Hearthpwn

Intro

This deck is meant to be a fun deck. The goal is to hopefully generate as many copies of Prophet Velen as possible to "blow your opponent's mind" ... and Velen also means 'a lot' in Dutch. The dream combo does 368 damage, but is near impossible to get. There are other fun options though!

 

Gameplay

Most of the game you will be controlling the board, playing deathrattles and healing. Until you get your combo in hand. Then you drop Emperor Thaurissan and then you win the next turn (or the one after).

Seance is here to simply survive and make sure that if you use a combo piece like Emperor Thaurissan, Archmage Vargoth or Prophet Velen, that you can keep a copy for later. Against aggro/midrange it can be used on Amara, Warden of Hope once you finish the quest.

If you happen to lose several of your pieces to dirty rats etc, you can also try to use Seance on things like Archivist Elysiana or Archbishop Benedictus (if they play it) near late game. It is also possible to still mill control/combo decks with Brann Bronzebeard + Coldlight Oracle combo.

The ideal match goes as follows:

Step 1: Gather your pieces by spamming your deathrattles for draw asap, then discount them. Use Coldlight Oracle for both draw or mill (with Brann Bronzebeard - he is not crucial to pulling off most of your combos)

Step 2: Play your Velen(s) on the subsequent turn, do the 'threaten' emote and look at your spells that do damage for max anticipation and satisfaction and ...

Step 3: ..blow their mind! The 2nd spell can be used to counter Counter Spell by the way.

 

The Combos

Next to drawing and removing stuff, the core of your deck is OTK with Prophet Velen and/or Archmage Vargoth + Mind Blast(s)/Holy Smites. But really this deck has many ways of combining spells and minions to deal damage. Just to give you an idea of the range, below is a list of possible combos depending on how many ticks of Emperor Thaurissan you can get off.

There are two main ways to going about it: Either you collect minions or spells for your combo. For the minion route that means holding on to Brann Bronzebeard and at least one Mirage Caller, while for the spell route you focus on saving Shadow Visions for extra Holy Smites or Mind Blasts. The magic happens when you combine both methods into a third blend: Hybrid Comboes.

This is important when building your combo. Some control decks run a lot of spell disruption, others minion disruption. Even if you lose emperor, there are still some decent ways to do dmg using the spell route for example, just check if it's enough to win.

1) Minion Route

General combos without discounts (2-20 dmg):

Archmage Vargoth + Mind Blast = 10 dmg (6 mana)

Archmage Vargoth + 2 x Mind Blast = 15 dmg (8 mana)

Archmage Vargoth + Mirage Caller + Mind Blast = 15 dmg (9 mana)

Archmage Vargoth + Mirage Caller + Mind Blast + Holy Smite = 12-17 dmg, depends on what Vargoth casts end of turn (10 mana)

Prophet Velen + 2 x Holy Smite = 8 dmg (7 mana)

Prophet Velen + Mind Blast = 10 dmg (9 mana)

Prophet Velen + Mind Blast + Holy Smite = 10 dmg (10 mana)

 

Combos with 1 x Emperor discount. Note mana cost and minimum card reduction ticks (20-56 dmg):

Prophet Velen + Mirage Caller + 2 x Holy Smite = 16 dmg (11 mana - 1 card)

Prophet Velen + Mirage Caller + Mind Blast = 20 dmg (12 mana - 2 cards)

Prophet Velen + Mirage Caller + 2 x Mind Blast = 40 dmg (14 mana - 4 cards)

Prophet Velen + Mirage Caller + Mind Blast + 2 x Holy Smite = 36 dmg (10 mana - 4 cards)

Prophet Velen + Mirage Caller + 2 x Mind Blast + 2 x Holy Smite = 56 dmg (16 mana - 6 cards)

Prophet Velen + Brann Bronzebeard + Mirage Caller + 2 x Holy Smite = 32 dmg (15 mana - 5 cards)

Prophet Velen + Archmage Vargoth + Mind Blast = 20 dmg (13 mana - 3 cards)

Archmage Vargoth + Brann Bronzebeard + Mirage Caller + 2 x Mind Blast = 40 dmg (14 mana - 4 cards)

 

Double discount on several cards, sometimes you can play Emperor Thaurissan with a Mirage Caller one one turn (9 mana) or you can play him on the same turn with Seance to get some mana discount and save the 2nd copy for later discounts (40-120 dmg):

Prophet Velen + Brann Bronzebeard + Mirage Caller + Mind Blast = 40 dmg (15 mana - 3 cards)

Prophet Velen + Brann Bronzebeard + Mirage Caller + 2 x Mind Blast = 80 dmg (17 mana - 4 cards)

Prophet Velen + Brann Bronzebeard + Mirage Caller + 2 x Mind Blast + 2 x Holy Smite = 112 dmg (19 mana - 5 cards)

Prophet Velen + Archmage Vargoth + Mirage Caller + Mind Blast = 80 dmg (16 mana - 3 cards)

Prophet Velen + Archmage Vargoth + Mirage Caller + 2 x Mind Blast = 120 dmg (18 mana - 4 cards)

 

2) Spell route

The alternative is to spend your Shadow Visions on digging for Mind Blasts. If you happen to not need them for removal or survival. There are a few different comboes possible, I'll just write down the highest potential I can think of per tier:

 

No discount (2-24 dmg):

Archmage Vargoth + 3 x Mind Blast = 20 dmg (10 mana)

Bloodmage Thalnos + 4 x Mind Blast = 24 dmg (10 mana)

Bloodmage Thalnos + 2 x Mind Blast + 4 x Holy Smite = 22 dmg (10 mana)

 

Single discount. Note mana + #  discounted card requirement (20-48 dmg):

Prophet Velen + 4 x Mind Blast = 40 dmg (15 mana - 5 cards)

Prophet Velen + 4 x Mind Blast + 2 x Holy Smite= 48 dmg (17 mana - 7 cards)

Archmage Vargoth + Bloodmage Thalnos + 4 x Mind Blast = 30 dmg (14 mana - 4 cards)

Archmage Vargoth + Mirage Caller + 4 x Mind Blast = 30 dmg (15 mana - 5 cards)

 

Double discount (40-100 dmg):

Prophet Velen + Archmage Vargoth + 3 x Mind Blast = 40 dmg (17 mana - 4 cards)

Prophet Velen + Archmage Vargoth + 4 x Mind Blast = 50 dmg (19 mana - 5 cards)

Prophet Velen + Mirage Caller+ Archmage Vargoth + 3 x Mind Blast = 80 dmg (20 mana - 5 cards)

Prophet Velen + Mirage Caller + Archmage Vargoth + 4 x Mind Blast = 100 dmg (22 mana - 6 cards)

 Prophet Velen + Mirage Caller + Archmage Vargoth + 4 x Holy Smite + 2 x Mind Blast= 72-92 dmg (22 mana - 6 cards) depends on what Vargoth casts at the end.

3) Hybrid Route

Finally, these comboes are reserved for stubborn druids and warriors. Double discount on 7-8 pieces. The only way to do this is have 7-8 combo pieces in hand, including a 3rd Mind Blast for the last combo, play Emperor Thaurissan + Mirage Caller, after which you can play one of these comboes (160-200 dmg):

Prophet Velen + Archmage Vargoth + Brann Bronzebeard + Mirage Caller + 3 x Mind Blast = 160 dmg (23 mana - 7 cards)

Prophet Velen + Archmage Vargoth + Brann Bronzebeard + Mirage Caller + 4 x Mind Blast = 200 dmg (25 mana - 8 cards)

In order to get the last comboes, you need to have either two normal Emperor Thaurissan ticks or play a Mirage Caller + Emperor Thaurissan with at least 6 combo pieces in hand (which is 6-7 cards in-hand in total), this leaves only 2-4 cards to play with most of the time. Something to keep in mind while gathering your combo pieces.

Bonus: The Planet Velen combo. This combo generates 4 Prophet Velens for a sick 16 x multiplier. For this one you need 2 Mirage Callers in hand, so all double discounts should be done with Emperor + Seance. Getting 3-4 Mind Blasts is fun, but the real challenge is also getting 1-2 Holy Smites on top of it. The last part would mean 10 cards in hand that are discounted.

Prophet Velen + Brann Bronzebeard + 2 x Mirage Caller + 4 x Mind Blast + 2 Holy Smite= 368 dmg (26 mana - 8 cards)

  

Mulligan

Against aggro you should mulligan for basic removal spells and/or draw minions like Bloodmage Thalnos + Spirit Lash, Holy Smite and Crystaline Oracle. Sometimes Twilight's Call into Spirit Lash also saves your life if you happen to have killed off Bloodmage Thalnos before.

Against more midrange you can try to finish your quest asap, in which case you can also consider keeping two deathrattles + Twilight's Call in your opening hand/pre-mulligan. Hopefully in time to get off a decent combo to kill them. Using Prophet Velen + Spirit Lash after an early Emperor drop to survive, is totally fine. It's basically a Reno.

Your goal is mostly survival, while drawing as much as possible. Shadow Visions should be saved for either Mass Hysteria or Spirit Lash. Using one  (or sometimes both) of your Mirage Callers on a Loot Hoarder or Thalnos is totally fine for draw, board presence and quest progression, since you do not need a big combo to win this matchup.

Against control in mid to late game, look for your Coldlight Oracles and other draw cards deathrattles cards like Loot Hoarder/Bloodmage Thalnos + Twilight's Call to get the draw engine going. And get the sickest combo you can to kill your opponent in one turn.

Against very, grindy slow control match-ups you can play the same as regular control or you could consider keeping some unique pieces that you can't get with Shadow Visions, e.g. you have Prophet Velen, Emperor Thaurissan and Brann Bronzebeard in your starting hand, possibly with Seance in case of Dirty Rat/Deathlord shenanigans.

This means you only need one Mirage Caller and a combination of two Mind Blast from either a Shadow Visions (2/19 and 1/18 to draw Mind Blast from two subsequent Shadow Visions at best) or topdeck the original (2/27 and 1/26 chance to topdeck them on turn 1 and 2, respectively, same odds as drawing Shadow Visions itself), to get a 40-damage combo as early as turn 10. With only 8 topdecks (+ draws) before turn 10, it is risky though, so I'd advise drawing your deck the usual way with more versatile mulligans.

 

Substitutes

Feel free to exchange Mass Hysteria and 2 x Mass Dispel with any late game board clears. Mostly like dispel to wreck Mechs and for draw. Also, I didn't have Dragonfire Potion, Lightbomb, Psychic Scream or Shadowreaper Anduin, so went for the cheaper/alternate AoE removal. Holy Nova is really too weak with so many 3-hp minions this meta. Excavated Evil is also not a bad clear, but it can slow down your draw if your opponent shuffles it back into your deck, so I avoided using it.

Eater of Secrets is a straight up tech card against Ice Block control mage. In theory you can also beat OTK mages by milling them with a Brann Bronzebeard + Coldlight Oracle combo. So Eater could be replaced with weapon removal like Harrison Jones for draw or one of the oozes, if you're seeing more weapon-based aggro.

There are also combos possible with Vivid Nightmare or Faceless Manipulator instead of Mirage Caller, they are both epics and don't synergise with Brann Bronzebeard. At that point you might as well check another deck entirely, like res OTK Maly or APM priest :)