to be during the early turns. Against many decks you are going to look for ways you can get in damage. When going up against Pirate, all you care about is controlling the board. Pirate’s weapons are strong, but you have several ways to match them (including going hard for your opponent’s face). If you lose the board or do not have enough early threats to efficiently trade you will not be able to get a hold of the game, and we all know what happens then. Pirate is a fragile deck when going up against other board-centric builds, but they will punish you for a slow start.

The second part of this matchup comes during turns four and five. At a certain you are going to switch the board control game plan to either defense or offense. If you have control of the board you want to leverage your minions and get in as many hits as you can, and if you are on the back foot or low on life you want to prioritize your health. Taunts should always come after your early minions in this one. While it can be tempting to run out Stonehill Defender early, the turtle is almost always going to be better during the mid-game where it can shut down Arcanite Reaper and the like. Sunkeeper Tarim and Spikeridged Steed are your two win conditions. Play to them as much as possible and spend all of your resources to set them up. Just one should lock your opponent out.

Token Shaman

Thrall and his band of small minions are a force to be reckoned with these days. Not only does the list have a ton of ways. This (and Druid below) is the matchup where you need to keep your opponent off the board. To do that you need to be able to anticipate what your opponent might have. Shaman’s best early tools are Jade Claws and Primalfin Totem, but they can also leverage Mana Tide Totem, Maelstrom Portal and Flametongue Totem for massive swings. You need to kill any early drop you see with a furious vengeance. Shaman is built on priority and they want to keep tempo at all costs. The best way to beat that is to be more aggressive than them. Any time you get ahead you should leverage big swing cards to push damage and force their hand. This can even mean equipping a weapon and going straight to the face.

Kill everything. There is not a Shaman these days that doesn’t pack at least one Bloodlust, and most lists run two. The card is a great finisher now that minions live more than a turn and you have to be ready to fight against it. Letting three or four small minions live may not seem like a big deal, but it can quickly lead to a loss. Even ignoring totems can lead to problems. As with Mage, you want Shaman to use their spells on your threats instead of playing their own. This is so important that you should always try to get stats over abilities. A lone Gentle Megasaur may seem weak, but a 5/4 is better than nothing. Also, don’t expect taunts to save you. Devolve is real and it will blow you out.

Aggro Druid

Malfurion continues his rise to power and will likely be one of the most played classes up until knights comes out (have I mentioned how excited I am for that?). This is the game where you need to control the board. As good as Shaman is when they have priority, they have absolutely nothing on the strength of Malfurion. Druid will absolutely run you over if you don’t have a good handle on the game during turns two, three and four. Play this one scared. While that can backfire at times, you cannot have a slow or dead turn against anything Druid puts out. Even one turn against a small beast or two 1/1’s can catapult your opponent to great heights. Even if they don’t have synergy at their disposal, giving them priority can allow them to trade and clear the way for something like a Vicious Fledgling. The rule of this game is to spend all of your energy to prevent your opponent from getting ahead of you. Whenever Druid manages to put down a minion onto an empty board you are losing the game. Get ahead as soon as you can and never look back. Don’t save things for later and don’t look for value. Pressing bodies is the only thing that truly matters.

Midrange Paladin

Though there are several versions of Midrange Paladin right now, they are all basically the same. They seek to control the early board with the murloc package and then finish it with a slew of strong, end-game threats. In contrast, you want to control the early board with murlocs and then kill your opponent before they ever get their engine going. Midrange Paladin is only truly midrange in name. Rather, they are much more control oriented. They want to simply stall early on and then push through things like Ragnaros, Lightlord and Tirion Fordring. While you are strong, you are aggressive. That means, outside the occasional big threat, your curve ends at six. You simply do not have the weight or the punch that you need to push through Paladin’s end game. Know this and try to wrap this one up around turn seven. If things do slip away and you need to push during the later turns you should prepare extra damage. Have a plan for the taunts, whether it be big buffs or Sunkeeper Tarim.

Mulligan Guide

One of the best things about playing an aggressively-slanted list is that you have a ton of cards that can be kept in the mulligan. As long as you have a one drop you are good to go. For that reason, Vilefin Inquisitor, Argent Squire, Murloc Tidecaller, Rockpool Hunter and Hydrologist are your must-keeps. However, Murloc Warleader, Stonehill Defender and Rallying Blade are all strong if you have the coin or a good opening curve. Dread Corsair should be kept alongside any on-curve weapon, and you should keep Gentle Megasaur whenever you have murloc-heavy curve. Blessing of Kings and Truesilver Champion should both be kept on curve (with or without the coin), but don’t keep blessing unless you think you are going to have targets for it.

Conclusion

Teaming up with Uther is always going to feel refreshing. Especially when you’re getting aggressive. I have not played much aggro over the past year, but I continue to enjoy the pacing of Paladin. It is one of the few aggro decks that truly is all about the minions, and that is cool. There is nothing like a front-loaded deck, and the murloc package is quite cool to boot. I think Paladin is one of the most interesting classes to play right now, and I hope you agree. Until next time, may you always mrrglgglglgrllrglg.

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