Grim Patron Warrior
Grim Patron Warrior is considered by many to be strongest deck in the current meta. Lifecoach recently won the Viagame House Cup #3 on the back of this deck, giving some credence to that claim. So, we’re going to look at it for this week’s Deck of the Week.
Over on hearthhead.com, Skiffington wrote a great dissection of the decks used in the Viagame House Cup. A lot of what I have to say about this deck is backed up by his analysis, so I’m posting a link to the article here. From his analysis, we learn a few interesting things. First, with a 50/50 win rate, the deck seems balanced. That being said, Warrior was the most banned class in the whole tournament, meaning most players didn’t want to deal with Patrons. Also, several other decks are evaluated using their match-ups against the Patron deck to determine their worth.
The deck I’m using this week is the one that Lifecoach used at the tournament. I do have one major exception though. Lifecoach’s deck uses Grommash Hellscream, one of the warrior class’ Legendary cards. I don’t have Grom, so I’m substituting Alexstrasza. It was the best card I could think to switch in, but Grom is definitely the best card to use if you have it.
The Basics
The idea of this deck is pretty straightforward. Using the warrior’s synergy with dealing 1 damage to multiple minions, you create a flood of Grim Patrons that your opponent has to clear all at once. If not, then you just keep making more of them! Pair that with the Warsong Commander, and you get a fleet of Grim Patrons that can attack as soon as you create them.
That being said, this deck is actually very difficult to play. First, you have to find your combo pieces, which is why there is so much card draw in the deck. Then you have to survive long enough to get the mana crystals to play your full combo. That’s why you want to look for weapons early on, using your health to trade for board control.
Finishing the Game
The ironic thing about this deck is that you won’t win very many games by killing your opponent with a board full of Grim Patrons. Most of your games will be won by building a large board, then using a whirlwind effect to buff your Frothing Berserker or Grommash Hellscream for a big burst at the end. That’s why I recommend Grom over Alexstrasza if you have him.
Alexstrasza can burst your opponent down to 15 HP bringing them in range of your other finishers. She can also bring your own HP back to 15 if you need one more round to get a big combo off. Unfortunately, she won’t ever outright kill your opponent like Grom can.
Final Thoughts
The thing that I find most threating when playing this deck is not actually having Grim Patrons on the board, but making your opponent think you will play them soon. Once they are out, your opponent can clear with AOE, weapons, other minions, etc. Until you play them though, your opponent is constantly forced to play around a big combo, which can make them play inefficiently. So, much like the banning of warrior decks at the Viagame House Cup, the threat of the combo is more powerful than the combo itself.
As I stated earlier, this deck is not an easy deck to win with. If you can’t find weapons to keep the board clear early, it’s easy to get overrun. If your opponent has back to back board wipes, all your Patrons just disappear without getting any value. So, save combo pieces, especially the Frothing Berserker, for just the right moment.
Thanks for reading my thoughts on Grim Patron Warrior. If you have any questions or comments, you can PM me at ritterific@agentsofgame.com. I’m also on Twitter, @AGRitterific.
