After a new expansion gets released, the Hearthstone meta always gets shaken up a little bit, but the Mean Streets Of Gadgetzan has completely flipped it upside down and beat it to death with a Fiery War Axe . Even though the set isn’t even a week old, we can already see some deckbuilding trends starting to emerge. Jade Golem cards are busted, Paladin minion buffs aren’t only a gimmick and Pirate Warrior is beyond OP.
Pirates have always been a pretty gimmicky class in Hearthstone. There were always some okay Pirates, like Dread Corsair and Bloodsail Raider, but never enough for a good deck. MSG has rectified that mistake by releasing some truly busted Pirate cards. Small Time Buccaneer is one of the best 1-cost minions in the game. Combo it with a Patches The Pirate in your deck and your turn one can be absolutely terrifying.
Drop a Fiery War Axe on turn two and you have a 3/2 and a 1/1 minion that your opponent has to deal with immediately. If you don’t have a Fiery War Axe, N’zoth’s First Mate can help you out with a weapon for just one mana. On turn three, play a Bloodsail Cultist and you have pretty much just won the game. Not even Shaman can ramp up as much as Pirate Warrior.
Pirate Warrior has emerged as the best deck of the expansion because it can do so much so quickly. It’s an Aggro deck that wants to deal as much damage as quickly as possible. If you’ve ever played Face Hunter or Dragon Warrior, it’s the same playstyle. You don’t want to trade, you want to just keep slapping your opponent’s face as much as possible with your weapons and minions. Drop a Leeroy Jenkins on turn five and the game is yours.
How To Beat Pirate Warrior
Winning against Pirate Warrior requires a lot of luck. You need your opponent not to draw any of their much needed combo cards like Hobart Grapplehammer or Southsea Deckhand. If you can survive past turn seven with over 15 health, you have a chance of winning the game. Just make sure not to fall victim to one of Warrior’s most vicious combos: A Frothing Berserker and Mortal Strike combo can kill you swiftly.
Very few decks can match Pirate Warrior’s aggression, but Shaman and Priest can put up one hell of a fight. Feral Spirits can eat up weapon stacks and Cabal Shadow Priest can take away Argent Horseriders and Small Time Buccaneers.
Here’s a full MSG Pirate Warrior decklist for Hearthstone:
Inner Rage × 1
N'Zoth's First Mate × 2
Upgrade! × 2
Execute × 1
Fiery War Axe × 2
Heroic Strike × 2
Hobart Grapplehammer × 1
Bloodsail Cultist × 2
Frothing Berserker × 2
Kor'kron Elite × 2
Mortal Strike × 2
Arcanite Reaper × 2
Patches the Pirate × 1
Small-Time Buccaneer × 2
Southsea Deckhand × 2
Bloodsail Raider × 2
Argent Horserider × 1
Leeroy Jenkins × 1
