Weekly Legends: N’zoth Control Warrior

Introduction

When does one archetype become another? That is the question on the table this week as we look at an interesting Control Warrior list that really (really) leans on the midrange style of play compared to some slower decks running around the ladder. In fact, this deck plays much more like beta Control Warrior than it does anything we’ve seen in the past few years. That means you rely on a string of strong minions backed up by good removal to win games rather than stalling for as long as humanly possible. There is a big difference between those two worlds, and this build really toes the line. You are playing control in the strict sense that you want to control the game, but that control happens a bit differently than you may be used to. It is not simply “how long can I live?” You are trying to kill your opponent here, and you need to understand that going in.

Key Cards

Armorsmith

“Armorsmith? Why on Earth is Joseph bringing up Armorsmith?” I’m glad you asked, person I made up for that intro line. Though the 1/4 is by no means new, she is extremely important because of the incremental value she provides. The meta, while diverse, has an undoubtedly aggressive slant. That means there are many decks that can bring quick pressure and go for the throat out of nowhere. There is a lot of burst right now, and being able to prevent or fight back against it is very important key. This deck plays in a way where you are going to be using removal and minions much more than your hero power. As a result, it is easy to get chipped down early on. Having an early minion that you can use to get some extra health is very important. Don’t just play the 1/4 to play it. Do your best to get value out of her, and look to protect yourself wherever you can.

There are two ways to use Armorsmith, and both of them are strong in certain situations. You either want to get her down to force a reaction, or you want to set her up where she cannot be easily dealt with. Four health has always been a lot in Hearthstone, and that is extremely true now. Every deck that wants to cleanly take out Armorsmith cannot. Your opponents, both aggro and midrange, are both going to have to commit multiple cards to your two drop, and that is fantastic for tempo. It is always good to whittle your opponent’s hand down to nothing, and this is one of the best ways to do it. In addition, if your opponent already has a board or is making a push, it is often right to hold smith back for when you can get immediate value from her. Using the two drop with Ravaging Ghoul on a solid board is one of the best ways to beat Mage, and just trading a few things in the midgame can be enough to stay above Shaman or Pirate’s damage.

Dirty Rat

Dirty Rat is an incredibly important control tool these days, and it is one of the most difficult cards to play in the entire deck. The reason is that you want to get value out of the 2/6, but you also don’t want to lose the game. Something like Archmage Antonidas or Tirion Fordring can lead to disaster, but there are many more subtle pulls (Frothing Berserker, Murloc Warleader) that also lead to serious problems.The most obvious use of the two drop is with Brawl (this will also be the most common). However, you have other options. Sometimes you want to combo it with hard removal, and sometimes pulling a good battlecry minion can be enough.

Make reads when playing the 2/6. Sometimes you need to get a taunt out against a deck like Aggro Druid or Pirate Warrior simply so you will not die, and other times you want to take away Rogue’s combo potential when you have a removal spell in hand. The situations are going to differ, but understand when you need to use the rat with a specific card, and understand when you can just run it out. The best way to do this is to look at the board state against your health and see what the worst case vs. best case scenario will be. If you could lose the game on the spot it is probably best not to take the risk, but if you have multiple ways to rebound, the rat can be a good way to slow things down.

Direhorn Hatchling

Every control deck needs to have a plan. That can be running your opponent out of cards, spamming removal and AOE, or slamming down gigantic threats. It doesn’t matter what it is, you just have to know the way to take games. As mentioned, this deck plays the control shell around a midrange slew of powerful cards and strong threats. Direhorn Hatchling is one of the best examples of this because it is both a good midgame minion and a finisher. The 3/6 taunt is going to slow a lot of decks down, while the 6/9 that comes after is going to kill them. It is a great balance that helps both styles you want to play.

This card is going to be your finisher in long games and the way you beat other control decks. Versatility is one of the most important parts of this game, and hatchling helps that by giving you a third route to victory. Playing both dinosaurs and then N’zoth gives your four Direhorn Matriarchs in your deck. That not only allows you to fill you deck in a way that fights fatigue, but it also enables you to have a string of finishers after your opponent has run out of gas. When you know a game is going to go through your deck you want to sit back and try to build up as many of the 6/9’s as possible. The dinosaurs act like a psuedo-Elise Starseeker in that way, where they give you a big end-game punch should you go late.

Cairne Bloodhoof

Everyone knows Cairne’s ability and how good it is. However, in the current tempo-oriented field it is not easy to set up the 4/5 in a positive way. He can do some real work against control decks, but there are many lists (Pirate, Hunter, Paladin, Rogue) that can simply blow by or ignore him without so much as a second thought. As a result, he is a minion you need to work to set up. Cairne is one of the best cards in the game to get out of your opponent, but he can cause you problems when you’re behind. Always think of the ways you can get him down without taking too much of a loss. This means either controlling the board or having so much health that taking extra damage won’t matter. You want to start thinking about the tauren three or four turns before he comes down. He is that important. An uncontested Cairne can ruin decks like Mirdange Hunter, Priest, and Paladin, and even act a solid stopper against Pirate Warrior and Shaman. At the very least he will force your opponent to react. Putting down any strong body (especially Doomsayer) on turn five is a fantastic way to make sure he causes problems. However, you can go full control for the first five turns as well.

N’zoth the Corruptor

Like so many of the cards here, you always want to take extra time to think before dropping N’zoth the Corruptor. The ten mana god is still one of the best finishers in the game, but sometimes he can be a tempo play and other times he can be a liability. This is one of those examples of a card that does not need to be its ability. In longer games you want to try and wait to get your two Direhorn Hatchlings out, but in midrange battles you just need one or two minions. In fact, I will often drop him just with Cairne Bloodhoof in most games. That swing is not as exciting as bringing back an army, but in a board-centric world you don’t need an army. You just want solid bodies.

Also note that N’zoth the Corruptor is not your only finisher. This deck has plenty of end-game options, including Ysera and a pair of Primordial Drakes. As a result, you do not need to lean on him as heavily as it would seem. The direhorn package is great, but there is no reason to go out of your way to get things to die before the 5/7 comes down. Hyper-focusing on the god can lead to problems and also prevent you from taking the correct lines of play. That being said, don’t be foolish with the 5/7 either. There is no reason to run him into easy AOE unless you want to set up a big play the following turn. If you are facing any deck that can clear you should try to bait it out first.

Matchups

These are the decks that I see the most while playing ladder.

Discover Mage

Mage sits on its fiery throne and continues to laugh its way up the ladder. Except against you. Control Warrior has always had success against burn-related decks, and that does not change here. You do not have a lot of armor, but even incremental gain can go a long way. Pressing your hero power three times completely negates a Fireball, and every tick above that is just free value. Always play defensively here and work hard to take away your opponent’s board. You want to reduce Mage to just spells in their hand. While they can still burn you down from that position, that line will allow you to get some minions down to challenge their late turns. Armor up at every opportunity and never assume you’re safe. Primordial Glyph does a lot of work.

All you care about is your health. If you can get ahead on board or apply pressure that’s great, but it is not your primary win condition. Rather, your only goal is to run your opponent down and win a long war of attrition. Every move or step you make should be dedicated towards limiting the damage you take. Alexstrasza and Medivh, the Guardian are both still very popular. Not only is that another reason you need to find armor, but it also means you should keep some removal handy if possible. It is easy to burn up your resources controlling early pushes, but it helps to keep at least one thing in your back pocket. Also note that Dirty Rat is very strong in this matchup. Taking away one or two of Mage’s strong battlecry plays can be invaluable.

Pirate Warrior

Pirate is one of the most powerful decks in the game, and this matchup can be hard even with all of your tools. Like Mage, you want to run your opponent out of cards. However, unlike Mage, you should never get comfortable until your opponent is top-decking. It does not take much for Pirate Warrior to put together damage, and they can rebound if you don’t have a way to lock down the board. Taunts should always be your first priority, and then you want to focus on armor. It is also important to note that you must look for all early removal spells you find against Garrosh. Pirate simply builds out of control if uncontested and you do not want to get stuck with a hand of finishers and nothing to do.

This game is going to wrap up around turn five in one way or another. If you have armor and a few good walls Pirate is likely to fold. However, if you have a weak hand or can’t make good use of your removal there really is no coming back. Most of this matchup comes down to the mulligan, but there are a few strong tools at your disposal. The best card here is Armorsmith. The 1/4 can be killed in different ways, but you should just put her down as soon as possible. This is a matchup where losing minions is the same thing as gaining life. If you have no removal in hand, do not shy away from simply running out your minions when you have the mana to do so. That can get you extra time to hero power or draw removal.

Midrange Paladin

As with any slower control list, (except Priest) Midrange Paladin is going to be a tough battle. Uther loves to break down his opponent with efficient minions, strong swings, and a good curve. This is a matchup where your removal is only going to able to do so much. You have to be able to leverage your AOE where you can. This often means trying hard to act like you don’t have it when you do. One dead turn when you “should” have dropped Brawl can be the difference between a victory and a loss. Beyond that, the most important aspect of this game (by far) is not playing into Getaway Kodo. The one mana secret can decimate you when matched up against Tirion Fordring or Sunkeeper Tarim. Be careful about it, and always do what you can to kill small minions behind the taunts. This includes saving a Ravaging Ghoul to make sure you can take down a Silver Hand Recruit without burning something more valuable. It is that important.

Note: Do your best to bait Equality before playing N’zoth. If you can’t, then just make sure you have some sticky bodies alongside the old god.

Aggro Druid

While this matchup falls in your favor, it is not going to be easy. Aggro Druid is not meant to fight against cheap, early removal. That means they often have problems with things like Doomsayer or Fiery War Axe. However, they are incredibly resilient as well. It does not take them long to buff up past removal and they have plenty of strong ways to rebound against AOE. You need to take this into account. The way you take down Malfurion’s army is by anticipating those buffs and then doing what you can to cut your opponent off before they come down. If you anticipate Living Mana you want to have a plan for when it comes, and if you think your opponent is setting up a buff play you can just ghoul two one health minions.

It is always important to calculate your opponent’s potential damage in this one. Savage Roar, Power of the Wild,Mark of the Lotus, Mark of Y’shaarj and even Swipe can help bring you down to zero rather quickly. Clear aggressively and never let your opponent build up a fast board. Though you’re playing against a small threats, you should try to save some hard removal for Vicious Fledgling (if you don’t have Fiery War Axe). The 3/3 is Druid’s most powerful minion and it can lock you down in a hurry. It can also be right to clear a beast to take away any mark value. Druid’s threats are small, but they are also mighty. Consider any board of three or more to be problematic.

Miracle Rogue

Many people have taken Miracle Rogue to the northern parts of the ladder as of late, and that has been felt across all ranks. This deck continues to grow more and more popular, and it can be very tricky to take down. Rogue has a lot of ways to deal with big threats, and they can also quickly build tempo in a way that is quite resistant to AOE. That causes you a lot of problems, and veterans of the class will know how to stretch you thin. The hardest part of this game is going to be Sherazin, Corpse Flower. The 5/3 will come back time and time again, and there is nothing you can do about that. If your opponent gets the legendary plant out early you should take the time to remove it once or twice. It can feel bad to do that, but killing the flower will force your opponent to burn cards, which can then limit their late-game value.

Your biggest advantage in this matchup is the fact that Rogue has limited burst damage. The modern Miracle decks are built around a steady source of big threats rather than something like Leeroy Jenkins (though he still sees play from time to time). That means you can largely ignore your health and hyper-focus on the board. Keep your opponent’s minions in check and do everything in your power to keep them from gaining leverage or priority. All you need to do is fend off one or two pushes and you should be fine. Also be aggressive with your removal. Rogue can make great use of their minions, and you never want to leave yourself exposed.

Mulligan Guide

Anyone who has played any version of Control Warrior should be familiar with this mulligan. Based on the number of tempo decks on the ladder right now, you have to aggressively look for all of your early removal. It is easy to try and go for a reach, but drawing three finishers alongside it will lead to a quick loss. You should always keep Armorsmith, Doomsayer and Fiery War Axe. Shield Slam is strong against aggro and midrange alongside Shield Block, but neither are great on their own.

Execute is a powerful tool against midrange if you have a good early curve/activators. Ravaging Ghoul should be kept against aggro, as should Sleep with the Fishes as long as you have an activator. Acolyte of Pain is strong with the coin or a curve, while Twilight Summoner is good to keep anytime you can curve into it. Finally, Brawl can be a good option if you have the coin and a curve against a swarm deck.

Conclusion

While I am by no means a control player, I do love a good control deck. I have the most wins with Warrior out of any class, and that is largely due to the fact that I like the way the slow version plays. This style of deck takes some thinking, and it can be a lot of fun when you see all of the pieces come together. Not only that, but it is a grindy built that has many options beyond the traditional “go to fatigue” plan. A lot of fun minions here, and that in itself is worth the try. Until next week, may you always hatch your direhorns.

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