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Mulligans
General Mulligans
Pilfer is always a great place to start with this deck, as it primes your Underbelly Fences and Vendettas. Academic Espionage is great to get going early so you can start getting value out of your draws.
Aggro Mulligans
Pilfer is still a very solid choice here, because it turns Vendetta and Underbelly Fence into a high value clear and rush minion, respectively. But on top of that you should probably try to pull your Backstabs and deadly Poisons to hold off a little longer. This deck only runs one Spectral Cutlass so don't mind using the Poison on your hero power.
General:
This deck is probably the most fun I’ve had with Academic Espionage. The general plan is to draw all 10 cards shuffled in by Academic Espionage using Gadgetzan Auctioneer for extremely high value plays. These cards are always 1 cost, which means you could pull a 1 cost Pyroblast or Jaraxxus. To get to that point though you need to survive for the first couple turns using cards like Deadly Poison , Underbelly Fence , and Sap — but once you hit your stride you’ll be playing 8 cards a turn.
Given that you’ll be playing at max 20 cards from the opponent’s class, Tess Greymane can be a great finisher, board clear, or board fill– just try to keep track of what cards you played.
Notes:
- You could easily add Tak Nozwhisker into this deck to fill your hand with 1-cost stolen cards. I just don’t have one myself.
- None of the legendaries are necessary if you’re on a budget, they’re just fun. Myra's Unstable Element followed by another Academic Espionage ensures that you’ll get a stolen card every time you draw, and Edwin VanCleef plays well off of the absurd amount of cards you’ll be playing.
This deck actually got some support with Descent of Dragons but I haven’t seen anyone experiment with it because of the overpowered strength of Apothecary.
Dragon’s Hoard is a way better Pilfer, huge upgrade for the deck.
Pharaoh Cat has a significant chance to give you a class minion so it’s a consideration.
Stowaway will draw two of those Espionage cards right on curve, preparing you for an Auctioneer miracle turn.
However, none of this will save you from the incredible swing turns produced by Galakrond decks so you will need Flik Skyshiv, the closest thing we will get to Vilespine Slayer in standard.