(Budget) Zoolock Aggro - Legend Grinder - Guide
- Last updated Mar 13, 2016 (Explorers)
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Wild
- 24 Minions
- 6 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Unknown
- Crafting Cost: 1340
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 6/28/2015 (Blackrock Launch)
- wingsofwaxiii
- Deck Architect
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- 16
- 23
- 60
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Battle Tag:
WingsOfWax
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Region:
US
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Total Deck Rating
7351
Hey there everyone!
I am a 16x Legend Player with 2x Top 100 finishes who goes by the battletag WingsOfWax or WingsOfWaxIII on other social media (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Twitch, and YouTube).
Don't forget to +1 if you enjoyed the guide/decklist. A lot of time and effort went into these and it's a free and easy way to say thank you.
***Updated/Alternate List (as of 3/13/2016) can be located here:
http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/449289-wingss-burst-zoolock-competitive-s24-deck-with
Hope you ladies and gents enjoy!***
Introduction to my YouTube Channel:
Currently I will be starting up a series of guides to help newer or budget players develop decks that can be purchased for under 2,000 Dust each (also Requires Naxxramas Unlocked) and compete with the current Meta enough to help you achieve your goal of High Ranks or even Legend.
As of right now, these are the guides I have available:
Burst Rogue (1480 Dust) - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/263019-burst-rogue-legend-grinder-race-hunters
Budget Oil Rogue (1900 Dust) - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/263606-budget-oil-legend-grinder-guide-videos
Budget Zad + Combo Druid (1900 Dust) - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/267369-budget-zad-combo-legendary-druid-guide
Budget Zoolock Warlock (1340 Dust) - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/267487-budget-zoolock-aggro-legend-grinder-guide
Budget Control Priest (1400 Dust) - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/270038-budget-control-priest-legend-grinder-guide
Budget Hybrid Hunter (1080 Dust) - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/270052-budget-hybrid-hunter-legend-grinders-guide
Budget Aggro Paladin (1820 Dust) - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/270278-budget-aggro-paladin-aggrodin-legend-grinder
Budget Mech Shaman (1580 Dust) - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/270317-budget-mech-shaman-legend-grinder-guide
Budget SMOrc Warrior (920 Dust) - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/271749-budget-smorc-warrior-legend-grinder-guide
Budget Mech Mage (1360 Dust) - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/272893-budget-mech-mage-legend-grinder-guide
Budget Tempo Mage (1200 Dust) - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/272918-budget-tempo-mage-legend-grinder-guide
Along with this deck list, I have wrote up a small guide to help any new players understand how to choose Mulligans/Opening-Hands, Play-style, and adapting to your current Meta.
Here is a "Rough" Guide to help you on your quest to Ranking Up/Legend
Mulligans/Opening Hand Keepers:
Vs Warriors - 2x Flame Imp, 2x Voidwalker, 1x Abusive Sergeant, 2x Leper Gnome, 1x Acidic Swamp Ooze, 2x Haunted Creeper, and 1x Nerubian Egg (If Egg = Yes, Keep 1 Egg Activator).
Vs Mages - 2x Flame Imp, 2x Voidwalker, 1x Abusive Sergeant, 2x Leper Gnome, 1x Acidic Swamp Ooze, 2x Haunted Creeper, 2x Knife Juggler, 1x Ironbeak Owl, and 2x Nerubian Egg (If Egg = Yes, Keep 1 Egg Activator).
Vs Druid - 1x Power Overwhelming (incase of Taunt), 2x Flame Imp, 2x Voidwalker, 1x Abusive Sergeant, 2x Leper Gnome, 1x Acidic Swamp Ooze, 2x Haunted Creeper, 2x Knife Juggler, 1x Ironbeak Owl, and 2x Nerubian Egg (If Egg = Yes, Keep 1 Egg Activator).
Vs Paladin - 2x Flame Imp, 2x Voidwalker, 1x Abusive Sergeant, 2x Leper Gnome, 1x Acidic Swamp Ooze, 2x Haunted Creeper, 2x Knife Juggler, 1x Ironbeak Owl, and 2x Nerubian Egg (If Egg = Yes, Keep 1 Egg Activator).
Vs Hunter - 2x Mortal Coil, 2x Flame Imp, 2x Voidwalker, 1x Abusive Sergeant, 2x Leper Gnome, 1x Acidic Swamp Ooze, 2x Haunted Creeper, 2x Knife Juggler, 1x Ironbeak Owl, 2x Nerubian Egg (If Egg = Yes, Keep 1 Egg Activator), and 1x Defender of Argus.
Vs Shaman - 2x Flame Imp, 2x Voidwalker, 2x Abusive Sergeant, 2x Leper Gnome, 1x Acidic Swamp Ooze, 2x Haunted Creeper, 2x Knife Juggler, 1x Ironbeak Owl, and 2x Nerubian Egg (If Egg = Yes, Keep 1 Egg Activator).
Vs Warlock -
Opp Kept 2 cards or more (Aggro)?
1x Mortal Coil, 2x Flame Imp, 2x Voidwalker, 2x Abusive Sergeant, 2x Leper Gnome, 2x Haunted Creeper, 2x Knife Juggler, 1x Ironbeak Owl, and 2x Nerubian Egg (If Egg = Yes, Keep 1 Egg Activator).
Opp Kept 1 card or less (Control)?
2x Flame Imp, 2x Voidwalker, 2x Abusive Sergeant, 2x Leper Gnome, 2x Haunted Creeper, 2x Knife Juggler, 1x Ironbeak Owl, and 2x Nerubian Egg (If Egg = Yes, Keep 1 Egg Activator).
Vs Rogue - 2x Flame Imp, 2x Voidwalker, 1x Abusive Sergeant, 2x Leper Gnome, 1x Acidic Swamp Ooze, 2x Haunted Creeper, 2x Knife Juggler, and 2x Nerubian Egg (If Egg = Yes, Keep 1 Egg Activator).
Vs Priest - 2x Flame Imp, 2x Voidwalker, 2x Abusive Sergeant, 2x Leper Gnome, 1x Acidic Swamp Ooze, 2x Haunted Creeper, 2x Knife Juggler, and 2x Nerubian Egg (If Egg = Yes, Keep 1 Egg Activator).
If you are confused about why the mulligan guide looks so basic, this comment may clear somethings up for you: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/267487-budget-zoolock-aggro-legend-grinder-guide?comment=25
Play-Style:
**Unless there is no other 1 drop, try to save Abusive Sergeant for his Pump value.
**Most times it's correct to play Haunted Creeper before Knife Juggler to get potential value.
Vs Warriors - Try to be as aggressive as possible. Deny draw from Acolyte of Pain when the opportunity is given. Kill Armor Smith when given to help deny future armor value. If you are fast enough, you can kill a Patron warrior before they get a chance to combo. Against Control Warrior, using your Hero power from T5 on is usually correct unless you already have a Doomguard in hand.
Vs Mages -
Tempo Mage: Minions with the most attack usually get cast on T1. Save Owl to reduce Mad Scientist Value. Try to kill Flamewaker as soon as you can, otherwise you will lose the game quickly. If your opponent gets a secret off, assume it is Mirror Entity and use your weakest minion to trigger it.
Freeze Mage: Minions with the most attack usually get cast on T1. Save Owl for Doom Sayer. Time Loatheb for once you have a decent board position and can push for more damage by denying your opponent from casting a board clear for a turn. Usually I try not to pop my own Nerubian Eggs or Haunted Creepers to have "insurance" against board clears.
Vs Druid - Be as aggressive as possible. Try to play around Swipe if you can help it. Use Owl to help silence a Sludge Belcher or Power Overwhelming to help clear a Taunt. Play and Crack your Nerubian Eggs as quickly as possible, these are Druids first Keeper of the Grove target. In most scenarios it is correct to push damage to your opponents face rather than make trades (unless you can afford to play around Swipe).
Vs Paladin -
Aggro: Try to keep your opponents board clear the best you can and your hand as empty as possible. You can usually out control them with card advantage (Hero Power) later in the game. Feel free to crack your Nerubian Eggs and Haunted Creepers as soon as you can, typically Aggro-din only runs 1x Consecrate if any at all. Use Acidic Swamp Ooze on any weapon it can get its hands on. Owl on a Shielded Minibot tends to be some of the only value you can get out of Owl, otherwise hold for Blessing of Champion.
Midrange/Control (Tough Matchup) : Try to preserve your Eggs and Haunted Creepers to prevent being blown out completely by a Consecrate. If you can deal with your opponents minions without losing too much value, go for it, otherwise go face. Save Owl for Sludge Belcher or Tirion. Try to save Acidic Swamp Ooze for Truesilver Champion, but if a Muster For Battle weapon destroys your board, clear it.
Vs Hunter - This is another tough matchup. You'd prefer to play against Midrange, but it is possible to beat both strategies. Typically how I approach this matchup is, be aggressive and go face. If you can afford to play around Unleash the Hounds, go for it and make a few trades. Mortal Coil is in the deck specifically for this matchup and helps clear early minions for a low mana cost. Defender of Argus is the most important card to defeating this matchup, so try to setup large Taunts. Owl is used for either Mad Scientist or Haunted Creeper, just a matter of whatever one comes first.
Vs Shaman - Whether you are up against Mech Shaman or Control Shaman, I find this to be a favorable matchup if you understand what to do.
Mech: Mech Shaman relies on a Board Position to win, deny them this and you will most likely win. Try to use your Owls on Flametongue Totem, Annoy-o-Tron, or Buffed Mechs. Pop your Eggs before they get an Earth Shock. Try to hold Power Overwhelmings to kill the 8/8s that some of them play (try to cast as many spells before killing the 8/8 to abuse), otherwise they are burst damage to finish off our opponent.
Control: Try to keep control over the board and sometime around turn 4 or turn 5 is when you should start using your Hero Power every turn to prevent from running out of cards. If your opponent hasn't cast any Earth Shocks typically I will crack open my Eggs whenever I can and save Haunted Creepers alive for Lightning Storm insurance. If your opponent already used Earth Shocks, preserve your Eggs and Creepers for Lightning Storm insurance. Use Loatheb to help a decent board position push for more damage and deny a Lightning Storm for an additional turn.
Vs Warlock -
Aggro: Usually whoever gets Flame Imps, Nerubian Eggs, and Haunted Creepers stands the best chance. This creates the most durable and powerful bodies and helps keep control over the board. Make profitable trades when possible and try to keep your opponents board as clear as possible. Implosion also dictates a lot of mirror matchups depending on your RNG for the day.
Control: I try to be as aggressive as possible and if I can afford to wait a turn to play around Molten Giant + Shadowflame or Taunt, I will. Try to crack your eggs quickly to prevent being Owled out of value, but preserve your Haunted Creepers to give you a little insurance against Hellfire or Shadowflame. Feel free to use Owl on any large Taunt or Twilight Drake. Loatheb also comes in handy in this matchup to help push for more damage and prevent an incoming board clear.
Vs Rogue - Try to be as aggressive as you can. Typically correct to play Voidwalker first to help protect smaller/weaker minions from a Rogues Hero Power. Preserve your Eggs and Haunted Creepers to help with insurance against board clears. Acidic Swamp Ooze is at least a Deadly Poison in this matchup and most times your opponent won't play around the Ooze and try to keep a Weapon Buff up to Bladeflurry within the next few turns. Owl tends to get almost no value in this matchup, usually shutting off a Bloodmage Thalnos, Shrinking an Edwin Van-Cleef, or becoming Doomguard fodder since most other minons get played before Owl typically.
Vs Priest - This matchup is a lot like the Shaman Control matchup, but worse. Play your 3/2s before any other minions to assure maximum damage. Keep your opponents board clear to prevent potential Hero Power value. Preserve Eggs to help hold insurance against board clears. Haunted Creeper (or a Defender'd Nerubian Egg) tends to be a Priests favorite Cabal Shadow Priest or Shadow Madness target, so try to play around this. Owl is for Sludge Belcher, Voljin, or a Velen's Chosen target. Once you get to around T4 or T5, start using your Hero Power every turn to keep your hand full to reload the board after board clears (there will be lots of clears here).
Adapting to your Meta:
There isn't too much for you to adjust in this deck according to your Meta.
Less Hunters - Remove 1 Mortal Coil and add in for either a Worgen Infiltrator (to become more aggressive) or a second Acidic Swamp Ooze if your having Paladin, Rogue, and Warrior issues.
Make other changes as you see fit or if you just have the urge to try something new.
Card Choices:
Mortal Coil - These are here to give you a chance against Hunters. Cheap removal that cantrips (draws a card) to help clear an early minion. Can also be used to help clear a Taunt.
Acidic Swamp Ooze - Mostly an inclusion due to the rise of Warrior, Rogue, and Paladin. Helps clear a 3 or 4 powered weapon from your opponent to deny them additional value.
Why 1x Void Terror? - Mostly here to be an Egg activator or get value from Power Overwhelming. Has the added bonus of cleaning up small minions to help play around board clears. You tend not need more than 1 ever, mostly because there isn't enough value to gain for the 2nd Void Terror.
Why 1x Dire Wolf Alpha? - You never want to keep Dire Wolf in your opening hand. He tends to become valuable after turn 4 and doesn't compete with the other 2-drops in the deck for a T2 play.
Why 2x Ironbeak Owl? - As of lately there has been a lot of targets for Owl, enough to warrant 2x in almost all aggressive decks. Whether it's silencing a Sludge Belcher, Deathlord, Nerubian Egg, Mad Scientist, or other problematic cards, Owl will almost always find value in 85%+ of your matchups.
FAQ:
Q - Own Naxx & BRM?
A - I'd recommend the following changes -1 Acidic Swamp Ooze, -1 Mortal Coil, +2 Imp Gang Boss
Q - Budget Not a Problem?
A - I'd recommend playing a deck like this: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/267516-demon-zoo-warlock-midrange-deck
Q - 2k Dust and Naxx? That seems like an expensive "budget."
A - These guides are intended for people looking to spend some Dust/Gold and have the ability to acquire at least the bare essential Adventure Mode, Naxxramas. Budget is much different than F2P, which is why I don't label my decks and guides as F2P to cause confusion. Budget means you are willing to spend a little, where as F2P means ...well....Free.
Interested in learning more? Feel free to stop by my stream, in which I play a variety of decks and try to help educate players on making better decisions and improving their game play. Here's to hoping this deck/guide is in some way beneficial to your Grinding Experience!
Videos:
Deck Overview -
Gameplay Budget Zoolock games from my EU account -
Gameplay & Commentary from 7/19/2015
Gameplay & Commentary from 7/21/2015
EU Legend Achieved (7/22/2015)
Follow On Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/wingsofwaxiii
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Don't forget to +1 if you enjoyed the guide/decklist.
Thank you for checking out this deck and I hope it works well for you,
-Wings
Nice, thanks for the quick reply.
Are there any replacements for unstable portal and the 2nd azure drake in tempo mage deck?
Cheers.
Azure Drake can become Sludge Belcher, but Unstable Portal is very strong in that deck. You could try with another 2 mana 3/2, but it won't be the same for sure. ^^
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Hey buddy, thanks to your advice u bought both brm and naxx completely. I have completed them both and I really enjoy the content. My question is. I still don't have doomguards. Is there a way I can get them replaced? Maybe by playing... Arcane golem or Argent commanders in its place? And is there any way I can use any new cards from both expansions in this deck? U got so many legendaries from them, but they feel a little useless haha. Thanks for your response!
Doomguard is extremely important in this strategy. It's the best card in the deck and no other finisher even comes close to it. You could probably get away with Arcane Golems, but realize you will lose games because they are not the sturdy, high powered, Doomguards. Save up for them, 200 dust is not that bad at all.
Other than that, I feel this deck should stay aggressive to have the best chance possible against Grim Patron. If we start to tinker with the mana curve and make it more Midrangey, we start losing to more Aggro and Grim Patron decks. If the Meta changes to only Midrange and Control decks, then I could see trying to squeeze in some Void Callers and Imp Gang Bosses.
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
It's a fine trade off. Void Terror wasn't a necessary card and could obviously be tinkered with. I feel like with this list your more than likely going to damage race both those classes (at least that's your best chances) so the Shadowflame makes the deck a little less consistent in that aspect. If it's working out for you tho, just keep going with it.
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
I am low budget, but I have Mal'Ganis and Harrison. Should I run either of them in this deck? What should I take out?
Harrison doesn't fit into this list, but Mal'Ganis could fit if you own Void Callers. As of right now, I don't believe you absolutely need Mal'Ganis to reach Legend, and the aggressive version seems much more consistent.
If you own Void Callers lemme know and I can try to figure out what you could replace.
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
I do own Void Callers and would love to work them in. I like the mechanic. Thanks!
I would recommend something similar to this decklist:
http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/279559-legend-21-zoolock
-1 Dire Wolf Alpha
-1 Dr Boom (since you said you didn't own it)
+1 Ironbeak Owl
+1 Mal'ganis
EDIT: If you don't own BRM.
-2 Imp Gang Boss
+1 Void Terror
+1 Shattered Sun Cleric
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Thanks man for the deck !! got legend with this today, my first time getting to legend! very consistant and good flow in the deck!! http://gyazo.com/416953f0bd12bbb88fc6681bc09f53df
Wow! That's just awesome and congratz on your first Legend! This deck was a ton of fun grinding on EU for my Legend status this season, so I agree with your description of the deck. ^^
Must feel great too! Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
No, you can't. The point of loatheb is to stop the base spell wombo combo of the enemy, or just protect your board. For the numbers, you could put a tiger I thing.
If you don't have Naxx, any early aggressive minion will do for now. I'd recommend saving for Naxx Unlock however since this is key to building highly playable Rank Decks.
Honestly anything that is 5 mana or less will do in place of Loatheb (but obviously won't have the same effect).
Dark Iron Dwarf
Shattered Sun Cleric
Worgen Infiltrator
Anything similar to these depending on what your playing against.
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Added my stream VOD of getting 15x Legend on my EU account! Hope you guys find it educational and enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy1P-9HegfE
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Added another Gameplay & Commentary Video to this guide from 7/21/2015! Hope everyone enjoys. :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b938YkKbgu4
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Just started playing warlock and this deck helped me get the hang of the mechanics, great one.
Hello! I have been playing with the deck for about two weeks now and I'm really enjoying it. This is my first month playing Ranked with the intention of grinding to a high rank and I am pleased to say I am currently rank 14 (my goal was rank 15 for this month). I am still learning matchups and I feel like I am getting a good grip on most of the classes. The one I seem to struggle with is Druid. I'm not sure if it's just variance or poor play. What is your mindset for this matchup? Any tips that might not be obvious to a beginner? Also, thinking for future upgrades, would you recommend adding first: Dr. Boom or Mal'Ganis? Thank you for your guides, they are incredible.
Glad you have been enjoying the deck! This is one of the more consistent ones from my guide series and one that I recommend a lot to players.
As far as the Druid Matchup, it can be tough depending on the Number of Taunts, Wrath, and Innervates your opponent has, but overall I find this Matchup to still be in Zoo's favor.
Try to crack your Nerbuian Eggs ASAP to prevent Keeper of the Grove silence. Try to play around Swipe by trading in your 1 toughness minions if there's a Taunt in your way. Don't trade too much because you need to be the Aggressor in this matchup in order to win. Save your Ironbeak Owls for Sludge Belchers, Ancient of Wars, and any Taunt you find in your way during the last couple turns of the game (when your getting close to killing your opp).
I would start with Dr. Boom since it sees play in more than just one deck (compared to Mal'Ganis) and cut the Dire Wolf Alpha from this list to make room for Boom. It's a solid choice against Midrange/Control decks and is extremely powerful as well.
Hopefully this helps! Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Added another Gameplay & Commentary VOD (video) from my stream on 7/19/2015. Hope you guys and gals enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD2xuMP1Um8
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
While I currently don't own all cards needed to make the expensive deck you linked, I do own Dr. Boom. What card can I swap out to put him in?
Also I have Bane of Doom, is it worth swapping that out with for example Mortal Coil?