Last year Nationals ended up being a huge disappointment for me. The actual event was a blast and had a ton of fun, but I had made a grievous error.
I decided to play an interesting deck decision in the form of Krog Deathfist. A Blood DK aggro deck using Hysteria, Edge of Oblivion, Orgrimmar, Army of the Dead, Kazamon Steelskin, and Rehgar.
In play testing the deck actually performed quite well. I still had a problem with Deathwish, as most people did, but the explosive power of a Hysteria Zugna or a Kazamon running around would let me lay down some heavy aggro.
After the third round and going 1-2 thus far, I noticed I had yet to draw a Hysteria. Bad luck I thought? I riffled through my deck and much to my dismay, Hysteria’s were no where to be found. We had all done some late night tweaking the night before in preparation and somehow the Hysteria’s were forgotten.
I went to the judges table and told them I think my deck was wrong and if they could check to see if I had Hysteria on my list. Alas, while my deck technically matched my list, the list was missing one of the driving forces of my deck. I spent the rest of the weekend playing in side tournaments, having a good time, but dropping after not making Day 2.
This year I feel like the Death Knight needs some redemption. Unfortunately Krog Deathfist is getting dropped in favor the Unholy route and our good friend Triton the Sacreligious.
The Lich King - Icecrown
The tentative deck list thus far is as follows:
Hero
Triton the Sacrilegious
Allies
Broderick Langforth 4
Death Charger 4
Vuz’din 4
Dethvir the Malignant 4
Gargoyle 3
Saurfang the Younger, Kor’Kron Warlord 3
Carine, Earthmother’s Chosen 3
Rehgar Earthfury 2
Abilities
Entomb 3
Corpse Explosion 4
Army of the Dead 3
Tuskarr Kite 4
Equipment
Extract of Necromantic Power 4
Scimitar of the Sirocco 3
Quests/Locations
Kor’Kron Vanguard 3
Proving Grounds 4
Darkness Calling 3
What’s Haunting Witch Hill? 2
Gargoyle - War of the Elements
The deck list itself is fairly standard to what has been played at some Realm Championships although there are a few elements I am still weighing in on. Scimitar of Sirocco is an excellent replacement for Orgrimmar, allowing room for Kor’Kron Vanguard. Cairne is a great card by itself, but I wonder if Thrall would be a better choice? I know that his Stash ability is good to create the Warstomp effect, but seems like it would have less of an impact with so few Tauren.
I am also considering dropping Rehgar in favor of 2 Lich Kings. Maybe keep Rehgar and drop Cairne for the Lich King?
I am happy with the release of Gargoyle as I think it is a fantastic ally for Death Knights, and I think has more oomph for the deck than Nathanos Blightcaller did since the Unholy deck is already running Corpse Explosion and Army of the Dead to handle the creature threat.
After a turn 3 Explosion, turn 4 can bring out the Gargoyle and can function like a Shadowfiend that ends up being really hard to get rid of.
Entomb and Vuzdin do wonderful things against the preeminent deck that is Deathwish. Extract also helps in that situation, making it hard for Jin’rokh to do the thing that it does.
I think Broderick is going to be a staple for a while due to his ability to be a threat even from the graveyard.
Nationals is just over one and a half months away so more play testing needs to be done.
