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Mulligans
General Mulligans
These are my usual mulligans against most matchups. Power Word: Shield, along with Mistress of Mixtures provide a hefty body that is often obnoxious to remove and allows the board to be cleared, and has the purpose of healing and drawing for you as well. Shadow Word: Pain is great in the early game, as it allows you to remove the nast 3/4 minions with just 2 mana. Kabal Talonpriest and Kabal Courier are also excellent keeps as they have strong battlecries. Most of the time, it is okay to play Kabal Talonpriest without getting the buff, as the simple 3/4 body is often good enough
Aggro Mulligans
Against aggro, your main goal is to survive, and this why Doomsayer is so good. It can easily stall games for a turn, and cause the opponent to waste a good turn and giving you the tempo. Priest of the Feast is also excellent against these matchups as it provides a solid body along with healing. Acidic Swamp Ooze is obviously a keep for weapon removal.
Midrange Mulligans
Against midrange, the best way to mulligan is to mulligan for a nice curve. If you can play minions on curve better than you opponent can then this usually means you will be able to win, as you are simply out tempoing them. Keeping an Azure Drake or Kabal Songstealer from your mulligans can also be good, as long as you have a nice curve leading up to it, or are going second, and you are planning to coin one of them out.
Control Mulligans
Against control matchup, you can get more greedy with your mulligans. It is usually smart to try to keep some early minions, but I always prioritize card draw when against control. Thoughtsteal is also great because it allows you to get some insight on what the opponent is playing, and inclusively gives you some of their strong control cards. I like to keep Raza against most control matchups, as having your Hero Power cost 0 from very early on, allows you to make better trades on the board and allows your minions to survive for longer.
I’ve had decently good success with this deck, I think it is something that people don’t expect. Since the nerf to aggro shaman, and pirate warrior, I have found this deck to work fairly well as it does not get punished as hard if it has a bad early game. Currently liking this deck because it can sometimes win simply by playing minions on curve, yet it also has a lot of tools to sustain a control matchup, with Kazakus and Medivh, the Guardian.
Win Conditions
Against aggro:
Most of the time, against aggro your first goal is to try to survive and wait for them to dish their hand out while you still have plenty of resources. Most of the time this matchup can be won by playing on tempo, usually, a Brann Bronzebeard can put a stop to most aggro decks as they will be scared to let it survive. Doomsayer and Power Word: Shield also make for a hard to remove body, which allows you to get back on the board next turn. Dirty Rat is also a good card against this matchup, if you play it correctly, most of the time it will pull out a weak minion, or it will cancel a powerful battlecry while giving you a 2/6 taunt body on the board. Holy Nova and Excavated Evil paired with Bloodmage Thalnos also provide easy ways to clear the board if it becomes too big. Priest of the Feast is another excellent card as it provides a solid body, and can be used to heal if you have the coin, along with Power Word: Shield and Shadow Word: Pain.
Against midrange:
I would say that against midrange the matchup is fairly even, most of the time this can be won by simply playing on curve. When I fight midrange I will almost always try to get a 5 mana Kazakus potion, and try to get either board clear, direct damage, or health to my minions if my board is big enough. Kabal Songstealer and Raza the Chained are good tempo cards that allow you to get ahead on board, as well as stop the opponent from developing their board. Mind Control Tech is fairly good in this matchup, especially when paired with a good Dirty Rat, as it allows you to take away the opponent’s tempo. Usually, most games against midrange will be over before 15 turns, therefore it is not a bad idea to play a tempo Reno Jackson, and Ragnaros the Firelord along with Shadowform is your fastest way to close out the game.
Against control:
I think that against control matchups is where this deck really shines. Usually against these matchups, I like to get greedy and go for the Brann Bronzebeard plus Kazakus combo, either for 2 10 mana potions or a 5 mana and a 10 mana one, depending on the situation. Kabal Songstealer is great for silencing things such as Sylvanas Windrunner and Twilight Drake. The deck also has a fair amount of answers to big threats with Entomb, Mind Control, and Shadow Word: Death. Usually, the best way to win these matchups is to use Medivh, the Guardian and then use the expensive Kazakus potions or Mind Control. If I am up against a control warrior, or combo druid, most of the time, I will use Shadowform early on, as the two damage ping helps a lot in clearing the board, as well as hitting face and getting that extra damage in. If I am up against another Reno Jackson a well placed Brann Bronzebeard with Dirty Rat can completely destroy a person’s combo, and get rid of their Kazakus and Reno Jackson. If the game sustains even longer, Elise Starseeker is in the deck as the ultimate late game win condition.
Mind Control for what ? …. Stealing opponents Jade Golem ?
Medivh combo, mostly
so sad no more sylvannas and ragnas.