Hi all, my name is Michael. This is a guide to my version of Pirate Warrior, which I reached top 100 legend with on the NA server. This is my first guide/post, so I will have an introductory section about myself, and I will also discuss deck composition, playstyle, mulligan strategy, and matchups, complete with sample game replays. If you have questions, please post them on the comments section or in the comments to the reddit thread on /r/CompHS.
Introduction
Hi, my name is Michael and I like to play Hearthstone! I just started playing a little more seriously since this April. I’m currently looking for opportunities as a caster, streamer, and content creator and am currently a part of the newly formed Next Level Gaming. Connect with me on twitter @Michael_13377; I’d be glad to answer any questions you have about this deck!
Proof of Legend

A lot of credit for this deck’s foundation goes to Nostam. This deck is identical to the one he used in Last Call, with the exception of one substitution- (-1 Mortal Strike, + 1 King’s Defender.) Shout out to @lolnostam.
Why Play Pirate Warrior on Ladder?
Pirate warrior is an aggro deck through and through. It is designed to be ruthlessly efficient and prey on decks that can’t handle the sometimes overpowering early pressure this deck puts out. This deck has very polarizing matchups- matchups like Maly Druid, Secret Hunter, Maly/Miracle Rogue, Renolock, and Freeze Mage are very highly favored while other matchups such as Control Warrior can be very difficult. You should play this deck on ladder only if the decks that you have good matchups with are highly represented. (Matchups will be discussed in depth in the matchups section.)
Deck Playstyle
To play this deck effectively, you need to have a good understanding of the meta and the resources that your opponents have available to them. To maximize your performance with this deck, you need to learn to evaluate your opponent’s range and constantly be outputting aggression with your opponent’s answers in mind. Toward the end of games, you’ll often have 0-2 cards in your hand while your opponents will have often have massive card advantage. It’s here that you’ll have to play to your outs and hope that all the little decisions that you made earlier to squeeze in little bits of damage will be enough to take their health to 0 before they stabilize. Pirate Warrior games are fast, but they’re not easy. Your goal with this deck should be to play as perfectly as possible in order to maximize your chances to win.
Early on, you will look to build a board and play the board control game. Most decks in the meta don’t run as many early drops, nor as many synergistic early drops as you, so in most cases getting early board control is all but assured. At some point in the game, your opponent will make a big move to stabilize and regain control of the board. You should look to figure out when that turn will be and start shifting your focus from board control to going face the turn before they stabilize the board. (There are other cases where board control doesn’t matter as much- for the Rogue matchup, for example, you can just throw everything face in most cases.) This understanding of when to flip the proverbial switch and just send everything face is the most important part of playing this deck. You have limited resources and cards till you run out of steam. Using spells and weapon charges to control the board is OK as long as you are ensuring your minions will do more damage to their face than the damage you just diverted.
Deck Composition
As stated before, Nostam did a lot of the groundwork in optimizing the list; I tested many different cards and substitutions for early drops before settling on this list. For the sake of brevity, I won’t go over all of the cards, but I will talk about the key card packages that are run and some MVP cards in certain matchups. Nostam certainly did a great job in selecting cards that are independently strong and that shine in the meta matchups.
Pirates Package
Pirates have great synergy with each other, and with a weapon equipped. However, they can be very poor topdecks at the end of the game, and independently without any of their synergies their power level is below normal.
- N’Zoth’s First Mate (x2)
- Southsea Deckhand (x2)
- Bloodsail Raider (x2)
- Bloodsail Cultist (x2)
- Dread Corsair (x2)
Weapons Package
Not counting N’Zoth’s First Mate (which is used early on to establish the board, this deck runs 5 weapons. A notable addition is the King’s Defender, which is run as a one-of. This deck runs no taunts to synergize with the weapon, and it is strictly worse than the Fiery War Axe in terms of damage-to-mana ratio. However, 6 damage for 3 mana is nothing to scoff at, and the increased consistency of always having a weapon to synergize with your pirates can really snowball games.
- Fiery War Axe (x2)
- King’s Defender (x1)
- Arcanite Reaper (x2)
MVP Cards
There are a lot of open slots in Pirate Warrior. I have seen and personally tested Knife Jugglers, Deadly Toads, Flame Jugglers, Argent Squires, Lance Carriers, and a lot of other cards before settling on these cards. These additions are included with the meta in mind; as popular cards change these slots should be re-optimized.
- Faerie Dragon (x2)
This card is a stud. It makes Mages, Druids, and Rogues really sad because they can’t use their spells to remove it. If a Druid/Rogue has to faceclear it over 2 turns, then this card did 9 damage to them for 2 mana.
- Argent Horserider (x2)
These slots are teched to punish the Secrets Hunter matchup. Argent Horserider is just filthy against Secrets Hunter, as it will eat up both a Snipe and Freezing Trap AND you get to keep the card for an additional 2 mana. It also does work as a token sweeper to improve our matchup vs Midrange Shaman.
- Frothing Berserker (x2)
This card has so much snowball potential. If you go T1- N’Zoth’s First Mate | T2- Bloodsail Raider, in many cases your opponent will have to use removal on these two cards to prevent T3- Bloodsail Cultist. If left alone to its own devices Frothing can get 7-10 attack before forcing removal. This card helps immensely with the Maly Druid matchup as well, as they rely mainly on 2 Feral Rages for life gain. Being forced to use one of those to deal with an early Frothing Berserker is a win for you.
- Sir Finley Mrrgglton
Your gameplan is to smack your opponent in the face till they have no more health. The warrior hero power doesn’t help you with that; and in the case of Mortal Strike activations actually can hurt you. The best hero powers are Hunter (in almost all matchups) and Warlock (in matchups where you forsee the game going past turn 7). Mage and Druid are OK (mage ranks higher than druid in most cases.)
Mulligan and Early Strategy
You’re going to want to curve out early and dominate the board. Mulligan hard for your premier 1 and 2 drops (N’zoth’s First Mate, Fiery War Axe, Sir Finley Mrrgglton). Once your cards come back, start putting together a plan. What’s the best way you can grab the board? What are some early opponent power turns and how do you avoid getting board cleared by them? Don’t greed for value. If you don’t have a 3 drop other than Bloodsail Cultist, drop it without the battlecry. In the early turns, look extend on the board as hard as you can while making it difficult to remove.
Matchups and Stats
I had a record of 42-23 in a total of 65 games recorded on HDT on my run to top 100. The average game lasted 3.9 minutes and 6.8 turns.

Druid: 17 games (11-6, 65%) [Highly Favored]
The gameplan against druid is pretty simple. Maximize your damage, and make them choose whether to ramp/draw or affect the board. T5/T7 they might drop an Ancient of War, so have a plan for the best way to deal with it (but don’t play around it very much since it is usually run as a one-of). Most times, Druid players will toss removal against a warrior and try to mulligan for ramp vs a control warrior. Punish this.
Sample high legend match vs Malygos Druid: https://hsreplay.net/replay/2vQb6CBVcutoY9TUts4SGV
Hunter: 6 games (4-2, 67%) [Highly Favored]
This deck just packs way more aggression than the hunter can deal with. Put them on the back foot and make them respond to your aggression. Hunter as a class is only good when they’re ahead. Put them behind, play around their power moves and put them to 0.
Sample high legend match vs Secrets Hunter: https://hsreplay.net/replay/exyf8LHA3jgzsZxCcXNJmF
Mage: 6 Games (4-2, 67%) [Highly Favored]
Unless you go up against the Tempo Mage dream start, it’s pretty easy to get the board early and then flip the switch and go face before they can react. Freeze Mage is much too slow and they can’t deal with your early aggression while drawing and playing secrets. Stopping damage from the board doesn’t help them either, as your deck has so many weapons and chargers.
Sample high legend match vs Tempo Mage: https://hsreplay.net/replay/wW4oufaCLyY7mGKinc4nRi
Sample high legend match vs Freeze Mage: https://hsreplay.net/replay/WKskiBMa8CRwqG6mjYfJRT
Paladin: 1 Game (0-1, 0%) [No Data]
Paladin is underrepresented on ladder. I lost to a Reno Dragon Paladin who dropped Reno on turn 7.
Priest: 3 Games (3-0, 100%) [Unfavored]
All 3 games I played were in a row against JAB’s dragon priest (I think it was featured in the VS Data Reaper as a counter to shaman.) On the whole I would rate the matchup as unfavored, but I drew pretty well all 3 games. The matchup vs the more control oriented priest is highly favored for you. Just ignore everything they do and go face; if they play Auchenai Soulpriest for a board clear, don’t kill it so they can’t heal.
Sample high legend match vs Dragon Priest: https://hsreplay.net/replay/wW4oufaCLyY7mGKinc4nRi
Rogue: 12 Games (9-3, 75%) [Highly Favored]
Rogues have no taunts and no healing usually. The losses that I picked up were to big T2 or T3 VanCleefs (and an accidental concede vs Asmodai) but usually you just drop cards and go face unless they’re telegraphing a fan of knives play. In most cases it’s worth to clear Azure Drakes if you still have control of the board. Most times they’ll get board control by T5 or T6 and be dead by T7.
Sample high legend match vs Miracle Rouge: https://hsreplay.net/replay/wzw5P6hL7JigLjj3Fawfui
Shaman: 9 Games (3-6, 33%) [Highly Unfavored]
This is a matchup you can win… but it’s hard. The stock Midrange Shaman list features 4 board clears and 4 taunt cards and their hero power has a 1/4 chance of rolling taunt. If your local meta features a lot of shaman then playing Pirate Warrior might not be a good idea. I only ran into 14% shamans.
Sample high legend match vs Midrange Shaman: https://hsreplay.net/replay/nfJ9CuvpkKVSE2E9UdKyx2
Warlock: 4 Games (4-0, 100%) [Highly Favored vs Reno, Unfavored vs Zoo]
You’re unfavored vs Zoo but you can still pull out wins by pushing really hard for the early board. Just go face vs Reno and you’ll win most of the time (sometimes even before turn 6.)
Sample high legend match vs Zoo Warlock: https://hsreplay.net/replay/XhgCvPQLijapDy6TeTG67H
Warrior: 7 Games (4-3, 57%) [Unfavored to Heavily Unfavored]
If both pilots are playing perfectly, you will be hard pressed to pull out a win vs control warrior or dragon warrior. However, just do the same things that make you successful vs the other classes- push hard for the board early, maximize damage output while playing around board clears whenever possible, and hope they don’t draw answers.
Sample high legend match vs Control Warrior: https://hsreplay.net/replay/mkEJF8WGJJ5hsGJjcks9jW
