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Timothy Rivera

It's the end of the year which means things are winding down. That also means that my class review for Triple War of the Ancients is coming to an end. Today we are going to review the class that is always last, Warrior.

When I think of Warrior, I think of a tank class. I think of good weapons (some of which only Warrior can play), armor, and high health. I also think about shouts, stances, and Execute effects. Warrior has been good in every Limited format that I have played in, so let's Execute (finish off) this class review and see how Warrior stacks up.

Heroes

Anduin Lothar - Anduin Lothar is a good hero. The first flip allows you to give a small boost you allies. This flip will benefit both Human or Night Elf decks. The Human deck can amass a small army of 1/1 Protectors, so giving all of them +1 can be lethal for your opponent or can at least clear their board. The same is true for Night Elves. The Elusive race can build a small hard to kill army that when pumped can be hard hitting. Once you open up the back flip, you enable your hero to get an attack boost. This boost can take out an ally or even be the finishing blow on your opponent. The best part about Anduin Lothar is that both flips are cheap and good.

Broxigar the Red - In a format chalk full of low health allies, Broxigar the Red's front flip might as well be a three cost Execute. Even if you cannot fully destroy an ally you will set up a good spot to do so after flipping. Then back flip pumps your hero for each five damage. I found that this flip is usually good for three to four ATK. Depending on how much damage you have on. This flip is usually ally removal by attacking with your hero. Broxigar the Red offers a unique, dynamic flip for a reasonable cost. The flip can put your opponent in weird situations where they cannot kill you but they will not want to fully attack your hero, because your flip could be an attack boost big enough to kill them. Both flips are good and you should never be disappointed to play Broxigar the Red.

Mannoroth the Destructor - Mannoroth the Destructor has a quest for his front flip. How cool is that? Digging for your best ally or equipment for four is a fine and respectable flip. If you have a bomb like Gavel of Peroth'arn or Axe of Cenarius, this flip is going to be right up your alley. The second flip is going to be good in any deck because doubling the attack of an ally or weapon can be deadly. The only thing I do not like about the second flip is the cost is so expensive. With the cost being so expensive, I find that it can only be used as a finisher and not an incremental gain play.

Advantage: Anduin Lothar or Broxigar the Red

Abilities

Blind Rage - A few weeks ago I talked about Rogue and how it was built to combo with Night Elves. This week we have Blind Rage and Orcs. The best opening hand is Bloodsoul into Blind Rage. If you want to put your opponent behind in a tight spot, this opening is the best way to do it. Five damage a turn starting on turn 2 can be quite deadly. Even combined with any of the Orc tokens you have a powerful card. In other decks I find Blind Rage to be less powerful, so pick your spots carefully with this card.

Ruthless Execution - It seems like in every Limited format there has been an Execute type effect and in every one of those formats it has been good. Ruthless Execution is no different because it too is excellent. A card that replaces itself is good. A card that can remove an ally from the board is good. Combining those sounds awesome, right? Well in this format full of low health allies, cards like Ruthless Execution have less value. Execute type cards shine in a format full or large health allies so that you can swing a little ally into a huge one, and then finish it off. When your allies can usually trade for each other, cards like Ruthless Execution have less value. Overall Ruthless Execution is an excellent card that is held back by the current metagame.

Bloodthirsty Shout - Bloodthirsty Shout is a great pump ability. The power to pump up all your allies can be deadly. What makes me like Bloodthirsty Shout is the power to pump up your hero. The +2 ATK pump can be good enough to kill an early ally. The value is directly tied to the number of allies you have in play, so it is better in Alliance than it is in Horde or Monster for reasons mentioned above.

Decimate - Simply put, there is not enough equipment in this format to worry about to make Decimate an early or high pick. Decimate is very effective at what it does, so take it as a side deck card if you happen to face off against a deck that utilizes multiple equipment.

Strife - Strife is a bomb. The earlier you get it the better as you really want to build your deck around it. There are two ways to build your deck around it. One way to go ultra aggressive. You build your deck with a bunch of little allies in hopes that you can put out more allies than your opponent can deal with while you use Strife to pick off their allies or attack their hero. The other way to build it is to build a deck with 4 or higher health allies. This allows all of your allies to live through a Strife attack and allows them to stay in play longer while your hero picks off their small allies and your allies stay in play, dealing damage. I like the higher health ally strategy better, but both are very good. Many people do not agree with my assessment of Strife, but I would take it early whenever possible.

Combat Stance - Combat Stance offers your a very powerful effect, however I find that the rewards do not exceed your costs. For four resources and losing the ability to do a lot of normal actions you can make your allies better. Combat Stance is the ultimate gamble if played early. Can your allies in play out-rush your opponent before the cost you paid to play it is too detrimental to a normal game plan. When I have played Combat Stance I have always played it on the turn that it will finish off my opponent or at least put them in a spot where they will die shortly afterward. For me, I like to find value in other cards.

Raging Blow - If you can live long enough to play Raging Blow, you have a card that can deal at least 50% of your opponent’s health. If you need a finisher this a great option. You need to build your deck defensively to play Raging Blow so that you live long enough to play it. If you have a defensive deck, it can be a stretch to deal the other damage needed to win. If you have a deck built to go to the late game, Raging Blow can have a spot. Otherwise I would take it as a side deck card, so I can get some dirty out of nowhere wins.

Packing it all Together

Overall Warrior has multiple good cards, but it is one of those classes I do not draft often. Warrior does not offer any direct removal (removal that does not need any other help), plus all the good equipment it can play are available to two other classes. Both faction heroes offer great flips, the high health is good in an aggressive format, and you still can play some overpowered equipment. I prefer to stay out of Warrior unless I get multiple Ruthless Executions or Strife. I find that those cards are the ones that make Warrior truly shine.

That is it for this year. I hope everyone has a great holiday. When we pick up the series in January I will do a revaluation of the factions and Monster allies.

-Tim Rivera

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