Control Warlock (final update)
- Last updated Aug 19, 2018 (Boomsday)
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Wild
- 19 Minions
- 10 Spells
- Deck Type: Tavern Brawl
- Deck Archetype: Control Warlock
- Brawl: The Standard Brawliseum
- Crafting Cost: 8820
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 8/15/2018 (Boomsday)
- Kovachut
- Card Design Champion
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- 15
- 35
- 110
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Region:
EU
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Total Deck Rating
201
Welcome to the Control Warlock /Tavern Brawl/ Guide
General Mulligan
- Versus Faster decks - Defile, Hellfire, Doomsayer/Stonehill Defender/Kobold Librarian/Possessed Lackey; going second - Lesser Amethyst Spellstone or a 5-drop, but only if you have AoE;
- Versus Control - Kobold Librarian, Possessed Lackey, Rin, the First Disciple/ Stonehill Defender, when going second - a 5 drop. Keep Bloodreaver Gul'dan at all cost!!!
- Versus Combo - Rin, the First Disciple, Gnomeferatu, Bloodreaver Gul'dan.
Strategy
- Versus Faster decks - killing their stuff, gaining board control, stabilization;
- Versus Control - Playing the attrition game (aka using the removals as best as possible, also finding Bloodreaver Gul'dan and destroying the opponent's deck with Rin, the First Disciple).
- Versus Combo (aka Druid decks) - May RNGeesus have mercy upon your soul. That or find Rin, the First Disciple ASAP and hope for a good outcome out of the Gnomeferatus.
Class specific strategies
Warrior (favourable MU)
In either case control - odd, but it's also possible that you can encounter quest decks.
Normally they don't run silence, but I got punished by a certain player and lost my Rin-condition because of it. Anyway, this is a super favourable MU. Just play Rin and win.
If you somehow face taunt warr - then just save your healing for when you will really need it. If you manage to find the DK early, you can heal yourself by a great amount. The healing will be needed against their HP.
Hunter (favourable)
Mid-range, Spell hunter or Deathrattle. Nothing much to say - treat them as aggro decks. Clear, stall and play the DK.
For Deathrattle hunter - use the Ironbeak Owl on their valuable deathrattle minions and deny them getting a lot of value.
Paladin (favourable)
>75% odd paladin - aka aggro deck aka just look at the mulligan above. Sometimes I save my Defile/Hellfire until turn 5, because their 1/1s don't do a lot of damage before that.
<25% control mech - mulligan for the aggro MUs first. Use a silence on their eggs - at best after being buffed.
< 1% Even - aka aggro aka just look at the mulligan and the strategy above. Beware of Sunkeeper Tarim.
Rogue (favourable, but hard)
Mostly Odd - aka aggro deck aka just look at the mulligan above.
Unlike other aggro decks, Defile isn't activated easy. I prefer to look for Doomsayers/Hellfire and single-target removals for their 3-drops, because these are the most annoying ones.
Deathrattle or Burgle Rogue - rare cases. They can also be treated as aggressive ones. Find your removals and win. In the case of Burgle - if the opponent doesn't pressure you, tap a lot, find the DK and then Rin and win.
Shaman
Rare MU. Either shudder (win-rate depends on your draws) or even (super favourable).
Keep Rin, the First Disciple, Gnomeferatus and a Defile/Hellfire/Doomsayer just in case.
Inflict max pressure on the opponent's face, if they don't play aggro. Shaman's draws are typically bad and if you silence their Acolyte of Pain, you will make their day miserable.
Druid (very unfavourable MU)
I have faced some big and taunt druids in this brawl.
If this is one of the decks your opponent is playing, you are fucked. Hope that Gnomeferatu kills something good. Play Rin, the First Disciple ASAP. Don't allow them to mill your cards with Naturalize.
Warlock (favourable)
1) Mostly zoo - aka aggro aka look at the mulligan above.
2) Control - Mulligan for aggro first. Hope you find Rin, the First Disciple fast. Kill her!!! Silence is super popular these days.
3) Even - aka aggro aka see the info for the most popular warlock deck.
Mage (depends on the opponent's deck)
Tempo - Bad MU. Mulligan for this deck first. Play around the secrets, play Doomsayers and hope your draws are better than theirs. I would look for a Shadow Bolt just to kill an annoying minion. Avoid tapping.
Big Spell Mage - favourable MU. Normally the mages will prepare for zoo. Tap a lot, play Rin, the First Disciple and Dark Pact before they play their Skulking Geist.
Priest
Rare MU.
I only faced 4 priest decks - Spiteful and control and combo. Imho control will be the most common case, so yeah, you know the drill. Beware of their Mind Control.
Resume for the different MUs:
Good against - every minion-centered aggro deck. Also control ones, if you find Rin, the First Disciple and Bloodreaver Gul'dan early.
Bad against - Big/Taunt Druids, Burn Mage.
Proof for the highest score
If you look at the background, you will see the 11 wins behind The Glass Knight. I could have made more screenshots regarding my previous runs, but I didn't think this was necessary. The match history is your proof for those games.
Match History
Ok, so with the very first version of this deck I went 8-3. It featured 2 Demonic Projects, Gluttonous Ooze and 2x Possessed Lackeys instead of Gnomeferatus, the second copy of Rotten Applebaum and Shadow Bolt.
My matches were the following ones:
1) Zoo - loss, due to a mistake.
2) Shaman (new player)- win... I'm heartless I know.
3) Mid-range hunter - win.
4) Taunt Druid - loss.
5) Mech paladin - win.
6) Evenlock - win.
7) Mid-range hunter - win.
8) Odd mechadin - win.
9) Odd mechadin - win.
10) Zoo - win.
11) Control mechadin - loss.
2nd, 3rd and 4th run: I used 2 Spellbreakers, 2x Possessed Lackeys and a Demonic Project instead of an Ironbeak Owl and the aforementioned Gnomeferatus and Shadow Bolt. My matches went the following way:
2nd run (10-3):
1) big druid - loss.
2) demonlock - win.
3) zoo - win.
4) odd rogue - win.
5) elemental mage - win.
6) zoo - win.
7) AFK warlock - win.
9) spiteful druid - loss (DK was in the last 3 cards of my deck).
10) odd warrior - win. Close game (I got the DK early, but Rin was the last 3rd or 2nd card).
11) odd pala - win.
12) odd rogue - win. Close game - I drew both voidlords early on, but top-decked the DK on curve.
13) control warlock - loss (due to a mistake + their demonic project killed my Azari even though I had 4 minions in my hand).
3rd run (7-3):
1) Tempo mage - loss.
2) Druid (new player) - win. Once again, I know that I'm heartless.
3) Quest, Shudderwock shaman - win.
4) Mech rush warrior - win.
5) Spiteful priest - win.
6) Spell hunter - loss. Bad draws.
7) Control mech pala - win.
8) Spell hunter - win.
9) Tempo mage - win.
10) Deathrattle hunter - loss (also due to a mistake).
4th run (7-3):
1) zoo - win.
2) spell hunter - win.
3) elemental mage - win.
4) even shaman - win.
5) big druid - loss. My opponent even ran Spreading Plague and the DK in addition to their Hadronox. I lost because I gave them a Void Ripper from Demonic Project and Rin was literally the last card.
6) odd control mech rush warrior - win. It was the same guy I faced on my 3rd turn.
7) mid-range hunter - win.
8) control warlock - win. He project me twice after I got Azari, but he missed. My opponent played the Skull earlier and it pulled out their own Azari. So yeah, the skull can be a double edged sword.
9) odd mech warrior - loss. Normally warriors don't run silence, but this one did. I misplayed by not killing my own Rin and I got punished from it.
10) big druid - loss.
5th run with 2x Possessed Lackeys instead of a Shadow Bolt. I went 10-3 with this one.
1) odd rogue - win.
2) shudder shaman - win. Gnomeferatu killed their Grumble on turn 2.
3) shudder shaman (a different opponent) - win. Rin carried a lot.
4) control warlock - win.
5) deathrattle hunter - win.
6) odd rogue - win.
7) deathrattle control priest - loss. DK and Rin were in the last 7-5 cards of my deck.
8) deathrattle hunter - loss. DK was literally the last card. I managed to play it but it was too late.
9) zoo - win.
10) zoo - win.
11) odd rogue - win.
12) big spell mage - win.
13) odd rogue - loss. I think I also made a small mistake somewhere. At one point we were both on top-deck mode. I was very low on health (2 hp), but I managed to play a stonehill, followed by a stonehill and then saronite chaingang to stop his buffed Edwin. But my opponent was holding on an SI 7 and they killed me on the following turn.
6th run (11-3). I still kept the two lackeys, but I replaced a Rotten Applebaum for a Shadow Bolt.
1) Burgle Rogue - win.
2) Elemental/Bloodlust shaman - win.
3) Zoo - win.
4) Deathrattle hunter - win.
5) Zoo - win.
6) Zoo - win.
7) Odd pala - win.
8) Combo Priest - win.
9) Taunt Druid - loss.
10) Maly Druid - loss.
11) Control Warlock - win.
12) Control warrior - win.
13) Spell hunter - win.
14) Maly Druid (literally the same opponent) - loss.
7th and final run. I went 9-3, but I didn't use the current list. I removed the Gnomeferatus and the second Rotten Applebaum for a Demonic Project, Shadow Bolt and a Siphon Soul. I was kinda salty that I lost to that combo druid, but the Demonic Project wasn't helpful at all.
1) Hunter (new player) - win. I'm not heartless. I am soulless.
2) Hunter (another new player) - win... No comment.
3) Shudderwock evolve shaman - win.
4) Spell hunter - win.
5) Zoo - win.
6) Deathrattle rogue - win.
7) Control warlock - loss. (They played their Rin faster, I didn't have a silence for her and my project whiffed).
8) Combo Priest - win.
9) Evenlock - win.
10) Odd rogue - loss. (Due to a mistake. I was actually wondering what's the best play, but I got wrecked by the Blood Knight after I giggle-d my opponent)
11) Deathrattle hunter - win.
12) Even paladin - loss. (Maybe I have made a mistake somewhere, but my draws were really bad. In the mulligan stage I got a voidlord at the end and my first draw was the second voidlord followed by a lackey, lord godfrey, a pact and the second lackey)
So there you have it, Leute. Even though I didn't get 12 wins, I'm very proud of this deck. Control warlock is a viable option since it counters the majority of decks hard (aggro) and it has options to deal with other control decks as well. I definitely recommend this arch-type. If you feel like it, you can also make some changes and add tech cards of your own desire.
Card history
- 2x Demonic Projects and Gluttonous Ooze - I made the deck so, because I thought I would encounter many aggro and combo decks just like I do on the ladder. The experience was different, that's why I cut these cards.
- 2x Spellbreakers - In my first runs I faced a lot of buff decks. Having 2 of these right now feels superfluous, I removed the second copy and replaced the first one with an Ironbeak Owl. Although the latter one has crappy stats, this is more attractive because it's cheaper and I can combo it with Defile and Lord Godfrey.
- Shadow Bolt - I want to have a better win-rate against tempo decks. But if you think that this is superfluous, add a Siphon Soul instead.
Riveas and ULTRAlol666 proposed adding a Siphon Soul and The Lich King. This will be a great way to deal with other control decks. I personally prefer having only Rin, the First Disciple, because she is cheaper and I have activators for her.
- Gnomeferatu - early-game minions and these can potentially destroy valuable cards from your opponent's deck. Giving you a card advantage and accelerating their fatigue.
Big thanks to Daka and to all of you, who gave me advice on how to improve this deck. You are awesome.
Thanks for your time and for the feedback as well.
Hey, nice deck!
With some minor changes, I went 10/3
Amm, thanks?
This is a really old deck (from TBP), I haven't made anything for RR yet. I am kinda curious about the matches you had. Were your opponents mainly spell hunters?
haha, old deck indeed.. I didnt see XD
Yes, the majority were Hunters (at least 3 spell hunters and 1 odd aggro hunter, I lost only to the aggro). In the last match I lost to a shudderwock shaman because I didnt include demonic project, but I was expecting this ^^'.
I could, but I didn't use RR cards. Almost identical deck:
-1 Dark Pact
+1 Siphon Soul
-1 Doomsayer
+1 Plated Beetle
-1 Ironbeak Owl
+1 Spellbreaker
-1 Rotten Applebaum
+1 Shroom Brewer
-2 Giggling Inventor
+1 Gluttonous Ooze
+1 Mossy Horror
=)
ty
Sorry for the changes. I wanted to correct some mistakes on my description (for example I wrote Sacrificial Pact instead of Dark Pact).
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Well i did 7-3,12-2 and 8-3 with almost identical deck
- 2x lackeys
-1x stonehill (i do not know man, i know this card is great but personally it gives me only garbage so i kept only one copy )
-1 x dark pact(kept only one for rin and deprerate healling)
+ skull of manari
+1 shroom brewer
+2 rotten applebaum
And what's with the downvotes? Jesus Christ people, the man created a great guide and you downvote him? So what's with deck being not original?It's a very efficient deck for Tavern Brawl and for that was created and advertised. The whiners are so infused with salt that have lost even the basic reasoning. Kovachut my boy, good job once more! Upvoted!
Huh, I thought you went with the deck you made with the addition of the agents.
Regarding Stonehill Defender - Nah, don't feel to explain yourself. I remember your opinion about this minion in your previous deck descriptions and I remember how you always preferred Tar Creeper over it. Well, they both have their own perks and, like you said, we both have different tastes. I also get garbage out of this minion from time to time, but I don't mind it really. For me this minion is a value generator and that's why I put it in my decks. In one of your previous decks you used the creepers in addition with Master Oakheart and like I already said I really admire the conenctions in your lists.
As for the downvotes - nah, don't blame the users. I didn't add the detailed deck descriprion right away. I needed time, in order to get the MUs. At first it had only a match history (if you exclude the very first comment I wrote in the comment section). People gave me a lot of downvotes probably because of their low win-rate. The first list featured 2 Demonic Projects and a Gluttonous Ooze, because I thought the experience would be same as on the ladder. I was wrong, people got screwed and, yeah, the downvotes arrived.
But something, which made me kinda salty, was the attitude towards the brawl deck. I had the feeling, as if people expected a busted list and wanted to get 12 easy wins. I never stated that this was going to happen, nor that the deck is godlike. It has weaknesses and the losses are inevitable, if we encounter our hard counters. I don't know why they acted surprised about it.
My sister took the laptop from me and I couldn't finish the post.
I want to add:
- Thx for the support, I really appreciate it and gratz for your success.
- Skull of the Man'ari - what's your opinion for this being in your deck and having only 2 demons? Right after the Dark Pact and the Possessed Lackey got nerfed, I wanted to try out more demonic inclusions and I also added the Skull of the Man'ari in there. But I wasn't really impressed by it, because I didn't get much value out of it. It was kinda slow and a dead card if I didn't have a demon in hand. In your current ladder deck you run 4 demons + a Demonic Project, so you are more than pleased, but what about the tavern deck? Isn't it better to add Master Oakheart and a Tar Creeper in there for old time's sake? Plated Beetle instead of Gnomeferatus. You also get to your Rin, the First Disciple faster.
- I do not envy you for having siblings, no i do not!( ok i totally do)
-You are welcome mate.
-Well i tend to draw my voidlords all the time so for me the scull has worked pretty well. In my runs whenever i didn't have any voildlord in hand and was able to play the scull,i used the Demonic projects as a demon generator (except vs combo decks of course). Anyway about oakheart...i just... forgot him i guess.
Glad to hear about your success.
So there are combo decks after all... Oh boy, it's not going to be easy to come up with the perfect list.
Nice deck. I got 12:1(loss-misplay). Three important changes - double gnomeferatu (u can go with plated beetle but the deck is already very strong against agro). You need to have something to play turn 2 or just for curve, One big removal - Big game hunter(evenlock quite popular with this deck its hard to deal with giants) or siphon soul. Cards out - demonic project-garbage -the card maybe sees play in legend and casual but is so awful here , and u have gnomeferatu if u face mecha'thun (combo) decks.
Matchups : 50% warlock - 3 agro :3control+even. Rest was also agro ,zero combo,
Wow, thank you so much for your insightful feedback. Gratz for your success as well.
I'm a bit tired today, but I will make the changes you suggested tomorrow. I'll test the 2 gnomeferatus in this deck and I'll use a siphon soul.
I am still surprised, that the brawl isn't a complete reflection of what the standard ladder is. I mean, this brawl doesn't feature new cards or mechanics, everything should be copy/paste from the standard ladder. As you already figured out, this was the reason I added those techs in the first place. But after playing a lot of games, I saw that combo (druid) decks are absent. I'll cut the last project like you advised me.
Amm, tough luck.
If you faced tempo mages, then this is the natural counter of this deck. I can't guarantee, that you will only have favourable MUs. This deck is made in order to counter minion-centered and combo ones (if you correctly time the Demonic Project).
I also play agains mage and I lose
is it possible something to replace Rin?
Currently I'm playing the deck. I'll reply to you as soon as possible.
My answer for now is - if you don't face many control decks, then yeah.
I'm back, Mind sharing your collection?
I didn't face many control decks, but Rin is all you need in order to win against them. If you mainly face aggro/burn decks, then add more taunts/healing.
If you have The Lich King, you can also use him. Or Elise the Trailblazer, but if you are on a top-deck mode and need a board clear, she can make your draws worse.
Weaponized Piñata could also be used - in the sense of giving you more tools against slow decks, but this isn't a good inclusion outside of that. Or Gnomeferatus and hope to destroy something good.
Sooo to sum it all up - Rin is kinda important in this deck. If you have trouble dealing with control decks, then you can use one of the aforementioned things, in order to gain more value (or maybe something else).
thank you for the detailed answer, I probably will replace the Lich or Eliza
Great deck , went 12-2 , replaced ooze for Lich King to fight control warrior , lost to togwaggle druid and tempo mage