The first wing of Naxx launched this week (7/22), and the Heroic bosses have proven to be quite a challenge! As a quick disclaimer, there's always more than one way to skin a cat, but here are my thoughts on Maexxna and how my GF and I defeated her.
My Deck:
My GFs Deck:
Decks I tried that didn't work:
What to expect from Maexxna:
Her hero power sucks. For 0 mana, she returns two of your minions to your hand. The upside to this is that you can utilize battlecries from returned minions over and over again. This could be heals, silences, or even replenishing health/bubbles on charge cards. Maexxna will ALWAYS play her Hero Power as her first move.
She plays an unreasonable amount of Haunted Creepers, which are 1/2 with a deathrattle that summon 2x 1/1s. The upside is that most of her cards only deal 1 damage. There are a few exceptions, namely Spectral Knights and Emperor Cobras, but all-in-all it can be quite manageable.
Basic Strat:
In my opinion, the plan for all of the Heroic bosses should be to initially survive long enough so that the boss is top decking. With their 45 health, the board does not become predictably manageable until then.
Hunter Strat:
Mulligan for Knife Jugglers, UTH, Explosive Traps, and/or Ironbeaks. Alternatively, a Wild Pyromancer and a few spells is handy because Maexxna will ALWAYS hero power as her first move, essentially healing your Pyromancer to full when you replay it.
My opening hand was a UTH, Knife Juggler, and a Boar. I drew an explosive trap early on, so I hero powered up through turn 5. I played the trap on turn 6 to trigger the death rattles, and turn 7 was 2x Knife Jugglers + UTH. With her full board, I must have shot 13 knives essentially clearing her board. It was seriously a cake walk from there. I silenced her Spectral Knights with ironbeaks to remove their spell immunity, and then hunter's marked and sacrificed a 1/1 on them. Hunter's mark also comes in hand with the Sea Giant.
The Voodoo Doctor and Farseer are there to facilitate surviving long enough that she top decks. If two of them are played in tandem, you will heal for 4-6 health, and they will always be returned if they are the only two minions on your board. That may not seem like a significant amount of health, but also remember that the majority of her minions only deal 1 damage and each side can hold a max of 7 minions. In fact, it may not be worth killing the 1 dmg minions early on to ensure that there isn't enough room on her board for Sea Giant or Spectral Knight.
Game ended with hunter @ 18 health.
Paladin Strat:
My GF beat Maexxna with this deck. I don't have all the details, but she mentioned that her playstyle was heal heavy (as is evident from the cards), and also to survive long enough that Maexxna would start topdecking. The boars were combo'd with BoK, BoM, Abusive Sergeant, and Equality. Hero power when it adds a third minion to your side.
Her first game ended with her at 21 health.
Her second ended with her at 14 health.
There are other strats and decks popping up all over the web. Hunters seem pretty popular, and one mage deck I found claims a 100% win rate. I'm curious to know what works for you all. I'd really like to try out other decks on her.
I hope this helps some.
My Deck:
My GFs Deck:
Decks I tried that didn't work:
- Arkhunters Turn 7 Hunter - not enough damage. Little control.
- Reynads Budget Warrior - Too much enemy health and not enough control
- Weapons/Aggro Warrior - Too much enemy health and not enough control
- Zoo - Could work, but I haven't had any luck.
- Ramp Druid - I couldn't keep enough minions on the board to have a presence.
- Aggro Paladin - Same as warrior aggro decks.
- Control Paladin - Don't remember why this didn't work, exactly. Lost twice.
What to expect from Maexxna:
Her hero power sucks. For 0 mana, she returns two of your minions to your hand. The upside to this is that you can utilize battlecries from returned minions over and over again. This could be heals, silences, or even replenishing health/bubbles on charge cards. Maexxna will ALWAYS play her Hero Power as her first move.
She plays an unreasonable amount of Haunted Creepers, which are 1/2 with a deathrattle that summon 2x 1/1s. The upside is that most of her cards only deal 1 damage. There are a few exceptions, namely Spectral Knights and Emperor Cobras, but all-in-all it can be quite manageable.
Basic Strat:
In my opinion, the plan for all of the Heroic bosses should be to initially survive long enough so that the boss is top decking. With their 45 health, the board does not become predictably manageable until then.
Hunter Strat:
Mulligan for Knife Jugglers, UTH, Explosive Traps, and/or Ironbeaks. Alternatively, a Wild Pyromancer and a few spells is handy because Maexxna will ALWAYS hero power as her first move, essentially healing your Pyromancer to full when you replay it.
My opening hand was a UTH, Knife Juggler, and a Boar. I drew an explosive trap early on, so I hero powered up through turn 5. I played the trap on turn 6 to trigger the death rattles, and turn 7 was 2x Knife Jugglers + UTH. With her full board, I must have shot 13 knives essentially clearing her board. It was seriously a cake walk from there. I silenced her Spectral Knights with ironbeaks to remove their spell immunity, and then hunter's marked and sacrificed a 1/1 on them. Hunter's mark also comes in hand with the Sea Giant.
The Voodoo Doctor and Farseer are there to facilitate surviving long enough that she top decks. If two of them are played in tandem, you will heal for 4-6 health, and they will always be returned if they are the only two minions on your board. That may not seem like a significant amount of health, but also remember that the majority of her minions only deal 1 damage and each side can hold a max of 7 minions. In fact, it may not be worth killing the 1 dmg minions early on to ensure that there isn't enough room on her board for Sea Giant or Spectral Knight.
Game ended with hunter @ 18 health.
Paladin Strat:
My GF beat Maexxna with this deck. I don't have all the details, but she mentioned that her playstyle was heal heavy (as is evident from the cards), and also to survive long enough that Maexxna would start topdecking. The boars were combo'd with BoK, BoM, Abusive Sergeant, and Equality. Hero power when it adds a third minion to your side.
Her first game ended with her at 21 health.
Her second ended with her at 14 health.
There are other strats and decks popping up all over the web. Hunters seem pretty popular, and one mage deck I found claims a 100% win rate. I'm curious to know what works for you all. I'd really like to try out other decks on her.
I hope this helps some.