The Ultimate Guide to Control Warrior by XRBlackWolf (Old Gods Update)

XRBlackWolf was kind enough to allow us to re-host this in-depth Guide to Control Warrior. If you have questions for him check out the Reddit post right here.

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Overview of the Guide

• Quick Introduction
• How to build Control Warrior
• New tech cards and card choices, as well as some overlooked cards from the classic set.
• Overview of all major matchups in the current meta.
• How Elise changes the game (Aggressor vs Defender)
• 2 strong decklists in the current meta.

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After the overwhelming positive response of my last guide I decided that I needed to update it for every expansion. Now blizzard sort of screwed me quite a bit when standard was announced because I couldn’t simply update it with all the new cards + a few new deck overviews, I had to rewrite it from the ground up. And that’s what I’m sharing today and I hope the community enjoys it. This guide will not be covering Dragon Warrior, Fatigue Warrior, Reno Warrior or C’Thun Warrior, it purely focuses on classic Control Warrior.

Quick intro of me: I’m XRBlackWolf, a fairly high ranking NA Legend player, I finished top 200 in points for spring prelims, and I was only a few points off from qualifying (but I’ll keep trying for summer prelims). I was also the practice partner of the hearthstone Americas Spring Champion Cydonia.

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How to Build Control Warrior

Recommendation for people newer to Control Warrior (under 100 games with the deck): Netdeck. Netdeck until you feel like you have a good understanding of the archetype. I posted some good lists near the bottom of this guide.

The Base of Control Warrior: this is what you should build around http://m.imgur.com/zhCjDBL 

Not everybody would agree with me, but remember that I am writing this guide for low to moderate skill level players. So I understand if some pros change it up.

After this base list, we need to fill in the extra spots, these are some mandatory card choice decisions:

1) When to Run Shield Block and Second Bash

• It is a very rare situation that you won’t be running double block, double bash in the current meta.
• Run 1 bash only if you play versus lots of slow matchups like control and C’Thun Warrior, N’Zoth Paladin and control priest.
• Run 2 blocks and 2 bash if you play versus everything else, Rogue, face decks, Midrange decks, combo decks and Aggro decks.

2) 1 Brawl vs 2 Brawls

• Play 1 brawl if you play versus lots of control/C’Thun/Face Warrior and Freeze Mage.
• Play 2 brawls if you play versus lots of Tempo decks, Midrange decks, Rogue and Aggro decks.
• I think most of the time you will be playing 2 brawls 😉

3) 1 Versus 2 Acolytes of Pain

• Play 1 acolyte if you play versus lots of C’Thun/Control Warrior, N’Zoth Paladin, Nzoth priest, Midrange Hunter, C’Thun Druid and Freeze Mage.
• Play 2 acolytes if you play versus Zoo, Aggro/Midrange Shaman, face Warrior and Rogue.

4) 1 Versus 2 Ravaging Ghouls

• Play 1 Ravaging Ghoul if you face lots of the following: Control Warrior, Tempo Warrior, Tempo Mage and Freeze Mage.
• Play 2 Ravaging Ghouls if you face lots of the following: Face Warrior, Midrange Hunter, Aggro paladin, Zoo, Yogg Druid and Rogue.

Tech Cards/Other Card Choices List

Gorehowl, Doomsayer, Spellbreaker, Harrison Jones, Ragnaros the Firelord, Nexus-Champion Saraad, Revenge, Big Game Hunter, Baron Geddon, Alexstrasza, Ysera, The Black Knight, Sylvanas Windrunner, Blood To Ichor, Tinkmaster Overspark, Armorsmith.

Now this time around in my guide, I setup cards by order of consideration, which means the cards that are highest in the list are often the best ones. I did it in this way because the biggest complaint about my last guide was people not being able to make good lists due to the tech card list being scattered and confusing. Also you may notice that some tech cards that I had last time aren’t on the list anymore, I won’t go over why each one was taken out, but basically it’s because they fell out of the meta.

Full Description of tech Cards/Other card choices

Harrison Jones: Harrison jones is a card that should be played in Control Warrior if there are any prevalent weapon classes in the meta, it is a great card versus all types of Warrior, Hunter, Shaman and paladin. But is a little bit weak to decks/classes like Zoo, Druid, Mage and priest.

Revenge: Revenge is one of the strongest cards versus Aggro in Control Warriors arsenal of tech choices. It is strong versus every Aggro and token/flood deck. It is only weak versus Control Warrior and Freeze mage.

Gorehowl: Gorehowl is a fantastic card because it is strong versus Aggro decks but it’s also very good at amassing large amounts of value in the late game versus control decks. Just be sure to bait Harrison before playing it. It is strong versus Zoo, control/Tempo Warrior, Midrange Shaman, Rogue, priest, Renolock and N’Zoth Paladin. But it is weak versus Aggro Shaman, face Warrior, Freeze Mage and Aggro paladin.

Baron Geddon: Geddon is a fantastic tech card versus many Aggro and Midrange decks due to being essentially a third brawl versus those decks. It is strong versus Midrange Hunter, Midrange Shaman, Zoo, Tempo Mage and Yogg token Druid. But it is weak versus Rogue, Aggro Shaman, face Warrior and Freeze Mage.

Sylvanas Windrunner: Sylvanas has always been a strong choice in Control Warrior since the start of hearthstone. It is important to always be strategic when you play her, try to make it awkward for your opponent, so that they are either forced to avoid it and go face or trade away their whole board. Sylv is strong versus Zoo, Tempo Mage, Midrange Hunter, Druid and N’Zoth Paladin. But weak versus Priest, Renolock, Rogue and Freeze Mage.

Doomsayer: Doomsayer has gone way up in power since standard, making it now a premium tech choice in Control Warrior. Doomsayer should be played versus Aggro on turn 2 to regain Tempo and versus other decks when you feel like your opponent is going to get a large board presence the next turn. Doomsayer is strong versus Zoo, Midrange Hunter, Aggro paladin, Tempo Warrior, Tempo Mage, face Warrior, Yogg Druid and priest. And it is weak to Control Warrior, Renolock, Rogue, Freeze Mage, N’Zoth Paladin and C’Thun Druid.

Alexstrasza: Alexstrasza is a strong card due to its versatility and it used to be a staple in Control Warrior. Alexstrasza is strong versus Control Warrior, Midrange Shaman, Midrange Hunter, priest and Tempo Mage. But it is weak versus Aggro Shaman, face Warrior, Rogue and N’Zoth Paladin.

Ragnaros the Firelord: Rag used to be mandatory in Control Warrior 2 years ago, people have been playing it more in Control Warrior recently due to the increase in Rogue. Rag is a strong card versus Rogue, Freeze Mage, Renolock, C’Thun Druid and Control Warrior. But rag is weak versus Zoo, Midrange Hunter, Aggro paladin, N’Zoth Paladin, Yogg token Druid and Aggro/Midrange Shaman.

Armorsmith: Armorsmith is a bit weaker now then it was in the past, but it can still be played depending on what you face. Armorsmith is strong versus Zoo, Aggro Shaman, Aggro paladin and Freeze Mage. But armorsmith is weak versus Rogue, Control Warrior, Renolock and priest.

Blood To Ichor: one of the best Warrior cards to come out of the old gods expansion. Blood to Ichor is an incredible card to contest the board early on. It is strong versus Zoo, Rogue, Yogg token Druid and Aggro Shaman, but weak versus every control deck, C’Thun Druid and Freeze Mage.

Spellbreaker: Since owl was nerfed to 3 mana Spellbreaker is the best choice for silence in Control Warrior. Spellbreaker is strong versus Renolock, Tempo Warrior, Aggro paladin, Midrange Hunter, Freeze Mage and N’Zoth Paladin. But weak versus Druid, Control Warrior, Aggro Shaman and Rogue.

Big Game Hunter: Never did I think BGH would be apart of the tech card section. But due to its mana increase it is no longer mandatory in Control Warrior, these days it is a anti C’Thun card mostly. It is strong versus all C’Thun decks, Renolock, Aggro Shaman and Midrange Shaman. But it is weak versus Midrange Hunter, Zoo, Rogue, Aggro paladin and N’Zoth Paladin.

Ysera: Ysera is a very strong anti control card and it gaining more than 1 turn worth of value pretty much means you win the game every time, this makes it a very strong choice versus certain decks. Ysera is strong versus control/C’Thun Warrior, N’Zoth Paladin, C’Thun Druid, Renolock and priest. But weak versus Shaman, Rogue, face Warrior, Aggro paladin and Freeze Mage.

Tinkmaster Overspark: No this is not a joke, many people reading this probably think tink is not a real tech choice, let me assure you he is a very real consideration in the current meta, by being able to vanish away those big Deathrattle minions and hit targets that are in stealth. Tinkmaster is strong versus, N’Zoth Paladin, Midrange Hunter, Rogue, C’Thun Druid and C’Thun Warrior. But it is weak versus Zoo, Aggro Shaman and Aggro paladin.

The Black Knight: The old sludge belcher slayer, now black knight is known as the destroyer of Bloodhoof Brave and Druid of the claws. The Black Knight is a strong tech choice if you play versus lots of Druid, Renolock, Control Warrior and Tempo Warrior. But it is weak versus every deck where it doesn’t have a good target such as: Rogue, Freeze Mage, Midrange Hunter, face Warrior and Aggro paladin.

Nexus-Champion Saraad: Nexus Champion Saraad is a very slow card, it’s advantage is that versus control decks your opponent is often forced to waste removal on it. Saraad is strong versus priest, Control Warrior, N’Zoth Paladin and C’Thun Druid. But weak versus Zoo, Rogue, Shaman, Midrange Hunter and face Warrior.

Just 2 quick things to note before we move onto the matchup section, if a matchup was not named as being strong or weak for a tech choice that means it doesn’t make a difference in that matchup. Secondly, just always be sure to be smart when making tech decisions, don’t try to counter everything because that’s not possible, pick 3/4 decks that you want to counter and find the tech choices that best fit those matchups.

Matchups

Overview of All major matchups in the current meta

Matchups Included: Tempo Warrior, Control Warrior, Face Warrior, C’Thun Warrior, N’Zoth Paladin, Aggro Paladin, Midrange Shaman, Aggro Shaman, N’Zoth Rogue, Miracle Rogue, Renolock, Zoo Warlock, Midrange Hunter, C’Thun Druid, Yogg Token Druid, Tempo Mage, Freeze Mage and N’Zoth priest.

Sections within each Matchups explanation:

Early hints of what you are facing: This will help you know what to play around.

Optimal Shield Slam target: When I say optimal I mean what you should look out for to kill when weapons or bash aren’t an option. Obviously it doesn’t apply when you are super low on health.

Optimal execute target: Once again I use the word optimal because it isn’t 100%. This is what you should try to execute based on matchups, the threats that you execute should be the larger minions in the deck.

Matchup type: There are 3 different types of matchups for Control Warrior to play versus, Fatigue, health and board control. A Fatigue matchup is a game where you should avoid drawing more cards than your opponent, a health matchup is when your main focus should be clearing and gaining health back and a board control matchup is when you should constantly use your weapons to take board from your opponent while constantly getting board.

How many minions should go into a brawl: Based on matchup once again, the minions that should go in are often going to be the mid sized minions in your opponents deck.

Tempo Warrior

• Early hints of what you are facing: Fierce Monkey, Frothing Berserker, Kor'kron Elite.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: Bloodhoof Brave and larger.
• Optimal execute target: Bloodhoof Brave and larger.
• Matchup type: Health
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 3

Tempo Warrior is a deck with a ability to put a lot of pressure very quickly, through cards like Frothing Berserker, Kor’kron Elite and Bloodhoof Brave. Early on, make sure to kill Frothing Berserker because it can spiral out of control and get in a ton of damage, going into the late game, make sure you always know how to answer cards like Ragnaros and Malkorok. My final piece of advice for this matchup is to kill damaged minions first because of battlerage, because if they replenish their hand supply, they will most often win.

Control Warrior

• Early hints of what you are facing: Slow starts are usually a great hint, Shield Slam or Justicar pretty much confirms it.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: Bloodhoof Brave and larger.
• Optimal execute target: Bloodhoof Brave and larger.
• Matchup type: Fatigue
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 2

Please see the section closer to the bottom of this post “How Elise changes the game”. This matchup comes down to Fatigue 99% of the time, make sure to not cycle a single card, not even with slam or shield block, make sure to also armor up every turn in order to have as much health as possible by the time you hit Fatigue.

Face Warrior

• Early hints of what you are facing: Southsea Deckhand, N'Zoth's First Mate, Flame Juggler, Argent Horserider.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: 2 attack and larger.
• Optimal execute target: 3 attack and larger.
• Matchup type: Health
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 3

Face Warrior is a deck with a huge amount of damage output, all the weapons, heroic strike, leeroy and mortal strike. So limiting your opponents damage is key, constantly removing minions (and specifically pirates first) is important. Make sure to heal/amor over playing minions if you are below 12 health. Also make sure in the later stages of the game that you play around Mortal Strike by not hitting them in the face. If you choose to play Harrison jones as a tech card, make sure to put Arcanite Reaper in the museum.

Also this is something I do and I’m pretty sure it’s correct for ladder, if I’m not playing versus somebody well known I always mulligan for face Warrior because Control Warrior beats every other type of Warrior quite easily except face Warrior (and C’Thun Warrior is also tough but the opening hand is irrelevant versus C’Thun Warrior).

C’Thun Warrior

• Early hints of what you are facing: Beckoner of Evil, Disciple of C'Thun, C'Thun's Chosen.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: 5 Attack and larger.
• Optimal execute target: 5 Attack and larger
• Matchup type: Fatigue
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 3 Medium sized minions or 2 Large Minions.

Much like Control Warrior this matchup is both very skillful, and takes a long time to finish. Except this matchup is much more difficult to win as the Control Warrior. The main difference is C’Thun Warrior has a lot more early game and mid game threats, clear them using cards like bash, slam and war axe. Always keep an answer for C’Thun (Sylvanas + Shield slam on my own sylv is usually what I like keeping). And whatever you do, do not EVER play Monkey before your opponent plays C’Thun unless you are super far behind on Fatigue.

Also if the C’Thun Warrior runs Elise (a few lists do play it) make sure to check out the section “How Elise changes the game” at the bottom of this post.

N’Zoth Paladin

• Early hints of what you are facing: Doomsayer, Acolyte of Pain, Stampeding Kodo, Cairne Bloodhoof.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: 5 Attack and higher.
• Optimal execute target: 5 Attack and higher.
• Matchup type: Fatigue
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 3, But try to keep both as much as possible for after they play N’Zoth.

If the N’Zoth paladin plays Justicar, probably worth a concede unfortunately. But if he doesn’t we actually have a real chance of winning! The key to this matchup is to let the N’Zoth Paladin cycle as much as they want and not cycle yourself. Then win at Fatigue by using grom to burst down. Make sure to not even use harrison on the 5/3 ashbringer unless you really can’t take the extra damage.

Also a little “next level” play you can do is, because they will often have a large hand size (and you can do this play even if they don’t burn cards, just to make sure you win the Fatigue race) is to give them acolyte of pain, and then hit into it to make your opponent draw cards.

Aggro Paladin

• Early hints of what you are facing: Selfless Hero, Worgen Infiltrator, Abusive Sergeant, Bilefin Tidehunter.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: Anything except 1/1s
• Optimal execute target: Anything.
• Matchup type: Health
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 3

Aggro paladin is a deck that is slowly fading away, but I figured because many players got top 10 legend (much more so in May) I should write about it. The key to this matchup is removing the opponents board, playing around divine favor and gaining health. Make sure to kill high priority targets like Steward of Darkshire first, and also make sure to limit your opponents ability to get value from Selfless hero. Be careful how much you cycle from acolyte of pain because divine favor is the card that wins the most games for Aggro paladin versus Control Warrior.

Midrange Shaman

• Early hints of what you are facing: When it isn’t Aggro Shaman, 99% of the time it will be Midrange Shaman. Aggro Shaman and Midrange Shamans openings are very similar so it is always very difficult to tell early on which version of Shaman it is.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: 4 Attack and larger and Thunder Bluff Valiant.
• Optimal execute target: 4 Attack and larger and Thunder Bluff Valiant.
• Matchup type: Board Control
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 4

When I watch people play versus Midrange Shaman I often see them trying to play around a ton of burst damage, Midrange Shaman is a deck with very little burst from hand because most of them don’t play doomhammer, so board control is key. Clear everything on the Shamans board and run them out of threats to win. Think about hex before playing a big minion because you don’t want to waste a turn.

Aggro Shaman

• Early hints of what you are facing: Abusive Sergeant, Lava Burst.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: 2 Attack and larger.
• Optimal execute target: 3 Attack and larger, keeping 1 for the 4 mana 7/7 is always smart.
• Matchup type: Health
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 3

Much like face Warrior, Aggro Shaman is a deck with a lot of burst potential, make sure to limit as much damage as possible from them. I usually play around about 10 burst from hand. Other than that, not much to say, play around cards like Flamewreathed Faceless by keeping execute for it.

Miracle Rogue

• Early hints of what you are facing: Violet Teacher, Shadow Strike.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: Everything except Bloodmage Thalnos.
• Optimal execute target: Everything except Bloodmage Thalnos.
• Matchup type: Health
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 2 medium/large sized or 3 small threats.

Brawl is a very important card in this matchup due to Conceal. If the Rogue gets down a auctioneer + conceal it will almost always be a loss, unless you manage to gain enough health to survive past leeroy, double coldblood, double eviscerate and more. In this matchup you need to take risks with brawl, take those 50/50 brawls of your minion versus auctioneer.

N’Zoth Rogue

• Early hints of what you are facing: Journey Below, Undercity Huckster.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: 3 Attack and larger.
• Optimal execute target: 3 Attack and larger.
• Matchup type: Board Control
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 2 Medium/large sized minions or 3 small minions.

Concede. Sadly I wish that was a joke. This matchup is one of the hardest I’ve ever played as Control Warrior, especially if the Rogue player is good and knows how to play the matchup. But I will give as much advice as I can: the key is to try to build up the biggest board you can and then win with it. Another way to possibly win is to go to Fatigue using Justicar to gain a ton of health and also saving brawl for after N’Zoth is played.

Reno Warlock

• Early hints of what you are facing: Lifetap turn 2, Twilight Drake, Acidic Swamp Ooze.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: 4 Attack and larger.
• Optimal execute target: 4 Attack and larger.
• Matchup type: Fatigue
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 3

This matchup is quite easy to explain the process to win but actually quite difficult in practice. Basically, keep removing the medium/large threats from the Renolock and eventually get large amounts of armor from Justicar and go to Fatigue. Hold grom for after they play jarraxus, or for Fatigue so that you can quickly burst them down if necessary.

Zoo Warlock

• Early hints of what you are facing: Flame Imp, Argent Squire, Voidwalker, Knife Juggler, Darkshire Councilman.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: 3 Attack and larger.
• Optimal execute target: Imp Gang Boss and larger.
• Matchup type: Board Control.
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 4

Since the release of Standard, the Zoo matchup has gotten much easier for Control Warrior. We have the tools to be able to deal with all of the Zoos tiny threats without the fear of big cards like Dr. Boom or Malganis in their deck. Make sure to simply remove everything on the Zoo board, that will make it so that they can’t use Power Overwhelming to trade up or get a ton of burst on face. Make sure to use Ravaging ghoul efficiently and not as just as 3/3, thinking about forbidden ritual while using your revenge and ghoul is also important.

Midrange Hunter

• Early hints of what you are facing: King's Elekk, Carrion Grub, Infested Wolf, Stampeding Kodo.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: 4 attack and larger
• Optimal execute target: 4 attack and larger
• Matchup type: Board Control
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 4 small threats or 3 medium/large threats.

Midrange Hunter is one of the hardest matchups for Control Warrior after Standard because of cards like Call of the Wild. Being able to setup properly for turns is key, make sure you know how to remove the highmane going into turn 6 and how to remove the call of the wild going into turn 8. Justicar is also a very important card in this matchup, make sure to get a lot of value from your hero power after it comes down, because you will need that health to survive into the late game, you win when your opponent runs out of threats in hand.

C’Thun Druid

• Early hints of what you are facing: C’Thun Cards other than Dark Arakkoa.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: 4 Attack and larger.
• Optimal execute target: 4 Attack and larger.
• Matchup type: Board Control
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 4 Small Threats, 3 Medium to large threats.

C’Thun Druid is a deck that can put a lot of pressure on us due to their insane curve and solid mix of small and large threats. Make sure to use your hard removals for big threats only and and clear all of the small threats by using war axe and slam/bash. Try to build a board presence while doing this as well.

Yogg Token Druid

• Early hints of what you are facing: Power of the Wild, Violet Teacher.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: 3 Attack and larger, except Mire Keeper.
• Optimal execute target: 3 Attack and larger, except Mire Keeper.
• Matchup type: Board Control.
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 4

The key to winning this matchup is making sure the Druid doesn’t get any small minions to stick on the board, because they can be buffed into scary threats. Killing Violet Teacher and Fandral Staghelm is also super important because if they get one of those to stick for more than 1 turn they can get a ton of value from it. And if you are like me, you will remove everything, play it perfectly and lose to Yogg on turn 10 anyway.

Tempo Mage

• Early hints of what you are facing: Mana Wyrm, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Flamewaker, Water Elemental.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Flamewaker and larger.
• Optimal execute target: Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Flamewaker and larger.
• Matchup type: Board Control
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 3

The win condition of Tempo Mage is often to get a ton of value off their minions, letting 2/3 minions stick on the board and winning with them. Our job as Control Warrior, is to make sure that doesn’t happen, make sure to always keep removing Tempo mages minions, they don’t have many large threats (especially now that everyone is playing the hotform list) so using your removals on almost every type of minion in the deck is correct, you should also play around. And if you are like me, you will remove everything, play it perfectly and lose to Yogg on turn 10 anyway.

Freeze Mage

• Early hints of what you are facing: Novice Engineer, Loot Hoarder, Acolyte of Pain, Ice Barrier.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: Emperor Thaurissan, Archmage Antonidas, Alexstrasza and Doomsayer but only if you have a large board presence.
• Optimal execute target: Acolyte of Pain, Emperor Thaurissan, Archmage Antonidas, Alexstrasza and Doomsayer but only if you have a large board presence.
• Matchup type: Health
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 2

The key to winning the Freeze Mage matchup is efficiency. Be efficient with your armor, use a turn 5 shield block + hero power over playing shield block on turn 3. Try to prevent as much damage to your hero as possible by using slam on small minions over hitting them with your weapon. Lastly be sure to hold removal for Emperor, Antonidas and Alexstrasza because those sticking on board for a few turn is one way to lose this matchup.

N’Zoth Priest

• Early hints of what you are facing: Loot Hoarder, Museum Curator, Cairne Bloodhoof.
• Optimal Shield Slam target: Auchenai Soulpriest and larger.
• Optimal execute target: Auchenai Soulpriest and larger.
• Matchup type: Fatigue
• How many minions should go into a brawl: 4, keep 1 brawl for Nzoth.

Not gonna lie, I’ve faced a total of about 5 priests since standard come out, so if anybody has another priest matchup other than Nzoth for me to cover, please tell me. But nonetheless, Nzoth priest is a matchup that comes down to Fatigue generally, and it is a matchup that as Warrior we need to generate a ton of value to win. Make sure to use all your removal efficiently on medium sized threats (priest doesn’t play any large threats) and always know how you are going to answer the Nzoth. Past this, make sure to get a lot of value from your hero power, don’t just shield block on turn 3 because you can, wait to be able to use it with hero power. Also make sure to use hero power almost every turn once you get Justicar down.

And if you face a priest with Elise in their deck please see the section directly below this called “How Elise Changes the Game”.

How Elise Starseeker Changes The Game

This section is for long matchups, games that come down a lot of the time to Fatigue after 15-25 turns. It is an explanation on how to play the 6/6 golden monkey from Elise. I often like to say that there are 2 sides while playing monkey, an aggressor and a defender. The aggressor is the one playing the monkey first, the defender is the one playing after his opponent has played the monkey. Here’s the plan for both:

Aggressor: This is for when you lose to the Fatigue first (make sure you take the armor from Tank Up into account). You should try to push the 6/6 out when your opponents board is almost fully cleared. After that you need to start pressuring your opponent with the biggest minions in your hand.

Defender: after your opponent has played the monkey you need to gain as much Tempo as possible, clear the 6/6 and try to play as many minions as possible (within reason of course). Then keep clearing board until you can play your own monkey. With your current board presence + the legendaries from monkey you should win the game almost every time as the defender.

Strong Decklists In the Current Meta

Closing Thoughts

If you managed to get this far in the guide, I hope it was helpful. I’m always trying to make this guide get better every single time I post it and I hope that I covered everything.

If you want to follow me on twitch, here’s a link to it I haven’t started streaming yet, but I may sometime in the future.

I WILL NOT ANSWER ANY BUDGET REPLACEMENT QUESTIONS FOR ANY CARDS MENTIONED IN THIS GUIDE, Control Warrior IS AN EXPENSIVE DECK, DON’T PLAY IT IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD IT

And lastly, If you disagree with anything in this guide, please tell me in the comments or PM me, last time I got a lot of PMs giving feedback and asking questions and I made sure to answer almost all of them. That feedback from PMs is what (I think at least) made this guide better than the last one and it is always appreciated.