Hearthpwn

This card looks pretty good from a handbuff Paladin perspective.  Helps with the aggro matchups and is passable with buffs in other situations.  Main concern is that it would be a bit too ineffectual in matchups such as Jade Druid.  But still probably my favorite card revealed thus far.

I am also cautiously optimistic thus far.  I quite like a few of the cards that have been revealed, but with only a small slice can't make any overall predictions yet.  But the inclusion of the legendary quest mechanics seems to indicate they want things a smidgen slower.

Quote from Paeter27 >>

 So it doesn't nullifie jade battlecrys?

I want to ask: what is your mulligan?  I say this because Jade Druid and Renolock have the same general strategy for me: mulligan hard for cycling minions and hand buffs (and keep a way to deal with the first big threat out of Renolock).   Both of those matchups are all about tempo and just throwing obnoxious little minions onto the board for the first few turns is immensely helpful, because it forces them to deal rather than just tap/ramp freely.   

Quote from blackfyre14 >>

 I agree with this.  Finja has gotten old fast...it's super swingy, and the high roll potential has it in decks where it shouldn't belong.  But this just feels like Arcane Giant or Barnes all over again...not the best design but not broken.

Okay, I've had some time to play with this deck using a slightly modified version (one Argent Squire for Leeroy Jenkins).  This is climbing in the 15-10 bracket, so take this as you will.  My record so far:

• Have had zero Paladin/Mage/Hunter matches
• 4-2 against Priest, mixture of Dragon and Reno.  Shadow Word: Pain is public enemy #1, and they always seem to have it for buffed Acolyte of Pains.  Mostly, though, this is a very fun match up where you often ask whether you want to buff certain cards to avoid Shadow Word: Death.  Slow openings on both sides tend to favor you.
• 3-3 against Warrior, all pure pirate.  Comes down mostly to opening hand and whether they get their explosive opening.  Considering the frequency of this deck I'm thinking an Acidic Swamp Ooze is in order.
• 3-0 against Druid, all Jade.  However, I had very good opening hands in all these games, so I don't trust this sample size.  But it does tell me that with  good opening hand this deck does very well, because you have so many throw-away cycle minions they have to deal with.  Doppelgangster is game-winning against Druid.
• 3-0 against Shaman, all Jade.  The slower pace of midJade over aggro favors you once again.  However, none of my opponents got those annoying early Brann Bronzebeard into Jade Claws combos, and one of my games I should have lost but my opponent played horribly into a board clear ("Hrm...my opponent Ivory Knighted for 6...what could he have have in his hand...it couldn't be Enter the Coliseum...I'll just flood the board with jades.")
• 1-3 against Rogue, Miracle and Water with the one win being against Jade Rogue.  Rogue destroys handbuff Paladin in the most disgusting way.  Your only hope is an on-curve buffed Doppelgangster.  Everything else just gets Sap'd or cheaply removed.
• 1-0 Warlock, Reno.  Obviously not much to say here with only one game.

All told comparing how my opponents were playing and the capacities of this deck I'm not optimistic that this deck will be some hidden jewel top-tier deck, but it's definitely better than previous entries I think as an average-solid player I can pilot it to at least 5.

After getting a round of games under my belt with this deck, I've got 50/50 against Pirate Warrior so far.

• If they get their best opening you will generally lose and you just have to accept it
• If they get a mediocre opening and you get a good opening you can hold your own and it comes down to whether they get enough weapon buffs to sustain their damage
• If both of you get a bad opening the game usually goes to you because you have several sizable taunts from the mid game on

I will say, though, that the changes to Pirate Warrior since the patch favor this deck.  The nerf from 2 to 1 health on Small-Time Buccaneer had no effect on Paladins; you're just as helpless to deal 1 damage as you are 2.  But the fact that most decks stopped running it in favor of more midrange cards is a huge boon, because minions like Naga Corsair are much more vulnerable to Aldor Peacekeeper and other Paladin tools.

Currently I'm looking for a good place to swap in an Acidic Swamp Ooze.  While sometimes you can shut down their weapons with taunts, there's nothing like simply removing the weapon in the first place.

The main reason I don't like that swap is because it devalues cards like Doppelgangster.  Let me explain:

Generally when you build decks like this your goal is to load them up with "good" cards that become "great" with buffs (such as Acolyte of Pain or Argent Horserider).  Running cards that are "bad" but can become "good" with buffs is a very risky proposition, because it requires that you have both pieces in hand to make it work.  Doppelgangster's downfall has been that it needs several cards in hand at the right times to work: it takes 2+ buffs to make it a force to be reckoned with.

Therefore, in order to fuel and support cards like Doppelgangster you need to have a significant amount of cycle so that you can reliably have the parts in hand at the same time.  (This is also on top of simply wanting to maintain a large hand size for buffing.)

"Once I'm outnumbered I can't get the board back."

That is the anthem of the handbuff Paladin, and why it struggles as an archetype.  Your only hope in those circumstances is a giant taunt that they have no removal for, forcing multiple trades.  It's why Rogue utterly annihilates handbuff Paladin: they have ample removal for small minions and Sap for big ones, and easily out-tempo you at every turn. 

There is no pointer here: if you lose the board too hard with these types of decks, you just lose the game.  It's like midrange Hunter, except without Call of the Wild or N'Zoth, the Corruptor as come back options.

Edit: the one success I've had for come back tempo and Rogues is Finja, the Flying Star.  As has been recently demonstrated the murloc package is efficient for regaining the board and can be flat out game-winning on turn 5.  Looking at this deck, I'm not sure where you'd find room for it though.

I'm not the deck author obviously, but I can answer that question:

Tirion Fordring is at the lowest point of viability in the history of Hearthstone.  Even with Shaman numbers dropping off, there are too many Hex/Polymorph effects running around.  And even if he manages to dodge those, Acidic Swamp Ooze is the #1 tech card due to Pirate Warrior.  Beyond this, he has no synergy with handbuffs: a 7/7 or 8/8 Tirion Fordring is not much better than a 6/6, especially since he's a hard removal magnet.  I would run Ragnaros, Lightlord before Tirion Fordring for the guaranteed heal.

I want to second this.  I have tried all manner of handbuff decks these last few months with varying success.  While I'm still at low ranks, I'm noticing that this deck definitely flows better than any other version I have played.  Also doing the same with the Argent Squire -> Leeroy Jenkins swap.

Quote from Komorebi3 >>

We found the Blizzard employee.

Quote from jainaishot >>

 He is right though.Patron era was one of the best since the only decks that could stop consistently patron were handlock,oil rogue and control warrior.Handlock and oil rogue had a high skillcap and control warrior at the time while  it was easy to play, it had a high skill celling.So it is possible to balance high skill-high win decks.Also the good thing with those decks is that don't overrun the meta.Even at the peak of patrons power,all 4 tier 1 decks were about only 60% of the ladder(blizz's stat,i am too lazy to search the old link) simply because they weren't noob friendly decks.So many players played face and midhunter,combo druid and other medium/low skill intesive decks.Well we can't same the same now can't we?

Quote from Hooghout>>

Now the objections.

1. high-skill-high-windecks will dominate the meta. That is simply not true if you balance that with other high skill decks. Now low skill decks are balancing each other. Saying that is impossible or hard is not an argument. 

Dismissing somebody's argument by saying it's not an argument isn't an argument...

However, I don't want to drag the same argument we've already consumed another thread with here.  I just want to point out that ignoring a position isn't the same as disproving it.

I've run into a few at lower ranks as I've messed around.  My guess is that possibly it's a combination of: a) Not losing ranks so you can mess around more, b) Post-nerf hopes that maybe other decks will work, c) Just bored with playing MSoG decks.  

C'thun's a decent and pretty cheap deck, although completely outclassed by MSoG decks in nearly every category.