slizzle466’s Wild Legend Even Paladin ft. Genn – S49 (April 2018)

copied from reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/wildhearthstone/comments/8dye10/273_legend_run_with_slizzles_even_paladin/

I know, I know, another Paladin legend run. But I hope this one is a little different from the vast majority of Odd Paladins and Breakfast Paladins that are everywhere. I mostly wanted to share it because of its great success for me in a mixed meta.
 
I climbed to Rank 1, 5 stars with Cubelock and then fell hard when Paladins got scarce and Giants came back for a few days. I was frustrated and had given up on Legend for this month. After fooling around for a while with Togwaggle Druid, I was just looking for a deck that wouldn’t take 15 minutes to lose. That’s when I stumbled on Slizzle466’s ( u/slizzle466HS ) Even Paladin list:
https://twitter.com/slizzle466/status/987193655105544192
I played a second Keeper instead of The Glass Knight. My final list is in the comments.
 
When I started playing with it, though, it felt like it couldn’t lose. With that change, I went 27-3 (90% win rate!), reaching legend from Rank 5 in about five hours of play. At one point I had a 21-game win streak — I think my previous high was probably about 10.
 
The meta I played against: 7 Paladins, 4 Priest, 4 Warlock, 4 Shaman, 4 Druid, 4 Mage, 2 Hunter. My only losses were to a Big Priest, a Cubelock, and a Quest Druid (!) that had Barnabus about 3 seconds after the game started. There’s no question I got a little lucky with matchups — I think I would have had more trouble if I had run into a lot of Big Priests or Cubelocks. But this list is geared to do very well against the field and I felt comfortable against combo decks, Druids, midrange Shamans, and Odd Paladins.
 
What I like about this list is that it’s a bit more midrange than most of the Odd Paladins and Breakfast Paladins, which top out at Sunkeeper Tarim. This list plays five 8-cost cards and they are often essential. (Although, I would probably swap out Lay on Hands for a Cult Master or Spellbreaker.) Opponents will use their Silence or Hex on a buffed Egg and then find that Tirion or Lich King comes down a turn or two later.
 
I want to call out one card in particular — Silver Sword. Paladin has so many great weapons that I initially thought this was pretty unnecessary. But an Even Paladin doesn’t have Rallying, Coghammer, or Muster. And in a board flood deck, the effect (+1/+1 to every minion after your hero attacks, with 4 durability) is amazing.
 
I was also skeptical of the Genn power — was a one-mana Dude really worth the deckbuilding restriction? It doesn’t seem to have the same synergy as double Dudes in a Quartermaster list, and a single dude looks kind of sad on Turn 1 against a Righteous Protector or Lost in the Jungle. However, there aren’t really other matchups where a strong one-drop is critical. And you are often playing a dude on turn 1, a strong 2-drop, and then a dude on turn 3. It is very effective in filling up the board, getting spare juggles, and grabbing an extra 3/3 when you play Sunkeeper.
 
To see why the deck works, here are a few common trouble turns for Paladins in the current meta:
– Giant flood on turn 5. This deck runs double Equality and double Keeper as well as Sunkeeper, so there are several options to neutralize those giants.
– Spreading Plague. This deck runs double Equality and double Consecration, so the odds of having that combo by turn 6 aren’t bad. But what I loved even more was the Silver Sword effect — it turns your 1/1s into 2/2s that survive a hit from a Scarab, and it turns your 2/2 Treants into 3/3s that can kill a Scarab in two hits instead of three. It’s a Mark of the Lotus that you can play for four consecutive turns.
– Paladin board flood. What happens when your opponent hits their Muster or Call to Arms and you haven’t drawn your own Call to Arms? Double Consecration, plus lots of daggers. It feels so good to play Haunted Creeper on 2, then play Knife Juggler plus a dude on Turn 3 and trade in the Creeper for 3 daggers. Odd Paladin also doesn’t have great answers for your own Call to Arms or Blessing of Kings.
– Turn 4 Barnes into Obsidian Statue. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Well, there’s always Maly Druid.
 
Many thanks to Slizzle for a great and fun list! And good luck out there.

Vs. Aggro

Vs. Jade/Mill Druids, Combo Priest and other Combodecks  

                                                                BEFORE WITCHWOOD RELEASE

                                                            will be updated soon…

SmilodeX is a card game enthusiast since he can read cards. He started collecting cards from different card games and also played Magic the Gathering competetive. Smilo is playing Hearthstone since Naxxramas and had diverse legend finishes (most of them were in the wild mode). His passion is deckbuilding and playing control/combo & midrange decks. His goal isn’t just straight netdeck-meta-grinding, instead he’s trying to reach the higher ranks with his homebrewed decks. To have fun and to try out something new or crazy is his attitude, winning is insignificant. He’s analysing statistics to work out the best deck techs in current meta, improving different matchups and memedecks to have succcess with them on the ladder.