Hold the line! Andrew’s Taunt Warrior deck for Hearthstone is sturdy and fun. It relies on building up solid defenses to hold out into the late-game, when big heroes drop onto the board to swing the tide in your favor. You can check it out on the latest episode of Happy Hearthstone.
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Andrew. Thanks, Andrew!
The Taunt Warrior
This deck is my own version of the taunt warrior deck that people like to play. It consists of a lot of taunt minions with high health to keep your hero safe and heaps of removal and control cards to make sure you stay in charge of the game.
Let’s get straight into the cards I used in my deck for the mighty showdown with Josh. You can find a completely plain deck list on the podcast episode. Here, I’ll provide additional commentary where I feel it’s helpful or necessary.
2x Armorsmith
Good early game card to establish board presence on turn 1 (with coin) or 2. Gets you early armor and gives your opponent something to deal with while you stall for your bigger cards.
Another early game minion. Very annoying card for the opposition and normally draws you at least 1 or 2 cards. If they want to waste a silence on it then that’s good as well
Useful card to hang onto for late game to gain tempo and a quick, easy answer to big minions that manage to hit the board early.
Fits the taunt theme perfectly, combos well with bolster and very annoying to deal with. I prefer this over Sen’jin Shieldmasta because of the extra body it spawns, which you can also buff up.
Good turn 6 play if your hand has many cards in it. Allows more comboing as well as letting you use your hero power more often. Especially good to knock the cost of Varian Wrynn down. This lets you combo Varian with execute or shield slam in 1 turn or more if Emperor Thaurissan sticks around longer.
This card is mainly in the deck for fun and to showcase some new TGT cards. However, when played in the correct situations, this card proves to be very useful. Using your hero power most turns after playing him keeps your armor at an all time high and with all the taunts and big minions this deck has your hero stays very safe and if the game takes you to a fatigue race, you will generally win.
4 out of 5 times you will win this joust using this deck or a similar one. Majority of the minions in this deck cost 5 or higher. If you win the joust this is an extremely solid card for its cost. Even if you don’t win the joust there are worse cards out there to drop for 6 mana.
2x Sunwalker
Very good vanilla minion in my opinion. Stats are well balanced and divine shield + taunt is not something to be taken lightly. 1 point less attack and health compared to Master Jouster but you get the guaranteed added bonuses. Very useful.
Extremely powerful vanilla legendary. We all love ragnaros, let’s be honest. Applies huge amounts of pressure, especially when drawn out with Varian Wrynn.
1x Ysera
Amazing if drawn out with Varian Wrynn. Otherwise a great late game card and very threatening. If Ysera Awakens is drawn, it can most of the time be used as a finisher.
1x Varian Wrynn
Amazing and very fun card to play in any warrior deck. Makes it possible to get 4 beefy minions out in a single turn very cost efficiently. Worst case scenario, you are still drawing 3 cards!
2x Execute
Especially good to take out minions with very high health such as opposing Ysera or other dragons. Also buffed minions that the opponent used to trade with.
2x Shield Slam
This is generally considered hard removal in this deck because it is extremely easy to have 10+ armor so it basically takes out almost any minion. An easy 4 mana combo is to Shield block then Shield Slam afterward. On turn 4 this takes out most minions and gives you a tempo lead.
Straight up overpowered weapon and a staple in most warrior decks. Early game removal and keeps high threat.
2x Bolster
Buffs up your taunt minions to help keep a stable and very solid board.
2x Bash
Very good early game removal and great tempo play with the armor gain.
2x Shield Block
Armor gain and card draw. Perfect for the deck. Good to play on turn 3 or 4.
2x Brawl
Excellent removal if behind and especially if your opponent blew all their cards on one board. I personally prefer to have 2. If it gets to the point where 2 is too clunky then you’re generally going to win anyway in most cases.
Possible Additions
As stated previously this deck revolves around control and taunt so some possible additions are below if you don’t have the cards listed in the main deck.
Pretty much only here to sub for Sludge Belcher for those who haven’t bought the Naxxramas expansion. Can be subbed in for other taunts as well.
Can be put in for removal and the whirlwind effect combos well with execute for hard removal. Good amount of attack on a weapon to control the board with.
Very annoying to deal with. Enough said. Works well with Bolster.
Mostly subs for Justicar Trueheart. Very solid card for 6 mana. Can never have enough armor.
Great card for late game. The heal is very powerful but hopefully you never really need to use it. Mainly there to sub for cards that gain you a lot of armor.
Final Thoughts
This is not a masterminded, perfect deck to rank up on ladder with as-is, but it’s definitely tons of fun! With a few adjustments, it could absolutely be a competitive deck for tournament play.
Be sure to listen to our last episode of the podcast, where we talk about the deck at length. If you try it out, tell us what you thought of it, and what cards you swapped in to have the most success.