You can't simply define a deck by the turn it wins on.
Aggro decks generally play a low curve, trying to control the board early in order to gain a larger advantage, taking opportunities to get in more damage. Aggro decks won't play any mid game minions, and instead will play cards in order to close out the game (Doomguard). Just because a deck trades doesn't mean its not an aggro deck (zoo is an aggro deck people, just admit it)
Tempo decks are similar to aggro decks, but have a slightly different curve, usually with a couple of late game cards. The main idea with tempo decks is to take a huge early lead with good tempo cards, in order to significantly improve their position in the midgame. A tempo deck will be so far ahead that it is very hard to come back, and if you can't kill an opponent in the midgame, you have late game minions to finish off your opponent
Midrange decks have a curve that is lower at 1-2 drops, but has lots of 3-6 drops, and a few 7+ drops. Unlike a control deck, a midrange deck relies on most midrange minions to win the game, rather than lots of late game cards. Midrange gives up the ability to gain maximum tempo in the early game in order to play very powerful midgame creatures. Midrange generally control the board early, then wins with big, powerful midgame/lategame.
Control decks use more utility than other decks, relying more on spells to control the board in the early to mid game. Control generally wins with either one specific win conition (Elise) or many powerful late game minions. The main difference between Control and midrange is that control runs less early game drops.
Combo decks are really easy to define, and most combo decks are mainly designed around heavy synergy to do something huge in one turn, often swinging the game in their favor, killing your opponent, or setting up lethal.
Thanks for the quick reply! I just get lost in all these definitions of decks in this game. I guess you can't define decks by the turn they attempt to win because of what deck it is facing in each match.
Only reason I would say ramp would be called "tempo" is because you sacrificed one turn to play more costly minions later. Or does ramp druid just have its own deck archetype?
Only reason I would say ramp would be called "tempo" is because you sacrificed one turn to play more costly minions later. Or does ramp druid just have its own deck archetype?
Ramp druid is kind of its own category. The thing is, sacrificing tempo to play bigger stuff isn't a great play in a tempo deck. Although you might be able to play a more powerful minion, your opponent will be ahead on board and most likely will be able to answer your minion and continue to build their board. The way you will win is not with tempo, but with cheating the mana curve in order to play big threats earlier. This is the reason why druid cannot have too much efficient removal/board wipes. They make up for it with powerful minions and ramp abilities
Playing as handlock i've been wrecking aggro/midrange decks by turn 6 numerous times, they think they can outrace mountain giants. its not about which turn you try to win. Each deck is different. Control is all about controlling the board, removing opponents board, going into late game, where it excels. Aggro is all about going face. Midrange is about controlling the board playing in tempo, making favorable trades and going face when you can. Combo is either playing in tempo leading into combo pieces or playing control, leading into combo pieces to finish off the game.
I think Aggro, Tempo and Midragen can get confused a lot, and there are very subtle differences between the 3.
Zoo has been a fast tempo-deck since the Leeroy Jenkins and Soulfire nerf, but is still considered aggro.
Mech mage is also a fast tempo deck which usually runs Archmage Antonidas and Dr. Boom, and is considered aggro.
Old midrange druid is considered midrange, even though they usually had a hard time closing out the game without some burst combo.
I also find it interresting that combo-decks can mean combos played over several turns, and then the final blow is only one card like C'Thun and Anyfin Can Happen.
I think Aggro, Tempo and Midragen can get confused a lot, and there are very subtle differences between the 3.
Zoo has been a fast tempo-deck since the Leeroy Jenkins and Soulfire nerf, but is still considered aggro.
That's because zoo shifts it's stance almost every expansion. They started off as a fast aggro deck with a rush variant (what I used to call "Ican'tbelieveit'snotzoo") then doubled down on aggro with the UT+mechs, then merged with demonlock to create a midranged demon-zoo deck, then gave THAT up and went aggro again with giant finishers, then swapped into what we see in WoG which is probably best described as fast-tempo and somehow turning a 0 mana card and a 3 mana card into a mid-game burst.
And worst case, we can't even call it something other than zoo since it's..essentually the zoo mentality with most of the zoo cards and the zoo win condition (grab the board early, overwhelm the opponent, and keep up the pressure with their hero power). Most decks get defined by their finishing move, which is why "tap to a full board then drop big things" get named Handlock when its' giant based, Demon Handlock when it's using Malganis/Jaraxxus+ voids, and Combo Warlock when it uses Leeroy.
But zoo is named after it's playstyle so even when it changes it's win condition and it's deck type it's still zoo. The result is rage from folks like mhyself that get crazy over terminology and communication.
So for that I just give up and just say "zoo's aggro, but not face." It paints a good enough picture.
Mech mage is also a fast tempo deck which usually runs Archmage Antonidas and Dr. Boom, and is considered aggro.
Mech mage was a nutty deck with 3 different win conditions depending on their opening hand. If they had mech warpers, they went 100% aggro face rush. If they didn't they went tempo with Blastmage with Archmage finishers. If they had a lot of spells, they were almost Midrange-Combo ala Combo Druid with fireballs as their final burst.
Mech started as pure aggro so people kept calling it that. Though eventually people realized that it sucked as an aggro deck and eventually just gave up on the deck all together. But that's why that deck gets an odd phrasing.
Old midrange druid is considered midrange, even though they usually had a hard time closing out the game without some burst combo.
A turn 9 combo in fact. I do note that near the end I rarely heard anyone call it midrange. It was either Combo Druid or, more likely, "Druid". In THIS case, I think it's due to how it evolved. Most times when a deck changes, like Handlock into Combo, the original deck still exists so you can easily seperate the two. WIth druid, though, they took their midrange deck, which had the combo, then slowly pushed harder towards their reliance on the combo until the deck ONLY cared about FoN/SR. Sort of like how control warrior went from 10-legendary parade to "all in on Alex/Grom". There was no comparison to make as the deck just slowly..moved in that direction. Thus the old name sort of moves with it.
Also Druid really only had one deck, so there was no point even caring about name. You could've called it "I want to eat some Liver Druid" and everyone would know what deck you were talking about. Name wise all we needed was a term for the fools that tried to go without the combo, and we had that: Ramp.
I also find it interresting that combo-decks can mean combos played over several turns, and then the final blow is only one card like C'Thun and Anyfin Can Happen.
It's an odd quirk with Hearthstone as there's a VERY big push against the 'hold your cards until you can play them all and win' style decks (aka, traditional Combo). Howevever we have mechanics that involve setting up win conditions via playing cards which boost other cards. It's a good reminder that using mentalities from other games here doesn't work that well. Combo in Hearthstone is NOT Combo in other games, but it IS a Combo in Hearthstone. The point to terms, after all, is to make sure everyone can quickly understand what you are talking about. We could've called the terms "fasty, middy, slowly, trolly" so long as we were all on page as to what a deck would have if it had that term.
Thus "Buff C'thun to +30 and win" and Anyfin decks are Combo.
Aggro is a deck that tries to win asap, while obviously not being dumb. (i.e. still making trades when needed, to not lose) Aggro decks will typically have a smaller cmc curve, being able to play many small drops.
Midrange is a deck that's built to outperform the opponent mid to late game. Midrange decks will tend to contain "bigger" cards, and overall a good balance.
Control decks are quite literal. They will play many forms of removal to control the opponent's board. Typically accompanied by draw power and needs to be piloted by a player who knows when and how to remove certain threats. (but that requires having prior experience and in-game knowledge)
Combo decks are made in which the decks is made to synergize with the other cards in the deck to create their planned combos. A hard comparison to "Good Stuff" (Zoo) decks, in which you'll see smaller cards which normally do not see play, but are run due to their interaction with another/other card(s) to create a potent effect.
Aggro is about fast damage and fast development-focus is on damage alone, advantage and long-term position matter little.
Midrange is mostly about efficiency and combat/board superiority (compromise between control and aggro)-focus is on dominating the board and grinding your opponent out.
Control is about having more and/or higher quality resources (card advantage, board presence) and running the opponent out of threats/outclassing them in the late game with high cost, very strong cards-focus is on resources and dragging the game out for as long as possible.
Combo is typically either control with a win condition that can shorten the game, or alternative aggro type strategies (i/e ramp/Communion Druid). -focus is on survival until you use the combo/getting the combo off before the opponent can respond.
Aggro decks ignore the board state for the most part and only kill minions that can kill their own without attacking (like an enemy Knife Juggler). They rarely go for anything but face and use removal for taunt creatures and the like, not because it's a threat.
Zoo on the other hand trades. Almost always, unless they are pushing for lethal (and at that point, even control decks rather go face). Zoo creates value by buffing their own minion to up-trade, effectively trading a 1 drop for a 2-5 drop or even higher. That generates tempo and you keep board control. That's what Zoo is about: Keeping board control. It's just effective at what it does, so you rarely need to trade all minions and always have enough on the board to ALSO get some damage in. This effect is currently enhanced by the existence of Councilman, which can snowball pretty hard if not kept in check. Zoo could be described as a tempo/flood deck first and foremost. The only reason why the current zoo lists don't play a bigger mid-range minion, is the simple fact that there aren't any that are worthwhile to run.
There are a few mid-range zoo'thun lists that incorporate a core mid-range C'Thun splash, so you have Twins + C'Thun available (and let's be honest, those two are the only worthwhile mid-range neutral options in the game at the moment).
Aggro decks ignore the board state for the most part and only kill minions that can kill their own without attacking (like an enemy Knife Juggler). They rarely go for anything but face and use removal for taunt creatures and the like, not because it's a threat.
Zoo on the other hand trades. Almost always, unless they are pushing for lethal (and at that point, even control decks rather go face). Zoo creates value by buffing their own minion to up-trade, effectively trading a 1 drop for a 2-5 drop or even higher. That generates tempo and you keep board control. That's what Zoo is about: Keeping board control. It's just effective at what it does, so you rarely need to trade all minions and always have enough on the board to ALSO get some damage in. This effect is currently enhanced by the existence of Councilman, which can snowball pretty hard if not kept in check. Zoo could be described as a tempo/flood deck first and foremost. The only reason why the current zoo lists don't play a bigger mid-range minion, is the simple fact that there aren't any that are worthwhile to run.
There are a few mid-range zoo'thun lists that incorporate a core mid-range C'Thun splash, so you have Twins + C'Thun available (and let's be honest, those two are the only worthwhile mid-range neutral options in the game at the moment).
Aggro decks ignore the board state for the most part and only kill minions that can kill their own without attacking (like an enemy Knife Juggler). They rarely go for anything but face and use removal for taunt creatures and the like, not because it's a threat.
Zoo on the other hand trades. Almost always, unless they are pushing for lethal (and at that point, even control decks rather go face). Zoo creates value by buffing their own minion to up-trade, effectively trading a 1 drop for a 2-5 drop or even higher. That generates tempo and you keep board control. That's what Zoo is about: Keeping board control. It's just effective at what it does, so you rarely need to trade all minions and always have enough on the board to ALSO get some damage in. This effect is currently enhanced by the existence of Councilman, which can snowball pretty hard if not kept in check. Zoo could be described as a tempo/flood deck first and foremost. The only reason why the current zoo lists don't play a bigger mid-range minion, is the simple fact that there aren't any that are worthwhile to run.
There are a few mid-range zoo'thun lists that incorporate a core mid-range C'Thun splash, so you have Twins + C'Thun available (and let's be honest, those two are the only worthwhile mid-range neutral options in the game at the moment).
Just because a deck trades doesn't mean its not AGGRO. If thats the case, then face hunter must be a tempo deck. Check your facts, zoo is most definitally an aggro deck.
Aggro decks ignore the board state for the most part and only kill minions that can kill their own without attacking (like an enemy Knife Juggler). They rarely go for anything but face and use removal for taunt creatures and the like, not because it's a threat.
That's FACE (or Burn in MTG terms) That's an aspect of Aggro but not all aggro does.
We have specific terms for aggro decks and face decks for this very reason, because not all decks that rely on the early game ignore the board. Thus Face decks ignore the board and aggro decks don't, and why Zoo is, sometimes, considerd aggro.
As for the 'sometimes' I put above hte issue with zoo and the term aggro.
The OP definition is wrong TBH it's not about turns.. and there is also tempo.
Aggro tries to deplete the enemies HP as fast as possible, it tries to do as little trading as possible pushing as much face damage as they can, doing only really favorable trades. (examples, face shaman, "ebola"din,face hunter,pirate warrior).
Midrange tries to generate a lot of value, putting strong minions each turn, and making favorable trades (examples:C'thun Druid,Patron Warrior(also belongs into the combo category),deathrattle hunter,Secret Paladin,deathrattle rogue.. etc..)
Tempo tries to do just that gain tempo on board with a lot of powerful tools making favorable trades and efficient use of spells, they could be confused with midrange or aggro cause they sport a similar playstyle..but the deck is flexible, acting as aaggro in some matchups while acting as midrange(value trades) in others. (examples: Zoolock,tempo mage)
Combo tries to gather specific cards or some cards that work together to form a win condition, those kind of decks normally contain a lot of card draw. (examples:Miracle Rogue,Patron Warrior,OTK Warrior,OTK Priest,combo renolock(with leeroy),freeze mage) Blizzard generally tries to nerf this category as seen in the arcane golem nerf and leeroy.
Control aims to exhaust the opponent's resources they run very few minions and a lot of efficient removal spells the general example are control priest and control warrior, now control paladin is popular as well.. Those decks generally also run a win condition big threat like grommash hellscream,elise starseeker, N'zoth, C'thun..
I generally discern between deck types by when that deck peaks. Aggro decks peak from turn 1-7. Fast aggro decks, like Face Hunter and Shaman peak early while slower aggro decks like Zoo and Tempo Mage peak later. Midrange decks would then peak from turns 8-13, and basically try to get lethal then. Control decks peak after turn 14 and try to last through the barrage.
Another way is to, with your deck, prioritize which advantage you care about the most between Health advantage, board advantage, and card advantage. Control match ups will care about card advantage above all, and midrange/aggro will care more about board and health depending on how aggressive they are.
An aggressive deck usually intends to take the board as early as possible, usually using granular minions, sometimes spells as in the case of Shaman. Contrary to popular belief an aggressive deck doesn't necessarily have to only focus on going face, as is seen with Zoo. Zoo is an aggressive deck as it takes advantage of granular minions to take the board and this early board advantage will often allow the Zoo deck to push lots of face damage while, at the same time, getting rid of your opponents minions with effective trades and minion buffs.
The main difference between different kinds of archetypes isn't what they attack with their minions or even what turn they end the game. Face Shaman after all, can often times win the game LONG past turn 10 because of how much burn that deck runs. The real thing that distinguishes different kinds of decks is at what point of the game they try to put themselves in an advantageous position. Aggressive decks like Zoo, Face Hunter, Secret Paladin and Face Shaman are aggressive because they try to take the game as early as possible with cards like Flame Imp, Leper Gnome, Secretkeeper and Tunnel Trogg and keep up their board advantage until they can win.
By extension, most midrange decks use generally try to get in a position where they are "winning" by turns 3-6. They usually do that with really cost-effective minions like Piloted Shredder, Truesilver Champion and Savannah Highmane. Variation in Midrange decks is a bit bigger than in aggressive decks because most decks have very different ways of playing midrange.
Tempo decks are much more defined in their abuse of tempo mechanics, using cheap cards that let you kill your opponent's board while at the same time developing your own. This is most obviously seen in the form of Weapons, allowing you to sacrifice health to kill a minion and develop a board, and cards like Flamewaker which are much more obvious.
Control decks aren't necessarily losing in the early game but rather not "winning" in the sense that they aren't trying to end the game until very late. Control Warrior for example is able to stay in a strong position in the mid and early game due to their use of removal and the previously stated weapons to fend off assault from other decks. Some Control decks close the game with a combo like Freeze Mage, some with late game threats like Ramp Druid, some with fatigue and so on.
I just want to see how everyone views these terms.
I see it as :
Aggro attempts to win by turn 6
Mid range tries to win by turns 7-10
Control tries to win by turn 10+
and Combo which is trying to get a certain set of cards/costs in hand to win.
You can't simply define a deck by the turn it wins on.
Aggro decks generally play a low curve, trying to control the board early in order to gain a larger advantage, taking opportunities to get in more damage. Aggro decks won't play any mid game minions, and instead will play cards in order to close out the game (Doomguard). Just because a deck trades doesn't mean its not an aggro deck (zoo is an aggro deck people, just admit it)
Tempo decks are similar to aggro decks, but have a slightly different curve, usually with a couple of late game cards. The main idea with tempo decks is to take a huge early lead with good tempo cards, in order to significantly improve their position in the midgame. A tempo deck will be so far ahead that it is very hard to come back, and if you can't kill an opponent in the midgame, you have late game minions to finish off your opponent
Midrange decks have a curve that is lower at 1-2 drops, but has lots of 3-6 drops, and a few 7+ drops. Unlike a control deck, a midrange deck relies on most midrange minions to win the game, rather than lots of late game cards. Midrange gives up the ability to gain maximum tempo in the early game in order to play very powerful midgame creatures. Midrange generally control the board early, then wins with big, powerful midgame/lategame.
Control decks use more utility than other decks, relying more on spells to control the board in the early to mid game. Control generally wins with either one specific win conition (Elise) or many powerful late game minions. The main difference between Control and midrange is that control runs less early game drops.
Combo decks are really easy to define, and most combo decks are mainly designed around heavy synergy to do something huge in one turn, often swinging the game in their favor, killing your opponent, or setting up lethal.
So would you describe ramp Druid decks as tempo decks, despite most playing Wild Growth instead of fighting for the board in early turns?
Forgive me, friend. I have failed.
Thanks for the quick reply! I just get lost in all these definitions of decks in this game. I guess you can't define decks by the turn they attempt to win because of what deck it is facing in each match.
Only reason I would say ramp would be called "tempo" is because you sacrificed one turn to play more costly minions later. Or does ramp druid just have its own deck archetype?
There's heaps more information here:
www.hearthpwn.com/search?search=terminology
Playing as handlock i've been wrecking aggro/midrange decks by turn 6 numerous times, they think they can outrace mountain giants. its not about which turn you try to win. Each deck is different. Control is all about controlling the board, removing opponents board, going into late game, where it excels. Aggro is all about going face. Midrange is about controlling the board playing in tempo, making favorable trades and going face when you can. Combo is either playing in tempo leading into combo pieces or playing control, leading into combo pieces to finish off the game.
I think Aggro, Tempo and Midragen can get confused a lot, and there are very subtle differences between the 3.
Zoo has been a fast tempo-deck since the Leeroy Jenkins and Soulfire nerf, but is still considered aggro.
Mech mage is also a fast tempo deck which usually runs Archmage Antonidas and Dr. Boom, and is considered aggro.
Old midrange druid is considered midrange, even though they usually had a hard time closing out the game without some burst combo.
I also find it interresting that combo-decks can mean combos played over several turns, and then the final blow is only one card like C'Thun and Anyfin Can Happen.
Editor of the Heartpwn Legendary Crafting Guide:
https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/card-discussion/205920-legendary-tier-list-crafting-guide
That's because zoo shifts it's stance almost every expansion. They started off as a fast aggro deck with a rush variant (what I used to call "Ican'tbelieveit'snotzoo") then doubled down on aggro with the UT+mechs, then merged with demonlock to create a midranged demon-zoo deck, then gave THAT up and went aggro again with giant finishers, then swapped into what we see in WoG which is probably best described as fast-tempo and somehow turning a 0 mana card and a 3 mana card into a mid-game burst.
And worst case, we can't even call it something other than zoo since it's..essentually the zoo mentality with most of the zoo cards and the zoo win condition (grab the board early, overwhelm the opponent, and keep up the pressure with their hero power). Most decks get defined by their finishing move, which is why "tap to a full board then drop big things" get named Handlock when its' giant based, Demon Handlock when it's using Malganis/Jaraxxus+ voids, and Combo Warlock when it uses Leeroy.
But zoo is named after it's playstyle so even when it changes it's win condition and it's deck type it's still zoo. The result is rage from folks like mhyself that get crazy over terminology and communication.
So for that I just give up and just say "zoo's aggro, but not face." It paints a good enough picture.
Mech mage was a nutty deck with 3 different win conditions depending on their opening hand. If they had mech warpers, they went 100% aggro face rush. If they didn't they went tempo with Blastmage with Archmage finishers. If they had a lot of spells, they were almost Midrange-Combo ala Combo Druid with fireballs as their final burst.
Mech started as pure aggro so people kept calling it that. Though eventually people realized that it sucked as an aggro deck and eventually just gave up on the deck all together. But that's why that deck gets an odd phrasing.
A turn 9 combo in fact. I do note that near the end I rarely heard anyone call it midrange. It was either Combo Druid or, more likely, "Druid". In THIS case, I think it's due to how it evolved. Most times when a deck changes, like Handlock into Combo, the original deck still exists so you can easily seperate the two. WIth druid, though, they took their midrange deck, which had the combo, then slowly pushed harder towards their reliance on the combo until the deck ONLY cared about FoN/SR. Sort of like how control warrior went from 10-legendary parade to "all in on Alex/Grom". There was no comparison to make as the deck just slowly..moved in that direction. Thus the old name sort of moves with it.
Also Druid really only had one deck, so there was no point even caring about name. You could've called it "I want to eat some Liver Druid" and everyone would know what deck you were talking about. Name wise all we needed was a term for the fools that tried to go without the combo, and we had that: Ramp.
One does not simply walk into Mordor,
unless they want to be the best they can be.
Aggro is a deck that tries to win asap, while obviously not being dumb. (i.e. still making trades when needed, to not lose) Aggro decks will typically have a smaller cmc curve, being able to play many small drops.
Midrange is a deck that's built to outperform the opponent mid to late game. Midrange decks will tend to contain "bigger" cards, and overall a good balance.
Control decks are quite literal. They will play many forms of removal to control the opponent's board. Typically accompanied by draw power and needs to be piloted by a player who knows when and how to remove certain threats. (but that requires having prior experience and in-game knowledge)
Combo decks are made in which the decks is made to synergize with the other cards in the deck to create their planned combos. A hard comparison to "Good Stuff" (Zoo) decks, in which you'll see smaller cards which normally do not see play, but are run due to their interaction with another/other card(s) to create a potent effect.
Aggro is about fast damage and fast development-focus is on damage alone, advantage and long-term position matter little.
Midrange is mostly about efficiency and combat/board superiority (compromise between control and aggro)-focus is on dominating the board and grinding your opponent out.
Control is about having more and/or higher quality resources (card advantage, board presence) and running the opponent out of threats/outclassing them in the late game with high cost, very strong cards-focus is on resources and dragging the game out for as long as possible.
Combo is typically either control with a win condition that can shorten the game, or alternative aggro type strategies (i/e ramp/Communion Druid). -focus is on survival until you use the combo/getting the combo off before the opponent can respond.
Mostly Harmless
Zoo on the other hand trades. Almost always, unless they are pushing for lethal (and at that point, even control decks rather go face). Zoo creates value by buffing their own minion to up-trade, effectively trading a 1 drop for a 2-5 drop or even higher. That generates tempo and you keep board control. That's what Zoo is about: Keeping board control. It's just effective at what it does, so you rarely need to trade all minions and always have enough on the board to ALSO get some damage in. This effect is currently enhanced by the existence of Councilman, which can snowball pretty hard if not kept in check. Zoo could be described as a tempo/flood deck first and foremost. The only reason why the current zoo lists don't play a bigger mid-range minion, is the simple fact that there aren't any that are worthwhile to run.
Mostly Harmless
One does not simply walk into Mordor,
unless they want to be the best they can be.
The OP definition is wrong TBH it's not about turns.. and there is also tempo.
Aggro tries to deplete the enemies HP as fast as possible, it tries to do as little trading as possible pushing as much face damage as they can, doing only really favorable trades. (examples, face shaman, "ebola"din,face hunter,pirate warrior).
Midrange tries to generate a lot of value, putting strong minions each turn, and making favorable trades (examples:C'thun Druid,Patron Warrior(also belongs into the combo category),deathrattle hunter,Secret Paladin,deathrattle rogue.. etc..)
Tempo tries to do just that gain tempo on board with a lot of powerful tools making favorable trades and efficient use of spells, they could be confused with midrange or aggro cause they sport a similar playstyle..but the deck is flexible, acting as aaggro in some matchups while acting as midrange(value trades) in others. (examples: Zoolock,tempo mage)
Combo tries to gather specific cards or some cards that work together to form a win condition, those kind of decks normally contain a lot of card draw. (examples:Miracle Rogue,Patron Warrior,OTK Warrior,OTK Priest,combo renolock(with leeroy),freeze mage) Blizzard generally tries to nerf this category as seen in the arcane golem nerf and leeroy.
Control aims to exhaust the opponent's resources they run very few minions and a lot of efficient removal spells the general example are control priest and control warrior, now control paladin is popular as well.. Those decks generally also run a win condition big threat like grommash hellscream,elise starseeker, N'zoth, C'thun..
I generally discern between deck types by when that deck peaks. Aggro decks peak from turn 1-7. Fast aggro decks, like Face Hunter and Shaman peak early while slower aggro decks like Zoo and Tempo Mage peak later. Midrange decks would then peak from turns 8-13, and basically try to get lethal then. Control decks peak after turn 14 and try to last through the barrage.
Another way is to, with your deck, prioritize which advantage you care about the most between Health advantage, board advantage, and card advantage. Control match ups will care about card advantage above all, and midrange/aggro will care more about board and health depending on how aggressive they are.
An aggressive deck usually intends to take the board as early as possible, usually using granular minions, sometimes spells as in the case of Shaman. Contrary to popular belief an aggressive deck doesn't necessarily have to only focus on going face, as is seen with Zoo. Zoo is an aggressive deck as it takes advantage of granular minions to take the board and this early board advantage will often allow the Zoo deck to push lots of face damage while, at the same time, getting rid of your opponents minions with effective trades and minion buffs.
The main difference between different kinds of archetypes isn't what they attack with their minions or even what turn they end the game. Face Shaman after all, can often times win the game LONG past turn 10 because of how much burn that deck runs. The real thing that distinguishes different kinds of decks is at what point of the game they try to put themselves in an advantageous position. Aggressive decks like Zoo, Face Hunter, Secret Paladin and Face Shaman are aggressive because they try to take the game as early as possible with cards like Flame Imp, Leper Gnome, Secretkeeper and Tunnel Trogg and keep up their board advantage until they can win.
By extension, most midrange decks use generally try to get in a position where they are "winning" by turns 3-6. They usually do that with really cost-effective minions like Piloted Shredder, Truesilver Champion and Savannah Highmane. Variation in Midrange decks is a bit bigger than in aggressive decks because most decks have very different ways of playing midrange.
Tempo decks are much more defined in their abuse of tempo mechanics, using cheap cards that let you kill your opponent's board while at the same time developing your own. This is most obviously seen in the form of Weapons, allowing you to sacrifice health to kill a minion and develop a board, and cards like Flamewaker which are much more obvious.
Control decks aren't necessarily losing in the early game but rather not "winning" in the sense that they aren't trying to end the game until very late. Control Warrior for example is able to stay in a strong position in the mid and early game due to their use of removal and the previously stated weapons to fend off assault from other decks. Some Control decks close the game with a combo like Freeze Mage, some with late game threats like Ramp Druid, some with fatigue and so on.