Hearthpwn

So, lets assume that Handlock will continue to be an archetype, just as it did for Nax. Naxramas saw most handlocks add Sludge Belchers, and Lord Jaraxxus found his way back in. What will the new standard handlock build look like after the release of GvG?

-Soulfire will be nerfed to 1 mana, and is actually counterproductive to the handlock style. This could be the first card to go. However, more solutions to heal or early game stalls need to be found.

-Dr. Boom is in pretty much every handlock deck now, as he is a great threat to put on the board for any deck out there. Too much value to leave out.

-Darkbomb has already become a staple in handlock decks, if it is a 1-or 2-of, and if it is best accompanied by Soulfire needs more research!

-Ogre Brute has proven to be a very good card in handlock decks, replacing 1-2 Ancient Watchers. He is another threat on the board, and can do work in the early game as well as be good fodder for Shadowflame

-Enhance-o Mechano could be interresting, maybe at the expense of an Defender of Argus. All of his buffs can be useful, but rolling windfury on a giant sounds particularly compelling! Edit: He could be come standard, but most likely as a 1-of, and NOT if you also run  Ancient Watchers rather than Ogre Brutes.

-Antique Healbot is still a controversial card, many think this could find its way into staple decks, maybe replacing a Earthen Ring Farseer. Others debate it is to slow, might get in the way of Molten Giant and that the stats are too weak for a 5-drop.

-Recombobulator seems to go together with Antique Healbot as a way to heal giants back to full health as well as silence troublesome enemy minions. This needs more research.

Anima Golem could also be an iterresting addition, as it is yet another big threat. If you have ancient watchers he is amazing, and he is a fantastic Shadowflame target, guaranteed clearing everything up to 9-life, excluding deathrattles. Edit: noone has yet found a good way to use him in handlock.

Mal'Ganis is maybe the most obvious card that needs to be tried in handlock. He gives you immunity, and if the deck is viable with that many big minions, Mal'Ganis could outright win you the game in many situations, just as Lord Jaraxxus has done so many times for us already.

Maybe will there even be multiple styles of handlock, like a demon one and a mech one as well as the classic, but that will be explored soon!

Lets brew awesome decks! 

Forsens handlock, mid december:

Deck needs to replace the removal it lost from Soulfire before it does antything else, I'm thinking 2 Shadowflame and 2 Hellfire becomes a standard removal package and Nerubian Egg may see some play.

I also really like Little Exorcist and Shadow Bolts just because the 3 drop slot is so neglected.

The only sure bet is Mal'Ganis the card is simply made for handlock and the ultimate fuck you to any hunter trying to burst you down and bypass your taunts.

The Enhance-o Mechano fits well into handlock in terms of its concept but it's not reliable and as a handlock you really want to be as consistent as possible.

I do not see Mistress of Pain seeing any play outside of Demonlock decks. THe Anima Golem could certainly be interesting since Handlock minions are big and sticky.

 mistress of pain is bad, I took it out already. Enhance-o Mechano opens op some outright broken combos though, right up there with leeroy-faceless...

As for Mal'Ganis I think the problem is to survive to turn 9, and I am not sure im willing to go in the Voidwalker direction just yet. He is awesome, though, might be my first gvg legendary, unless some of the neutrals proves to be staples.

But please post your own decks as well, I did not mean this as a "I am right, this-deck-is-how-it's-going-to-be-thread."

Darkbomb will probably be in, but I am a bit too curious about more powerful cards and combos, so I dont know what to take out.

2 owls will be standard, you can silence your Anima Golem, then taunt it, then faceless it... I have not given up on the anima golems just yet, remember there will be times when you need to empty your hand, and playing that on turn 6 is possible, but playing any giant is not.

The faceless and power overwhelming is meant to be an out-of-the-blue lethal if you get windfury on noe of your big boys. Broken combos incoming! Just imagine the horrors of a 12-12 even a 13-13 with windfury, you saw it here first!

Just slammed together a demon version as well, maybe this is a direction to go?

Enhance-o Mechano is a horrible card in my opinion. When you are in a situation where you need taunt, you might win with windfury, and you get divine shield, you wish for a Defender of Argus instead. 3 9-drops are definetly too much, but Mal'Ganis is a nice addition for sure. Anima Golem is not reliable enough to run, if they cant deal with your giants they are dead anyways.

What I was thinking about, Darkbomb might be a good replacement for Soulfire. For another lategame threat, Troggzor the Earthinator looks awesome. Explosive Sheep is also very nice with Mortal Coil, and can remove sticky minions like Harvest Golem and Haunted Creeper with Hellfire.

Tl,DR: I came up with this:

Enhance-o Mechano you need to remember that each card gets its own roll. I do not know, however, if you can get taunt on a minions which has it already, if not, this card will improve a LOT in handlock, maybe enough to run 2. Enhance-o Mechano is probably just broken in plenty of decks...

Quote from Poghy »

Quote from Slydie »

Enhance-o Mechano is a horrible card in my opinion. When you are in a situation where you need taunt, you might win with windfury, and you get divine shield, you wish for a Defender of Argus instead. 3 9-drops are definetly too much, but Mal'Ganis is a nice addition for sure. Anima Golem is not reliable enough to run, if they cant deal with your giants they are dead anyways.

What I was thinking about, Darkbomb might be a good replacement for Soulfire. For another lategame threat, Troggzor the Earthinator looks awesome. Explosive Sheep is also very nice with Mortal Coil, and can remove sticky minions like Harvest Golem and Haunted Creeper with Hellfire.

Tl,DR: I came up with this:

Enhance-o Mechano you need to remember that each card gets its own roll. I do not know, however, if you can get taunt on a minions which has it already, if not, this card will improve a LOT in handlock, maybe enough to run 2. Enhance-o Mechano is probably just broken in plenty of decks...

 

From what I have heard from various streams, its not a seperate roll, every minion gets the same bonus.

EDIT: Im also pretty sure that you can roll taunt to a taunt minion in which case it does nothing,

It has been confirmed that it is a separate roll for each minion, and unapplicable buffs may be applied. (Taunt on something that already has taunt_

Another one, mech themed:

My bad then, sorry (seriously I just watched a stream from Admirable and they said its not seperate, I thought they have reliable info). So maybe its not as bad as I thought, but I still wouldnt run it in handlock, its just too random for a control deck like this.

However, if soulfire is not playable anymore, some randomness is fine by me, if it gives me good value no matter what. Play him first, then taunt up afterwards. Also faceless cards with the buff you need.

I really don't think there is room for both Jaraxxus and Mal'Ganis. That's just too slow, and you can expect a ton of fast mech decks in the new meta. 

I really like adding Troggzor to the deck, it's another huge threat which can eat up more removal before you slam Mal'Ganis.

I am reallllllly curious to see how these Anima Golems work out. My suspicion is that the only way they'll work is if they get taunted with Argus, Sunfury, or Enhanco. One thing to note is that playing an Anima Golem with cheap minions like Farseer or Owl will draw out mid-tier removal to make sure Anima Golem's the only minion left on the board. In most situations, I think Anima Golem's 6 mana cost will be primarily worth it just to bait out removals on small cards for the perceived value your opponent gets from killing the Golem for "free."

Maybe run Antique Healbot instead of Earthen Ring Farseer, or one and one, the 8 health is a huge counter to hunter or aggro, or at least buy time until a board wipe

Think you should run both Earthen Ring Farseer AND Antique Healbot, with 0 mana Soulfire gone you're going to need all of the health you can get in the aggro match up.

would like feedback on this deck also plz

i dont think soulfire is that bad btw, one can do a nice job of clearing the board or giving an early win. 

not to mention, you could just silence it with your owl :]

Ghost: seems a bit like a "lets see what works the best" kind ot deck, with all the 1-ofs, but if you make it, your results will say a lot!

Someone had an idea to use recombulator to heal giants, silence enemies and recombulate argus. However, the little I saw of him in arena seemed unspectacular and unreliable so far. However, he could become a staple as the new tinkmaster in constructed...

yeah, i seen that idea as well, but i dont think its consistent enough. you are right, but handlock draws alot of cards, so im thinking it may be ok. im still tinkering with it, i dont want to really change what handlock has already, just figure out a way to make it stronger against the weaknesses.

as far as the one-of's go, i want to use 2 anima's, but im not sure there really is room. 2 farseers seems too many as well, i feel like if you have to heal for 6 the game is already over, and i hardly ever draw 2 anyway. im taking mal instead of alex,basically to use with jax in late game. both cards kind of function the same really, if you have to use it to heal yourself, its already too late in most cases, so building a board and then using jax followed by mal makes it easier to use his weapon for facing minions for one, and keeping you alive against spells. basically taking one enhance o instead of 2 argus, loatheb and  sylvanas kind of help preserve board states, and are excellent targets for shadowflame if they live. i agree with the double owl, especially once GvG releases. the single hellfire soulfire and shadowbolt i view like this, soulfire can be a clear or win condition, and shadow bolt is like using one of your soulfires for clearing when you ran 2. the single hellfire is just a 3rd clear in addition to 2 shadowflames, because i feel like it compromises your hero HP and your own minions too much to be useful with 2 of them. I'm toying with the idea of Faceless/ PO or or darkbomb/ 2 belchers. i honestly cant say what is better. Im leaning towards faceless and PO, because faceless can copy anything and PO can be used for shadowflaming a weak minion  or going for a kill.