Hearthpwn

Hmm I might actually try this. However skeletal knight would probably only be good against other control match ups match ups in which you can actually have a decent chance of not winning the joust it seems very risky to me unless you are waiting till they deck to play it or something.

I imagine this loses to control warrior though unless you get Alex early. 

OK, quick update before bed:

I had been playing the version of this deck that had become very effective at the end of last season, with MIstcaller, Emperor and Gadgetzan.  Well, that was not that effective.  After going 5-6, I decided to "change with the meta."  I tried more taunts and such.  Well, it was horrible.  I lost 4 in a row.

So I just went back to plain ol' vanilla, as seen in the deck list above.  Well, with one HUGE change!

TWO EARTH SHOCKS.  In this meta, holy lord you need two earth shocks. It helps versus secret pallies, it helps versus Darksteed Demon decks.  Unfortunately, as much as I believe in the Armored Warhorse (see below), I just can't find anything else to cut.  So -1 Armored Warhorse, + 1 Earth Shock.  I will change it in the deck list for now, actually.  I think it is that good of a change.

I went 4-0 and pretty convincingly. 

So be careful with changes, apparently it breaks chemistry in unknown ways.   I paid attention to those Armored Warhorse.  You sometimes need 5 dmg charge.  It is very useful.  Also, you need something not so bada$$ to drop when mage plays the mirror secret.  Drop one of those, then Lightning bolt his and charge with yours.  I had missed that.

Had a really good run tonight.  Made some adjustments.

-2 Master Jouster: While minion curve is high, losing a joust can be detrimental.

+2 Sunwalker: Much more consistent, and can't be targeted by priests due to the 4 attack.

 -1 Dr. Boom: I'm in the minority here but I've never been a fan of this card.  The boom bots introduce too much RNG for me.  Personally I like to keep my decks with as little of it as possible.

+ 1 [card]Al'Akir the Windlord[/card]: Another taunt and charge.  If you have any of your Rockbiter Weapon all the better as it can be used for a finisher.

-2 Crackle: RNG gods hate me.

+2 Lave Burst: Rather do 5 damage than pray for it.

-2 Armored Warhorse: Often sits dead in my hand.

+ 1 Emperor Thaurissan: Takes the overload, out of overload.

+1 Chromaggus: Only because I don't have Skeleton Knight.

+1 Ancestors Call: This card has been HUGE for me.  Sometimes I can get something big out on turn 4.  Sometimes I'm in overload deep in the game and I use it to play my only legendary or Sunwalker with the 4 mana I have.  This card has been clutch.  Better played turn 7 if you have a Hex in case something bad comes out from your opponent.  

One of the games I did lose tonight was against a Paladin.  He has a clear board, Rag is on the board on my side.  I have 8 health left.  He has a secret.  Freaking Eye for an Eye.  First time I ever lost a game like that.

In another game against a pally I played Ancestors Call, pulled out Rag, it pulled out Tirion for the pally, I used Hex on Tirion, used a Rockbiter to kill the taunt.  Clear board, 8 to the face. He conceded after that.  It was beautiful.

Love all of your ideas for tweaks.

I hear you on Master Jouster.  It can hurt when you lose the joust.  however, it wins games like a boss for me.  However, it is extremely successful against the decks I need it for: tempo and agro.  If you can ever use emperor to cheapen them and soak up a removal or silence, then drop two of these guys on turn 7 and 8, it has created insurmountable walls.  For later games, Mistcaller (my current build) buffs them to 6/7s.  That are so beast. 

That being said, it makes a lot of sense to run Sunwalkers if you want consistency.   Same mana cost, too.  As I mentioned in the thread on shaman forums, this deck represents an archetype I call "Deep Control," and honestly, it doesn't HAVE to be a joust deck.  What we have is a group of shaman cards and a play style that allows us to compete with almost every deck.  I didn't realize how horrifically annoying and strong that paladin secrets deck is because I played this deck.  Once I played against it with my control warrior and a dragon priest.  Just...wow, what a pain in the rump!  But this deck bent Secret Pallie over...lol!

I can completely see running Al'Akir in this deck, and I may eventually come to that.  The HUGE reason for Boom in this deck though, is for the swing turn at 10 mana.  Sometimes you don't have a Lava Burst, and on turn 10, wiping the board followed by a same-turn Boom is utterly devastating.  Even if the BGH it, they still have those bots to contend with.  It is the 7 mana that is hugely valuable. 

Again, with regard to mana cost, I have been paying attention to Crackle versus Lava Burst.  I think it comes down to playstyle and what is more valuable to you.  The 2 mana cost of Lava Burst is sometimes game saving in early turns.  For example, against a totem golem.  2 mana used on turn 2, then still have 2 mana.  By the time you use a Lava Shock on it turn 3, you have 2 mana turn 4...and they have already dropped a totemic turn 3, then a fraking shredder turn 4 and I am jacked!  Still, this is all theory in my head.  Let me know how they work for you. 

Chromagus could work in this, at least you are striving to make up the card advantage, which is (finally) what I found Skeleton Knight is doing.  I wrote it a few places, but essentially, For ever joust Skeleton Knight wins, you basically gained a free card.  So say you drop him turn 6, and the priest uses SW:D on it.  Awesome, you used a removal.  Then you win the joust...now you can play him on turn 7, too!  And you drew a card.  And you don't have to play a card...if all he can do is drop a minion, you trade Skeleton Knight into it, killing it, it comes back to your hand and you simply play it again on the spot.  And the card you drew stays in hand.  I actually realized this once I milled myself because I dropped him 5 times in a row versus a priest.  I used a LB, crackle, a few things, but the card value was so great that I ended up milling a card.  Love it!

And as for Eye for an Eye...LOL!  That's horrible!

The last example though, is what keeps me loving the idea of AC.

Ok, I have played 14 games with this deck, but with the following changes:
-1 Armored Warhorse
-1 The Skeleton Knight
-1 Charged Hammer
+1 Stormforged Axe
+1 Emperor Thaurissan+1 Justicar Trueheart

Stormforged Axe has been excellent in this deck. I have gotten so much value out of it, and it lets you control the board (especially against those damn token decks) without crippling your tempo as is often the case with Lightning Storm. With this card in the deck, Charged Hammer is kinda superfluous.
Emperor Thaurissan has not been that helpful to be honest. I think I will swap it with either Armored Warhorse or something else.
Justicar Trueheart has been the MVP in some games, and ok in some others. I'm going to keep it for now.

aaand, to the games: I am 8-6 (around rank 9), with the following scores:
2-0 Facehunter
1-1 Midhunter
1-0 Control Hunter (!!)
0-1 Control Priest
1-0 Secret Paladin
1-2 Midrange Paladin
1-0 Mech Mage
0-2 Tempo Mage
1-0 Dragon Warrior

Awesome feedback, thank you.  If emperor isn't doing it for you, there's always Al'Akir as another finisher and board controller.  Thanks for the breakdown, too, always nice to see 2-0 versus Face hunter.  Basically, I tend to only lose if I don't draw a heal or two. 

You only played one, but I haven't had much of a problem against the new Secret Pallie.   The tempo mage may be an anomaly, as I tend to do ok there.  Again, do I pull my EDs in time?

Now this is an awesome deck. Since I do not have The Skeleton Knight, I had to find a replacement. I landed on Justicar Trueheart, because why not? But then I noticed that it has an anti-synergy with Charged Hammer so I swapped it with Stormforged Axe. I have absolutely no clue if this is going to work! But, I thought up some justifications:

Stormforged Axe provides an early game control, which this deck lacked, so it filled a void.

Justicar Trueheart can summon up those critical Wrath of Air Totem for the AoE or spell burst. It can also make sure the opponents big minions have a harder time to get through with Stoneclaw Totem after you have cleaned up the smaller ones with your AoE. It will probably not work, but I'll write back later how it went.

Please do give feedback.  I always liked the idea of being able to choose your totems.  You can always delay charged hammer a bit if you need to, or heck, if Justicar is a start, figure out a replacement (though that hammer is so awesome in long games, controlling board and constantly pressuring them by hitting face).

I can see stormforged working for early game, especially against zoo and pallie.  Anything to remove those little specks of annoyance.

 Just thought I'd say been having a lot of luck with something similar http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/319569-gnome-bomber-meta-sexplosion.   Going to give this one a shot too and see how it works with the joust focus.   Though will probably swap Alex for Malygos cuz why not ;) 

Knew Elemental Destruction was gonna be an awesome card!

ahhhhhahaha!  I love the idea, will definitely it up and run it.  So creative!

I'm posting this for shits and giggles, but the thought makes me grin ear to ear.

+ 1 Ancestors Call

More changes would be needed, but imagine on turn 4 dropping Emperor or Rag on the board?  Admitted can backfire if an opponent's legendary is also pulled out.

Would also want to minimize minions with battle cry effects.  

Heck this sort of change....maybe you add Deathwing to the deck.

This deck makes me think so much. =D

I have always been a massive AC fan, so if it works in this deck, I will be absolutely thrilled.

Thanks!  Mine too!

I'm seeking feedback about the following.

1. Replacing Crackle with Lava Burst.  +1 mana in exchange for knowing you'll always do 5 damage.  A bad Crackle result seems like it will often cost you the game.

2. Armored Warhorse.  I like the card but would something along the lines of the Azure Drake possibly fit better?  A 5 drop which helps to improve your odds for Jousts, +1 spell damage to go with the spells, along with a card draw.  A lot of the time it seems like Armored Warhorse is just sitting dead in my hand. 

3. Replace Sylvanis with Emperor Thaurissan.  It often seems that I'm prevented from dropping one of my late game minions because I'm in overload.  Emperor would have the same effect as Sylvanis (being a soft taunt as it must be removed), plus the added benefit of discounting your big minions.

Edit: Meant Lave Burst, not Lava Shock.

I love the passion surrounding this deck!  I am very open to feedback and a “community building” attempt to make this deck as absolutely effective as possible.  This is so far out of the realm of normalcy within the Hearthstone community that I am having trouble finding anyone even willing to take a second look.  Literally, it is dismissed out of hand and ignored.  So I appreciate you all who play and support it!
These are all great ideas, and since you messaged me, have been playing with the Emperor/Maly combo (more on that later).  Let’s check out these ideas:

 Lava Burst actually makes a lot of sense here.  The damage being 5 static would actually be really huge, because that is how I use it.  Generally, I use it for 3-5 HP minion removal. I pretty much don’t ever count on it hitting for 6, so Lava Burst makes sense.  However, I would be a little concerned about the 3 mana cost.  I can absorb overload pretty well in this deck, but commonly that is because all of the spells are so bloody cheap.  This would squeeze that a little.  I will certainly put a phase of testing in, though, it is worth the time. 

Drakes are certainly a possibility.  There are a ton of factors going on here, though, and everything affects everything else.  For example, I have actually been running the Auctioneer after someone’s idea on that, and have found it pretty awesome…when in conjunction with other changes.  I swear, you change one thing it affects everything else.  The 2 Ancestral Knowledge, for example, makes it so I can actually overdraw.  Bad. Yet at the same time, I can generally have a near full hand for the entirety of the rest of the game after turn 8-10.  That is actually pretty amazing.  Drakes, of course, would necessitate more changes.  The higher curve is good, but I kind of feel at 4/4, they just die so easily without giving a larger impact.  I will keep it in mind if I ever mess around with various card draws.  I am always fearful of taking the deck more midrangey, as I think it would kill it.

I am so sold on Emperor Thorazine in this deck, thank you for bringing it up!  However, I am also totally sold on Sylvanas.  I can’t tell you how often I can drop sylvanas when they have a huge minion plus smaller guys, then Elemental Destruction, killing sylvanas (sometimes need to LB it) to steal their minion.  A board wipe and theft of their 8/8 (now 8/4 or so) can win games.  Period.  Stealing their Ysera is crown jewel though.  But yes, emperor is in.  And I have been pairing him with…Sylvanas is pure control and I need her.

Mistcaller.  This has been a very surprising result for me.  Basically, in the deck above, I removed both Armored Warhorse and a Crackle, and put in what might be a core Trinity:  Emperor T, Mistcaller and  Gadgetzan Auctioneer (again, considering removing an ancestral Knlowledge).  Those three together have great synergy.  Emperor reduces cost, Mistcaller raises stats and Auctioneer lets you get a nice hand for when you do either or both of those.  The stat raise is more effective than I thought, too.   Auctioneer is then a 5/5, and Emperor a 6/6.  They seem to just live longer that way.  Also, the Skeleton Knight becomes an 8/5.  I can’t tell you how much more effective that is!  8 atk kills giants etc, and the 5 HP makes him need something much tougher than a frost bolt plus ping to kill it.  I didn’t find Malygos to quite fit here.  The 9 mana cost is great for joust, but overall, I tend to use my spells to control board and stay alive and don’t have many to use when she finally drops

sorry for word wall, using phone. Will clean it up tonight.

Good points.

I'll try to remove a warhorse tonight and put Sylvanis back in along with the Emperor.

I must admit I did have one game where a priest buffed a minions health, then made the health his attack.  It was nice to steal that 12 attack minion.

I really need to craft Skeleton Knight.  Eventually!

When Skeleton Knight is killed, and goes back to your hand, does he retain the stat boost from Mistcaller?

Quote from KALOWGG jump

When Skeleton Knight is killed, and goes back to your hand, does he retain the stat boost from Mistcaller?

Sorry for the delay in response...my phone is horrible with this website and that is all I have at work.

Anyway, the answer is no, it goes back as the 7/4.  Not ideal, but it is part of the strategy.  Thanks so much for playing and the feedback, I am loving this deck and that others are having fun too.  Experiment away, I am not possessive :)  Plus, I honestly think once we've explored this to death, there will be quite a few changes needed depending on what's happening in the ladder.  My current version (MIstcaller, Emperor T and Auctioneer) is super control!  But I have to GET to late game and sometimes draw works against me.  So at beginning of season, it seems I may want to change it, then when I get back to higher ranks or later season, back to heavy super control.  The limitation is not using low minions without the risk of it messing with your joust.

What is a good replacement for skeleton knight cause i dont have it?