Aggro / Tempo Warrior Deck Guide – Saviors of Uldum – August 2019

Mulligan

As an aggressive deck, there is very little you can change in your approach against different decks. You always want to get on the board on the first turn, so getting an 1-drop in your hand is your number 1 priority. Here are the cards that have a higher mulligan priority:

Eternium Rover, Town Crier, Temple Berserker, Frightened Flunky, Frothing Berserker and Livewire Lance.

Key Cards

• Temple Berserker: A new 2-drop with the new mechanic of Reborn, this 1/2 minion seems small, but it gains +2 attack when damaged and comes back to life with 1 health (specifically as a 3/1), when killed. It can be copied with Bloodsworn Mercenary on curve if it still has Reborn, which will make your board really difficult to clear, until the mid-game point.
• Battle Rage: This has been, historically, the main card draw engine for aggressive and tempo Warrior decks of the past, so it’s only logical that it is essential to this one as well. Even though the only way for you to damage your own minions directly is Inner Rage, using your board for favorable trades and then casting Battle Rage to refill your hand, can provide game-winning in a lot of cases.
• Bloodsworn Mercenary: A new card, from the latest expansion, this is a tempo card that fits the deck perfectly. Historically, aggressive Warrior decks tend to damage their own minions, mainly to activate a good Battle Rage. This 3-drop with a 3/3 body gives you the ability to copy a damaged minion and can be comboed with either Inner Rage or Cruel Taskmaster.
• Frothing Berserker: No aggressive Warrior list is complete without this annoying and deadly 3-drop. This is probably the best minion to copy with Bloodsworn Mercenary, especially early on, giving you tremendous presence on the board, as well as pressure for the opponent’s health.
• Livewire Lance: Another new card, this time a weapon that, although lacks a bit of “punch”, give you Lackeys to play with, so you can get tempo on the board.
• Restless Mummy: One more new addition to the game, this is your best trading minion and you should think of it as a removal most of the time (2x Frostbolt, although it can be dropped on curve, since the Reborn ability makes it hard to remove. Keep in mind this is one of the minions you can draw with Town Crier.
• Darius Crowley: A great minion to fight for the board, since he can trade 2-for-1 at least. Leaving him unanswered is really dangerous for the opponent, as he can keep getting buffed with +2/+2 every time he survives a trade.
• Leeroy Jenkins: One of the two finishers of the deck, no aggro deck is complete without Leeroy Jenkins.
• Grommash Hellscream: Another finished for the deck, this classic Warrior legendary is best paired with Inner Rage for a burst of 12 damage for 8 mana.

Main Goal and Strategy

With this Warrior list, your goal is get on the board as fast as possible, then start pressuring the opponent whenever possible. Timing good trades to protect your board is essential, especially during the first turns, since minions are your only source of damage. Even though the deck contains a few Charge minions, the first few turns, as with most aggressive decks, are crucial to push as much damage as possible to your opponent’s face, so you can use your charge minions to close out the game later.

Although it is important to push some damage early, you should be mindful of the opponent’s game plan and use your early drops to trade favorably, especially if you can cast Battle Rage to draw into your later threats. Your most valuable minions for the early game are Eternium Rover, Temple Berserker and Frothing Berserker, since the can be really annoying to deal with and, in the case of Frothing Berserker, probably deadly. Furthermore, don’t be afraid to use Bloodsworn Mercenary on curve, especially on a Temple Berserker that still has Reborn or a Frothing Berserker.

After the mid-game, you will be, most likely, trying to close the game out with your charge minions: Kor'kron Elite, Leeroy Jenkins and Grommash Hellscream. One combo you can keep in mind is playing Kor'kron Elite, then using Inner Rage and Cruel Taskmaster on it, then making a new copy with Bloodsworn Mercenary, for a total of 16 damage in one turn.

Possible Replacements

-2x Frightened Flunky / +2x Amani Berserker

-1x Zilliax, -1x Darius Crowley / +2x Arcanite Reaper

-2x Militia Commander / +2x Rampage

-1x Grommash Hellscream / +1x SN1P-SN4P

The above changes sacrifice a lot of mid-game tempo and late-game burst potential of the deck, as well as a bit of value with the removal of Frightened Flunky, for a lot more consistency and tempo in the early game. Rampage can be used to gain a lot of board presence, after a favorable trade, while the extra health on Amani Berserker makes it a lot more threatening than Frightened Flunky. You also have a lot more direct damage at your disposal, with the inclusion of two copies of Arcanite Reaper, which raises the question of also including Upgrade! in the deck, but you would probably have to sacrifice either Battle Rage or a 2-drop.