Translator: 无月封, published by Team Forefront
Hi, I am LFBleau in team LuckyFuture (LF). As the hearthstone meta gradually stabilized, I would like to share my understanding and strategies of “Invincible” warrior to the players who love such boring but also challenging deck.
Because of some trivial things, I started laddering on 20th last month. But it took less than 5 days and nearly 80%-win rate to reach the top 50 from 1800. What a miraculous deck.
Warriors was not popular until Mid-April (probably because of grand master), and soon popularized in CN hearthstone high ranking as well. As I said, Egg Warrior is a “boring but also challenging deck”. I don’t think any other mainstream decks could beat Egg Warrior in current meta if the player is good enough. Thus, it is a challenging deck. In other rankings, like 5 to legend, rogue and demon hunter are still the most popular decks, but warrior must be the winner of this meta.
Decklist
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Since warrior became popular last month, more and more players play priests in high ranking. Therefore, Grommash is necessary. In the meta without so many priests, I recommend Captain Greenskin instead. It is good when facing mirror match, rogue, and demon hunter. And it is better than the second Kro’kron because of its value. Then, we only have one flexible change. I delete Injured Tol’vir because it is only good when coin in Tol’vir and then combo with Rampage or facing rogue. I don’t like this card and I think it deviates from the strategy of Egg Warrior (I will explain in the following). Corsair Cache and Serpent Egg are better options in turn 2, unless Tol’vir can combo with Bloodsworn Mercenary or Rampage.
Card Analysis
Risky Skipper: Spirt of the spirt, no skipper no warrior. I see many players like to play Risky Skipper in turn 1 when facing demon hunter or rogue and then lose the game. It’s a classic mistake. In 99% of the cases, you can’t play this card alone. In disadvantage situation, you can use Risky Skipper + small minions + Bloodboil Brute combo to reverse the game; In advantage situation, Risky Skipper + small minions + Battle Rage will solidify your victory. (However, you should not keep this card in opening hand unless your opponent is demon hunter.
Battle Rage: As I said how OP Risky Skipper is, Battle Rage is the reason for that. You should keep this card towards every class (except demon hunter). That’s why we also call Egg Warrior “Tempo Warrior”. The more card you draw, the more tempo you have.
Corsair Cache: This is the key card in our strategies of Egg Warrior. Nobody will be afraid of a warrior without a weapon. If you have a 3/3 weapon in early games, you can hardly lose tempo. Crushing your opponent with weapon while expand your board, this is the best tempo.
Ancharrr: If you draw Ancharrr by Corsair Cache, I can guarantee that your win rate is over 50% unless your opponent is priest. As I said you should not keep Risky Skipper in opening hand, but it is still important. We expect to draw Risky Skipper by this weapon. Thus, if you do not have Corsair Cache, you should keep this weapon or keep both.
Strategy
There are two main strategies of Egg Warrior:
Win by tempo, especially for Egg Warriors, and I am inclined to this strategy more.
What is tempo? Tempo is to stick to your strategy and win the game step by step. Therefore, Corsair Cache is the most important card. You should keep this card in 90% of the cases (expect your opponent is demon hunter and he play first). Weapon can help you to control the board. With the diverse combo and card draws, you can suppress your opponent again and again until you finish the him by OTK. Since this deck relies on all kinds of combos, board control is crucial to warriors.Win by agrro, I recommend sooni’s Enrage Warrior.
In this strategy, you should keep cards like Battle Rage and Bloodsworn Mercenary. You can keep Injured Tol’vir if you bring it in your deck. Compare with Egg Warrior, Enrage Warrior usually win the game is early turns, since it brings Injured Tol’vir and two Kor’kron Elites. In mirror match, copying a rampaged Tol’vir means win the game.
Match
Demon Hunter
Keep Corsair Cache, Warmaul Challenger, Ancharrr if you play first (keep Bloodsworn Mercenary if you have Challenger). Usually in this match, you can win the game by combos like Warmaul Challenger + Inner Rage/Rampage + Bloodsworn Mercenary or Risky Skipper + Armorsmith + Bloodsworn Mercenary.
Mirror
There are two possible situations:
- One of them have Warmaul Challenger/Egg + Rampage + Bloodsworn Mercenary in early game and another one concedes.
- Both hold their hands and use their resources carefully until one run out of removals. In this match, tempo and value are particularly important. Therefore, the one with Corsair Cache in early game will have the upper hand. In such match, I usually try my best to find Corsair Cache in opening hand. (Greenskin or Stickyfinger will also create great value in this match). Here are some tips in mirror match:
- Warroirs can’t deal with Teron Gorefiend + Egg combo
- If you find too many warriors in your ranking, Stickfinger is not a bad choice.
- If both hold their hand and the game seems to be deadlocked, the one who has OTK will win the game.
Rogue
Keep Rampage if you have Injured Tol’vir or Challenger. If your opponent doesn’t have Ambush or Blackjack, they are strong against rogues. Don’t play Bloodboil Brute alone against rogue in case of Skyshiv. Usually you should play it along with wide boards. Since Skyshiv already cost 6 mana, rogue can hardly deal with other minions. Skipper + Bomb Wrangler + Mercenary combo is extremely strong against rogue.
Priest
The only bad match for warriors is priest, while having Grommash in your deck will promote your win rate against priest significantly. The main strategy is to draw cards, draw weapons, and draw minions. With enough resources, you can lower priest’s HP by success small boards until you OTK your opponents. If you have coin, you could have insane OTK damage, such as Grommash + Inner Rage + Coin + Mercenary, Kor’kron + Inner Rage + Rampage + 2 Mercenaries. Or in early game, you have Tol’vir/Egg + Rampage + Mercenary (If you have Challenger and Inner Rage in open hand, you may keep them).
Warlock
Nowadays, most warlocks are Zoo Warlocks. The key card is Imprisoned Scrap Imp. If he doesn’t have it, we don’t need to fear of him. If he has it in early games, he is in advantage. In such situation, we can only rely on Risky Skipper. Thus, except Corsair Cache and Ancharrr, sometime you can keep Risky Skipper.