Budget Odd Paladin

Vinecleaver This deck is really strong right off the bat in the new expansion and is a very affordable starting deck if you’re on a budget with room to improve.  The great thing about this deck is that it uses some classic cards like Abusive Sergeant, Argent Squire, and even Raid Leader, which have mostly been out of the meta but are likely in your collection already (or don’t cost a lot if they aren’t).  The only legendary that is required is one that is likely to be a solid, playable card for its entire standard life rotation, which if you craft the card now will be 2 years.  Another nice feature of the deck is that many of the cards are replaceable depending on cards you already own and tech you want to include to counter some other decks in the meta.

Budget Odd Paladin Mulligan Guide

You want to have a turn one play, especially if you don’t have the coin.  The most desirable turn 1 plays are Lost in the Jungle, Argent Squire, or Righteous Protector, so you should do a hard mulligan for these.  You might consider keeping Archerus Veteran if you didn’t find any of the other cards just because it is still a decent one drop to get.

If you happen to have one or more of the high value one drops, you can also keep Divine Favor or Level Up!, but otherwise those should be mulliganed.  You can also keep the Light's Justice and Hench-Clan Thug combo, just because that can blow out a game almost on its own.

Budget Odd Paladin Necessary Cards

These cards make up the archetype and are absolutely necessary for the deck:

• Baku the Mooneater – The buff of getting two Silver Hand Recruits for you hero power is absolutely essential.  Keep in mind that any other card substitutions you make need to be odd-cost cards to get the buff as well.
• Vinecleaver – The ability to generate 4 Silver Hand Recruits on a single turn simply by using the weapon and hero power together is great for winning games against mid range decks, and incredible if you happen to get a Sunkeeper Tal'darim out of Stonehill Defender.
• Stormwind Champion – This allows you to make value trades with your Silver Hand Recruits or close out the game when you’ve established a board.  This can also be a huge tempo swing in the mirror match because of the health buff.
• Raid Leader – Similar to Stormwind Champion but without the health buff.

Possible Replacements

I’ve found value in these cards as well:

• Tar Creeper – Great for protecting your Silver Hand Recruits or a buffed minion.
• Vicious Fledgling  – Can single-handedly win games so it often requires an immediate response and pulls out a useful removal from a control deck.  If you run this you probably want to take out the Hech-Clan Thug + Light's Justice package and run this with Tar Creeper to protect it.