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Upper Deck's World of Warcraft Trading Card Game provides players with a plethora of options for deck construction. However, much like Blizzard's online game some character builds are still underpowered. Case in point: the solo paladin build.
Ever since the WoW TCG came out, I've been running a Solo Paladin. The deck used to be a viable build in the tournament scene. With Blessing of Might, Spread the Word and other abilities and equipment, Graccus could deal some pretty heavy damage almost at par with the Omnislash-Gorebelly decks which came into vogue during that time.
However, with the addition of dual wielding and more ranged weapons in the Fires of Outland set, things changed. The Solodin could no longer hold its own against warriors which equipped three weapons at a time. Granted the class did get some pretty useful crowd control abilities in the form of Consecration and the ultra cheesy Lay on Hands, going up against other Solo builds is almost an auto-loss in the tournament scene.
What could Upper Deck to make the solo Paladin deck a good pick for a tournament? I can see two options: make them hardier, or increase their damage. Either of the two would make the class competitive again.
 How do you make the Paladins even hardier than it is now? Other would complain that the class already has a lot of healing, damage prevention and exhausting effects. I propose that a new card be created which makes all damage preventable for both the opponent and the Paladin.
The reason for this is that the Paladin is often outgunned in a solo battle against other solo builds. While Paladins only get one attack (two if you've got Thrash Blade), the opponent normally gets to swing back and still swing on their turn. We've tried to find a solution for this, but there are no cards in any of the sets that will help mitigate the two for one advantage of the opponent.
The second option is to increase their damage output. Paladins at full strength cannot match a Warrior in one on one combat. That's something we must accept. However, if the Paladin is given other options to deal significant damage, then perhaps it may balance out the game. Sure, we got Hammer of Wrath and Retribution Aura, but that doesn't mean squat when an opponent is swinging for 15 and healing the same amount each and every turn.
Until the problems of the Paladin are addressed, we probably won't be seeing any more good solo builds for this class. I've accepted this. In the last tournament I attended, I placed my hero back in the case
for the last time and sold off most of the weapons and gear. I'm now
looking forward to my next project: the DOT Warlock.
Perhaps one day we'll be seeing a resurgence of the Solodin, until then, rest well Graccus. Rest well.
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