Hearthpwn

Overview

I've liked the idea of a Shadowform Priest deck for a long time, but earlier ones I tried often struggled against aggro. And since maybe 20% of my matchups were against Face Hunter, it got pretty frustrating. So I devised this control variant that is heavily equipped with sweepers and spells that turn the enemy's strength against them. I now win most Hunter games with this deck.

A side effect was that it turned out to be pretty strong against Patron Warrior, too. You also have a fighting chance against Beatdown Paladin.

Strategy

There are not many built-in minions, so they focus on durability: Dark Cultist, Violet Teacher, and Mountain Giant all ideally stick around for several turns, possibly buffed with Power Word: Shield and Dark Cultist. But you have your pick of the enemy's minions at many points. Don't hold out for a big dragon to use your Mind Control; the right card at the right time is what you want, even a simple weak taunt or charge.

Lightbomb completely destroys the board after the Grim Patron combo and thus turns things back in your favor when it looked (for your opponent) as though all was lost for you. Shadow Madness can also run two Grim Patrons (or beasts, etc.) into each other. Cabal Shadow Priest can nick that wretched Warsong Commander.

Many games go into fatigue, where you're going to be in the superior position if you have held back Lightwell, Antique Healbot, and/or Shadowform.

Final Thoughts

Despite a number of Epic cards, no Legendaries required. If you have Vol'jin, he'd be great for a combo with Holy Nova.

The Grand Tournament will soon make this particular version obsolete, but we'll see what we can do after that. Enjoy!