Budget Rush Tempo Warrior Deck List Guide (Rise of Shadows)

Our Budget Rush Tempo Warrior deck list guide for the Rise of Shadows expansion will teach you how to play this Rush Tempo Warrior list. This guide includes Mulligans, Gameplay Strategy, Card Substitutions, and Combos/Synergies!

Introduction to Budget Rush Tempo Warrior

Rush Tempo Warrior is a tempo/aggressive deck. The intended use of this deck is to complete Warrior quests and grind Warrior wins for the golden Hero on a budget, as top tier Warrior decks are all very dust expensive and look vastly different from this. I wouldn’t recommend this over similar decks from other classes, but it is strong enough to get wins for Warrior if that’s what you need. The reason aggressive Warrior decks aren’t top tier is largely due to the irrelevance of the Warrior Hero Power in decks like this one. If you’ve played Hearthstone prior to the last year or so, you know that aggro Warrior decks have been some of the most oppressively powerful decks the game has ever seen, but Warrior had two things in the past that it doesn’t now: Sir Finley Mrrgglton and pre-nerf Fiery War Axe. Sir Finley solved the irrelevant hero power issue and Fiery War Axe at 2-mana was a contender for the most busted aggro card in Hearthstone’s history.

Check out Hearthstone Budget Decks & Guides for All 9 Classes!

Rise of Shadows Update

Budget Warrior decks didn’t really get anything from the new expansion, and it lost Fungalmancer, which was a handy neutral threat for decks like these. The good news is many of the cards that make budget aggro Warrior decks possible come from the Basic/Classic set.

Budget Rush Tempo Warrior Mulligan Guide

Always Keep: Eternium Rover, Saronite Taskmaster, Hench-Clan Hogsteed, Sharkfin Fan, Woodcutter's Axe

You want to play a minion on the first turn of the game, so Eternium Rover and Saronite Taskmaster should be kept every time. Hench-clan Hogsteed, Sharkfin Fan and Woodcutter’s Axe are the next lowest costing cards in the deck, and can be kept as well.

Keep Conditionally: Frothing Berserker, Rabid Worgen

While the meta has slowed down pretty significantly, you still don’t want to fall too far behind on board, and thus you should only keep 3-cost cards if you have cards to play earlier. If you do have earlier things to play then you can keep a 3-drop to top off your curve. Frothing Berserker is strong enough that you can consider keeping it on The Coin.

Budget Rush Tempo Warrior Play Strategy

This deck gets its name from all the minions it includes with the Rush keyword, but it’s also fitting because this deck is rushing to end the game as soon as possible. There is a lot of instant speed damage in this list, so your opponent can’t afford to ignore your minions for long. This is an aggressive deck, and as such you want to have a good reason to trade your minions rather than damaging your opponent’s Hero. Think about the worst case scenario if you leave an opponent’s minion on board, and whether or not it matters. If your opponent is likely to make a trade on their turn then it’s better not to make that trade yourself.

Frothing Berserker is probably the most powerful card in this deck, and is one of the best reasons to trade with your early minions rather than just attack the opponent’s face. Not only will trading protect your Frothing Berserker, but each trade increases its attack by two permanently. If left unchecked, Frothing Berserker can get out of control quickly and end games early on.

In a perfect world Heroic Strike, Kor'kron Elite, Wolfrider and Argent Commander will go directly to your opponent’s face, but they can also be handy to trade with if you’re desperate to remove something. If given the choice, you’d want to trade with Heroic Strike first because it is only useful on the turn you play it regardless of its target, whereas if you go face with the minions your opponent then has to remove them.

Battle Rage can be handy to keep you from running out of steam. As long as it doesn’t cost you a lot of tempo, it’s best to play this as soon as it will draw you two or more cards. This deck does not include many self-damaging cards that other decks utilizing it have in the past have, but most of the earlier minions of the deck have high health. You can trade these early minions in a way that they survive with damage in order to get decent value from Battle Rage, Rabid Worgen and Militia Commander in particular. Inner Rage can be used in conjunction with Battle Rage to good effect, but you shouldn’t use it on a minion that won’t benefit from the extra attack that turn unless you’re desperate.

Budget Rush Tempo Warrior General Replacements

Aggressive Warrior decks are not very strong right now, and thus this deck does not translate into a meta Warrior deck. While I wouldn’t recommend investing your dust to improve this deck, there are some cards that would be beneficial if you have them:

• Leeroy Jenkins – This would be the card this deck wants more than anything else. Leeroy Jenkins has been a mainstay of hyper aggressive strategies since Hearthstone’s beginning, and if you’ve been playing for a while I think it’s a safe bet that there’s one in your collection. If I were to recommend you craft anything to use for this deck, and I’m not, it would be this card, as you will almost certainly find use for it again eventually.
• Grommash Hellscream – Once an auto include in most Warrior decks, Grommash has kind of fallen off the radar over the last couple years. Aggressive Warrior decks haven’t been very good, and slow Warrior decks have had better win conditions. If you do have one already it has a welcome place int his deck, and combos well with Inner Rage.
• Southsea Captain (and friends) – If you have two copies of Southsea Captain then you can put them in along with Southsea Deckhand and Bloodsail Raider for some good old-fashioned Pirate Warrior fun.
• Mortal Strike – If you feel like the deck could use some direct damage then Mortal Strike is all Warrior really has. When you compare it to Fireball it’s a little sad, but considering Warrior can’t play that card it’s better than nothing.

While this deck doesn’t really build into a meta deck, there are some packages within meta decks that could find a home in this one. So if you’re saving up for Bomb Warrior or Dragon Warrior here are some things you could craft first and incorporate into this deck:

• Town Crier, Darius Crowley, Zilliax – The Rush package fits right into this deck, replacing the sub-optimal Saronite Taskmaster and giving you some midgame power. Most meta Warrior decks run some or all of these cards, so this would be a good place to start on your way to a better deck. Zilliax in particular gets played in several top tier decks, so you can’t go wrong crafting it.
• Clockwork Goblin, Wrenchcalibur, Seaforium Bomber, Blastmaster Boom – This deck would love to run Dr. Boom, but you can kind of build your own with the Bomb package. There’s a reason these cards get played in a control deck, the longer the game goes the more likely your opponent is to draw the bombs. Still, direct damage is good for decks like this one, so if you’re eager to try out your Bomb cards while you acquire the remaining Legendaries you need for a proper Bomb list they fit in well enough.
• Dragon Roar, Smolderthorn Lancer, Emberscale Drake, Crowd Roaster – Similar to the Bomb package, these aren’t really ideal for an aggro deck, but you can build a decent midrange deck by weaving the Dragon package into this list.