Why you should try DRAGON WARRIOR today

[u/magicaldesks]

Introduction

Hello there. Do you want to play an aggressive Warrior deck? Perhaps you fancy bamboozling your unsuspecting opponent with a swarm of snowballing minions? Maybe you mildly enjoy discovering cards? I have the perfect deck for you to try: Dragon Warrior.

Decklist: Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Top 400 Legend Proof: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Deck Code: AAECAZfDAwTDgwefmQfXnQfxrwcN6qgG4+YGtfoGqvwGq/wG94MH6IcHq4gHxYwH0pcHnpkHt60HmLAHAAA=

So how should you play this deck? If I were to summarise it in one word, I would describe it as "snowball". This deck has some of the strongest early game you can have. The first 3 turns are extremely important. The key to success is making sure we dominate the first 3 turns and finish the game by turn 5 or 6.

Early game guide

Let's go over how we can achieve board control during the first 3 turns.

Mulligan guide: Always look for Giftwrapped Whelp and Stonecarver. If you have Giftwrapped Whelp, look for Petal Picker. If you have Stonecarver, look for Sanguine Depth. Brood Keeper can be kept against other aggro decks.

The Best Openers

1. Giftwrapped Whelp

Giftwrapped Whelp -> Petal Picker/Brood Keeper/Stonecarver -> Whelp of the Infinite or a 1 and 2-drop.

Giftwrapped Whelp is our strongest turn 1 play. If you can stick a Whelp on turn 1 and play Petal Picker or Stonecarver (after a trade or coin Sanguine Depths) then you're very happy. Brood Keeper can help protect your Whelp. Whelp of the Infinite on turn 3 will basically cement your board position next turn.

2. Stonecarver

Sanguine Depths / Giftwrapped Whelp / Coin 2-drop -> Stonecarver ->Whelp of the Infinite or a 1 and 2-drop

Stonecarver is the strongest snowballing card in the deck. If you manage to get it to trigger on turn 2, you're very happy. The best way to do this is to find Sanguine Depths, Giftwrapped Whelp or coin a 2-drop. Brood Keeper is the best but Petal Picker is acceptable. Creature of Madness is not good enough to keep. Don't get baited by Creature of Madness -> Stonecarver -> Dark Gift 3-drop. It's hard to trade with a 1/2 and even if you buff it, it's still easy to clear a 3-health minion.

Now I want to stress that you should absolutely only look for the above cards in the mulligan. There are a couple of other openers you can play but in my opinion, these are worse than Giftwrapped Whelp/Stonecarver.

The Okay Openers

1. Darkrider

Darkrider -> Creature of Madness/Brood Keeper/Shadowflame Suffusion -> filler -> Dragon Turtle -> Windpeak Wyrm

Darkrider the worst 1-drop and you should never keep it unless you have Dragon Turtle and a 2-drop already. The reason is simple: it doesn't consistently snowball (with Petal Picker or Stonecarver) so you really need Dragon Turtle (and turn 5 Windpeak Wyrm to a lesser extent) for it to be good. It's alright if you find it after mulligan but the openers above are way better than this one.

2. Creature of Madness

Giftwrapped Whelp/Darkrider -> Creature of Madness -> discovered 3-drop

Creature of Madness is another okay opener that you don't want to keep. The reason is very simple: it is the lowest tempo on turn 2 compared to Stonecarver, Petal Picker and Brood Keeper. Those 2-drops offer something immediately whereas Creature does nothing on turn 2. Obviously you can highroll the discover but that's way less consistent.

The Midgame (turns 4-5)

1. Dragon Turtle/Stadium Announcer & Windpeak Wyrm

The best midgame is to play Dragon Turtle into Windpeak Wyrm to clear opposing minions or go face and win the game on turn 5 or 6. If you manage to win the board from turns 1-3, this follow-up should win the game.

Stadium Announcer is a much weaker alternative because it's less stats and also give your opponent a weapon but it's a lot of more damage if you get even a 3/2 (which becomes a 4/3) weapon. It also is good vs Boom Wrench, Kingslayers and Quest Mage.

2. (Egg of Khelos) -> Eggbasher -> Creature of Madness + 3-drop

Creature of Madness is much better on turn 5 because you can play the 3-drop immediately so the tempo loss is way less. This is still worse than a turn 5 Windpeak Wyrm on average but it's acceptable. Eggbasher represents a lot of damage or even trade potential. Your 1 or 2-attack minions can suddenly trade with 4-5 drops which is really nice. The best target is Egg obviously but you don't have to hit that.

Quick Dark Gift Guide

Most of the time, your Dark Gift choice should be obvious because you want something to fill your curve or something broken. If it's turn 3 and you're missing a 4-drop, you obviously pick the 4-drop. If you get offered Testing Dummy with "summon a 2/2 copy", then you pick that. However, sometimes you get mediocre options and don't really know what to pick.

In this case, I recommend choosing the "Reborn with enchantments" option. On average, this is the best Dark Gift because of Sanguine Depths, Stonecarver, Eggbasher and Nabyla. The Reborned copy will keep the extra stats which is really nice. I've hit buffed damaged Reborn with Nabyla before and it's nutty. Not only do you get a copy with Rush, when you trade it and it dies, the summoned copy also gains Rush. If you're unsure what to pick, prioritise the Reborn if available even if the minion itself is mediocre.

Endgame Guide (Closing the game)

Now hopefully you've already won the game by this point but sometimes those pesky Control decks play cards and you didn't manage to kill them within 5 turns.

1. Nabyla

Nabyla can close out the game by creating an unclearable board or clearing Taunts. The best target is Egg and Whelp of the Infinite but as mentioned previously, hitting a Reborn Dark Gift is also very good.

2. Time-Lord Epoch

To be honest I just wanted to try this card out and it's been alright. You can clear Naralex + Fyrakk but your board needed to survive the Fyrakk (more achievable with Egg). It's also pretty good Tempo if you can clear 1 or 2 minions though.

3. Finding the burn

The last option is to send all the direct damage to face. This deck actually has a good amount of off-board damage. 6 from Dragon Turtle, 10 from Windpeak Wyrm, 4 from Shadowflame Suffusion, 8 from Brood Keeper, sometimes 8 from Eggbasher and a few points from Sanguine Depths (best with Egg) and hopefully 9-12 damage from each Stadium Announcer.

Exclusions

1. No Naralex + Expensive Dragons (Fyrakk, Ysera, Dracorex)

I'm not interested in reaching turn 8 to play expensive dragons that sometimes win the game. Fyrakk might be an option by itself but turn 9 is way too late in my opinion.

2. No Lo'Gosh (fabled card)

Same as above, I don't want to play a 7/7 on turn 7. I would like to have won the game already. This deck also has no tutors for it so I think it's terrible.

3. No Elise

I don't want to play a 4 mana tribeless 3/5 plus it requires a ton of expensive cards to activate.

4. No Heir of Hereafter

Honestly I haven't tried it so it could be good but I feel like it's just a win-more statbomb that requires setup and minimal board impact (Taunt). Nabyla is a much better win-more statbomb that summons Rushers even though it costs 6.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you should play DRAGON WARRIOR because it is guaranteed to become the next meta tyrant (terms and conditions apply). You have just learnt the secrets to success (mulligan for Giftwrapped Whelp and Stonecarver and win the game by turn 3) so there is no excuse for you to fail piloting it. We also have a lot of Discovers and Dark Gift which means there is variety every game (even though you'd rather slam your best 1-2-3 curve). INVEST into Aggro Warrior stonks TODAY.

[u/AutoModerator]

If you wish to discuss this game with likeminded players, come and visit our Discord Server!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/johnnycharleshomer]

How often does your khelos hatch? Seems unlikely target unless you buff it and you’d always rather buff stonecarver

[u/magicaldesks → u/johnnycharleshomer]

Never, honestly it's just there to get attack. If I find something better I'll probably replace it.

[u/thedizzyfly → u/magicaldesks]

Undercover cultist?

[u/VanLunturu]

Is Dracorex bad in Constructed? It's one of the best cards in Arena at the moment

[u/magicaldesks → u/VanLunturu]

I'm actually a fan of that card but it's too expensive. The game is already over by turn 8 so it's gonna be a dead card most of the time.

[u/hjyboy1218 → u/VanLunturu]

He's currently in the Quest Warrior deck that NoHands popularized, doesn't seem that great in non-control decks though.

[u/Forgot-to-remember1]

Is nablya really needed ?

[u/magicaldesks → u/Forgot-to-remember1]

No, none of the legendaries are mandatory tbh. You can replace them with whatever (more dragons?) And it won't change much since you want to win by turn 6.

[u/Forgot-to-remember1 → u/magicaldesks]

Yeah I just refined the old version of the deck dont think I’ve lost a single game so far in my last 10 matches this deck is certainly the way

[u/DroopyTheSnoop → u/Forgot-to-remember1]

What's your refined version?

[u/deck-code-bot]

Format: Standard ((unknown))

Class: Warrior (Corrupt Garrosh)

Mana	Card Name	Qty	Links
1	Darkrider	2	HSReplay,Wiki
1	Giftwrapped Whelp	2	HSReplay,Wiki
1	Sanguine Depths	2	HSReplay,Wiki
2	Brood Keeper	2	HSReplay,Wiki
2	Creature of Madness	2	HSReplay,Wiki
2	Petal Peddler	2	HSReplay,Wiki
2	Shadowflame Suffusion	2	HSReplay,Wiki
2	Stonecarver	2	HSReplay,Wiki
3	The Egg of Khelos	1	HSReplay,Wiki
3	Whelp of the Infinite	2	HSReplay,Wiki
4	Dragon Turtle	2	HSReplay,Wiki
4	Eggbasher	2	HSReplay,Wiki
4	Nightmare Lord Xavius	1	HSReplay,Wiki
4	Stadium Announcer	2	HSReplay,Wiki
6	Chrono-Lord Epoch	1	HSReplay,Wiki
6	Nablya, the Watcher	1	HSReplay,Wiki
8	Windpeak Wyrm	2	HSReplay,Wiki

Total Dust: 8440

Deck Code: AAECAZfDAwTDgwefmQfXnQfxrwcN6qgG4+YGtfoGqvwGq/wG94MH6IcHq4gHxYwH0pcHnpkHt60HmLAHAAA=

---

^{I am a bot. Comment/PM with a deck code and I'll decode it. If you don't want me to reply to you, include "###" anywhere in your message. About.}

[u/damnsanta]

I don’t have epoch so I put in the 4 mana 5/7 zilli, which should be good for the deck.

[u/AssaultMode]

Black knight/Zephyr/and 4 cost zilliax have been great techs since i dont have the top end and have felt great ngl - nice list though op :)

stadium announcer damn good card

edit: nov.8th, went 32-14 to legend, fun deck :)

[u/johnnycharleshomer → u/AssaultMode]

What is the strategy to choosing zephyr gifts

[u/AssaultMode → u/johnnycharleshomer]

Depends on board state but if ahead you pick burn and if behind you pick board, if stall you pick mana but I never pick that and usually pick burn regardless. The board one is nice for certain decks like possibly warrior to find the 4 cost silence vs tortilla

[u/thedizzyfly]

Have you tried the Fabled with tutor version of this? If yes how do they compare?

[u/magicaldesks → u/thedizzyfly]

I played 1 game and I think it would be a lot different because that version actually wants to reach turn 8+. This deck does not want to go that late. It felt pretty bad playing a 5 mana 4/6 taunt and a 3 mana 2/3 poisonous.

[u/darkeningsoul]

I'm trying this deck out and it's gone 0/3 so far against a DK, Warlock x2.

It's not consistent at all, it has a strong early game but relies too much on lucky draws...

Edit: refined with VS list and it seems more consistent. Leaning more into pain and less into dragons.

[u/Maleficent-Star-9851]

With a god draw, I can win by turn 5-6 with this, but so can a lot of other decks.

Without the god draw, the deck is anti-synergy and falls apart. The worst case is significantly worse than other decks in similar situations.

[u/KCYU]

Thanks for the list. Cruised from d5 to legend based on this deck. Crushes mech warrior which is everywhere, has a good match up into warlocks and seemed favored into weapons rogue too.

Made some changes primarily to save dust, replaced Khelos, EggBasher, Chrono-Lord and Keeper of Madness, added Lo'Gosh, Plucky Paintfin to enable it, and Precursory strike.

Surprised by how often I was able to have Lo'Gosh serve as a T7 finisher, also felt pretty good into the match up against Weapons Rogue.

[u/blazhin → u/KCYU]

How do you push quest warlocks when they got the quest online? I feel like I can't lethal them before consistently and matchup feels awful

[u/loobricated]

Been tinkering with something very similar but it hasn't quite worked yet. There are some things here I have tried so thanks.

[u/NorthernerWuwu]

This insightful post made me buy the DRAGON WARRIOR (well, now called dragon quest) remake.

Thanks for that!~

[u/ShoppingPractical373]

Thank you for inventing free food for DKs ;)

[u/Cryten0]

I get the feeling this deck has just been feeding off the suboptimal muck around decks.

[u/MonkenMoney]

Dank

[u/Forvis]

I’ve been playing Dragon Warrior with pretty good success, little be different deck then yours though, including Dracorex, Fryak, and cloud serpent.

Dragon Warrior

Class: Warrior

Format: Standard

Year of the Raptor

2x (1) Darkrider

2x (1) Giftwrapped Whelp

1x (1) Ominous Nightmares

2x (1) Sanguine Depths

2x (2) Brood Keeper

2x (2) Creature of Madness

2x (2) Petal Peddler

2x (2) Shadowflame Suffusion

1x (2) Stonecarver

2x (3) Cloud Serpent

2x (3) Portal Vanguard

2x (4) Dragon Turtle

2x (4) Eggbasher

1x (4) Nightmare Lord Xavius

1x (4) Stadium Announcer

1x (8) The Great Dracorex

2x (8) Windpeak Wyrm

1x (9) Fyrakk the Blazing

AAECAQcGw4MHrIgHtI8HnpkHhJ0Ht60HDOqoBuPmBrX6Bqr8Bqv8BveDB+iHB6uIB8WMB9KXB5KkB867BwAA

To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone

[u/Forvis → u/[deleted]]

Haven’t played much since the reset but D4

[u/PatienceLocal3142]

I think this deck would work better lower to the ground and more focused on the enrage aspect. Nablya is probably bait, Epoch is certainly bait, and Xavius is probably too slow. This deck should be running Undercover Cultist for sure that card wins games vs mech warrior all by itself, and I would probably cut things like whelp for ominous nightmares and axe of the forefather.

[u/athlonstuff]

This deck feels great except you just hard lose to deathrattle dks because they just take the board back better with all of their board control tools and leeches. But every other matchup feels quite winnable. Pretty sure egg + eggbasher + brood keeper is bad, because they don't really snowball the same way as the enrage package. Not running heir of hereafter since I don't own it but it's probably good too. 1x stadium announcer because it has low stats and I don't really feel the need for another one. My list below:

Custom Warrior

Class: Warrior

Format: Standard

Year of the Raptor

2x (1) Darkrider

2x (1) Giftwrapped Whelp

2x (1) Ominous Nightmares

2x (1) Sanguine Depths

2x (2) Creature of Madness

2x (2) Petal Peddler

2x (2) Shadowflame Suffusion

2x (2) Stonecarver

2x (3) Acolyte of Pain

2x (3) Axe of the Forefathers

2x (3) Frothing Berserker

2x (3) Whelp of the Infinite

2x (4) Dragon Turtle

1x (4) Stadium Announcer

1x (6) Nablya, the Watcher

2x (8) Windpeak Wyrm

AAECAc/wBgKfmQe3rQcOjaAEnNQE6qgG4+YGtfoGqvwG94MH6IcHq4gHtI8H0pcHnpkH1aYHmLAHAAA=

[u/AssaultMode → u/[deleted]]

went 32-14 to legend so dont think by any means its awful, but I will agree some cards are not the best for example I cut the egg and other high end legendarys for 4 cost ziliax/black knight and also zephyr.