Control Paladin slightly went out of favor in the KFT meta because of how good Murloc Paladin had become at countering Jade Druid and Priest with very quick and aggressive wins before opponents could even react. With the recent nerfs to Murloc Warleader and Jade Druid, and the rise of Rogue – Control Paladin has become a good deck in the current meta with plenty of powerful removal tools, healing and late game.
This particular list was used by ‘Mercy’ late last season to climb to Legend from Rank 5. It has all the essential components of Control Paladin and enough lategame fuel to close out games in the long run. Despite some people in the community being skeptical about the Paladin Death Knight, it is a very underrated and powerful tool in the deck and this list shows how good the card can be.
Card Choices
Forbidden Healing: A solid healing option that can go up to 20 healing for 10 mana. It is very good against aggressive decks and also versus Razakus Priest, where you can soak in some burst damage and then heal back up to 30 to buy some more time against them and close out the game.
Equality: A great card to combo with Pyromancer or with Equality to wipe out entire boards for 6 mana.
Doomsayer: Doomsayer is a very good minion to play in the early game and also a great tool to play after clearing the board to stall out a turn. Even if it gets cleared you get 7 healing at the very least which is quite decent for 2 mana.
Wild Pyromancer: It is a combo piece to be used with Equality for board wipes for 4 mana. It is very effective against aggressive
Hydrologist: Hydrologist is a great card to contest the early game and 1 mana secrets can come in handy in situations. You also get access to Pyromancer combos to get an extra 1 damage clear on the board.
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.
Aldor Peacekeeper: One of the strongest tech tools in the deck as it allows you to shut down big minions very effectively for just 3 mana. With plenty of big threats being run in the current meta and snowballing minions in almost every deck, Aldor allows you to get better trades off or simply shut down a lot of incoming damage.
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.
Truesilver Champion: Truesilver Champion is a solid weapon that allows you to deal with mid sized minions and also heal in the process.
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 Wild Pyromancer to boost the spell to 3 damage or combo it with Equality for a board wipe for 6 mana.
Stampeding Kodo:Â 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.
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.
Ivory Knight: The card replaces Spikeridged Steed in the 6 mana slot in this list to allow you to draw more removal or draw spells that you may need. With silence effects becoming popular in the current meta (Spellbreaker is being included in many decks at the moment), Ivory Knight is a solid replacement for the buff card. It can provide a decent amount of healing and for a class that does not have good draw options, Ivory Knight is a solid pick.
Skulking Geist: Mostly a tech card to counter Jade Druid, the card is quite decent against things like Evolve Shaman, Rogue and gets a reasonable amount of value against most decks out there.
The Curator:Â The Curator is an excellent pick to draw out your Hydrologist, Primordial Drake or Stampeding Kodo. The added Taunt effect also helps you stall out until you are able to play your late game threats.
Bonemare:Â Bonemare is a powerful minion that is seeing play in a wide variety of decks and it is a powerful tool in Paladin as you always have your hero power at your disposable to find a target for Bonemare.
The Lich King:Â The Lich King is a very powerful taunt minion that is very hard to deal with without hard removal and with secrets from Hydrologist to make things harder for your opponent to remove the minion, it is a solid pick in the deck.
Primordial Drake: A solid taunt and AOE removal packed into one card. With The Curator synergy thrown in, the card fits in perfectly. The 4 attack is also quite good against Priest decks.
Tirion Fordring: Tirion is arguably the best classic Legendary, despite its power levels shifting based on Paladin’s viability. It is a very hard to deal with minion that also hands you 15 potential damage to boot.
Uther of the Ebon Blade: Uther of the Ebon Blade is basically 20 healing and 15 damage packed into one card which is quite worth it for 9 mana. The hero power is also relevant in long and grindy games and gives you an edge against pretty much every class once they are out of resources.
Deck Code
AAECAZ8FCvoGiq4C5q4CubICvL0CucECyccCoM4Cws4CjtMCCooB3AP0Bc8G9gePCdsKj7QCs8ECm8ICAA==
Mulligan
General
- Doomsayer
- Hydrologist
- Stonehill Defender
- Wickerflame Burnbristle
Against Aggro
Against Aggro you want all of the above cards as well as the following:
- Wild Pyromancer + Equality
- Consecration
Conclusion
Hope you guys have fun with the deck, it’s been working great for early season climbing and it works consistently versus most decks in the current meta. Full credits to ‘Mercy’ for the deck and his take on it.
