Handbuff Paladin - Feedback appreciated

Hey all,

I've been playing around with a handbuff Paladin deck in wild, using some of the token generators from the latest set to maximise value from the handbuff package previously available. So far I'm at rank 7, and climbing (if somewhat slowly) but most importantly, I'm having a ton of fun with it. From the pause of confusion when you play one of the many cards no other deck on the ladder plays, to the suprise of dropping a buffed Sergeant Sally after a Spiritsinger Umbra, this deck has produced fun gameplay, while not being completely awful.

I figured I'd post it here to get some feedback and opinions, as well as letting anyone interested try it out as well.

So you're basically using a worse version of the Standard Hand Paladin?

First of all, cut Bronze Herald for something that fits better like Ravencaller or Jardealer

Then you take out Umbra because she only has like 3 targets, of which only 2 are even close to worth.

Fight Promoter might be too slow as a two-of. If you can't get double handbuffs on her she's useless.

Infested Goblin also seems like it's just not really hitting the spot

Not running mountain giant in  deck with this much Hand presence is a a criminal offense

Barista does what exactly?

There is an argument to be made to include Subdue in the deck, just to have a way to deal with snowballing threats which you otherwise can't

also run Carpet. YOu have a deck with a very large number of 1-drops or cards that generate them...and you also handbuff said 1-drops. Carpet is your best bet for a comeback play against wide boards.

Yeah, either remove Bronze Herald or put more dragons and Dragon Speaker.

Infested Goblin does sound like a good pick to add cheap buff targets to your hand. Even better, it has taunt, so it helps you make it past turn 5, when your deck starts to shine. I was using Drygulch Jailor before, but neither that card itself nor the tokens have taunt, while getting three tokens instead of two can be a down side in the early game, since you might overdraw if you suddenly have 3 more cards in hand.

Lifesteal and handbuff go very well together. You of course already have Zilliax, but other cards you could consider are Paragon of Light, Vicious Scalehide and Chillblade Champion. I would recommend running one copy of Chillblade Champion for emergency heal, removal and surprise lethal. You could consider replacing Blessed Champion with this: while Chillblade is less explosive, it is more flexible.

I'm using Loot Hoarder instead of Meanstreet Marshal myself. It is less mana-efficient, but you can play it on turn 2 and not feel bad about it, while playing Marshal without a buff feels bad and using a buff before filling up your hand feels bad as well (to me, in any case).

Fight Promoter as draw is interesting. I assume she also triggers herself? If so, it wouldn't be too hard to get the battlecry, but still there is a risk that it will be a dead card if you draw your cards in the wrong order, which is exactly when you want to draw more. I'm using Acolyte of Pain at the moment, which can often draw multiple cards when buffed, but is still likely to draw at least one when not buffed. Like Loot Hoarder, it is a card you can play on the early board without hurting your game plan. Maybe one of each would be worth trying though.

I'd rather run Righteous Protector than Brazen Zealot, since it's more sticky. You're not looking to push a lot of damage early and once you do make your big push onto the board, a divine shield can be really annoying for an opponent to deal with.

It seems hard to get value from Barista Lynchen until the very late game, since if your minions stick around for a turn, you are probably already winning.

While Sally + Umbra is a nice combo, it is a combo of two one-of cards that aren't all that great when you play them individually. Sally really needed charge or rush to be any good and unfortunately Paladin doesn't have lackeys.

I have Sunkeeper Tarim in my deck, which at first glance seems to go counter to what the deck is trying to do, but he is great equalizing a board when an opponent is getting ahead of you, by dumping a few unbuffed 1-drops on the board and then setting everything to 3/3.

Quote From YourPrivateNightmare

Not running mountain giant in  deck with this much Hand presence is a a criminal offense

I tried Mountain Giant before in handbuff and while it should be good in theory, in practice your hand is often not completely full and while playing a giant for 5 or 6 mana is good stats-wise, you often want to be doing other things in those turns. Twilight Drake might actually be a better pick, since it can be drawn by Salhet's Pride. Turn 4 is a relatively weak turn for handbuff, since you have few 4-mana cards and you don't want to play multiple minions ahead of your buff turn, so having the Drake to play on curve would be useful.

Quote From drfelip

Yeah, either remove Bronze Herald or put more dragons and Dragon Speaker.

In my experience Dragon Speaker is pretty bad even if your deck is half dragons. You want buffs to land on cheap minions and most dragons aren't cheap. Which is also the reason Bronze Herald is bad: while it adds more handbuff targets to your hand, at 4 mana each these aren't great to play.

Thanks for the feedback, I've currently made the following changes:

Previously made (accidentally posted an old decklist)

- 2 x Grimestreet Enforcer

+ 2 x Arena Fanatic

New Changes

- 1 x Fight Promoter - 1 x Spiritsinger Umbra - 2 x Bronze Herald

+ 2 x Magic Carpet + 2 x Ravencaller

In response to points raised:

Mountain Giant: While this deck is more than capable of getting a giant out on turn 4, the after-effects of Conjurer's Calling means most decks can deal with it. Also, it neither buffs cards in hand, or adds cards to hand, so weakens the deck strategy.

Spiritsinger Umbra: Yeah, I pulled this, she was only there to aid Sally, and get more taunts from the Goblin. In the end, she wasn't good enough and got cut.

Fight Promoter: I've dropped to a one of for now. I've noticed an occasional draw issue since though, so I may drop Sally and put a second back in.

Barista Lynchen: Against Control decks, the best chance of winning is taking an opening, and hitting with a massive Leeroy. Barista can aid in this, and you can get away with a turn 10 Glowstone + Barista against most control decks.

Subdue: Every spell weakens the strategy of the deck, so has to be essential. With the magic carpet addition, big threats can be dealt with by Brazen Zealot + Carpet with a small board flood.

Magic Carpet: I severely underestimated this card. It works so well with this deck. Good shout, thank you.

Infested Goblin: Originally I ran Drygulch too, but between the weak original body, and the tokens needing buffs to make them remotely useful, Aggro destroyed me. Goblin gives you three taunts to stabilise against Aggro, and can also protect stuff like Zealots, which can run away with things if not dealt with.

General Lifesteal minions: I have considered Chillblade Champion, but I doubt I'd removed Blessed Champion, just because that Leeroy/Champion combo has proved such an effective finisher, regularly finishing off from 20+. While Leeroy + Chillblade can do the same, it means drawing both, and buffing them, rather than just pulling Leeroy. I'll keep it in mind though.

Loot Hoarder: If I hadn't added Carpets, I may have made this change. However, with Carpets, this becomes a 2/2 draw 1 rush, which is nice. Loot Hoarder would lose out on the rush.

Fight Promoter: She does indeed trigger off herself. I was using acolytes in an early variant of this, but between generally having a large hand, it become a liability for burning cards. I'd rather be able to control draws as much as possible.

Righteous Protector: Again, a possibility, but Zealot becomes that much better with the addition of Carpets, and can cause panicked use of removal if played on turn one against non-ping classes.

Sunkeeper Tarim: Not really thought of him. I'll keep it in mind for future changes.

Dragon Speaker: Heralds are removed, so this becomes a non-issue.

I would cut the arena fanatics and use History Buff. And blesses champion is no good. Throw in a weapon. Coghammer, Unidetified maul, Trusilver or maybe even Val'anyr.  A good old silence Owl will also fit well. 

And well Tarim is the best choice you can make with that deck .. He will win you a lot of games.

I am not sold on barrista in that deck. It´s aggro/swarm style. And the fight promotor also feels too expensive. You already have good draw in the deck.

Suggestion:

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Its a criminal offense to not put in Grimestreet Enforcer

You should be finding that Sergeant Sally is just bad. I tried to make her work too, back when I played handbuff paladin. She just doesn't work. And in the process, I would honestly give her the award for the worst legendary Blizzard ever printed. One of the only legendaries I ever dusted with no worries that I'll ever regret it.