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Control Warrior is Back After the Buffs, But How Good Is It? Early Post-Patch Meta Decks

By: Old Guardian - - Updated:

This week has been a hectic one for Hearthstone. Patch 27.2 is the biggest patch we have ever had, although its contents are spread between multiple game modes. Battlegrounds received tons of new stuff, and Wild is rumbling with more than 100 buffed cards and even more to come with Caverns of Time next week. As for Standard, there were multiple balance changes. Hunter got a gentle slap on the wrist (that it largely ignored), Nature Shaman was slowed down, and Warrior got a big bunch of juicy buffs.

Control Warrior is the talk of the town this week. Blizzard promised that Control Warrior would come back this year, and they briefly praised it after the launch of TITANS, but the truth was that Control Warrior was unplayable in its original state in TITANS. However, with buffs to Bladestorm, Stoneskin Armorer, Craftsman's Hammer, and Trial by Fire in this patch, Blizzard moved to make their case clear once and for all: Control Warrior will return.

Indeed, up to 20% of people are now playing Control Warrior, and that has shaken the meta. Decks that are good against Control Warrior are having a wonderful time, while decks that are weak against it are experiencing a nightmare. Will this last? It depends on how good, exactly, Control Warrior is now. Let’s take a look at Control Warrior and the rest of the early post-patch meta!

Control Warrior, Now Playable

For the first time during TITANS, Control Warrior has now reached an above-50% win rate in all rank brackets. Control Warrior as an archetype wins more than half of its games in Diamond, in the competitive Diamond 4-1 bracket, and in Legend. Now, it is only barely above 50%, so we are not talking about one of the best decks in the game. At least not yet, because there is a lot of hype around Control Warrior and many people are experimenting with the deck. In HSReplay’s statistics, there are 16 different Control Warrior decks that have had more than 200 games played with them after the patch in Diamond or Legend.

There are lists with Prince Renathal, there are traditional 30-card lists, there are decks that try to grab their Odyn, Prime Designate with Taelan Fordring or with From the Depths, there are lists that use Steam Guardian or Thori'belore, there’s just everything.

But what is good? Let’s try to dig into the performance of some popular cards to figure out if they truly belong in the deck:

  • 30-card lists generally perform better than 40-card lists, so it looks like Prince Renathal is going away from Control Warrior.
  • Tutors are generally disappointing. Whether it is From the Depths, Taelan Fordring, or Steam Guardian, they fail to generate enough value.
  • Trial by Fire is now totally bonkers. Just one mana cheaper, and the card looks like it can do anything and everything.
  • Craftsman's Hammer is also insanely strong. It may even be strong enough to carry Weapons Expert into the meta, although there is not enough data to be sure yet.
  • Prison of Yogg-Saron is good in Control Warrior. One of the more common effects of the location is to draw cards, and Warrior does not have much card draw, so it is a great fit.
  • Ignis, the Eternal Flame and Astalor Bloodsworn compete for a secondary win condition spot. Maybe both will end up being included, maybe just one.

I am excited! It looks like there are interesting things to test with Control Warrior over the next few days at least, and the deck looks good enough to stay in the meta. It does not, however, look good enough to become the best deck in the game despite all the buffs.

It is difficult to conclusively say what is the best current Control Warrior deck, but this one seems to perform the best according to the limited stats available:

Control Warrior

Deck Import

The only thing I really dislike about the deck is the single copy of Trial by Fire. If I tried to improve the deck, I would cut the Shield Slams and add another Trial by Fire alongside Astalor Bloodsworn. I think that would be an interesting Control Warrior deck to try.

But what about other classes? The meta is now heavily warped around many people trying to make Control Warrior work, so I expect changes in the next few days, but as of right now, this is what each class looks like:

Death Knight

Blood Death Knight got their Hollow Hound nerfed to target Hunter, which is tough for a barely viable archetype. I would stay away from Blood for the time being. Luckily, there are other Death Knight archetypes that are playable.

Plague Death Knight got buffed as Down with the Ship was turned from a mediocre card into Darkbomb on steroids. It can even go face now! There are no new Plague Death Knights builds yet, but the old one has now reached a 50% win rate!

Unholy/Frost Plague Death Knight – #123 Legend (Madmanmatt) – TITANS

Deck Import

However, the best Death Knight deck is Unholy! Unholy was abandoned for some time as people played with the new cards, but it showed signs of a comeback last week, and now it is firmly in the top-3 best decks in the game thanks to its good Control Warrior matchup.

WuLing has made a name for himself as a premium aggro deck builder, and his list looks like the best one:

Unholy Aggro Death Knight – #35 Legend (WuLing) – TITANS

Deck Import

When it comes to TITANS cards, The Primus is all you need! The Primus is good.

Demon Hunter

Outcast Demon Hunter had a stroke when masses of Control Warriors entered the battlefield. It needs some time to rest and recuperate. In the meantime, you can still play Relic Demon Hunter, although Demon Hunter is one of the classes that is struggling a bit right now.

I would play something like this:

Relic Demon Hunter – Edelweiss – TITANS

Deck Import

Druid

Druid has two closely related, competing archetypes. Both are built around Treants and Drum Circle: one is more aggressive while the other has some ramp and is more focused on getting a big swing turn as soon as possible. Currently, the slower Drum Druid is stronger while the faster Treant Druid is slightly weaker. Their roles are now reversed compared to last week, largely because of the influx of Control Warriors: Drum Druid’s Topior the Shrubbagazzor is incredible in the matchup whereas Treant Druid can run out of juice there.

A Drum Druid deck looks like this:

Drum Druid – #15 Legend (Glory) – TITANS

Deck Import

You ramp, you ensure double Choose One effect, and you win the game with Drum Circle. Rinse and repeat. In case of Warrior, use Topior.

A good Treant Druid looks like this:

Treant Druid – WuLing – TITANS

Deck Import

There is also a deck that replaces Living Roots with Embrace of Nature to play a strong Drum Circle as soon as possible. It might be the future of Treant Druid, but the data is inconclusive so far.

Hunter

You may have heard that Hunter was nerfed. While this is technically correct – Costumed Singer lost one Attack and Hollow Hound lost two Health – Hunter does not seem to mind too much. Hound Hunter is now slightly weaker but because it is good against Warrior, this weakness is concealed for the time being. Arcane Hunter, on the other hand, shows no signs of even slowing down and instead looks set to remain the best deck in the game for some more weeks.

Arcane Secret Hunter – #17 Legend (ChaboDennis) – TITANS

Deck Import

Ancient Krakenbane is what cracked the code. Arcane Hunter already had some damage in the form of Arcane spells, Starstrung Bow, and Aggramar, the Avenger, and now it has enough damage to challenge anything. A small Costumed Singer nerf changes nothing.

XL Hound Hunter – #99 Legend (Spips) – TITANS

Deck Import

Hound Hunter remains strong, but the nerfs have shaved off some percentage points from multiple matchups. As long as there are lots of Control Warriors, the deck will remain top tier, but its long-term future is uncertain. It will remain viable, but it may drop down a tier over the next weeks.

Mage

The Control Warrior invasion has hurt Mage. Rainbow Mage is not happy at all to see so many decks that put together vast Health pools and outlast their damage-based OTK.

Rainbow Mage – #1 Legend (Xilinhung) – TITANS

Deck Import

I would not play Mage until people stop playing Control Warrior so much.

Paladin

Earthen Paladin got some buffs, but just no. Nope. Not gonna happen. The archetype remains dead.

What Paladin has instead is Pure Paladin and the newcomer, Token Paladin. Token Paladin actually looks more impressive than Pure Paladin, but both are strong decks that can succeed on the ladder now and in the future.

Token Paladin has once again been pioneered by WuLing:

Dude Paladin – #19 Legend (WuLing) – TITANS

Deck Import

Pure Paladin has also seen some improvements lately, for example in the form of Jukebox Totem:

Pure Dude Paladin – #47 Legend (reqvam) – TITANS

Deck Import

It’s raining dudes, and Paladins are loving it.

Priest

Priest is struggling. Control Priest cannot find a foothold in the meta. Undead Priest is OK, but it does not like all the Control Warriors on the ladder.

As for the Undead Priest deck list, just add Aman'Thul and you’re golden. In general, adding a Titan to any deck is more often right than it is wrong.

Undead Priest

Deck Import

Rogue

Mech Rogue remains a top-tier deck. The nerf to Lab Constructor saw it dropped from the deck earlier with Scourge Illusionist and Mothership serving as replacements. There have been attempts to find something better, the Illusionist package is not great, but it remains the best that has been found.

Big Mech Rogue – #9 Legend (Glory) – TITANS

Deck Import

I think there is room for improvement in Mech Rogue, but any further advances seem hard to find.

Shaman

With Bioluminescence nerfed, people stopped playing Nature Shaman. With very limited stats available about the archetype, it does not look completely dead. If people want to give it another try, it might reach a 50% win rate, but its days as a great deck are probably over.

However, Shaman as a class is far from dead. Totem Shaman continues to do well on the ladder, and is the oldest meta deck that is still great for climbing. This list has seen no changes since June, and it keeps rolling over the opposition:

Totem Shaman

Deck Import

Warlock

I have to say, I expected the Thaddius nerf to have a bigger impact. Thaddius Warlock seems to be doing fine, still! Granted, one of Thaddius Warlock’s great matchups is Control Warrior, so we are not seeing the full effects of the nerf yet because there are more Control Warriors on the ladder than the deck’s performance would warrant. Nonetheless, it may be too early to dust your Thaddius, at least permanently. You can always dust all nerfed (non-Diamond/Signature) cards for a full refund because you can just craft them back at no loss if they turn out to remain playable after all.

Thaddius Warlock

Deck Import

The other main Warlock archetype is Curse Warlock. It is a curious deck. It always has a bunch of weak matchups, but somehow its strengths make up for it, and always just barely. So it stays at an above 50% win rare while never reaching the absolute top tier. Still, somehow it just hangs on from one meta to the next.

Curse Warlock

Deck Import

Conclusions

The patch had a major effect on the game. The pent-up demand for Control Warrior has resulted in Control Warrior becoming the most popular deck on the ladder even though it does not bring a performance level to earn that spot. Control Warrior is now playable and will remain a meta deck, but this disturbance is temporary. Decks like Outcast Demon Hunter and Rainbow Mage are now suffering but can expect a reprieve within the next days as people will return to other archetypes.

On the other hand, the nerfs to Hound Hunter and Thaddius Warlock look ineffective because Control Warrior is a good matchup for both of them. As Control Warrior numbers become more reasonable, these decks will show more signs of weakness. They will remain in the meta, but not at the same level.

However, Arcane Hunter seems to have dodged the bullet. Sure, it was hit with a nerf to Costumed Singer, but it seems able to just shrug it off and continue as if nothing happened. Arcane Hunter is the undisputed best deck in the game, and was so already before the patch. That has not changed. Then again, it has some weaknesses as well, in particular against Hound Hunter and Outcast Demon Hunter, and to an extent against Totem Shaman and Unholy Death Knight, so there is no risk of Arcane Hunter completely dominating the game. Perhaps it is a fine deck to have at the top.

The main effect of the patch is the return of Control Warrior. That will have some ripple effects over time, so it looks like a fine patch. If you have been waiting for a chance to play Control Warrior again, now is the time!

Old Guardian

Ville "Old Guardian" Kilkku is a writer and video creator focused on analytic, educational Hearthstone, and building innovative Standard format decks. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OldGuardian Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/old_guardian

Check out Old Guardian on Twitter or on their Website!

Leave a Reply

3 Comments

  1. Jeciani
    August 29, 2023 at 5:04 AM

    Interesting, but to be honest you should change the title of the post, and in fact blizzard should correct his statements about control warrior is back. Odin warrior isn’t a control deck, it is a combo deck. It works way different that old beta and subsequent control decks, trying to control the board and disrupt. It is more about having Odin played as soon as possible and smash your opponents face after that. In fact isn’t that interactive, and the most efficient Odin decks just run a bunch of spells to get armor, to be played like the miracle rogue used to be played.so it is clearly a combo deck, not control.

  2. Skaro
    August 25, 2023 at 10:26 AM

    Great article, thanks OG.
    On Control Warrior – I don’t have access to the data but one glaring improvement has to be Thori’Belore. I’ve been messing around with a version that focuses on maximising chorus rift and also playing Smelt.
    Although that is a useable meme package, Thor is a legit MVP. Interesting to see what the data says.

  3. Klausi
    August 24, 2023 at 12:22 PM

    As always, great work from you, OG!