Hearthpwn

Just hit Legend with this! (4/20/22)

Currently at Legend 749 NA (4/22/22)

Now at Legend 539 (4/28) 

Thanks Hearthpwn for featuring this deck in your hot decks article!

Update: Still going strong with this deck as of 4/24. Planning to keep with this deck, still having fun. Made some changes below which have made a significant different

Update 2: (4/28) This will likely be the final update as I feel this deck in this iteration is as about as sound as it is going to be. The recent changes have shot my win % up and I feel very good about how it functions right now. Thanks for those of you who checked in and contributed or played this deck. I will check back here a few more times and let you know if anything significant happens. I believe this is the most fun I have had playing Hearthstone in a long time and I am very proud of this deck. Thanks again all!

(also, whoever downvoted this deck is a bum) 

Update 3: (5/9) Just hit Legend again with this for the second season making no changes to the deck. Currently sitting at 299

One commenter said he took out Cult Neophyte for Dragonqueen Alex, I think this is probably the most removable card as of now, as I am playing a lot fewer spell based decks and a lot more minion based decks (Reno pally, Shudder Shaman, Pirate Rogue) Also seeing a lot more of Reno Warlock this time around, which I have found to be a toss up, how fast they get their Tickatus and what it mills is very important. As of now thinking Golaka Crawler but need to really sit down and look. 

Update 4: (5/12) Reached all time high at Legend 122 last night. (am trying to upload a picture but can't figure out how, if anyone can help that'd be great) 

Just added Simple Matchup Guide and a few more cards to the Cards section to add some detail 

Edit 5: One more slight change, I added Brann Bronzebeard and took out Cult Neophyte, I believe this is essentially the flex spot, if you find something better please let me know. As of now there are far fewer spell based decks (mostly combo priest and the rare quest Mage, but even those can't always be slowed down by Neophyte) so running Brann for more value, and it acts as a soft taunt, plus can be great with Mutanus or Okani 

Edit 4: Ok so I lied, made one more change, but this one is fairly insignificant IMO. Varian, King of Stormwind for Cariel Roame. After looking at my stats on HSReplay for this deck, I found that this was the card that stuck in hand the most, was actually a losing card for me, and my experience has bore that out. Varian has won me games before, but it feels like it is more often that it is unplayable or low impact, so I decided on Cariel for the board impact, maybe a late game buff with other cariel, and because it is sticky. Has worked out solidly so far. 

Edit 3: Finally took out Animated Broomstick, Ambassador Faelin and Venomous Scorpid in favor of the semi-OTK combo of Holy Maki Roll and Eydis Darkbane, and Mojomaster Zihi

Edit 2: took out Youthful Brewmaster for Rustrot Viper for Rogue/Warrior right now. Took out Mojomaster Zihi for Ambassador Faelin, right now there are not so many ramp druid decks (likely will change on Tuesday) and Zihi has rarely come in handy as of late, but have needed extra ammo at times when going long in games. Removed Stonehearth Vindicator for Venomous Scorpid, again, the value is needed, this is one of few cards in the deck you can tempo out and that is much needed, and this can be rushed with Broom for some saves sometimes. 

Note: I am eyeing Mojomaster Zihi for if and when meta changes, also Eater of Secrets

Edit 1: took out Barista Lynchen and Shimmering Sunfish for Stonehearth Vindicator and Mojomaster Zihi

Since this deck has gotten a handful of upvotes I’m going to make a full(er) guide along with thoughts impressions and experiences that I have had. 

Edit 3 Notes

     So I literally never got to play a single colossal minion from Faelin, it just never worked out and the games rarely go to the end, and if they do I have done quite well without the extra 3 cards. Taking out Animated Brookmstick (along with Venomous Scorpid from before) really buffs Crystology, looking at the stats on HSreplay for this deck, Scorpid and Broom were two of my lowest drawn and played win cards, while Knight of Anointment is one of the highest, have a higher chance at him and the new finley helps you thin your deck faster, or find things in your deck more efficiently, while the previously two mentioned cards: Broom would often sit in hand or be low impact, and scorpid rarely discovered anything significant and also rarely was high impact. 

     In the case of the Maki Roll + Eydis combo, one thing I didn't do before when I was playing them is simply use them more liberally or even earlier on the game even if you don't have lethal set up. This can be a great swingy board clear. It also is effective just to use when the opportunity arises, for example: played a Kazakusan Druid deck earlier, and on turn 10 he had a 4/8 on board that was it, I played Eydis and then Maki 7 times and hit him with Cariel's weapon to bring him to 5 health. He ended up armoring back up and surviving much longer but he also ended up slowing down his draw big time, and forcing him to use resources on himself to survive. I was able to hit him with Mojomaster Zihi twice at the end of the game and won, the Eydis + Maki thing being a big part of it

Another side tone/additional combo, if you are playing a spell heavy deck Like a druid something, you can play Eydis + Loatheb + Rebuke on turn 10, then stall for that turn, then playing Maki 10 times the next turn for the full 30 damage. 

     This also gives me something to lean on later in games when I am in a pinch. Prior to this, there would be games when I would still have a decent amount of cards in my deck but he was too well established or whatever the case may be and I had lost hope. example: played an Even Reno Warlock earlier today and it was a very close game, but he had cleared all my stuff and set up a board of 6 minions with varying health, I had Eydis in had but no Maki, and his hero was down to 3 health, I played Eydis, played the new Finley to try to find Maki, and unfortunately did no, but the important thing is that I had a chance (taunt minions on board too and had already used my Zephrys the Great). And that's what this combo provides, not to mention it is always a sneak attack at this point in the meta because no one knows about it or sees it coming. 

     Mojomaster Zihi is one of my favorite cards. Another thing that no one really expects right now, can break a lot of combos and fry your opponent's mind if played at the right time. I have two different games today playing long and using Zihi then bouncing it with   Zola and playing it again 2 or 3 turns later to kill them with fatigue. This is a very satisfying card to win with. One note: usually play this proactively, as in, maybe play this a turn or two earlier than you might want if you don't know exactly what is about to happen, because it feels very bad to have this sit in hand and lose with it when you could have at least given yourself a better chance by throwing it out there (even if it wouldn't have been an auto win then). Now that Switcheroo and Kaelthas are gone, I am seeing more Guff Druid decks, and this ruins their lives in the best way. 

 Mulligan

The mulligan guide for this deck is: there is no mulligan guide. You’re going to have to get a fair amount of play with this deck and become familiar with the meta if you aren’t already, there are a lot of different things that can work for a single situation and since this isn’t a combo deck or a deck that relies on one or two cards, you pretty much have to read and react.  

Win Condition

Your win condition really is Cariel, but often times you can beat decks without her either by breaking a combo or repeatedly clearing there board and leaving a moderate board in play and just chipping them down. (I have won a good number of games with just having a board of cards like Loatheb, Cult Neophyte and Sir finley on the board while continuously clearing their’s and defending your dudes)

Also, even if your opponent has something to destroy cariel’s weapon, the handbuff hero power is still plenty to win the game with. (recently played a control warrior, he was 527 Legend or so, I was at 800+, we both got to fatigue, he had Boom hero, I had cariel, outlasted him at about 8 damage into fatigue) 

Simple Matchup Guide

Cards Good against Aggro

Crystology(good draw, gets a clear or a piece of a clear, makes later draw better), Knight of Anointment(an early 1/1 can be big, plus gets healing or piece of a clear), City Tax (board clear or piece of one), Equality (sometimes), Sir Finley of the Sands(any upgraded hero power is better than the 1/1), Lord Barov(clear or piece of one, can be tempo'd on 3 if they have a few minions on board an be effective that way too), Time Out! (stall for Reno or clear or whatever), Cariel Roame (rush for board control), Consecration (board clear), Lightforged Cariel (I don't recommend holding at mulligan, generally speaking, as you may need a more playable card before turn 7 to survive. exception: if you have Reno and something else good, then MAYBE. But be smart) Dirty Rat (often played on turn 2, usually the 2/6 stats outweigh the negative of them having another minion) Zephry the Great, Rustrot Viper (Rogue only), Blademaster Samuro, Zilliax (don't recommend holding at mulligan GENERALLY), Reno Jackson

Note: There are basically only two cards that are almost never good against aggro, and that is Mutanus the Devourer and Mojomaster Zihi. These can have there place too, but never keep in mulligan, and if you can throw away with Sir Finley, Sea Guide it is almost always a good idea. 

Cards Good Against OTK/Combo

Knight of Anointment(simple draw, makes later draw better, sometimes comes in handy) Dirty Rat (obvious interrupt), Time Out! (stall), Rebuke (stall/interrupt), Sir Finley of the Sands (armor up for the combo or put more pressure on your opponent with damage or get more draw) Lightforged Cariel (sometimes for cutting OTK damage in half, especially fatigue damage) Mojomaster Zihi (interrupt/stall), Mutanus the Devourer (interrupt), Blademaster Okani (interrupt), Oh My Yogg! (interrupt) 

Note: Cards I didn't mention here or above are ones that have flexibility and will come in handy at more specific points and in certain times and matchups cards like leviathan and Smothering Starfish can be game winning and insanely effective. Both have won me games against both types of decks and have been played on curve and played late to great effect. Others were Alliance Bannerman (good draw, and the buff can be significant), Sir Finley, Sea Guide (the hand swap can be game saving, to get a clear, or Reno or Time Out or Cariel) Brann Bronzebeard (soft taunt, value, double interrupt), Eydis Darkbane (tempo'd out, or combo) Zola the Gorgon (value, or tempo'd + value early) 

Cards

I’m going to go through cards that have quirks in this deck, or point out things that might not be obvious at first. I assume almost all of you have enough experience here for me to not have to break everything down for you, and even if you don’t, most of this you can figure out for yourself. 

Sir Finley, Sea Guide is an unbelievably good card. I think it’s hard to imagine without seeing it in practice, because when I first saw this revealed I didn’t think anything of it, but it completely solves a problem that this deck and all controlly decks are subject to: which is drawing all your board control cards when you needed you combo breakers, or vice versa. This is also a great card to just seek out things you need if it is urgent, or for a last ditch effort when you basically need Reno or Loatheb or the game is over. Sometimes I get a bad mulligan hand, but this is in there too, and I will just keep everything and then play this on turn one. 

Knight of Anointment draws one of three cars: Holy Maki Roll/card], [card]Equality, Consecration. Good early, and decent just about at any point in the game. Can get you a board clear or a piece of a board clear or your other combo piece (or just some general healing if you are in a pinch) 

Holy Maki Roll: as articulated above, the main function of this card is to be a combo piece with Eydis Darkbane and to act as a finisher or as a board clear. Depending on the deck and the circumstances of how the game is playing out, don't be afraid to use this to heal yourself or your minions to forego the combo that could come later. I more often use it for face heal against things like Hunter and Rogue right now and it can be very handy. 

City Tax,Equality, Consecration, Lord Barov, and Blademaster Samuro all serve a similar function of controlling the board. Remember the value of buffing Samuro with either Cariel of Bannerman, but otherwise these are pretty straight forward uses here. 

The Leviathan. Banger of a card. so fun. and another one that didn’t look top notch when I first looked at it but turns out that it is. I think if this cost 8 mana it would still see play. I will say that I think this works in practice pretty much as you would imagine it would, but when it is used in a Reno deck specifically, when there are so many specific cards that are so needed at certain times and have such great power against certain decks, it is great to be able to pluck one out after sifting through 3. 

Smothering Starfish also works mostly as imagined. But I will say that it’s use has presented itself in more ways than I envisioned. Maybe you silence a Cannon against Pirate Warrior on turn three to save you some tempo, or maybe you even tempo this out because you’re playing a deck that you don’t need the silence (a 2/4 really isn’t THAT bad). There are really too many situations to name, but great card, and fun too. (I just remembered one, playing an Overload Shaman and silencing their Spirit of the Frog with this is devastating and can be game winning) 

Zola the Gorgon: I track my deck's stats with HSReplay, and after about 150 games I found that this was my lowest "Played Win Rate" card, that is to say, my win percentage when I played this card was about 47%, while the deck's overall win percentage is at about 64% right now. I did some thinking and realized that I too often held this card for the perfect moment and generally speaking was too greedy with it, so often times it would end up being a dead card in hand and hurt me overall. Lately I have been playing the card more liberally, even if just to bounce an Alliance Bannerman. The power of this has also increased with the addition of Brann. This has made the card more effective and brought it's WR up. 

Brann Bronzebeard: is a card I am sure everyone is familiar with. This is the most recent addition to the deck after taking out Cult Neophyte. This has proven to be much better in general and I feel a little silly for not running it before. With Zola, Okani, Zephrys, Loatheb, Mutanus, Dirty Rat, Bannerman, and Knight, this card has plenty of battlecries to work with. Even without them, say playing against a Pirate Rogue, I can play this on turn three, and your opponent will almost always feel obligated to kill it, either running some minions into it or using one durability of their weapon on it. Very effective this way as well. Another trick to remember, is if you are playing a deck with primarily spell centric removal, like a Mage or Druid or Hunter, this can be played on turn 5 or 6 with Rebuke, to freeze your opponent out of killing him for a big Mutanus turn or something similar. 

Example: I played a Quest Mage yesterday (5/11) and went Brann + Rat on turn 5, he couldn't kill Brann, so I played Loatheb on turn 6 and locked him out for a turn, then played Zola on my Loatheb and frozen him out for the rest of the game. Very fun way to win, and just an example of how things can play out sometimes. 

Mojomaster Zihi Now that Kaelthas is out of the picture, and there are a lot more ramp and Guff centric Druid decks, this card sees more use, also good against Mechathun decks, Shudderwock and sometimes against Quest hunter in the late game. This card will win you the game by itself about 10% of the time, the other 90 it ends up being a 6 mana 5/5

Rebuke: if you’re playing against a non spell heavy deck or an aggro deck, or a deck within this realm and you have no idea what they are running, just throw it out there to use up your mana on any old turn. There have been a number of times where I have tried to hold this for the perfect situation and end up winning or losing while having had this sit in my hand for 10 turns. Sidenote: if you see the game going the distance though, I recommend you keep it for when you have a decent board. 

Sir Finley of the Sands (Upgraded Power Tier List!)

This is a somewhat goofy but potentially helpful thing that I thought about making last night (and here I am) I think there is a semi-clear ranking for the upgraded hero powers and their usefulness. It is important to note that these rankings are specifically for this deck, because it is more of a control deck, the control powers tend to make more sense, although that may be obvious, I thought it was worth clarifying. Here are my thoughts: 

Tier 1

Mage (2 Mana, Deal 2 Damage)

Mage is in the top tier because I think A) It is the most impactful, if you get mage for a Pirate Rogue or Mech Mage it can literally win you the game. This comes in handy for late damage, you can ping your Lord Barov with it, after playing a Smothering Starfish this can help pick off other unwanted minions in certain conditions, and unlike the other hero powers that ping things, you don't take any dame with this, and it ignores taunts. And B) I think this is the most universal. You can pick it in almost any game and it will be at least a pretty good choice. 

Tier 2

Warlock (2 Mana, Draw a Card) 

This one I think is the next best because if you are playing a deck where you need very specific disrupt cards, say it is some type of Ramp Druid deck or if it is Shudderwock shaman, then this will come in the most handy. This power is just very good, but not as useful early against aggro decks, so it gets tier 2

Tier 3

Demon Hunter (1 Mana, Gain 2 Attack) Druid (2 Mana, Gain 2 Armor and 2 Attack)

These are Tier three because I find myself choosing either of these next most. Both allow you to control board, one is slightly cheaper and can fill mana usage space and the other gives both attack and armor which can be very good, especially in situations where you are still not sure what your opponent is playing. I think Druid is the one I pick the next most after Mage, but I don't think it has nearly the impact or win rate that Warlock or Mage does. Also if you get way behind, or way down on health, then these end up being pretty useless. 

Tier 4

Hunter (2 Mana, 3 Damage to Hero) Warrior (2 Mana, Gain 4 Armor) Priest (2 Mana Heal 4)

These are all still good and still see a decent amount of play, but are all more circumstantial than all the powers in the tiers above, though, to be fair, these three can potentially have the most impact, the only thing is that they can be completely useless in certain situations (Priest against OTK, Hunter against super aggro) 

Tier 5

Shaman (2 Mana, Choose a Totem) Paladin (2 Mana, Summon 2 1/1's) Rogue (2 Mana, 2/2 Weapon) 

I basically never pick these. I rarely do rogue because of Lightforged Cariel, and because most of the other things are better and I am not mana strapped with this deck to where I need to let that 2 attack sit on my hero for 2 turns. I rarely do pally because this isn't a buff deck, or a board deck, and the lack of immediate impact is no good here. Shaman because I have played this deck probably 200 times between all of it's variations and have never chose it once, I can see maybe in the rarest of circumstances that it becomes valuable, but that circumstance still hasn't come up yet. (Shaman should probably be in tier of it's own, but eh) 

 Original Writeup 

Let me start off by saying that this deck is absurd for a variety of reasons. This is a tech heavy deck that really looks to ruin your opponents day. In a recent game against a Mecha'thun Warlock, I bounced Loatheb twice and played a Rebuke on consecutive turns to beat my opponent in ridiculous fashion. Typically if you don't blow that deck away with aggro, or Mutanus their Mecha'thun, you just lose. (Shudderwock decks have some alternate ways of outlasting the deck too but similar concept) 

This deck is fun, takes considerable consideration on any given turn, has an answer for just about everything, and can often pulls wins from nowhere. I am proud of this deck and almost didn't share it here because I am still precious with it. 

Maybe the most important thing this deck has that others don't is the myriad ways of busting spell heavy decks, your potential answers are: Loatheb, Oh My Yogg!, Cult Neophyte, Rebuke and Blademaster Okani. These in combination Zola the Gorgon, Youthful Brewmaster and Barista Lynchen which allows you to play these cards multiple times if you need to (and if the opportunity is there).

You have cards to stall: Reno Jackson, Lightforged Cariel and Time Out!.

Cards to clear or control boards in: City Tax, Blademaster Samuro, Lord Barov, Consecration, Equality, Zilliax, Shimmering Sunfish, The Leviathan, Animated Broomstick and Varian, King of Stormwind

Plenty of draw with Crystology, Alliance Bannerman, Knight of Annointment, Sir Finley, Sea Guide (and a couple of cards listed above that have some dual use) 

and finally some great cards with highly versatile use: Zephrys the Great, Sir Finley of the Sands and Smothering Starfish (along with a handful of others that were mentioned in other spots but also have plenty of different uses too) 

 I don’t think anything else needs to be explained from a card standpoint, but if you have any questions, ideas or thoughts I’d be happy to talk things out.