Recently, we have explored viable laddering options for multiple classes beyond the obvious meta decks. So far, we have ventured through various builds for Paladins, Priests, and Mages. Today, the spotlight is on Warrior.
In overall popularity figures, Warrior is the third-least popular class in Boomsday, as only Paladin and Priest see less play than Warrior right now. There is not a lot of innovation going on with the class either, new archetypes are few and far between: the typical Warrior deck tweet you can find nowadays is a top-100 Legend tweet with yet another variant of Odd Control Warrior, which is a powerful even if polarized ladder deck. In tournaments, Warrior is doing worse, as its polarized matchups mean that many lineups can easily counter Warrior, especially in Conquest format.
That said, there are strong Warrior decks out there, and while none of them are capable of taking on all opponents, they offer you a chance to choose archetypes suited for the meta you are currently facing. Unless it’s Deathrattle Hunter. As a Warrior player, there is a special, dark place in my heart for Deathrattle Hunter and especially Deathstalker Rexxar. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
Let us begin our journey through the viable Warrior decks for laddering, starting with the big player, Odd Warrior.
Odd Control Warrior
If there is one Warrior archetype you can find recent lists for, it’s Odd Control Warrior.
Odd Control Warrior is the most fatigue-style Warrior deck that currently sees play. The Dead Man's Hand Fatigue Warriors are out of style right now, having a hard time surviving early aggression and being unable to answer combo decks. The improved Hero Power gives Odd Warrior better survivability against aggro, and aggro matchups are where the deck really shines. Between the Hero Power, Taunt minions, Reckless Flurry, and Brawl, the deck boasts incredible survivability. Dyn-o-matic and Supercollider come into play in the mid-game as well to keep clearing the board. It is only against Deathrattle Hunter and Quest Rogue where the near-endless removal proves to be only near-endless and can often run out.
Tons of armor is also pretty good in control matchups, where fatigue is a viable win condition with Direhorn Hatchling and Elise the Trailblazer adding additional cards into the deck to keep your own fatigue at bay.
Life is more difficult against combo decks, although Odd Warrior has two paths to challenge them: Dr. Boom, Mad Genius and Omega Assembly can sometimes give you enough pressure to win and then there is Azalina Soulthief, which can steal a King Togwaggle combo for some weird end-game scenarios. That said, combo decks usually hurt Odd Warrior a lot.
Here are two top-legend Odd Warrior lists just from this week:
14,380
Even though the archetype is by and large figured out, small tech changes happen every week to accommodate the current meta.
For full details on how to play this archetype, check out our Odd Warrior Deck List Guide.
Odd Quest Warrior
Odd Warrior can come in different shapes and the fatigue-style control build is not the only one. Another variant that has been bubbling under for a while now is Odd Quest Warrior with Zalae being its most vocal proponent.
Here is a build Zalae recently brought to HCT Americas Fall Playoffs:
Adding in Fire Plume's Heart provides the deck with a powerful win condition against slow decks. Odd Control Warrior is one of the main targets, as this “mirror” match is heavily favored for the Quest variant. The quest can also add pressure against combo decks.
Naturally, there are always tradeoffs to make. So what are you giving up by going with the quest? The main thing is early-game consistency: you are always offered the quest in the mulligan, and even if you throw it away, you are less likely to find your early-game removal cards. Therefore, even though Odd Quest runs almost the same removal package as Odd Control, its ability to find those pieces in time is diminished.
The card slots needed to run the quest mainly come from the Dr. Boom package. This can also weaken the deck defensively, because Boom can be useful when you’re on the defense too. The Hero Power gained from the Quest is more powerful than Boom when you’re attacking, so no issues there.
The so-far unresolved question is how much weaker is the Quest variant defensively and do its other matchups make up for this? It is still a powerful deck against aggro and it has improved matchups against slower decks, even though it cannot quite make combo matchups favorable. It is nonetheless more pleasant to face Quest Rogue or Shudderwock Shaman with the Quest on your side than just waiting for a slow death. Well, it still can’t beat Deathrattle Hunter, the bane of Warrior in the current meta.
Mecha’thun Warrior
If you’re really tired of Shudderwock Shaman or Togwaggle Druid, you can also build a combo deck yourself and simply combo them first. Hah!
Fibonacci finished in top-100 Legend with Mecha’thun Warrior in August and also brought the archetype to the Americas Fall Playoffs. This is the build he brought to the tournament (his earlier ladder build had -1 Whirlwind, +1 Slam):
- 0Inner Rage2
- 1Eternium Rover2
- 1Shield Slam2
- 1Slam1
- 1Town Crier1
- 1Whirlwind2
- 2Battle Rage1
- 2Shield Block2
- 2Warpath2
- 2Weapons Project2
- 4Blood Razor1
- 4Militia Commander1
- 5Brawl1
- 5Dyn-o-matic2
- 7Dr. Boom, Mad Genius1
- 9The Boomship1
- 3Acolyte of Pain2
- 5Harrison Jones1
- 5Zilliax1
- 9Malygos1
- 10Mecha’thun1
There is no improved Hero Power here, so aggro matchups are slightly more challenging, although the deck is still generally able to navigate through them. Not being an odd deck, it also has access to Warpath and Blood Razor, so it has some additional tools to take on the likes of Token Druid.
It is also actually able to challenge combo decks, going so far as having a favorable matchup against Shudderwock Shaman.
As you may have guessed by now, it is abysmal against Deathrattle Hunter, the thrice-accursed nemesis of all that is fun and good in the Warrior world. Really, Mecha’thun Warrior is probably the worst Warrior deck of them all against Deathrattle Hunter.
Another weakness is Even Warlock, as finding answers to all those Mountain Giants is difficult with this archetype. Yet another variant, yet another list of strengths and weaknesses.
The games Mecha’thun Warrior wins generally end in one of two ways: either you remove the opponent’s main threats and leave them without means to win the game or you draw your entire deck and combo them down.
The OTK combo of Mecha’thun Warrior consists of six cards: The Boomship, Malygos, Mecha'thun, Whirlwind, and two copies of Inner Rage. First, you need to have drawn your entire deck and cleared your hand of all other cards (you can have one additional small minion with up to six Health there). Then, you play The Boomship, which summons both Malygos and Mecha'thun on the board. Then, you Inner Rage them both and play Whirlwind, which kills them both simultaneously.
This OTK combo can obviously be disrupted by Skulking Geist, which removes Whirlwind. However, all is not lost even in that case. As The Boomship gives minions Rush, it is possible to use the opponent’s minions to kill off your combo pieces, or if the opponent has no silence or transformation effects, you can simply summon Mecha’thun and let it fight it out on the board. For example, if you’re facing The Lich King, the combo works fine without Whirlwind, as you can simply kill off the Inner Raged Malygos and Mecha’thun by running them into The Lich King.
While it can hardly be considered one of the top decks in the meta, Mecha’thun is no joke in Warrior, and this archetype can climb the ladder in the right meta.
Quest Warrior
You can also consider playing Quest Warrior without card restrictions, although in general the Odd variant provides superior performance.
There are two specific matchups where you would want some even-cost cards in your deck: Taunt Druid and Token Druid. With access to Cornered Sentry, Warpath, and Blood Razor, there are some things that a regular Quest Warrior can do better than Odd Quest Warrior.
That said, the improved Hero Power is so good for Warrior that the price may not be worth paying unless you face a lot of those two decks in particular. Feel like giving up your favored position against Zoolock and Tempo Mage? Yeah, that is one hefty price to pay.
Anyway, here is the best non-Odd Quest Warrior build I was able to track down:
- 1Execute2
- 1Fire Plume’s Heart1
- 2Armorsmith2
- 2Battle Rage2
- 2Cornered Sentry2
- 2Drywhisker Armorer2
- 2Warpath2
- 4Blood Razor2
- 5Brawl2
- 5Supercollider2
Tempo Warrior
Rush Warrior from The Witchwood never really found its footing. Sure, Rush minions allow you to fight for the board, but after it’s all said and done, the opponent’s minions are dead, your minions are dead, and you’re no closer to actually winning the game.
Sjow climbed to Legend in September with this Tempo Warrior build that promises a better future for a more midrange approach to Warrior:
Even after playing a bunch of games with the deck, it’s still a difficult deck for me to categorize. Sure, it has a couple of Frothing Berserkers in it and there are also Kor'kron Elites there. Yet, it would be difficult to call it an aggressive deck, or even a tempo deck. In fact, it can only play a tempo game with some very specific draws involving the aforementioned minions.
Most of the time it is more of a slow midrange deck: it has some removal pieces in it that keep it in the game and things start to turn its way in the midgame, culminating in some power plays with The Lich King and Grommash Hellscream. It also has Dr. Boom, Mad Genius and two copies of Omega Assembly, so it can deliver on a long-term value plan.
Take away some of the removal pieces from Control Warrior and put in more minions instead and that’s the deck. In some ways, it resembles the difference between Midrange Paladin and Control Paladin a couple of expansions ago, where Midrange Paladin was running most of the same cards as Control Paladin but with more minions instead of board clears.
It still preys on aggro decks, much like most Warrior decks, and it can also take on Token Druid with confidence. Yet, it is still not fast enough to reliably beat combo decks. It is sometimes fast enough to beat Quest Rogue, making it one of the best Warrior decks to queue into that unfavorable matchup, so there is definitely a meta pocket where Tempo Warrior can shine, and the overall statistics of the deck show an above 50% win rate.
Recruit Warrior
One archetype that has been all but forgotten since the early days of Boomsday is Recruit Warrior. Once considered the hope of Warrior in Boomsday, Recruit Warrior has since fallen by the wayside.
There are two matchups in particular that have caused this: Deathrattle Hunter (*incoherent rumbling*) and Tempo Mage. Recruit Warrior simply cannot take them on very effectively with no access to silence, weapon removal, or much of an early game overall.
That said, the archetype is not hopeless. I took my old build from the beginning of Boomsday out for a spin for this article, and was able to win the majority of my dozen games with it. The results were as expected: wrecked by Hunter, fighting neck-and-neck against most of the aggressive decks, and able to really challenge combo decks with some big minions.
Looking at some of the most common meta decks, Recruit Warrior is fine with facing Zoolocks, Even Warlocks, and Token Druids, but hates Deathrattle Hunters and Tempo Mages. Pay attention to how their popularity develops, and you may find a pocket to play the archetype.
Here’s the build I’ve used for the entirety of Boomsday:
The card that makes all the difference is The Boomship: before Boomsday, Recruit Warrior had a hard time using the minions it inevitably draws during a game. With The Boomship, those minions become a valuable asset that can swing the game. With all Boomshipped minions gaining Rush, they are a great way to stabilize against any board-centric deck. With Dead Man's Hand in the deck, the minions in hand can also be copied back into the deck to increase the overall minion count. Recruit Warrior can create some impressive boards indeed.
As a sidenote, I have been keeping an eye on various Control Warrior decks that are not Recruit Warriors but include The Boomship with some big minions. Unfortunately, I could not find solid enough of a build for this article. Maybe someday.
Laddering with Warrior in Boomsday
With Warrior, it really comes down to having just the right deck list and hitting the right pocket of the meta. There is no silver bullet, although Odd Warriors (both Control and Quest) are typically playable in most metas as they have a wide variety of decent matchups.
With the other archetypes, there are lots of bad deck lists out there. Simply browsing through statistics sites, the performance differences can be staggering, and it is difficult to get a good picture of the performance of an archetype with so many low-performing lists in the data. Furthermore, even when the list is right, the archetypes still have significant weaknesses and you need to understand the meta you are facing when picking a Warrior deck to play.
For example, if you face a lot of combo decks, you may want to consider Mecha’thun Warrior or Recruit Warrior to be faster than they are. In a non-combo meta, Odd Control Warrior reigns supreme. Then again, as the percentage of combo decks and Odd Control Warrior mirrors rises, Odd Quest Warrior becomes more and more attractive as a middle-ground option that can somewhat contest combo and really punish pure control. In a Quest Rogue meta, going for Tempo Warrior can be your best Warrior option, as it gives you the best chance to race.
There is a reason why Warrior is not among the most popular classes right now. Luckily for all Warrior fans, that reason is not that Warrior is bad as such (except against Deathrattle Hunter). Warrior archetypes are mostly not strong overall performers, which makes choosing the right list for the meta more important than with many other classes. However, good choices can be rewarded, so there is hope. Alternatively, going with Odd Control or Odd Quest is a safe choice that gives you as good of a matchup spread in an unknown environment as you can get with Warrior at the moment.
What about you? Have you tried Warrior on the ladder recently? How did it go and what lists have you found to be solid?
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
I just reached legend with my odd warrior list, beating 3 hunters as final bosses. Of courses, it depends of meta, two of them were infamous secret hunters, which are pretty manageable, while Dr. Boom let me to beat the deathrattle hunt. In fact, most of the battles I won against rattle hunts were decided if I played boom before they play rexxar. Good article.
PD; I’m also happy of seeing a list very similar to the one I’ve been using all the month reaching top-1 :).
I breath a sigh of relief every time a Hunter turns out to be Secret or Spell or something like that. Oh, whew, not quite as tough for a Warrior after all.
I’m a 2.5k wins warrior fanboi which is the 90% of the time I ve spent so far playing hs occasionally and this article was a pleasure to read. You definitely know warrior.
And yes, I also hate Rattle hunter but I hate cubes more than dk himself.
I remember a 40min game I managed to win at the 8th fatigue vs rattle hunter who threw on board 58 freaking cards. ?
Warrior and Priest are going to be extremely happy when DK Rexxar rotates out.
I initially had alot of problems with Rexxar as control warrior but ever since Dr Boom came in i dont find the hunter DK too oppressive. The games i usually lose to hunter are because of the cube shannanigans rather than a slow grindy value game.
If i survive the initial string of threats i dont usually have any problem out valuing hunter and taking them into fatigue. I actually usually take board control in the later rounds.
I know that many people will disagree with my comments but that has been my personal experience playing Odd Warrior.
I do find it difficult to relate to that experience. Same applies to statistics sites. For example, on HSReplay, there is not a single Warrior archetype that would be favored against Deathrattle Hunter in the Legend-5 bracket right now. Odd Warrior is the best one with a 34.65% win rate and that is quite abysmal.
There are the games where Boom carries you or you manage to get a wide board for whatever reason, both those do not seem to be the majority of games.
Yeah I completely understand this and expected a response as such. As I mentioned it’s just my own experience.
I actually find it a lot easier when I vs a hunter and they use tracking compared to when they don’t use it as It just puts them to fatigue quicker and also costs them value.
I have a slightly positive win rate against Hunter according to my own data but I do realise that this differs greatly from the overall statistics.