With the release of the Boomsday Project, the ultimate weapon of destruction is unleashed onto the meta. Mecha’thun is the only neutral card in the game with the capability to instantly win the game. Of course, nothing so powerful is ever so simple. Mecha’thun’s deathrattle is extremely conditional. But that hasn’t stopped a number of classes trying their luck at building an OTK deck out of it.
Warrior: Defensive but counterable
Warrior seems like a natural fit for an OTK deck. With strong draw, good defensive options and a number of combo pieces, Warrior can go the distance. Garrosh’s powerful board clears and removal options can sustain well into the late-game, while Acolyte and Battle Rage provide ample cycle. Warrior even has a decent-ish way of killing their C’thun, with Boomship and Shield Slam, both of which are strong standalone card choices.
Unfortunately, Mecha’thun Warrior has one key achilles heel; if your opponent preempts your plan, you’re vulnerable. Geist followed by silence is one such counter when it comes to deckbuilding; but even in-game Warrior can run into issues. A number of clunky removal spells form the core of the Warrior’s survival tools, most notably Execute and Brawl. Without targets, there’s no way to activate Mecha’thun before you die to fatigue. What’s more, the opponent can nullify Shield Slam with enough face damage. Malygos version also exist, but are extremely clunky.
As such, Mecha’thun seems best as a secondary win condition in a solid Control Warrior deck, rather than a primary way to win games.
Druid: The draw powerhouse
It’s an odd sight so see Druids running Auctioneer in a world where Ultimate infestation exists. But that is a weird reality in Mecha’thun Druid. The issue with Ultimate Infestation lies in the threat of it being close to your last cards; since all must be spent, you’re doomed to potentially deadly amounts of fatigue before you can Naturalize your Mecha’thun.
Luckily for fans of mechanical old gods, Druid has draw galore even without Ultimate. Between Nourish, Branching Paths and Auctioneer, they can cycle through their decks incredibly quickly. And with decent survivability tools, they can put up a decent fight against Aggro while they’re at it. Unfortunately, there’s not much improvement compared to Warrior when it comes to cleanly executing the game plan. Though there’s no armor requirement, many cards like Wrath or Barkskin require a minion target that a smart opponent will hinder your abilities to provide. Moreover, you may struggle to remove some of your minions one you’ve stuck them. And, like Warrior, Geist may ruin your day.
Warlock: The unstoppable
Warlock is an unlikely home for Mecha’thun, but the class can utilise it surprisingly well. By reducing the cost of it with two Galvanisers, Warlocks can combo their Mecha’thun with Bloodbloom and Catacylsm to guarantee both an empty hand and a clear board. The only issue arises from reaching the bottom of your deck and surviving with at least 5 health; which is where the trouble is more apparent.
Warlock has a bit of a dilemma when it comes to card draw and survivability. While Gul’dan is fantastic for staying alive, it means you may not reach the bottom of your deck in time to defeat other combo decks. Meanwhile, the starting hero power can only take you so far before you start to run low on Health.
As such, the most successful Mecha’thun Warlock decks seem to be the ones that are very similar to standard Even Warlock lists. While it will depend on the situation of the meta, it seems better to focus on getting those turn 3 Mountain Giants down.
With that said, Warlock’s version is truly unstoppable, with only Demonic Project able to interrupt, with Geist notably useless against it. Trying to keep their minions on board also won’t work, thanks to cataclysm. In the right meta, it could remain as a strong anti-control secondary win condition that cannot be viably teched against.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via Hearthstone.gamepedia.com.
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