Since the Year of the Dragon, the Big Warrior archetype hasn’t seen a whole lot of love. That all changed with Scholomance Academy though - now we’ve got a bunch of big minions to chuck onto the board and terrorise your enemies with. In our guide to playing this deck in the new Scholomance Academy meta, we’ve got a solid deck list for you to start playing with during Scholomance. As we get a better idea of how the meta settles over the next few days, we’re going to be adding more words of advice to this guide, including Mulligan tips and more specific strategy insight.
Big Warrior deck list and strategy
This is the most popular version of Big Warrior currently seeing play in the Scholomance Academy meta. The deck may see further refinement over the course of the meta so we’ll update the list if so! Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game. Deck Import ID: AAECAQcI/ASRBtaZA9+tA765A/O7A/nCA6vUAwtLogT/B5aUA7i5A8C5A/bCA+LMA+PMA6fOA9LRAwA= General strategy
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The name says it all, really. You want to play big minions and crush your opponent with them. As most of these chunky boys cost seven mana or more, however, you’ll be waiting a long time during a game until you can start to execute this game plan. For that reason, Big Warrior goes hard on the control and survival options so you can last until that point when you flip to aggression. Early game: You won’t be doing anything too thrilling in the opening moments of a game. Your first few turns will likely end up as passes or Hero Power uses, which is perfectly fine as there’s no need to rush anything. Sword and Board, Shield Slam, and any Rush minions Discovered by Athletic Studies are great to use here - you just need to survive as long as possible. Mid game: Maintain control of the board as you enter the mid game too. Essentially, you’re copying the same strategy as the early game. You have a few more exciting removal tools at this stage, though. Bladestorm is a great guaranteed removal spell as long as your board doesn’t exist, and you always have a couple Brawls to guarantee an almost-complete board clear. Bulwark of Azzinoth is another solid option, as it negates 4 instances of damage, which can save you big time if your opponent has some big aggro minions. Late game: You have the mana, so get your minions on board! Commencement is a great option for the cost of 7, giving a big boi from your deck Taunt and Divine Shield, and if you’re lucky enough to pull Archmage Vargoth you can double up on all these big spells. Once you hit 10 mana you start to get control - Dimensional Ripper will get out your big minions two at a time, and you have all kinds of weapons like Rattlegore, Deathwing, Mad Aspect, and Troublemaker. That said, be careful - your health might be low so focus on staying alive as well as going off on an absolute wild time. Aggro decks will try to finish you off, but if you can turn the corner and build your board, the game should be yours.
Big Warrior Mulligan guide
In order to get off to the best start with Big Warrior, these are the cards you’ll want to root around for in your opening hand:
- Sword and Board: 2 damage to a minion doesn’t go amiss in the early game. You’ll want to use this spell on early aggressive drops. 2. Shield Block: Extra Armor is nice as it can be used to kill off minions using Shield Slam. Plus, you get a card draw too! 3. Kargath Bladefist is a solid Rush minion, and you’ll also be able to shuffle Kargath Prime into your deck nice and early. 4. Commencement: Although an expensive card and not removal, if your hand has enough survival tools you should keep Commencement. It can completely turn the game around on turn 7 by giving you a Rattlegore or Troublemaker with Divine Shield and Taunt.
Big Warrior tips, combos and synergies
Take a bit of time to familiarise yourself with all of the core combos in the current version of Big Warrior.
- Once damaged by any source - including your minor spells - even the biggest enemy minions get bought into range of Execute. You may not be able to do anything about the Deathrattles, but you’ll definitely be ahead of the game with this play.
- Your Hero Power can be used to boost up the strength of Shield Slam, but there’s further synergy here with Shield Block to find even more damage - necessary in the mid-game when your enemy will have bigger minions.
- Archmage Vargoth is great with your big scary spells like Commencement and Dimensional Ripper, but it works nicely in a pinch with something like Shield Block too.
- Remember Reaper’s Scythe’s Spellburst effect. It’ll only damage minions next to the one it attacks for a single turn after the effect is triggered, meaning you’ll want to save a spell for this to have the maximum board-clear potential.
- If performing a little trading on the board will increase the chances of you getting a favourable result from Brawl then do so!
- Corsair Cache can draw you Bulwark of Azzinoth, giving it an extra Durability point and letting you survive one more instance of damage.
- The total statline of Rattlegore is 45/45, giving you a massive constant threat. However, if it’s Silenced, you don’t get the Deathrattle.
- Troublemaker’s two 3/3s summoned can go face, meaning if the enemy board is empty it’s a free 6 damage every turn.
- Athletic Studies discounts the next Rush minion you play by 1 mana, including one you didn’t Discover with the spell like your Kargath Bladefist.
