Gaming
Gaming
How to counter Pirate Warrior in Hearthstone
It’s currently the most popular deck in competitive Hearthstone, and here’s how you can beat it
This guy is the cause of stress on Ranked ladder
© Blizzard
With each refresh of Hearthstone's card pool, as expansions and adventures add new options to the game, there's always one deck that finds immeasurably popularity – Mech Mage, Grim Patron Warrior, even going all the way back to Undertaker Hunter before it was nerfed into oblivion.
Right now, whether you're trying to climb ranked ladder or watching the latest pro tournaments, the deck you'll see with ubiquity is Pirate Warrior.
It's brought to tournaments by every pro player because of its ability to all but guarantee you a single win (unless, of course, you're Orange and bring Dragon Warrior). The strength of its early game drops, plus the huge tempo advantage you can generate right from turn one, put it in a position where your opponent is unable to claw back into the game.
If you run into it time and time again on ladder, though, what are some of the best ways to deal with it?
Fight fire with fire
Look, we're sorry for starting with this one, but you've heard the phrase about bringing a knife to a gunfight. You could just play Pirate Warrior too! A Pirate Warrior mirror match essentially comes down to who draws well, so at worst you can call it a 50-50 match. Lead with Small-time Buccaneer, summon Patches from your deck and roll with the momentum to obliterate your opponent. It may feel dirty, and fully expect the same thing to happen to you every so often, but it can work.
Burn them all
You may consider Reno Mage a better option, another popular deck on the competitive circuit. It, too, can fall just as easily to the pirate's unstoppable early game aggression, but the deck also has a multitude of options to keep you in the game, stabilise and then mount a comeback when the Pirate Warrior's hand has dried up.
Not only do you have the full heal from Reno Jackson himself, but you can also delay the Warrior with the inclusion of a Frost Nova and Ice Block. Board clears are in abundance to wipe away the low health pirates as well. Whether that's a Volcanic Potion, Flamestrike or a fortuitously mixed Kazakus potion.
Doomsayer, Alexstrasza and Ice Barrier are all useful inclusions in a matchup that is all about stalling until you can swing the advantage in your favour. You'll then be free to whittle them down or use the Mage's burst damage potential to end the game with a victory.
By the holy light
Priest can also do well against pirates following its resurgence since the release of Mean Streets of Gadgetzan. Again, it's all about the power to hold off the early game aggression, which is possible with a deck such as Dragon Priest. The combination of taunt minions and the classes innate healing power are the perfect response to the Pirate Warrior's flurry of smaller minions.
Wrymrest Agent and Twilight Guardian serve as the wall to protect your squishy dome, which the Warrior must repeatedly expend resources on to bust through to make any progress on your life total. You can eke out extra value with the health bumps from Kabal Talonpriest, and even turn the Warrior's cards against them with a Potion of Madness.
Finally, Holy Nova and Dragonfire Potion can serve as big board clears if the situation gets desperate. If you reach the point where you can pull the trigger on these, the Warrior should be out of steam.
The Reno route is also possible with Priest, and when paired with Raza the Chained proves troublesome for Pirate Warrior. The free heal from your hero power every turn and the intrepid adventurer provide a lot of sustain, plus there's the catch up capability from the Kazakus potion too, and the strong late game that will overpower the weaker and cheaper Pirate Warrior cards.
Hidden gems
Elsewhere, there are some cards hidden away in other classes or the wider neutral pool that also have potential as counter play options, but players haven't been able to crack how to fit them into decks with significant success as of yet.
The Paladin legendary, Wickerflame Burnbristle, is a perfect example, as it shows promise for some huge delaying and sustain potential against the likes of Pirate Warrior. The combination of Divine Shield and Taunt, with the added sweetener that all damage dealt by the minion heals you, for such a low mana cost could potentially lock out a Pirate Warrior.
Unfortunately, Paladin decks are struggling with the ineffectiveness of current Buffadin style experiments. Additionally, the competitive meta has shown a shift back towards Murlocs when it has been necessary to play the class, which Burnbristle doesn't fit into.
Heavy taunt decks are also an option, with Second-Rate Bruiser a worthwhile addition as a smart tech card in control decks. Pirate Warrior having three minions on the board is all but guaranteed, which should secure the discounted cost and require the Warrior to burn through more cards in order to remove it.
The tempo swing from removing the warrior's weapon can also disrupt their plans, so adding in an Acidic Swamp Ooze is an entirely sensible choice. The temptation may be to add Harrison Jones for the extra value, but at five mana that card is often going to be too slow for your needs when you need to respond more immediately.
The takeaway is although it can look bleak when a single deck dominates play, there are steps you can take to respond. Perhaps the good news for anyone concerned by the popularity of Pirate Warrior is that Blizzard are monitoring the situation and considering potential nerfs, specifically to Small-Time Buccaneer. It is definitely where a lot of the deck's power lies at the moment as, combined with Patches, it sets up a storming early game.
So, it may not be such a problem soon but until then hopefully that's given you some ideas to counter Pirate Warrior.
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