I decided this week to revisit and update an old deck of mine, Halavar.  Anyone who's read this blog know I've played enough Halavar to make my eyes bleed.

I don't think I was every more happy to take apart a deck than I was with my Halavar build.  I desleeved it and chopped it out.  The Perdition's Blades went into a Timmo deck, the Jeleanes and Merrys went into a Traitor Priest, and the Mortal Strike where returned to a big binder of not-for-trade cards.

A few weeks went buy and Servants came down the chute.  I cracked my packs and ended up pulling 2 Quantum Blades and a blind man could see the obvious synergy with the Quantum Blade and Halavar's flip ability.  Dropping a big weapon on turn 4 and swinging in for 5, all without having to sac a resource(sorry Twig)?  Sounded pretty good to me.

Over the next few days I tracked down a couple of addition copies of the Quantum Blade, just to keep for a rainy day.  I found them relatively cheap,$3.50 and $4.00, respectively.  I somewhat pride myself as a WoW:TCG bargain hunter and was pleased with the purchase.

Last week I had a few days off of work and decided to pour over some of my new Servants stuff and I couldn't resist the urge to try out Halavar again.  The basic build would be much the same but with some noticeable new additions.  Here's a working list:


HERO(1)
Halavar

ABILITIES(18)
4XMortal Strike
4XHeroic Strike
3XPuncture
2XBurn Away
4XRend

ALLIES(18)
4XApprentice Merry
4XAndiss Butcherson
4XJeleane Nightbreeze
4XMarksman Glous
2XChipper Ironbane

QUESTS(12)
3XRescue the Survivors
3XOne Draenei's Junk
3XCorki's Ransom
3XThe Defias Brotherhood

EQUIPMENT(14)
3XWhispering Blade of Slaying
4XPerdition's Blade
4XQuantum Blade
3XGauntlets of Vindication

SIDEBOARD(10)
2XUnraveled Plans
1XChipper Ironbane
3XWithering Shout
3XWreck
1XSmash


A few post-Servant additions would be the Quantum Blade(obviously) and Marksman Glous.  Glous was a card I overlooked and sort of discredited at first(sort of like Form of the Serpent, I'm afraid).  After testing the deck out though, her ability, especially late game, can quite powerful.  The ability to completely tap out(sorry WoW players but exhaust out doesn't have the same ring to it) and then ready and complete Corki's every turn is a huge boon to the card draw.  Corki's limits the amount of resources you'll have out but with 85% of the deck at cost 3 or under(damn Blade threw the numbers off) you typically don't need many.  I usually average about 6 resources a game, if things go that long.

I upped the quest count, partly to abuse Marksman Glous but also partly to improve and ensure more draw.  Rescue is one of the best quests printed so far for it's card draw and it has a natural synergy with The Defias Brotherhood.  Rounding out the quests is One Draenei's Junk.  One Draenei's Junk is also a great quest for Glous to Inspire and it almost never misses so it's a natural fit.

I'm still a bit torn on the weapon count.  I found 8 weapons sufficient for previous builds and I don't yet know if the increased count helps or hinders this build.  There are situations(early game, specifically) where the Whispering/Perditions Blades will be a huge boon and then ideally you'd curve into the Quantum Blade later. There's a ton of hate running around maindeck nowadays, so I wouldn't get too attached to a particular weapon.  Cards like Tatulla, Jon Reaver, Silea Dawnwalker, and The Bringer of Death see a lot of play so be prepared to cycle through weapons during the average game.  It's important to not resource additional weapons if you can avoid it.  I'll often just hold a Perditions in hand, for a rainy day.  What worries me is drawing weapons in a situation where I want an Ally.  In testing so far the deck has worked fine but a change coming down the chute in the near future might be dropping the Whispering Blades and adding in something for the 3 drop slot(Jubilee Arcspark comes to mind).

Rend/Gauntlets of Vindication is still an effective combination and they greatly help out versus a heavy control build.  Rend is pretty well a dead card versus rush, so it's often times sided out for the Withering Shouts in games 2 and 3.  Glous also gives you the ability to ready something like Rescue(which can't be completed on your opponent's turn) in order to drop a Rend on the opponent.  Also don't underestimate the Gauntlets 1 armor to stop small ping from things like Touch of Darkness and Mind Spike.

The Quantum Blade is a great weapon and fits pretty well.  You're not going to want to drop it on turn 4 and start swinging away, pitching 10 cards at a time to the RFG zone unless you're going to win.  Swinging the Blade on 4 into Guardian Steelhorn isn't a great idea.  In a close game dropping the Quantum Blade, Heroic Striking and then Mortal Striking can swing a game you'd otherwise lose.  You could do this as early as turn 5 if you drop the Blade on 4(think about it a swing with the Blade for 8 and then it's possible to double Mortal Strike for 9 each-26 damage on turn 5 is a lot-odds are not likely but it does happen).  My best advise is to be smart on the swing.  In later turns if you've got the resources, by all means pay the swing cost of 5 if you've got nothing else to spend them on(which Andiss can make 4).

I kept the main deck Burn Aways as they've served me well in the past.  They'll greatly help vs Gift of the Wild/Form of the Serpent Druids and well as Boomkin(rarely will you catch a Moonfire but the important thing is to keep Dreamstate off the table).  I haven't seen one(yet!) but a Control Rogue with Evasion could present some real troubles.  It would force the deck to rely on Rends and the Mortal Strike/Heroic Strike to win.  I'm not a fan of being force into a win condition so the  Burn Aways stay for now.  Also, anyone who's sat down against a Survival Hunter recently can attest to the fact Survival Instincts is possibly the most annoying card ever.

Andiss Butcherson replaces Magister Ashi and I think he's a great fit.  He was in an early build and then he was cut for a long time.  I re-examined him and decided he was better than Ashi when using the Whispering and Perditions.  A turn 1 Andiss into a turn 2 Perditions is often a start too quick for some decks to stop. If you stated off with the play, your opponent has already taken 4 damage and all they've done it place a resource.

The sideboard contains the usual amount of equipment/ability hate.  The Withering Shouts are there for the mirror match and also other Rush builds.  The Wreck is mostly in to stop a caster's Bringer of Death but it's also great vs Rogue to stop some annoying weapons.  Smash is for Warrior or Paladin Control where they're going to be coming at you with a big Felsteel Reaper. 

So how does the it do in individual matchups?  I haven't put it through it's paces very much but I have thrown it up against some popular builds and it's done well.

HUNTER:  Survival Hunter is the most annoying of the bunch.  The problem that I've seen Survival hunters having is an effective end game.  Most of your allies will be immune to their targeted removal.  Don't be afraid to Mortal Strike an early Xanata if need be.  It's important to get as much damage in before the Survival Instincts kicks in.  Once it's out you'll want to dig for a Rend and Gauntlets as they'll be able to "absorb" the Instincts prevention.  Also, Burn Away/Chipper is your friend this match.  You're probably going to have to combo this one out but Survival Hunters have no counterspells so it shouldn't be that difficult.

Marksman Hunter is slowing making its presence felt.  Maybe not by everyone but I've got a version build that I really like and it's much better than the previous Hunter build I posted.  If anyone's interested, I'll post up a blog about it.  Marksman Hunter could be a bad matchup if they hit a Blackcrow/Specialization early on, as they're going to be kill your little guys and not be taking any damage back.  Not to overstate the obvious but this is bad.  Also, they're got Silencing Shot to neutralize you're combo.  Don't be fooled by Ona leaving 2 open and a tapped out bow.  I've caught many people by paying 2, flipping her to untap the bow, and tap the bow to drop a Silencing Shot.  A good player will see through that but don't make the mistake I did(eh, live and learn).  Burn Away the Ranged Weapon Specialization and you should be alright.

PRIEST:  Priest is big right now.  It's not the deck's strongest matchup but it's very much winable.  You're looking for a fast hand.  An early Andiss/Perdition or Merry/Mortal Strike are the pieces you'd like to see.  I've found this game often comes down to being able to prevent the Greater Heal.  Holding that Mortal Strike is key but with all the discard at the deck's disposal, I realize that holding a Mortal Strike is not always possible.  You'd want to stick to you game plan of dropping Merrys and Jeleanes and getting what damage off that you can, hopefully dodging their non-targeted removal.  I'd even complete a Rescue the Survivors just for the token to act as Melt Face/Soul Rend fodder.  Something that always has worked for me in the past is to hold onto Rends and Mortal Strikes till they hit you with a discard and just respond then.  Nothing sucks worse then Mental Anguishing an opponent with only two cards only to get double Rended in response.  Try to get the Glous/Corki's loop going to improve your draw.  Side in the Wrecks to prevent any Bringer/Voidfire craziness.

MAGE:  I haven't seen a super strong Mage that I felt was that competitive.  I've got a version built but it's basically an over glorified version of the classic MageBurn deck.  Mage control suffers from their squishy 25 health.  You'll just want to get the damage on fast and furious.  Don't count on that Mortal Strike going through with all their counters.  Just be leery if they build up a protector wall that you can't punch threw.  If they do that, they've all but got you.

PALADIN:  This deck fades away and then has a tendency to come back en force.  It's pretty well the same strategy as Mage in that you'll want to get what damage through that you can.  Puncture/Chipper/Smash the Aegis of Vindication if they drop that.  They'll eventually stabilize and that's when you'll want to build your combo.  Ideally you'll have dealt then at least 20 damage and you just need to sneak around that last 10 or so.  I'll usually wait till I've got at least 2 Mortals and 2 Heroics before I strike.  You'll want to play around any Blessing of Freedoms.  Mortal Strike is a great way to render they're Lay on Hands useless.

WARRIOR:  Warrior Control is a tough match as it's very much anti-ally.  The Burn Aways are to be held for the Withering Shouts.  Pretty early on in this game is when the winner is decided.  If they can slow you enough with protectors and the such, then you'll eventually lose the match.  Hold a Mortal Strike if Bloody Mary tries to Cannibalize your graveyard.  You'll want to side in the Unraveled because Withering Shouts just shut down so much of your deck.

Withering Shout will win the mirror match.  Not real huge strategy here I'm afraid.  Just go in fast.

DRUID:  There are 3 major druid builds still floating around-Boomkin, Gift of the Wild, and Form of the Serpent.  The hardest matchup for Halavar would be the Serpent deck because it's essentially a mirror match.  They'll have an explosive start, coming at you with Hero attacks and allies.  Try to attack in with what allies you can and leave the weapons open to swing back in the defense(leave resources open to do this as they'll most likely kill Andiss first).  Boomkin shouldn't be too bad, just hold the ability hate for Dreamstate.  They can't target most of your allies with Runesong so most likely be coming at you with Vexmasters.  Rends on Boomkin can be very very helpful.  Gift of the Wild is essentially a weenie rush with a giant pump on turn 6.  You have to approach combating this deck 1 of 2 different ways.  You'll either have to clear the weenies off the board or not allow then to keep a Gift of the Wild in play.  As we don't run that much ability hate, you'll be better off trying to clear the board with Hero attacks(while they're small) and letting your guys go in to do damage.  By the  time they get the Gift out, you'd hopefully have them in Mortal Striking distance.

SHAMAN:  I haven't heard a lot from Shaman.  Shaman control can and probably will be a mean deck but I'm just not seeing much of it now.  I'm seeing more and more Shaman Burn(see my blog for an example) but as of yet, the deck doesn't pose a huge problem for Halavar.  Shaman is one to watch though.

ROGUE:  Timmo is almost a mirror match of sorts(see Warrior above).  Dismantle and Purloin are both mean cards but there is very little one can do to play around them.  You should have enough weapons to be able to keep something on the table.  Like I said I haven't seen a Dralnor Evasion deck but I'd like to build one and see how it'd work.

WARLOCK:  Haven't seen really much Warlock so I can't really say.  Any of the caster classes had trouble with the Untargetable so I'd use that to your advantage.  You just don't want then Cannibalizing for a heal so Mortal Strike is important this match.  I'm sorry I don't really have much else advise to give as this is a match I myself don't have a lot of experience with.

Is Halavar back?  Some would say he never left.  Love it or hate, the deck was and is still a popular play by a lot of folks.  There are a ton of different builds out there and I think all of them are viable in their own regard.  Test this build out if you'd like and let me know what you think.  As always, you can leave comments and suggestions below or shoot em over in email to me at borbwab@gmail.com

Related to: World of Warcraft TCG

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