The New Standard: Spiderman Paladin

Introduction

Kniiiiighhtttssss. The new set is finally here, and I have been brewing up a storm. Though there are many decks I’ll be talking about on The New Standard over the next few weeks, we are going to start off with (of course) Paladin. My favorite class is at it again, and with even more awesome new tools. This week’s deck, which I have dubbed “Spiderman Paladin,” is a midrange build that is created off of the concept of buffs and sticky minions. Yes, we’ve seen that before, but never have their been so many good tools for the archetype. Not only are there divine shield minions everywhere, but KFT introduced some very powerful tempo cards that feed directly into what we’re trying to do. This is going to go like any midrange deck; you get the board and build off of it. However, unlike other midrange decks, you are nearly immune to both removal and AOE.

Key Cards

This section will explain certain cards that are important to the overall build.

Righteous Protector/Argent Squire

These two cards kick off the deck because they are strong one drops. However, I bring them up because of how important they are later on in the game as well. You have quite a few buffs in this list, and you want to make sure they have targets. If things go according to plan you should have plenty of bodies to throw things on. However, things don’t always go according to plan. In fact, there are many games where you and your opponent are going to spend time trading blows. In those situations, it is going to be hard to get extra value from things like Blessing of Kings or Spikeridged Steed. That is where the one drops come in. Being able to use one mana to put together a quick 5/5 or 3/7 with divine shield and taunt is fantastic and can help you crawl back into a game that is slipping away. If you have the one drops during the middle turns, don’t simply run them out just to run them out. You always want to have a plan for everything. If your minions are tight or you think it is going to be hard to get a buff, hold back just in case you need a fail safe.

Dark Conviction

Dark Conviction is interesting because, like so many cards of its kind, it has a ton of utility. Sometimes you want to use it early to cement the board, sometimes you want to buff a good divine shield minion, and sometimes you need to take down a big threat. For those reasons, the two mana spell is quite difficult to use. There are strictly going to be two different modes for this card, and each of them come in handy at different times. The first is when you use it aggressively during the early turns of the game. You are only going to do this against other fast decks, but buffing up a Argent Squire, Righteous Protector, Wickerflame Burnbristle or damaged minion can go quite a long way. Your curve works in a way where you can get a large amount of value once you cement board, and you should not hesitate to take it.

The other rule for Dark Conviction is, if you don’t use it early, you almost always want to save it for your opponent’s minions. I did not see this coming when I first building the deck, but the more I played, the more I found I had the board during turns five, six and seven. You are almost always pushing in those situations, but you can be shut down by annoying cards like The Lich King or Tirion Fordring. Being able to easily clear those helps you find a lot of wins. This card also helps you trade buffed Devilsaur Eggs or Skelemancers without triggering the deathrattle. Play smart and always think about how your opponent could protect themselves when this is in your hand.

Divine Favor

I know I’ve talked about how hard it is to use Divine Favor many times in the past, but it has been a while since we’ve teamed up the card, so I thought we’d cover it again (this is even more important if you want to play two). Currently, the meta is filled with a low of slower decks. You have greedy control, value control, combo, and slow midrange. That is not all that’s out there, but it makes up a significant portion of what you’ll see. This is important because those decks really like to draw cards. And you are going to punish them for it. You have a ton of taunts here, almost all of them can be buffed. As a result, even one big swing turn with favor can be enough to get back into a game.

Divine Favor is a card you want to get greedy with. However, that greed needs to be calculated. Set this card up and start thinking about where you can get the most value from it a few turns before you pull the trigger. Sometimes you just want to dump your hand as quickly as you possibly can, but other times it is going to be right to strategically hold back low-cost cards to catch your opponent off guard. I would say the general rule is to try to get four or more cards off of favor. Three is fine against faster decks, but do not be afraid to wait it out against control. Even one more turn can make a big difference in the amount of cards you will pull. Also, do not miss key opportunities. It is easy to try and value minions over cards early in the game, but against slow decks just drawing four on five on turn three is the right play.

Blessing of Kings

While I could have lumped Spikeridged Steed into this conversation, I wanted to specifically focus on Blessing of Kings because it is harder to use and two mana cheaper. Whereas Steed comes down later on and typically cements your life total, blessing is something you are going to mix up with your middle plays. In fact, I would treat the buff like a minion more than anything else. While we do have an aggressive slant, I would say there is no doubt this is a midrange deck. Sometimes you win quickly, but most of the time you win during the later parts of the game. To do that, you need to be able to take over the middle board, and that is exactly what Blessing of Kings does so well.

Going back to the idea of buffs as a whole, this entire deck is about getting things to stick. Always play to your spells, and do everything in your power to make sure you have some solid bodies for them. It typically does not matter what you’re going to buff. Yes, there are some targets that are better than others, but for the most part just being able to have a minion kill something and live is all you want to do. Kings is one of (if not the) best board control cards in your deck. Use it that way. Try to set up the buff where you can find it, and do everything in your power to keep something around for it. This goes for all the buff cards here, and it is key to piloting this list correctly. You aren’t just keeping minions alive for no reason, you want to have a plan.

Skelemancer

The best card in this deck, Skelemancer is everything a buff Paladin could ever want. At its core, this card is a 2/2 that says “deathrattle: summon an 8/8.” That’s good, and it is going to cause a lot of people to avoid or ignore it when it comes down. We are counting on that because once this card gets ignored you win the game. Ok, not really, but you get a huge lead. The basic point of this card is that your opponent is going to try to avoid killing it, and you are going to do everything in your power to make sure they do. Putting taunt on this not only forces your opponent into a bad situation, it can outright win you the game. Getting an 8/8 out after AOE is one of the best ways you can pressure control decks when they’re trying to heal up or play a big finisher.

There are going to be many situations with this deck where you need to choose between a few different minions. The mana slots are crowded and there are many bodies for many situations. However, if you have a buff in hand, Skelemancer trumps all of your other minions. Run this out as soon as you can. While there are going to be things that are better at contesting the board, nothing wears pants like the mancer. A 4/8 with taunt that summons an 8/8 is just too tough for decks to handle. Also note that the 2/2 is also great to hide behind taunts if you want to invalidate AOE. I have won more than a few games against Control Paladin with that move.

Matchups

The four decks I’ve seen most in the early days of KFT.

Jade Druid

Though the meta is hardly settled, Jade Druid appears to be a strong front runner out of the gates. The deck does what it has always done, just better. If that scares you, good. It should. This matchup is going to be tough, but it is more than winnable if you know how to play it. Go all in on tempo here and be as aggressive as possible. For all the shine, Jade Druid is still a Druid deck. As a result, they cannot deal with wide boards and they do not handle midrange threats well. You want to spend your  time pumping out minion after minion. Every body is going to be good against Malfurion. This is probably the matchup where synergy matters the least. Having some anti Swipe insurance can be good, but any solid threat that challenges their hero power should be enough.

This game is going to build up until turn six or seven. By that point you need to have things largely under wraps if you want to close this out. Druid has a ton of good things going on in their top-end, and letting them get to an easy Ultimate Infestation or Malfurion the Pestilent is going to be a disaster. Pressure is very important against Druid. Do everything you can to hit them and always make them think they are in trouble. Also, do your best to play around Spreading Plague. The 1/5’s have a lot of utility and you don’t want to give your opponent more than necessary. Buff up a few threats and get big that way. It will serve you much better here.

Control Paladin

Another early contender is Control Paladin. While the deck does nothing new, they do have a lot of ways to stay alive and remove minions. Even so, this is one of your best matchups. Paladin largely relies on board clears to deal with troublesome threats, and you eat those clears for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The entire point of this game is to keep as many deathrattle threats on the board as you can without letting your opponent pop them. Sometimes that means Devilsaur Egg and sometimes that means Skelemancer, but both cards give Uther nightmares. Skelemancer is the better of the two, but you want to hide it behind taunts as best you can. I’ve had many games where my opponent used Equality/Consecration and then promptly died. That’s where you want to be in this one.

You can never be too careful against Paladin. While they may seem waning at different times during the matchup, all it takes is one clear and a big threat for them to be in control. And you never want them to be in control. Always try to have something they cannot remove. Even if you do not draw your deathrattle minions, your divine shields will go a long way against AOE. Even putting something in the way of a sword to protect a fragile threat can the difference between getting locked out and having enough gas to take this one home. This is also a game where Dark Conviction is going to have a lot of utility. Paladin has a stacked top end, and a lot of that top end taunts or heals. You should almost always save the spell for those big cards. This will help

Kazakus Priest

“Machine Gun” Priest is another popular deck in the early days of the game, and it gets more and more frequent as I climb. This list is a one-of build that does everything the old Reno Jackson decks did. However, instead of Reno they build to a Raza the Chained fueled lategame where they kill the board (and you) with their hero power from Shadowreaper Anduin. The goal of this one is going to be similar to your plan against Uther, except you can push a lot harder. Though priest has some strong tools, they also are largely inconsistent with their curve. To punish that you want to hit them early on and then try to do what you can to force them to rely on AOE. Once there, you can then deny their clears with your sticky threats. Buff fast and do no hesitate to hit your opponent hard in the face.

If you can get Devilsaur Egg or Skelemancer out against Anduin, there is little he is going to be able to do. Priest’s only real way to take those cards is Cabal Shadow Priest, but they only have one (if they run her at all) and it is quite easy to test for the 4/5. The same rules apply to Potion of Madness as well. This is probably going to be your most aggressive matchup. It is almost impossible to beat Shadowreaper Anduin‘s ability once it is free. That means you want to have overwhelming board presence or power by turn eight. You can still win once the death knight comes to the party, but you’re only going to have a turn or two to do so.

Control Warlock

More control. Though not as popular as it was day one, I could easily see Control Warlock solidifying a place in the meta. This is another matchup that you absolutely feast on. In fact, I think this is the reason I’m doing as well as I am. Warlock’s new gameplan revolves around efficient removal that builds up onto their giant finishers. However, they are not a deck that is able to deal with sticky threats. Skelemancer absolutely destroys them, and almost all of their damage-based AOE is negated by divine shield. This game is going to play out much like the Priest one, where you do everything you can to keep at least one thing on the board. Hit them, make them clear, hit them again. It is also important to watch out for Defile. You do not want to give your opponent a chance to easily clear your board. Make them work and put them into bad corners. Never stack your health on your minions if you can avoid it.

Mulligan Guide

Despite all of the different tools, you want to mulligan this deck like you would any midrange list. Your “must-keeps” are going to be Argent Squire, Righteous Protector, Hydrologist. You want to start your curve on turn one and then build from there. Dark Conviction is strong when you have a one drop, and Divine Favor is amazing against any slow control deck. Devilsaur Egg, Rallying Blade, and Wickerflame Burnbristle are all great with the coin or a solid curve. As for the four drops, you should keep them depending on the matchups. Corpsetaker and Truesilver Champion are both great with a curve, Defender of Argus is solid with a curve against aggro and Meat Wagon is good with a curve against control or slow midrange.

Conclusion

You know what’s better than Paladin decks? New Paladin decks! This list has been doing quite well for me (now at rank three) and I wanna see how high the ceiling goes. Paladin has some amazing tools right now, and the more I move around the cards, the more I like this style of deck. Buffs have always been weak because they either don’t have good targets or when the minions get killed you get two-for-oned. This build does a great job of stopping both of those

---