[Spark] Demonic Zoo (S9 + BRM Update)
- Last updated Sep 20, 2016 (Karazhan)
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Wild
- 26 Minions
- 4 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Demonlock
- Crafting Cost: 4720
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 12/4/2014 (GvG Prelaunch)
- Sparkaz
- Pro Player
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Tournament Decks:
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Ladder Decks:
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The Deck has been updated with the League of Explorers release : Demonic Zoo
Introduction
Hello everyone I'm Spark, Legend player from Hearthstone and today we are taking a look at Zoolock new look with the release of GvG.
This Deck and its many variants will certainly be the next evolution of Zoolock as the Mech synergies totally fits the aggressive playstyle of the Deck.
I feel like the concept is pretty obvious so don't be surprised to see this kind of design pollute the ladder, you will have to deal with a variant of that in the meta if you want to succeed ;)
Theorycrafting : Mech Synergies
The whole idea is to keep Deathrattle synergies to power up Undertaker and have sticky minions while adding some Mechs into the mix to make great use of Mechwarper and Tinkertown Technician.
Clockwork Gnome, Harvest Golem and Piloted Shredder represents the best this design as they are all Mechs that have a Deathrattle effect.
I was invited to Deck Talk with TheChiv during Theorycrafting process, this video can give you some insight into my initial thoughts ;)
The second part is about my first ideas on Deathrattle Hunter new look which changed a little bit since Theorycrafting phase, here is the write up for the final Decklist : Beasty Zoo
Revision History 1 : Back to Basics
After playtesting the initial build a little bit more, I've found that Mech interactions were kinda underperforming for the specific Zoo strategy so I thought about reworking it with a return to the basics : flat value minions !
I instantly thought about Ogre Brute for its solid and cheap body, and after reading a nice article from DarkFrost, a mate on another site, I've decided to tweak his list slightly according to my initial thoughts. So all the credits go to him ;)
The mana-curve and strategy remains the same but I feel like it's much more consistent since you don't rely anymore on keeping Mechs on the board to make value out of their synergies, which made me feel like I lacked reaching potential to close game with the initial list.
Undertaker is still in the Deck because I'm running some good value Deathrattle minions, just like before GvG but improved with the new cards.
Since I've included back Voidwalker to have a cheap taunt and protect my early threats, I decided to give a try to Darkbomb and I'm pretty satisfied with it.
As I'm a conservative player, I often ended up keeping Soulfire for too long in my hand, therefore screwing a little bit with my Doomguard play.
Obviously, this card is still very good for Zoolock and the change is most importantly aimed at adjusting the curve ;)
Revision History 2 : Return of the Demons
After the big success Xixo had with his list, I've decided to give a shot to Imp-losion as the card allows you to establish board presence while controlling an ennemy threat. Sea Giant fits perfectly this kind of strategy, especially in the current meta where board are often filled with minions.
I ended up tweaking the list and took a look back at interactions that I've already used back when Naxxramas got released to adjust it to my preferences. All the credits still go to him for the original idea ;)
Excluding Darkbomb felt pretty natural since you don't want to play too much spell in a Zoo Deck and I decided to give a new chance to Power Overwhelming to go along with all the swarm, which lead me to include the second Nerubian Egg and a Void Terror.
I already used these synergies in the past but the Deck is less reliant on those with this set up and therefore feels more consistent ;)
Revision History 3 : Removed Sea Giant for Loatheb because too many Decks are using Big Game Hunter.
Revision History 4 & 5 : Adjusted some tech cards to improve consistency.
Here are some Gameplay Videos with this variant, part of my Legend Grinding Session Series ;)
Revision History 6 : Rise of the Demons
As I didn't updated the Deck since the Undertaker, BRM is the perfect opportunity to do it now ;) Especially since Imp Gang Boss is such a perfect card ! I decided to try out some combos from my Demonic Void Midrange Demonlock with the solid core that Zoo always had and it's working perfectly !
Haunted Creeper, Nerubian Egg, Boom Bot, Imp Gang Boss and Imp-losion make sure you generate a lot of value from Power Overwhelming, Abusive Sergeant, Knife Juggler, Dire Wolf Alpha, Void Terror, Defender of Argus and Sea Giant.
Voidcaller makes a return in the Deck to pull off some awesome tempo plays with Doomguard or summon the awesome Demonlord : Mal'Ganis !
Dr. Boom increases the curve a little bit but is perfect at giving you the last steam you need to finish a game, since Boom Bot are so damn annoying, or simply baiting Big Game Hunter for the previously mentionned Demonlord ;)
Here are some Gameplay Videos with this variant, part of my Legend Grinding Session Series ;)
Closing
Although this variant is pretty consistent, feel free to experiment yourself with the new cards or try the initial/intermediate version and see what fits best your playstyle, there isn't one Deck to rule them all ;)
That's it for the guide guys, I hope you'll enjoy the Deck as much as I do !
Don't forget to show your support by upvoting the Deck if you liked and don't hesitate to discuss about it or ask any question in the comment section below ;)Follow me for more content and updates !
- Twitter : SparkazHS
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ok that makes sense! thx for the response.
So the reason sea giant wasn't added before in any previous warlock decks is the implosion spell right?
As I mentioned before, I added 2 sea giants and 2 fel reavers, do you consider this to be overkill? (I removed doomguards)
Yeah that's basically because of Implosion (even tho it was already explored a bit at the time Shaman Sea Giants bots were on the ladder =P)
I think Fel Reavers are replacement for Doomguard but I simply prefer Doomguard, too much tempo ^^
2 Sea Giants was a bit overkill when I tried myself but I was running Doomguard that change the way you want to dump your hand
Didn't used it on ladder since I prefer other Decks but it's completely legend viable and many people proved it ;)
oh pls. go play zoo at ladder and see how hard to climb with it right now. (rank 3 - 1) zoo is not same as before since we are not using our best cheapest card which is soulfire. this is the reason why zoo is a bit weaker atm. most of deckbuilders just removed soulfire after that nerf. and it's not even big nerf. so please go play at ladder and show us your climb with this deck. also it seems you changed a lot of cards which proves you are not sure what are you doing. every single deck is copy of Xixo's zoo deck. And this is also one of these. What makes it special? Void terror? It was best card for nerubian egg and other minions before. So what? Stop advertising yourself at everywhere dude.
And please stop using '';)''
Ok ;)
What do you think would be a good sub in for void terror?
Dark Iron Dwarf or Acidic Swamp Ooze ;)
Thanks =P
I tried the clockwork gnome as well and found it to be way more useful. Because we're giving up 2 activators by removing dark iron dwarfs, 3 of the spare parts being able to activate the egg is really good. More useful than the 2 face damage for sure because you can do shenanigans like stealthing something so it's guaranteed to get off its attack or reverse switching a big taunt which in the end more than likely gets you more than 2 face damage anyway.
I'm not a big fan of double implosion either because there are those awkward games where opponent has spent early game just removing your board so you hit turn 4 and have no minions to use it on and no good minions to argus either. I actually really like the shredders in the 4 slot because it's just more sticky minion + deathrattle synergy so the undertaker buffing curve is that much stronger and it's just something you can drop. Right now, I'm using 2x shredder, 2x argus and 1x implosion in the 4 slot.
Maybe you'd prefer the previous variant that I was using : see Revision History 1 ;)
Isn't Clockwork Gnome better than Leper Gnome? I think the extra card would be more useful and versatile in board control zoo than 2 face damage
Used for a long time and agreed with you on paper as you can see in the video. However I've found that in the end those 2 damages can be precious to close games, both are fine either way ^^
cool. i only have one clockwork so im running 1 and 1 right now anyway :P Initial results have been very good from this deck. It's very similar to my pre-GvG zoo deck. Implosion owns shit and has been really killer for me, too bad i only have 1 so far. It also opens up stuff like sea giant, power overwhelming, and of course is great if you can pull it off with knife juggler. Really solid deck so far
Yep that's it, very good card overall for Zoo ^^
Sea giant vs enhanco mechano or anima machine?
Anima machine is one of the worst card in the game since your opponent can easily play for its downside ;)
Enhanco Mechano is a fine card, but works only when ahead ^^
I just dont have a sea giant, so am looking for a good replacement. What do you think of fel reaver? :)
Fel Reaver decent, I would go for Loatheb ;)
I was thinking about mechano vs sea giant again. They both work best when ahead/having a good board. So wouldn't he be a good sub for sea giant?
Lol I answered above, fine but only works when ahead ;)