Hearthstone Warlock Handlock LoE

[Vlad 411]

This thread is for comments about our Warlock Handlock deck for LoE.

[NonsenseKing 5]

I just ran into 2 handlocks on the ladder, and was rather impressed with the deck. 

However, in putting it together, I'm missing on of each of the giants (Molten and Mountain), and both Sunfury protectors.

I don't imagine there is likely any fantastic replacement for the giants, as they're rather what the deck is built around, but I'm hesitant to spend 800 dust on a deck I'm not certain I'll play for very long (and I don't really see the giants being included in many other decks).

 

TL:DR: Missing 2 giants and 2 Sunfury Protectors, are there reasonable substitutions available?

(I have all Adventures, along with Ragnaros and Hogger for noteworthy legendaries.)

[Chacal 23]

I'm thinking 'no'. Taunted-up Giants and/or Ancient Watchers are key to this deck. Worth saving some dust though as it is a fun deck to play.

 

Bear in mind that it's not easy to learn though (or it wasn't for me at least). Some knowledge that you will need in order to play this deck successfully is the maximum burst you can expect a given class/archetype to generate on a given turn. It's all about using your health as a resource and - as Sottle puts it - 'being brave'. When I first tried it 'brave' turned out to be 'stupid' since I wasn't accurately assessing how much danger I was putting myself in. Lost a good few games to Quick Shot, Kill Command, Kill Command, Hero Power combos (and similar). I'd never played Hunter so didn't really know what the staple finishers were. Once I'd familiarised myself by playing some archetypes I'd ignored I was in a better position to play this deck.

Edited January 27, 2016 by Chacal

[positiv2 953]

Are there substitutions? Yes.

Is the deck worth it after the changes? No.

Is Handlock good enough in this meta to put 1k dust into it? No.

If you still want to play the deck, use one Sparring Partner and one Argus in place of Sunfury Protectors and use 2 late.game cards in place of Giants. If you lack good late-game cards, use Imp-losions instead. 

Also, the deck you faced was probably demon handlock. It is stronger in current meta, but still bad.

[YourGod 15]

Brann and twilight drake is clearly an amazing combo. If there are 8 other cards in hand, on turn four, then it is a 4/17

[YourGod 15]

Brann and twilight drake is clearly an amazing combo. If there are 8 other cards in hand, on turn four, then it is a 4/17

Does not have to be on turn four though :)

[Guest Tactical-hamburger]

Honestly, I think cutting a darkbomb is better than cutting a watcher (comparing this deck to the previous build). Handlock feels like has access to a number of clears that can deal with the early game so I don't think having a darkbomb early is going to make much of a difference. Whereas Watcher has the flexibility of being a nuisance to aggro at any point in the match (silence/taunt) and you can still drop it early to avoid overdraw without feeling too bad about it. But then again, I'm really new to this deck. What do you guys think?

[Sottle 221]

Nah Darkbomb is super key to Handlock, it's just way too flexible to have as a single copy in this deck. Watcher is great, but the fact that it needs an additional card to go along with it means that sometimes it's left as a dead card in your hand, that's why I chose to remove that over the Bomb.

[PsykoSamurai 0]

I registered to the site just to express my gratitude for this awesome guide. I only just started playing again after about a year and was stoked to found a fairly up to date guide to my favorite deck. Thanks! And uhmmm, speaking of up to date, I noticed your last update was before the release of the latest expansion. I suppose that nowadays this deck is mostly for fun and doesn't have that much of a chance in the current meta, however, pure hypothetically, would you make much changes with the arrival of WotOG?

Thanks again for the write-up. Awesome read.

 

[positiv2 953]

3 hours ago, PsykoSamurai said:

I registered to the site just to express my gratitude for this awesome guide. I only just started playing again after about a year and was stoked to found a fairly up to date guide to my favorite deck. Thanks! And uhmmm, speaking of up to date, I noticed your last update was before the release of the latest expansion. I suppose that nowadays this deck is mostly for fun and doesn't have that much of a chance in the current meta, however, pure hypothetically, would you make much changes with the arrival of WotOG?

Thanks again for the write-up. Awesome read.

 

Faceless Shambler might we worth adding, maybe in place of Molten Giant. WotoG didn't bring much for handlocks.