Hearthpwn

I've been trying to make Dragon Paladin work over the past few days. I had found with common builds that the biggest issues were card draw and removal options. Though there aren't many removal options to work with I've found that the card draw I've added has fixed a lot of the problems by simply allowing you to draw your removal spells. Paladin seriously lacks card draw in this set(RIP Divine Favor), but the 1 saving grace they do have is the newly buffed(and slightly broken as a consequence) Crystology. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of dragon synergy cards for this engine, however we can use the already solid early-game mech package to not only give this deck some tempo, but also some gas in-hand to not run out of resources. I'll give a card-for-card explanation on why I decided on the cards I did in this guide. Without further ado....Dragon Paladin that might only kinda suck.

Crystology - As I mentioned above this card seems to be the one saving grace for paladin to be able to thrive in this meta. The draw engine gives you proactive plays and thins your deck to get to your combos faster.

Glow-Tron - Part of the Crystology package, but also just a solid minion overall. Decent to fight for board as a 1-drop, good magnetize minion, and good target for Galvanizer and Glowstone Technician.

Cathedral Gargoyle - I overlooked the value of this card at first, but a 2-mana 2/2 that can stick around and protect our board is quite useful.

Galvanizer - Reduces our mechs received from Crystology and is also a target for it as well.

Lightforged Blessing - This card can save you in the late game against more aggressive decks, but I'm wondering if being more proactive is just better. Considering swapping this and Ysera out for 2 copies of Annoy-O-Module, but I wan't to do more play-testing before I make this decision.

Bronze Gatekeeper - A target for Crystology and is great for staving off pressure in the early turns with other magnetize effects.

Bronze Herald - This card is one of the main reasons to even run dragon paladin. The 2 bodies you get in return makes your handbuff effects even better. Low-tempo, but at least is something to fight for board on turn 3 that doesn't hurt your handsize to get max value out of handbuffs.

Nightmare Amalgam - In standard Dragon Paladin lists this spot usually goes to Twilight Drake, but with the dual-synergies with mechs and dragons it was hard to pass this card up.

Consecration - As I mentioned, not having board clear is a death wish. Must include to stay relevant against aggro. 

Scaleworm - Helps answer mid-range threats and generate some fast tempo. I would say this card is needed to survive.

Barista Lynchen - This card is probably just bad, but honestly I really enjoy it with Dragon Speaker and Glowstone Technician, but also has use alongside Dragonmaw Scorcher and Crowd Roaster for extra removal and if you can weave in a Cathedral Gargoyle it's an extra taunt to get in the way.

Dragon Speaker - This card is low-tempo on it's own but can net-tempo later if its hits even 2 dragons. Can't run a dragon paladin without this card.

Dragonmaw Scorcher - If Consecration is a must-have, than this card is crucial to this deck. Removal, is a dragon, and also has a decent stat-line to take value trades(especially when buffed)

Glowstone Technician - This might seem too heavy to have alongside all these other expensive minions, but I've found myself with Bronze Drakes in my hand and no Dragon Speaker to buff them, also great in combination with Crystology.

Zilliax - Broken Card.........No but seriously, you would run this in anything so you have to run it in a deck with mech synergies and also hand-buff effects to increase it's tempo.

Crowd Roaster - This card is big for swinging the board. When it gets buffs and can stick it's not only removal, but also a threat to be dealt with.

Ysera - Not core. If you have it, run it. If not drop it for something else you like(I suggest Annoy-O-Module)

Overall I've played around with this deck and had surprising success against aggro. The hardest matchup is ironically Mech Paladin as they have huge compounding threats to answer and by the time you have Crowd Roaster online it's usually too late.

Mulligan Guide: 

- Always keep Crystology

- Against Aggro look for Gargoyle and maybe even consider Consecration or Bronze Gatekeeper.

- Against slower decks just look to curve out early with your mulligan and try to hit Bronze Herald and start handbuffs.

 

Tips/Tricks:

- Don't burn too many resources from your hand. Try to use your non-dragons first if you can to save them for Dragon Speaker(this excludes Bronze Herald as it will generate more dragons to buff anyways)

- Against aggro don't be too greedy. You have to fight for board. Take less concern for how much value you're generating with handbuffs and more on not dying on board.

- Use Lightforged Blessing liberally if you need quick healing as it is a twinspell, but try to save the second if you can.

- Manage your removal carefully. You have few removal cards so try to make sure you aren't being wasteful with them.

- Barista is a huge tool against control decks. Try to set up a turn in which you'll get multiple battlecries copied.

- Glowstone and Dragon Speaker in your hand? Which do you use first? Always use Glowstone first because it will buff the Dragon Speaker and the Dragon Speaker will not buff the Glowstone. This will net you more total stat-value. There are only few niche scenarios in which this rule changes, for example maybe the 3/5 body lines up better to value trade than the 3/4, but this is pretty rare.