Hello again! I’m aReNGee, and I’m back with another simple primer. You can find my first primer (covering Oil Rogue) here. This time I’m going to be discussing Handlock, a classic control deck that’s been around since the core set. Nonetheless it can be a tricky deck to play, as where a more traditional control deck like Control Warrior or Control Paladin relies on a combination of cheap minions, board clear, and impactful legendarys, Handlock instead uses a pile of giants. Playing the deck effectively requires careful management of not only the board, but also your hand size and life total.

Decklist: aReNGee's Handlock

Edit: In the comments below, people had two main points: Firstly, most Handlock players nowadays DO play Dr. Boom, and secondly, the deck is not a good choice right now. To prepare for these primers, I spend several days laddering the deck exclusively and my decklists often reflect changes I've made to make the deck more effective on the ladder. In this case, my original starting point did not include Dr. Boom, and I never thought to add him as I was assasulted by a variety of aggressive mage, hunter and shaman decks. Feel free to try him out!

For alternative ways to build the deck, this post by /u/S1eepyJ provides a good breakdown of the deck's core and your tech options. Many thanks!

Strengths: The deck is designed to play powerful minions at well below cost, and it does that very effectively. A silenced Ancient Watcher or buffed up Twilight Drake outclasses every other minion in the early turns of the game, and with taunt presents a sturdy wall even in the late game. Playing a Mountain Giant on the fourth turn requires an immediate response from your opponent and often trades for 2 or more cards. Handlock is adept at playing multiple enormous taunts to protect themself, then finishing their opponent in one or two attacks.

Weaknesses: Big Game Hunter has become a very popular inclusion in decks nowadays, and Handlock is full of targets for him. Handlock often has to invest several turns preparing to play a giant (by drawing cards to play a turn 4 Mountain Giant, or dropping to precariously low health to play a Molten Giant) and the fact that every deck has a 3 mana kill spell for your giants can be devastating. The Black Knight, though not a common card, is also devastating against a deck that relies on large taunts. The rise of Shredders and Belchers causes serious problems for the Handlock deck, as their limited removal options have difficulty keeping the board completely clear. Mirror Entity is an effective counter when copying giants, however, Handlock also has plenty of Ancient Watchers and Ironbeak Owls it doesn’t mind sharing. Finally, one of the biggest weaknesses of Handlock into today’s metagame is that relying on Jaraxxus and Molten Giant is far less safe than it used to be. Several decks (notably Druid and Oil Rogue) can deal 15 damage to you in a single turn, and almost all of played decks can deal 10.

Playing the Deck: Playing Handlock requires constant attention to every detail of the game. With more standard control decks, you react to your opponents plays and deploy your threats when convenient. In Handlock, your threats AND your answers can require turns of setup, especially in the early game. It is also important to carefully manage your life total. You often want to take a bit of early damage to facilitate playing Molten Giants and Jaraxxus in the later game, however you must also be careful not to drop too low and risk losing. The first three turns usually consist of using your hero power when available, playing an Ancient Watcher, or occasionally Darkbombing an enemy minion. The deck really comes online on the fourth turn, where it usually plays a Twilight Drake or (hopefully!) a Mountain Giant. From there, you use your taunts and removal to slow your opponent down and eventually finish them off with your large minions. Beware of playing Jaraxxus too soon and falling too low, or staying at too high a health total and being unable to play your Molten Giants until it is too late.

Tips and Tricks:

• Jaraxxus is technically a minion. You can't play Jaraxxus if you already have a full board of seven minions.
• Jaraxxus has a maximum of 15 health, and can’t be healed beyond it.
• Mountain Giant counts your OTHER cards in hand, so its minimum cost is 3, with 10 cards in hand.
• Molten Giant is uncastable when you have 21 or more health.
• You can attack with a minion before Shadowflaming it.
• When playing first, you need draw 2 extra cards with your hero power in order to play your Mountain Giant on the fourth turn. When playing second, you start with two more cards in hand so the extra draws are not necessary.

This concludes my second primer! I hope that reading this have given you a good idea of the strengths, weaknesses, and play patterns of Handlock, and how they differ from those of a more standard control deck. Your comments and (constructive) criticism of the primers are welcomed and encouraged. I intend to continue the series next with a look at Demonlock/Demon Control Warlock. I wish to provide the best content that I possibly can, and would I love to hear if I’m missing any information, if you have a tip to share, or even if you have a deck you'd like me to cover. Thanks!