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Hearthstone Hero guide: Paladin

How to get started with this flexible control Hero.

Like the Mage, the Paladin is one of the most satisfying Hearthstone Heroes to play if you enjoy controlling the flow of the match. With its excellent balance of healing spells, weapons and devastating board clearance spells, a solidly crafted deck leaves this character in command of a solution for just about every problem.

The addition of cards like Muster for Battle and Quartermaster in the recent Goblins vs Gnomes expansion has given the Paladin a fantastic new mid-game threat too. Should you find yourself staring down the barrel of this multitude of minions, pray you have the means to clear them in your hand – or at the very least somewhere in your deck.

If both players should reach the end-game on an equal footing, it's often the Paladin's Hero Power that will help the character gasp over the finishing line. For the cost of two Mana, the Paladin can summon a 1/1 minion each turn to help prop up the board. That extra presence on the board may seem tiny, but the extra pressure can make all the difference – and that's not even taking into account the Paladin's many buffing cards.

The best Paladin cards to craft in Hearthstone

Assuming you haven't managed to pull the cards you need from your hard-earned packs, there are a few Paladin cards that you'll definitely want to consider crafting. If you've only got a limited budget, we've picked out our five favourite Paladin cards and combos. You'll see these spells, weapons and minions crop up in a huge number of decks created for this Hero, so you can be sure of getting value for money out of your precious crafting dust.

Muster for Battle / Quartermaster

While it's certainly true that Quartermaster gives a certain amount of value by itself, most players are primed to clear any of your Silver Hand Recruits on sight in case you buff them. With Muster for Battle, however, your odds of building a formidable fighting force go right up.

If you're planning on playing these cards in combination with one another, you should play Muster For Battle on turn four at the earliest, otherwise you run the risk of losing all your minions before you can play the Quartermaster. Even better, play both cards together from turn eight onwards to really give your opponent something to think about.

Argent Protector

The Argent Protector is great for obtaining a little extra tempo in the early turns of a match. Once the protective shield's been applied, you'll be able to use your bubbled minion to tear a chunk or two out of an enemy fighter, while still leaving the character's original form on the board.

Equality / Consecration

The power of this combo is pretty self-explanatory. First, you use Equality to reduce every minion's health down to one – including your own – before laying down some devastating justice using your two-attack clearance spell Consecreation. There's a fine art to baiting your opponent into laying down more and more cards before making use of this combo – practise makes perfect!

Aldor Peacekeeper

The power of the Aldor Peacekeeper lies in its ability to bring even the toughest enemy minion down to size. Not only can it prevent devastating damage from being unleashed onto the board, it also synergises nicely with cards like Acolyte of Pain. Simply minimise the attacking threat, then send your card-drawing friend in once or twice - if it stays alive that long - to keep the cards flowing into your hand.

Tirion Fordring

Tirion Fordring is one of the most powerful class Legendary cards in Hearthstone, and one glance at the card text will help you understand why. This solid defensive wall will usually take down a couple of minions before expiring, at which point you receive a massive 5/3 weapon as a consolation prize. Use it to clear down the board, or to finish off the match entirely

Powerful though this card is, Tirion is very vulnerable to hard removal spells like Polymorph and Hex, and any cards capable of silencing this minion will also severely weaken it. Still, a 6/6 minion is nothing to be sniffed at. Regardless, try to bait out your opponent's removal with something good – but not quite as good – before putting Tirion onto the board.</p

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John Bedford avatar

John Bedford

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John is Metabomb's Editor in Chief and looks after the day to day running of the site when he's not writing about Hearthstone.

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