Hearthpwn

~~~BEFORE I BEGIN~~~ Be sure to upvote this guide if it was helpful, as it took VERY long to make. Enjoy :)

Proof of legend:  http://imgur.com/nQ259mg

EDIT! : ~~I will be editing this guide as soon as the new expansion comes out, as i WILL BE PLAYING A LOT AS IT COMES OUT.~~

For anyone interested, I should be streaming all night on Fridays/Saturdays and Sundays. Usually from 6:30 PM EST. Be sure to follow if you're interested. http://www.twitch.tv/evilbaneling --- Havent really streamed yet, but got quite a few followers, dont worry, ill start soon :)

 

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 Introduction:

This deck got me all the way up to rank 50 legend, I will include proof later in this guide. I believe that I only have proof of rank 90, but that should be good enough :) Rank 50 VoD should be on my stream. All this information/Proof will be included in the "About Me" section, also showing off my golden Warlock hero, and my golden Handlock deck :D

 

Handlock is a solid deck, capable of doing well in any match up, especially against the popular Patron Warrior deck. Handlock focuses on having a lot of removal spells, combined with their amazing turn four twilight drakes and mountain giants. In this guide, I will be explaining how to play/mulligan and win with this deck in extreme detail.

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 The Basics: Despite what most Hunter players say, Handlock is a very difficult deck to play. Personally, I've been trying to master this deck since the Beta of Hearthstone. It will take a lot of time to get used to, but luckily for you guys, there is now a guide to speed up that process. First off, do not panic if you do not have your Giants/Drakes. Mountain Giant and Twilight Drake are very important in the control matchups, but you can still easily win without them. Just try to keep clearing the board until the later turns where you can drop your big creatures. Molten Giant Antique Healbot and Watcher/Sunfury/Owl and all your clear spells are very good against aggro, giving you some easy victories. Be sure to check the in-depth matchup and mulligan guides for each opposing class. 

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Combos: Handlock is a deck involving a lot of strategy, intensive thinking, and a lot of time to learn. Therefore, this deck has A LOT of combos that you may execute, but I will list the most important/most common ones. 

->Double Molten + Sunfury + Healbot

This combo is really important in an aggro matchup, making the opponent almost insta-concede, as you have two 8/8 taunts as well as an extra 8 health for them to attempt to deal with.

-> Darkbomb/lifetap/hellfire to take damage? 

Be sure to check the "When to tap" section for the life tap, but all three of these damage dealing powers can be used to deal damage to your own hero. Why? Well more often than you think this will be a good play, as it lets you play two molten giants for a discounted price. Don't believe me? Here's an example: Say you have two molten giants that cost (5). Darkbomb  + life tap = 4 mana, dealing 5 damage to your face, letting you play two molten giants for (0) each instead of (5) each. You then still have mana to play some other taunt/healing cards. 

-> Shadowflame + ...

You can combo this card with an Ancient watcher, for 4 damage AoE, Molten + SF, and Sylvanas + SF. Molten can be 0 mana, making the AoE only cost 4, and dealing 8 damage to all of your opponent's minions. Sylvanas +SF can clear all of your opponent's little minions, and steal his big one.  

->Moltens/Lord Jaraxxus : 

Try to always play your molten giants before you play Lord Jaraxxus, as the moltens will not cost (5) when Jaraxxus is at 15 hp. They will cost(20) as 15 is your hero's base health. Therefore, moltens are almost unplayable with Lord Jaraxxus.

 

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Tech choices: 

Brace yourselves, there are a lot of tech choices here...

First off, Anti-Aggro choices: Zombie Chow , Earthen Ring Farseer, the Ancient Watcher, the second Ironbeak Owl , Mortal Coil , Darkbomb , the second Hellfire and the two Antique Healbots are very good to deal against aggro. Feel free to add a  Zombie Chow or a  Earthen Ring Farseer if you need help in the aggro matchups. You may also remove some anti-aggro cards if you need help against control. Currently, I find the meta to be relatively aggressive. 

Lastly, Anti-Control choices:  Alexstrasza , Ragnaros the Firelord , Shadowflame , Defender of Argus , Sylvanas Windrunner and Harrison Jones

~~~ Alexstrasza is sometimes used instead of Lord Jaraxxus, but personnally, I have NEVER removed him from my deck, as I love that amazing card. 

---Adding Kezan Mystic may be useful in certain matchups---

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When to tap?

Life Tap... the most overpowered hero power in the game. The hero power is amazing, and it is the reason why Handlock exists. For two mana, you get card advantage, discounted mountain and molten giants, as well as buffed twilight drakes. Make sure you plan-out your turn ahead, and life tap before playing any other card, to see what you draw. Usually you will always tap turn 2/3 if you are going first. If you are going second, tapping turn 2/3 will cause you to discard a card. Therefore, you must either play a card on turn 1/2/3 or not tap on turn 3. 

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Mulligan and Matchups

DISCLAMER: This section might be a little long... be sure to skip to whatever matchup you currently are facing in your hearthstone game. If I forget any deck, be sure to leave it in the comment section :) 

--> Warrior, Mulligan:

Mountain Giant, Twilight Drake, Darkbomb (only one)

Matchups: Patron Warrior [8.5/10]: This deck is surely going to recieve a nerf for how strong it is. But guess what deck is is weak against? Thats right, Handlock. You should destroy this deck if you just keep playing your big minions and your taunts, and clear his patrons with your board clears. IMPORTANT: he only has two Warsong Commander , so two waves. If you survive them both, you win, so keep taunting shit up.  Also, make sure you sacrifice all minions with less than three attack, as he can stack patrons with them. Be sure not to have too many minions on the board, because of Frothing Berserker 's buff, and you should be fine.

Control Warrior[8/10] : Honestly, with over 500 games control Warrior, and over ~1k Handlock games I know how hard playing against a Handlock is as a Warrior. You just gotta bait his clear spells, not play too much into Brawl , and you will over whelm him with creatures. Also, do not be scared to play Lord Jaraxxus when his board is empty, as it offers you a 6/6 every turn.

--> Priest[8.5/10], Mulligan:Mountain Giant, Twilight Drake, Darkbomb

Matchup: Pretty easy, as they usually cannot deal with handlock, unless they are running Mind Control /2X Shadow Word: Death and Lightbomb. Try to not overextend into Lightbomb . Honestly, if the priest does not have a perfect hand, the game should be very easy. 

--> Druid, Mulligan: Mountain Giant, Twilight Drake, Darkbomb , Same mulligan as most control/Midrange matchups. 

Combo/Midrange/Token[5.5/10]-[7/10] : Honestly, I was 7/1 with Handlock against Druid during my legend climb. Druids can be very easy if they do not have an insane opener or a lucky combo finish. The reason why the winrate is low, is because they have a good removal for your twilight drakes (Keeper silence) and Big Game Hunter for your Giants. They may also have early board control, which may screw you over. Try to comeback on the board, and always try to stay out of Force of Nature + Savage Roar combo(14 damage without any minions)

-->Hunter, Mulligan: Molten Giant, Darkbomb, Mortal Coil, one Ironbeak Owl, Ancient watcher, one Sunfury Protecter if you have watcher, moltens or if your other cards are not good.

Matchups: Face/Hybrid Hunter[5.5/10] Hunter is always hard to play against, no matter what deck you are running. Playing anti-aggro cards will definately help boost this winrate to 8/10+. Do not be afraid to drop your watchers, silence them or taunt them up to make the hunters cry. Sunfury on turn two without any target is also fine. Coining out ancient watchers may be smart. Try to clear his little crappy minions, and heal up with healbot and you should be fine. IMPORTANT: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ATTACK INTO EXPLOSIVE TRAP. If you will lose minions by attacking face, do not do it. Keep your minions to board clear. Although, sometimes it is worth popping the trap. 

Midrange Hunter[5.5/10] Ugh, About the same advice as face, but they have some heavy late game. So try to silence highmanes, and to have board control. If you can return healbots/sunfury/argus to your hand with their freezing trap, you should be very happy :). Try to clear the board and taunt/heal up. At some point, you may have to go all-in and try to race him. This matchup involves a lot of luck, but also a lot of decision making. Good Luck. Be sure to play around Snake/Freezing Trap.

--> Rogue, Mulligan: Mountain Giant, Twilight Drake, Darkbomb (only one)

Matchups: Oil[6.5/10] Honestly, Handlock shouldn't do too well against Rogue, but my list usually does very well against it. Just clear the board, make sure he never has a minion to combo Tinker's Sharpsword Oil with. Stay at a high, healthy amount of hp, and try to play around a huge Blade Flurry . It is also hard for them to remove giants... so that is always good :D

Shaman, Mulligan: Mountain Giant, Twilight Drake, Darkbomb, Hellfire x1 If you think it is a Mech Shaman, keeping a Molten Giant may be fine.

Matchups: Midrange[7/10] Shaman has a lot of removal, and answers. You do too. However, your minions are a lot bigger than shamans. That is why you can play your big minions, and clear all of his small ones with hellfire/shadowflame and just snowball out of control. Remember that having control of the board is key in this matchup, and falling behind could be fatal.

Mech[5/10]: SO.MUCH.FACE.DAMAGE. This deck has so much burst, it can screw you over a lot. However, if they ever happen to have a decent hand, you should be fine. This matchup can go either way : Really horribly(if his hand is really good) or really well(if his hand is mediocre or bad).

--> Paladin, Mulligan: Mountain Giant, Twilight Drake, Darkbomb, Hellfire(x1), Mortal Coil and Molten Giants if you think he is running a face Paladin.

Matchups: Midrange[6/10] Not much to say in this matchup. With them being able to change your minions' attack to 1, clearing the board with equality, and having a 1/1 every turn, if the paladin plays right, and safe, this matchup can be hard. However, if he does not draw ALL of his removal, you may have a good chance of winning with your giants/legendaries. Try to not over extend too much into equality/consecration/ Eadric the Pure . 

Face[5.5/10] Same as Face hunter... be sure to kill EVERY MINION, especially those with divine shields, as they have a lot of buffs. Divine favor really destroys you, but if they don't have it, you should win, as they will run out of steam.

-->Mage,Mulligan: Molten Giants/Darkbomb/Ancient Watcher/Ironbeak Owl(x1)/Sunfury with watchers/Hellfire(x1) if desperate. 

Tempo/Mech[6.5/10] Pray they dont have an amazing start/double fireball finish, and you win. Try to get the early board presence with watchers and then board clear with hellfire/shadowflame/darkbomb/coil/etc. Once you clear their huge wave, they usually do not have a lot of follow up.

Freeze Mage[4/10] Very difficuly. Handlock relies on Life Tap, and Freeze mage relies on board clearing and bursting your opponents, so every time you life tap, it helps them. Don't get me wrong, you still gotta use it, but be careful. This matchup is winnable if you silence their doomsayers, and rush them down with giants. 

Warlock, Mulligan : Always keep Big Game Hunter. It will win you the Handlock mirror match, and its fine against zoo. 

Against Zoo:  Molten Giant, Darkbomb, Mortal Coil, one Ironbeak Owl, Ancient watcher, one Sunfury Protecter if you have watcher.

Against Handlock: Mountain Giant, Twilight Drake, Big Game Hunter

Matchups: Zoo[6.5/10] Once again, try to control the board, and clear it. The rest should be easy. 'Nuff said.

Handlock[6/10] Wait, hold up, 6/10? Personally I think that my list is really good in the Handlock Mirror, giving it higher than a 50% winrate. I usually have a 70% winrate in this matchup, as I usally make the correct plays as a Handlock, as I really do have a lot of experience with this deck. It really is a skill matchup...

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Why is this deck better than others?

 Handlock has a good chance of winning against every class if played well. This deck can easily get you to the highest ranks in the game if played correctly. Remember, practice makes perfect, so keep on playing :)

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 About me: I am a Hearthstone player who has been playing since closed Beta. I've always loved card games, and I am currently in a new and rising eSports team (Witch eSports) I just started Streaming : http://www.twitch.tv/evilbaneling and here is the proof of legend/List 

Legend rank:  http://imgur.com/nQ259mg

List: http://imgur.com/SyaVYkY

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