Hearthpwn

Aka Danksteed aka Dreadlocks aka "why the fuck don't I have another silence?"

It's a controllish zooish Warlock deck that derives a lot of value from Dreadsteed. Not only can it multiply Dreadsteeds using Baron Rivendare and Kel'Thuzad, it can also take advantage of all of the warlock's token synergy to make those 1/1 tokens add up. You want to target 4-5 Dreadsteeds on the board -- 6 can be very hard to work with, since you do want to continue to summon good minions.

This build is a little on the anti-control side, because, historically, I have had a hard time with control. I don't have Siphon Soul or Twisting Nether, though. I'll figure out what's safe to remove once I get those two.

Fatigue decks pose an interesting problem. If you last, you'll always have a minion on the board. You have infinite value. But on the other hand, your opponent can just out-heal you (beware Justicar Trueheart, and if you're dumb enough to keep tapping after you realize it's a Fatigue deck... He'll outpace your damage with time. Don't tap against fatigue unless you really have to.

Strong combos:

• Dreadsteed + Knife Juggler. Add in Deathrattles, Baron Rivendare, IGB, and Dark Peddler as needed.
• Multiple Dreadsteeds/Demons + Mal'Ganis. Do not waste Mal'Ganis. Mal'Ganis is a win condition, and he can prevent lethal. Don't waste him. Don't.
• Power Overwhelming + Shadowflame.

Don't underestimate Dark Peddler here, it will be your best friend soon. It's a 2 drop or a 3 drop as needed, to bridge you to turn 4 where you start to outpace your opponent. It also happens to offer you cards that really fit well in this deck.

Dr. Boom is an OP 7-drop with deathrattles and tokens. As long as you don't fill up your board too soon, he's perfectly great in this deck. If you do fill up your board too soon, you will probably win anyway, so whatever.

Other cards to consider:

• • Antique Healbot is always a good Warlock card, I just find that I usually don't need the healing. Sac Pact costs 0 mana, I always have a free target, it gets me an extra dreadsteed if I have Baron/Kel'Thuzad on the board, works with Knife Juggler, and is good tech against other locks. Argus does its job very well too, and my early curve of Peddlers, an Imp Gang Boss, Mortal Coil, Darkbomb, and Eggs can kind of cope. So I really don't need this, but you might like it. In the same vein, consider Refreshment Vendor -- better tempo, but a smaller heal. You don't mind that you're healing your opponent, you don't expect to be going face early.
  • Ironbeak Owl -- I don't know if there's a deck in the game where Ironbeak Owl is a bad card, and he's particularly good in warlock. This deck is light on hard removal, so an Owl would be good... but I really just like removing things the old fashioned way -- by smashing their faces with tokens. (I play a lot of Paladin).
  • Void Terror -- I don't own one, but it should work very well in theory. It'll eat your eggs for you. Or, if you have two dreadsteeds on the board, which you probably do, it's an easy 5/5 for 3.
  • Lord Jaraxxus -- I don't own  it, but good value and a heal, and really good in a control matchup, right? Based on what other people say, he's a solid win condition against a Control Priest. Priests can't burst you down from 15 as easily as other classes, and if they can neutralize your 1/1 every turn, that's fine, because now you have a 6/6 every turn.
  • Anima Golem -- I don't own one. It's probably very good when you always have a token for it, but is it good enough? I mean, it's a 9/9 for 6... But it's not like I'd run a giant in this deck.
  • Voidcaller -- I found that the only really good thing that this does is bring out Mal'Ganis fast... which isn't really that good, because I want Mal'Ganis to come out when I have a few demons on the board, or when I really need the immunity. Mal'Ganis isn't just some ball of stats, he's a win condition. It might also pull out another Voidcaller or a Dreadsteed, which is a good way to save on mana costs, but eh.
  • Siphon Soul -- Slow, helps you deal with the big shit you can't just beat with a few tokens, and gives you a heal. Twisted Nether is another great controlly card I don't have, hard board clear that leaves you with a uniquely strong board position.
  • Imp-losion -- Good to play early, but if you play it late your board might already be full.
  • Reno Jackson -- Good if you can get your deck down to like 3 dupes. Dreadsteed should be one of them, because, while the second Dreadsteed isn't that useful, the whole deck focuses around the first. Also good in a control matchup, as you can outlast them. I tried it, didn't like it -- there are a lot of things in this deck that I want two of.
  • Shadow Bolt is fine if you want to replace darkbomb in a Reno deck. Since you can do a lot of damage one by one, any damaging spell that doesn't suck is automatically good.
  • Gormok the Impaler -- make them tokens work.
  • Harvest Golem to fit into the 3 slot. I switched this out for Imp Gang Boss, but neither is really great. Note that Dark Peddler can be a 3-drop if you need it. And note that this isn't really a Tempo deck... I'm not saying you want to skip your turn 3, but depending on the deck you're up against, tapping might not be the worst idea.
  • Emperor Thaurissan enables some antics with Argus and your higher curve, and is handy if you add some high-mana-cost cards to the deck.
  • Loatheb is just an all-around solid card. A good ball of stats if you need one, and he makes fun tempo things happen.
  • or really anything with a good deathrattle for Baron Rivendare synergy. I don't recommend Creeper, you have more than enough tokens, but whatever floats your boat.

Note that I don't own all of these cards, so my testing has been pretty limited, but it's been working well so far.

Cards you don't like dealing with (also: How to counter Dreadsteed decks, if you want to do that for some reason):

• • Shadow Madness -- They take your Dreadsteed, kill it, and keep it. If you haven't doubled the dreadsteed by the time they Shadow Madness it, you're kinda boned.
  • Cabal Shadow Priest -- See Above.
  • Mass Dispel -- obviously, all silences are bad. This one is worse than most for obvious reasons. Keep a Dreadsteed in your hand against priests, but... that might not help you.
  • Sludge Belcher -- you'll face a lot of these. Power Overwhelming and three dreadsteeds can take care of it... Or just seven dreadsteed attacks... Well, you can do the math. The real problem is when they put something good behind the Sludge Belcher. Knife Juggler and Darkbomb might help you get around it. If there's nothing behind it, it only has 3 attack, so you could just keep smacking it, but be careful -- if they put Thaurissan up behind Sludge Belcher, and parley that into a finishing combo, don't say I didn't warn you.
  • Mind Control Tech -- obvious reasons.

Mulligan Guide