Hearthpwn

I topped out at Rank 205 on NA last season. This deck works like many tempo mages with the exception being that it uses spare part synergy to keep your options open. With so many cheap spells you can get crazy Flamewaker turns, crazy Antonidas turns, or crazy Gadgetzan turns (or all of the above sometimes). Beware zoo, as it will be your hardest matchup.

If you enjoyed this deck, consider checking out my stream at twitch.tv/uselesslingo. I rarely play meta decks and instead seek to make Hearthstone an enjoyable experience while playing at a competitive level.

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To be perfectly honest, I created this deck in a fit of frustration with the monotony of the meta. I then piloted it to legend and to a decent rank last season. It can require attention to detail and finesse, but I find it one of the most enjoyable decks to play. Anyways, here's a guide for you guys. Thank you to everyone who upvoted this deck and left positive comments. You guys are awesome!

Druid: This deck fairs well against druid and is generally won in the early game. Keep mana wyrm and flamecannon, although frostbolt works if you don't see flamecannon right away.  If you are on coin, the classic mana wyrm coin mirror image will force the druid into the position of needing to wrath instead of wild growth which he will often choose not to do. Sorcerer's apprentice is a fine keep if you have mirror image to go with it. Getting damage in early is important as the druid can consistently play bigger minions whereas we have only a few. That said, if you are able to get mechanical yeti or Toshley onto the board relatively uncontested, you will be far ahead as these bodies are hard for druids to remove. As I mentioned earlier, it is rare to be in the position where archmage gets more than a couple fireballs so you'll want to be tempoing the game out with efficient removal (ie flamecannons) and game-ending fireballs.

Hunter: This deck has a decent matchup against hunter. Mulligan for mana wyrm, clockwork gnome, arcane missiles, and arcane blast. If you’re on coin, flamewaker and arcane missiles can be a fine keep. This deck has an easy time getting early board control thanks to our more efficient spells. However, it is easy to get locked behind an explosive trap, in which case getting flamewaker behind mirror image can help you recover the board and potentially close out the game without ever having to set the trap off. If you think your opponent plays highmanes in his deck, save your freezes. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to fully kill a highmane without dropping a serious amount of resources.

Tempo Mage: Against other tempo mage decks, it’s often a tossup as to who has the better start. Keep mana wyrm, arcane blast, sorcerer’s apprentice and frostbolt to try and secure the early board. Clockwork gnome is fine to keep if you’re going first. Unfortunately, our mech yetis give the opponent spells for their flamewaker and Antonidas if they play him. A lot of the game is decided by opening mana wyrm draws, flamewaker hits, and unstable portal rng so it’s hard to give a solid plan besides seizing the board early and constantly forcing them to answer your board.

Freeze Mage: This deck does worse against freeze mage than traditional tempo mage because it is more combo oriented. The meta has mostly seen tempo mage as the dominant mage archetype but if that changes, mulligan for mana wyrm, sorcerer’s apprentice, arcane intellect, unstable portal, and flamewaker if you’re on coin. Ultimately, it’s difficult to get many minion hits in amidst the freeze mage’s myriad board clears and stalls. Getting the sorcerer’s apprentice/flamewaker combo to stick can be crucial to your success as you stop playing the board which is what freeze mage seeks to control.

Secret Paladin: This deck can struggle sometimes against secret paladin without the right start. For secret paladin, look for mana wyrm, arcane missiles, and arcane blast. Keep clockwork gnome if you’re going first. If you have the coin, keeping flamewaker and arcane missiles or arcane blast can be a powerful way to come back on board. Throw away flamecannon as your two mana can be better spent. If you can take the early game in this matchup, you can usually take the game. An uncontested flamewaker combined with cheap removal can wreak havoc on any paladin’s board. As you move to the late game, though, your removal starts becoming less adequate as he winds up with 10/8 minions. If you have the board, freezing a mysterious challenger to get more face damage in is usually the right way to go as you may struggle to survive against such large threats past turn six and beyond.

Murloc Paladin: If you do happen to run into murloc paladin, know that you are heavily favored. Unless there are an exorbinant amount of murloc paladins on ladder, just mulligan as if it were secret paladin. Murloc paladin relies on pacifying your board with aldors, humilities, and huge board clears, but your board deals damage through spells. Early doomsayers don’t do much when flamecannon is an option and are often a tempo loss for the paladin. This deck can often afford to be greedy against murloc paladin because of how slow it moves. Try and limit their card draw from acolyte of pains and force them into having to lay on hands when you still have a board and you should be golden.

Priest: This deck fairs well against priest. Dragon priest can be more troublesome as they will seize the board earlier and are more likely to keep it. Keep mana wyrm and flamecannon. Sorcerer's apprentice is a fine keep if you have a cheap removal card to pair with it like flamecannon or frostbolt. Getting in early damage is usually easy against priest. Flamecannons often make short work of their deathlords. The way you lose the game is usually from allowing your board to be cleared by aoe or by having your flamewaker hit by cabal shadowpriest. To solve these issues, keep in mind the health and attack of your minions and be aware of the possibility of holy nova or lightbomb. Trade and play minions in such a way that it makes aoe worse for your opponent. Also, try and get flamewaker out as soon as reasonable so that you’re able to get value out of it and help establish a board before cabal comes down. This is a matchup in which archmage can do serious work. If you receive a stealth spare part, it’s usually a better idea to give it to archmage as gadgetzan can be removed by lightbomb.

Shaman: This deck has a decent matchup against shaman. Keep mana wyrm, clockwork gnome, and flamecannon. Sorcerer’s apprentice is a decent keep if you have early removal to support it. Mirror image usually won’t save the apprentice as it will most likely be removed by a lightning bolt so make sure you have a game plan for her. Shamans play very powerful minions for about two or three turns so if you can flamecannon them down, you can usually take the board for your own. Forcing them to overload on critical turns such as going into turn five can put them in awkward positions. Do they lightning bolt to clear only to be barred from doomhammer the following turn? Frostbolt is a very powerful tool against shaman. It’s often a good idea to keep frostbolt for the shaman’s face once doomhammer comes out. Stalling what is essentially a seven mana investment can be devastating to their tempo. You will probably never get to play gadgetzan, toshley, or archmage in this matchup. If you do, using a taunt spare part on them is a good idea.

Rogue: Rogue is actually a hard matchup for this deck as it’s difficult to out-tempo rogue. Both oil rogue and malyrogue play out virtually the same in the early turn. Look for mana wyrm and mirror image to get some early damage in. Sorcerer’s apprentice isn’t especially helpful without mana wyrm for support as it will just get backstabbed and lose tempo. Frostbolting face to gain a turn of protection from the rogue hero power is a reasonable play provided you are doing so to gain tempo and put a minion on board or protect a minion. Be careful with playing mechanical yeti or toshley as these are excellent sap targets so make sure your recovery method relies on spells and not minions if he hasn’t played a sap yet. Try to force the rogue to use his removal inefficiently as rogues thrive on efficient clears for their board control. It’s a hard matchup, but not impossible if you’re able to get a foothold early and put a few solid hits in, then finish the rogue off with burn.

Zoo Warlock: Zoo is definitely this deck’s hardest matchup. If you are running into a meta filled with zoo, consider subbing out bloodmage thalnos for a flamestrike. Keep mana wyrm, frostbolt, and flamecannon. You usually want to reserve flamecannon for imp gang boss. It is also sometimes a good idea to keep a mana wyrm with a mirror image if you have removal to pair with it as well. This likely allows you to get some uncontested hits on the warlocks face before he’s able to build a board as they lack early removal. You won’t win a long game, so try and be aggressive and pressure the warlock’s ability to use their life as a resource. The way you usually lose is by getting hit with implosion. Unlike the muster for battle situation, zoo keeps cards such as imp gang boss, haunted creeper, and nerubian egg which make flamewaker plays a liability. Aoe can be clutch from ethereal conjurer and can swing the game back in your favor. Even a spell like frost nova can give you one good turn to recover and get some damage in.

Reno Warlock: The frustrating thing is that while zoo is a bad matchup, this deck has a great matchup against Renolock as it has enough early damage to pressure the warlock and enough burst to close the game out. As the meta stands now, I would simply mulligan in anticipation of zoo. The ways you lose are by overextending into hellfire or demonwrath early on and losing all your early board or by playing burn on the face when you don’t have lethal and he hasn’t played Reno.

Warrior: This deck fairs well against warrior. Look for your mana wyrm and/or sorcerer's apprentice and either frost bolt or mirror image. Clockwork gnome is a fine keep too. It's really important to try and neutralize weapons in order to get a foothold on the board. Throw away things like arcane missiles and flamewaker as they do little for you in this matchup and are more likely to stray and hit an acolyte of pain or armorsmith early on. We can leave them to become archmage fodder later. If the rest of your hand just happens to be stellar, it's okay to keep a mechanical yeti while on coin as these usually require the warrior to use multiple cards to remove if you've been able to pressure his armor in the first couple turns. If you were unable to tempo the warrior out in the early game, bring him low with archmage and the wealth of spare parts you've been collecting.

Q: What can I sub out for Toshley? How crucial is he to the deck?

A: Toshley does something unique in that he provides decent stats and two cheap spells for amazing synergy with the deck. That said, with standard coming out, I don’t really recommend spending your hard-earned dust on something that will be relegated to wild in a month or so. Try replacing him with either ethereal conjurer or Dr. Boom.