Hearthpwn

Hello guys, I've recently hit rank 1 legend on EU with 30-6 record in the final run and I'd like to share some knowledge with anyone that would like to try this awesome deck!

In general, this version performs really well vs. all Patches decks (especially Shaman and Warrior, but it's fine against Rogue as well despite most Reno decks struggling vs. Rogue in general.

It's still super strong vs. both Reno and Dragon Priest and Control Warrior and you are also slightly favored in Reno Mage match-up. Your bad match-ups are going to be most Druids and mirror in case your opponent runs the Leeroy-Faceless-POW combo. Hunter and Paladin don't really exist on high ranks and you should do well against them simply because of currently lacking overall power level of these classes.

Cards I am not running which are commonly used:

Combo (POW, Leeroy, Faceless) - all these cards are next to dead when facing Patches decks, so by not having them you improve these match-ups a ton. Combo is a very good way to close out longer games, but Jaraxxus can do the same job and you only invest one card, so you got two more slots to use. Separate pieces are OK in some situations (e.g. dealing with big minions) but I feel they are just not doing enough. I definitely suggest including the combo if playing mirrors gives you headaches otherwise. :)

Ragnaros - I prefer running as few win conditions as possible in order to get decent early/midgame, it would make a great addition if there were a lot Mages, Locks and Druids in the meta.

Sylvanas - Another expensive minion that's decent vs. slower decks (Reno Lock and Druid), although it's super awkward against Rogue since they can Sap her and control Shamans are running Hex, so the meta is really Sylvanas-unfriendly at the moment.

Shadowflame- Almost auto-include according to many players, but with absence of Power Owerwhelming and also Sylvanas this card performs much worse. Without POW I believe Hellfire, Twisted Nether, Abyssal Enforcer and even Felfire Potion are better AOE choices.

Blastcrystal Potion - The problem with this card is that destroying a crystal really hurts you unless it's turn 8-10. Clearly the deck really needs a way of handling big minions, but I feel Corruption serves this purpose much better.

Felfire Potion - I've played this card a lot over Abyssal and the only match-up in which it seemed better was Rogue, where dealing with 4 toughness minions is a huge deal, while against everything else an extra 6/6 body is totally worth investing an additional mana.

Spellbreaker - If I had to add 31st card, this would be the choice, he is great vs. Rogue (Edwin is quite an issue) and in Mirror (Twilight Drake, Faceless Shambler), but he is underwhelming vs. aggro (it's way too easy to kill for a 4 mana card) and not great against Mage, Priest and Druid.

Cards I am running which might seem argueable:

Mountain Giant - best card in match-ups that you go turn 2+3 Life Tap instead of developing board early. It's generally uncastable vs. Patches decks, but same goes for the likes of Ragnaros, and Gaint is simply faster and more threatening when facing controls.

Faceless Shambler - In my opinion it's an auto-include if you run Mountain Giant. With it you can go double 8/8 on turn 7 against slower decks, which is incredibly hard to deal with.

Defender of Argus - Having access to more taunts is often game-defining vs. all aggro decks, especially Pirate Warrior. It's also important to have a couple taunts ready so you don't die after playing Jaraxxus, which leaves you unable to heal back to 30 with Reno.

Soulfire - Probably the worst card in current version, but it's still providing good tempo swings since there is a number of appealing targets in the meta (Azure Drake, Tomb Pillager, Frothing Berserker, Totem Golem, to list a few) and you can fill the curve with it really nicely.

Jaraxxus - Since I've cut the combo I was looking for a reliable win condition, a thing the Eredar Lord is insanely good at. You beat many decks senseless (Priest, control Warrior) with this card alone. It's also decent against Mage, since burning you down from 15 is not that easy for them (especially if you bait out a Fireball earlier during the game) and it's literally impossible for them to outgrind a two-mana 6/6 every turn.

Corruption - No it's not a joke. When thinking about the meta, I felt Reno Lock has 2 problems: it has really hard time removing cheap, overpowered minions (Trogg, Totem Golem, Small-Time Buccaneer etc.) and after the nerf of Big Game Hunter, it's really difficult to deal with big threats like Edwin, Giant, Ragnaros, Flame-Wreathed Faceless. Obviously if you use Corruption, these minions will connect to your face once, but if you imagine all the possible scenarios, the card fits in pretty nicely and my winrate significantly improved after including it in the deck. (Over 80% winrate during climb that early in the season is really rare for me)

That's all for today, happy Tapping to everyone who decides to try this brew out!