Hearthpwn

9/14/14  Wow! thank you everyone for the likes and feedback.  I will respond to the comments later.  I have noticed that there are concerns about both Alex and Jaraxxus.  They both can be slow or stuck in your hand against certain match-ups (I did find Jaraxxus really useful in fatigue matches).  In that case, you could replace Jaraxxus with another card that can provide instant value such as Rag  loatheb or Sylvanas (Sylvanas + shadowflame is one of my favorite combos).  If you have any questions please post them in the comments.  If you would like some additional help, feel free to message me (orangespire#1196)  and we can set up a (free) coaching session whenever I am not busy.  I will continue to tweak this deck and keep this updated.

 

9/15/14- Made some new changes to help combat with some of the fast agro decks out there. 

Took out  sunwalkers (the belchers seem to hold), mortal coils (although it is very good at cycling through cards while killing a minion, most of the minions out there have 2+ health).

Added doomsayers (works wonders against aggro.  even if it dies or gets silenced, that is one less removal for your other minions (i.e. earthshock).  Sometimes I would place a doomsayer early in the game even if the opponent has one minion on board in order to buy another turn).  Ironbeak owls (sometimes the best way to keep board control against an aggro deck is with a silenced watcher.  The silence combats a lot of effects such as the peace keeper battlecry, frozen minions, and taunts).   I'm slowly working on the guide.  I should have more time tomorrow (just finished with a midterm). 

 

9/16/2014- Took out alex and replaced with loatheb.  Alex got stuck in my hand in a lot of matchups and loatheb can change the course of a game... (i.e. taunted molten giant and loatheb, but that's best case scenario)  Debating the doomsayers at the moment.  Would love to fit in mortal coils, power overwhelming,  and another shadowflame.  Still testing to see what I can replace.  Doomsayer has helped me in a lot of matchups.  I would even use doomsayer when my opponent does not have any minions on the board, but I will still test and see if they are worth it.  As always, feedback is welcomed and appreciated.

 

9/17/2014-  Mortal Coils are back in the deck.  Although the doomsayers were useful at times, they would not see any play late game.  The coils however, can be used throughout the whole game.

 

10/3/2014- Took out a mortal coil and added a slyvannas.  Took out a hellfire and added a shadowflame.  If you are facing aggro, feel free to put the hellfire back in.

12/13/2014- Took out the soulfires and put in darkbomb.  Soulfire makes you discard a card while darkbomb lets you keep your hand.  Will continue to test.

 12/15/2014- Took out a mortal coil and added a recombobulator (thanks to dirtyharry1984 for the suggestion).  Recombobulator will transform one of your damaged giants into a new giant.  Pretty good value if you ask me.  Helps a ton against paladins.    Will continue to test new cards in this deck.  Thinking about adding explosive sheep to this deck as well. 

11/27/2015-  Made some new changes after doing a bit of testing and adjusting to the meta.  Added healbot to combat aggro decks and to add more life.  The heal bot makes a perfect target for recombobulator afterwards.  Took out Sylvanas and added Dr. Boom.  Although the Sylvanas + shadowflame combo was pretty nice, Dr. Boom provides more value for the situation most of the times.  As always leave feedback in the comments.  I take feedback seriously as it helps me with the deck creating.

2/22/2015- Took out Dr. Boom and Added Sylvanas back in.  I found that I was missing the combo too much.

4/6/15-  Took out loatheb and recombobulator and added in a mortal coil and emperor.  The emperor will allow you to play costly cards earlier.  One play that comes to mind is Jaraxxus and hero power on turn 10.  The mortal coil can help stave off aggro decks and cycle cards.

4/10/15-  Added BGH and took out a mortal coil.  BGH is pretty good tempo card with faceless and any other combo in general.  Don't be afraid to put it down as a minion against face hunter.

4/14/15- added loatheb.  Slyvannas is good in a control heavy meta which we are not in right now.

Took out BGH and Faceless and added in two mortal coils to help with a rush meta.  If you are facing more control decks, feel free to add them back in.

4/24/15  Running into more control  Added the windrunner back in.

7/8/15 Trying to run the Leeroy+Power whelming+ faceless combo again.  The emperor makes it possible.  Remember you dont have to save cards for the combo as they are useful with other cards.  Got rid of Jaraxxus and added in Alex because it is more useful in this style of handlock.

If you have played handlock before, then this deck is not that different from other handlock decks except that there is no  Leeroy Jenkins +  Faceless Manipulator +  Power Overwhelming combo as one of the win conditions.  To truly understand this deck, you need to understand what the strategy is behind this deck.  The strategy is very simple: you give your opponent threats they can’t handle.  How you get to this strategy is based on your opponent and what cards you have.  For example, you place down a  Twilight Drake against a warrior.  They end up using  Execute on your drake for removal.  That is one less execute for your giants and other minions. 

 

Now that we have a simple understanding of handlock, let’s talk about your hero power ( Life Tap).  This ability is what makes zoo strong and handlocks strong.  Most likely you will be using it for the first 3 turns to get a drake or mountain giant out unless you are against certain matchups.  6 cards total benefit from this power( i.e.  Mountain Giant,  Molten Giant,  Twilight Drake).  You also draw into a lot of “answers” for your opponent with this ability.