Hearthpwn

I greet you!

inorbert here, still a Warlock main and I'm happy with the new K&C toys for our Gul'dan. Some of you liked my previous Vampire lock deck so I'm here to share my ideas again. Finally we can even use our miserable Quest card as a win condition and it has melted my heart immediately! This deck is really versitile and this could make it really strong on he ladder. 

If you are intrested in this deck and want a deeper guide or gameplay video or everything else, just show it with your upvotes.

Warnings: At first this deck need some practice before you will be effective.
The list could change a lot as the meta evolvs and settles down.
It will be fine around at the end of the season I think... :)

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Explanation

Introduction

Basically it is a control deck. Against control decks play fast and you can win the game with your early completed Lakkari Sacrifice quest (and Bloodreaver Gul'dan at the end if you even need it). But don't you feel yourself weak against aggro, just play the reactive style, mulligan away your quest and use your board clears, your powerful minions and the Hero card.

- Why do you bother us with this deck idea? Quest Warlock... you aren't so creative, boy...
I'm just (hungry for your upvotes) watching that some user are trying to put Lakkari Sacrifice in their decks as a 2nd win condition, so I've decided to try a version where it is the core of the whole list. Of course it has some other potential to be effective on the ladder but the main reason of this deck is Quest completion. And I had crafted a golden copy of the Quest on the day of Un’goro launch, so I’m really intrested in making it good. :D

- So what has changed? Why Lakkari Sacrifice is playable now?
Cataclysm has added, that's it! You can cheat your quest out early enough with the "Deathwing effect", and Malchezaar's Imp will be your help to do it with immediate hand refill. In the best scenario you don't have to discard your Hero card. You can easily recover your hand with your Hero Power when you want to play Cataclysm on Turn 4.

- Is the quest reward good enough to build a deck around it?
Mostly it is as good as early you can complete it. It is extremely frustrating for every deck to care about your 0 mana 6/4 splitted stas in every fuckin' turn in the rest of the game. Just think about it. Every archetype has to change its mentality to reactive, they have to spent some percentage of their turns to find some cure for the "Imp infestation". 

Difficulties

Tha main difficulty of this deck is the "do it or do not?" dilemma. Hard to give an exact manual when you have to go for early Quest completion and when you need to slow the game down and don't bother yourself about the Quest at all. For example agains a Hunter you can mulligan Lakkari Sacrifice away and start to looking for removals and early tempo. Control matcups are more complicated and almost every game is different. You have to measure an plan your resources for the future: sometimes you can even discard Bloodreaver Gul'dan, but in other scenarios you have to wait because you don't want to discard both of your Twisting Nethers. So the solution is practice. A lot of...

The other critical point comes in when you play Cataclysm + Malchezaar’s Imp combo and you will have massive disadvantage because your remaining deck will much thinner than your opponent’s and you will 6 or more cards closer to fatigue. You have to keep tabs on it! Against aggro it doesn’t matter but in long games this drawback could lose the game for you.
Here can Rin start to shine because she works really well with Nether Portal. With a completed quest you force your opponent to be reactive and in these situations you have time and chance to play your seals.

Health points

We have two new cards for refresh our fast-selling life total: Dark Pact and Amethyst Spellstone.
First of all let's see why is Dark Pact better than Sacrificial Pact. It is more flexible because it can target any minions and restore 8 health instead of 5. Your tartgets are Kobold Librarian, Malchezaar's Imp and Mistress of Mixtures in the first place, but if you really need some juice then use it on cards which are already "sentenced to death".
The other card is a sweet little swing, remove something for health. Most of the time it is really easy to upgrade to Greater Amethyst Spellstone and believe me, deal 7 damage with lifesteal is bonkers! 

Other toys

I don't think these need so much explanation, you have already seen some control Warlock in this site and on the ladder. Usual removals, anti-aggro & reactive tools...
Here is the demon package as well. Be on board, swing the tempo, eat your opponents removals, feed our beloved Gul'dan.

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How to play

As I’ve written before you have to practice a lot before you will be the king of the meta. The best way to do it is taking risks. Even if it sounds like a dumb idea this is where the fun begins. Nobody knows when to worth discard your whole hand, when to wait for Malchezaar's Imp, when can you ignore your quest or when could Bloodreaver Gul'dan be irrelevant. And it is totally fine. All you have to do it is trying all of the possible variations even if one of them has already worked in the past. You will see the difference and you will start feel how the deck works. You will win and lose some but believe me guys, these observations will worth it!

Drink these words and be as badass as this little smart fella! 

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Misevaluating Rin, the First Disciple

In my guides there is always a section with opinion, argument and discuss about something. Now there is a card in the new expansion which is already in the meme status but the reality is that she could be a really important piece in the next year of Hearthstone. When the card was revealed my first opinion was: "nah, just another unplayable Warlock legendary, seals are way too slow against everything". But I have changed my mind.
Blizzard has started to print cards which can save you from fatigue. Just like Dead Man's Hand, Kingsbane and Astral Tiger. So it seems they don’t like that our games ending with fatigue. This could mean 2 things:
- we have to win faster,
- or we could allow more greedy cards to win.
And here comes Rin in. Against aggro decks it seems just a nieche 3/6 taunt but she is a great card which could simply win all of your long games. All alone, single handedly. You don’t have to build around it because in a long fatigue game you will have enough time and opportunity to play all seals and the 10/10 asskicker. So in these matches after you play Rin your opponent has 3-5 turns to win the game. Not to be on board or gain advantage, they have to win in these turns or they’re fucked up. This sounds well so she could easily worth a slot in every control Warlock deck. Who knows...
I just want to say that Rin, the First Disciple isn’t so bad at all and people will slowly start to realize it. She could be a powerful tool against control decks even in the recent metagame.  

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Matchups

Good: You can win easily most of these matchups
OK: It's a fair matchup. 50-50 in avarage.
Hard: Could be difficult, sometimes need good card draw but still winnable.
Bad: almost impossible, need a huge amount of good luck.
Mulligan: I will to write it in sort by priority.

Soon... meta needs to settle down and see what decks could rise up and be relevant beside Priests.

Replacements, tech options

This section depends on our matchups and how the meta will enpower (Priests) some decks more than others. So we need some time, that's what I want to say  :D

• Eater of Secrets: A lof of secret could appear on the ladder: Hunter, Mage, Paladin and Rogue. It is especially devastating against Secret Mage.
• Spellbreaker: Some deathrattles could be annoying in these days, so this card is still here to solve this problem. Just think about Rin, the First Disciple, Voidlord, Carnivorous Cube, Possessed Lackey.

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When I'm not acting the smartass sometimes you can catch me up on Twitch playing Hearthstone. Here's my channel below. Smash that button!

I'm open for your questions, suggestions and any constructive criticism,
so just punish that comment section bravely!
Good 'lock, have fun!