Update: Read Part 2 here!
After playing for the first three season to Legend rank, we decided to document our journey to that elusive (and sometimes RNG-infested-frustrating) rank, for what it appears to be the last test season of Open Beta Hearthstone. People are always interested in reading about the journey there! (Right?)
Rank 25 to 10
We started this journal a bit on the late side, we were already Rank 10. The deck we used to achieve this was the Aggro Tech!
We encountered a lot Hunter Aggro, Wurlocks, Aggro Techs and, surprisingly, Priests. Zero Druids. Yep. Zero!
The Aggro Tech is all about board control. A lot of rush players tend to get greedy and lose steam when they lose board control and the Defender of Argus comes down.
Thanks to winning streaks, we were able to achieve Rank 10 in a day, playing for about ~5 hours.
Rank 10: Where It Gets Tricky
The skill level of the opponents are now quite high, and we needed a deck to counter the aggro/rush decks more heavily. We decided on Control Warrior. Note that Control Warrior’s games tend to last a while, but it’s a solid deck against not only Aggro Rush but also other Controls. Slow and steady, boys and girls!
Card Choices
You’ll notice we have a few different card than the one linked in the guide above and we’ll explain our reasoning:
+1 Cleave
To deal with the strong presence of rush decks in the current meta.
+1 Chillwind Yeti
I opted for Chillwind over Senjin Shieldmasta due its 4 attack.
-1 Execute
Since control isn’t as popular as rush decks, 2 Executes is one too many.
-1 Alexstrasza
Too slow in a rush heavy meta.
One thing we noticed this season is the influx of Priest Control. Their buffs are endless and they have great board reset with Circle of Healing and Auchenai Soulpriest. Circle of Healing also works great with Injured Blademaster, which is very difficult to answer to short of a hard removal. Players tend to save hard removals for bigger minions, but leaving a 4/7 on the board early game can prove fatal.
Highlight Game
Check out the early game – it’s pretty insane what Nat Pagle turned into. Pretty despairing and the situation got dire quick when we can’t find our Execute or Tinkmaster Overspark. Excellent game overall, highly recommended viewing.
Matchups
Game 1: VS Mage
Mage’s Hero Power is basically locked out against a Control Warrior, where each 1 damage would benefit me due to cards like the Frothing Berserker, Acolyte of Pain and Armorsmith. The armor buff can get out of control pretty quickly…
Game 2: VS Control Priest
This showcases one of the main reason why Priests is a force to be reckoned with, especially due to the awesome buffs they have. I have yet to win against Priest Control this season as a Shaman.
Game 3: VS Murloc Warlock
Everyone’s favorite opponent.
Game 4: VS Druid
Against other Control decks, it’s all about getting your late games into a better position.
Game 5: VS Druid
Savage/Roar Deck
Game 6: VS Druid
Savage/Roar Deck
Game 7: VS Control Warrior
Against a Control Warrior with a twist in his decklist.
Post Session Thoughts
We definitely are now seeing more Control deck types compared to lower ranks. Control Warrior is great at handling rush decks and can hold its own against other Control – but it can get complicated and tech-y very fast. Especially the game versus the Priest (video above). You are constantly faced with tough questions – when do use Shield Slam versus Execute. Calculating that Armor buff and wonder if it’s to Whirlwind and damaging your side of the board as well. One big draw back about the Warrior Control deck is that it’s very expensive to assemble – perhaps one of the more expensive decks in the current meta.
We started off at Rank 10** and after 7 matches (roughly 1.5 hours), we are now at Rank 8*. We decided to take a break here and call it a day. Hopefully you guys find this article useful! We’ll have part 2 soon, as we venture past Rank 8!
Update: Read Part 2 here!
