By the time you get to the Paladin class challenge in the Frostwyrm Lair of the Curse of Naxxramas solo adventure, you will have already been through every boss battle in the expansion. More importantly, you should already have a good knowledge of the bosses in the Frostwyrm Lair. Unfortunately, instead of fighting the more manageable Sapphiron, you’re facing off against Kel’Thuzad.
The fight against Kel’Thuzad is not an easy one when you create your own deck to use against him. In this Paladin class challenge, you’re forced to use a pre-determined deck that you have no control over. Unfortunately, that makes this challenge one of the most difficult in the expansion.
Let’s take a look at the deck you’ll be working with:
| Card | Mana | Attack/Health | Stats | Quantity |
| Argent Protector | 2 | 2/2 | Battlecry: Give a friendly minion Divine Shield. | 1 |
| Argent Squire | 1 | 1/1 | Divine Shield | 2 |
| Avenge | 1 | N/A | Secret: When one of your minions dies, give a random friendly minion +3/2. | 2 |
| Avenging Wrath | 6 | N/A | Deal eight damage randomly split among enemy characters. | 1 |
| Black Knight, The | 6 | 4/5 | Battlecry: Destroy an enemy minion with taunt. | 1 |
| Blessing of Kings | 4 | N/A | Give a minion +4/4. | 1 |
| Blessing of Might | 1 | N/A | Give a minion +3 attack. | 1 |
| Blood Knight | 3 | 3/3 | Battlecry: All minions lose Divine Shield. Gain +3/3 for each Shield lost. | 1 |
| Cult Master | 4 | 4/2 | Whenever one of your other minions dies, draw a card. | 1 |
| Defender of Argus | 4 | 2/3 | Battlecry: Give adjacent minions +1/1 and taunt. | 1 |
| Divine Favor | 3 | N/A | Draw cards until you have as many in hand as your opponent. | 2 |
| Echoing Ooze | 2 | 1/2 | Battlecry: Summon and exact copy of this minion at the end of the turn. | 6 |
| Ironbeak Owl | 2 | 2/1 | Battlecry: Silence a minion. | 2 |
| Knife Juggler | 2 | 3/2 | After you summon a minion, deal one damage to a random enemy. | 1 |
| Leper Gnome | 1 | 2/1 | Deathrattle: Deal two damage to the enemy hero. | 2 |
| Shattered Sun Cleric | 3 | 3/2 | Battlecry: Give a friendly minion +1/1. | 2 |
| Worgen Infiltrator | 1 | 2/1 | Stealth | 1 |
As you can see, you have everything you need to win. However, the order in which your cards are drawn has a significant impact on how well you perform in this match. The key to winning is to buff your Echoing Ooze minions with buffs, then use the added power of the duplicated minion to wreck havoc on Kel’Thuzad. Blessing of Kings, Blessing of Might and Shattered Sun Cleric should be your primary tools to buff the Oozes, but you can also use Defender of Argus, Argent Protector and even Avenge (if you get lucky).
There are some great combos to be had, but all of them rely on a near perfect card draw and a bit of luck. For example, you can drop an Echoing Ooze, then use the Argent Protector to give it Divine Shield. If both minions keep their Divine Shield until your next turn, then you can drop a Blood Knight who will jump from a 3/3 to a 9/9. If you also happen to have an Argent Squire ready to play, you can potentially get the Blood Knight up to 12/12.
Of course, the Blood Knight buff combo is one of the rarer combos you’ll get with this deck. It won’t be too difficult to use at least one of the previously mentioned buff cards in conjunction with an Echoing Ooze, but with six Ooze cards and six buffing cards (not counting Avenge), the chance having one Ooze and a buff on the same turn with enough mana to play both cards is completely up to the luck of the draw. For example, you may get an Ooze on turn three, but only a Blessing of Might would combo with it that early in the game due to mana limitations.
If the perfect draw issue weren’t enough, you still have to worry about Kel’Thuzad’s strategy. He starts the match with 10 armor. When you remove his armor, he immediately ends your turn and summons two 3/3 taunt minions. In addition, his hero power changes from Frost Blast to Chains. During the first phase of the battle, you need to remove the armor as quickly as possible because you’re taking at least two points of damage every turn from Frost Blast, and you have no healing in this deck.
When Kel’Thuzad gets to his second phase, do not use your Black Knight on either of the taunts that are summoned. Save your Black Knight for the Sludge Belcher taunt minion if you can. Get as many low-mana minions on the board as early as possible, then use the Cult Master for card draw as you trade with Kel’Thuzad’s minions. In addition, use Divine Favor as early as possible while Kel’Thuzad still has a hand full of cards. You’re going to need a good card draw in this match to get your Ooze combos going.
Kel’Thuzad ‘s Chains hero power (phase two) takes control of one of your minions until the end of his turn. Due to the way your deck is crafted, this will likely be one of your buffed up Echoing Ooze minions. Your only taunt minion is the Defender of Argus, which means you have very little protection. It’s best to hold the Defender until you can buff two minions with taunt, preferably two Echoing Oozes, but that would have to wait until turn eight, which may not be reasonable (depending on your draw order). If you can hold off until turn eight and you have two Oozes plus the Defender to play, you will end up with four 2/3 taunt minions.
Defeating Kel’Thuzad will give you a pair of Avenge cards. There’s a bit of luck involved in the Avenge card, but with Paladin’s hero power and a few low-cost minions, you should be able to get good use out of it in most Paladin decks. In addition, the one-mana cost of the card makes it hard to pass up.
Check out our Curse of Naxxramas game hub for strategies and tips for every battle in the Hearthstone expansion.
Published: Aug 27, 2014 10:44 pm