



A few words from the GosuCrew



This homebrew will be special. For the first time ever, it's written by actual pros - the guys from Don't Kick My Robot - and this is their idea of how to think outside the box and build a deck whose main purpose is to be fun to play and not necessarily the king of the ladder.

This article also marks the beginning of new era in those Homebrew Corners. The recently established partnership between GosuGamers and DKMR aims to publish this every week but we want you to be the start of the series.

Thus, if you have a cool deck idea and want it analyzed and maybe even improved by professional Hearthstone players please, share it with us! Create a deck and post it in the Homebrew dedicated thread, or mail it to [email protected]. Every week, we'll select one cool submission, feature in on the website and promote it through all GosuGamers and DKMR social channels, giving the deck creator the exposure he or she deserves.

We'll wait for you submission. Till next week!

- Radoslav "Nydra" Kolev

Editor in Chief

Written by: [DKMR] Alchemixt





Introduction

Pirates are awesome. Studies have repeatedly confirmed this notion and at this point it’s widely accepted as truth. Another widely accepted notion, at least amongst the Hearthstone community, is that gold cards are simply better than non-gold cards. So the logical summation of these two ideas would be to build a golden pirates deck. Such a deck would be, if my understanding is correct, “better-awesome.” And you’d be hard-pressed to find many things better than “better-awesome.”

The deck and how to play it

The initial purpose of the deck is to utterly intimidate your opponent through the use of bad-ass pirates and blinding golden animations. Throw a couple buffed golden Bloodsail Raiders plus a golden [card]King Mukla[/card] on the field and watch him/her insta-concede. The recent addition of the golden Coin for all-golden decks works in our favor here as well. On turn 1, a good play is to toss out the gold Coin, even without a 2-mana play, just to let your opponent know what’s up.

There are, of course, those rare instances where your opponent doesn’t cower in fear of your better-awesome golden pirates, but rest assured, the deck still shines (pun intended) in real games. The combined 14 1-2 drops (ranging from semi-viable to great plays in the early game) give the deck consistency, while the pirates synergize with both themselves and the rest of the deck for a strong, aggressive build. Consider this start: turn two golden Coin into golden Fiery War Axe, turn three golden Upgrade!, golden 6-3 Bloodsail Raider, and golden Dread Corsair. Good luck dealing with that.

Beyond the above dream scenario, there are combos abound in this deck. The golden Southsea Deckhands, Bloodsail Raiders, Dread Corsairs and Captain Greenskin all combo extremely well with the five golden weapons in the deck, while the golden Warsong Commanders and Southsea Captains give extra value to the majority of your minions as well.

That brings me to the overall theme of this deck: tempo + aggression. The amazing synergy between the cards in your early game allows you to trade efficiently and set yourself up for board control in the midgame, where your more expensive cards can finish off the game. Golden Kor’kron Elite onto a board you already control can bring your opponent extremely low in health. Ditto for golden Argent Commander and golden Captain Greenskin, which gives you a minimum +5 damage overall on your golden Fiery War Axe. And don’t forget golden Gorehowl, which can be upgraded via three cards in the deck to deal 16 damage to the face.

Damage and card draw

A quick look at the deck shows that nearly every card potentially adds immediate damage to the field. With golden Warsong Commander allowing the early drops to charge in, only Harrison Jones and King Mukla are incapable of instantly increasing damage on the field. Given the abundance of damage in the deck, it’s often correct to take favorable trades when they present themselves. That said, there’s also almost no card draw (golden Captain’s Parrots aside), so if you find yourself running low on cards, it might be time to go all-in and start hitting the face.

Druid Tokens is a somewhat favorable matchup, given that board control and tempo can be seized in the early game with this deck. Watcher Druid can be a pain, especially if they’re able to get up a taunted Ancient Watcher right away. In that case, maybe throw up some extra gold onto the field to give them something to watch.

Hunter can be tricky, but several things work in your favor here. First, you can deal tons of damage without committing too many minions to the board, allowing you to race them. Second, your hero ability counters theirs when you don’t have a play. Third, cards like Bloodsail Corsair, Harrison Jones, and 1-cost Dread Corsairs can make this matchup a blowout. Finally, remember that golden cards offer better RNG, so attack into that Misdirection without fear.

Without healing, and typically not many taunt creatures, you should be able to burst down a M age even if she is able to consistently remove your threats. Just be careful about Water Elementals ruining your day. Aggro Paladins may run some pirates of their own, but always remember that you have more! Your lack of card draw works in your favor in this matchup, as Divine Favor will likely not draw much. Against the giants version, go for the face and pray they haven’t drawn their taunt. Priests typically don’t start off games very quickly, which will allow you to gain board control and burst them down in the mid game. Just try to avoid axing them in the face until you have board control secured.

The matchup against aggro Rogues is a fight for board control in the early game. Bloodsail Corsair helps a lot in this matchup by eliminating the 2nd charge of deadly poison for one mana and putting up a mini-threat. Rogue tends to have a lot of burst, but you have more. Harrison Jones will mostly likely draw you two cards, and when you both run out of cards in the late game, your hero ability will carry you to victory. Against miracle Rogue, make sure you kill them before they pull off any miracles.

Shaman is capable of big tempo plays via their overload mechanic, but you are capable of the same without any of that overload nonsense. Secure the board, watch out for Lightning Storm, Harrison Jones their Doomhammer, and golden Gorehowl to victory.

The right draw for you can shut down any zoo-lock shenanigans. Golden Fiery War Axe plus golden Dread Corsair is particularly devastating to them. Murlocs are more difficult to deal with because of their sheer numbers. Handlock is a nightmare, and like the Paladin Giants matchup, just going for the face and praying is usually the best tactic.

The efficiency of your pirates should overcome any Reynad Warrior nonsense, especially with your hero ability allowing you to survive mindless face-rushers. Control Warrior can be frustrating, but your burst can allow you to kill them when they least expect it. Play around Brawl, but remember that your best card will survive more often than usual because it’s golden.

This is a guest article by Team DKMR. Make sure to follow them at their channels:

