Hearthpwn

Greetings!
Thanks for all the attention and please let me know if you have any idea how to improve this deck and guide :) 

WHAT IS IN THE DECK

I've been working on the different list than my old one.

This exact deck is a little slower... but still very effective.

It has plenty of draw (Arcanologist, Mad Scientist, Acolyte of Pain, Bloodmage Thalnos, Arcane Intellect), survivability (Antique Healbot, Reno Jackson, Kazakus, Ice Barrier, Ice Block, Frost Lich Jaina (and even Ragnaros the Firelord, which becomes Ragnaros, Lightlord at the same time thanks to her passive ability).
In addition to that there is some stall (Deathlord, Sludge Belcher, Frost Nova), great utility cards (Doomsayer, Primordial Glyph, Counterspell) and just EVERY boardclear/removal that is worth running (Frostbolt, Fireball, Polymorph, Blizzard, Flamestrike, Volcanic Potion, Cone of Cold, Meteor).

And finally there is the lategame package: Pyros, Sindragosa, Ragnaros the Firelord, Frost Lich Jaina and N'Zoth, the Corruptor.
Believe me, that is much more than ANY Control deck can handle but not too much in case you're facing an Aggro/Tempo deck.

THE CORE IDEA

Do you like to feel yourself really smart and powerful? Because I do :D Jokes aside, you will get those feelings once you'll master the Control Mage.
This particular version is different from many others cause it does include ONLY good cards by themselves. Sure, you can argue that Sindragosa is a worse standalone card than Dr. Boom, but sick synergy of N'Zoth, the Corruptor and her tokens makes it worthwhile.
No wombo-combo, no Alexstrasza and burn strategy, no Open the Waygate, no Echo of Medivh shenanigans, just pure value and defensive tools.
The only way you can defeat anyone with such a deck is by outvaluing them. If that's fine with you, lets get started.

GAMEPLAY

Often enough people on ladder is planning to kill you by turn 5-10. What can you do about it? You must be prepared. Usually it means that you must find your key cards in time and manage not to waste them before the right moment.

Which cards is it? Well, that depends on the matchup but usually it's pretty obvious. For example, you dont want to waste your Freeze effects against Paladin or Shaman. Ever. But usually they does almost nothing against Mage or Priest.

First of all you need to identify the main threats in your opponent's deck. For instance if you sure that you're playing against an Aggro deck, the only thing that matters is how much chip damage it will deal before you'll clear the board. Against the other Control deck you must be as greedy as possible, because you have the absolute best recovery tools in the game: Ice Block into Reno Jackson. But watch your fatigue counter: if some Priest will randomly Archbishop Benedictus you, it might get pretty nasty (happens like twice a month to me :D ).
Against Combo you need to identify the exact combo and play around it as good as you can. Usually it's pretty hard though.

Always remember what did you have left in your deck and what is your gameplan in general. Try to casually calculate your best outs and just go for it.

MATCHUPS

You may probably dont believe me, but Razakus Priest was one of the easiest decks to beat. Sure, they can nut-draw you, sometimes happens. But in general you're favourite. Find your Ice Block and wait for their Prophet Velen combo to go off, then heal up and enjoy your victory.

Prince Keleseth decks, if they highroll you like crazy, can win... but even then you will not go down without a fight. Just try to stay alive. Basically they run out of stuff on turn 7-8.

Aggro Shaman is really easy. Ice Block for more safety if you can, otherwise try to stay high on health.

Aggro/Midrange Hunter is all about the early pressure. Try to prevent it the best you can.

Krul/DK Warlock is a tough one. Try to Polymorph their Mal'Ganis and save some AoE for the Bloodreaver Gul'dan's battlecry.

Exodia Mage is hard, but not unwinnable. Find Ice Block, Polymorph for their Archmage Antonidas and Reno Jackson for recovery after Exodia Combo, while pressuring them as hard as you can.

Jade Druid is not too easy, especially if they do Ultimate Infestation you on turn 6. Find Skulking Geist ASAP and dont use your Freeze effects without a really good reason.

Aggro/Token Druid and so called Dude Paladin can be really hard unless you'll get all the AoEs in the right order. Depends on the situation, but usually you do want to hold some of your AoEs back. Use them as efficient as possible.

Mirror match? Never happened XD Okay, it happened once or twice. Just be patient, careful and good at your deck.

The fact is that you will almost never lose any ordinary game. If you're playing correctly, some real bullshit must happen in order for you to lose. For example all your lategame at the bottom against Control, or every heal, Ice Block and Mad Scientist/Arcanologist against Aggro. Or if your opponent is getting the best draw in his entire life, but you're not. Or if it's Mill Rogue. Or Aviana/Kun the Forgotten King Druid.
Otherwise you will just win. 
 

MULLIGAN

1. You can pretty much always keep Mad Scientist, Arcanologist, Kazakus and (if you think that your opponent isnt playing Control) Doomsayer.
2. Keeping Reno Jackson cant really hurt you all that much, but I dont recommend to do it all the time: there is almost no Burst decks right now (except Razakus Priest, which is still more of a Combo deck), so it's usually all about the board control.
3. Frostbolt isnt a great keep unless you're expecting Flametongue Totem/Vicious Fledgling type of minions.
4. Keeping N'Zoth, the Corruptor is almost never correct. Only if you SURE that your Priest opponent is running N'Zoth, the Corruptor himself and can easily steal yours, then it's kinda OK.
5. Keeping Arcane Intellect mostly isnt correct. In most cases even Acolyte of Pain is better, because it provides some tempo.
6. Keeping Primordial Glyph usually isnt correct: you have a LOT of better turn 2 plays.
7. Volcanic Potion is a great keep against Token decks like Shamans, Paladins and some Druids.
8. You can keep Polymorphagainst Big Priest/Druid or Hand/Renolock.

REPLACEMENTS

Deathrattles

"What if I dont have Pyros/Sindragosa"?

Then there is not much point in running N'Zoth, the Corruptor, because it's a pretty slow card and if it doesnt give you another 2/2 and 6/6 Pyros (preferably with lifesteal already), it probably shouldnt be in the deck.

"But what about Sneed's Old Shredder? Or Cairne Bloodhoof maybe?"

No, it's terrible. And too slow. Sad but true.

Other cards

Brann Bronzebeard - great card, but unfortunately not for this deck. Here is just not enough cards with valuable Battlecry: only Kazakus and Antique Healbot.

Kabal Courier - good card, doesnt belong here.

Medivh, the Guardian - nice lategame value. Would be way too greedy here.

Manic Soulcaster - reasonable card here, cause double Pyros/Reno Jackson/Kazakus or even N'Zoth, the Corruptor is a crazy amount of value. Still not sure that it's necessary. Or which card to swap for it.

Firelands Portal - too random, too greedy. Doesnt make much sense without Medivh, the Guardian.

Forgotten Torch - used to run it in every Reno Mage. Not anymore. 3 damage for 3 mana is bad and you dont want to topdeck 6 damage for 3 mana in most cases.

Duplicate - for quite a while it was a must have card in every Reno Mage as well. But times have changed. Now we have much more crazy value cards than ever before and there is no need to make your Mad Scientist/Arcanologist worse.

SOME TIPS

• Your Ice Block is losing value as fast as the match goes into Fatigue.
• Dont draw if you dont need to.
• Dont play anything if you dont need to.
• Play Frost Lich Jaina as fast as you can.
• Always draw/use random effect BEFORE you do something else.
• Always evaluate your Freezes according to the situation: Blizzard/Cone of Cold might be used as AoE, but Frost Nova provides you only Freeze, and sometimes Freeze is the only thing that matters (in Tempo matchups). If so, try to be as mana efficient as you can and get the maximum tempo out of that.
• Hold back some of your spells: they can be used to create more Water Elementals.
• Against Priests always try to play Skulking Geist first and only then play your Bloodmage Thalnos, Acolyte of Pain, Pyros and other vulnarable to Potion of Madness minions.
• If you feel threatened by Kazakus 10 or 5 mana Polymorph potion, try to bait it out before you drop something really valuable on the board.
• It's always a gamble against Control decks: to keep your key lategame cards or not. Sometimes they can Dirty Rat your N'Zoth, the Corruptor/Kazakus, sometimes they can Gnomeferatu or just copy/steal them with some of the Priest cards or with some help from The Lich King. Just keep it in mind.

Update №1: Deathlord has underperformed in a TON of games. It's too frustrating, losing to your own card... Mistress of Mixtures must be better in this spot.
Update №2: Mistress of Mixtures isnt very good here either, it usually trades for Patches the Pirate and something else, but... that's not enough. Manic Soulcaster on the other hand can be useful in any given matchup. In the worst case it's just a Spider Tank, but way more often it does something valuable: shuffling into your deck extra Reno Jackson/Antique Healbot/Kazakus/Sludge Belcher/Pyros/any other useful card.

 P.S.

I would appreciate some constructive criticism and will try to anwer any question.

Also if you're playing on EU, feel free to add me and maybe watch how I play this deck, cause I do it quite often :)


Good luck and have fun!