Sjow's Dragon Warrior for The Grand Tournament

Hey guys, TGT is around the corner and I hope everyone is as hyped for the release as I am. In my opinion, Hearthstone is always at its best right when new cards are released. Everyone is trying to break the meta with new cards and the meta is not yet set. These are the times when the skill of deckbuilding is most rewarded.

Last expansion was a little disappointing in terms of deck building. The promise of Dragon-based decks had me very excited because everybody loves Dragons and I like playing late game decks. As a result, I tested many different builds but the density of good cards just wasn't there. Judging by this spoiler, however, I think we may finally be in a place where they can work.

The plan for this article was to write about my favorite cards from The Grand Tournament. As it turns out, they are all Dragon based so let's get into it.

Alexstraza's Champion

Another card which get's helped by Twilight Guardian!, A two mana 2/3 is not even as bad as you might think. Currently, these are actually good stats to have as two-drop. Alexstraza's Champion trades 2-for-1 with most Hunter decks and their 2/1s in Abusive Sergeant and Leper Gnome and sometimes Worgen Infiltrator. Alexstraza's Champion even trades with Scientists and the occasional Huffer.

That's just on the basic mode, when you play it with the ability Alexstraza's Champion is just amazing. Every deck in Hearthstone would play a two mana 3/3 with Charge: it's a Dark Bomb that can hit twice. Charge mode will also help against Freezing Traps which can occasionally be awkward for Warriors.

The worst case scenario for Alexstraza's Champion will be trading 1-for-1 with a Knife Juggler. Even this trade, however, should not make you unhappy since Jugglers have to be dealt with and you will be in better shape as the game progresses.

Twilight Guardian

A 2/6 at four mana is very lackluster, but if you have a Dragon, the Twilight Guardian suddenly becomes a force. At 3/6 with Taunt we have the perfect stats right now for a four-drop in a defensive deck. Six health is the key as it deals with Shredder-Hero Power: this makes our Dragon a direct counter to the most common four-drop in the meta. Druid, Rogue, and Mage all run Shredder in their four-drop slot and can trivially deal one damage. Twilight Guardian is also conveniently out of range of the following very popular plays:


In addition to being the perfect size, Twilight Guardian helps in that it's a Dragon itself. The only downside in this regard is that if you play him on four as a 2/6 you can be missing the Dragon for the Blackwing Corruptor on five. On the flip side, Warrior really did need another four-drop in addition to Death's Bite.

Chillmaw

Chillmaw is amazing not only due to its cool art but it fills the seven-drop spot which previously only had Dr Boom. This Dragon also has perfect stats at 6/6 and Taunt so it's not too slow and doesn't die to Big Game Hunter. If that wasn't enough, there is also a build in Hellfire that doesn't hit your face! It also goes without saying that the sub-type Dragon plays right into the deck we're building.

In the current meta, Chillmaw will also help counter Patron Warrrior. If you bait out all Executes there is no way they can combo past this Taunt.

Classes and Their Dragons

The classes which will benefit the most the new Dragon decks are Warrior, Paladin, Druid, Mage, and Shaman. You can tell that Blizzard wants Priest to be "the Dragon class" but they just seem to be missing a couple pieces currently.

• Warrior has Alexstrasza's Champion and is currently the only class where we actually see a Dragon deck currently.
  
• Paladin has access to Dragon Consort which is amazing. They can also Heal and Azure Drake is already a staple to help Consecration deal with Patrons.
  
• Druids are an easy fit since Azure Drake is a staple and they can ramp into the big Dragons.
  
• Shaman has probably the best card in the set in Tuskarr Totemic to hold the board early and can now heal out of danger in the late game.
  
• Mage got Coldarra Drake, plays Azure Drake already, and gains Effigy for Mad Scientist. All of this adds on to an already well developed toolbox for the late game.
  
• Warlocks will also see the benefit of new playable dragons since they will add consistency to the already powerful Malygos Warlock deck.

Building Dragon Warrior

So how does it all come together. While it is impossible to tell before playtesting, here is my initial draft of a Dragon Warrior deck for post-The Grand Tournament. I've touched on most of the cards already but one I didn't was Sparring Partner. This is a great card with multiple levels. Not only does Sparring Partner do work on defense, he can also give enemy minions Taunt to get them out in the open and can also combo with The Black Knight.