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After torturing myself drafting Paladin I wanted to get back to a class that I love drafting, Death Knight. I’ve been drafting the class since the set first came out and it is a top tier class, but there are some tricks to drafting it. I’ll do my normal break down on the abilities for the class, but I also want to show the allies that make the deck reach its full potential. After testing the class with both factions, I have determined Horde is preferred when drafting Death Knight.
[Ayaka Winterhoof back]’s flip is half of the equation of being Horde. Death Knight is a very controlling class, and in most cases control takes a lot of damage early. When you are controlling the board you want your allies to make good trades and in doing this you should be willing to take damage when a good trade isn’t there. The abilities are powerful but expensive, so you need to draw out the game until you can start playing them. Eventually you can play that [Black Blood] on their big allies but the small ones will keep attacking.
All this means is that you will use your health total as a resource. Don’t worry about that [Onnekra Bloodfang] that has been hitting you since turn 1, take the damage and cast [Withering Decay] when the time is right. If you’ve played control you also know how it feels to have the game locked up when you only have four health left; they draw, ask how much heath you have left, and [Lightning Bolt] you. [Ayaka Winterhoof Back] takes you out of those situations, and is an important reason to play Horde.
Ally removal has always been a premium in limited play. With Death Knight you get two of them in the common slot. The downside is that other drafters are going to want these too, so there is more of a chance of having multiple Death Knight drafters in one draft. We all know there are only so many class specific abilities to go around and if you have to share them with one or two other drafters your deck will be lacking. My advice when drafting Death Knight is to declare yourself as THE Death Knight drafter at the table, and to do this you need to draft abilities high.
My normal approach to drafting is: first take quests, next choose a faction and grab allies, and last figure out your class and start grabbing abilities. If you want to cut down on other drafters moving in to your class you need to prioritize your pick order. When I draft Death Knight, I spend the first two packs drafting abilities higher than I would normally, trying not to pass [Grip of the Damned] or [Black Blood]. In the third pack everyone should be set in their classes so you can now pass abilities in favor of quests and allies and hope they find their way back to you. With this approach your deck will be more ability based, with 10 or so abilities and equipment.
Common
I don’t need to tell you that you really want to have a disease out to before you play this bad boy. Without a disease this is an okay removal spell. It can’t get Aberration but it’s good against the rest of the field. With a disease this turns in to a path to victory. Many of your games will be spent trading creatures and controlling the board, but with this card your opponent can be thrown off by you switching gears all of the sudden. Fortunately there are two diseases in the set, so assuring [Black Blood] does double duty should be easy. Five resources for five damage is not cheap, and with the other Death Knight abilities your deck can get top heavy quick so keep any eye on all your cards to makes sure you don’t have expensive allies and abilities.
While not an irrelevant ability, in spite of the large amount of protectors in the set, exhausting protectors is not reason enough to play this. The reason to play [Blood Chill] is because of the synergy it provides. It turns on your [Black Blood], which can be very important to a deck that can have a hard time finishing opponents off, and it activates your flip allowing [Ayaka Winterhoof back] to heal. I want at least two diseases in my deck; if you don’t have any [Withering Decay]s don’t be ashamed to play a couple of these instead.
You’re reading the same thing I am, right? Let me get this straight, it costs less than [Black Blood] and it deals with Aberration, and weapons? I’m not sure what else to type here. We all know [Grip of the Damned] is great, draft it and be happy.
I’ve never been in a situation where I wanted to play this. Even if I have [Korialstrasz] in my deck I don’t want to play [Path of Frost]. If have three rare/epic allies then I might think about playing it. The problem is that you lose a card in this transaction. It’s worth it to get back a game ending ally but worthless early game when you are spending cards to get resources.
I’ve talked about this Claymore before but I wanted to mention how good this card is against Alliance Druid. Druid is very good at dealing with creatures, heal and shoot the normal ones and [Entangling Growth] the Aberration ones. Unless they have [Lockjaw], or two [Rejuvenation]s you can start to bash them with something they cant kill. Druid also likes to hold its allies until they kill all yours. [Citadel Enforcer's Claymore] will come out and kill all their guys. It’s not a perfect solution but something that helps.
Uncommon
When the set was first released I thought this card was alright. Not great but worth the time and card as slot 29 or 30. Now that I’ve been able to draft Death Knight for a few months I’ve found this card is not what you want to be doing with your resources. Since I look at Death Knight as a control deck, I want all my cards to either remove cards from the board or help me survive. Occasionally it will help a small ally take down a bigger one, but after that it sits out there being useless. This is a card suited for a more aggressive deck, a deck that would really benefit from getting a few more points of damage in.
Death Knight doesn’t have any ability removal, except this. Yes, it won’t help you if it’s on the board, but we have to play with the tools we have. Druid decks have [Rejuvenate], which is instant, and often played as instant after we have untapped our resources. Late game it can be a huge blow out, stopping that ability they have been planning for the whole game like [Avatar of the Wild], [Thunderous Challenge], or even a game ending [Lighting Bolt]. The Stash ability is more for constructed but don’t discount the benefit you’ll get from the green dragonkin. I’ll often start one main deck, side it out if I have a better side-deck card or side a second copy in if needed.
My favorite card out of the commons and uncommons, I can’t count how many times this has cleared the opposing board. First off, this is a disease, so like [Blood Chill] it will trigger your flip and make [Black Blood] great. Next we have the minus one health the turn it’s played, often you are building your turns with this in mind. Leave the opposing one heath allies alone and try to make attacks that will leave all their allies with one health left. The turn it comes in to play it will either clear the board entirely or leave your opponent with one ally. Lastly, every other turn our opponents will have to calculate the minus one heath in to their plans. There is a concept of virtual card advantage, and this is a good example of one. Once [Withering Decay] is on the board all one toughness allies that don’t have ferocity are dead cards, every [Zulanji] or [Zakis Trickstab] they have in their hand or draw is going in the resource row. I’ll be mentioning this card a lot through this article, it’s really the linchpin to the deck and something I’m comfortable picking first pick first pack.
Rare
The removal we’ve already talked about [Withering Decay], [Grip of the Damned], and [Black Blood] have all been expensive, now in the rare slot we get some cheap removal. If all this card did was prevent an ally from attacking it would be good since it is so cheap compared to our other removal, but the ability to search up our diseases makes this card great. I’ll try and pack three diseases in my deck if I have this card, every time I cast this I want to search; I just like card advantage. At the very least you get a card to replace [Chains of Ice] that you can row, but at its best you get your [Withering Decay] that will keep the card advantage going.
Just like [Seal of Wrath] from my last article, I just don’t like these types of cards. Without a weapon it does nothing, so now I need to draw this and a weapon. I also need to draw them in the right order; if I draw my weapon and it makes sense to cast it, I cast it. Now when I draw [Dancing Rune Weapon] it’s going to be blank. It’s cute to get a cheap swing in before you have to make the initial investment of casting the weapon, but not practical.
I read someone’s comment that [Unholy Ground] is not a bomb; they are flat out wrong. Drafting is not something that is going to be the same every time; sometimes picking [Finding the Source] early because you want to make sure your double [Varandas Silverleaf] will have a quest to turn down is correct. Some people value classes and cards differently based on their personal preference, and they can all be right. If you think that Unholy Ground is overrated or a good card that isnot a bomb, then you are wrong. I think this comes from people that haven’t played with or against this card. Even if you don’t play it on turns four through six, you can get this card to be good. You can play it on seven with all those little guys you’ve drawn since curving out and now they are going to do double duty. [Toz'jun] is not a card I normally like, but with Unholy Ground out you don’t have to wait a turn to get your ghoul.
And of course you get a good number for rare and epic weapons that you can play that are all good.
I mentioned that having the flip of [Ayaka Winterhoof] is only half the reason to be Horde when drafting Death Knight the other reason is that allies complement your abilities. When you look at the horde allies in the set you can see they can often be on either side of the spectrum. Very aggressive [Onnekra Bloodfang], [Zulanji], [Zakis Trickstab] or very defensive [Telor Sunsurge], [Landon Dunavin], [Guardian Steelhoof]. With such extremes I felt it would be worthwhile to examine which allies you want in this type of deck. I’ll be looking through the common and uncommon Horde allies and telling you which ones to avoid and which ones you really want. This isn’t to say you won’t be playing the allies I tell you to avoid. Sometimes you won’t have a choice, if you only have two 2 cost allies you play them no matter what my ranking is. It will be something to keep in mind when you see a pack with multiple Horde allies in it.
One Drops
– DRAFT
[Rosalyne von Erantor ] is good in all horde decks so it is an expected ranking. If your opponent goes first and misses their one drop this card will trade with the 2/3 two drops of the set, allowing you to play any 2 drop you want without fear of not trading. The three health loss is worth the opportunity to trade up with any two drop.
– DRAFT
Most on the one drops in the set are 2/1, making a 1/3 protector the one-drop king of the hill. This also allows you to protect a turn two [Landon Dunavin], which is a good card in Death Knight.
– AVOID
The problem I have with this ally is that when you are going first and you have a good curve in hand, then it’s good. If you are going second it’s going to die and not even do a point of damage to opposing allies. The early game is where you are trying to set up for a [Withering Decay], or letting the allies build with each other. You need one drops that will deal damage and [Kloxx Dedrix] does not.
– AVOID
You want to get damage on allies and control the board. [Onnekra Bloodfang] isn’t so good at either.
Two Drops
– DRAFT
When you are on the play is where [Landon Dunavin] shines. You’ll see that the best Horde allies build on each other, turn one [Telor Sunsurge] to get a damage in and protect [Landon Dunavin], turn two [Landon Dunavin], and turn three [Guardian Steelhoof] to protect [Landon Dunavin]. Landon gets a damage in here and there, helping out [Withering Decay] and your high defense allies. On the draw it’s less impressive, but really the horde two drops aren’t the best.
– DRAFT
It may seem strange that I point out you want to be defensive and I tell you to draft this aggressive card. The reason is because of the allies [Laenthor Shademoon] and [Emerald Soldier]. The three health prevents most of the Horde 2 drops from trading with them. Now you are down a card and they still have a two drop out, [Zulanji] is the only one that will trade with them. [Zulanji] is also nuts with [Frek Snipelix].
– AVOID
This is a close ranking. In normal horde decks Grazzle Grubhook is terrible, the draw/discard effect is not that useful early game and he dies to the three health allies we just talked about. So normally saying avoid is easy. The problem is that Death Knight really hums when it plays [Withering Decay] on turn four and Grazzle can help find that. Damage wise he’s like [Landon Dunavin] on the draw, but at least [Landon Dunavin] has an upside when going first.
– AVOID
All this does is die from two attacks without helping [Withering Decay]
Three Drops
– DRAFT
This is the ally that want on turn three 90 percent of the time. He protects your [Landon Dunavin], kills most three drops and survives to protect against a four drop that he will most likely kill. He can’t attack but you don’t want to do that right away anyway, survive the early game and get to the late game.
– DRAFT
Surprise, an ally that is bigger than the normal 3/3 is good.
– DRAFT
Not something you want to normally play on turn three unless you have [Zulanji] out. Late game this guy will dominate the board, allowing all your big guys avoid combat damage.
– AVOID
Best used at attacking heroes. It can at least trade so it will make for a good backup plan if you don’t get the three cost allies you wanted.
– AVOID
Compared to the other three drops [Zerzu] just doesn’t compare. The ability to heal nature allies rarely comes in to play. On the plus side he can set up for [Withering Decay] by attacking a three drop and surviving
– AVOID
Not enough attack. Sure he can come down to finish off a two drop but then he’s just going to die to a three drop next turn.
Four Drops
– DRAFT
[Jezziki Shinebog] is the best four drop for this deck. The healing allows you to keep allies on the board longer, thus controlling the board which is something we are looking to do. Even late game when you are low on health this, much like the hero flip, will help you pull out of burn range.
–DRAFT
–DRAFT
Both of these guys are second to [Jezziki Shinebog] but it’s close. Obviously [Mahna Lightsky] is better than [Orkahn of Orgrimmar] but they both fill the same role. They can come down on turn four to protect your allies or on turn eight to protect your hero.
– DRAFT
It’s the right size for a four drop and can replace itself if you don’t have anything else to play. Left unchecked , drawing an extra card a turn will win you the game.
– DRAFT
This was another tough evaluation, but in the end I went with draft. The problem is that it dies to most three drops, and that is huge problem. When going second [Huruk Lightvow] is terrible on turn four. The plus side is that he kills most five drops and has protector to help out.
] – AVOID
You want high health allies not high power allies on turn four. The reason is that you can always wait a turn on [Withering Decay] and you are trying to get most of your guys to survive combat but do enough damage to let the decay finish them off. [Cadon Thundershade] only trades. If you opponent has a lot of ongoing abilities keep this in mind for sideboarding, because the tempo gained can be worth it.
– AVOID
Same power as [Cadon Thundershade] but lower health, pass.
– AVOID
At least [Kistix Shockvat] had elusive. Burning your opponent out isn’t on your list of things to do.
Five Drops
– DRAFT
This is the [Oruk Starstorm] of the five drops, above the curve and great in every deck
– DRAFT
4/5 for five is a fine deal; add protector and now we got ourselves a good ally. Your [Grip of the Damned] can only get weapons so look for this card to clean up the other equipment.
– DRAFT
Wow, see the drop off here? Just a minute ago we paid five for a 4/5 protector that you get rid of equipment. Here we lose a power and the equipment will live to fight another turn. I guess that’s the difference between common and uncommon. [Drizzie Steelslam] is still a good deal, and the loss of power can be fixed by you guessed it, [Withering Decay].
– AVOID
This might be a bit controversial but Kerzok is too fragile for me. All too often I’d cast [Kerzok Plixboom] only to see it die to cheap removal spell, [Nether Inversion], [Lightning Bolt], [Wrath]. I want my five cost allies to hold down the fort, protect this house. For every game Kerzok doesn't die the turn it’s cast there are three other games where I just let my opponent out tempo me.
– AVOID
Once again the having small health is not something we want, we want to protect and keep our allies around as long as we can.
– AVOID
Yuck! There are just so many other options that it shouldn’t come to playing this guy. Sure he fits the theme of having a high health, but [Traxel Emberklik] isn’t going to be trading with many other high cost allies.
Six Drops
– DRAFT
A sizable body and Mend 2 makes this ally hard to take down. Take care to clear the path for this ally, you don’t want it to trade immediately. [Black Blood] and [Grip of the Damned] before you cast this ally, you’ll need to attack a few times to win.
– DRAFT
There are not a ton of options at six so this guy will do fine. Normally having four health for six cost is asking for a bad trade, but what else are you going to play? Having protector tips the scales in [Zulbraka]’s favor, allowing you to ward off [Bayner Cogbertson] until your turn where [Withering Decay] will finish the job.
– AVOID
Someone had to get the avoid label. [Toz'jun]’s big brother just isn't tough enough to finish off games, your opponent won’t be that low where the size ferocity damage will kill him.
Well that wraps its up. Death Knight can be a fun class to draft if you like patiently controlling the board and eventually winning. There is a ton of removal at your disposal and a built in life gain to keep your hero out of burn range. I mentioned [Withering Decay] as the most important card and a key to making the deck work smoothly. There are plenty of bomb rares for you to open as is always the case with the weapon classes. You even get to draft an under-drafted faction and have a better chance at getting the allies you want. I hope you’ll give it a try the next time you open [Withering Decay].
-Robert Swarowksi
Robert Swarowski is a WOW TCG Darkmoon Faire Champion and long time card game specialist. With wins in both a Magic the Gathering Grand Prix and a Spoils Championship, Rob has had success across multiple games. Considered a limited specialist, recently Rob Top 8ed Darkmoon Faire Los Angeles and can be found traveling the Darkmoon Faire circuit across the United States.
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