Tempo Warrior Deck List Guide (August 2017, Frozen Throne)

There was a time when Tempo Warrior dominated the ladder. It bridged the gap between aggressive and control Warrior decks by combining an explosive board-control early game and a long game focused on cost-effective minions and efficient trades. Since the archetype’s extinction after the rotation of Black Rock Mountain, Knights of the Frozen Throne may finally be the expansion that will revive the archetype from the grave.

When the Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion initially released, this archetype was experimented on by several experienced players, but did not make as much of a splash as other new decks. There was then a consensus that the new cards did more harm than good. Eventually, some of the cards that were initially deceptive were cut and the decklist became more refined. Theo, a professional player from Netherlands, piloted a Tempo Warrior list to top 50 legend. He expressed that not only is the deck extremely fun to play, but is also effective in the current meta. However, do keep in mind that isn’t the best deck in the highest tier, and has trouble dealing with anti-control decks such as Jade Druid. Approach the deck as a “fun-first, competitive-second” deck that can bring you quite far up the ladder, if played seriously.

The deck’s general plan is to utilize your mana crystals efficiently each turn, so that you will be able to generate a lot of tempo from your minions. If you’re a beginner, and would like to know more about the concept of Tempo, you can check out our guide on it here.

Brief Explanation of the Cards

• Blood To Ichor – a flexible 1-mana spell that deals damage and usually generates you a 2/2 token. Both the damage and the token are generally useful for establishing board control, as it allows you to dispatch an early Righteous Protector by both popping the divine shield, and creating a minion. It also has synergy with your own minions such as Frothing Berserker and Acolyte of Pain.
• Armorsmith – this card has become a staple in most Warrior decks due to its potential of generating massive amounts of armor with whirlwind effects. It’s also easy to forget that the Armorsmith’s 2-mana, 1/4 body is also well-suited for tussling with early minions, which makes this card super effective against most aggressive decks with low-health minions – such as Aggro Druid, Pirate Warrior, and Murloc Paladin.
• Battle Rage – a 2-mana spell that has the potential to be even better than Arcane Intellect. This card allows you to refill your hand after dumping your cards on board. Imagine starting your turn with a Blood Razor equipped, a board comprising of Armorsmith, a Frothing Berserker, and a 2/2 token on board from Blood To Ichor. You can potentially get 4 cards (don’t forget that a damaged hero also counts!) just for two mana! Value Town!
• Fiery War Axe – Pirate Warrior, Taunt Warrior, and Tempo Warrior all play this card, which tells you how invaluable and irreplaceable this card is, and how vital it is to the Warrior class! There isn’t undoubtedly a single viable Warrior deck without Fiery War Axe. It’s just such a great combat tool that allows to get rid of pesky minions such as Murloc Warleader, Mana Tide Totem, and Vicious Fledgling.
• Slam – a 2-mana spell that allows you to cycle through your deck, and helps you deal with annoying minions. Use Slam with your other reactive tools such as weapons and whirlwind effects, or even to activate Execute. This will help keep your minions healthy by using other reactive tools instead of making inefficient trades.
• Acolyte of Pain – this might be seen as an odd choice to include in a tempo deck, since it’s often seen more as a value card than a tempo card. That said, a tempo deck wants to ensure that it is able to apply constant pressure without running out of resources. Unlike other classes, Warriors are much better at forcing your opponent to deal with this in an uncomfortable manner, as leaving it alone would mean dealing with the immense value created by several whirlwind effects such as Blood Razor and Ravaging Ghoul.
• Frothing Berserker – a card that is mostly seen in Pirate Warrior due to its strong snowballing potential when left unanswered. This card also works in Tempo Warrior because of all the whirlwind effects we are running. I think we all had experiences where our opponents played a Frothing Berserker that you weren’t able to kill, which single-handedly carried the entire game, reducing your life total to 0 before you’re able to effectively respond to it.
• Ravaging Ghoul – a staple card that is ran in almost every control deck due to it’s versatile battlecry. In general, whirlwind effects are extremely useful in this sort of deck. This is further explained as to why this is so in the General Strategy section.
• Blood Razor – the long lost cousin of Death's Bite. This is one of the newly released cards that has seen a lot of potential especially in a deck that relies on whirlwind effects. (This would be later expounded in the General Strategy portion.) 
• Bloodhoof Brave – a value-orientated minion with the ability to transform into a threatening body on board when damaged. Not only does Taunt and 6-health provide protection to other important minions such as Frothing Berserker, it can also become a threat in itself, especially since it isn’t difficult to trigger Enrage given the amount of activators in the deck.
• Kor'kron Elite – as a tempo deck, it is vital that you are able to make proactive plays turn after turn to retain board superiority. Charge lets this minion immediately threaten your opponent, or trade efficiently, before your opponent can react to it.
• Elise the Trailblazer – you might be scratching your heads, wondering why a card like this is in a tempo deck. Since every turn you’re trying to utilize all your mana crystals whenever possible, which would inevitably result in a lack of resources if the game extends to the late game. Elise the Trailblazer will help provide you useful minions and spells for the later game that you otherwise wouldn’t have.
• The Black Knight – When your deck is trying to establish board control, taunts are annoying. With the addition of taunt-related cards such as Bonemare and The Lich King, there is almost a guarantee that you will find Taunt – and that is where The Black Knight shines! Imagine the tempo you’re able to generate if you’re able to destroy The Lich King, Tirion Fordring or a minion that was buffed with Bonemare.
• Bonemare – Arguably one of the strongest cards in the expansion, I have no idea what Blizzard was thinking when they printed such a powerful neutral card. It’s a 5/5 body that applies a Blessing of Kings to a minion, and gives it taunt. This card is insane in terms of how much pressure it can generate especially if you already control the board.
• Grommash Hellscream – What is a tempo deck without its leader, Grommash Hellscream? This card is a great finisher to end the game! Our deck has a multitude of ways to trigger his Enrage. Ideally, you already want to have a Blood Razor equipped when you play him, so you’re able to deal a total of 12 damage in a single turn, but you can also use cards like Slam, Ravaging Ghoul (if you have coin), or with Scourgelord Garrosh’s Hero Power.
• Scourgelord Garrosh – In my opinion, this is one of the stronger Death Knights released in the expansion because of its ridiculous weapon, capable of clearing massive boards with its “cleave” effect. It’s also important to note that you can minimize the damage intake you receive by attacking adjacent minions with lower attack in order to “cleave” your opponent’s big threats. 

Frozen Throne Tempo Warrior General Playstyle and Strategy

There’s often a misconception that “Tempo equals Aggressive”. Aggressive decks prioritize board control by playing cards every turn of the game, while working to clear away enemy minions as soon as possible. Tempo decks are also concerned with doing something every turn of the game, not just to be aggressive, but to use mana as efficiently as possible. For example, Tempo Mage and Secret Mage use cards such as Sorcerer's Apprentice and Kirin Tor Mage that permit other cards to be played at a discounted rate.

Similarly, we want to be able to take control of the board early on, while being able to efficiently remove your opponent’s threats. Tools like Fiery War Axe and Blood To Ichor will help you accomplish that. After taking control of the board, we want to be able to apply pressure with cards such as Frothing Berserker and Kor'kron Elite. Meanwhile, continue using your weapons and other minions like Bloodhoof Brave to protect your heavy hitters while buffing them. Whenever possible, you don’t want to use your hero power because it doesn’t affect the board in any way.

Whirlwind effects works specifically well with the Warrior class due to their variety of tools that can used in combination with them. Warrior-specific cards such as Ravaging Ghoul, Blood Razor, and Scourgelord Garrosh makes this possible. They can act as a way of clearing your opponent’s board, especially against more aggressive decks with low health minions. Secondly, a lot of tempo and value can be generated with them. It can be used to gain additional card draw from cards such as Acolyte of Pain and Battle Rage, but it can also help you gain a massive Frothing Berserker, or active Grommash Hellscream for the finisher.

Vs Aggro

You are heavily favored against aggressive decks because of the amount of board control tools you have at your dispersal. Use minions, spells, and weapons as efficiently as possible to ensure none of your opponent’s minions survive. If you can constantly clear the board, your opponent will eventually run out of resources, and cards like Bloodhoof Brave and Scourgelord Garrosh will catch up and out-value them. Some decks like Murloc Paladin and Aggro Druid need their minions alive in order to use their strong cards such as Spikeridged Steed and Mark of Y'Shaarj, so do your best to reduce the impact of their cards.

Vs Control

As the name of this deck suggests, you want to be able to out-tempo your opponent if they’re using a control deck. Early on, focus on playing efficient minions to force your opponent to expend resources to clear them. Then, look to create a board with Acolyte of Pain, Armorsmith, and Frothing Berserker so you can use a whirlwind effect from Blood Razor or Ravaging Ghoul, where you finally refill your hand with Battle Rage. If your opponent is able to clear your board, you still have a bunch of resources in your hand while your opponent has already used their board clears!

General Mulligan

VS Fast Decks

Higher Priority (Keep every time)

• Fiery War Axe, Armorsmith, and Ravaging Ghoul – When facing against aggressive decks, look for cards that can affect your opponent’s minions quickly and efficiently.

Lower Priority (Keep only if certain conditions are met)

• Blood Razor, Slam – If you have the coin, and other low-cost cards in your hand, then it is reasonable to keep Blood Razor since it’s such a invaluable tool against aggro. Slam is also pretty good when you have a follow up such as Ravaging Ghoul.

VS Slow Decks

Higher Priority (Keep every time)

• Fiery War Axe, Acolyte of Pain, and Slam – These cards help draw cards from your deck, so that you are able to reach your powerful spike in the mid-game.

Lower Priority (Keep only if certain conditions are met)

• Blood To Ichor, Ravaging Ghoul, Frothing Berserker  – You may want to keep Blood To Ichor or Ravaging Ghoul if you can use it in combination with Acolyte of Pain. Frothing Berserker is also a good keep if you have early minions to play such as Acolyte of Pain and Armorsmith. It’s best to play Frothing Berserker after you have already taken the board with your other minions. 

Frozen Throne Tempo Warrior Card Replacements/Cards to Consider

Rotface – You might be scratching your heads as to why this card isn’t an auto-include in this deck. I mean, look at it’s potential! Imagine getting a Tyrantus! I feel like this card is gimmicky and way too inconsistent. Yes, there are games where this card can go nuts and can generate tremendous value, but there are also games where this card is just a 4/6 for 8 mana that be easily dealt with a removal spell like Fireball. Keep in mind that Rotface has to survive the damage for its effect to trigger.

The Lich King – You can never go wrong with this card. I believe you can put this card in 90% of decks, and it would probably work just fine! We’ve all seen how intimidating this guy can be from videos that he was featured in!

Forge of Souls – In a deck that is reliant on weapons to control the early and mid game, Forge of Souls isn’t a bad choice, as it draws you specific cards that are almost useful in any situation!

Flexible Slots: Elise the Trailblazer, 1 Slam, 1 Acolyte of Pain, 1 Battle Rage, and The Black Knight.

About the Author

This deck guide is presented you by NeverLucky, a Control Warrior addict with over 3000 Warrior wins in ranked. He competes in several local tournaments, and despite his horrendous luck, has obtained several accolades and high finishes.