Anyfin Can Happen is one of the most interesting cards in Hearthstone. According to the developers, the card was meant to be used as a board refill tool for Murloc decks and was never thought of as the combo card it is known as today. The deck came into fruition and has been refined several times over the past year and a half. Initially people started running the deck with a 7 Murloc combo card and it required you to play 7 specific murlocs and then follow up with a copy of Anyfin Can Happen for a burst finish combo. Deckbuilders then moved onto a much simpler version revolving around Bluegill Warrior, Murloc Warleader and Old Murk-Eye which made things simpler as you needed to play only 5 murlocs instead of 7 and could finish the game with 2 copies of Anyfin Can Happen allowing you to pull off massive amounts of burst damage in the late game.
With 4 expansions already out since League of Explorers, we have access to a lot of new tools that one can use in the deck and the deck seems to be getting stronger and stronger in Wild with every set release. From what used to be a control oriented deck with a combo win condition, it is shaping into a mid-range deck and plenty of board presence in recent times. With Anyfin Can Happen being shifted to Wild earlier this year, we have a lot more card options to choose from and if you want to give the deck a shot then read on!
Card Choices
Bluegill Warrior: Bluegill Warrior is one of the key components of the deck as its charge mechanic allows you to pull off the burst damage you need to close out a game. It is very important to get your Bluegill Warrior killed most of the time against decks that have hard removal as if they are able to use transformation effects or steal your Bluegill Warrior, it can mess with your win condition very badly.
Equality: Equality is a very powerful card that you can use to combo with Consecration and wipe the enemy board or use your board to counter theirs very efficiently. We do not have Wild Pyromancer in the deck, but there is plenty of aggressive board presence in the deck to work with if you do not draw your Consecration.
Golakka Crawler: The card fits right in as a tech choice against Pirate decks and if you do not run into too many decks that are Pirate heavy or run Patches The Pirate, you can safely cut out the card for an alternate pick like Wild Pyromancer or Aldor Peacekeeper.
Haunted Creeper: Haunted Creeper is an excellent sticky minion to play in the early game and it works great with Equality and Spikeridged Steed.
Murloc Warleader: Murloc Warleaders are essential to the combo we want to pull off as they add a lot of damage on your Bluegill Warriors and your Old Murk-Eye to close out the game.
Muster for Battle: It is one of the strongest turn 3 Paladin plays that you can make and the card is quite powerful in the current meta with so many 1 HP minions floating around, allowing you to contest them very effectively.
Stonehill Defender: Stonehill Defender is one of the strongest cards that Paladin got in Un’goro. While it is a neutral, it is extremely potent in Paladin decks due to the fact that most paladin class taunts are the Paladin legendaries and being able to pull off cards like Tirion Fordring, Sunkeeper Tarim and Wickerflame Burnbristle is definitely worthwhile.
Wickerflame Burnbristle: A great 3 drop that helps you stall against aggro decks and get some of your health back. It is not a must have in the deck and you can swap him out in favor of a different pick if you don’t have him.
Consecration: Paladin’s bread and butter AOE removal spell that allows you to take care of 2 HP minions very efficiently and you can either push some extra damage using Azure Drake to boost the spell to 3 damage or combo it with Equality for a board wipe for 6 mana.
Cult Master: With so many early game cards, Cult Master is a very good pick in the deck to refill your hand. The goal of Anyfin Paladin is to play your murlocs as early as possible and cycle through your deck to make sure you have your combo ready in time and having such powerful card draw is essential.
Old Murk-Eye: Old Murk-Eye is arguably the strongest murloc in the game and if you have a decent enough board full of murlocs, Murk-Eye can dish out some serious damage.
Truesilver Champion: One of the best Paladin class cards and it is a very efficient way to deal with threats in the midgame without losing too much HP.
Azure Drake: Azure Drake is a solid 5 drop that cycles through your deck and also gives you spell damage that you can use with your Consecration. It also has synergy with The Curator, which can potentially draw out your Azure Drake.
Finja, The Flying Star: While Finja by himself does not contribute to the combo finisher of the deck, he allows you to draw out 2 murlocs at the very least if you get his effect off. You can assure draws off of Finja by assisting him with your buffs, spells or simply making smart trades to ensure you get the 2 draws out before he dies. While it does make your second Anyfin inconsistent, its value of being able to draw 2 Murlocs out of the deck outshines it and it should not be a problem in most situations.
Stampeding Kodo: A decent removal option in the deck that has synergy with The Curator and can be fished out of the deck consistently. The card definitely works better if you fit in Aldor Peacekeeper, but we run no copies of Aldor in this current list be there is room to be tinkered with and you can cut out some of the tech choices or less important cards to make your Stampeding Kodo more consistent if you want.
Spikeridged Steed: One of the most annoying cards to deal with if your opponent does not run silence effects, specially against aggressive decks. It is one of the necessary tools to stall out the game to help you get closer to your important combo pieces.
Sunkeeper Tarim: Sunkeeper Tarim was undervalued by a lot of people upon its reveal but after playtesting the card the opinions of the community shifted to a more positive direction. It is a very strong minion that can buff up your board and debuff your opponent’s board as well. In a deck that tries to maintain as much board presence as possible with small minions you can get some insane value out of the card and have lategame board swings. While he does not directly contribute to the Murloc synergy, he is a powerhouse on his own with plenty of cheap minions in the deck that can benefit from his effect and help you clear out your opponent’s board.
The Curator: The Curator is an excellent pick with the deck filled with Murlocs and a little bit of Dragon and Beast synergy thrown in thanks to Azure Drake and Stampeding Kodo. The added Taunt effect also helps you stall out until you are able to play your Anyfin Can Happen.
Anyfin Can Happen: The ultimate 1 card finisher that can push out obnoxious amounts of damage in the second wave depending on what murlocs you bring back to life. It is your win condition and a solid one at that.
Mulligan and Gameplay
Ideally you want to look for your Murlocs (except Finja, unless you have an amazing hand) and your early game drops. Here are the cards you definitely want in your starting hand:
High Priority
- Bluegill Warrior
- Murloc Warleader
- Haunted Creeper
- Muster for Battle
- Stonehill Defender
Low Priority
- Golakka Crawler (against Pirate decks or if you have a bad starting hand)
- Truesilver Champion (with good curve)
- Wickerflame Burnbristle (against aggro)
- Consecration (against aggro)
- Finja, The Flying Star (with good curve)
The goal of the deck is to draw out your murlocs as early as possible and get them killed. There are many situations you do not want to leave them on board, specially your Bluegill Warriors and Old Murk-Eye against decks that can deal with them by transforming them or take them into your deck. Also, going against other Murloc Decks can ruin your plans to some extent depending on your luck with Anyfin Can Happen.
The deck has enough resources to stall out the game and draw your combo in time. One of the glaring differences between this list and other variants from the past is that the deck utilizes a lot of early game board presence and has Cult Master for card draw, while older decks had much slower draw mechanisms. The deck is a lot more proactive than other variants and should be a blast to play for people who do not like very slow decks.
Conclusion
Anyfin Paladin is one of the most fun combo decks to play and this variant is a touch different from anything we have seen in the past. You should definitely give the deck a shot if you have the necessary cards and with plenty of flex options in the deck, you can make changes as needed and build the deck the way you want. Do have fun with the deck while we play the waiting game until Knight of the Frozen Throne lands next month.
Published: Jul 11, 2017 04:39 pm