Hearthstone is in a weird state after the last set of balance of changes. When Blizzard announced nerfs for Corridor Creeper and Patches , it looked like a massive hole was about to left in meta.
Smaller decks that may not have ever been viable seemed like they might actually break into tier one; some even speculated that Shaman wouldn’t be useless anymore. Instead, Control Warlock jumped to the top of ladder, with Murloc Paladin right behind it. For days, I saw nothing but these decks in ranks five to nine, with a splash of Dragon Priest throw in every few games.
Then, a deck I never saw coming started to appear more frequently. I laughed when I first saw Drygulch Jailor on the board, thinking that there was no way that card could be useful. Then I started to see the synergy: summoning recruits with Lost In The Jungle and Vinecleaver , and then buffing them with Level Up! and Lightfused Stegadon. The synergies were jaw-dropping. I couldn’t believe the amount of power I was getting out of an army of dudes.
Dude Paladin does have its downsides. It has a tendency to get really bad draws, with many high-cost spells that do nothing in the early game. It also struggles against the meta’s most popular deck, Control Warlock, which you’ll be seeing a lot of. Without Spellbreakers there’s no way to properly deal with Voidlords or the rest of the doofy demon desperados.
Here’s the deck list I’ve been using, feel free to take out Divine Favor for a Spellbreaker if the meta dictates.
2x Argent Squire
2x Lost in the Jungle
2x Righteous Protector
2x Dire Wolf Alpha
1x Drygulch Jailor
1x Equality
2x Knife Juggler
2x Divine Favor
2x Rallying Blade
2x Steward of Darkshire
2x Unidentified Maul
2x Call to Arms
2x Lightfused Stegodon
2x Stand Against Darkness
2x Crystal Lion
1x Sunkeeper Tarim
1x Vinecleaver
How do you feel about Dude Paladin? Tell us in the comments.
