Hearthpwn

Do you think handlock will be in meta ? Card replacements ? 

 I think Frost Giant and Nexus-Champion Saraad can make it into the deck.

I think frost giant too slow. And which giant will you replace ? You can play mountain in turn 4 and molten is so necessary too. Maybe for twilights ?

I think Twilight Drakes too is integral to the decks performance. Too much hinges on being able to put out a decent turn 4 play, for them to be dropped. Especially in favor of Frost Giants. I think personally Saraad can make the cut as he fills the hand, and adds an unpredictability to the handlock that is missing right now. Too early to tell for sure though.

Quote from The_Ianinator jump

Why fencing? a 2/2 is useless in handlock. We win through giants not our small minions.

To get a free minion turn 6 with [card]Wilfred Fizzlebang[/card] i guess. Smth like turn 5 Fencing+tap, turn 6 [card]Wilfred Fizzlebang[/card] + tap

Quote from The_Ianinator jump

Why fencing? a 2/2 is useless in handlock. We win through giants not our small minions.

Play Fencing before Playing Wifred, use the free hero power to draw something huge and play it for free I'm guessing is the idea here. Too situational IMO.

'Turn 5 nothing' happens when you play vs mirror or control matchup. It's definately weak vs aggro or super tempo opponent's hand. But this combo can still be a big swing on turn 6 with smth like dr.boom topdeck and insta putting it on board

I don't see Molten Giant being absolutely necessary in hand lock when im being critical about it. Some of the lists run double heal bot which is counter intuitive to molten giant play. I'd personally try removing both moltens for double frost, keep running double healing bots and see how it turns out. By the time you're down to 10 health the game is in its 7-10th turn or later and you've likely tapped 4 times. No matter what your HP is at that point the Frost Giant is a value play. 

I like fencing coach since you can drop him for 3 and then tap making him provide decent value @ 5 mana. Though i don't think he fits into handlock since getting card isn't a problem for them. 

Quote from dwl_ jump

I agree, Fencing Coach should best be used in an Inspire Deck, it's too weak otherwise. There's no room for him in HandLock.

Fencing Coach can be played on turn three without making your hand smaller and while taking 2 damage. All this is pretty good.

In Handlock the flexibility to heal minions is insignificant.. You win by staying alive and swarming the board with large threats. Additionally, turn 3 is usually dedicated to clear 1-2 minions as to reduce board pressure for the coming turn 4. So yes, Antique Healbot is obviously a better card than Earthen Ring Farseer for handlock, Fencing Coach is a 3 mana draw a card lose 2 life/ can't tap again that turn? Now that shouldn't be dismissed immediately... but what does it provide to the board?.

Assuming best case scenario: Turn 5 Fencing Coach into turn 6 [card]Wilfred Fizzlebang [/card] and MAYBE another card. You have  spent 2 mid-lategame turns for roughly a ~16-20% chance (based on current handlock decks) of playing a 6+ card a 5/5 and an inexistent 2/2. So at best it sort of fills the curve or gives you a slight tempo swing. At worst you have a ~ 33% chance of drawing a 1-4 minion/spell. Best case scenario for that 33% is that you draw Shadowflame at which point you spent turn 5-6 to shadowflame and not lose the game entirely. 

You are assuming that the opponent will trade into [card]Wilfred Fizzlebang [/card].. but if you spent 2 turns playing nothing  they will most likely have gone face having you at around 16-18 hp.. At which point drawing any of the 33% cards that is not shadowflame will cost you the game.. and drawing one of the 16-20% cards may actually be a worse result as they may have lethal on board from lack of pressure. 

Now the reason people don't change the handlock deck too much is because it is saturated of "combo" cards that rely on one another. If you want to make significant changes to the deck it IS more ideal to start from anew and see whether some of the inspire mechanics lead you to build a handlock deck.. not vice versa. 

I run Chromaggus as a late game hand filler, so my change to my deck would be Saraad in, Chromaggus out. Additionally i might change one Belcher for Justicar Trueheart, as i rarely need two belchers, since i run 2 x Sunfury and 2 x Argus

Handlock will definetly be in the meta since it tends to slow down and handlock is the best control deck by far.No card replacements.

Alright, so let's break down what cards you can actually justify cutting for this new Giant, Saraad and other such shenanigans if the meta slows down:

• Zombie Chow - Not a lot of people play this in Handlock, but it's the best card that you can throw out to make space for all the new stuff - no questions asked. Hopefully we won't see as much cancer in the meta anymore so you won't need this little guy as much.
• Antique Healbot - A lot of lists run two of them nowadays (mostly to counter aggro), but with a (hopefully) much slower meta having only one of them should be perfectly fine. You won't need a lot of healing since the level of early pressure from your opponents will be decreased dramatically (obviously). And also you can safely put back your Lord Jaraxxus since you'll finally have enough time to play him.
• Mortal Coil - Some decks run two, but most decks usually only run one. I'd say you need at least one Coil in your deck to finish off those pesky 1-health minions that you otherwise would have to spend a Darkbomb on; but if you have two, then cutting one out and replacing it with the new Giant is not a bad idea.
• Darkbomb - Same thing as Mortal Coil - a lot of lists run two of them. Having at least one is mandatory, but you can definitely live without having both of them.
• Defender of Argus - Again, a lot of decks run two just to counter aggro, but with a slower meta having only one should be enough. Though if you plan on running ALL the giants, maybe keeping two Defenders just to have more impenetrable taunts in the late-game is a good idea.
• Sludge Belcher - Depends. It's pretty good even in control matchups. Master Jouster might be slightly better, but we'll have to really test it out and see.
• Ancient Watcher - Too good of a Shadowflame target and provides you with an amazing taunt wall for only 2 mana (both early- and late-game). I'd say having two is mandatory just because it's so versatile and works extremely well with the entire Handlock arsenal.
• Twilight Drake/Mountain Giant/Molten Giant - They are literally the meat and bones of Handlock. They're way too good at what they do and I don't see any reason why you would ever cut even one of them out of your deck. 

That about sums it up. Tl;dr: Cut out all your anti-Huntard tools and put in all the new awesome control cards we got from this expansion and you'll be golden.

I've been running a version of Handlock with Chromaggus and Ysera. No Beltchers. Kinda of dragon handlock.

Because of this, I might try some early Joust and will replace both Twilight Drake for Twilight Guardian.

Not sure yet about Justicar Trueheart and Wilfred Fizzlebang.

More opnions please up !

Hmm I don't know about the new Frost Giant. He can't be played turn 4 like the Mountain Giant and he's not good against aggro like the Molten Giant. So replacing the Mountain Giant/Molten Giant by the Frost Giant is out of question.

Also, Frost Giant is another big threat. Plus the four giants, there's also Dr. Boom, Ragnaros the Firelord, Lord Jaraxxus... That's already a lot of big threats. The question is, does the deck have enough room for so many lategame? It still worth trying though.

About the jousting mechanic, I find it too RNG to my taste. Master Jouster, for example, can't replace Sludge Belcher because taunt is important in Handlock. Sludge Belcher is a very solid taunter while Master Jouster is not. Well, maybe it will, maybe not. That's the problem.

As for me, I'm eager to try Wilfred Fizzlebang, just as it is, without Fencing Coach or another inspire card. I want more discount. Also, he can bring a bit of RNG (not too much I hope) which could make Handlock a bit less predictable for the opponent.

I don't feel Handlock will get much ''new'' cards. It's more about finding better tech cards since the decklist is saturated with 20+ cards that you can't really take out...

I have enough hope about Fenching Coach, Refreshment Vendor, Wilfred Fizzlebang at this very moment. 

Could Defender of Argus be replaced with something like Twilight Defender in some sort of Dragon/Demon Handlock (that's my dream to pull out). 

Damn 14 season handlock player ! I will craft handlock deck. If cards will chance on handlock , how much after it will happen ? 2 weeks ? I really want play handlock now but everyone says wait for tgt.

Quote from Raidenn jump

Damn 14 season handlock player ! I will craft handlock deck. If cards will chance on handlock , how much after it will happen ? 2 weeks ? I really want play handlock now but everyone says wait for tgt.

Do it!. Handlock is, and will be, a powerful deck.