Hearthpwn

Currently gone from Rank 15 to Rank 4 with this deck in the last 2 days.

This deck is to combat the decks in the meta, including the new ones that are appearing since the Unleash the Hounds nerf and the decline of hunters.

The strong healing capability of the deck, alongside strong control minions and board clear potential makes this a very strong deck in the meta at the moment. With the decline of hunters (almost never see them now, and even then its usually an easy win now), there has been a rise in the other meta heavy decks such as handlock, miracle rogue, druid variations and kitkatz warrior. The experience with this deck has proven extremely effective against all the popular decks at the moment.

EDIT: Thanks for the overwhelming support. Did not expect to get this much attention. Please feel free to leave comments down below and I will try and answer them as best I can.

 

Edit (20/05/14): (also updated the guide the best I can)

Removed:
-2 Harvest Golem
-1 Hammer of Wrath
-2 Defender of Argus
-2 Azure Drake
-1 Sylvanas Windrunner


Added:
+1 Bloodmage Thalnos - (the 2 mana for the spellpower found itself being too useful)
+2 Loot Hoarder - (Adds extra draw earlier instead of the drakes later)
+1 Wild Pyromancer - (Added security against zoo + token druid)
+2 Sen'jin Shieldmasta - (Straight up taunt on the board found itself being more useful than argus, especially against rush)
+1 Stampeding Kodo - (Sylvanas was struggling to find value due to the meta shift, so kodo works nicely in synergy with peacekeeper)
+1 Alexstrasza - (for long games, Alex can straight up do a better-than-pyro effect to the face +8/8 minion, but also has that healing bonus too if you need it)

 

(15/05/2014) - F.A.Q. and comments

1) This deck is too slow. - Correct. The point of the deck is to ride out to the late game where you run a strong chance of winning. It is not uncommon to find yourself nearly drawing out your entire deck. Early game it does run into issues against Zoo warlocks, but you compromise too much of your late game in other match ups if you try and deal solely with that match up. The deck was designed with other control decks in the meta in mind, and as mentioned in the intro to this deck, it works extremely well against them.

2) Have you tried running Harrison Jones instead of Acidic Swamp Ooze? -  Whilst the idea of the draw can be tempting, sometimes, it can cause you issues if you run into the Jaraxxas weapon or Doomhammer as it draws too much, and by that point of the game, you will be running with quite a large amount in your hand (which is fine). Against warrior control it would definitely be an improvement. The reason I chose ooze though was to give you some added early game board presence, in a match up that isn't in your favour anyways.

3) Why only 1 Wild Pyromancer? - In a control vs control match up, the pyromancer tends to work as an emergency board clear option late game, so running 2 only makes you weaker in those match ups. If rush decks or zoo is something you find yourself running into more, having 2 is definitely going to help you, as well as adding in a Sen'jin Shieldmasta or 2 also.

 

Some key cards to the deck.

• Spellbreaker - Unusual to see, but this card seems to be becoming more popular as of late. It has a lot of uses in the deck. Against hand locks, it works wonders against Twilight Drake to be able to ping with your hero ability. Against Rogues, Edwin VanCleef can sometimes crop up, so being able to silence him is a big plus. Depending on the meta, you can probably run 2 of these instead of 1 and take out The Black Knight.
  
  
• Aldor Peacekeeper - A very strong card, and again, depending on your opponents, you can sub out The Black Knight and put in a Stampeding Kodo for a strong removal option on turn 8. Otherwise, against druids, it works wonders at slowing them down and being able to accelerate board presence. Against handlocks, being able to move that giant down to a 1 attack minion will help, it may force a silence, but that is 1 less silence for your Tirion Fordring and Ysera later. In zoo it gives you a minion on the board and can slow down their assault by reducing their 3+ attack minions, so it will give you time to get to your much strong late game.
  
  
• Blessing of Kings - Unusual to see in a paladin deck, but has a few uses that can tilt the game in your favour, and it is also a late game win condition for a sudden burst of damage to the face. 
  
  
• Tirion Fordring - card should speak for itself. A fantastic minion. Being 8 mana (as opposed to 9 like Ysera) means you can add a 2 mana play on turn 10. It is out of Big Game Hunter range which is a big positive. Divine shield means it trades very well, and forces a big response and commitment from your opponent. The deathrattle is great, as the 5 damage weapon can kill a Chillwind Yeti where your other weapon cannot. Damage wise, it's 15 damage which is huge. Whilst obviously weaker to shamans and mages, the other cards in your deck can usually bait out the Polymorph and Hex earlier on.
  
  
• Ysera - Again, a very strong legendary that causes a big response from your opponent. It's 12 hp makes it a great minion to trade with. Being out of big game range is always a positive. The synergy with the Ysera cards with the rest of your deck is great though. Dream is great for removing a big minion off the battlefield from your opponent, but can also be used on a lot of the cards in your deck. Trading up with your Guardian of Kings, then bringing it back to your hand for another round of healing is great.

 

 

Some missing cards. Why aren't they in the deck?

• Ragnaros the Firelord - I really don't like this card at the moment. Most of the time, it ends up tilting the game into your opponents favour, as a lot of people will Faceless Manipulator and Big Game Hunter combo. Now you have no rag, and they have a 4/2 minion and a rag. Also because a lot of decks run Big Game Hunter, my big cards don't meet the criteria for a big game play. In the case of druid, they will usually use Mark of the Wild + big game or black knight to deal with something, forcing more cards for removal, which they don't particularly want. A lot of people will expect you to have something with 7+ attack in a control deck, so a lot of the time, their big game is a dead card in their hand they are trying to save.
  
  
• Big Game Hunter - Whilst I am avoiding minions with 7+ attack, a lot of other classes are starting to do the same, for similar reasons. A lot of druid decks are doing the same, especially the Gaara ramp style, and the token druid decks that have started to appear. Against handlocks, it is a strong card, but I have been able to deal perfectly fine without it against hand locks as I will discuss later in this guide. However, if you know you are going up against handlocks, having 1 in your deck is not going to hurt.
  
  
• Sword of Justice - most people expect paladin decks to be running this card. However, I find it incredibly slow, and it limits you from being able to use Truesilver Champion on turn 4, which can be a much better play. For turn 3, I would much rather have a Harvest Golem down on the board than delaying my board presence, just for a 1/1 boost to a minion. Also, the lack of turn 4 minion plays this deck has, the sword just isn't really a viable turn 3 play, as most of the time, you are just delaying the turn 2/3 minions, and then you lack mana efficiency on turn 4. Late game, you will be looking to utilise Your Truesilver Champion and your Ashbringer. Also the 1/1 buff will put a lot of your minions into big game range, or shadow word range, creating opportunities for your opponent to take an advantage.
  

 

 

 Can't afford some of the cards? Here are some cheaper alternatives:

• Cairne Bloodhoof - a decent alternative would be Boulderfist Ogre as it is a beefy minion. Alternatively you could go for Chillwind Yeti or Sen'jin Shieldmasta depending on the match up
  
  
• Bloodmage Thalnos - For the same turn effect, Kobold Geomancer will do the same thing, as the spellpower is the main thing we are after with this minion, the card draw is only a bonus with thalnos.
  
  
• The Black Knight - the card itself is fairly meta dependant anyways. For minion presence, it is a Chillwind Yeti so adding that or a Boulderfist Ogre is fine. Otherwise another Spellbreaker is fine or an Argent Commander
  
  
• Tirion Fordring - quite a pivotal part of any paladin deck, so if you were going to craft a legendary, this would be it. Otherwise, adding a strong late game minion would be ok, things like another Guardian of Kings will give you more healing and a reasonable minion on the board. Otherwise Sunwalker is a solid choice, as it's a cheaper minion that is similar. Also it is out of shadow word range, so would be strong against priest match ups.
  
  
• Ysera Probably the 2nd most important legendary to the deck. It's cards synergy with the deck is great. Alternatives though would be another strong late game legendary, or things like Sunwalker and another Guardian of Kings is fine.
  
  
• Alexstrasza A fairly unique card to say the least. Most of the time, you will be using this card for the damaging ability. If you can afford another Avenging Wrath that could be a possibility, otherwise, throwing in some late game beef like Boulderfist Ogre would be fine, or some added board tempo with Argent Commander would work too.

 

 

Match-up Strategy:

 

• Miracle Rogue - (Mulligan for Loot Hoarder Aldor Peacekeeper Spellbreaker Equality)
  
  A popular deck in the meta at the moment, but luckily for us, a match up that I would say is in our favour. You want some board presence early ideally, to force them to take damage by dealing with it through their hero power and deadly poison. Save your Acidic Swamp Ooze for a deadly poision weapon at the least, more ideally for their Assassin's Blade later on. Keep playing stuff on the board. Save your Spellbreaker for Edwin VanCleef ideally. Save your Equality + Consecration or any of the other popular combos for their Gadgetzan Auctioneer to reduce their card draw for the following turns. A lot of classes can't deal with Conceal, luckily for us, we can. Mid to late game, you want to force their Sap on your mid game creatures, leaving Tirion Fordring and Ysera to start reaping the rewards. Senjin Shieldmasta creates a nice road block to halt their Leeroy Jenkins combo. If you keep your healing up late game, they can do very little to stop you as they will run out of steam.
  
  
• Hand Lock - (Mulligan for Spellbreaker Aldor Peacekeeper Loot Hoarder)
  
  Due to the contrasting nature of the two popular warlock decks (zoo and handlock) it is quite difficult to mulligan as you cannot know fully what to expect on the ladder unless you know the opponent. One reason why warlock is quite strong on the ladder in my opinion, as if you mulligan for one situation, and get the other, it can sometimes lose you the game. Hand lock, however, is usually a game which rocks in our favour. Aldor Peacekeeper is a great card as you nullify the Giant threat. Spellbreaker is nice to have as it deals with the Twilight Drake really well. As they spend the first few turns using their hero ability, you will usually be able to park some minions on the board, including your hero ability, to start building some momentum. Sen'jin Shieldmasta is great in the mid game as it creates a road block whilst you keep fishing for your Equality combos. A lot of times, you can bait them to use their double Molten Giant + Defender of Argus combos if you have a lot of board presence and can burst him down to around 10 hp. Then you just unleash your Equality combo and just kill him. Faceless Manipulator is a great card if you find yourself in a difficult position. Acidic Swamp Ooze is something worth keeping for Lord Jaraxxus if it gets that far.
  
  
• Zoo Warlock - (Mulligan for Wild Pyromancer Consecration Truesilver Champion Aldor Peacekeeper Sen'jin Shieldmasta)
  
  As mentioned before, warlock is a difficult class to mulligan for. Unless I know the guy is playing hand lock, this would be my normal mulligan strategy. Zoo warlock is probably the toughest of the matchups. If they get the perfect mana curve for their first few turns, they are going to be hard to deal with, and most times, they will get the better of the cards than you will due to the nature of your deck. Don't despair though. If you can get the right cards at the right time, you can slow down their onslaught and win the game in the mid-late game. Early on, you want to use your Aldor Peacekeeper to reduce their 3+ attack minions down, slowing their attack and also providing them with a 3/3 minion to keep track of. If you can keep some kind of board presence, or if they choose to ignore your minions all together, you can slow them down considerably with Sen'jin Shieldmasta. Mid game you will have to try and clear the board as best you can with Consecration based combos. The best sign for you is a relatively clear board after this, and them with little to no cards in their hand. At this point, you late game beefy minions come into play and can trade better than he can. At this point, you should have access to healing spells and cards. Once you can keep yourself out of range of Leeroy Jenkins and Soulfire combos, the game is pretty much yours. A lot of times it can come down to the wire, but if you can land yourself that perfect consecration, the game should be yours.
  
  
• Control Warrior - (Mulligan for Truesilver Champion Spellbreaker Loot Hoarder)
  
  A fairly eventless match up in the first few turns. Most of the time both sides will just be hero'ing up. Truesilver Champion is a nice card to have, as it deals with their Armorsmith really well due to the 4 damage. Aldor Peacekeeper can be great for dealing with a Frothing Berserker that might be starting to gather heat. It also works nicely against Grommash Hellscream later on. Spellbreaker has a few uses for silencing some of their late game minions, or some of their earlier minions if you are forced in to a tight situation. Try and save Acidic Swamp Ooze for their Gorehowl if you can, but using it on a freshly equipped Fiery War Axe with 2 charges is fine (Some people still seem to do this!). Try and be careful of Brawl, although if you managed to get Cairne Bloodhoof out with Faceless Manipulator, you will be in a strong position. Avoid using your healing spells above 15 hp as Alexstrasza will nullify it. However, if you can't deal with an equipped Gorehowl, you need to be wary of Grommash Hellscream combos after turn 9.
  
  
• Mid-range Hunter - (Mulligan for Truesilver Champion Loot Hoarder Aldor Peacekeeper)
  
  Not so popular anymore due to the Unleash the Hounds nerf, and I have to say, I have rarely come across this on the ladder since, so my deck has lacked some experience against it, but that experience has been pretty good. Normally, guides would advise you to avoid having more than 2 minions on the board. However, due to the nature of our minions, the rules do not apply to us! Having 3 to 4 minions on the board isn't really a problem. If you can force an early Unleash the Hounds combo, it puts you in good stead for the rest of the game due to the large amount of healing you will be able to do later on, and their decks will generally run out of steam. Keep your Equality combos for when they buff up their Scavenging Hyena or use Houndmaster combos. Aldor Peacekeeper and Spellbreaker are great cards to deal with the Savannah Highmane or a Scavenging Hyena that can't be dealt with by other means. Truesilver Champion is a nice way to be able to deal with their annoying Animal Companion
  
  
• Ramp Druid - (Mulligan for Loot Hoarder Truesilver Champion)
  
  Similar to warrior, the first half of the game will be mostly hero trading. The Black Knight is going to be a very strong card for you as the taunt removal is always going to hurt them. Cairne Bloodhoof makes them think twice about their plays, and can force them to make trades that favour you. It also gives you added security later on when you can play Tirion Fordring, knowing they have used up their swipes and/or silences. Blessing of Kings can work wonders in dealing with a lot of their plays. Aldor Peacekeeper is great at lowering the stats on those late game threats. No matter how big their wall of big taunts, it is no match for your Equality combos, so try and use them well. If you are scared of a Force of Nature + Savage Roar combo, heal yourself up with your strong healing cards, and make sure their board is kept clear with the pre-mentioned combo.
  
  
• Control Shaman - (Mulligan for Truesilver Champion Aldor Peacekeeper Spellbreaker)
  
  A fairly balanced Match up, however, due to the lack of healing shaman has, plus the weaknesses of overload, you will have moments where you can take back board control and punish them. Hex is probably the only annoying part of the deck that you need to play around. If he keeps it for your bigger minions, it will always play to his favour. However, he only has two, so once that has happened, you are in a much better position. Shamans will generally have a large amount of board presence, so look to slow them down with your Aldor Peacekeeper and then hit them hard with an Equality combo when they over-extend. The Black Knight can win you the game if they choose to run Earth Elemental in their decks, although this is rather uncommon in shaman decks, but it can be seen from time to time. Acidic Swamp Ooze should generally be saved for their Doomhammer although they will sometimes save it for a win condition, so using it early on a Stormforged Axe won't hurt you.

 

I will update this thread over the next few days to talk about other match-ups a bit more. If there is a certain match-up I have missed, or want advice on, feel free to ask in the comment section.