Weekly Legends: Token Paladin

Introduction

And we are back in my wheelhouse. You guys know me, and you know that as soon as I see the words “token” next to “Paladin” I’m covering it. This week’s list, which comes from a player named Maaarrrrr, gives us a very interesting take on the class with an out-there build that uses a ton of interesting one-of cards and strange interactions to slowly (or quickly) take over a game. This deck can be aggressive, but it is much more geared towards the midrange world. The point of this list is to always have ways to get board presence, which makes it hard for other decks to catch up or match you on the board. You want to get out early and then slowly roll out powerful swing after powerful swing. This is not a list where you need to go big right away. Do not be afraid to take your time.

Key Cards

Knife Juggler

We begin our discussion with an oldie but a goodie. Knife Juggler has significantly died down in popularity over the last year, but in swarms deck like this one it has a ton of potential. The goal with this card is two-fold. You either get it out as soon as possible to force out removal and help your curve, or you use it alongside token generators to get immediate value. Your curve is always going to be priority number one, but there are many strong cards you can play with the 2/2. Lost in the Jungle is one of the best one-two punches you have (especially when facing Hunter), but you can also get a lot of strength from things like Stand Against Darkness and even Firefly. Anytime you can use this card to get a clear or push for the early board you should go for it.

Knife Juggler is not a card you need to get greedy with. You will find that there are many cards in this deck can get massive value, but playing to those modes can often lead to dead turns or weak plays. Rather, you just want to look at what’s in front of you and take what the games gives. Treat juggler as a body early on and then as a combo piece during the later turns. A lot of decks have small minions and it only takes one burst to instantly get you the board. This theme is going to pop up a lot when piloting this build, but your minions are simply bodies that have synergy attached to them. Only play to their potential when you can afford to.

Steward of Darkshire

Another interesting inclusion, Steward of Darkshire is one of those cards that can absolutely take over a game. Token decks are different in that they feed off of a slow type of tempo that aims to get big value swing after big value swing. It is not about a quick push, it is about staggering out your waves. Steward is a great example of this because she is a cheap minion that demands immediate attention. Like Knife Juggler, steward cannot be ignored. This is important because it often forces your opponent to make an immediate play or lose the game. A lot of the minions in this build operate on that principle, and understanding it is crucial.

Steward is key because it instantly takes the heat off of your other minions. For example, even if you have a board of strong divine shield threats your opponent needs to focus their spells on the 3/3 in order to not get blasted next turn. That is a main theme of this deck. Rather than traditional swarm token builds, this one is situated on a wide diversity of threats. The big combo with the three drop is with Stand Against Darkness, but even using on turn four with a Lost in the Jungle is a great way to get ahead. That then causes your opponent to react, allowing you to stay ahead of them on five. Always try to get value out of her when you can, but don’t get run over waiting for value either. She is usually going to be best on turn four or five.

Cult Master

A big part of this deck is setting up Cult Master. I know we have touched upon this in the past, but getting out of the 4/2 is very important in builds like this. The problem with token decks is that once you run out of your tempo you start to fall apart. In fact, in many cases an AOE at the wrong time is going to completely close you out. To combat this you need a way to refill your hand. Master does that very nicely, but only conditionally so. If you have no board this card does nothing. In order to get proper value you have to see your board and know when you’re going to be able to trade it in. The 4/2 is all about racing AOE or clears. One turn too early and you lose value, one turn too late and your whole game may fall apart. Typically, master is going to net you two or three cards, but it can go higher. If the card is in your hand you should play to it by keeping board presence and thinking about the ways your opponent can deal with your minions. If they drop something down and you can trade in to clear, you should usually take the shot. You may only get a card or two in some situations, but it’s better than getting none.

Stand Against Darkness

As the power levels continues to plateau in the realm of “thank God Tunnel Trogg isn’t around anymore,” cards like Stand Against Darkness continue to get much more powerful. A board full one 1/1’s is quite good these days, especially when your opponent doesn’t see it coming. The best way to use this card is with Steward of Darkshire, but it does a fine job of controlling the board on its own. For instance, playing this on turn five to perfectly set up a Spikeridged Steed or dropping it the turn before you want to use Cult Master. Spells are strong against the spell, so you almost always want to sneak it in right before your opponent wants to play a powerful minion. This makes it so that even if they do have an answer it takes them off of their curve.

As with many wide token plays, you want to use this card to either bait out or respond to AOE. There is not a ton of clears in the game right now, but things like Brawl, Whirlwind, Flamestrike and Swipe do exist. Unless you can give the recruits divine shield I would look at this card like a glass cannon. That is to say, extremely powerful but also extremely fragile. This is never going to be your main plan. It should simply back up your other plans. Even if your opponent does have a clear, they simply traded one-for-one. And that’s fine.

Sunkeeper Tarim

It is no secret that Sunkeeper Tarim is a strong card. However, in this deck he is very often lethal. If you have Tarim in hand you want to set him up in a way where he is either going to get you a strong swing or straight up win the game. Yes, there are going to be times where you need to use him as a way to shut down a large minion, but he is a proactive card in this list much more often than a reactive one. Treat this card like you would Cult Master. That is, set up your plays in a way that allows you to keep the board as you move towards the six drop. Every body matters with Sunkeeper.

The legendary is amazing because you don’t need a lot to make it work (have you noticed this theme yet?). Turning two recruits into 3/3’s instantly puts on pressure and gives you an immense board that is very hard to deal with. No deck is going to be able to handle nine damage a turn. Not only that, but Sunkeeper protects the rest of your bodies quite well. Using the taunt to shield off a smaller board while pushing for damage is one of the best ways to close out a game. Removal still exists, but minion combat has become much more important over the past few months. Shutting down efficient trades is one of the best ways to lock your opponent out of the game.

Matchups

These are the decks I have seen the most while grinding up the ladder.

Pirate Warrior

Pirate is waning at its post, but it’s still hanging on. This is an interesting matchup that is going to feel very swingy. Sometimes you press early and seamlessly build into your midgame, and sometimes your opening minions get cleared by N’zoth’s First Mate and you never catch up. There are two very important parts of this match. The first comes during turn two because that is where you are going to try to get a threat to stick. Your whole goal is to get Pirate focused on your board instead of your face. This is pretty easy to do early on, but if you don’t start your curve they are going to run you over. Simply letting them trade into your threats is fine because you just keep getting bigger and bigger. The key is to trade into everything your opponent has and work hard not to fall behind.

The other key part of this game comes during turn six. While Stonehill Defender and Wickerflame Burnbristle can slow Pirate down, they will act as annoyances more than anything else. The real way you end this game (besides damage) is through your massive walls like Sunkeeper Tarim, Tirion Fordring, and Spikeridged Steed. Pirate has almost no answers to those cards. You want to work hard to whittle down your opponent’s minions and then use the taunts to close them out. In fact, if you have a choice to play an early taunt or another body you should choose the body because the taunts are much more valuable against Pirate’s end-game push. Stonehill Defender is very weak when getting run over by Kor’kron Elite, but it is fantastic when it eats an Arcanite Reaper charge.

Discover Mage

Mage is just about everywhere these days. Jaina’s spells have become more and more random powerful, and they just never run out of gas. What makes the class so strong is that Ice Block allows them to play in two forms. Either they get an early push and try to rush their opponent down with a never-ending string of burn, or they sit back and collect spells until Pyroblast/Alexstrasza closes it out. Both of those modes are very good, but you combat each in the same way. Your goal here is to get a lot of pressure early on. Mage has a few forms of removal, but they don’t scale well. If you can get just a few things to stick it will typically force them to focus on the board. Not only does that eat burn, but it chews at their hand to set up your bigger finishers.

Outside of a few tech cards, Mage has no way to taking down big boards. Go wide in this matchup and try to flood them early. Flamestrike is something you want to worry about, but before turn seven you need to pump out as many minions as you can. The reason this is so important is because you cannot beat Alexstrasza. As you have nearly no healing, the way you combat the 8/8 is through sheer board presence. It is very simple. If your opponent has Ice Block intact on turn nine the game is over. If they don’t, you are probably going to win. Do not shy away from damage here, throw out all of your minions, and work hard to keep up pressure. Relaxing is a good way to lose.

Midrange Paladin

Midrange Paladin is going to be a rough battle. Treat this game like a mirror match and do everything in your power to fight for the board. Paladin depends immensely on those first few turns, and without them they build into some awkward turns. However, that same logic applies to you. Do not get greedy in this game and do not worry about putting on pressure. You are going to rely on your bigger midrange plays to take over, but those won’t work if you can’t get an early foothold. Trade as effectively as you can and get ready to fight in the later stages.

Most of this battle is going to happen during turns five through seven because those are the ones that build into Tirion Fordring. The eight drop legendary is as good as ever, and that goes double for a deck that has no way to effectively answer it. Even if you do manage to break it down, the Ashbringer is going to do a ton of work against your board. Beyond that, watch out for your opponent’s turn six Sunkeeper Tarim or Spikeridged Steed and set up Stand Against Darkness. The five mana spell is fantastic once your opponent has burned Consecration, but it can also be a great way to force them to use the spell (and tie up their turn) as well.

Midrange Hunter

I would say this is probably your toughest matchup. Hunter has very explosive starts and, because your strategy is so dependent on small minions, you cannot play around their combos. For instance, if you want to hold back Lost in the Jungle against an Alleycat to limit a potential turn two Scavenging Hyena, you will likely get blown out by Crackling Razormaw. You have to stick to your curve in this one and clear as much as you can. Savannah Highmane on turn six is going to be scary (as is the constant stream of Steady Shots) but allowing your opponent to get value from Houndmaster or Tundra Rhino is not acceptable. Hunter has a very good curve, but they also have a lot of cards that do not do well when behind. If you can get out ahead of them moving into the middle turns you should be able to take this one. Just be careful about the hounds. Do not play too many threats once you have a sizable lead.

Note: Always favor taunts moving into the later stages of this matchup. Once Hunter loses the board their only real out is quick burst.

Quest Rogue

Holding onto the bottom of the top rankings with iron claws, Quest Rogue continues to prove itself week by week. However, no matter how strong The Caverns Below[/card] continues to be, it just does not do well with early pushes. Many Rogue lists have become more streamlined. While that does work on the whole, it means they are running even less spells than they used to. There are no Eviscerates, Fan of Knives is rare, and many lists have even cut a Backstab. Without that removal, there is no way they can contest the early board outside of a clutch Glacial Shard.

Treat this game as you would Mage. Push early, set up body after body, and kill them before the combo. While there are some fringe cases where you can make it past their quest, those games are few and far between. You want to see this game with a timer, and that timer is turn five. The only exception (as always) to the hyper-aggro rule is when you need to take out a threat that can become a huge problem when bounced. Things like Glacial Shard and Novice Engineer need to die right away because your opponent is going to get too much value if they don’t. The only other time you want to worry about the board is right before they combo off. Forcing them to use caverns cold will often give you an extra turn to stack up damage.

Mulligan Guide

For anyone who remembers the “good” ol’ days of Shielded Minibot and Muster for Battle, you want to mulligan like old curveadin. Look for early plays and go from there. There is not a lot of variation from game to game because you want to begin everything in the same way. Fire Fly and Lost in the Jungle are the two cards you want to keep in every game. However, you should almost always hold onto Dire Wolf Alpha, Hydrologist, Knife Juggler as well. These are all apart of your starting package and it is difficult to win without them.

Blessing of Wisdom can be kept if you have strong early minions against a deck that doesn’t trade well (like Priest or Paladin). Rallying Blade, Wickerflame Burnbristle and Stonehill Defender are all great with the coin or a strong curve, but I do not like keeping Steward of Darkshire unless you have a fast start that perfectly builds into it. Consecration is solely for aggro when you have a good curve, and Lightfused Stegadon is good against midrange decks when you have a curve and the coin. While I almost never keep Cult Master, she can be strong when you have a lot of early bodies against control lists.

Conclusion

Paladin! I know you guys probably get tired of it, but I’ll never stop gushing about cool Uther decks. The class has a ton of different directions right now, and they all play in unique ways. There are a lot of fun cards in this list, and there are also a lot of minions you don’t normally get to play with. I always like it when fun things come to light, and this definitely fits the bill. Hope you enjoyed it and, until next time, may you always Sunkeeper while ahead.

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