Zoo Warlock Standard

[Guest Phil]

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?

[positiv2 953]

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?

Shadowflame is a strong tech card against decks that have fasters starts than you, against zoo-ish decks (that rely almost purely on minions) and, as you said, Patron decks. 

[Fransoa 25]

omg what is this deck, seriously?

This is the most op broken thing I have ever seen HOLY.

U FLOOD the entire board with crap so easily, the opponent must have like 4 aoe's to keep up with it

The early 1 drops are insane, and the synergies makes board control so easy to do.

For real now, I'm on a 10 game win streak, super powerful deck

[batanete 28]

Honestly, as powerful as zoo has always been, I think it has never been this good. I would say it is by far the strongest deck in the game right now.

[sc47 2]

Honestly, as powerful as zoo has always been, I think it has never been this good. I would say it is by far the strongest deck in the game right now.

Yeah it is definitely strong and very frustrating to play against. But thanks to Patron warrior, I have been able to farm them now :)

 

I had great success against them even with N'Zoth paladin and my Deathrattle tempo rogue (teched with 2x Dark iron skulker)

[mgoetze 6]

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.

No, you are completely wrong. This deck works just fine with even basic cards (e.g. Acidic Swamp Ooze, Murloc Tidehunter, Razorfen Hunter) and there are plenty of common cards you can sub in as well (e.g. Flame Juggler, Amani Berserker, Harvest Golem). No Sea Giant? No problem, put in a Frostwolf Warlord (basic card that will cost you $0 and 0 dust).

 

Of course it'll be marginally worse than the version on this site - Sottle is trying to show us the best possible build, not the cheapest - but you can surely get to rank 10 or beyond without any adventure cards and without Gormok, if you play the deck well.

[CodeRazor 47]

I agree with mgoetze for the most part. 

Generally there is a rule in hearthstone : budget deckbuilding results in budget results (implying worse results).

I can assure you that this rule applies to all card games (i played magic the gathering some years ago).

 

So its all about what you are aiming for. If you aim to reach legend and try to be competitive, budget deckbuilding won't get the job done even with zoo, which generally is the cheapest competitive deck in hearthstone.

 

If you are not aiming to be competitive, mr Sottle has provided the budget section in which a budget zoo deck is present, consisting of only 8 rares, all of them essential in order to play this kind of deck.

If i am correct, the problem for you lies in the expansion inclusions, which are imp gang boss and dark peddler. 

For competitiveness, they are irreplaceable. For casual playing, i think you can replace them.

 

I made a list for you and tested it a bit, and its not bad : http://i.imgur.com/0S8OqQS.png

 

Replaced imp gang boss with harvest golem and peddlers with flame jugglers.

 

This deck can get you to ranks 8-5, not higher.

 

Note : Correct me please if i am wrong, this type of zoo is called the "trade zoo" and no high value card are present in order for doomguards not to discard a high value card (ex. sea giants). I prefer and play the more aggressive-board flooding style of zoo, having sea giants and leeroy jenkins as a finisher. Even for me being used to another style of zoo, this list worked well.

 

You can test it and tell us about your experience (follow mr Sottle's guide for instructions on how to play the deck).

[batanete 28]

I agree with mgoetze for the most part. 

Generally there is a rule in hearthstone : budget deckbuilding results in budget results (implying worse results).

I can assure you that this rule applies to all card games (i played magic the gathering some years ago).

 

So its all about what you are aiming for. If you aim to reach legend and try to be competitive, budget deckbuilding won't get the job done even with zoo, which generally is the cheapest competitive deck in hearthstone.

 

If you are not aiming to be competitive, mr Sottle has provided the budget section in which a budget zoo deck is present, consisting of only 8 rares, all of them essential in order to play this kind of deck.

If i am correct, the problem for you lies in the expansion inclusions, which are imp gang boss and dark peddler. 

For competitiveness, they are irreplaceable. For casual playing, i think you can replace them.

 

I made a list for you and tested it a bit, and its not bad : http://i.imgur.com/0S8OqQS.png

 

Replaced imp gang boss with harvest golem and peddlers with flame jugglers.

 

This deck can get you to ranks 8-5, not higher.

 

Note : Correct me please if i am wrong, this type of zoo is called the "trade zoo" and no high value card are present in order for doomguards not to discard a high value card (ex. sea giants). I prefer and play the more aggressive-board flooding style of zoo, having sea giants and leeroy jenkins as a finisher. Even for me being used to another style of zoo, this list worked well.

 

You can test it and tell us about your experience (follow mr Sottle's guide for instructions on how to play the deck).

No, you're just wrong, considering I've been to legend with zoo before in times where the deck wasn't even nearly as good as it currently is, and I consider myself pretty average at this game.

 

You can pick whatever deck you want from this website(or anywhere else), unless you are play the deck at a decent level of play, you're not getting anywhere close to legend.

Edited May 8, 2016 by batanete

[CodeRazor 47]

 

I agree with mgoetze for the most part. 

Generally there is a rule in hearthstone : budget deckbuilding results in budget results (implying worse results).

I can assure you that this rule applies to all card games (i played magic the gathering some years ago).

 

So its all about what you are aiming for. If you aim to reach legend and try to be competitive, budget deckbuilding won't get the job done even with zoo, which generally is the cheapest competitive deck in hearthstone.

 

If you are not aiming to be competitive, mr Sottle has provided the budget section in which a budget zoo deck is present, consisting of only 8 rares, all of them essential in order to play this kind of deck.

If i am correct, the problem for you lies in the expansion inclusions, which are imp gang boss and dark peddler. 

For competitiveness, they are irreplaceable. For casual playing, i think you can replace them.

 

I made a list for you and tested it a bit, and its not bad : http://i.imgur.com/0S8OqQS.png

 

Replaced imp gang boss with harvest golem and peddlers with flame jugglers.

 

This deck can get you to ranks 8-5, not higher.

 

Note : Correct me please if i am wrong, this type of zoo is called the "trade zoo" and no high value card are present in order for doomguards not to discard a high value card (ex. sea giants). I prefer and play the more aggressive-board flooding style of zoo, having sea giants and leeroy jenkins as a finisher. Even for me being used to another style of zoo, this list worked well.

 

You can test it and tell us about your experience (follow mr Sottle's guide for instructions on how to play the deck).

No, you're just wrong, considering I've been to legend with zoo before in times where the deck wasn't even nearly as good as it currently is, and I consider myself pretty average at this game.

 

You can pick whatever deck you want from this website(or anywhere else), unless you are play the deck at a decent level of play, you're not getting anywhere close to legend.

 

I don't understand your argument, even Sottle says that the budget version of zoo has reachable ranks 3-1.

What i said is true : with a budget deck you have to expect budget results.

[batanete 28]

 

 

I agree with mgoetze for the most part. 

Generally there is a rule in hearthstone : budget deckbuilding results in budget results (implying worse results).

I can assure you that this rule applies to all card games (i played magic the gathering some years ago).

 

So its all about what you are aiming for. If you aim to reach legend and try to be competitive, budget deckbuilding won't get the job done even with zoo, which generally is the cheapest competitive deck in hearthstone.

 

If you are not aiming to be competitive, mr Sottle has provided the budget section in which a budget zoo deck is present, consisting of only 8 rares, all of them essential in order to play this kind of deck.

If i am correct, the problem for you lies in the expansion inclusions, which are imp gang boss and dark peddler. 

For competitiveness, they are irreplaceable. For casual playing, i think you can replace them.

 

I made a list for you and tested it a bit, and its not bad : http://i.imgur.com/0S8OqQS.png

 

Replaced imp gang boss with harvest golem and peddlers with flame jugglers.

 

This deck can get you to ranks 8-5, not higher.

 

Note : Correct me please if i am wrong, this type of zoo is called the "trade zoo" and no high value card are present in order for doomguards not to discard a high value card (ex. sea giants). I prefer and play the more aggressive-board flooding style of zoo, having sea giants and leeroy jenkins as a finisher. Even for me being used to another style of zoo, this list worked well.

 

You can test it and tell us about your experience (follow mr Sottle's guide for instructions on how to play the deck).

No, you're just wrong, considering I've been to legend with zoo before in times where the deck wasn't even nearly as good as it currently is, and I consider myself pretty average at this game.

 

You can pick whatever deck you want from this website(or anywhere else), unless you are play the deck at a decent level of play, you're not getting anywhere close to legend.

 

I don't understand your argument, even Sottle says that the budget version of zoo has reachable ranks 3-1.

What i said is true : with a budget deck you have to expect budget results.

 

OK i'm a moron, nevermind. I thought you were implying the actual full budget version of zoo couldn't get past ranks 8-5.

 

Kind of a symptom of logging into a forum after a day spent in queima das fitas(google it if you're not portuguese) when your brain isn't working properly, my bad.

[CodeRazor 47]

 

 

 

I agree with mgoetze for the most part. 

Generally there is a rule in hearthstone : budget deckbuilding results in budget results (implying worse results).

I can assure you that this rule applies to all card games (i played magic the gathering some years ago).

 

So its all about what you are aiming for. If you aim to reach legend and try to be competitive, budget deckbuilding won't get the job done even with zoo, which generally is the cheapest competitive deck in hearthstone.

 

If you are not aiming to be competitive, mr Sottle has provided the budget section in which a budget zoo deck is present, consisting of only 8 rares, all of them essential in order to play this kind of deck.

If i am correct, the problem for you lies in the expansion inclusions, which are imp gang boss and dark peddler. 

For competitiveness, they are irreplaceable. For casual playing, i think you can replace them.

 

I made a list for you and tested it a bit, and its not bad : http://i.imgur.com/0S8OqQS.png

 

Replaced imp gang boss with harvest golem and peddlers with flame jugglers.

 

This deck can get you to ranks 8-5, not higher.

 

Note : Correct me please if i am wrong, this type of zoo is called the "trade zoo" and no high value card are present in order for doomguards not to discard a high value card (ex. sea giants). I prefer and play the more aggressive-board flooding style of zoo, having sea giants and leeroy jenkins as a finisher. Even for me being used to another style of zoo, this list worked well.

 

You can test it and tell us about your experience (follow mr Sottle's guide for instructions on how to play the deck).

No, you're just wrong, considering I've been to legend with zoo before in times where the deck wasn't even nearly as good as it currently is, and I consider myself pretty average at this game.

 

You can pick whatever deck you want from this website(or anywhere else), unless you are play the deck at a decent level of play, you're not getting anywhere close to legend.

 

I don't understand your argument, even Sottle says that the budget version of zoo has reachable ranks 3-1.

What i said is true : with a budget deck you have to expect budget results.

 

OK i'm a moron, nevermind. I thought you were implying the actual full budget version of zoo couldn't get past ranks 8-5.

 

Kind of a symptom of logging into a forum after a day spent in queima das fitas(google it if you're not portuguese) when your brain isn't working properly, my bad.

 

Haha never mind, glad we got that out of the way.

I just said that the deck i posted (without imp gand boss and dark peddlers) can reach ranks 8-5.

 

Hope you had fun at the festivities :)

[Valkyr 55]

I recently got defender of argus and now can make a zoo deck. I'm still missing sea giant and gormok though. I understand gormok is more replaceable with dark iron dwarf dude than sea giant which I have subbed with Leeroy aiming for additional burst, ideally with PO. I also realized that I disenchanted all my knife jugglers so until I get to recrafting them I'm using flame juggler (not a equivalent replacement for zoo, I know). I wanted to know if Brann and Bilefin tidehunter would be a better replacement for some of these cards. Also what are sottle's thoughts on the "ancient horde" recipe?

[CodeRazor 47]

I recently got defender of argus and now can make a zoo deck. I'm still missing sea giant and gormok though. I understand gormok is more replaceable with dark iron dwarf dude than sea giant which I have subbed with Leeroy aiming for additional burst, ideally with PO. I also realized that I disenchanted all my knife jugglers so until I get to recrafting them I'm using flame juggler (not a equivalent replacement for zoo, I know). I wanted to know if Brann and Bilefin tidehunter would be a better replacement for some of these cards. Also what are sottle's thoughts on the "ancient horde" recipe?

Hey there,

 

I used to play one tidehunter, but it was not as useful as i thought it would be. Depends on what you want to cut for it. I suppose the most reasonable 2 drop to cut in dire wolf alpha, which i did as well, but it just wasn't good.

 

As for brann, usually zoo decks playing doomguards do not run him. He synergises well with argus, peddler, dark iron dwarf and abusives, and he generally baits removal from your opponent.

However, if you want to try the leeroy version with the sea giants, brann definitely fits in that deck.

[Guest ChocThunder]

how the hell did you get to legendary? i can't even get passed 17 with this..

 

[CodeRazor 47]

how the hell did you get to legendary? i can't even get passed 17 with this..

Maybe you are just not familiar with the deck. Try to watch some pros playing it. (You could also watch videos form Dreamhack, a lot of players had zoo decks)

 

Last season, i reached rank 5 extremely easily with this deck, then continued climbing with other ones.

[Guest Razor]

Hi Sottle, 

 

I have replaced gormok with another Dark Iron Dwarf... 

 

I just want to ask you: Can i replace one of the Dark Iron Dwarf for Brann?? 

[Guest Gigagaygyagay]

Hi Sottle, 

 

I have replaced gormok with another Dark Iron Dwarf... 

 

I just want to ask you: Can i replace one of the Dark Iron Dwarf for Brann?? 

I tried it. You are about to manage to use it perfectly, or you do nothing with him. I had void terror for overpower whelming and sergeant, iron buffs and works good too.

[microafro1979 1]

I must be playing zoo wrong... I start out as aggressively as possible, Flame imp, Peddler and the like... then no matter what I am playing against, turn 4-5 an AOE something hits, wipes my board, and I never recover.  There is just no combating that with this deck.  Face Hunter can do it, it wins by turn 5-6, or not at all.   Not sure what I am missing, but this deck does not work for me

[Chacal 23]

For the first ten days of this season this deck was working great for me. Then I started seeing Consecrates, Wild Pyros, Lightning Storm etc in match after match. Slid 5 ranks very quickly, and I'm mostly confident I didn't just suddenly become a much worse Zoo player than I was before. Just figure the meta shifted and there aren't as many favoured matchups for Zoo any more but I haven't really heard anyone else voicing the same frustration until this post.

Since I was at a terrible rank anyway I decided to try and learn Freeze Mage and Rogue (neither of which I had played before) with nothing to lose. That and play Zoo in Wild! The Wild Hobgoblin Zoo is great fun and in full working order.

[Paracel 165]

The brilliance of Zoo is that you have perfectly reasonable chances to beat any deck, even a control one geared against you. Not overcommiting to board when there is a sweeper on the other side is first thing every player should learn. 

There are many good refill options present in the deck. Brann + Dark Peddler. Forbidden Ritual. Doomguard. Simply Lifetapping anticipating their reaction. With such tools at hand it's not really easy to lose all your tempo or gas to a couple of their cards.

Of course, if you play against Warrior exclusively for 4-6 hours a day (like i do) it makes perfect sense to swap your deck for something different. But right now, at the very end of this season and at the beginning of a new one, when people either try to grind their way with something aggressive or just do random rogue decks, Zoo is a good choice thanks to its wide array of threats present and omnipotent Hero Power.

[PancakeMonk 12]

after trying the deck without gormok the deck plays well but not the same effect when you have gormok in the deck 

the battle cry is really useful when playing control decks and tempo decks as well , sure the dwarf has the same stats and close to what gormok can do but there is no comparison between the 2 cards ..i recommend gormok in the deck more than the dwarf ..ofc thats my personal opinion but after trying both cards ..gormok is much more powerful 

[PancakeMonk 12]

after playing 10 games ..the amount of pressure on the opponent is insane

the opponent always burn his hands just to deal with the minions u have //brilliant deck 

 

[TheGiantDwarf 0]

As a new player (less than 2 months experience) this deck has proven wonders for my win rate, i managed to shoot to rank 5 last season with minimum effort and already at rank 11 this season playing 1-2 hours at most some days.

My questions for the deck is how important is sea giant and Gormok, i have been using brann (feel i can manipulate strategies and my opponents moves with this card) and a 2nd Dwarf in placement of these and had no real trouble, of course i could just be getting lucky.

I am looking to craft both Gormok and Sea giant, however would need to dust some legendary's  , can some advise how these cards work in the deck and there best use ?

Edited June 4, 2016 by TheGiantDwarf
typo

[Damien 1,514]

On 4 June 2016 at 2:23 PM, TheGiantDwarf said:

As a new player (less than 2 months experience) this deck has proven wonders for my win rate, i managed to shoot to rank 5 last season with minimum effort and already at rank 11 this season playing 1-2 hours at most some days.

My questions for the deck is how important is sea giant and Gormok, i have been using brann (feel i can manipulate strategies and my opponents moves with this card) and a 2nd Dwarf in placement of these and had no real trouble, of course i could just be getting lucky.

I am looking to craft both Gormok and Sea giant, however would need to dust some legendary's  , can some advise how these cards work in the deck and there best use ?

I'm of the same opinion on this deck, it's really awesome. I have mixed feelings about Gormok the Impaler, as I often do not manage to activate it, but Sea Giant always comes in handy (and would certainly be a worthy addition to your deck in the place of your extra Dark Iron Dwarf).

[Kerean 1]

Dear Sottle,  there were some comments earlier about possibly including Bilefin Tidehunter.  I have been noticing this card a lot more in zoo decks.  Is this card viable?  I think they seem to go well with Knife Juggler and Darkshire Councilman.

Look forward to your thoughts on Bilefin.

Edited June 9, 2016 by Kerean