Hearthpwn

Hi, i yesterday reached legend playing this deck, i grinded from rank 4 all the way up to legend using only this deck, i didnt record my grind neither my winrate. This is a common handlock list but it includes one personal tech and thats soulfire, believe it or not it won many games for me that i couldnt won without it, it can be used as burn to close out games or as a removal to save you from a very big threat. I will write some things about the matchups.

Priest

Always assume they are razakus, you throw everything away except drakes,giants and shambler, if you have a perfect curve you can also keep guldan, the goal here is to curve well with giants,drakes,shambler,dreadlord,abyssal and push for face only, you have to play very recklessly to close out the game fast and finish him off with guldan and burn if he manage to survive the initial push.  It is a gambly game, if he draw into removals,raza and anduin and survive then you lose otherwise you win.

Rogue

Always assume they are keleseth tempo, keep everything that is usefull early, this includes doomsayer,voidwalker,mixtures,mortal coil,defile,hellfire, throw everything else away, your goal here is to control him until turn 4-5 and finish him of with dreadlords/abyssals/guldan. Its very gambly again, if they draw into keleseth and combo it with shadowstep you have a very small chance to win otherwise you will manage to establish control easily and win.

Mage

This is one of the hardest because its impossible to say what they play and you guess wrong then you lose, i personally always assumed tempo mage so again i kept everything that its usefull early like i did with rogue, if you assume exodia then you have to play it exactly as you would with against razakus, you keep giants and drakes and push hard for face. Both matchups are very beatable but not knowing which one you face will cost some winrate because you will have the wrong cards everytime.

Hunter

Always assume midrange hunter and keep an eye for unleash the hounds too, popular hunters dont play it but the ranked players are random so if you dont take it into account you may lose some games to it, keep everything that is usefull early, the goal is to control him early and finish him off with demons later.

Paladin

Always assume murlocks , it works exactly like every other aggro/midrange deck, you keep good early cards and finish him off with demons/guldan later.

Druid

Always assume its a jade druid, the goal here is exactly the same as razakus, you keep giants and drakes and you push hard, the goal is to finish him off quick with strong curve and guldan before he can stabilize

Shaman

Always assume its evolve shaman , like every other aggro/midrange matchup the goal here is control early push later. 

Warrior

This is like mage, its very tricky after the nerf but i personally still assume pirate warrior and keep early cards, if its a fatique you still have the advantage anyway, guldan is god when it comes to fatique games.

Warlock

Always assume they are handlock, you keep giants and drakes and maybe guldan too if you already have a good curve, this matchup is a bit tricky because eventually you will manage to cancel each others minions and the game will  reach fatique, you can still end it often on the initial push or follow up due to the amount burn in the deck but fatique occurs often in this matchup so you have to keep an eye that you wont reach fatique before your opponent, that doesnt mean you shouldnt life tap often but dont overdo it and also push face a lot because every damage counts for fatique either way.

 

Overall handlock is very strong deck and bloodreaver guldan is godly, it feels like you cant lose when you play him, it is a very strong finisher and gives you very high fatique advantage too (control mages are a joke),  the soulfire tech helps you finish off priests and druids before they stabilize but it also can save the game from a very big threat like a hydra for example. The only real problem of this deck lies in its mulligan, most classes have two archetypes available who require completely different mulligan and if you mulligan wrong then you are on a severe disadvantage, this is a really big problem but nothing can be done about it, if you know what your opponent plays then this deck is very strong, it can beat anything consistently.

Some tips:

1. Most of the time rush guldan even if you have some demons in your hand, his ability is so strong thats its not worth waiting getting full value out of him, in some cases you might want to play the demons first and go for full value, its more of a judgment call but i like to play him fast.

2. If you are going second and you have a good curve against a control, you might want to keep a doomsayer in order to throw him on turn 3. Generally when going second you can do more greedy keeps, you can keep a drake against an aggro if you have some early game.

3. Try to play as reckless as possible with your abyssals and dreadlords, i dont care if im getting no value out of them or even if they cost me some, i just drop them out, the deck is far more aggressive than you think and due to guldan's ability you have to play very greedy.

Tech choices

1. Why earthen ring farseer and no tar keeper?

Tar creeper is purely an antiaggro card imo while farseer is more flexible, it can heal your minions, it can save you from dieing to burn and it is not vulnerable to silence, it can push due to stronger body which is very important against control.

2. Why not other big finisher besides guldan like lichking or medivh?

There isnt a finisher that is worth adding into this deck , guldan is the only thing you need, most of the games you will either win them or lose them early, you cant outvalue a jade or a razakus after they stabilize, lichking and medivh are way too slow and dont pressure nearly enough. The goal against other controls is pressure and not value, if they survive its over for you. I personally have considered malygos, i think he would be more usefull than medivh and lichking because priests cant get rid of him easily and same goes to druids.

Hope you enjoyed my guide.