Zoo Warlock

[positiv2 953]

This thread is for comments about our Zoo Warlock guide.

[Soturimunkki 1]

Very nice deck, runs smoothly especially if you draw Prince Keleseth on turn 1 or 2.

[Keizoku 185]

Zoo has traditionally been an attractive deck for beginners by being cheap and effective while forcing them to learn the basics (value trading, placement, no overcommitment,...). 7.500 dust is way (sorry  WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!) too expensive for a beginner's list, so here are a few budget swaps, with the reasoning behind it. The goal is to have an affordable deck without any legendaries or epics, but that's still efficient enough to nab wins ans start climbing.

Starting from Kat's list, we need to replace:

- Leeroy Jenkins: Good ole Leeroy is a finisher since zoo's inception back when the game came out and he still can be easily replaced by his same ole budget finisher, namely Reckless Rocketeer. One less damage for one more mana, but it works and it works well.

- Hench-Clan Hag: has a very reasonable swap in Explodinator. The bombs are 0/2 instead of 1/1 but they give a bit of reach and are easy targets for EVIL Genius or Grim Rally.

- Sea Giant: Sea Giant is a powerhouse in zoo and replacing him with a common/rare with a similar effect is impossible. So we put two EVIL Cable Rat in there. Lackeys are flexible and will be useful no matter which one you get.

The Soularium: Another powerhouse that is impossible to replace with a remotely similar draw effect for cheap. Swapped for an Abusive Sergeant to get better trades and/or that little extra damage to the face.

Arch-Villain Rafaam: A very strong card, but whose only purpose is to give zoo a chance in the late game... and face it, as Aleco once said so correctly, zoo has no late game. Get your basics right first, then you can start worrying about whether and when a YOLO card like him might give you an out. Also swapped for an Abusive Sergeant to get better trades and/or that little extra damage to the face. 

Here's the string for the lazy amongst you: AAECAf0GAvIFvQMO8gHCCNyGA84HMNkHtJEDiJ0Dx50DsQjEiQP09wKCmgOJgAMA

PS: Instead of Abusive Sergeant, you can use Dark Iron Dwarf if you find yourself needing bigger bodies and/or Acidic Swamp Ooze if you face a lot of weapon classes.

[KatHS 16]

Great substitution suggestions!

[Guest nerazull]

Stuck at Silver 10 with this deck, card for card at the end of a season. Getting less than 50% winrate. What am doing wrong?

[positiv2 953]

On 8/30/2020 at 4:38 PM, Guest nerazull said:

Stuck at Silver 10 with this deck, card for card at the end of a season. Getting less than 50% winrate. What am doing wrong?

Warlock isn't in a particularly great position in current meta, but still should be able to carry you farther than Silver 10; could you provide some replays so I can take a look where the issue lies?