Got a lucky draft to go 11-3, and although I didn't have a SHK in my deck, I had it played against me 4 times, and except for the 2nd time (when I didn't think to do it), took a screenshot to analyze later.
1st time: With 7 mana, he played a Naturalize (score was 1-0) on my Baron Geddon and a SHK on an empty board. With only 4 other cards in hand, it's unlikely that he had another 5 mana minion option, so Warlord here would have been a 4/4, strictly worse. I have a Flamestrike in hand, but I'd rather not go 1-for-1 with Flamestrike, though here I use it because there's no better option. I have a Fireball, but no <=4 mana minion except a Faerie Dragon, which would get killed by his 2/2, allowing his SHK to go 2-for-1.
![](http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=11326.0;attach=1848)
2nd time: Didn't get a screenshot. At the time, I recall thinking that SHK seemed slightly better than Warlord would have been, but I don't remember the situation, although I believe the Warlord would have been 5/5.
3rd time: He has a Violet Teacher out already and plays SHK on turn 5. I have a Flamestrike in hand, but with only 6 mana, I can't play it and am facing down a total of 9 damage from his board, and at 21 life, that's scary. A 5/5 Warlord would also have been good, threatening 8 damage, but then my Cobra would have been a less bad play (since in this situation he can kill it with 2/2+ping). On the other hand, I believe I went for a YOLO missiles play which hit his face once, the teacher once, and the 2/2 once, so I cleared the teacher and 2/2 with bluegill and fireblast. Certainly warlord would have been less susceptible to the missile play, so it may have an edge here.
![](http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=11326.0;attach=1849)
4th time: He plays SHK on turn 5 with his board empty. Playing SHK is strictly better than Warlord here, although he had enough other cards that he may have been able to hold back Warlord and make some other play. I have a decent response, killing the 2/2 with my Kodo, pinging his knight, and playing cobra, expecting that if something goes horribly wrong then I can Flamestrike next turn. Without the 2/2 present, though, I would be able to clear his board and put down a cobra.
![](http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=11326.0;attach=1850)