Update #3
4 years, 8 months ago · Wailing Caverns
- Cult Neophyte x1
- Salhet's Pride x-1
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Wild
Highlander Paladin
Ranked
Aladdin
his magic carpet
Abu
the Genie
and the other Genie!
_____
Together they must face the threats of the evil Jafar
and free the beautiful princess Jasmine
(I assure you she's beatiful to a Murloc)
Inception of the deck
Show Spoiler
Right after reaching Legend, I switched to Reno Paladin homebrewing. And it turned out to be a failure in too many games. Despite my tweaks, an average Midrange Reno Paladin can't just deal with the current Wild meta: you're squeezed between relentless Aggro, for which you have limited removals, and fast Combo decks (OTK but also Control with swings that Paladin can only dream of so far).
So I switched my perspective entirely, I crafted Sir Finley of the Sands (despite his minor immediate impact) and went for an aggressive plan, fighting Aggro with my own Tempo, keeping the Highlander cards for versatility (finishers and survival when needed, basically adding an additional layer to the typical linear gameplan of Aggro). I am climbing back my ranks now, and could win consistently enough both against Control decks (Cubelock, Reno Priest), and other Aggro (Pirate Warrior, Demon Hunters).
Winconditions
You can and should apply some of each for the wins):
- large board + Sunkeeper Tarim/Zephrys the Great (Odd and Mech Paladin can't benefit from these)
- pressure with weapons, Aggressive HP from Sir Finley of the Sands (Odd and Mech Paladin can't use him), Leeroy Jenkins
- (against Control/Combo) You can protect your board at key points of the game with Never Surrender!, Rebuke (Odd Paladin can't use this), Loatheb, Oh My Yogg!. Just plan them turns ahead for when you have a significant board, don't play them at random: these are truly key cards. AND DON'T OVERCOMMIT (unless you have a backup plan ready).
- (against Aggro) Your plan is to play Tempo against them, ultimately wasting their resources with Highlander value. You can turn Highlander cards in versatile lifesavers (either to improve your Tempo, or to survive against Aggro). If you have a Magic Carpet at hand, try to plan for swing turns, try not to waste it. Reno Jackson is there to outlast Aggro decks that manage to be faster than you are.
- Don't make misplays. While you have a lot of versatility in this list, there's nearly no room for misplays here. Plan ahead your turns, and those of your opponent as well.
Additional Notes
- This is still an off-meta deck, but I find it really fun to play, and decently satisfying about its winrate too. Your opponent will surely be baffled in front of your cards (and will hardly be able to make effective playarounds).
- Reno Jackson in an Aggro deck makes sense when you face a better consistent Aggro deck: you trade consistency for much higher survival. Since and as long as the meta is heavily Aggro-oriented, Reno fits this list.
- This deck is optimized for maximum consistency of crystology, Infectious Sporeling and Magic Carpet for insane swing turns.
- Air Raid provides consistency, to mimic Odd Paladin (not the same thing ofc, but quite good to refill the board).
- Dragonqueen Alexstrasza is NOT included because by turn-9 you should have already won or lost the game (Paladin can hardly win games beyond this point, without full-blown OTK). She'd be a dead card in hand in the vast majority of games.
Just know your cards very well, and even more importantly, know your opponent even better: this deck contains several cards to play around most of the decks in the meta. While npt optimal against any, it does have ways out against most of them. Play with the next turn (better with next two turns) in mind, and you will be good to go.
Changelog
Card Updates
Update #2
4 years, 9 months ago · Barrens Buffs
- Hog Rancher x1
- Blazing Battlemage x1
- Argent Protector x1
- Salhet's Pride x1
- Oh My Yogg! x-1
- Lord Barov x-1
- Mad Scientist x-1
- First Day of School x-1
Update #1
4 years, 9 months ago · Quilboar Tribe
- Shielded Minibot x1
- Knight of Anointment x1
- Lord Barov x1
- Mad Scientist x1
- Animated Broomstick x1
- Kazakus, Golem Shaper x1
- Conviction (Rank 1) x1
- Magic Carpet x-1
- Blessing of Might x-1
- Libram of Justice x-1
- Fire Fly x-1
- Maiev Shadowsong x-1
- Rebuke x-1
- Keeper of Uldaman x-1
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Comments
Updated for Barrens! I just reached Legend with this list (from 10 stars).
Included Lorekeeper Polkelt (instead of flash of light).
Do notice that Polkelt should ONLY be used when you are FAIRLY SURE of what you want to play in the following turns, ie if you are fishing for lethal or survival (Reno).
In any other case, you should hold him in hand, as many key cards in the deck are low cost anyway.
Ha! This looks like a lot of fun!
Damn this looks fun! I have all the cards for it, so I'll give it a spin.
Thanks for the guide, too. I see your point about Dragonqueen, but I might try her anyway. I find that there are some matches with an aggro deck where you need just one last late-game push to seal the deal. I'll start without, then add her in if I think she'd help. She's such a powerful and fun card to play!
Yeah, in my original concept she was there. It might even be I am bad at managing resources for so long as Midrange, so she might be good for you.
The deck is indeed surprisingly fun to play, it just needs some games to get attuned to it (and how to optimally setup playarounds against meta decks).
Good luck!
Not so good so far. I beat a quest mage and lost to 2 even shamans, a dragon priest and a Galakrond priest (why do people play standard decks in wild?).
We need more draw. Why not Divine Favor?
I'm LOVING Infectious Sporeling! A real surprise card IMO. I managed to combo with the Carpet several times, transforming Giants and whatnot, then clearing with a weapon or tokens. Dude is badASS.
Yeah, too bad this deck can't double the sporeling guy! Even without the Carpet, it forces awkwards moves by the opponent, like a mini-Sylvanas. I'm surprised it's not ravaging the mode.
As for the rest, I think you have too little a sample there. It took to me quite some time to get used to the deck. Not that it means the deck is a meta breaker, but I was able to defeat all the archetypes you mentioned in my climb to Diamond (so far I was able to defeat any kind of meta deck at least once). Ofc I also lost a lot, but not overwhelmingly so.
As for Divine Favor, the card was originally there, but I ended up ditching it because I could hardly benefit from it (no benefit against Aggro, not enough Tempo against Control). I was surprised as well of this, but my experience with it was pretty clear. You can try and replace the Ooze for it.
I like this deck, let's hope in next expansion aggro paladin makes a comeback, libram and aggro could work if more sinergies are added to it.
I totally agree. More cheap cards added to the Libram archetype could easily fit this deck and archetype.
Sir Finley of the Sands would love to retrieve new Librams, maybe even a Legendary/Highlander book...
Back to Diamond10 in 19 games and 13 victories. That is 68,4% wr. The vast majority of matchups were against meta mecks.
Some games I used Highlander cards, some games I didn't draw them at all but won nonetheless. (Some games I played them but lost)
I've gotta say I am quite pleased with the deck. Better than I thought. It doesn't feel like an offmeta deck, like AT ALL. More like a t3-t2 deck.
(but I am even more surprised of my skillz at piloting it like woah man how did I even manage! xD)
I'll keep playing this until my wr falls flat to about 50%.
Stay tuned! #letsmakehighlanderaggrogreat
Question: how important are Sunkeeper Tarim And Maiev Shadowsong?
They’re the only ones I don’t have, and I would love to try this deck
I daresay they are key cards here.
Both act as winconditions and/or lifesavers.
You can try to replace Maiev with Frozen Shadoweaver, or Spellbreaker (if meta is taunt/deathrattle).
It's much harder to replace Sunkeeper. It's not the best card ever, but it's one of the best for how this deck works (small but large boards). You can try with a Fungalmancer or maybe a Sword of Justice but that's really far from what Tarim does.Alternatively, you can overhaul the deck entirely with a Murloc setup, with Murloc Warleader, Gentle Megasaur, Felfin Navigator, but then you need Old Murk-Eye for optimality.
Ofc I've won games without either of them (in the same way I've won without playing the Highlander cards), but they help a lot with the consistency.
Btw, Platinum3 with 67% wr atm.
Overall, I think you can still try the deck without them, from a rank floor: just know you're playing a suboptimal list, and the deck itself is pretty challenging to pilot (so many times I misplayed both Zephrys and Finley...).
Thank you so much for the feedback and details on those cards. I will have to mull it over. I have enough dust to craft 5 or 6 legendaries, but I tend to be really hesitant to pull the trigger. Thanks again!
Trying my climb with this archetype this month. With 10 starting stars, I'm back to Gold with a 71% wr (5 in 7 games, already facing full-blown meta decks). Obviously I expect the wr to lower significantly, but hopefully I should also be able to find decent adjustments.
I will report my full data if and when I reach Diamond (if I fail I will just hide in silence haha).
PS: I play from mobile and I am not willing to install a tracker, sorry.