Team IHearthU Deck Guide: Powder Rank 1 Legend Paladin

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Greetings, this is [IHU] Powder bringing you another tech deck. This week we will be taking a look at my own Paladin deck which I managed to get Rank 1 legend with. Many might have thought it possible a few weeks back that paladin could dominate the ladder but with the new GvG cards Paladin has become significantly stronger. My deck has a few surprises which you will soon see and the key to its success is that it is very consistent which is important for ladder.

Key Cards:

Muster for Battle: This is one of the few new cards released with the Goblins vs Gnomes expansion and it truly is way too good. For three mana you get three 1-1 silver hand recruits and a 1-4 weapon not only does this put immense pressure on your opponent early but the silver hand recruits now combo with Quartermaster meaning that if your opponent cannot deal with the three new 1-1 minions you have played he will be in a very poor position in a few turns. The 1-4 weapon is also better than you think, it combos very well with equality making you able to deal with big minions or taunts without trading your own minions and able to do more damage.

Tinkmaster Overspark: This might be one of the stranger cards in the deck but it’s actually one of the best cards in a deck like this. There are basically two different uses for it as a card, either you can play it on turn 3 with one of your silver hand recruits and if you get the 5-5 dragon you basically win the game and even if you get the squirrel it’s not a big deal. The other use for Tinkmaster is for the times where you fall behind against decks like Handlock, Druid and Warrior it is quite common that they will have one big guy on the board and this is where Tinkmaster shines. Being able to turn an 8-8 minion into a mere 1-1 squirrel turns the game right around and you might be able to win still.

Quartermaster: The Muster for Battle + Quartermaster combo is what makes this deck what it is and it is basically the reason why Paladin has become a force to be reckoned with. Being able to turn your 1-1 silver hand recruits into 3-3 is just amazing especially when you have a low cost mana spell that is able to produce three of them. This deck is quite aggressive but it still often finds time to hero power which means that while your opponent has to deal with your other minions your silver hand recruits often stick around and Quartermaster is able to punish your opponent for his inability to clear all your minions. Another good thing with Quartermaster is that its a large health minion to combo with defender of argus against full out aggression.

Lay on Hands: This is the only heal in the deck which is extremely important against things like an aggressive aggro mage or something similar. This is another one of those cards that has two different jobs in different matchups. Against aggro it is used to stay alive basically, you use it for the heal but against control the card draw is more important. The versatility of the card is great in a deck like this and that is why I have listed it as one of the key cards.

Mulligan:

The mulligan for this deck is quite simple, the cards you are looking for are Zombie Chow, Knife Juggler, Sheilded Minibot, Muster of Justice and Quartermaster. I rarely keep a card like Truesilver Champion simply because you really want to play Muster of Justice on turn three and have a different follow up on turn four rather than Truesilver, in many cases playing Defender of Argus or Piloted Shredder is simply better or in the best case coin out Quartermaster. It does not matter much what class you play against these cards are always what you want to be looking for.

How to play:

The deck is quite aggressive but it curves out extremely well also a lot of the time. The most important part of playing this deck is knowing how to use your hero power and your silver hand recruits in the right way. Many might be inclined to trade with your recruits if you have a Quartermaster in hand simply because they combo so well together but this will often be your downfall. Against more control decks you will almost always have time to play your Quartermaster and trading in a recruit is almost always correct. Another thing is that playing Muster of Justice on turn three is almost always the best thing to do it puts out too much pressure not to, most of the time you don’t even need Quartermaster to win the game you simply rush them down.

Key Matchups:

Warrior: This is what I probably have played the most against on ladder and its actually one of the hardest matchups to win simply because warrior have very efficient ways of dealing with your smaller minions as well as your silver hand recruits. Against Warrior you have two game plans either you rush him down which is the most common way you will win especially if you curve out the way you want to with some good early minions. If the Warrior has the right removal cards however you will have to try and play the long game, which is possible because you have good late game cards also and if he over extends into equality he can easily get punished. The key moments in this matchup is when you play Muster of Justice, it is most likely still correct to play the first one on turn three but if it is cleared you often want to save it for when you can play it the same turn as Quartermaster.

Mage: Mech Mage and Aggro Mage is quite common on the ladder and you will see this matchup quite a lot right now. In this matchup you really need your early cards to be able to keep up with the pressure the mage puts out. I would say that the three most important cards are Zombie Chow, Muster of Justice and Consecration. These three are the best cards to combat the Mage’s aggression and when you finally are able to get board control you basically win the game. You have to be careful of the cards that freeze like Snow Chugger and Water Elemental simply because this deck actually uses its weapon for removal most of the time and if you are frozen you are unable to do that.

Warlock: There will always be Warlock’s, both on ladder and in tournaments, so this is a matchup which is also quite key. Like always the strategy changes quite a bit depending on if it is Zoo or Handlock and that is the first thing you have to look for. If it is zoo the matchup is extremely similar to Mage simply because they do the same thing, win with board control and overwhelm the opponent. You look for the same cards and combat there aggression with your own and with the use of concecration and other spells you simply outlast them and eventually win the game. However if you are playing against Handlock it is a little more difficult. You still look for your aggressivle early cards but cards like owl and equality are very important also. The way you win against Handlock is you rush them down and when they finally are able to play their big guys you use your owl or equality to surpass the taunters and win that way.

Combos, Tips & Tricks:

There are a few cool combos in this deck which help you win many games, the first and most important is Muster of Justice + Quartermaster. This combination can be played on two different turns or together on turn eight to create a board which is extremely difficult to deal with. Equality + Consecration is another key combination which allows you to surpass any wall that the opponent can produce and this is often the way you are able to get in for the final push of damage. Equality + Muster of Justice is another combination which is quite good simply because you get the 1-4 weapon which allows you to kill a minion instantly.

Budget Replacement:

The legendaries in this deck are actually not very key to making the deck work, the only one I would say that is important to have is Tirion Fordring which is the only real taunt card that you have except Defender of Argus. The other three, Tinkmaster, Bolvar and Dr. Boom are all extremely good cards but they are not necessary for the deck to be good. I myself replaced Tinkmaster and Bolvar with two Sludgebeltchers on my North America account where I didn’t have those two cards. Dr. Boom would be one of the legendaries that I would craft first because it is an amazing card but if you don’t have it I would consider cards like Guardian of Kings and Ragnaros.

That is it for me for this time, be sure to check out my twitter @IHU_Powder where I constantly update about current events also if you want more help from me or want first hand help on playing this deck you can always book a coaching session on IHearthU’s website. Thanks for reading be sure to check out my article next week.