Regionals Primer-Matchup Analysis Warrior

Regionals is only a few days away, and we're almost done with our Regionals Primer. Today, I'm moving on to a deck that I think is a good deck, but its success may be dependent on the field around it. The Warrior combo deck.

Hunter-This matchup is a tough one. It's not unwinnable, but it's not easy either. The earlier you can bring a weapon online the better as it will allow you to start removing opposing allies. You have some decent removal abilities in Cleave and Mocking Blow. Mortal Strikes should be used as ally removal in this matchup. If you can survive the initial onslaught with a decent amount of health left you should be okay. Before I move on in this matchup, I want to quickly address something that has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now. If savvy Hunter players start putting Annihilators in the place of their Krol Blades, this matchup will go from bad to worse as you won't really be able to stabilize. You'll be forced to race them, but it will be like running a 100 yard dash with 40 lb. weights on each ankle. Moving past this, Shield Bash is a card that can be tough to use properly in this matchup. This is one of the few matchups, if not the only one, where both the 1-point of damage and the ability to interrupt an ability can both be important to winning. Against a Horde Hunter, you can usually go ahead and remove an ally, but against an Alliance Hunter, you have to be able to protect yourself from Aimed Shot. This is a matchup that will be difficult for you, but this deck is really good against the decks that beat Hunter.

Shaman-Outside of the Hunter, this will probably be your toughest matchup. They can put enough pressure on you so that you can't just sit around and wait for the combo to show up. A steady supply of allies, backed up by damage from Annihilator will put you on a steady but not too fast clock. You will probably be forced to play defense in this matchup, choosing which allies to remove by letting them attack into you. The Shaman has no answers to your combo except preventing 4 with Deflector. The goal here is really just to survive until you can get the combo. If you manage to destroy all their allies and have an Annihilator you can probably go ahead and start attacking their hero, but they will usually have a decided advantage in the race since they've been focusing everything on your hero. You need your combo to catch up. Your Mortal Strikes should only be used as ally removal in desperate situations. If you use up your Mortal Strikes on allies, you will be hard pressed to catch up on damage later. If you plan on attacking mutiple times using Rak, be aware of Frost Shock. Don't let it stop you from getting extra attacks in.

Warlock-This matchup depends heavily on whether your opponent is Alliance or Horde. Against a Horde player, this matchup is a good one for you. You can just sit back and play defense until you can combo them out. They don't have enough firepower to get through your armor. Eventually you can just combo them out. Some games you won't even need the combo. One note about this matchup, if they get an Ancient Cornerstone Grimoire into play, stop attacking unless you have a Thrash Blade. It will just be a waste of your time. Pick off allies with your abilities and by striking the most dangerous ones when they attack you. If they try to wait and build up a big force before they attack, use your Mocking Blows and Cleaves to keep their party small, and use any extra resources you have to aggressively find your combo. This is a matchup where I like Onyxia Hide Backpack as it will help you get your combo faster. Against an Alliance Warlock, you have to become the aggressor. They are looking to wait you out and play Lorekeeper Darian and deck you. If they play Medoc Spiritwarden and Moira Darkheart, Medoc becomes a must-kill ally or he will allow Moira to destroy your entire board. The good news here is that most Warlock decks aren't running the M & M combo right now. Also, it is harder for a Warlock to protect Darian so you should be able to take him out before he deals any real damage to you. You don't want to get to Magni Bronzebeard, but even he can be Vanquished.

Mage-This matchup is very similar to the Warlock with one difference. Now, you have to play around Counterspell. They will be better equipped to fight you to keep Darian in play. You have more ways to kill him than they do Counterspells so you should be able to keep him off the board fairly regularly, but only a couple of turns in play could be enough to get them the win. Against a Horde mage, you're going to revert to the defensive philosophy. Stay alive long enough to combo win. They can put a little more pressure on you than the Warlock with extra direct damage, but this is still a fairly good matchup. Just remember Counterspell when you go for the combo.

Paladin-The builds of the respective decks determine who is favored in this matchup. If the Warrior plays Lionheart Helm, it will make it closer. The build of the Paladin deck is more important. How many Divine Shields/Blessings of Protection the Paladin runs go a long way in determining whether the Warrior can win. The Paladin has access to a lot of healing, and depending on the build may be able to heal more each turn than the Warrior can deal, even with Annihilator + Deathdealer Breastplate. Because of the Paladin's healing and the similar health stats, the Warrior will usually have to resort to combo'ing the Paladin out. Without Lionheart Helm, armor can soak up at least one Mortal Strike if not 2, Blessing of Protection will stop one Mortal Strike (assuming you play the next in response to BoP) Divine Shield will stop one with or without Lionheart Helm, which leaves you basically trying to attack for the whole enchilada. I think the way to play this matchup is to do what you can through the early game and wait until the last possible moment to go for the combo and then hope it works out.

This deck has a few pretty good matchups and a couple of tough ones. I think this deck will be great in a metagame full of decks that beat Hunters. This deck beats decks that beat Hunters. If you think there will be a larger than normal Hunter population in your area, I would try to do some things to shore up that matchup without making it weaker against its good matchups.