Deathrattle Paladin Guide: Old Gods

Introduction

With the release of the new expansion came the Old Gods. Yogg-Saron, master of magic. Y’Shaarj, leader of armies. C’Thun and his many prophets. And lastly, N’Zoth, lord of the dead. Many people thought that N’Zoth would end up in a Rogue deck, or even a Hunter deck with their Deathrattle synergies. However, it turns out that the best Deathrattle deck is Paladin due to their currently unparalleled ability to control the board. You play cards with amazing abilities, and if they dare to kill them, you simply bring them back again. Traditional kill spells and board clears are petty annoyances to this deck as it steamrolls any who dare oppose the wrath of an Old God.

Deathrattle Paladin Decklist

None of the lists are perfectly refined yet, but the core of this one is very solid. The removal of Equality and Consecration/Pyromancer, two Aldor Peacekeepers and two Keepers to keep their stuff small, and even an Eadrick to mop up some of the bigger minions from Control decks while creating a body. The cards that are more unique to my list than others are Eadrick and Holy Light, which are often replaced with Solemn Vigil and Lay on Hands in other lists. I personally don’t feel like the card draw is as necessary, but that’s just me and if you like the other list better then go for it.

Playstyle

So as you may have noticed, this deck is extremely control based. It doesn’t have a ton of minions, and they tend to be on the larger side. You’ll want to be heavily controlling the board using your Truesilver Champions, Equality combos, and general stat manipulation. You’ll want to save the Forbidden Healing for big turns later on if you can afford to, as it only gets stronger the more mana you spend. Forbidden Healing I vastly underestimated, because it didn’t affect the board in any way. However, because of the lingering effects of Deathrattle in this deck, you can easily build a board that sticks around, and then clear their board and heal up in the same turn afterwards, getting a potential twenty health swing. Once you’re able to build a semi-decent board, make sure that you are getting enough value from N’Zoth before playing him. If you can get Tirion, that’s the best result, but if not try for at least Sylvanas and Cairne together. The goal is that when you play N’Zoth, even board clear won’t save them, and Cairne and Tirion in particular achieve that goal splendidly. One other thing to note is that when using Ragnaros the Lightlord, you often want to make poor trades beforehand in order to make sure it hits your face. Far better to have a weaker board and more health in most matchups.

Matchups

Druid
This deck excels at defeating Druids. They rely on massive minions and don’t have decent removal or direct damage. With your stat manipulation and general board clears, keeping them out of the fight is typically pretty easy. The only thing you should be aware of is a massive C’Thun play, or an early Innervate that could pose issues. Other than that simply control the board while expending minimal resources and chuckle as they flounder to try and kill you.

Shaman
This matchup can be very difficult if they curve out properly. You’ll likely want to make an early Pyromaner + Equality play if they use either Feral Spirits or Flamewreathed Faceless. If you do use your combo, be sure you keep another form of removal or mitigation for a later Faceless play. Other than that, simply control the board as best you can, and don’t be afraid to heal up if you think they may have lethal. Corrupted Healbot and Aldor Peacekeeper are your midgame lifesavers if you can avoid their initial burst, N’Zoth is pretty much a non-factor as you will very rarely get to turn ten in this matchup.

Rogue
Rogues can be very difficult at the moment, especially if they are running a Deathrattle list as well. Their Deathrattle archetype is a lot more aggressive, and just as resistant to removal, so it can pose problems. The biggest thing you should be careful about is letting them get off a big Raptor play. If they are able to copy Twilight Summoner’s Deathrattle, suddenly you’ll be dealing with two 5/5s, something that can turn into a big issue real fast. Miracle is a lot easier, simply save your Equality combo for when they Conceal their Auctioneer. Other than that, simply keep their board clear and wait until you can make your own board. If you keep yourself above twenty they will very rarely be able to kill you from an empty board, but if they keep something in play be wary of a double Cold Blood double Eviscerate play.

Priest
Priests can be your worst enemy or the easiest matchups possible depending entirely on whether they are playing and draw their Entombs or not. Entomb doesn’t actually kill your creature, so if the Priest manages to Entomb your Tirion and Cairne, not only do they take them, but you don’t get them back with N’Zoth. There isn’t a ton you can do about that, other than aggressively using the rest of your resources and attempting to pull both Healbots and some other Deathrattles with N’Zoth. If they don’t draw or aren’t running Entomb, then the matchup is simple, they are slow to create a board, and you are quick to clear it.

Warrior
Save your Equality combo in case he is running Patrons (should be fairly easy to tell from the rest of the deck). If not, it’s a very easy matchup as you simply outvalue him over time. Not much else to say here, your removal is better than his because his allows your stuff to be reborn later on.

Hunter
Face Hunter is similar to Shaman, but less scary. Keep your health total high, don’t be afraid to use Equality early if you need to. Oftentimes this turns into a turn 6-8 Forbidden Healing turn that causes them to surrender on the spot. Midrange Hunter is a bit less straightforward, but also fairly easy, your removals work quite well regardless of the opponent. Healing is the MVP here as well, as Midrange relies heavily on their hero power to finish out the game.

Warlock
Zoo can be difficult, you need to be willing to throw away removal early, just like the other aggressive matchups. Make sure to keep their board as clean as possible to avoid Sea Giants, Gormocks, or even just Dire Wolf Alpha plays. As per usual, in the aggressive matchup you need to find a decent place to begin to stabilize (often with a Cyclopian Horror on four or a Healbot on five) and then play a massive Forbidden Healing to seal the game. Renolock is really easy since you don’t care if they heal, you have way too much value for them to deal with, even with Twisting Nether.