





Introduction



Before Goblins versus Gnomes came out, the general verdict about Paladins in Hearthstone was that the class was shit.

It’s not like Paladin never saw competitive success, but these were short bursts at best. The first major one was during the ESGN showmatches when Koyuki’s Giants Paladin showed promising results but as the tournament fell apart, so did the deck. A few months later, Paladin reared its head but only when the meta slowed down so much that Paladin's superior late game power was given a chance to shine.

A recent article by Grace “Sylvanhunter” Naces put Paladin’s weakness to numbers and graphs to further exemplify how poorly the class did in competitive Hearthstone. Before Blizzcon, Paladin’s all-time pick rate was 9%, the lowest of all nine classes. His win rate was down to 42%, the lowest number once again. Looking at the post-Naxxramas era only, the numbers are only slightly better: 14% pick rate (seventh place) and 49% win-rate (sixth place) and that’s mostly because cards like Sludge Belcher significantly increased the viability of the control Paladin.

Top: All-time class stats. Bottom: Class stats for the post-Naxx era.

Paladin’s toolset and card pool are directly responsible for these misgivings. The playstyle of the class – and the hero power in particular – suggest that a strong army ought to be built over time, supported by weapons and various buffs and debuffs. Yet, what Paladin had was almost too fancy and most of the available cards were crap. To this day, nobody has used secrets towards consistent competitive success, while the good cards the class had – Truesilver Champion and Consecration – bottlenecked it on T4 alongside other value 4-drops like Chillwind Yeti and Sen'jin Shieldmasta.

Additionally, there was no class spec that fared well in most meta cycles, and 99% there was another class and another deck that did everything better. Aggressive Paladin decks were nowhere nearly as efficient as Zoo or Hunters and the control Paladin, while superior in wars of attrition, couldn’t keep up with the other decks and survive until the super late game most of the time.

Fortunately for all Uther fans, GvG is finally out and with it, Paladins got new cards, cards that made the class an absolute monster in tournaments and ladder alike. Let’s take a look at what changed with Paladin as well as two decks that you’ll want to craft if you’re ever to unlock that goddamn gold portrait.



Muster for win-rates



We start off with Muster for Battle, the most important card for new-school Paladins. It’s a flexible spell that retains its quality throughout the entire mana curve and has outstanding synergy with the rest of the deck to such an extent that a “Single Card Strategy” guide can be written just for it. For now, let’s dot down its uses and synergies in short.

+ + +

The beauty of those two-card combos is not just the pressure they put on the board, but the fact they can be used in different stages of the game and produce equally powerful results:



Juggler/MfB can be played on subsequent T2 and T3 (if Juggler survives) or be played simultaneously on T5 or T4 with coin.

SoJ/MfB is amazing if you're on the coin as you can set up T2 SoJ and follow with T3 MfB.

The Quartermaster combo is more difficult to pull off in subsequent turns as a T4 MfB will likely be cleared by a sweeper, but it can come down on T8 for three 3/3's and a 2/5 or on T10 for four 3/3's (counting hero power) and a 2/5.



Besides working well with other cards, MfB has several other uses (yes, the card is that good):



It is perfect to bait out cards like Consecration and Swipe , forcing a one-for-one trade and thus diminishing the intended effect of these cards. Additionally, MfB shines against classes whose traditional sweepers come a bit late, like Priests and their Holy Nova . In this case, you can safely MfB on T3: Holy Nova won't hit for a couple of turns and a smart Priest will never use Auchenai Soulpriest + Circle of Healing to clear that.

and , forcing a one-for-one trade and thus diminishing the intended effect of these cards. MfB also equips a 1/4 Light's Justice , an effect that must not be overlooked. This will ping away 1-health drops or put tougher minions into Consecration range

, an effect that must not be overlooked. This will ping away 1-health drops or put tougher minions into range MfB can be easily followed up by Equality and set-up a board clear. Once again, notice how this is a synergy that can be used during any stage of the game.

and set-up a board clear. Once again, notice how this is a synergy that can be used during any stage of the game. MfB is a gret buffer for Bolvar Fordragon if you decide to run it.



What else?



Depending on what build you decide to run (see below for two examples), you'll need different cards. These are mostly affecting how the early and mid-game is played as the end of the curve remains pretty much the same.

Annoy-a-Tron protects your Knife Juggler so you can set up the combo more easily. Not only it's a nuisance taunter that's a pain to remove but it also enables Blood Knight builds (click here for decklists) and buys you time against aggressive decks like Hunter and can clear Paladin tokens in the mirror.

Shielded Minibot is a minion you'll always want. 2/2 for 2 with divine shield is textbook value. Good for clearing the board, too.

Coghammer is a weapon players are still experimenting with. During Kinguin Invitational, StrifeCro ran two copies, but additional testing shows that this might be too much: on T4, a Paladin would almost always want to play Truesilver Champion, which means a Coghammer will rarely be used to its full effect. Still, you get a divine shild, taunt and a swing for 2 on T3, which is great, so consider a single copy.

Piloted Shredder is good the same way Harvest Golem is - it's a sticky minion that gives you board presence after a sweeper.

Enhance-o Mechano is another card that can be either amazing or total crap. If all you have is 1/1 tokens, it'll have very little effect on the board, so you'll have to wait for a more solid army to buff. Furthermore, the RNG of it is high, so you might taunt up a minion you actually want to keep protected, while giving a divine shield to a useless 1/1. Other times, however, this will be a game winner. Try and see if you like it is the best advice I can give.

Bolvar Fordragon might be punishable by silence but it remains a great card, even if it's just for the fact that getting Ironbeak Owl'ed means one less potential silence to hit your Tirion Fordring. Additionally, you can control how much you buff it so it stays out of Big Game Hunter range and in the ideal situation you'll have a 6/7 on T5. Pretty neat.

Dr Boom is the legendary everyone must craft, period. For 7-mana, Boom has 9/9 worth of stats spread between three bodies. What's more, the Boombots spawn on battlecry and deal 1-4 more damage each, so one Dr Boom is worth 11-17 points of damage. And that's for 7 mana!





Building the Paladin: StrifeCro and Faramir



Two recent builds recently made splashes in competitive matches: that of StrifeCro during the Kinguin Invitational and that of Faramir (built together with his team-mate Powder) which he used in Tavern Takeover and Heroes of Cards #4. Let's look at the lists:

As is evident, the Divine shield mechanic is a big part of StrifeCro's list. He has cards which use it on all turns 1-3 and tops it off with a singleton Blood Knight which can often come in as a 9/9. Additionally, there's a single Enhance-o Mechano to re-shield the board in later turns in case Blood Knight isn't drawn early.

The biggest weakness of this deck is the lack of Equality or Big Game Hunter which makes beating handlock extremely difficult. If you run into those often, consider swapping away Enhance-o Mechano and a single Coghammer and sub in said removals.

Unlike StrifeCro, Faramir doesn't value divine shield as much and he'd rather be prepared against the tough control matches by having the Equality's and Big Game Hunter that are missing in the list of the American. In the middle of the curve, Faramir drops Enhance-o Mechano and Cult Master and includes double Piloted Shredder and Bolvar Fordragon for some mid-game punching.

What's extremely interesting is that an earlier version of Faramir's/Powder's paladin featured the long-forgotten Tinkmaster Overspark which, when you think about it, is kind of cool. Against slower decks who spend their early turns dishing out removal and the only minions on the board are your 1/1 tokens, playing Tinkmaster is one coin flip away from giving you a free 5/5 Devilsaur.

After testing both decks, I have to say I like Faramir's build better. While getting a fat Blood Knight early is a pleasant feeling, it just isn't consistent enough. Faramir's deck is less about sinergies and more about having answers and playing value minions - it might not be as fancy but it gets the job done.

Match-ups



This is a favorable match-up for Paladin. If you run Sword of Justice, aim for a SoJ/MfB cast early on to negate his Swipe and just push for damage. Be mindful of their combo and taunt/heal to stay out of lethal range and you should be fine. Truesilver Champion will help you get through the big taunts.



Everybody might hate Hunters, but in fact Paladin wins a lot against the class. The 1/1 tokens are perfect for triggering traps and there're enough weapons to clear everything the Hunter plays. Keep your Aldor Peacekeepers for Savannah Highmane.



Mech mage is the flavor of the month deck but although it can snowball out of control, it's not unbeatable. Search for Zombie Chows and Shielded Minibots to deal with their early board. Cast MfB as early as possible for extra board presence and punish them with Consecration if they over-extend.



It's a 50/50 match-up against Priest. If they get a T1 Northshire Cleric they can draw tons of cards by clearing your tokens or popping your divine shields and healing up. Modern Priests also run Lightbomb which can clear up late-game MfG/Quartermaster combo as well as Cabal Shadow Priest and Shadow Madness which destroy aggressive decks.



Rogues are almost extinct nowadays so it's more or less an untested match-up. If they run team Archon's mech build, you need to apply pressure as fast as you can before they can burst you down with Tinker's Sharpsword Oil combo.



Shaman is very easy to beat if you're mindful of Lightning Storm; divine shield builds are thus even more favored in this match-up. Hero power as much as you can and keep their board clear. If things get out of control, use sweepers to clear their stuff and press for more damage.



Against Zoo, you're the control deck so your job is to weather the aggression and live till Tirion and Dr Boom, which will win it for you. Cast MfB as soon as possible (Zoo doesn't run sweepers) and keep your Aldor Peacekeepers for Doomguards. The Handlock match-up will either be the hardest or the easiest depending on if you run Equality. If you do, search for it as well as Consecration and push for as much damage as possible. When he drops his giants and taunts up, cast your sweeper combo to clear the way and finish him off.



Control Warrior is one of the best decks in the current meta and that's a really tough match-up in general. Warrior almost has too many ways to clear your tokens, not to mention cards like Acolyte of Pain and Armorsmith give him valuable bonuses in the process. Your best shot at winning this is getting all your good 2-drops, press for damage and try to kill him before Brawl.



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