This was well put together for those who need an introduction to Handlock. Well done sir!
Great guide, but you don't specify how many of each card should be played in many cases. Also, what are your thoughts on moral coil?
sorry, there is a link to the deck at the top of the card explanations.
I like the article, as a handlock player myself its always nice to see other people's ideas on the optimal build. That said, I think a section on notable exceptions would be very valuable. For example, a short blurb on why not Ragnaros/Jaraxxus as finishers (or rather, a blurb that you don't have to dig through the other card descriptions to find). Other notable exceptions include mortal coil, nerubian egg, Sunwalker, Unstable Ghoul, damage based removal (shadowbolt and drain life), Twisting nether (not commonly run but worth considering especially against other control decks), and nerfed leeroy (okay, the whole article is about compensating for the leeroy nerf so this one maybe not necessary).Still, thanks for this contribution to the discussion and good luck on your way up the ladder!
I'm considering using the dust from my Leeroy to create the giants (the only missing pieces for me). I did start seeing a lot of Handlocks yesterday after the nerf was live. Though I was running control paladin and didn't have a problem with them since I always had an Equality/Humility/Aldor in hand (or Sylvanas on the board) when it was needed. Perhaps I was lucky, but do you see Paladin as a strong counter to Handlock? Or maybe its a case where Paladin is still very rare on the ladder so you don't need to worry about them.
Paladin is a great counter to Handlock for the exact reasons you mentioned. If you throw a Black Knight in there as well it's very hard for Handlock to apply enough pressure through all the Paladin's answers.
I considered discussing all of these cards but I decided to keep the article a little more digestible by concentrating on the cards I did include. Thanks for the feedback though. I appreciate it.
With this deck you essentially have 6 giants/4 drakes (using Faceless) so it's quite easy to bait out the big Paladin removal with say 2 big minions on the board. If they get greedy and wait for you to over extend then you are already swinging with them so its a win-win situation.
I love and main mage, handlocks are relatively easy to handle, but I have still a hard time against hunters, even with their 2 nerfs now.(starving buzzard and unleash the hounds)Wanna addHandlock with jaraxxus is one of the hardest decks to come up against, even with mage.