Even Warlock Deck Guide – Boomsday – August 2018

Our Even Warlock deck guide takes a look at this popular archetype that was in the top of the meta during The Witchwood, and seeks to stay there during The Boomsday Project. Our guide features a mulligan guide, play strategy, card substitutions, deck win-rates, and goes through the ins-and-outs of slow and aggressive matchups!

Introduction to Even Handlock

Handlock. Now that’s a blast from the past. Once upon a time, Handlock was one of the dominant decks in Hearthstone, but it had not been seen for a while prior to The Witchwood.

Handlock got its name from the huge hand size it maintained for cards that benefited from having other cards in hand, Twilight Drake and Mountain Giant. Because the Warlock Hero Power trades Health for cards, it was also natural for Handlock to use cards that benefit from losing Health, especially Molten Giant. Opponents needed to plan carefully when to lower the Health of a Handlock, because once you got them low, the swing of Molten Giants and either Defender of Argus or Sunfury Protector meant that next you would be facing a huge Taunt wall through which you could not finish off the Warlock, and those Giants would promptly proceed to smack you in the face.

The downfall of Handlock came from two sources. The obvious one was the nerf to make Molten Giant cost 25, which was later reverted when Molten Giant was moved to the Hall of Fame and removed from Standard format. The second source was the increased power level of the game itself: toying with your life total is risky business if many of the meta decks are able to burst you down from 15 Health or more.

However, now we are at the start of a new Standard rotation, and the overall power level of the game is lower than it has been for a while. Molten Giant is no longer around, but Hooked Reaver is somewhat of a replacement. Still, what can Handlock possibly offer in the world of Control and Cube Warlocks?

The answer is Genn Greymane and turn three Mountain Giants (when on the coin)! The defining feature of Even Handlock is that it is the fastest deck to play big minions, and while that may not be enough to prosper, it is definitely an ability worth paying attention to. Even Handlock also makes good use of the classic Taunt-providing cards, which makes it feel like Handlock, even though it is not quite the same deck anymore.

Update – The Boomsday Project

We’ve listed a popular version of Even Warlock below, we’ll be updating the guide soon!

Deck List

Deck Import

Even Warlock (Handlock) Card Choices

At the very core of Handlock is the threat and Taunt package. You want big minions on the board, and you want them to have Taunt if needed:

  • Mountain Giant – The main threat of the deck, coming to a board near you as early as turn three.
  • Twilight Drake – The secondary early-game big minion.
  • Hooked Reaver – Swing-providing four-mana 7/7 Taunt, when your Health gets low. Sometimes a plain 4/4 for tempo.
  • Sunfury Protector – Cheap minion that gives Taunt.
  • The Lich King is kind of the odd one here, but it is a core card. It comes down a little later than the others, but it is a big Taunt minion with an upside, and the deck needs enough big minions to keep applying pressure. In the current card pool, there are no serious alternatives to the King.
  • Bloodreaver Gul'dan – Bloodreaver Gul’dan is a big late game tempo push, usually made to close out the game quickly. While you sacrifice the cheaper Hero Power, you get a new, powerful one instead and you re-summon all your Demons. With a few threats on the board and a great Hero Power, you want to close out the game quickly, before running out of steam. Alternatively, it’s also a great defensive option vs Aggro if you survive that long.

Another package that you need is the removal package. All of Warlock’s good removal pieces are even-cost cards, so there are plenty of options to choose from.

The core removal package:

  • Defile – Key early-game removal piece, especially great against Paladin.
  • Hellfire – Flexible removal piece that also provides some reach through face damage.
  • Lesser Amethyst Spellstone – Removal, and a lot of it when buffed, together with healing.

These removal pieces are simply too good not to include and form the basis of your control capabilities.

Next we arrive at a more controversial territory. Choices need to be made, as there is not enough room for everything.

The optional removal pieces:

  • Drain Soul – Early-game removal and some healing. Especially good in Face Hunter / Odd Rogue type of meta.
  • Shadowflame – Removal piece that can be used to clear Taunt walls, so it can also be used while on the offense. Effective use requires including Ancient Watcher in the deck as well, old-school Handlock style.
  • Siphon Soul – Powerful single-target hard removal. Snipes away Taunts or big threats.
  • Twisting Nether – Full board clear. Unfortunately, also wipes your own board, and you’re playing a proactive deck that relies on minions for damage, so you don’t really want to do that.

There are another two core cards left:

  • Genn Greymane – Needed to reduce the cost of the Hero Power. Also a reasonable threat itself, even if it is nothing special.
  • Shroom Brewer – Seriously, this card is incredibly important for the archetype. Not only can it be used to heal your Hero, but it can also be used to heal your major threats, preventing the opponent from removing them as easily. Healing a Mountain Giant with Shroom Brewer is perfectly fine.

After the threats, removal pieces, and other core cards are in the deck, all that remains is to fill up the list with some more defensive tools and tech cards.

Defensive and tech toolkit:

Even Warlock (Handlock) Mulligan Strategy & Guide

You really want to find your early threats. Even in the matchups where you are on the defense, you need to turn things around and start hitting face with big minions, you cannot stall indefinitely. Look for the appropriate removal pieces, but do not ignore the importance of your big minions.

VS Fast Decks

Higher Priority (Keep every time)

  • Mountain Giant – Your main game-winning tool.
  • Defile or Hellfire – Your main board clears. You keep one or the other depending on the matchup – if your opponent will likely have a 1-health minion to start the chain, Defile is better. On the other hand, against decks with 2-3 health early game minions, Hellfire is better.
  • Doomsayer – Good Turn 2 or 3 play vs Aggro – at worst it baits the Silence or heals you for 7, at best it clears the board and stalls your opponent for a whole turn.
  • Vulgar Homunculus – Early-game Taunt minion + it can potentially upgrade your Spellstone.
  • Plated Beetle – Another solid 2-drop with healing potential.

Lower Priority (Keep only if certain conditions are met)

  • Sunfury Protector – Keep if you have a big minion to Taunt up.
  • Twilight Drake – Your secondary big minion, not needed against fast decks if you have a Giant already.
  • Lesser Amethyst Spellstone – With Homunculus. It’s not great without upgrading, but even at 5 damage/healing it’s already very efficient for 4 mana.
  • Shroom Brewer – Against decks that will want to rush you down and have a lot of burn damage, such as Tempo Mage.

VS Slow Decks

Higher Priority (Keep every time)

  • Mountain Giant – Your main game-winning tool.
  • Twilight Drake – Your secondary big minion. Against slow decks, you keep as many Giants and Drakes as you can find – you pretty much hard mulligan for those.

Lower Priority (Keep only if certain conditions are met)

Even Warlock (Handlock) Win Rates

Winrate stats are currently unavailable for this deck at the moment!

Even Warlock (Handlock) Play Strategy

Even Handlock is not a fatigue deck. Do not be fooled by the control cards in the deck. This is a deck that wants to win games by being active and hitting the opponent in the face with huge minions. No matter the matchup, that is your ultimate goal.

When you’re on the coin, you can play Mountain Giant as early as turn three: Hero Power on turn one, Hero Power on turn two, play Mountain Giant on turn three or optionally coin Twilight Drake on turn three.

When you’re on the play, you can play Mountain Giant on turn four: Hero Power on turn one, Hero Power on turn two, Hero Power and play a two-cost card on turn three, and either Hero Power and play Mountain Giant on turn four or play Twilight Drake on turn four.

This early-game power makes all the difference and is the reason to play Even Handlock in the first place. Even though you do not get to play Mountain Giant until turn four when you’re on the play, the same as other decks, the cheaper Hero Power allows you to weave in a two-drop (such as Doomsayer, which can set up the board really nicely for the Giant) on turn three without compromising your ability to play the Giant.

Once you have your big minions on the board, you can Taunt them up with Sunfury Protector – or you can Taunt up other minions to prevent the opponent from hitting back at your big ones. You can also heal them up with Shroom Brewer to keep them out of reach of the opponent’s removal.

VS Aggro Decks

In the current meta, aggressive decks do not run out of steam easily. You need a plan on how to take the fight to them. Sometimes, the Mountain Giant plan works: you rush for your Giant, clear the board afterwards, and proceed to hit them in the face and Taunt up your big minion (also doable with Twilight Drake to an extent) or play a buffed-up Hooked Reaver to take the heat.

However, sometimes the pressure is too much to get to that Giant and you need to improvise an alternative game plan where you do not tap as much. DefilePlated BeetleDoomsayer and Vulgar Homunculus are often the cornerstones of the alternative early game, where you focus on stabilizing without the big minions and look for a swing a little later in the game. Hooked Reaver can be that swing card if you drop to 15 health or below.

Pay close attention to your Health total and the opponent’s expected reach. Especially Leeroy Jenkins can be scary if you have no Taunt minions up, even more so in combination with something like Cold Blood. Odd Paladins want to Level Up! their Silver Hand Recruits, and Tempo Mages have a lot of reach in form of Frostbolts, Fireballs and even a Pyroblast. Silence effects are also common in the meta, so don’t bank on a big Taunt to always save you.

Heal as needed, but if you have a Hooked Reaver available, it may be desirable to temporarily dip to under 15 Health to play it, and heal up afterwards.

VS Control Decks

Against slow decks, you want to tap, tap, and tap at the start. You do not have to worry about your life total, your worst fear is not finding Mountain Giant early. Get big early and protect and heal your big minions so that they can push damage. You need to self-inflict damage to get Hooked Reaver buffed up, but sometimes it can also get the job done as a 4/4, adding a bit more power to your push.

Play around the opponent’s key removal pieces, such as Swipe and Hellfire by healing your minions. Avoid going too wide into a Psychic Scream or Brawl and keep track of which minions return to your hand and which ones die if the opponent plays Vanish. On the other hand, against opponents with individual removal but no board clears, go for multiple big minions at once.

You are the beatdown. You will inevitably lose a long game, but try to prevent the game from going long in the first place. Spellbreaker is your friend against Taunt minions, use it.

Bloodreaver Gul'dan is often the final swing you need. If you know that you want to play it soon, prioritize some Demons. Even if Hooked Reaver is still a 4/4, for example, drop it just so it will die and you will get it back – it’s worth it. Also, try to bait an AoE board clear right before your Gul’dan turn. Play 3-4 minions on the board. If your opponent has no AoE, great, you deal a lot of damage and don’t play Gul’dan. And if he does – you get a refill and hopefully he has no other way to clear it. Use your Hero Power every single turn after playing him – either to clear minions and protect your own board (especially if your opponent still has lots of health), or use it to deal 3 damage per turn and put them on the clock (especially useful if your opponent is low on health and/or has limited life gain).

Even Warlock (Handlock) Card Substitutions

At around 7,000-10,000 Dust (depending on the list), Even Handlock is a medium-high cost deck. Sadly, it can’t be made much cheaper, as the core of the deck is quite expensive. Here are the Epic & Legendary cards with potential replacements, although don’t expect to cut that much from the cost:

  • Genn Greymane – Obviously, the main card in your deck – if you don’t have Genn, try out a regular Handlock (although it’s not that strong) or a Control Warlock instead.
  • The Lich King – Not exactly a necessary core card, but it’s one of the best Even late game threats you can use. You can try out a Primordial Drake instead if you face lots of board flood decks, or Argent Commander if you’re playing beatdown more often. Alternatively, Bonemare is also an option, it’s not optimal, but gets some extra points thanks to the surprise factor.
  • Bloodreaver Gul'dan – I feel like in the current form of the deck, Bloodreaver Gul’dan is a must. While Mountain Giants and such are still your main win condition, if you get into the late game, you might need that final tempo push DK Gul’dan provides. On top of that, it’s often a life-saved against Aggro – it gives you LOTS of healing and extra removals in the long run thanks to the Hero Power.
  • Doomsayer – It’s a good card, but not 100% neecssary. Even though at this point everyone should have it in their collections, you could replace it with Drain SoulBloodmage Thalnos or Tainted Zealot.
  • Mountain Giant – Probably the most important card in the deck after Genn himself, your main win condition. Can’t be replaced.

Old Guardian

Ville "Old Guardian" Kilkku is a writer and video creator focused on analytic, educational Hearthstone, and building innovative Standard format decks. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OldGuardian Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/old_guardian

Check out Old Guardian on Twitter or on their Website!

Leave a Reply

112 Comments

Discuss This Deck
  1. MrStrategy
    August 8, 2018 at 2:28 pm

    Is demonic project only good ’cause if your opponent doesn’t play warlock and bloodreaver gul’dan himself you will be able to resummon the demon and he won’t? Or is there another good reason to play this card?

    • schezpo
      August 8, 2018 at 7:12 pm

      break combo card for exemple like Mecha tun, Malygos etc

  2. Yes
    August 7, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    Got from rank 18 to rank 7 with a slightly modified version of this deck. Great deck 10/10 would play again.

  3. Mellony
    August 6, 2018 at 9:39 am

    Worst deck ever. I lost several games at rank 15

  4. Decker
    July 30, 2018 at 8:16 am

    Maybe it’s just my bad luck, but in last two weeks I keep loosing with this deck more and more. I fail to see, how this deck could be viable ATM of meta. Hearthstone is now full of very powerful board removals and stale cards so if you can’t build your board quick and refill it when wiped, then what’s the point?

    This deck is rather slow since you can put your first real threat around turn 4 usualy (or later if drawn poorly) and after it’s removed or staled (in most cases it is) you’re pretty much done. There’s no way to refill or catch up, because you have no real late game except maybe Gul’Dan as a finisher.

    3 weeks ago or so I was facing mostly aggro paladins and deck was doing fine. Now, most of my games (90% I would say) is Shudderwock Shaman, Control Priest, Big Mage, Tempo Mage, Miracle Rogue, Quest Rogue etc. How am I suppose to beat them if they have more removals then I have threats in my deck?!

    Sometimes they draw poorly and don’t have no answer to my fat minions. Yet in most cases they do have answers and around turn 7-8 I’m out of steam.

    Any advice?

  5. Callun
    July 21, 2018 at 3:10 am

    Deck is absolute garbage. Honestly, if you’re not an ex.cube lock net-decking to save dust, do not craft this time. It is not tier 1, not even close.

    • Mzk
      July 22, 2018 at 1:56 am

      Honestly if you can’t play the damn deck, just stick to your ME SMART ME SMORC BS.
      It’s definitely t1, I climbed r5-legend with 40-1, it’s played by pros on high legend and tournaments

      • Lol
        July 26, 2018 at 7:27 pm

        This deck is also smork you play big minions and smack them whoop dee doo. And if 40-1 is win vs loss than that’s complete b’s. Cubelock requires practice and mastery.So I don’t know why you hating on it.Lol

        • BAM
          August 6, 2018 at 10:13 am

          You’re a clown… Firstly this deck is sadly probably one of the best atm because it’s got very little rng, which means if you lose it’s a bad match up or you’re just bad. This deck is easily at the stop people actually swept people in tournaments with this deck which is pretty hard!

  6. Ryder M. Douglas
    July 14, 2018 at 12:20 pm

    i haven’t won a game with this deck in the last week. i was one win away from rank 10 and now i’ve fallen to 13. it’s the strongest deck in the game, so obviously the blame is on me. but i don’t understand what i’m doing wrong or how to get results. it seems like the deck’s gameplan is so easy to play around. save hard removal for giants, and so many other minions are vulnerable to silence. can someone help me out here? what am i missing?

    • Genos
      July 16, 2018 at 7:35 am

      Know what you mean. Every game i have the giant in turn 3 or 4 it gets removed instantly. Most games with this deck i win without playing 1 giant or twilight drake. I often win when i keep the removal cards right in the opening hand. if you face aggro its all about board control and every other deck you just have to rush the enemy down. Playing guldan in the right moment is super important. Playing him as early as yoi can even without resurrected demons is often a good idea. Maybe his helps you already^^ Im 38-18 right now from Rank 15 to 8.

  7. TrungNguyen
    July 3, 2018 at 5:57 am

    How important is the warlock dk? It’s the only card that i’m missing

    • SEBO23
      July 6, 2018 at 12:55 pm

      It’s your late super power play, if you didn’t close the game till turn 10 and it’s a must in mirror match. Still you can play this deck without it, but you must be more aggro oriented.

      • TrungNguyen
        July 6, 2018 at 8:23 pm

        Ok! Thanks for the reply!

    • Stef
      July 13, 2018 at 12:41 pm

      you should craft it, it is one of the best cards overall in the game

  8. Pez
    June 26, 2018 at 9:14 pm

    i get wrecked by mages all the time. 2 x sheep. 2 x meteor. 2 x voodoo dolls. They just counter every big minion i play. At rank 5 there seem to be so many damn mages.

    • Hoi
      July 20, 2018 at 5:59 am

      Add some argent protectors to your deck, it will make your winrate a lot better vs mage.

  9. ShameLiar
    June 25, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    Tips against shudderwock shaman?

    • MrStrategy
      July 24, 2018 at 4:24 am

      Playing against Shudderwock shaman is always a question of luck with this deck. I’d suggest a hyper aggressive approach: hitting the ennemy hero as much as possible for maximum pressure and only kill his minions if your own life is seriously under threat. Try to win the game before he gets to play shudderwock. I have about 50% winrates against shudderwock shaman by doing this.

  10. Kaynen
    June 21, 2018 at 4:51 am

    I came here to answer a copy cats question. “Why do I lose when the stats say I should win most”
    Sites like this are nice. I come here to see what everyone will play since no one plays any original decks.

    All same exact cards all same hero’s that people say are top tier. Boring….Its basically playing the AI thats how may copy decks. pretty sad.

    Good players make decks to counter the most copied decks. That’s why most of you lose. We know exactly what deck your playing soon as we see what hero the opponent is.
    You ever play me on my mage and the first thing I do is say “amazing” Im saying nice copy deck.

    • Amazing
      June 21, 2018 at 3:23 pm

      So you’re saying that your a d-bag for people using other decks that you think are coppied but jumping to a conclusion about a copied deck. Neat.
      Also most people that lose with these decks dont take the time to read up to trully understand how they are meant to be played and that is why they lose.
      The stats on hsreplay say otherwise to you saying you countering them all. So continue to say “amazing” against someone that actually knows how to use these decks and you will find out why they are a 54% win rate. Good players use these decks and they are crafted by the good players. Good luck to you with your attitude.
      Signed -“Amazing:”

    • Wow
      June 22, 2018 at 6:43 pm

      And what deck do you play? Before you start trash talking

    • Trash
      June 22, 2018 at 7:35 pm

      1. Tempo Mage
      2. Spamming emotes

      Guess what are you?

    • Korovyov6
      June 23, 2018 at 1:25 pm

      Thanks for stopping by and being a douche?

    • ScrewTheMeta
      June 26, 2018 at 7:50 am

      Mage got all the good emotes. Their So tilting ESPECIALLY in Arena. Anyone who gets smart with emotes after having cavern dreamer on the board for 5 turns should be put down. That card is hilariously op

  11. Redblue
    June 19, 2018 at 9:47 am

    Is there a general strategy against hunters? I can’t beat any of their decks 🙁

    • 8BitBrain
      June 19, 2018 at 11:11 am

      For aggro hunter decks Try to always guess their possible burn damage, 2 kill command, unleash, bow, Leeroy, etc. Contesting their plays early on is the only way to win; so Sunfury turn two may be the best play. Against big hunter, you have to maximize face damage and try to save hard removal for when you need it (against lich king or witchwood grizzly)

      • Redblue
        June 21, 2018 at 7:35 pm

        Thanks. Counting their burst damage has actually helped a lot (should have figured that on my own, but i kind of suck at the game).
        Recruit hunter is a different story though. My winrate against that one is abysmal.

        • Macaroon
          June 25, 2018 at 2:00 pm

          I would recommend teching in the black knight and skulking gheist if you have them, good at stopping playdeads from hunter and naturalize/spellstone from druid. Black knight can easily get through hunter’s 3/12 taunts and druid’s sleepy dragons and primordial drakes.

  12. Balmain
    June 16, 2018 at 9:25 am

    Mmmmh… how do you beat taunt druid with this deck ? :/ I dont get it

    • Asperkraken
      June 18, 2018 at 5:33 am

      Skulking Geist is a good tech that eradicates Witching Hour. If you do this and Silence the Hadronox you break it.

      • alikungman3
        June 18, 2018 at 4:13 pm

        isn’t witching hour 2 mana ??

        • Asperkraken
          June 19, 2018 at 9:20 am

          Bloody hellfire. I meant Naturalize. Witching Hour is three. Then Silence the HAdronox. Most decks run Silence. I Should sleep sometimes.

        • JB
          June 20, 2018 at 6:55 am

          Witching is 3 mana i think but geist is still a good tech. Naturalize is gone and all you have to do is hold your silence for Dox since they can’t play and kill him in the same turn.

    • 8BitBrain
      June 19, 2018 at 11:13 am

      Rush face and try to bait out naturalize (or skulking giest them). Then you have to try to maximize stats before they hadronox.

  13. Ich
    June 16, 2018 at 3:39 am

    Worst deck ever. Gets rushed by EVERY aggro deck so easily. Crap deck.

    • Filex
      June 17, 2018 at 8:28 am

      Rank?

    • DefNotLuke
      June 18, 2018 at 3:51 am

      Literally beats every aggro deck mate. You’re not playing it right.

      • alikungman3
        June 18, 2018 at 3:51 pm

        hmm…. odd rouge im really struggling hard against this deck any tips ?

        • 8BitBrain
          June 19, 2018 at 11:14 am

          Contest the board early and try to guess when they’ll have burn damage or bad plays. Also try to save reaver till the end so you can guarantee victory.

  14. Zenon
    June 14, 2018 at 8:47 am

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSZTqMtxiD8&t=224s

    Hi Guys, Zenon here. In this video, I showcase myself playing at Rank 5 using Evenlock. I think that it’s a really fun and interesting deck to play and it’s a really great deck to use if you want to climb the ranked ladder.

  15. Mindware
    June 14, 2018 at 6:28 am

    I’d say the flex slot is 1 of the Spellbreakers and possibly the Acidic Ooze (though Ooze is more important). Spellbreakers is excellent for taunts, cubelock, or unfreezing Giants (e.g. vs. mage or shaman). But good tech alternatives for the 1 are Black Knight or Mossy Horror. Mossy is especially good if you sub the Ooze for Curse of Weakness.

  16. TonTon
    June 9, 2018 at 12:30 pm

    Am using a variation of the deck with the Glinda/ Meat Wagon package. Quite funny and decent win rates ( have to now some hard match ups with other warlocks and spell hunter)

    Here the list am working with atm:

    Defile*2
    Gnomeferatu*2
    Vulgar Homunculus*2
    Sunfury protector*2
    Baleful banker*1
    Hellfire*2
    Hooked reaver*2
    Lesser amethyst Spellstone*2
    Summoning Portal*2
    Meat Wagon*2
    Spellbreaker*1
    Glinda
    Dread Infernal *2
    Genn
    Lich King
    Gul’dan
    Sea Giant*2
    Mountain Giant*2

    • Poshakitoo
      July 17, 2018 at 2:06 pm

      You should do it on the deck editor of the site. I don’t see how or when to use some of those cards, and some explanation would be nice 🙂 (sry bad english)

  17. Ozymandias
    June 8, 2018 at 7:44 am

    Fell from rank 5 to rank 10 using this deck… Does anyone have some video guide for this deck because I suck with it?

    • PrinsMaurits
      June 8, 2018 at 3:25 pm

      That’s not even possible…

    • SupHypUlt
      June 8, 2018 at 7:43 pm

      You’re jokingly right. No one goes back to 10 after reaching 5

      • WildRage
        June 9, 2018 at 9:01 am

        He was probably rank 6 but said 5 to overcompensate, failing to realize it’s impossible to fall from rank 5

        • Ozymandias
          June 10, 2018 at 3:56 am

          It was a typo. Anyway, I’m having a really hard time playing this, can anyone give some advice or recommend any videos? Would mean a lot.

          • PotOfDuality
            June 10, 2018 at 11:02 pm

            I have played it since Naxx. The main thing that improved my play with it is getting a better idea of who you can and can’t prioritize with with, and when to. Also knowing when to ditch the Giant/Drake on 4 plan and go for securing a 2-drop and removal instead.

    • Jameson le
      June 11, 2018 at 2:59 am

      You can fall pass 5 to 10 Lol kid prob never go pass 20

  18. ZeroHedge
    June 8, 2018 at 6:53 am

    I like zealot for -1 protector. Running Geist currently, thinking about including Twisting Nether — curious to see how many of you running this deck have Nether included, and if so, the results thus far?

    • Elzein
      June 9, 2018 at 10:31 am

      Geist is nice, but I only seem to get value out of it vs Druid. Is zealot really worth it? I would like to try it. I don’t run Twisting Neather, but I did add a copy of Siphon Soul (for removing big late minions) and a Saronite Chaingang (better than sunfury, imo).

  19. Gjimi
    June 7, 2018 at 11:08 pm

    This deck is a lot of fun. Every matchup is different, sometimes you have to go control then next you have to play with a more aggressive approach.

    I swapped out x1 Doomsayer for x1 Tainted Zealot. Also swapped out the x2 Sunfury Protector for x2 Saronite Chain Gang.

    So far 11-6 so not too bad.

  20. Bobbeck
    June 7, 2018 at 11:12 am

    I got legend with a very similar deck in April and didn’t meet one other even warlock when climbing. Why are people only catching up two months later?

    • benzobox
      June 30, 2018 at 10:27 pm

      because cubelock got nerfed

  21. DestinyXXX
    June 2, 2018 at 9:34 pm

    Confirmed, without free molten giants 2 copies of saronite chain gang work a lot better than sunfury protector!

  22. CookieMan
    June 1, 2018 at 6:40 am

    Im not experienced with the handlock type of deck but it sure seems strong. Happy to get some feedback on the games (im sure as hell i misplay alot)!

    https://youtu.be/p2St8tUDDOA

  23. Matt Thrower
    June 1, 2018 at 3:41 am

    Switched to this deck for this month’s play and really been enjoying it so far. It’s super flexible and demands some interesting judgement calls on health vs tempo when you’re playing.

    I’ve found two minor issues with it: there’s not enough self-damage to pump the Spellstones, and the Doomsayers have – so far – been next to useless. When pushing out early high-health minions is a key point of play, Doomsayer can often be problematic.

    I’m tempted to try replacing them with Pit Lords, but I suspect that whopping five points of pain is too much when you’re constantly spamming the hero power. Drain Soul might be worthwhile too, but it still leaves you with the Spellstone problem.

    • Necroaura
      June 3, 2018 at 1:36 pm

      I found that 1 Doomsayer and then any card of preference works for that issue(keep in mind 2 doomsayers worked for high legend), but even though the self-damage pack might not seen like enough and you sometimes only end up using a 4 mana 5 damage, it still heavily increases your aggro matchup, and in the longer games where you do get to fully upgrade, it does come into play quite nicely.

  24. HSPal
    June 1, 2018 at 3:02 am

    A few words about this deck: Just picked this up today,after disenchanting my good old cubelock because of the nerfs that came. I wanted to change the deck too,so I found this to be a great alternative,and I was positively surprised.
    Considering how many cards you draw,this deck really puts your skills to test to determine with one is the best in each situation.Very fun and skill testing. Also,this deck,played correctly is very solid and interesting,allowing yourself to adapt to any matchup you have. I’m definetely not saying that I have reached that level of skill yet,and I am nowhere near,but even as a new player on this I am having succes,maybe because I’m used to playing Warlock.
    Some tips from the ones that want to craft this deck: try not to miss on ANY card. They all have an impact,and one single missing card can mess up your game,they’re all in this deck for a reason.
    Author,good job,I am having a hell of a blast,even tho I can say I am at an EVEN (get that? even? like the deck title? man I’m so funny) winrate (8-8). I definetely reccomend this deck if you’re up for a challange and tiered of autopiloted decks like Spiteful or Odd Paladin.
    Good luck and have fun!

  25. Luke
    May 31, 2018 at 7:33 am

    Deck is honestly not that great. It’s a good deck, but it’s not top tier. Not even close.

  26. PotatoOG
    May 30, 2018 at 2:42 pm

    Just played a variant of this deck running skulking geist. Highly suggest adding it in replace of something because it won him the game against my ID rogue.

  27. MrMeme
    May 30, 2018 at 10:12 am

    Replacement for Mountain Giant, Twilight Drake and Genn Greymane?

    Kappa

    • GarrysModRod
      May 31, 2018 at 3:52 pm

      Yeah, it’s called play another deck.

  28. DestinyXXX
    May 28, 2018 at 10:13 am

    Drain Soul is way better than Plated Beetle and The Black Knight is a must (better than Ooze as tech). Saronite Chain Gang could also be better than Sunfury Protector (Hooked Reaver is not Molten Giant; it already has taunt of its own).

    • Meowtastic
      May 29, 2018 at 11:48 am

      I did do as you said and added Drain Soul instead of Plated Beetle, I find that to be better aswell 🙂

  29. MrMeme
    May 28, 2018 at 4:34 am

    Why no Rin?

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      May 28, 2018 at 5:36 am

      She’s not a bad option, but the main problem is that she doesn’t really fit the deck’s game plan. This is no a slow, control deck – it’s a beatdown deck. You usually want to kill your opponent as quickly as you can by putting constant pressure. Playing a 6 mana 3/6 and then 5 mana 2/2, 5 mana 3/3 and a 5 mana 4/4 doesn’t really fit the “pressure” theme.

      In the end, some of the builds use her, others don’t, in the end it really depends on the decks you face. If you play against a really slow meta, like lots of Taunt Druids and Quest Priests, then she’s great. If you don’t, then she’s mediocre.

      This specific list is the one Sjow used to get #1 Legend. She didn’t need her on the way up there, but she might be better at other ranks (because the high Legend meta is sometimes different than e.g. R5-R1 meta or e.g. R15 meta).

      • MrMeme
        May 28, 2018 at 8:42 am

        I’ve used the previus version to this one withoout ooze and dread infernals, instead with rin and 2 argent commanders and it allowed me to reach legend for my first time. I feel like the Argent Commanders worked really well and I’m suprised they’re not in this list.

        • Stonekeep - Site Admin
          May 28, 2018 at 9:42 am

          Again, Dread Infernal vs Argent Commander is a tech call. Argent Commander is a better reach card, while Infernal provides a bigger body, small AoE (which comes handy sometimes) and most importantly get revived by Bloodreaver Gul’dan.

          Both options are valid, but most of the higher win rate lists have dropped Commanders in favor of Dread Infernals. Just give it a go!

    • BugzBunni
      May 28, 2018 at 9:14 am

      I tried her out for a while but honestly I never got to use her unless it’s vs big spell or control warrior its just a dead draw. Instead I play two Gnomeferatu

  30. Milan
    May 26, 2018 at 11:44 pm

    Rin guldan or lich king

    • Stonekeep - Site Admin
      May 28, 2018 at 9:43 am

      If you’re asking which card to craft, in this list, Gul’dan would probably be the best one of the three. However, The Lich King is a better craft in general, as it’s one of the best Neutral Legendaries and fits into multiple decks.

      • Ama
        May 31, 2018 at 4:24 am

        I would say Lich King is better for this deck as well – Gul’dan only summons 2/4s and 4/4s, and he doesn’t really fit the game plan of this deck. Against aggro he’s usually a dead card so I would say Lich King is better in most scenarios.

  31. OilOliAndo
    May 26, 2018 at 3:41 pm

    Amazing deck. I’ve gone 9-2 so far and I don’t have rin or bloodreaver. I am saving up for the death knight, but while I don’t have them, I’ve been using Wild Pyromancer and Bloodmage Thalnos. They are amazing. Just wanted to share. Tell me what you think.

  32. KawanVictorBR
    May 26, 2018 at 6:37 am

    Rin is really necessary or can be replaced by a primordial drake?

    • wrenus
      May 28, 2018 at 3:00 am

      The guide says that you can play the deck without rin or bloodreaver Gul’dan, but you can’t play as aggressively as with them.

  33. Govid
    May 24, 2018 at 10:13 pm

    I couldn’t have a single win with this deck, 0/3 in the first three games.

  34. Motikop
    May 23, 2018 at 8:13 pm

    I’ve been running this deck -rin +geist, since i felt like the meta isnt slow enough to run rin

    • goldark
      May 26, 2018 at 9:28 am

      same for me, geist is rally good especially againt hadronox or odd rogue

  35. THor
    May 23, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    Why not using Glenda crowskin and add more removals and geist to counter taunt druid and cubelocks?

    • John
      May 31, 2018 at 12:56 am

      I tried Crowskin, but she never stayed on the board long enough to matter. I replaced her with Siphon Soul and found the aggro boost from removal to be helpful. I would love to try Black Knight, but I’m not sure whether to spend the necessary dust.

  36. Levi
    May 23, 2018 at 3:03 pm

    I think it’s a strong and fun deck, but I really struggle when playing against cube taunt Druid. How do you beat that deck? Cause neither can you rush them down before they put up the taunt walls, nor can you play Rin as a win condition, cause they will just pressure you with board so you can’t play the seal. Besides your removals are limited and you can never put value them since they have two witching hour to revive Hadronox and then to cube them. I really don’t know how you can beat that deck

    • Matthew
      May 24, 2018 at 6:44 am

      Get Rin and hope they don’t draw hadronox. You can also tech in Geist to help d

      • Levi
        May 24, 2018 at 9:31 pm

        Yehh, that Might be the only way

    • Killer Lord
      June 2, 2018 at 8:22 am

      It’s a really tough matchup, because you have to beat hadronox 3 times (sometimes even more because of cube). But this deck has the potential to beat it. I’ve won 2 out of 3 games I played vs Taunt Druid. In this matchup are a few cards important, apart from the obvious (e.g. mountain giant/twilight drake): spellbreaker, to silence hadronox (or a cube that contains hadronox) the Lich king (I cleared the last taunt wave twice with doom pact, and then he had nothing left) and defile. Defile is important because if you have some medium sized minions (e.g. shroom brewer or hooked reaver from gul’dan), and bloodreaver gul’dan’s hero power, you can set up a full board clear. So there is a way to win this matchup

  37. Azure
    May 20, 2018 at 9:09 am

    Is it worth to craft rin or gul’dan?

    • GlosuuLang
      May 23, 2018 at 4:32 am

      Gul’dan is one of the most powerful cards in the game, and will probably stay so in Wild too. Safe craft. Rin is not that necessary, although it provides a win-condition vs very greedy slow decks.

  38. MrStrategy
    May 12, 2018 at 6:18 am

    Hi, I’ve watched your yt video in which you demonstrate this deck in practice. I must say, the deck really pleased me there, but you didn’t play against any control warlocks, which (I think) might be this deck’s weakness to play against. Could you perhaps show a victory or two with this deck against control warlock, just to completely persuade me of its strength? Anyway, thanks a lot for uploading it, it’s really nice against odd pallys 🙂

  39. alex
    May 12, 2018 at 1:59 am

    TBH cubelock runs giants, and can get them out on turn 3 (if starting with coin). You just need kobald librarian turn one.

    • Nils
      May 13, 2018 at 12:32 pm

      How do you get a giant on board on turn 3 in cubelock?
      Turn 1: 5 Cards in Hand (CIH) – Mountain Giant at 7
      It doesn’t matter if you play librarian or not. You will still be at the same Handsize
      Turn 2: 6 CIH – Hero Power – 7 CIH – Mountain Giant at 5
      Turn 3: 8 CIH – Mountain Giant at 4
      And since you only have 3 Mana on turn 4, you can’t play Giant. And please don’t suggest Coin into Giant 😀

      • Jason
        May 24, 2018 at 5:05 pm

        Turn 1 Hero Power (due to it being discounted by Genn)

        • MrMeme
          May 25, 2018 at 11:57 pm

          He’s talking about Cubelock, cubelock doesnt run genn. :facepalm:

  40. Dalen Miles
    May 6, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    I have found Rin as a great addition at around rank 4. DO you think it will perform as well on the road to legend?

  41. Mirza
    April 27, 2018 at 7:30 am

    I have been enjoying the deck so far. However, here are two of the weaknesses of the deck that I have noticed.
    1) The deck can’t pressure the opponent enough with only 4 real threats, so it’s not consistent. I’ve been thinking of running Pit Lord. Though it pales in comparison to both Flame Imp and Vulgar Homunculus because it puts you in a more vulnerable state, the fact that it deals a lot of damage to your own hero allows it to synergize really well with Hooked Reaver. And that makes Bloodreaver Gul’dan almost good enough to run for the late-game burn with the new Hero Power too.

    2) The direction of the deck is unclear. Is this meant to target aggro or control? Of course huge minions on turns 3-4 are good against everything, but what about the mid-game? Do we really need Spellbreakers against aggro? I think even Dread Infernal would make more sense. And if that’s right, then again, it only makes sense to run Bloodreaver Gul’dan as well. If we decide to go for an anti-control approach, then unfortunately I don’t think this deck is meant to do that, because as I have said, the deck is very draw dependent in the early game against control. If you don’t pressure your opponent fast enough, he will deal with a few huge minions with ease using strong single-target removal such as Polymorph or AoE removal such as Dragon’s Fury. It just doesn’t work.

    Well, that’s just my two cents on the deck. I really thank you for sharing this deck. It has been really fun in this stale metagame.

    • Old Guardian - Author
      April 27, 2018 at 9:00 am

      Because of all the card draw, the deck has around 85% chance to draw at least one of its four main threats by turn four against control decks.

  42. fuegonamja
    April 25, 2018 at 1:17 pm

    is gnomeferatu a good tech for this deck?

    • Old Guardian - Author
      April 25, 2018 at 4:01 pm

      No. The deck tries to deal damage, it never attempts to go anywhere near fatigue.

  43. Pepijnboompit
    April 19, 2018 at 6:57 am

    genn greymane worth crafting?

    • Old Guardian - Author
      April 19, 2018 at 7:04 am

      Both Genn and Baku open a lot of new archetypes to try, and so far some of them have been pretty good as well, but it is still early. Thing is, they also cut half of your collection from deck-building, so you generally need a fairly decent overall collection to effectively use them.

      If you want to play Handlock, yes, you need to craft Genn. Regular Handlock does not have any advantage over Cubelock. Handlock is decent but not a top-tier deck, so performance-wise not a great investment just to play this archetype. Then again, Genn Even Paladin is really good right now, and you can use it in that one too.

      • Pepijnboompit
        April 19, 2018 at 7:08 am

        thanks for your reply 🙂

      • alikungman3
        June 18, 2018 at 4:11 pm

        yo old guardian please how do u defeat aggro hunter and odd rouge with this deck im srry i find it hard but i beat odd pala and priest and mages

  44. Drmengueche
    April 19, 2018 at 4:22 am

    Old Guardian! So nice to see you here, love your youtube videos man

  45. GlosuuLang
    April 18, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    Well Ysera is not even an option, since it costs 9 mana.

    • Old Guardian - Author
      April 18, 2018 at 4:10 pm

      That’s true. I guess it shows how much I was grasping at straws while trying to come up with any alternatives.

  46. TheChiv☢ (@TheChivGaming)
    April 18, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    This deck is just amazing. 10/10