Zoo Warlock Standard

[Damien 1,514]

This thread is for comments about our Zoo Standard deck.

[Guest Raiden]

Hey Sottle, I would like to know what you think about twilight summoner in this deck. It seems like it would be a reasonable replacement for the missing Nerubian eggs/Loatheb which were so strong in the old zoo. Is it not necessary to run such a sticky minion now?

[Sottle 221]

Tried it out and found it too slow to be worth it, this deck is much faster and more aggressive than the Zoo most people were playing before the expansion so it wants to curve out lower.

[Guest GinnG]

Hi Sottle, how about Spawn of N'zoth? I play 1 copy in this deck, as this zoo always flooding the board, it's a pain for opponent to clean all others before Spawn.

[Raiden 0]

Thanks Sottle. You've been doing a great job keeping up with all these crazy decks people have been coming up with in the past few days. Really looking forward to more guides in the coming weeks.

[Sottle 221]

Hi Sottle, how about Spawn of N'zoth? I play 1 copy in this deck, as this zoo always flooding the board, it's a pain for opponent to clean all others before Spawn.

 

Yeah Spawn proved to be better than I expected when I tried it, but still not quite good enough to make the deck.

[Guest Guest]

Hi, Sottle.

Is Leeroy Jenkins viable option instead of one of doomguards? And if so, could it be possible to include faceless manipulator for 12 burst damage? (I don't like 2xDoomguard because it's very easy to have 2 of them in hand and that means that usually one of them gets discarded)

Also, what would you put silence minions instead of? 1 dire wolf alpha?

[Damien 1,514]

This deck is the most awesome deck I've ever played with.

[Sottle 221]

Hi, Sottle.

Is Leeroy Jenkins viable option instead of one of doomguards? And if so, could it be possible to include faceless manipulator for 12 burst damage? (I don't like 2xDoomguard because it's very easy to have 2 of them in hand and that means that usually one of them gets discarded)

Also, what would you put silence minions instead of? 1 dire wolf alpha?

 

 

Leeroy is ok but suboptimal, Faceless is a terrible idea. The reason this deck goes back to Doomguards is outlined in the guide, there's no far less situational cards in the deck than the Enhance-o Double Sea Giant, Implosion, etc that people were running before. If there aren't high power situational cards in your hand then Doomguard is just a better card, if you're running into having two of them in hand a lot then you're probably just not playing Doomguard early enough.

Dire Wolf is super good in this deck because of all the 1/1 generation, but I guess it's the best cut for a Silence if you must.

[Simets 0]

 

Hi, Sottle.

Is Leeroy Jenkins viable option instead of one of doomguards? And if so, could it be possible to include faceless manipulator for 12 burst damage? (I don't like 2xDoomguard because it's very easy to have 2 of them in hand and that means that usually one of them gets discarded)

Also, what would you put silence minions instead of? 1 dire wolf alpha?

 

 

Leeroy is ok but suboptimal, Faceless is a terrible idea. The reason this deck goes back to Doomguards is outlined in the guide, there's no far less situational cards in the deck than the Enhance-o Double Sea Giant, Implosion, etc that people were running before. If there aren't high power situational cards in your hand then Doomguard is just a better card, if you're running into having two of them in hand a lot then you're probably just not playing Doomguard early enough.

Dire Wolf is super good in this deck because of all the 1/1 generation, but I guess it's the best cut for a Silence if you must.

 

How else to deal with big taunts, like that druid's 5/10 taunt? I lose so much value dealing with them, if I even manage to deal with them... :(

[Guest TheKidding]

Hi Sottle,

 

what are your thoughts about not including Brann in this Deck? Seems like a valueable card for me to double the effects of Abusive, Dark Iron Dwarf and Defender. 

[Abelcain 1]

Noob question about this deck

 

 

Forbidden ritual works with knife juggler and darkshire councilman. Should I always wait until I get a forbidden ritual before playing either of those minions? And should I ever cast forbidden ritual without either of those minions on the board?

[drumsmani 47]

Noob question about this deck

 

 

Forbidden ritual works with knife juggler and darkshire councilman. Should I always wait until I get a forbidden ritual before playing either of those minions? And should I ever cast forbidden ritual without either of those minions on the board?

No. Each situation is unique and you may need to evaluate the board and removal options available to your opponent, but Zoo in general wins by getting on board early and outvaluing the opponent with efficient trades. Holding on to cards to get better value at the expense of developing board goes against the general Zoo strategy.

[Sottle 221]

Hi Sottle,

 

what are your thoughts about not including Brann in this Deck? Seems like a valueable card for me to double the effects of Abusive, Dark Iron Dwarf and Defender. 

 

Brann is ok, it's on the list of totally reasonable cards that I just didn't find quite good enough to include.

[Abelcain 1]

This deck is great, I'm so close to hitting legendary!!!!

 

 

 

 

The only match-up I'm struggling with are Shamans if they start with the coin. When they get the coin they're able to drop a 7/7 on turn three. Anybody have any tips on how to handle those?

[batanete 28]

This deck is great, I'm so close to hitting legendary!!!!

 

 

 

 

The only match-up I'm struggling with are Shamans if they start with the coin. When they get the coin they're able to drop a 7/7 on turn three. Anybody have any tips on how to handle those?

Concede.

 

Nah, you are actually favored against FS with this deck if they don't get the nuts, just keep their board clear with your more efficient minions and prevent them from getting damage on you and start racing them for damage when you think you can beat them.

 

But man, blizzard were dumb to release that card. FS was already going to be one of the best decks in standard regardless, and they actually gave it a card that just made it broken.

Edited April 30, 2016 by batanete

[Guest Guest]

Hi sottle,

 

What card could I replace Gormok with? Thanks.

 

(Sorry if I'm double posting, I don't think my first one went through.)

[Sottle 221]

Second DI Dwarf

[sc47 2]

Second DI Dwarf

I assume Spellbreaker is also a pretty good substitute?

Even I don't own Gormok (don't wanna craft it). I tried both a DI Dwarf and Spellbreaker and both had their own advantages.

[Sottle 221]

Spellbreaker is ok yeah.

[Guest Emm]

Is there room for a Bilefin Tidehunter in this deck? 

[Guest rob]

Do I get it right that when I want to return to Hearthstone (quit just after Naxx) that to build this deck I need to spend ~40EUR right of the bat (or like 6k coins) to be able to build this deck as gang boss and peddler are not craftable (apparently you get them from the adventure)?

 

I guess that gang boss can be somehow replaced by Imp Master but there is nothing to replace Dark Peddler.

 

If this is the way how Blizz wants to make easier to return to Hearthstone or let new players in I guess this is not gonna work - at least for me.

[Guest rob]

Do I get it right that when I want to return to Hearthstone (quit just after Naxx) that to build this deck I need to spend ~40EUR right of the bat (or like 6k coins) to be able to build this deck as gang boss and peddler are not craftable (apparently you get them from the adventure)?

 

I guess that gang boss can be somehow replaced by Imp Master but there is nothing to replace Dark Peddler.

 

If this is the way how Blizz wants to make easier to return to Hearthstone or let new players in I guess this is not gonna work - at least for me.

[Guest pegger76]

Hi Sottle

 

Very nice deck. Thanks for your work, you really helped me improve my play.

 

In my opinion, Bilefin Tidehunter fits in perfectly. The extra taunt is really awesome to further power up and protect the Counsilman.

 

I am also including Reliquary Seeker instead of Dark Iron Dwarf.

 

What do you think?

[sc47 2]

Spellbreaker is ok yeah.

It seems like some zoo locks are running Shadowflame as a catchup mechanism if they lost the board. I think it has pretty cool synergies with Abusive, PO and other buff cards like councilman/direwolf etc.

 

I wonder against what decks this will be a reasonable tech choice. Possibly against the decks which can clear your board like Midrange shaman (lightning storm), Patron warrior and maybe other zoo locks who got a fast start?