Hunter Rush, Annihilator or Krol Blade?

One of the big debates recently around the Internet has been which weapon is better in Hunter rush, Annihilator or Krol Blade. Today I'm going to look at each one and tell you which one I think is better and why.

Each weapon strikes for 3, but each weapon has one inherent advantage over the other. The Krol Blade costs one less to strike with leaving you one extra resource per turn over the Annihilator. In a deck that uses its resources each turn as effectively as the Hunter rush deck does, that one extra resource can mean a lot. The Annihilator's advantage is that its damage cannot be prevented. This means it goes through armor like Draconian Deflector and Golem Skull Helm. As a lesser point, it also can't be prevented by Soul Link against any Horde Warlocks that may run it. So the debate is, Is one resource per turn worth making my weapon damage unpreventable?

This question is only answerable in relation to how unpreventable damage affects your matchups. Let's take a look at the most common matchups the Hunter rush player will come across.

Shaman control-This matchup may be the one where Annihilator is most important. You will eventually reach a point where they have wiped out your board and you're just not going to get anything else through so you're basically relying on weapon damage + Aimed Shot. One Draconian Deflector shuts down your offense here except for your Aimed Shots. I was going to play a Shaman control deck at Regionals, and we tested this matchup with Krol Blade and with Annihilator, and it is much closer with Annihilator. Hunter players switching to Annihilators was one of our biggest concerns in the few days before Regionals.

Shaman beatdown-This matchup is a much closer decision which weapon is better. Most of these decks still run Draconian Deflector, so you still run into the same armor. The bigger problem here is the ability of Deflector to put you on the defensive as it will be impossible for your hero to deal any damage since they can protect their allies and then prevent your damage. Annihilator at least makes all your attacks count. They can still protect their allies but now at the expense of 3 health per turn. In this matchup though, where both decks are looking to end the game quickly, the one extra resource you would have per turn with Krol Blade would allow you to play more allies which may help you win the race. I haven't tested this matchup at all with different weapons so I'm not sure which is better, but I think this matchup favors the Annihilator.

Dizdemona control-This is one of the matchups that's pretty easy as far as this debate goes. With no damage prevention Krol Blade is the clear choice in this matchup. Of course, you're not very likely to keep either one around very long, but if you can keep one if play for more than one turn Krol Blade will end up being cheaper.

Dizdemona rush-This matchup along with the mirror are the only reasons to consider still running Krol Blade. Again, they have no damage prevention but this time it's going to come down to who can deal 28 or 29 faster. The one resource you save per turn will make the biggest difference in this matchup. On turn 6 you can play a Fury and still strike which can be game changing.

Mirror-As far as weapon choice this matchup is the same as Dizdemona rush.

Warrior-This is another one that favors Annihilator. This matchup is already pretty good for you, but giving yourself the ability to pierce their armor the few times they do manage to stabilize the board makes this matchup incredibly favorable. If you play Krol Blade, you will lose some games here that you would have won otherwise. When the Warrior does stabilize here, he will only have a few turns to win if you have Annihilator instead of being able to sit and basically win at his own leisure against a Krol Blade. I expect Warriors to become more popular in the coming weeks to combat the control decks that have moved to the top.

Paladin-Annihilator is very good in this matchup as well. This matchup generally comes down to how much damage you can deal before they Skullflame Shield and/or Flame Wrath. A lot of the Paladin decks don't run any heal effects so if you can get them close to death with allies the Annihilator will finish them off. Even if they do run heal effects, at least with Annihilator you will always be getting some damage through. This is another matchup where Annihilator is significantly better than Krol Blade.

Mage control-This deck has no armor and no other ways to prevent damage so your damage is unpreventable anyway. Again, though, you are unlikely to keep a weapon in play for more than a couple of turns so it may be a moot point.

So we have a couple matchups where Annihilator is clearly better (Shaman control, Warrior, Paladin), a couple where Krol Blade is clearly better (non-Shaman control decks, Hunter rush, and Alliance rush) and one where it's close, but the Annihilator probably gets the nod (Shaman beatdown). So the choice really comes down to your local metagame. If you expect a lot of rush and Alliance control decks, run Krol Blade. If you expect a lot of Shamans and Warriors, go with the Annihilator. If you're unsure what to expect, I would lean towards the Annihilator as it is not significantly worse than Krol Blade in the matchups where Krol Blade is better, but is significantly better than Krol Blade against Shamans and Warriors.