Hearthpwn

Up front, I am playing this low on the ladder, with only about 20 games under my belt, and still tweaking some, so NOT claiming this is competitive, but I have been having fun with it. 

The deck is somewhat teched against Mage Quest decks by having very few cards that are targetable in play (until you choose) and some definite explosive burst that can overcome even Ice Barrier if you can get past their freeze and face fire in time (so far so good for me with that).

This is a largely neutral deck, so that you can keep up the masquerade for a bit, but not entirely neutral.  How long you choose to stay masked will depend a lot on the matchup and which class you start as.  There are enough rogue cards that you can usually unmask if the current class feels less favorable or if you need the rogue hero power or a rogue card played on tempo. 

If your opening draws require you to play Maestra of the Masquerade or any other Rogue card on tempo, it is not that big of a deal except against quest mage, for which you generally need to slow them down by playing no early non-stealth minions.

See her card spoiler for more on the card itself.

For the 1st draft of this guide, I will list card choices with some reasoning behind those theorycraft choices.  I welcome your comments on variants or substitutions, as I am still optimizing (as much as a 'fun' deck can be). 

I played mostly Arena last month due to having so little fun in this meta (for my personal play style), so I finished lower than I have since this rank system started as a result. So given my star shortage, I am not trying to Legend this month, just to have fun.  That can be hard in this meta for a player like me who does not enjoy playing aggro or complex combo decks.  I prefer control (for which this meta seems toxic) or mid-range (which also seems crippled currently). 

This deck is a compromise between mid-range (with no massive early game offense except attempting to achieve tempo with stealth) and combo (where the primary combos are the one-card draws, Battleground Battlemaster, Ashtongue Slayer as a one-time burst buff, and Overlord Runthak (to buff your hand, as this deck tends to get larger hands due to various card generation/cycling abilities and some holding of other combo pieces).

This is one of the few non-stealth/non-tradeable minions in the deck (that's not part of the burst/buff package). It helps you discover some spells from your random starting class, preferably early enough to guide your future plays.  Against mage quest, you want to delay playing it, but against other classes, it is the main 2 drop (along with Sneaky Delinquent) for which we mulligan.

Later, I will expand this spoiler to add class specific strategies around this card. So far, for example, Druid has several really good buff options that work well with the stealth minions. More on other classes later as I play it more. 

Note, as good as Venomous Scorpid is, this was chosen over it for its earlier playability.  I did try running both briefly, but found the extra minion exposure allowed quest mage to develop too quickly.  If you are budget building and lack the stealth legendaries, you could try subbing that for them.

You can understand how, as the PowerOfCheez, I was excited to see a cheese related card which is not only good, but arguably essential in the current meta to make some spell focused decks (like quest mage, quest hunter, some druid decks, etc.) pay for their arcanery. 

Even if it gets taken out without spells cast, it's a soft taunt buying you time to further develop.  If taken out with magic, it gives you value back.

Against those classes, Cheesemonger is a keep in the opening hand, with or without coin.

There is some risk of overdrawing if not careful, but as your combo really only requires one key card, if you have it, there are fewer worries.   This is not a card you can sub for in the current meta, it is vital to have for this deck.

As there are limited stealth minions available to make this strategy work, cycling with the Tradeable mechanic seemed a good fit.  

Impatient Shopkeep is one of the least likely to actually cycle given that it can be outright removal, but you can if you need to.

Rustrot Viper is one you tend to know if you need to keep it in hand or cycle it, based on your opponent's class (if they are not masquerading, too, lol).  Against all but quest mage, it is a reasonably statted three drop, too, bonus if you can take a weapon out.

Both of those three drops are important in this deck to corrupt your Sweet Tooth (another Halloween themed card that is a near perfect fit in the deck). 

Royal Librarian is more frequently cycled with less pain, given its weaker body and the fact that in addition to the two silences they afford, there is a third 'silence' effect in the deck with Maiev Shadowsong.  All three help overcome a multitude of obstacles to keep tempo.  Notably, if you make it to ten mana, all three can be dropped the same turn as Battleground Battlemaster.  I think of him as my designated 'soaper' for All Hallow's Eve pranking, lol.

Maiev Shadowsong is here as a third temporary silence, period.  It can add an element of surprise if the opponent has baited out both Royal Librarians or seen you cycle one away and think they can pull something.

What Halloween themed deck would be complete without Sneaky Delinquents who have a Sweet Tooth?

Pretty straightforward mostly on how these add value to this build's strategy.  Just remember that Sweet Tooth, Akama and Infiltrator Lilian will unmask you.  You are usually not going to let that slow any tempo you are trying to build, but consider the loss of your starting hero power (is that good or not?), and if it is later in the game, whether or not you want to use that hero power followed by using Rogue's after the unmasking.  That extra point of damage from Rogue's blade can win the game sometimes.

As most of these are vulnerable to board sweepers (and to random missiles, including mage's random Devolving Missiles and freeze effects), you will need to decide how wide to go and what to hold back for recovery.

You must also consider positioning very strongly with your Battleground Battlemaster in mind.  Also, take special care with positioning against quest mage (with side attacking spells like Cone of Cold and quest hunter (Bola Shot).

Burrowing Scorpid doubles as more minion based removal that this deck lacks magically, which can also target face as a finisher now and then.  This guy is your egg thrower/tp'er!

This dual trick and savory deviant treat is really another Utility 'Tech Answer' played as a singleton to give you one more weapon (sometimes) against quest decks. 

As we all know, unchallenged and played into, most quest decks are good at getting their boss minion played as soon as they are acquired, or at least before other popular but costly answers like Mutanus the Devourer can remove them.

This is an experimental card for me. I have noticed that because of the pressure the deck can put on a quest opponent, they frequently have to acquire their boss on a turn they cannot play it, just to keep pace answering threats.

There is always the risk of anti-synergy (taking out one of your own combo pieces), so definitely consider this a pure 'tech' slot that you can sub other cards into.  There is impact to your hand.  It is a coin toss that it will generate another stealth minion for you, which against most quest decks, may be better than a Tradeable card, if not better  than one of your legendaries.  But you know, every Halloween pumpkin smashing run carries the risk of getting busted! This is no different, lol.

For now, I am trying it out.  Later, I will add specific sub ideas and welcome suggestions in the comments, as I totally get that this card may have to come out, and may prove the lowest win % card in the deck.  Once I have enough games where it is played to give stats, I will (if I keep it that long).  Your games may help the stat tracker to give us data, too (if you run HSReplay's HearthSim like I do). 

I do like that it can do what Mutanus the Devourer does to quest decks earlier and cheaper though. Also, if it unmasks you in the process, nice trick!

Moonfang is just one of the stickiest minions in the game and only gets stickier if Overlord Runthak has a say.  Or any of the various buff spells available from some of the other classes that you might discover with Pandaren Importer.

This is also a pressure card which can force (or bait) your quest opponents to acquire their final quest reward minion before they can play it, leaving it vulnerable to Savory Deviate Delight. 

I think of it like that classic flaming bag of dog crap trick...  they are going to get their feet really messy putting it out if they do not have something to bounce, transform or destroy it outright with.  And if they don't, he is a behemoth for a turn 6 Battleground Battlemaster to windfury!

A horror movie staple, you know how it goes, some popular girls, led by their clique leader, charm some outcast into showing up for a special occasion, only to ruin it for them with a bucket of pig's blood or some other tomfoolery.  That mean girl is Maestra of the Masquerade.  Queue the scary theme music!

Of course, this list could likely be optimized for its overall strategy without her.  In fact, it likely has if any similar decks show up below with a better card in her place.  A 3/2 for two is pretty vanilla, outside of her impact on your opening turns and her ability to use two different hero powers in one turn (which can't be entirely overlooked). 

But come on, it's that time of year!  You can't be a Masquerade Baller without her!