Beating Handlock

What Is Handlock?

Handlock is a control deck which focuses on taking over the mid to late game with powerful minions. Handlock does this by playing cost efficient minions such as twilight drake and ancient watchers. Handlock also can easily play molten and mountain giants thanks to the Warlock hero power ''Life Tap''. Life Tap also gives Handlock the card advantage it needs to clear the board when required with powerful removal spells such as siphon soul and shadowflame.

Solid card advantage alongside powerful area of effect removal spells and cost efficient taunts allow Handlock to sustain itself into the mid to late game where it can play mulitple molten and mountain giants, give them taunt to overwhelm its oponents and take the win.

 

Strengths and Weaknesses

Handlock excels against decks that lack removal spells and that cannot deal with tis threats in the midgame, decks like these include ramp druid and most aggro decks. Handlock doesn't really have a ''real'' counter, cards such as hellfire, ancient watcher + sunfury protector give handlock the edge it needs against aggro/rush decks such as Zoolock and Paladin Rush. Cards such as shadowflame and Lord Jarraxus give handlock its late game board clear and push against other control focused decks such as control paladin and control warrior.

However Handlock is vulnerable to hunters hero power ''Steady Shot'', this is because steady shot is direct damage and can ignore taunts also handlock doesn't generally tend to run a lot of methods of healing other than one or two earthen ring farseers. Handlock is also quite weak against decks that are stacked on spot removal decks like Midrange/Control Shaman has a ton of cheap and powerful removal spells that profitably deal with handlocks mid to late game threats while keeping up the pressure with their own minions and example of this is twilight drake on turn four getting earth shocked.

Playing Against Handlock

When playing an aggro deck against handlock you must pressure their health total as soon as possible in the turns one to three and punish them for life tapping, cards such as nerubian egg is great against handlocks hellfires because you will still be left with a 4/4 body that is free to swing in the following turn. The key to winning in this match up is to progress your board til turn four, pressure their health totals after the handlock drops hellfire play the rest of your hand and proceed to keep pressuring them.

When playing a midrange deck against handlock you should aim to efficiently remove their minions while progressing yours you can do this by playing minions on turns one to four and then look to answer their mid game threats with big game hunter or hex on turns four to ten, aim to close out the game early it is almost impossible to beat a Lord Jarraxus in the late game as you are unlikely to deal with a 6/6 every turn.

When playing a control deck against handlock look to start removing mountain giants and twillight drakes as they come down on turns four and five, running multiple late game bombs can easily close out the game as handlock generally only uses one to two silences, cards such as ysera, ragnaros the firelord, grommash hellscream and even faceless munipulator can be just too much for handlock to deal with.

Conclusion

When playing against handlock prioritize pressuring their health totals, not overextending into a hellfire or shadowflame, look to efficiently deal with its midgame threats while putting on pressure by playing your own and running multiple late game threats that can keep up with handlock such as ysera.

-Entrinity