Paladin in Murder at Castle Nathria - Top New Cards and Best Day 1 Decks

The full set of cards for Murder at Castle Nathria has been revealed a little while ago, and we're nearing the time when they can finally become a part of our collection. Still not sure what to make of Paladin or what kind of decks to play? We've broken down all class archetypes for the upcoming expansion and gathered a variety of theorycraft decks from streamers, pros, and community members to guide you on Day 1.

First off, there is a lot of other relevant content that you might be interested in:

• You can find all important information about the upcoming set in our Murder at Castle Nathria expansion guide.
• You can also build decks with all these new cards in our deckbuilder.
• The new Rewards Track has been fully detailed. Get a head start on the early XP gains! 
• Major Patch 24.0 (plus hotfixes) prepared the ground for the expansion with various game mode updates and features.
• Need a more detailed overview of new themes and mechanics? We've also covered the Infuse keyword.
• This time around, you'll be able to open your packs faster than before - should you wish to! 

Now, onto what's right around the corner. Before we jump into a variety of potential decks, here is a quick look at the class in the upcoming expansion: 

Castle Nathria Paladin - Quick Impressions

• After a year-long hiatus, support for Silver Hand Recruit Paladin (affectionately referred to as 'Dude-adin) returns!
• Pure Paladin also makes a return, with a few tools that allow it to maybe not be too pure.
• An emphasis on food service and fine dining makes for one of the most interesting Paladin's set flavors to date.

Castle Nathria Paladin - Expansion Cards & Archetypes 

For Paladin, two archetypes have asserted themselves as the favorite to play on Day 1: Dudes and class cards.

Silver Hand Recruit Paladin

You know them, you love them, the Silver Hand Recruits are reporting for duty! Rise to the Occasion and its reward of The Silver Hand and Lightborn Cariel was the last time we saw explicit support for Dude Paladin. Castle Nathria makes it far easier to complete the Questline, since Sinful Sous Chef effectively counts as two triggers while Promotion is a powerful and synergistic card in any Dude-emphasized deck. Stewart the Steward of the Stew Ward (yes, that's his full title) and Buffet Biggun could also see play in non-dude emphasized decks. Paladin's Reinforce already allows Stewart to create plenty of value if he is summoned early enough. However, Paladin decks so far tend to heavily rely on Lightforged Cariel, which may dissuade Stewart's inclusion in more Control-oriented decks.

Pure Paladin

The last support for Pure Paladin was High Exarch Yrel way back in Darkmoon Faire. The Countess is the latest edition to the Pure Paladin family and rewards Legendary Invitations, with it being especially potent in Control decks looking for late-game value and/or shenaniganry. Losing Neutrals is a little hard for Paladin though, since they synergize exceptionally well with cards such as Wild Pyromancer and Blademaster Samuro.

Elitist Snob isn't quite as elitist as The Countess and does allow for some Neutral cards, so long as you have enough Paladin cards in your hand. Snob will likely fit into a huge number of Paladin decks since a stronger Zilliax is reward plenty for simply running your class cards. Muckborn Servant is also generally flexible, and will likely see large amounts of play. Service Bell is very interesting in finding more Class (almost always Paladin) cards. Draw is always good, but this card may also have some fringe play cases where you run only a few class cards and are guaranteed to draw them with Service Bell.

Other Paladin Cards

Divine Toll is a weird card. It's at its best either when your board is empty and you need removal, or when the opponent's board is empty and you want damage. The specific board states that it demands might be too difficult for it to warrant an inclusion in deck lists, but it might be a key play when Discovered from effects like Battle Vicar or Muckborn Servant.

Great Hall is a flexible and powerful tool for most Paladin decks. You can grow a basic Silver Hand Recruit to get an optimal trade, but the card really shines as a way to dissuade the opponent from creating a large minion. You can hold Great Hall on the board until the opponent plays a Snowfall Guardian or Ivus, the Forest Lord to significantly reduce the threat they would pose.

Castle Nathria Paladin - Top Neutral Cards

Paladin's card draw typically requires a lot of investment, like playing specifically Mechs for Radar Detector or spamming Holy Maki Roll on Myrmidon. Famished Fool makes it a bit easier for Paladin to access decent card draw since the class baseline has an easier time infusing cards than most, given the availability of Silver Hand Recruits via the Hero Power.

Dredger Staff is very good in a Rise to the Occasion deck, but is also at least decent for many other Paladin directions. Paladins use a lot of minions, so Dredger Staff is very likely to get a lot of benefit from its buff. +1 Health can push minions past certain breakpoints and make them much harder to kill. 

I'm going to make the bold claim and say that Scuttlebutt Ghoul will be relevant for Paladins, possibly even bringing some form of Secret Paladin back. Paladins are able to handbuff the Ghoul and generally have the easiest time playing or discovering Secrets, potentially making the minion a large defensive tempo swing for decks that want to go longer.

Castle Nathria Paladin - Day 1 Decks to Try

Not sure what to play for the class once it's time to enter Castle Nathria? We've gathered a handful of early deck ideas from all across the Hearthstone tavern just to help you out:

Questline Dude Paladin

Languagehacker made a Rise to the Occasion deck with plenty of 1-drop cards to complete the quest as soon as possible. Sinful Sous Chef and Buffet Biggun keep the Dudes coming and Famished Fool helps prevent the deck from running out of steam. Youthful Brewmaster is surprisingly powerful, either returning a 1-drop to continue completion or enabling another trigger of Lightborn Cariel.

Midrange Pure Paladin

Trump put together a Midrange deck for Pure Paladin. Stewart the Steward helps the deck push early game aggression with bolstered hero powers, handbuff synergies with Alliance Bannerman and Elitist Snob keep the pressure on or stabilize if needed, and Lightforged Cariel and The Countess can close out longer games.

Renathal Control Paladin

Old Guardian utilized some of the current Holy Paladin pieces, such as The Garden's Grace and Mr. Smite combo, and gave it a bit more control 'oomph'. Prince Renathal of course adds the extra 10 health, but Elitist Snob and Muckborn Servant are both exceptional at tempering early game aggression while Theotar, the Mad Duke can help get rid of other decks' combo pieces or win conditions.

Wild Mode Questline Paladin

Blutrane made a Wild Rise to the Occasion deck that was featured on the Born to be Wild Podcast. Once again Sinful Sous Chef and Buffet Biggun provide ample Dude refill and Promotion gives the deck a bit of extra reach. Prince Liam is a spicy inclusion to turn your 1-drops into potential late-game value once the quest is completed.

More Class Coverage for Murder at Castle Nathria

Want to look at what we've put together for another Castle Nathria suspect class? The navigation links below can take you there in an instant!

•  Demon Hunter
•  Druid
•  Warlock
•  Warrior
•  Mage
•  Hunter
•  Paladin
•  Priest
•  Shaman
•  Rogue

What do you think of Paladin's card package for the upcoming expansion? Which decks are you going to take for a spin once Murder at Castle Nathria goes live on August 2? Is there something else from your favorite content creator that we didn't include here? Let us know in the comments!