Update: 4/16/2020 - I have durdled around with so many decks in D2 this month ... maybe I should just be the guy that plays Even Paladins, because it seems to work for me. It feels pretty meta-dependant, though; I think it may be in a good space this week.
3/21/2020 - Finished my trek into Masters today with another 5 game win streak. Deck is still a ton of fun.
If you want to flex cards out, try Siraf or Avigraft or Purgedriver or even go down to 3x Svetya.
I went ahead and added an entire sideboard, but here are some cards I've tried at various points.
In the 2-cost slot:
Copperhall Porter (more ramp, better starting hands, early blocker)
Lay Siege (doesn't help vs the non-damage board wipes, sadly)
Reweave (esp. if you run Loyalist)
Steadfast Paladin (if you want to be more aggro)
Eloz's Elite (just for the butt)
Lost Scroll (more ramp)
4-cost:
Auric Runehammer (control / hit the opp. in the face)
Imperial Loyalist (pledge, nice on its own, especially good with Reweave)
Inquisitor's Blade (we can get jammed up on the ground a lot)
Minotaur Platemaker (up to 4x)
Reclaim (no more than 2x)
Nivia, Most Devoted (decent body, I have NEVER hit her mastery)
Regent's Tomb (can be nice to Sabotage the board wipe on t4, doesn't do much to keep itself alive though)
Relentless Deadshot (you buff this thing up, you can fit so much stun in there)
Sheriff Marley (aegis is always nice, sometimes you get the silence, making more aegis units rocks later)
3/19/2020 edit - Nowhere as near good as it was, but still fun! Had a 5-game win streak today in D1. Lots of flex spots. Avigraft is both at it's best and worst right now; kills the big ground minions, dies to all the relic removal. Play with caution.
Original Posting Below --
This has been my pet deck the last couple months. I beat PChapin with it last month, which was awesome, and this month used it exclusively from Gold 1 all the way to Masters. I hit Masters at ranked 10 and had a 16-4 win rate in my last 20 matches.
The combination of life gain and aegis keeps you in the running until you can start slamming Svetya. Then it is often (but not always) GG.
Any deck that runs 4x Evenhanded Golem and 4x Svetya will always have my heart. If that sounds fun to you, you should try it out too.
Last Chance
x2
2
Annihilate
x4
2
Anointer of the Faithful
x4
2
Crownwatch Paladin
x4
2
Evenhanded Golem
x4
2
Hojan, Crownbreaker
x4
2
Icaria, Valkyrie Captain
x4
2
Siraf, Grand Strategist
x2
2
Thief's Pick
x2
2
Vanquisher's Blade
x4
4
Avigraft
x2
4
Copperhall Paladin
x4
4
Mantle of Justice
x2
4
Minotaur Platemaker
x2
4
Purgedriver
x2
8
Svetya, Merciful Orene
x4
Justice Sigil
x12
Shadow Sigil
x1
Argenport Insignia
x4
Crest of Vengeance
x4
Seat of Vengeance
x4
View Deck on Shiftstoned
The overall game plan: "ramp up with dudes (not stupid do-nothing ramp cards), stick a Svetya, beat face," is still quite solid. It works in a fair meta. I'm not sure that's what we have right now, though.
(This being said, I quite like the new Paladins for expedition, so I want to hybridize them ASAP...)
Thanks again for the deck. I have to be pretty frugal with my shiftstone, and considering the budget this is a real powerhouse. Well done.
Its also amazingly cheap to build since the only legendaries are campaign cards.
Vanquishers Blade I find is enough to help me with the opponents flying threats. The ground units get rediculously huge in this deck. So I don't usually mind trading units in ground combat.
I've got to say though, your deck is a joy to play against despite its power. It does a lot of cool things and always goes BIG when it goes off.
As for Loyalist, do you run her without Reweave? I'm not sure. If you try and cram in both, you're really starting into a different deck entirely.
The only change i made was switching blades out...i used Inquistor's Blade.....
So stuck in a few Memory Dredgers since we have so many 2 drops - even tho golem is voidbound (which is a good thing overall)
Against Gauntlet it's even more amazing dredging.
So adding dredger has been great, and relentless deadshots too - buffed by Svetya they are even more insane!
I always stick em in my Mono-J evenhanded decks, just so much potential if you can boost him with platemaker, or a weapon, or something. Stun a couple things in a single turn for no cards? yes please!
I will try and write out more later and append the description above. Basically, the deck is pretty power hungry. You can do a lot to ramp but you generally need three power to start things off. I'll keep a two-power hand if I have playable cards on the draw and with a crest to dig a bit, or any time I have a golem in hand. Otherwise I am more happy with 3-4 power to start.
Try not to leave your Anointed hanging out there for a turn. There is still a lot of torch around. Playing Anointed and Hojan on turn 3 is often much stronger than playing Anointed t2 and Hojan t3, even if some yetis hit you in the face while you're trying to be patient.
Sometimes you want to hold Icaria's ability to trigger Hojan's empower, or even double-trigger Hojan depending on what blockers you are facing down. Gaining life is pretty important to outvaluing other aggro/midrange lists, so keep these kinds of things in mind.
Playing a Vanquisher's Blade on Copperhall without the Spellcraft just because you want the ramp is okay.
If you already have your SS, then you always want to pull Justice sigils from Ice Bolts, etc. Icaria wants 6 and Mantle of Justice wants as many as you can give it. That lone shadow sigil is tempting but just ignore it.
I'll try and do a full write-up later.