Hearthpwn

[UPDATE] I added two Entombs to the deck, I'm not claiming it's optimal but I have climbed to rank 5 with it in very few games so it's working out just fine. I dropped Brann and Chillmaw to make room for both![/UPDATE]

Hi guys,

This is my first time posting a deck. Figured I'd post it since it's the deck that got me my first Legend rank since I started player almost 2 years ago! I feel the deck is very strong in the current meta (26 Nov. 2015). It performs very well versus all aggro decks and has a decent shot with most of the control decks. I went from rank 5 to legend in the last days with a winrate of 70% +

I tweaked the deck a lot over the last few weeks and this list has become the one that felt the best all the way to the end. I suppose the cards that might be most surprising are Brann and smite. Smite is good versus aggro, and there is a lot of it around. It also synergizes well with Vol’Jin and spellpower. Brann obviously has a lot of synergy with this deck and even though the card might be slow for the synergy to work it’s still decent to play on an empty board since even the aggroest of aggro players seem to shit a brick when they see it and will want to kill it (even at legendary rank), buying you some time.

Fun screenshot proving legend and providing my battletag if interested in having a chat:

http://imgur.com/bWvj9Pp

Matchups:

Druid:

  - Aggro: Heavily favored. If you manage to curve out well with dragons / Wyrmrest Agent/ Dragonkin Sorcerer they simply can’t break through. The deck can handle Fel Reavers well. This is the only aggro matchup where smite is actually not very useful.

- Control: Slightly favored. Battle for board control hard and try to play/heal around Swipes. Druids simply have no good comeback mechanisms, so once you take control of the board try to never let go and cruise to victory.

Mage:

- Tempo: Heavily favored. Besides the obvious dragon synergy curve, Smite/Velens chosen and Shadow Word Pain are all extremely useful cards here. If you manage to Cabal a Flame Walker it’s obviously a win. Be patient with their Mirror entity, try to give them a 2 drop at best.

- Freeze: Heavy disadvantage. Shadow Word Pain and the Vol’jin + Smite combo are the only cards that can possibly win you this game by killing their Doomsayer. Otherwise this deck just misses the punch to get through and pop the Iceblock(s). You will lose most of the games in this matchup, guaranteed.

Hunter:

- Aggro/Midrange: Heavily favored. Every time I see a hunter my buttcheeks clench together (PTSD from the Undertaker days) but the fact of the matter is that I almost always win versus hunters with this deck. The mulligan here is maybe even more crucial than in other matchups. You want a lot of your early drops to clear the danger and get board control. In later turns, try to always heal your face in case of an aggro hunter.

Priest:

Mirror: Slightly Favored. I’ve noticed that my winrate in mirrors is really, really high and I think this is because of my mulligan choices and the inclusion of both Smite and Shadow Word: Pain. Early board control is everything, so being able to kill a Cleric with a Smite can make the difference. Later in the game it’s all about playing around Lightbomb.

Control: Heavily favored. Auchenai + Circle usually does jack shit versus Dragon Priest, plain and simple. Injured blademasters should  be killed asap. If you manage to do that, you’ll be fine.

Warlock:

Zoo: Slightly Favored. Perhaps the trickiest of the aggro matchups. It’s a fine line between not wasting your AoE too quick and being on your guard for receiving lethal. To state the obvious: A warlock with 6 mana and 2 cards in his hand can do 9 damage more than what he has on board.

Classic Handlock: Heavy disadvantage. This has been a bad matchup for priest since forever and that hasn’t changed. As long as the Handlock player keeps his cool (which they generally do in higher ranks) this will be very hard to win. Try for hard early board presence, stay away from Giant + Shadowflame and try to surprise him with Velen + Smite + Holy nova or something silly.

Reno lock: Neutral. I don’t have any data to back this up as I didn’t track my data but I’m quite certain I have about a 50/50 winrate in this matchup. The matches I won ended prematurely though, you cannot let this match go on for too long since they will start drawing into their gamewinning cards (which is mostly Jaraxxus). Also be very aware of Twisting Nether.

Warrior:

Patron: Slightly favored. I think card draw is very important here. Push for board control and make sure they don’t have damaged minions on board to Battle Rage on. Spellpower + Holy Nova or Lightbomb must absolutely be saved for their patron plays. Keep yourself out of Grommash range.

Control: Heavy disadvantage. I’m not going to lie; This is almost an auto-loss. Unless you manage to curve out extremely well and the warrior has no brawl or has to use it very quick, you will lose this match as soon as you see his Justicar. If the meta is flooded with control warriors, do not play this deck!

Paladin:

Secret: Slightly favored. Early board control and playing around secrets in a smart fashion is key. I suppose it’s common knowledge but it surprised me how much I had to learn on how to properly play smart in case of secrets. Secret paladins playing divine favor have a better shot of winning this, but don’t throw cards out just to have a smaller hand, I feel it’s not worth it. Oh and just to be clear; Turn 6 Mysteriours Challenger, Turn 7 Dr. Boom and Turn 8 Tirion will most likely lose you the game no matter what you do.

Control: Slight disadvantage. This might sound a bit counterintuitive but this matchup feels a lot like how you should approach Reno warlock. If the game drags on too long, your chances will decrease and decrease, early board control and trying to bait out their board clear (Equality) early will give you a shot. Two more things to look out for: 1.Try to play as smart as possible around both Truesilver Champion and Coghammer. A well-timed weapon by the paladin will usually result in a huge momentum swing in their favor. 2. Assume they only have one silence, so if they use it early, go for Ysera as soon as possible (unless you really suspect an Equality in hand). Keep Ysera up for a turn or two and your chances of winning will dramatically increase.

Rogue:

Oil: Disadvantage. This is just a rough matchup without Harrison Jones. Try to play around Blade Flurry as smart as possible. Save Shadow Word Pain for a Violet Teacher. A good oil rogue player will play patiently and use Sap on a buffed on Twilight Guardian or something similar. Getting heavy board control and try to clear every minion played by the rogue is the only way to win.

Deathrattle: Advantage. The Deathrattle rogue has a lot of trouble clearing your minions and well-timed AoE’s will win us the match. One obvious but very important tip: Clear the deathrattle minions with your own minion (Spiders / Leper Gnomes / Loot Hoarders) before they can Raptor it.

Shaman

Aggro/ Control / Bloodlust: Advantage. It does not really matter what type of shaman player you are facing. You are fighting for board control no matter what and your buffed minions are simply too chunky to properly handle for a shaman. Watch out for Lightning Storm and in case of an aggro shaman, keep healing yourself and try to fish for your taunts.

I hope you guys like this deck and I’ll be happy to answer questions or respond to feedback!