Paladins (Defiance)

Anointer of the Faithful and a bunch of paladins aren't exactly a new idea. What's different now is Hojan, who you can drop on turn 3 after Anointer and get a bonded Oathbreaker out on that very same turn. Also, Thief's Pick may be the most important card here as paladins have always struggled with actually getting around an opponent who has survived your early pressure.

Anointer of the Faithful: It's not paladins without her. I don't like any copies in the market, even if you go for Kerendon Merchant, because I feel dropping her on turn four or later is meaningless. She doesn't have much impact that late after you've probably already dropped your smaller paladins. If she's not exploding early and maybe getting some bonds going she's not very impressive.

Crownwatch Paladin: She was nerfed for a reason, and she's still a great card, especially against removal spam. Combos well with Thief's Pick against non-control. I've won many games where someone simply had no answer to an aegis unblockable getting in every turn and with warcries on top of it. Also receives buffs from Unseen Commando.

Hojan, Crownbreaker: This breathed some new life into old paladins lists. Hojan can simply be an explosive threat and is your best target to bond a larger paladin onto. He combos with virtually every other card you have. He's cheap, ramps you, and lifesteals. You don't need much more than that from a two drop. Probably competes with Anointer and Thief's Pick for the most important card in the deck.

Hidden Road Smuggler: Even nerfed, you're still going to want that market and lifesteal body.

Unseen Commando: With the ubiquity of Torch right now he's a bit fragile for a three drop. Still, he's Unseen Commando. If nothing else he's your flying answer, or he can stall and lifesteal until you find a better answer, and he also buffs a lot of your other attackers. I have tried using some paladin rather than this guy, but the fact is you don't always have Anointer out as a paladin payoff. You still need fundamentally strong cards to actually win without her a lot of the time.

Copperhall Paladin: The best part of this guy is the free ramp you can get. I have won countless games because Hojan or Copperhall ramped me a bunch of free power which allowed me to use whatever I needed from the market, or drop Telut very early, or just gave me enough to cast my five drops or spellcrafts efficiently. The body isn't amazing and he only has lifesteal, but it's often enough to get the job done with your supporting cards.

Oathbreaker: She will never be as good as Tavrod, even in a paladin deck, but she is still a swingy bomb a lot of the times, and she buffs practically every unit you have.

Telut, Queen's Hand: Paladins usually ramp pretty hard, and dropping Telut onto any kind of board is practically a guaranteed win. Just make sure you have something else on the board first, then drop Telut and trigger his abilities with the other unit.

Thief's Pick: Believe it or not, the most important card in this deck, because paladins excel at everything except getting around an opponent and finishing the game after they survive your early pressure. How you use this card will determine if you win. Against control, you almost always want to wait for spellcraft because first of all, they probably don't have much board that you need to slip through, and second, your unit is obviously going to eat a removal spell. Against other decks, you probably still want to wait for spellcraft. The times you usually don't want spellcraft are with an early Crownwatch Paladin who is being blocked by some grenadin or mana dork. You may also need to play a basic one on Hojan to get yourself some power, which is obviously fine if it comes to that. There's also the situation where you simply need to get your unit through a board and the enemy is out of gas. The thing about paladins is that unblockable and lifesteal is an insanely good combination to win damage races.

Vanquisher's Blade: You mainly want this for the vanquish, and ramp power on Hojan and Copperhall Paladin.

Mantle of Justice: This is a bit of a meme card. It's not as good as Thief's Pick, but it can be explosive on some of your units. You can replace it with another vanquish or something.

Dark Return: Anointer and Oathbreaker are strong combo pieces and any smart opponent will remove them on sight, and Dark Return is basically another copy of whatever unit is most useful to you at any particular time. I tried Surgeon's Saw, but the spellcraft is too expensive and requires a unit on the board anyway.

Slay: You need this.

Vanquish: They are backup slays if anything. You're probably not going to have much trouble with units smaller than 4 power anyway. If anything kills you it's going to be some fat flier or a control deck who has curved right from their removal into big threats.

-- MARKET --
Reinvigorate: This card is simply a massive blowout whenever against most non-control decks. Whenever I don't really know what I want from the market I just grab this.
When to get: Non control. Don't know what else to get.

Vara, Vengeance Seeker: It's Vara. She is really pushed right now. Bad synergy with Crownwatch paladin, but it doesn't matter.
When to get: You need a good unit right now. Hopefully Crownwatch Paladin isn't on your board.

Harsh Rule: I think any market which can have Justice cards needs one of these, regardless of deck. It's just such a good answer to so many situations you could be in.
When to get: You drew badly or enemy board has/will get out of control soon.

Bloodlust: Sometimes the game drags on and you just need an "I win right now" card. Bloodlust is the epitome of that, able to cause swings more massive than any other 6-cost card I can think of.
When to get: Whenever you can cast it and suspect it will win you the game.

Martyr's Chains: Same as Bloodlust, but if you've really ramped beyond all reason and are maybe getting flooded on power. It's an even bigger I win right now answer.
When to get: Whenever you can cast it and Bloodlust won't win you the game.