Let me introduce you to the Jeevlin (Jeeves+Hobgoblin) Mage - An aggro-synergy deck, that will blow your mind and carry you to legend easily.



Dust cost can be reduced by 1.600 easily (See Replacements), so this deck can be crafted for 1820 total.



>> After recent comments i feel obliged to state: This is not a faceroll deck. It is not hard to play, but it is more difficult than the average Zoo or Hunter Deck. Read the strategy part and watch some gameplay videos, if you are having problems. <<

This deck does still work after the Undertaker nerf, but it has got weaker a bit. The meta is still shifting, which makes it hard to say if changes are needed to be competitve. We will see next season.



About me:



I am a dedicated control player, who has reached legend multiple times so far but only with hard control decks (Paladin/Warrior/Handlock). After the GvG release i put my time into the construction of new decks, and forbid myself to netdeck for a month. The result of this timespan is this Jeeves & Hobgoblin deck, which made it to legend.





The Deck:



This deck utilizes some of the strongest cards in the game and synergizes them so well, that you will crush your opponents easily.



General strategy:

Your general strategy is to play for board control early, to allow your minions to deal enough damage, for you to be able to rush/burn/heropower your enemy down in the mid or early lategame. By utilizing your hero power and synergies you should be able to maintain board control versus other aggro decks. In the control matchup you should try to focus on an explosive start overall. Jeeves and Hobgoblin will help you squeeze in the finishing damage.



A common mistake is to play for the midgame from the beginning - not playing a Haunted Creeper or a Mana Wyrm early enough, because you want to get the Hobgoblin value. Do not - i repeat - Do not do this, if it weakens your turn. This is an aggro deck, which will win you a lot of games at Turn 5-7. Hobgoblin and Jeeves just enable your early game minions in the mid and early-late game. They are not your only winconditions, but instead cards, that make a super aggressive deck consistent!



I suggest you watch some gameplay videos (at the bottom of this post) to get an idea about how to play it, because it may seem counter-intuitive for some players.

Key-Cards:



Undertaker is a card, that needs to be nerfed. In this deck it synergizes with 9 Deathrattle minions , that are strong on their own. You can even play him mid-lategame with Hobgoblin. to get a 3/4 Body for 1 Mana.

Mana Wyrm is a strong opener (especially with coin) and synergizes with 9 spells , that are strong on their own. You can even play him mid-lategame with Hobgoblin. to get a 3/5 Body for 1 Mana. (I guess you notice where this is going ;-) ). Furthermore you can buff it with the Spare Parts from Clockwork Gnome

Hobgoblin is an extremely powerfull minion, that pays for itself, when you can buff at least one minion with its effect. There are 11 1-Attack minions in this deck, that are (you guessed it right) strong on their own, but synergize perfect with Hobgoblin. Do not play Hobgoblin solo, unless you can protect him. He will make incredible comebacks Turn 5-9 and will win you games, that normal aggro decks, can't win.

Jeeves is incredible powerfull. He helps you to overpower the enemy constantly and never run out of gas. You do not want to draw him prior to turn 4, but he pays off in 95% of all games. He is a 1-Attack minion, too, which makes it beneficial for Hobgoblin as well. Do not play him, if you can not benefit from his effect (except you have 2 on hand). This card gives you the draws needed and lets you reswarm the board every single turn. Protect it!



Further Card-Explanation:

Mulligan Guide:

General Mulligan rules: You always want to have something to play the first 3 turns, which means you should drop everything, which costs 3 or 4 Mana regardless of the other cards in your hand. If you are going first, your main goal is to get a 1-Drop to establish boardcontrol, which means you should go for the 1 drop every single time, if you do not already have one. Your chance of getting at least 1-Drop (not including Mirror Image) at the start is 29,6%.

Your chances of getting a 1-Drop by mulliganing your whole hand, while going first is 76,7%. Which means you should have something to play on turn 1 in 86% of the games, if going first. If you are going second, you will be able to plan your turns ahead a bit more. If you have a good 2-Drop or some synergy on hand (e.g. Knife Juggler + Mirror Image) just keep them and mulligan away all the other non-fitting cards. Your goal is to have something to play and apply pressure, not to have the perfect opening every single time. If you are having an Undertaker in your Hand it is advisable to go for the Undertaker dream start and mulligan everything, which does not have a deathrattle or does not fit the curve. Even if Undertaker gets removed, it will cost your opponent a turn, allowing you to swarm the board even more – applying pressure.





If you are having a Mana Wyrm and you are going second, you should definitely keep it (combining it with the coin) and look for some synergy with Mirror Image or Unstable Portal.







Combos:

You can combine nearly every single card in this deck (see Card-Explanations). Most notable is Hobgoblin+Echoing Ooze, which gives you an incredible mid-game advantage for 5 mana. Keep in mind, that double Hobgoblin works!

Knife Juggler is best played after you got a Haunted Creeper on the board or with Mirror Image.





Replacements:

Bloodmage Thalnos can be replaced with a Loot Hoarder. The spell damage is nice, but rarely needed. The main reason i put Thalnos instead of Loot Hoarder is, that he has 1 Attack and synergizes with Hobgoblin.



Finetuning:

If you want to tune or change the deck in any way, i suggest you begin with the Mad Scientist / Counterspell part. You will find a lot of suggestions in the comments. Another way to tune the deck would be, by changing the Unstable Portal for something more reliable, even if Portal is an insanely good card. (It never loses you games, but it wins you some).



Gameplay videos:

Playing versus Zoo, Hunter, Rogue & Mechmage - Exact timestamps can be found in the youtube description:

Playing versus Paladin, Hunter, Shaman & Zoolock (Last game is memorable - Never give up!) - exact timestamps can be found in the youtube description Playing vs. Hunter (2x) and Handlock (2x) - exact timestamps can be found in the youtube description





Deck Spotlight & Explanation on YouTube



For all the YouTube - Lovers, that prefer watching instead of reading:

Please notice, that the provided content is not from me, but from RubenVDB

I would not mulligan for Hobgoblin, but he succeeded with it and gives you a good insight in the decks mechanics:





Cards that could work / Why don't you play XYZ?



The amount of feedback through comments and personal messages is really overwhelming. Thanks for all your great ideas. To keep it short and simple i decided to write some answers to cards, that can be found in the comments as a suggestion/hint/idea.



But first of all: I am not sure how most things will work out in the long run, because i made legend with the deck i already posted. The best thing to test an idea, is to try it, which should be really easy because this deck is not really expensive.

Furthermore: My opinion is just an opinion, not a fact or something to rely on ;-) If you are able to evolve an even better deck - do it. Hearthstone is a nice community and evolving decks together is fun.



Annoy-o-Tron could work really well, because it synergizes with Hobgoblin. Sadly it has no deathrattle, but it is annoying as hell for most opponents, giving you some time to get the damage in with your early game minions. Definitely worth testing.





Micro Machine needs immediate response from your opponent and synergizes with Hobgoblin. It could definitely work in this deck, especially if you face a lot of Control. Echo of Medivh is a great card, but i think it is too slow for this deck. It cripples your hand in the early game and counters the draw from Jeeves in the Midgame. If you really want to play Echo i would suggest to cut 1 Jeeves and do some testruns.





Novice Engineer is suggested by a lot of people to replace Loot Hoarder, because it synergizes with Hobgoblin. I prefer the additional Deathrattle from Loot Hoarder, because i face more situations in which i want to buff an Undertaker, than situations in which i do not find enough minions to combine with Hobgoblin. Considering this and the additional +1 Attack makes Loot Hoarder a more early game card, than Novice Engineer is, which is why i prefer Loot Hoarders.









Enhance-o Mechano could work as a finisher, but i am not really convinced. With 4 Mana this card costs a lot and stacks your hand early, which sucks if you have to draw with Jeeves. It is a good card to draw, if you are already winning, but it can hinder your gameplay and aggression if drawn early. I would be extremely carefully changing the curve.

Acolyte of Pain &

Just add them, if you want to play gimmicky and do not plan to climb. Flying Machine are really slow, but great value cards if they are combined with Hobgoblin. Sadly this is not a value deck, that relys soley on Hobgoblin. It is an aggro deck, that transitions surprisingly well into the mid- and early lategame, because it relys on a lot of cards, that are strong on their own (and Jeeves as well as Hobgoblin). If you center the deck or your gameplay too much around Hobgoblin, you won't win consistently.Just add them, if you want to play gimmicky and do not plan to climb.



Legend proof:

