Hearthpwn

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The Deck is split into two distinct classes, the Dragon Class and the Support class. The Dragon class cards include your Dragon minions, and also non Dragon minions that require the possession of a Dragon in your hand to activate their high value Battlecry abilities. This class contains the majority of the muscle in the deck and heavily revolves around the synergy within itself. While the class might be powerful and favored when it comes to making trades on the board, it can’t get things done all by itself and requires some support in order to maximize control of the board/game.

The Support class cards include your weapon, spells, and minions with very unique abilities that provide, but not limited to, card draw and area of effect damage. Most of the cards in this class are reactive and only meant to be played in particular situations. While it is not the most active class when it comes to minion board presence, the Support class has a very powerful synergy and does account greatly for how smooth and efficiently a match progresses and develops.
 

Card draw is one of the most important aspects in a control build, and in this particular deck card draw comes in a variety of flavors. Dragonz’rilla contains 8 cards that possess the ability to draw, but only 6 of those cards are applicable.

Quick Shot has a secondary ability which allows the drawing of a card when your hand is empty. However, due to the highly unlikely occurrence of having an empty hand this card is not considered an option and its draw ability should be ignored.

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King's Elekk x2:

This card has been chosen for its ability to joust and still provide the traditional stats of a 2 cost minion. I consider the 3/2 stat line favorable in a world with Darnassus Aspirant, Voidwalker, Mana Wyrm, and Twilight Whelp. You always want this card in your starting hand. Sometimes I use Elekk without even caring if I win the joust because i just want to see what my opponent is running early to help shape my decision making moving forward.

With the multitude of heavy hitters present in the deck, you will find more often than not King's Elekk will provide you with that extra draw. It’s also a great tool for snatching a dragon early to enable your dragon dependent cards like Blackwing Technician.

Acolyte of Pain x2:

This card is straight forward, he takes damage and draws a card. While it's fine to play the Acolyte all by his lonesome, he works very well with Wild Pyromancer and Dreadscale and it’s best to take advantage of that synergy. Because Acolyte can be silenced he doesn’t have to provide a draw, but you should still count him as at least 1 draw.

Azure Drake x2:

This is the only guaranteed draw in the deck and doubles as a dragon. In addition to card draw the spell damage bonus will come in very handy far more often than you think. The Drake's Spell Damage buff helps in the process of clearing the board, and at times provide a small but well appreciated extra damage to finish off the opponent.

 

With any control deck comes the required ability of clearing the board and performing efficient removal. Hunter has never been very strong at this particular aspect of the game which makes control difficult. However we do have the tools to methodically pick off our targets, resulting in what I consider an ongoing tempo oriented board clear.

In other words, Hunter might not have the convenient ability to deal 2-4 damage to the entire board on command, but with the combination and synergy of Dragons, minions like Dreadscale and Wild Pyromancer, paired with Hunter's Mark and other spells, clearing the board effectively is a reality; A very interactive and fun one at that.

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Hunter's Mark x2:

This is the card you use to deal with any major threat. Your choice of combo can be with Wild Pyromancer or Dreadscale. Another option is a very basic method of using a minion on the battlefield to trade after designating a target. I must stress that you should not squander this card on mundane things.

Dreadscale:

This miniature Baron Geddon is a Paladin and aggro deck's worse nightmare, especially when it hides behind a taunt. It might not be the most effective board clear by itself, but it does contribute a great deal and shines in specific matchups where a lot of tokens are prevalent. Combining this guy with Hunter's Mark is effective for eliminating a huge threat.

Chillmaw:

A 6/6 Taunt with a built in Excavated Evil. This card can be played as a standalone minion on an empty board, but it is best played when the opponent's board is occupied and its ability can be used to maximum effect. Chillmaw also has the ability to play mind games with your opponent, causing them to play inefficiently thinking the A.O.E. will trigger when you actually have no dragons in your hand.

 

I have questioned myself whether I should have an Antique Healbot in the deck. Even after all my time of playing the deck I have still yet to be met with a case where a heal would have won me the game or saved me. Health just has not been much of an issue, and one of the reasons for that is the Longbow.

When it’s crunch time and you find yourself in a situation where you would need to heal, the Longbow dishes out the damage and provides the well needed immunity. From another perspective the weapon has a flexible heal. Whatever the attack value of the opponent you strike is how much health the bow provides you. So when you are helping your minions by crashing your face into a 8/8 giant, allowing King's Elekk or Blackwing Technician to finish him off, is essentially playing an Antique Healbot simultaneously.

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I have won games due to this weapon and I understand fully why it has to be so expensive. I will just share with you a memorable example. I had a match against a Shaman and he was on an insane rampage. One of those games where the opponent top decks the most ideal card for every turn and seemingly has a counter for everything you do. I managed to hold on till late game where I had only 2 health remaining and he had a healthy 26.

His board consisted of a 3/4 Spider Tank, a 0/2 Healing Totem, a 5/4 Piloted Shredder (due to The Mistcaller), a 0/2 Stoneclaw Totem, and a 4/4 The Mistcaller. My side of the board consisted of an equipped Gladiator's Longbow and a 4/1 Azure Drake. The only way to come out of it was if the shredder dropped something with less than 2 attack.

I began with an Arcane Shot killing the 0/2 Stoneclaw Totem, then I Longbow the shredder and out comes a Captain's Parrot. Now I know this was the hand of RNG, but consider the fact that I could hit a 5 damage minion and take no damage at all. I traded the Azure Drake into the Spider Tank and killed The Mistcaller with Rend Blackhand, leaving him with only the 0/2 Healing Totem and Captain's Parrot on the board. He drew nothing on his turn that could immediately provide the extra 1 damage and I stalled by playing Twilight Guardian. The following turn I drew Alexstrasza to reset my health and eventually won the game.

There simply is so much I can say about Gladiator's Longbow, but one thing I must say is that this card plays a major role in the deck's board clearing ability.

  

A proper mulligan is something that comes with experience and understanding of the deck and matchups. From a very basic and general standpoint, not taking matchup (advanced knowledge) into consideration, there is always a set of cards to look for.

For new players or those without extensive experience, you want to get your low drops and things to start controlling the board with. Essentially you want to look for things you can start playing immediately, and not holding onto things you would like to play later.

Anything from 1-3 mana is fine. These are listed in order of preference.

Some of these cards should be kept together if already in hand. Example, if you have Wild Pyromancer and Hunter's Mark then keep those.

For the more experienced player you can take matchups into account and make the more appropriate choices. Most will still come from that general list but priority/preference will change. For example, when playing against aggressive decks like Face Hunter or Zoo I keep my Arcane Shot. Arcane Shot also helps against Mage and Sorcerer's Apprentice from getting out of control. It is also a nice keep against Paladin along with Wild Pyromancer for Knife Juggler, Shielded Minibot and Muster for Battle.

Mulligan for cards that best help you gain control early. Don’t mulligan for cards that you would like to see gain value later. An example of this would be holding onto an Azure Drake, or a high costing dragon because you have Blackwing Technician in your hand. Don’t force it, it will happen naturally.

Rules can always be bent, as long as you are doing it from the understanding of your matchup and environment. This part of the mulligan is very experience based and not something that can be easily written in a deck guide. The more you play and understand the flow of the deck the better your mulligan will become.

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Having Trouble?

For those who are having trouble managing the deck, especially against certain matchups, there are changes you can try.

Trouble in the Health department

-1 Drakonid Crusher
+1 Antique Healbot

Trouble with Secrets (mainly Paladin)

-1 King's Elekk
+1 Flare

Trouble with Control & Stability

-2 Drakonid Crusher
+2 Powershot

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