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Deck of the Week #37: Sjow’s Warrior

by - 9 years ago

Every Friday a legendary member from team DKMR breaks down Don’t Kick My Robot’s “Deck of the Week” . These decks are seeing a lot of play either in constructed ladder or tournaments. Team DKMR explains the deck lists and how to play them. Make sure you check out Don’t Kick My Robot if you want to become a better player or check out their premium services if you would like them to do a 1 on 1 coaching session with you to help you better your game. View past Deck Lists of the Week.

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[DKMR]JRoc here, bringing you this weeks Deck of the Week. Today we will be looking at a strong Warrior deck used by Sjow on the ladder to take #1 Legend. It consists of the core Warrior cards with some strong tech cards added in for the current meta. The deck’s specialty is to crush Hunters, and we will now take a look at its cards and game plan.

The Deck

decklist-warrior2x Execute: A cheap removal spell to take down big threats. Has great synergy with Cruel Taskmaster and the deathrattle from Death’s Bite. Can be used fairly liberally vs aggressive decks.

2x Shield Slam: One of the best removal cards in the game. Without this card the Warrior’s hero power would be significantly worse. Look to gain armor early on and combine this with Shield Blocks. For 1 mana this card is able to take out big mana costing threats to gain a big tempo swing.

2x Fiery War Axe: This card is also known as Fiery Win Axe . Does 6 total damage for 2 mana that gains you insane value and helps slow down the enemies aggression. Look for this card early on vs most decks, especially Hunter and Zoo Warlock.

2x Armorsmith: One of the most annoying cards early on for your opponent. This card has many synergies that can help give you a lot of armor. Look to play this card early on against aggressive decks with early minions.   Against slow control decks consider possibly holding onto it if you have no way to buff its attack because it will not get much value vs stronger minions that can kill it in one attack.

2x Cruel Taskmaster: A weak card by itself but has great synergies with other cards in the deck. Can be combined with execute, used on armorsmiths, used to finish off enemy minions, as well as taking out enemy threats with big game hunter by buffing its damage to 7.

1x Ironbeak Owl: This card is taking the Spellbreaker’s spot due to the faster paced meta with Hunters. Is used to take out strong deathrattle minions or eliminate early aggression

2x Shield Block: A great multi purpose card.   Cyles itself, grants you 5 armor, and can be combined with Shield Slam to do a minimum of 5 damage. Look to hold onto this card as long as you can to gain maximum effectiveness from your hero power

2x Acolyte Of Pain: The main card draw of the deck. This card shines the most in Warrior because of all the 1 damage procs you can use to draw extra cards. Can be combined with Cruel taskmaster, Death’s Bite, Slam, and Baron Geddon.

1x Big Game Hunter: A tech card used to help the Handlock and mirror matchup. Has synergy with Cruel Taskmaster against decks that do not run 7 or more attack creatures. Do not be afraid to play this card as a 4/2 against aggressive decks.

2x Death’s Bite: Another awesome weapon that has many great synergies. The first attack does 4 damage and the second does 4 damage +1 area of of effect to the entire board. This is great when combined with Acolyte of Pain to draw extra cards, as well as playing Armormiths to increase your total armor, and taking down big threats with Execute. Keep in mind that if you have a Death’s Bite on the field it can combined with Baron Geddon for a possible 3 damage AOE to all minions.

1x Sen’jin Sheildmasta: The deck lacks 4 drops and this card suits the theme of the deck very well. Stall in the early game and try to survive as long as possible to overrun the enemy with big threats. Senjin combined with Sludge Belchers will help to really shut down aggressive decks.

1x Brawl: A staple card in Warrior that every opponent fears. Whether you have this card or not in your hand the enemy is constantly trying to play around it. As soon as the enemy has too many minions on the board for you to handle use it.   Another alternative can be to use to wait 1 extra turn with Brawl to bait out more minions but this can be a risky play.

1x Harrison Jones: Tech card used to help with decks that utilize weapons. With the large amount of Hunters, Warriors, Rogues, and Shamans it can help turn the game completely around. Worst case scenario it is a 5/4 for 5 mana which isn’t completely bad at all.

1x Loatheb: An almost must include in every deck. Helps shut down enemies spells as well as almost guaranteeing that one of your minions survives until the next turn. Against spell heavy decks, or decks that rely on a big spell to turn the game around it may be wise to save Loatheb until right before that turn to prevent them from making a big play.

2x Sludge Belcher: A sticky taunt minion that slows down the enemies aggression to buy you time to play your bigger late game threats. It is an extremely strong card but most especially against Hunter and Shaman.

1x Hogger: A unique card used mainly to slow down aggression from the many Hunters in the metagame. In combination with Sludge Belcher it can be very hard for the opponent to remove it from the board. If the amount of aggressive decks are lowered, it can be removed for Cairne Bloodhoof or the Black Knight.

1x Sylvanas Windrunner: The strongest 6 mana neutral minion currently in the game.   Helps to slow down the enemy and possibly steal their late game threats. Look to play it on a board where the enemy can not just favorably trade his weak minions into it to prevent anything of value to be stolen.

1x Baron Geddon: A card rarely seen in any deck. It’s main purpose is to help with the Shaman and Hunter matchups to clear small minions that would otherwise be difficult to kill.

1x Grommash Hellscream: The main finisher of the deck. When enraged from Death’s Bite it has a 10 damage charge, and when combined with Cruel Taskmaster it has 12 damage. Look to set up lethal when you have these combinations in your hand.  Don’t be too afraid to use Grommash to kill an enemy minion if you have no other great options.

1x Ragnaros the Firelord: A great legendary that gets immediate value with its 8 damage charge.   Many decks are currently running Big Game Hunter that might be wasted on Baron Geddon making this guy a powerhouse. Be wary of when to play him because of the possibility of Sylvanas Windrunner or even an enemies Ragnaros to have a good chance to snipe your Rag for free.

1x Ysera: One of the strongest late game legendaries in the game. Draws 1 of 5 Dream cards which can be very useful in different situations. Look to play her as soon as possible as she nets you a guranteed card even if she dies. Ysera is very strong against priest as it can not be killed by Shadow Word Death and when silenced it is still a big threat on the board.

The Mulligan

Good keeps against aggressive decks are Armorsmith, Fiery War Axe, Death’s Bite, Cruel Taskmaster,Ironbreak Owl, as well as Acolyte of Pain. Against Handlock look to keep Big Game hunter, Ironbreak Owl, Shield Slam and Execute. Against slow control decks look to keep a good curve with some removals. Harrison Jones can be a keep vs decks that run weapons.

The Coin

Going second has not many big differences except the flexibility of keeping some slower cards if your hand is already great in the early game. If you have a weapon, Acolyte and Amorsmith you can look to keep specific cards for different matchups.   Keeping Shield Block and Shield Slam can be wise against slow control decks.

The GamePlan

As a warrior, you main goal is to stay alive and outlast the enemy. With this game plan in mind, you will need a solid early game with decent card draw to keep in the game with your enemy.   Look to maximize your hero power when you have no plays available, instead of using Shield Block. The reasoning behind this is that if you Shield Block early on you will be missing 2 armor that you most likely will not be able to get back later. Only use Shield Block as a last resort if your hand is really bad. Once you make it to the mid to late game, keep clearing your enemies board with cheap weapons and removals while attempting to play your own threats. Eventually the enemy will not be able be able to keep up with all the Legendaries coming out.

Final Thoughts

Warrior has become a strong all around class with not many weak matchups. This makes it   a great ladder and tournament deck.   With the large popularity in Hunters this deck is currently crushing the metagame and will continue to for a long time.

[DKMR]JRoc streams weekdays http://www.twitch.tv/JRoc_. You can find all of DKMR’s streamers on their website with the days that they stream!

Written by [DKMR]JRoc

Discussions about this topic brought to you by Team [DKMR]


JR Cook

JR has been writing for fan sites since 2000 and has been involved with Blizzard Exclusive fansites since 2003. JR was also a co-host for 6 years on the Hearthstone podcast Well Met! He helped co-found BlizzPro in 2013.


0 responses to “Deck of the Week #37: Sjow’s Warrior”

  1. jakdripr says:

    In regards to Ysera vs priest, you forgot to mention one very important point. Most priest will hold on to their mind controls exclusively for her, so best to formulate a plan to deal with her if she gets snatched before you play her.