Hearthpwn

Like every other Control Warlock fan, I netdecked StanCifka's  original design the day that K&C was released. Finally, a deck based on the new Deathrattle Demon class Taunt, for 9-mana or just 5 mana with Skull of the Man'ari, playable as early as T5...and so Voidlord became the hot babe in a Control Warlock's wet dream! And everyone else's source of auto-concedes. Fast forward less than a week and Kingsbane Mill rogue and the new Dragon Silence Priest started showing up to hard counter it. Well, the diaper rash of play-by-the-numbers Cubelock counters got so severe that I stopped playing that StanC deck altogether.

Instead, I read about everyone else's Cubelock counter war stories and took notes. Lot's of 'em...So, here goes (skip ahead to see my suggested Counter Strategies, below, and their Proofs of Concept HS Tracker plays).

Deck Concept: Synergizing on Warlock's excellent removal and AoE synergies, rather than fast Doomguard deploys (there is a better 5/7 and 7/7, with no downside) to cube, this slow control Warlock deck sidesteps most of the issues with the counters to StanC's original deck by employing key "packages" from the prior expansions, while preserving the long game approach that pressures your opponent more intensely the later the game goes. Those looking for aggro Cubelock move on, buddy, this deck ain't for you.

Mulligan Guide: There are two key cards to grab early, neither of which is immediately playable, Skull of the Man'ari and Treachery. If either shows up in your hand on T1, great! Skull should be played as early as T4 with coin or on T5.  There are two Treachery's for each Doomsayer and the combo acts as a 5-mana Twisting Nether-lite . You can also keep Mistress of Mixtures if you suspect aggro as well as Defile and Hellfire.  Both Buff Palladin and Spiteful Priest are heavy aggro and if you don't draw Skull or the Doomsayer+Treachery combo by T5, you probably won't make it to T8 for your Twisting Nether.

Early Game: There's not a lot happening until T4+coin/T5,  Defile and Hellfire should control a wide board, but don't be too hasty to use it just because it fills out your mana curve. In fact, if you suspect Mill, don't play your hero power at all just collect your cards and wait quietly on an empty board while that Rogue punk hits face with his hero power and cheap combos. Let loose an extra Defile orDark Pact if your hand is getting too heavy with your combo cards. It could get quite bad, if you're only drawing fat minions and no Skull, but hopefully Tar Lurker and Rin, the First Disciple will show up early. Dirty Rat is a natural sub for one of the Mistresses, but you'll need an immediate board clear, like Doomsayer or a 200 IQ-style Defile. Oddly, the generic Tar Creeper is NOT a good sub for Tar Lurker because it is highly vulnerable to both your AoE's and your opponent's early game removals like Kill Command, whereas TL will last you about two turns, buying you enough time to play Despicable Dreadlord or Skull-summon a Voidlord.

Mid-game: If you can lay down Skull by T4, awesome! Start by building your wall of taunts using Tar Lurkers, Rin, the First Disciple, and focus on board control with your minions, rather than going for face. Your opponent's hero will probably get healed/armored up anyway. Without Skull, you're going to be OK as long as you can draw Twisting Nether by T8 (or Medivh T8 and Nether on T9). Again, don't worry if your opponent is playing multiple Taunts, this is not the time to focus on face, let him develop a wide board, while depleting his hand and deck. As the game of attrition wears on, keep your hand size at about seven or eight cards max so that if Coldlight Oracle or Vanish shows up, you can absorb your good cards and not get milled. After you play your first Nether, get ready for late game hijinks. Natch, you should play Skulking Geist on T6 to make sure those pesky 1-drop spells disappear. You're probably going to lose that single Dark Pact, but if you haven't used/drawn it by now, it won't be that useful later once the wall is built (or you're being heavily outvalued on the board).

Late Game:  At this point, you should have played your 5-drop Rin N-Seal Demon spells to apply pressure and have a board full of Voidwalkers, providing handy Defile minion targets, across both sides of the board. Your opponent may even have stolen/copied your Rin and started launching and buffing her Demons of their own. Sacrificial Pact is there to slow your opponent's board progress and help with a low health Gul'Dan, pre-Bloodreaver. If you've played and killed your Cubes quickly with Dark Pact or bounced them off fat minions to die, N'Zoth, the Corruptor is your first T10 play. You will want to hold onto Bloodreaver as long as possible, so that you can maximize your Voidlord re-deployment. Once Bloodreaver is played, push for SMORC fatigue with your Lifesteal Hero power every turn you can. This is your time to shine!

Special Featured Guests:

Faceless Manipulator: is a great card to have around to be an extra Voidlord or even to mimic a fat Cube, but my preference is to wait for your opponent's high value The Lich King or Ysera or Tirion Fordring or other high mana value EoT-triggered minions. Don't be hasty to use this because you have the mana to play on curve, that's what Rin is for. Think high value, late game. An optional sub for FM, esp. in combo with playing your Cubes is Spiritsinger Umbra, behind your wall of taunts, acting as a lightning rod for your opponent's hard removals. It requires though that you always keep your board clear from Voidwalkers and the smaller Rin Demons, as much as possible after you play it, so that you don't oversummon your Voidlords. Think about making this sub out when dealing with Weapons Rogue and you will find a much easier game as he techs to kill it.

Skull/Medivh: Ok, if you haven't drawn Skull by T8, it's not going to be that useful anymore since you can play your Demons whenever they show up. That's why there's Medivh's Atiesh to apply even more pressure as you launch 5-drop Rin Seal spells. Aside from which, if you did launch all of your Demons early, you're going to need more non-Demons as you head into fatigue, esp. if you've held onto Felfire Potion or that second Twisting Nether until after fatigue has set in for one or both of you. If Skull got oozed early, even more reason that you need that amazing 1/3 minion-generating weapon. Not to belabor the point, but I've even seen Kolenta complain about Skull launching his Azari, the Devourer without triggering the end game Battlecry. Duh...doesn't Medivh say: "I always WIN!"...?

Counter Strategies:

vs. Silence/Spellbreaker/Ironbeak Owl/Mass Dispel

Keep the number of Deathrattle minions down to 2 max at any given time, and only 1 Carnivorous Cube, if at all alive. These cheeseball opponents usually forget that a silenced Voidlord generates 2x healthy Voidlords when the Cube that eats it dies. That's why you have to be extra careful when leaving fat Cubes on board.

PoC (Murloc Pally concedes, even with 2 misplays):  https://hsreplay.net/replay/ktFWEwH5xAwsqVfNtdPswA

Against Silence Priest, you might have to play around his "nerf then reheal" shenanigans. Also helps if you can hold onto Howlfiend, Defile, Treachery until the very end.

https://hsreplay.net/replay/SFrNeyEvCQZ3xKo8dYRyBj

vs. Devolve

Same rules as Silence above, just make sure  you leave multiple high value minions on the board and leave yourself as many empty slots as possible, killing off all unnecessary Voidwalkers, so that you can fully trigger your deathrattles, when  you need to.

PoC:  https://hsreplay.net/replay/g6neBB3qg6SiGhQmMiMx6G

vs. Gammy bird (and Aggro+Adapts)

This is a tough call, if you are encountering them a lot, sub out both Mistresses for Dirty Rat and Tainted Zealot and try tapping to get Defile or Hellfire.  If you are facing slower decks, you have many more options, but early Doomsayer+Treachery feels so much more satisfying.

PoC: https://hsreplay.net/replay/Zjbvparg62YJnY9hjXTe9C

vs. Mirror/Spiteful Priest(Mind Control/Psychic Scream/any card that copies your opponent's deck/hand/class

I'd save both Sacrificial Pacts for just such an opponent. Sometimes they forget that card exists. I've swung turns esp. when they buff the hell out of a cheap Demon like with Bonemare and it dies the same turn Man'ari summons a Despicable Dreadlord and you play a Tar Lurker. I then play Nemsy's "Whoopsie!" just because. Against Shadowreaper Anduin, well, somebody forgot to invite the Doomguard, nothing of interest here for them.

PoC: https://hsreplay.net/replay/ioF5z6BLSREzy7eQEFAdsE

vs. Kingsbane/Mill/DK Valeera Rogue

This deck you have to be careful with all the way through fatigue, with heavy board control, so that Vanish and Shadowstep copies don't start ruining your day. Make sure you play Skulking Geist as EARLY as possible, to clear all of their the 1-drop weapon buffs.

PoC: https://hsreplay.net/replay/JFC5abBmEpEFQ42WWevQ8M  (Original version), +2xPlated Beetle-1xFaceless Manipulator-1xSkulking Geist

Well, this deck has a lot more scenarios to talk about, but if you like how it performs across a variety of cubelock-counter decks, give it an upvote!