Hearthpwn

My name is Kiloriffic, long time player and avid reader of the Data Reaper Report. I have been playing the game since launch and consider myself to be slightly above average (usually rank 5 or higher), with my best personal achievement being 1st place at ValorCon Chicago 2016 in a Bo5 Conquest 32 player bracket. I try to keep up with the weekly changes in the meta through various deck and data tracking sites, Vicious Syndicate, Metastats, and Hearthstats, to name a few. But upon reading most of these articles, I noticed they show the most popular and most successful decks, but rarely do they tell you how to pilot them. My goal here is to post the most common builds from each deck archetype, and provide detailed guides on win rates, mulligans, play style, and card replacements. I hope you find this information helpful and appreciate the time and effort put into each guide.

Thanks for the interest! Hit that upvote!

Matchup Win Rates

Aggro Druid - Slightly Unfavored (48%)

BIG Druid - Favored (55%)

Jade Druid - Favored (60%)

Midrange Hunter - Favored (54%)

Secret Hunter - Favored (57%)

Spell Hunter - Favored (60%)

Burn Mage - Favored (61%)

Exodia Mage - Unfavored (43%)

Secret Mage - Favored (56%)

Aggro Paladin - Unfavored (39%)

Control Paladin - Favored (66%)

Murloc Paladin - Unfavored (38%)

BIG Priest - Even (50%)

Control Priest - Unfavored (46%)

Dragon Priest - Even (50%)

Highlander Priest - Favored (53%)

Miracle Rogue - Slightly Unfavored (48%)

Tempo Rogue - Unfavored (41%)

Quest Rogue - Unfavored (46%)

Midrange Shaman - Favored (71%)

Token Shaman - Slightly Unfavored (49%)

Control Warlock - Favored (71%)

Demon Warlock - Favored (57%)

Zoolock - Unfavored (46%)

Control Warrior - Favored (75%)

Pirate Warrior - Unfavored (46%)

Mulligans and Playstyle

VS Aggro - Mulligan looking for Northshire Cleric, Tar Creeper, Duskbreaker, and even Corridor Creeper.

Against aggro, you want to keep your opponents minions off of the board as much as possible. Priest have one of the best AoE effects in Duskbreaker. And thanks to Netherspite Historian, you can expect to play Duskbreaker on curve a lot of the time, giving you a lot of momentum going forward. This deck doesn't run any healing effects so try to keep your health high. If you can maintain tempo going into the mid to late game, you will out value aggro decks to the point that they can't catch up. 

VS Control - Mulligan for your value cards like Spiteful Summoner and Drakonid Operative. If you have one or both of them, you can consider keeping your early to mid game minions, especially Kabal Talonpriest or Twilight Drake.

When facing control, your overall game plan is to maintain tempo and be the aggressor. The more often your opponent is forced to use their removal, the less likely they are to have an answer on your Spiteful Summoner turn. The best control decks right now are Warlock and Priest. Most Warlocks have cut their hard removal. So if you can keep control of the board and force out their smaller removal on earlier minions, your Spiteful Summoner minion will likely stick. The issue against them is Voidlord. While you can Mind Control ones that drop later in the game, try to keep them focused on removing your minions and not allow them to pull off an early combo. If you run into a lot of control Warlock, considering adding a Spellbreaker to your list. While Priest doesn't have the powerful taunt tools that Warlock does, it makes up for it with a large amount of removal. The dragons in this deck help play around Dragonfire Potion, but Psychic Scream can be devastating. Shadowreaper Anduin also hits a lot of your big threats. Be careful how much you commit to your board. Try to have a dragon on board when they are likely to play Dragonfire Potion, hold back your Corridor Creepers when they are likely to Psychic Scream, and try to play a 4 attack minion when they are likely to drop Shadowreaper Anduin. Keep track of their available mana and which board clears they've used already and play accordingly. 

Card Replacements

- Can cut the 2 drops in favor of the pirate package (Patches the Pirate and Southsea Captains) and Prince Keleseth.

- Can tech in a Spellbreaker or Kabal Songstealer if facing a lot of taunts.

- Can replace Kabal Talonpriest with Twilight Acolyte. Especially useful against control Warlocks who are mostly running Mountain Giant now.