Hearthpwn

Intro

Just a variation on an existing archetype. Normally I wouldn't be botherd to post another reno lock, but I hit legend with this deck (from rank 5) and had exceptional fun seeing secret mages concede, thanks the MVPs of this deck:

Special mention should also go to Zephrys the Great. He is basically a 2 mana-get anything you need right now (as the card indicates) or later, but you should also keep it in mind at all times when considering multiple turns, not just as a finisher or 'omg-i'm-screwed-lets-Zephrys!'-card.

He can be of immense value late game, ramp up your early game or simply act as removal, but it is plannable if you know what he can give in certain situations (also what he can't give). Certain things are still not working well, like for example playing Bloodbloom on turn 4 and then zephrys hoping for a Brawl orTwisting Nether, is something he will not consider since Bloodbloom is not noticed by the card. Probably becaues it's not a standard or classic card - spaghetti code, yay!

Either way, this deck got me to legend the first time since I started playing this game 4+ years ago, so felt like anyone else playing that long with a similar wild collection should feel the same pride if possible. The only downside was that the final boss was Rank 2, still counts for the cardback though :)

Gameplay

The main goal is to survive aggressive decks and outvalue other decks. After playing variations of this deck for a few seasons, I've developed the feeling (maybe delusion) that this deck can beat virtually any other deck, when the draws are with you.

In general, you should draw until turn 4. Ideally with a Mistress of Mixtures on turn 1. The Coin is usually better kept for cheating out expensive minions or removal combos a turn earlier.

A great addition since last expansion is Expired Merchant. This thing alone can give you double of what ever you want: Reno Jackson, Zephrys the Great, N'Zoth, the Corruptor, Bloodreaver Gul'dan, etc. Just be careful when playing him against silence/transform classes, best to just use him with Defile or Lord Godfrey. Or just drop him into one of your opponent's Doomsayer turns.

Against aggro you have Reno Jackson and loads of early game tools, against combo you have a sexy package of disruption, against control immense value from Kazakus, Zephrys the Great, N'Zoth, the Corruptor, removal from hand/burning of their deck and value from your Expired Merchant when discarding your high value cards in the very late game for attrition/healing.

It's best to view cards like Kazakus, Zephrys the Great and Expired Merchant as 'choose one' cards, with more than 2 options. They can be fast, slow, valuable, healing, removal, board, powerful, weapon removal, etc.

Noteworthy combos (many can be played as early as turn 7 with Emperor Thaurissan on turn 6):

Comeback hero: With The Coin, if you happen to draw crap medium cost cards like Zilliax and Antique Healbot vs aggro, coin out healbot on turn 4 and try to drop Zilliax on top of him on turn 5. It's an insane amount of heal and usually they don't clear healbot if they are hyperaggro, otherwise he basically worked as a 3/3 taunt. Also works great for removal in late game if you are behind on board and low on health. It's like the merge into one big mech card called: Ancient Zilliax. Battlecry: Discard one card, gives a 6/5 taunt with rush/lifesteal and probably heal for a total of 14 health (10 mana).

Mass combo breaker: Brann Bronzebeard + Dirty Rat + Youthful Brewmaster + Dirty Rat (9 mana).

Mass deck burn/fatigue advantage: Brann Bronzebeard + Gnomeferatu + Youthful Brewmaster + Gnomeferatu (9 mana).

Mass late game value: Brann Bronzebeard + Zephrys the Great + Youthful Brewmaster + Zephrys the Great. This can often net you a Tirion Fordring, which gets resurrected by N'zoth the corruptor and gives you 2 x a 5/3 Ashbringer for a potential total of 30 damage from weapon alone. Or just 2 extra Twisting Nethers (9 mana).

Uber-"defile": Mistress of Mixtures (or Expired Merchant if you have N'zoth or Gul'dan in hand) + Lord Godfrey. You do not need Mistress early against control, but you can use her to get an extra swing from Godfrey late game when control decks only play high health minions or loads of deathrattle/reborn. Should be noted that If you don't need much value from Gnomeferatu, she can act as a 2nd wave activator for Godfrey in combination with Mistress of Mixtures (8-10 mana).

Against a lost board: Dirty Rat + Twisting Nether (10 mana).

Early mana cheating:  Voidcaller + Voidlord/Mal'Ganis. They go well with Mistress of Mixtures, since you can play something on turn 1 to fight for board/heal and can risk to draw on 2/3 into Voidcaller. An early Voidlord against aggro is often gg, same with an early Mal'Ganis against any deck if they can't remove him.

Kazakus value: Brann Bronzebeard + Kazakus + Youthful Brewmaster + 1-mana Kazakus spell. Great for getting  a few big kazakus spells for value, aoe polymorph against big priests, face damage for lethal (you can even play a 1 mana kazakus spell with this combo), hand refill. If you have Zola the Gorgon, you can also do this combo, but lack the 1 mana left to do anything meaningful other than filling the board. At turn 10 and beyond, Youthful Brewmaster leaves 1 mana for a kazakus spell that can do 2 aoe, 3 direct damage, freeze a minion, give some armor, get a random demon card or summon a 2/2 demon, which is sometimes what you need to survive, pressure or find lethal. (10 mana).

 

Mulligan

Against aggro: All your early removal and board like Mistress of Mixtures, Defile, Darkbomb, Shadow Bolt (great against odd rogues's 4/4 Hench-Clan Thug), Zephrys the Great (turn 5 lightning storm, turn 7 brawl, etc.), Kazakus (turn 4 for a 5 mana aoe/removal, or turn 5 for a 1 mana aoe/removal are always great options), Corrupting Mist (great against token classes like paladin/druid/mech hunter, who want to buff the following turn) and last but definitely not least: Doomsayer. Tap turn 2 and hope for the best :D

Against combo: Dirty Rat + Brann Bronzebeard + Youthful Brewmaster, Deathlord. Tap turn 2/3.

Against token/midrange: Mistress of Mixtures, Dark Bomb, Doomsayer, Defile, Hellfire, Zephrys, Kazakus. Early Gnomeferatu or Brann Bronzebeard can also work for board, you usuallly win by just removing/controlling their board until they run out of cards.

Against control: Zephrys the Great (to help with early giants or ramp if played on turn 2 if you have Zilliax in hand and want to try and pressure/control early game), Brann Bronzebeard + Gnomeferatu + Youthful Brewmaster. Dirty Rat and Deathlord usually pull huge minions against control, so avoid playing them until you have adequate removal. Tap turn 2/3.

Note that you rarely get to draw against aggro, so your mulligan is super important. Against mages, always assume secret (almost 50 % of matchups were against them at rank 1/2) and keep Eater of Secrets and Reno Jackson if you get them.

An alternative, but riskier keep against aggro is Expired Merchant + Reno Jackson, and hope you dont draw anything more expensive on turn 2. Usually when they see the discard, they insta-concede.

 

Substitutes

Youthful Brewmaster is amazing and aggresively stated if you drop him for tempo. An alternative is Zola the Gorgon, but I found her too slow at times due to the extra mana cost. She is more value since she leaves a body on board, i can't say much about the value of that though. I usually prefer to be able to do combos a turn earlier than my opponents if i happen to play a mirror match that uses Zola or simply because they think i need 10 mana to do the combo :) 

Brann Bronzebeard is mostly here for value against slower decks. If you are seeing a lot of Hand locks or conjurer mages, while seeing less control, you can drop him for Big Game Hunter or a cheaper variant like Kabal Courier for random value. Another nice option against control, if you lack brann, is Coldlight Oracle. It can mill them often, while you control your own draw with your HP.

Acidic Swamp Ooze, Harrison Jones and other oozes. These are great if the meta is full of weapons, drop Eater of Secrets for it. Anything goes into this slot really, depends on what you're seeing a lot. It is again worth noting that Zephrys the Great always gives you weapon removal against weapons. The question is: Do you also need him for something else against these specific classes or is it good enough that he gives you ooze every time you match up? If the answer is 'no', then put an ooze in your deck.

It could be that you do not have Dirty Rat, Hecklbot is a potiential replacement, but he cripples your combo-breaking abilities with his high mana cost.

Sylvanas Winderunner is great, but you might not have the dust. She could be replaced with another deathrattle, think Sludge Belcher, Rotten Applebaum, Safeguard or SN1P-SN4P against aggro and token decks.

Zilliax is also quite flexible, but really he's worth crafting 100 % of the time at the moment since he often is both 3 removal, healing and taunt. Could be replaced by other defensive cards like Second-Rate Bruiser, Rabble Bouncer or one of the Sylvanas replacments mentioned above.