Hearthpwn

Hello. My name is Maximal and I was first time legend in S22 with this deck, also reached legend in S24 and S25 with this deck (in S23 took a break from HS to play Witcher 3). I've been playing heartstone since the summer of 2015 and hit legend with what is considered now a tier 3 deck in Demon Handlock. But I consider it a very strong deck if piloted the right way in the current meta. Classic Handlock was my first competitive deck in Heartstone ever and I have been playing Handlock exclusively, I really liked the mechanics of the deck and thinking required every turn. Nothing felt better than smashing those giants into opponents face. So I set a goal to reach legend with it. Obviously meta shifted and Demon Handlock became the better version of Handlock, so I started playing Demon version, but was very skeptical at first.

Lifecoach was a big factor in me reaching legend. I learned a lot watching his streams, how to make right decisions with so many options and how to get value out of the deck.

So if you are interested in Demon Handlock, here I will provide you with mulligan guide and some strategies against other key matchups I learned during my play.

S24 Update: Hit legend with the deck again in S24, after taking a small break from HS in S23. In S24 I replaced Dr. Boom with Loatheb, as I found Dr.Boom to be kinda slow and more of a win more card, where Loatheb is a card that can bring you back in the game or seal you the win.

Why this deck is good in the current meta?

This deck is good against some of the best top tier decks in the current meta, such as Secret Paladin, Midrange Druid, Patron Warrior, Control Warrior, Control Priest, Zoolock, Renolock and many others.

Key things of the deck:

• You want to be hurt. You need to tap when you can, you want to get low on health to get value from Molten Giants, you need to play on the edge. You need to know when your opponent can have lethal, if he can have lethal, you taunt up or heal, else you need to apply pressure and play big minions. You know what a bad handlock player does? He heals himself when he doesn't need it.
• Taunted up Giants almost always go face.
• Keep big demon if you have Voidcaller in mulligan stage.
• The only matchups where you can keep Infernal or Mal'Ganis in hand without Voidcaller are against Priest and Warrior, because you generally want to protect Jaraxxus going throught Voidcaller.
• Be aware that playing Voidcaller reduces the size of Twilight Drake and increses mana cost of Mountain Giant, if demon comes on board.
• Dont forget to tap then play Mountain Giant for 3 mana on turn 5.
• Protect your Voidcallers behind other taunts against damage, before your opponent plays hard board removals as Brawl, Lightbomb, Equality, Twisting Nether etc, so your big demon coming out of it won't be destroyed and you will have board presence the next turn.
• Most of the time you want to play Twilight Drake/Voidcaller instead of Mountain Giant on turn 4 to bait removals and so u can tap and play Mountain Giant on turn 5. Exceptions are matchups where you need to apply pressure asap like Freeze Mage.
• Sometimes you dont want to mulligan for Mountain Giant if you go second and have the coin to play Drake or Voidcaller on turn 3, this play increases Mountain Giant mana cost greatly and it becomes a dead card sometimes. Also say you start first and mulliganed a darkbomb, that you think you are gonna use in this particular matchup, say on turn 2 or 3, then its not optimal to keep Mountain Giant, because you won't be able to play it turn 4 and in the end it might become a dead card for some turns, so think ahead when mulliganing.
• You need to know when to play hellfire, and get the most value out of it. Coin hellfire on turn 3 or turn 4 is most of the time is the wrong play. Hellfire is generally played when you have a Voidcaller or Drake on board, when you can setup the best hellfire with a Voidcaller or Drake to completely clear opponents board. Also its great when your opponent brought you low enough to play Molten Giants like when you are at 13hp.
• Minion positioning is quite important, make a rule to place minions that can be taunted on the right, and useless low health minions on the left. This is a rule of thumb, because of Jaraxxus hero power, where Infernals spawn on the right. Always put 2 minions that you think you will taunt later close to each other.

Matchups:

Druid:
Winrate: 50%
Mulligan: Darkbomb, Hellfire, Voidcaller, Twilight Drake, Mountain Giant.

Against Midrange:
Darkbomb Aspirant if possible. Play Giant on turn 4 only if you have Hellfire or Darkbomb to remove BGH, because if he has BGH its a big tempo loss, but the chances of him having BGH instead of Keeper are much less. Else you play Voidcaller to bait silence on turn 3 or 4, then play Drake on turn 4 or 5. If he has Keeper for Drake it forces him to use Innervate to remove it. Drake is really great against druid with all 4 hp minions. You want the Druid to hurt you to get into molten range before combo is possible, so no taunting up or healing if he cant combo you. Bring big minions on board and taunt them up when needed and try to keep opponents board as clear as possible. Taunted up Jaraxxus is complete killer for Druid.

Against Aggro:
You need to bring your Giants on board asap. Play Mountain Giant when possible and let him get you into Molten range asap, but be careful everytime check if he can have lethal, when you get into Molten range, you make a turnaround taunting up your Giants and Watchers.

Hunter:
Winrate: 50%
Mulligan: Mortal Coil, Darkbomb, Ironbeak Owl, Voidcaller, Twilight Drake, Molten Giant.

Keep Watcher Owl combo in mulligan if you have a coin. Mortal Coil and Darkbomb agressive creatures. Bring Drake or Voidcaller asap. Dont be afraid to tap if you have Moltens, you need taunt givers and healbot. Generally you make a wall of taunts when in Molten range, then use healbot to stabilize. Taunt up your minions if you think they put a freezing trap, then activate it with your taunt giver. Taunted up Giants always go face. Matchup is hard, because of Hunters hero power, you are on time clock, you need to kill them before they kill you, therefore you need big minions on board asap, you need Moltens.

Mage:
Winrate: 60%
Mulligan: Darkbomb, Hellfire, Voidcaller, Ancient Watcher, Twilight Drake, Molten Giant,Ironbeak Owl.

Against Tempo:
Darkbomb usually goes only on Sorcerers Apprentice or Flamewaker in combination with Mortal Coil. Dont be afraid to silence Flamewaker, its the most dangerous minion in their deck. Play around secrets using Ancient Watcher or Owl followed with Mortal Coil on Mirror Entity or Coin or Mortal Coil on counterspell. Watcher greatly absorbs Flamewakers damage too. Apply pressure as much as possible, don't heal if not needed, until the mage runs out of cards.

Against Freeze:
Kill any of their minions with Mortal Coil or Darkbomb as soon as possible. You want Mountain Giant on turn 4 if possible, apply as much pressure as possible, don't trade with their minions, taunt your ones, so they cant go face. You want to stay around 22-23 hp in the game. Don't tap any lower. Killing 1/2 Acolyte with your Giant or Drake is not a good play, let him ping it, you go face, damage is more important. Stay at 23 hp and don't heal, you need the heal if he plays Alexstraza. Bringing Mal'Ganis on board, generally means you won. He will be forced to use one of his fireballs on it, which will reduce his burst potential to finish you off.

Against Echo:
Ignore his minions, silence Beltchers etc and just go face with taunted minions, play around dublicate and force him to trade into your minions. He doesn't have enough burst or removals to deal with your threats or your face. You can go Jaraxxus easily. Easy matchup, just apply pressure.

Paladin:
Winrate: 65%
Mulligan: Hellfire, Voidcaller, Twilight Drake, Mountain Giant (only if you go first), Molten Giant, Ironbeak Owl

Against Secret:
You want to be hurt. You need to bring big minions on board before turn 6. Let him hurt you, You can darkbomb Juggler if you got the darkbomb. Play Drake or Voidcaller if you have coin on turn 3, play Mountain Giant on turn 4 if no coin, dont darkbomb anything if you can play giant on turn 4. Hellfire only if it has value and you are low enough to play Moltens, prepare hellfire with your Voidcaller or Drake or Giant, remove divine shields or kill creeper and then play hellfire. Make opponents board as clean as possible before turn 6. You want Moltens on board asap. Turn 5 you want to be at 10hp or lower, have big minions on board. Thats where you play your Moltens, Watchers and taunt givers, you build walls of taunts, that he will never pass. Taunted giants go face. Sometimes its better not to trigger any secrets such as noble sacrifice/avenge combo, you can taunt up and force him to trade with his minions. Most games you win will end with you having 1 to 10 hp.

Against Anyfin:
Apply pressure, don't be afraid to get low, get into molten range. Try to keep their board clear. You just outvalue them with your cards before they even can draw needed cards. Apply pressure and he will be dead before turn 10. Protect Voidcaller with other taunts, incase he pyro+equality, so you can have a minion on board next turn. Try not to overexpand too much, always keep a couple of threats in hand, incase he clears the board. Always remember you can silence your giants that got aldored or uldamaned. Keep track of how many murlocs he played and how much burst he can have on turn 10. Taunt up incase, he has enough burn. But generally its an easy matchup, you will kill him before he draws the needed cards.

Priest:
Winrate: 85%
Mulligan: Voidcaller, Twilight Drake, Mountain Giant, Dread Infernal.

Easy matchup. Tap, tap, play Drake to regain board control, they can't do anything against it. Then play Giants, Voidcallers. Reduce their card draws. Kill Zombie Chows when you can, be aware of Auchenai if you play against Soul/Control. Be aware they can burn you for 10 damage any time. Don't overexpand, be aware of Lightbomb, keep some threats in the hand and generally bring 1 big minion on board after they killed the other one. Usually play Dr Boom after Lightbomb. Double Molten is not a good play here, only if you gonna go Jaraxxus. Play Jaraxxus when you have full board control. They can't do anything against Jaraxxus and eventually lose. This matchup is easily won even if Jaraxxus comes on board throught Voidcaller or Deathlord. Taunt it up with argus straight away, to make it 4/16, he wont be able to deal with it for numerous turns, unless he entombs it. This deck has so many threats that even priest with all his control cards won't be able to deal with it and you don't even need Jaraxxus battlecry.

Rogue:
Winrate: 75%
Mulligan: Voidcaller, Twilight Drake, Mountain Giant.

Play Drake first, let him burn removals on it, then play Giant or Voidcaller. Try to keep his board clear and bring minions on board. Don't go too low on health, stay over 10 hp with taunted minions on board. Quite easy matchup, Rogue just doesn't have enough removals to kill all your minions.

Shaman:
Winrate: 45%
Mulligan: Mortal Coil, Darkbomb, Ironbeak Owl, Hellfire, Antique Healbot, Molten Giant.

Keep Watcher Owl combo in mulligan if you have a coin. Mortal Coil Leper Gnome, Darkbomb or Silence Tunnel Trogg, Watcher+Owl might be a great start to kill Totem etc. Keep Hellfire incase of Wolves. Voidcaller goes first, you need Mal'Ganis or taunted Jaraxxus on board, heal as soon as possible after you taunted up. You need to taunt up before he can play doomhammer+rockbiter. The only way Shaman wins if he has enough burst to kill you through taunts. Usually you will have full board control by the end of the game, but that doesn't necesarilly means you won.

Warlock:
Winrate: 65%
Mulligan: Darkbomb, Hellfire, Voidcaller, Twilight Drake, Molten Giant, Big Game Hunter

Against Zoo:

Darkbomb goes on Knife Juggler. Silence on the Egg or Voidcaller. Play Drake, Voidcaller or Mountain Giant, when possible, doesn't really matter. Try to get to Molten range slowly, don't allow them to bring too much damage on board, because the deck has a lot of burst potential. Use Hellfire when they have too much damage on board. Slowly get to Molten range and taunt up. Clear the board good enough and apply pressure with Giants into face to reduce their card draw potential. Slowly Zoo player will run out of steam and health.

Against Reno/Maly:

Mountain Giants go first and they go face, apply pressure and they won't ignore your Giant anymore. Go face and let them bring you into Molten range, they will be punished by it, but you won't. Bring them low on hp and they will be forced to heal, won't feel tapping that much, which in case of Maly won't bring his combo pieces. Taunt up as soon as you feel threatened. You simply outvalue this 2 decks, they don't have as many big minions as you and can't really deal with them. What they have is hard removals, especially Reno. Be aware of Twisting Nether, Molten or Sylvanas plus Shadowflame combo, so try not to overexpand too much. Try not to drop him low enough for Molten shadowflame combo. Protect Voidcallers behind taunts incase Twisting Nether is played. But remember your are the big boss here and he is just your weaker brother who is afraid of damage, and prefers healing himself for 29hp.

Warrior:
Winrate: 75%
Mulligan: Voidcaller, Twilight Drake, Mountain Giant, Dread Infernal.

Against Control:

Play Drake first and force removals. Or play Voidcaller they will deal with it but won't be able to deal whats behind it until next turn, that can guarantee you 9 or 6 damage to the face in best scenario. Don't trade too much with their minions, let them trade with yours or let them go face, you want that Molten range, because in rare occasions you might be out of threats without posibility of tapping (too many cards) or playing moltens cheaply, which might lead to you losing tempo. Keep their armor down at all times. Don't overexpand incase of brawl (protect Voidcallers behind taunts), just play enough minions to burn their removals, opponents hand will get slimmer with every turn. Be careful with Jaraxxus, play Jaraxxus only if you are out of threats, play Moltens before playing Jaraxxus. You need to be careful with Jaraxxus, because a lot of Warriors run Harrison Jones, which can cost you the game, if you play Jaraxxus too early. And obviously always be aware of Grom Hellscream. Be aware your opponent might have 14 damage burst with Deaths Bite in hand and 12 damage burst at turn 10. Be aware of Revenge at all times too.

Against Patron:

Let him hurt you, let him get you into Molten range slowly. Silence/Darkbomb damaged Frothing, Hellfire Patrons. Get low, play Giants with taunt and smash his face. Easy matchup, just don't forget about him having 12 damage burst at turn 8. So just get low on hp before and taunt up.