Hearthpwn

I've gotten more "wow" emotes from my opponents while playing this deck than with with any other deck I've ever played.

I think that's for two reasons:

1. The deck uses a bunch of generally terrible cards. Put together, those cards end up having really strong effects.
   
   • Portal Keeper is a pretty weak card. Cult Master is a pretty weak card. But when you combine them, you end up creating a bunch of 2/2 rushes that create other 2/2 rushes OR put 1-cost cards in your hand (a la Academic Espionage) OR summon other minions (a la Shadow of Death).
   • Khartut Defender (or Zilliax) combines with Shadow of Death and Soup Vendor to give taunting minions that heal you and draw more taunt minions that heal you.
   • At 7 mana, Sprint usually has a huge tempo cost. But when your deck is full of rushes and taunts and 1-cost cards, it becomes much stronger. Octosari, on the other hand, well that's just crazy good.
2. To some extent, this is a Control Rogue, yet "Control Rogue" feels like a contradiction of terms. Rogue doesn't have any wide board clears. It doesn't have it's own life gain or taunt. It's amazing that a control rogue would even work at all. With this deck, I've matched card for card with battlecry shaman and control warrior all the way to the end of their deck and won. 

I've refined the deck several times to get it to the current version that wins half the time (in the last 18 games at legend). It's definitely not Tier 1, but it may have potential to be improved further. The biggest defining factor of the current version is the additional card draw (with Cult Master and Soup Vendor) as well as the life gain (with Zilliax, Khartut Defender, and Shadow of Death).

Mulligan for portal keeper, shadow of death, and anything that will help you stave off early-game aggression (Backstab, Edwin VanCleef, EVIL Miscreant w/ Backstab or the coin, even Knife Juggler, although it's much better once you have free reborn minions popping out of your deck.).

How to play it

• In the early game, tempo out any minions you have to fight for board, even if they're less than ideal.  
• In most cases, you should save Shadow of Death to play on either Zilliax or Khartut Defender. An ideal play is Khartut Defender on 6 followed by Augmented Elekk and Shadow of Death on 7. Once you've got 6 free Khartuts or Zilliaxes coming from your deck, you're very favored to win.
• (In some cases, Shadow of Death can work well on an enemy charge minion. Why hello, King Krushes.)
• Play Cult Master if you can draw with it on the same turn you play it. 
• Only play Myra's Unstable Element if you're reasonably sure that you'll have an Academic Espionage or two Shadow of Deaths left in your hand afterward. (I tried an earlier version with Chef Nomi, but it often lost the turn before it would win. This leaner version is much more of a control deck and doesn't have a lot of refill after you play Myra's.)
• Don't play Academic Espionage unless you have a lot of card draw available. (With Soup Vendor, Cult Master, Sprint, Myra's Unstable Element, and Octosari, there's the potential for a LOT of card draw, so you shouldn't have to wait too long.) As a rule of thumb, I'd say either save it for a turn where you can draw at least 4 cards or else save it for after you use Myra's. (Following up a Myra's with Elekk + Espionage and some way to draw those 1-cost cards can be a great way to both out-tempo and out-value your opponent.)

The deck is weakest against Hunter, Rogue, and Aggro Warrior. There may be some opportunity to improve the winrate by teching it better against aggro.