Fast Buff Paladin

All right, so most of you have probably seen this deck on ladder by now and of course I did not come up with the concept. However, I have been playing it with Silver Sword instead of Vinecleaver and this has worked out very well for me. Right now I have a 73% winrate and I climbed from rank 6 to rank 4 with this deck on EU. 

The idea is to hold on to cards like Argent Squire, Lost in the Jungle, Dire Wolf Alpha, Knife Juggler, Scarab Egg and Call to Arms during the mulligan. Truesilver Champion, Argent Protector and Righteous Protector are also very decent to keep. So basically, half of your deck is fine to hold in your hand, hence the high winrate. Anyway, turn 1 and 2 are usually very straightforward. I usually don't play Righteous Protector on turn 1 if I also have Argent Squire, because that taunt can come in handy at a later point in the game. Also, Lost in the Jungle is usually very good on turn 1, but if you're also holding a Knife Juggler, you might consider playing them both on turn 2 (with the Coin) or 3. This depends of course on the class you are playing against and the board state.

The deck has a very natural flow to it, with the possibility to keep spamming the board with waves of minions. Call to Arms is one of the ways to do this, but be prepared for the sub-optimal outcomes as there are 11 minions in your deck that fit the description of 'minions that cost (2) or less'. Other ways are by killing your Scarab Eggs at the right time, using your low-cost minions at the right time (including Lost in the Jungle), or getting lucky with the Unidentified Maul, summoning 2 1/1 Silver Hand Recruits.

Once your minions are on the board, you try to buff them, but keep in mind that there are many board clearing options in the game, so don't go all in at once. The reason I think the deck works so well with Silver Sword instead of Vinecleaver is because it adds to your options to buff your minions. Vinecleaver adds two 1/1 minions to your board every time your hero attacks, but Silver Sword has more value once you have more than 2 minions on the board. And even if you have 1 or 2 minions on the board that are ready to attack, it can prove very useful as you can immediately use the buffed minions, where the 1/1 minions from the Vinecleaver are very vulnerable and therefore more likely to die before you can use them. And then again, you've got 11 minions in your deck that cost (2) or less, as well as Lost in the Jungle, meaning that you almost always will start the game with minions that can be played at least from turn 2 onwards, and otherwise there is always your hero power. 

Almost all other cards are used to buff your minions. Try to buff the Scarab Eggs one way or another, but do it at the right time. For example when you have a Knife Juggler on the board and you can kill your Scarab Egg by attacking an enemy minion, it will give you 3 random pings. Another option is when you are holding Sunkeeper Tarim, turning your three cute 1/1 Scarabs into three 3/3 game-enders.

Use your Divine Favors wisely. Just remember, they are getting Hall-of-Famed for a reason. You can litterally get from an empty hand to a full hand for 3 mana without any consequences. 

Finally, Leeroy Jenkins is not the most necessary card in the deck, but can prove very useful when you have had bad draw and you have gone into the late game. If you already have Silver Sword equipped, that means you can then attack for 10 with your weapon and Leeroy alone. Combined with Fungalmancer this becomes 12, and if you already had a 1/1 Silver Hand Recruit ready to go, this will also become a 4/4. 

So in my experience, this deck has a lot of potential and you can climb the ladder pretty fast. As long as you use your resources wisely, you should have no problem being successful with this deck. Should you still run into problems, you can always leave a comment ;)