Tick Tech
- Last updated Sep 26, 2021 (Demon Seed Ban)
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Wild
- 15 Minions
- 14 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Corrupted Warlock
- Crafting Cost: 17220
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 4/3/2021 (Forged in the Barrens)
- PowerOfCheez
- Registered User
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- 14
- 57
- 97
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Battle Tag:
PowerOfCheez#1873
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Region:
US
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Total Deck Rating
224
Bottom Line Up Front, or TLDR, is this deck good or just 'fun' ? (revised for Tick Tech on 4/26):
Tick Tech is competitive. Control Warlock decks rarely do well against aggro, but the shell this based on is competitive across all classes, with exception of Warlock itself, and my changes attempt to resolve that.
The question I asked that led to this build was "How can I improve the competitiveness of a Tickatus Control deck across all classes?" The goal is to be even or better odds vs. all classes, not necessarily the best overall win rate. However, achieving this (or even just vs 8-9 of the 10 classes) would make for a far more even and likely enjoyable piloting experience.
This build has a nearly full heal/removal package (missing only Armor Vendors). It also features singletons of several tech cards, which together, give tools to deal with almost anything an opponent can throw at you, except secrets, which require the usual tactics to test and play around.
Will update this periodically as the meta continues to shift and players of the list continue to improve their experience and win rates with it. Would love to hear player's good war stories in the comments!
Prefer Wild? Check this out:
Guide and article here.
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Minion (24)
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Ability (5)
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Playable Hero (1) |
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Behold the PowerOfCheez! This is my latest take on Tickatus Control. Tickatus builds that keep you in the game early give you a chance in most matchups (dominating Priest). Tickatus is one of the few reliable cards against other control decks, especially those which rely too heavily on C'Thun, the Shattered.
This list has the usual win conditions (Tickatus, Y'Shaarj, the Defiler, Envoy Rustwix, and minions in general). Games against control decks often go to fatigue.
Tech choices and play tips:
This is a card many Tickatus Control lists leave out. I found the mirrors (and to a lesser degree, games vs. other class' control builds) really need it to win in the late game.
In matchups against Warlock and Priest, it is really important not to play this too early. The three Primes you get into your deck against Warlock will become either bricks that slow you getting to other key cards or become food for the enemy Tickatus, which is only good situationally.
Against Priest, you can play him early, but have to kill him the turn played, or they can Soul Mirror it and you lose the edge it provides, and worse, they can then rez him back to out-edge you. A frequent play of mine is to play him then Hysteria an opponent's minion to clear the board, load my deck, and often, use two remaining mana for Lord Jaraxxus' hero power.
Ironbeak Owl is in this list in place of the second Acidic Swamp Ooze, so, if you do not like it, that would be the card to sub in for it. The owl gives you a key tool against enchantments (Paladin, Priest and sometimes Warrior and Hunter), Taunts, Deathrattles (like opponent's Taelan Fordrings used in several classes to protect a win con from Tickatus), and end of turn effects, etc.
Helps against the several classes which run weapons... Hunter, Demon Hunter, Paladin, Rogue, Warrior and Warlock all run them. I have seen Mage and Priest running Sphere of Sapience occasionally, also. Have even had occasion to use this against a Priest who got a copy of my Lord Jaraxxus.
Shadow Hunter Vol'jin is tech similar to the Ironbeak Owl, but with the added twist of being able to bounce your own cards situationally, when your hand is right. Can enable a third Tickatus play via bouncing him, or a second Y'Shaarj, the Defiler. Edge cases, but still valuable.
More commonly, its important use is for its Dirty Rat effect, which can force important cards out of your opponent's hand before they get to play them for their Battlecry. This can be crucial, as their hand is the only place safe from Tickatus, and this list has tons of removal and life gain to let you take it out soon after.
Soul Shear and Drain Soul
This builds run both. Soul Shear can net you one additional life over the course of a game (if you don't burn a Soul Fragment than Drain Soul. The price is that the gain is later, and random; that is actually a good thing if you are at full life when you cast it, as you store the gain for when you aren't (hopefully).
Soul Fragments also dilute your deck against an enemy Tickatus, so you usually want to prioritize playing them in the mirror, especially as they approach the ability to play any card that costs 7+.
Note, in some matchups, and when I have a well curved hand with Spirit Jailer and/or either/both of these two removal cards, I often elect to use The Coin to hero power on turn one. It is important to get to the win cons, and because we do not want Soul Fragments or Lifesteal to be wasted, taking two damage and drawing on turn one can be a good move with this list, as long as you can remove an enemy drop on turn 2 (and, if you do not have to, even better to draw again).
Mulligan Guide (in development)
In general, you really want the affordable stuff first, and, in non-aggro matchups, Tickatus (best if you have some other early plays with it, but a keep against the mirror always, as may be Lord Jaraxxus). Taelon Fordring can be a good keep if you have 2-3 other early plays.
Will try to get some matchup specific stuff in here if stats become available.
Baseline Matchup Stats (from usual Control Warlock shell)
Here is a free external link to the HSReplay matchup percentages for an established list that much of the card shell comes from (a high win rate Standard Control Warlock build).
The link in this spoiler (to the deck the shell comes from) should provide more useful baseline data to analyze likely win rates (approximately) against specific deck archetypes. To get archetype specific matchup %s for Tick Tech will require many more games before we get that variety of info.
Would love to field any questions, hear your suggestions or comments. Until next time, (in a James Earl Jones voiceover) "Aaaah, the PowerOfCheez!"
Appendix Spoilers (Deeper Dive stuff, not needed to play):
How do I approach deck building and guide creation?
I always start a new deck with a question and try to answer it. 1.0/2.0 asked and attempted to answer "How do I build and play to most consistently maximize accelerating a Corrupt Tickatus into play?" While those were failures at being competitive, they taught me which cards were really best to achieve improvement toward that goal, and which were too marginal.
It is not always the success of the deck you build (to start) that is as important as what is learned by how you answer whatever question(s) you ask, and how the process informs your future play and build refinements, to improve both. 1.0/2.0 were great examples of taking what is learned from failure to move toward success.
This process has been evident in writing here. Given several positive comments about the quality of the guide (if not the 1.0 and 2.0 decks, lol), I felt like the early effort was rewarded enough to continue the work. I hope the rewards are enhanced now that I have applied the best of what was learned from 1.0 and 2.0 failures and successes to a refined 3.0 build.
This approach drives my building, play choices, and guide writing, not always what will get me to Legend fastest. Experienced players already know most (and more) of this stuff, but illustrating this creative deck building process may help newer or more casual players with how they think when playing other lists or building their own.
I am experienced (over 10,000 wins on the North American server alone, more on the other two), and the 1.0 and 2.0 decks taught me several things, especially about an odd interaction I describe in the guide (which I still have some questions about). 3.0 attempts to harvest just the essential core parts of ramping Tickatus out and slowing the opponent, while reclaiming much of the sustainment of the more standard Control Warlock build.
This is the evolution of how/why I put effort into a guide for a what started as a 'fun' experimental deck, but continued working with it to see if it can become competitive. I thank you if you do read it (or re-read it with the extensive changes), maybe play with the latest version and comment with this context (and thoughts about the post-nerf meta that may impact a 4.0) in mind.
Until then, if you read the guide, hope to see you in the comments!
List Development History:
After a brief experiment with Southsea Scoundrel, reverting to a teched version of the more established proven list. Tech cards in this build give you some answers against almost every threat. Aggro will still be our worst enemy, but the deck does have removal and life gain enough to bring the odds to a little better than even, something a lot of Ticklock decks can not say.
Adding a recent summary of the stats with (3.0) Claws of Tickatus here now that I am trying out 4.0 to try something new. The stats at 2300 games follow:
In 3.0 (Claws of Tickatus) I targeted a 54% overall win rate. As various meta shifts occurred and people learned the deck, it did rise to a 54.95 win rate (4/19) but fell back to 51.42% on 4/20 and has a lifetime 50.5% win rate at 2300 games. It murdered Priest (83.2%) as Control Warlock tends to. Great against Warrior (68.1%). It did very well in the near mirrors against Warlock (58.9%, or 56.4% vs the most played build) as its tech would be expected to give it an advantage there. It broke even against No Minion Mage (51.6%) though was only 47.8% vs. Mage overall. It was sub-par against Paladin (44%), Rogue (43.3%), Shaman (41.8%) and Demon Hunter (40.4%). Hunter (29.7%, as low as 19% vs. some builds) absolutely destroyed Claws of Tickatus.
The rest of the below was written before Southsea Scoundrel Tickatus (4.0) was posted.
List History: Posted the alpha version of this deck at mid-Gold near the end of a fun run with it from Bronze 10 to Gold 2 over two days. Never dreamed it would make front page at that stage, while the deck was still in its experimental genesis stages (Thank you, mates!). Once it was getting tons of views, added full transparency up front (as stated many times in comments and once near the end of the guide), 1.0/2.0 was NOT a competitive deck in the current meta above Gold. The intent was to continue work to refine it and update this along the way.
I finally saw some stats (renewed my stat tracker), and 1.0 was only about 42% win rate (33 vs. Lunacy mage) in @550 games. Made a few changes, and 2.0 gained a point or two, but still abysmal. So I had posted that, until the nerf, play 2.0 only in Bronze thru mid-Gold, in casual or at rank floors after Gold 5 and that I would re-evaluate after the nerfs and keep refining the deck.
I decided not to waste this space on Hearthpwn for that long and to improve this from 'fun' to competitive before the nerf. I did the stat research and after looking at the data (which I had NOT, initially), made extensive changes for 3.0. This list reverts very closely to the standard Control Warlock shell that features Soulciologist Malicia and her support, with only minimal and targeted changes (four cards required to accelerate playing Corrupt Tickatus and two to slow the opponent).
Gone are the wide range of experimental cards which proved marginal or worse at fulfilling the intent of the experiments (see next spoiler). The greed has been greatly reduced, the goal, focused in on. This deck plays much better.
Most recently, Watch Post Tickatus was renamed Claws of Tickatus, shifting the emphasis to the Claw Machines, and in anticipation that the big nerf of Far Watch Post will cause it to need replaced. Personally, I think a better nerf would have been to have it only increase the cost of spells drawn by 1, instead of all draws by 1, as lowering its health to 3 just completely thwarts any cumulative effect by making it so easy to kill. Restricting it to spells would have weakened it a LOT against most aggro, but left it as a good tech card against spell heavy decks.
Cool, CheezusCrust! I really like the Venomous Scorpid. It was in the original list. Always liked comboing it with Hysteria when the board was right. Similar to Watch Post in that they have to deal with it, at least, and replaces itself. Seems good to me!
I had not thought about Polkelt, seems like he might be dead in hand a lot. Not sure what you mean by Broom? I think of Karazan when I hear broom, lol. What cardis that?
animated broomstick, 1 mana 1/1 rush battlecry: give your other minions rush
I would love to see your deck code!
This is what I imagine you are talking about correct?
# 2x (1) Demonic Studies
# 2x (1) Spirit Jailer
# 2x (2) Soul Shear
# 2x (3) Horde Operative
# 2x (3) Hysteria
# 2x (3) Luckysoul Hoarder
# 2x (3) School Spirits
# 1x (3) Tamsin Roame
# 2x (4) Cascading Disaster
# 1x (5) Lorekeeper Polkelt
# 2x (5) Ogremancer
# 2x (6) Claw Machine
# 1x (6) Tickatus
# 1x (7) Soulciologist Malicia
# 2x (7) Strongman
# 2x (8) Twisting Nether
# 1x (9) Lord Jaraxxus
# 1x (10) Y'Shaarj, the Defiler
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Lorekeeper Polkelt's effect goes away as soon as you shuffle any Soul Fragments in. But if you are just looking for one big card, it can be better than Taelan Fordring, especially if you have a shuffler handy to reset the deck.
Unless you are ready for that, though, he is a deader card drawn/in hand than Taelan Fordring most of the time.
Still, I too would like to see the list, since he implied it also had Animated Broomsticks in it!
Yeah I realized that as soon as I tried to play it.. x'D
Amazing deck man! Im having lots of fun with it aswell :) Currently have a 60% winrate with it
Yay! That makes me happy! I appreciate you sharing that! Any memorable moments from your games to share? Love it when people share 'war stories'.
I guess I can't really play this deck without Tickatus? It's the only card I'm currently missing from this list.
Wellllll, yeah, it is sort of the primary card and one of the main win conditions. That isn't to say you couldn't try a similar list without it, but it would have to shift focus a lot. If you think of the 'shell' I used, minus Tickatus, you would have to consider whether to lose Claw Machines and Y'Shaarj, the Defiler for some other replacement 'package'. Wouldn't know for sure what to suggest. I will say Demonic Studies could get you Tickatus, but not with any reliability.
Major Revisions to the deck! Posting before the nerf to try and improve its competitiveness NOW, in respect for how fast the experimental lists (1.0 and 2.0) got elevated to the front page. Took the advice of many commenters about those having too many tradeoffs away from the successful Control Warlock lists, and mined the actual stats, so, only six cards (the most impactful from 1.0 and 2.0) in this are different now from a proven Control Warlock list with 57%+ win rate (link in article). 4 focus on ramping out Tickatus and 2 on slowing the opponent.
Made the revisions all at once, so, will be cleaning up little formatting things here and there for the next day or so. But the list and content are updated. The list this took 6 cards away from has nearly a 58% win rate. I imagine my changes will lower that, but may improve certain matchups (and hurt others). Hoping to get some data on that before the nerfs, to help with 4.0 when the time comes.
All comments before this one are based on 2.0 and 1.0, so not as relevant or useful for 3.0. Look forward to new questions/comments on 3.0 going forward!
indeed like you say a fun deck to play but is heavy dependant on rng against all those stupid mages.
Thanks! Right, I added some spoilers right at the top of the article explaining that is was not posted as a competitive deck (beyond mid-gold, at least not until maybe post-nerf), and that the intent was to explore the question "How do I build and play to most consistently maximize accelerating a Corrupt Tickatus into play?"
Beyond that, it is an exercise in creative (not competitive) deck building and learning. For example, even though I have played over 10,000 games, I learned something about that weird interaction between discounted demons and Corrupting, something that might save me or other more serious competitors from a serious error someday with a competitive list.
As is, the list requires some serious gambles a lot of the time, with the mulligan and the plays, to pay off in otherwise fringe auto loss games. Add those occasional wins to the games you get good draws and it wins well enough below mid gold, but starts to push even by upper gold, and starts to lose more than it wins there.
Hoping the meta shifts enough after the nerf that it can get a boost. Ironically, if they nerf Far Watch Post, that might help it as it would free several slots for other cards, back toward a Soulciologist Malicia build, but retaining the Tickatus acceleration.
Like the Deck... but it does NOT work in the meta... its just too slow/not enough life gain.
Thank you for the comment. I have posted in the article (In the 'Deck of Lunacy' spoiler)) and the comments (several times) that this is not competitive in the current meta at ranks above Gold. I believe it will become more competitive post-nerf next week, but until then, it is a 'fun' deck at platinum and higher, intended for the rank floors or casual. I did succeed with it (solely) from Bronze 10 to Gold 2 in just a couple days, but that is when the streaks stopped and the opponents became nearly all decks needing nerfed (Mage, Pally, Rogue) or the aggro that does well against them (aggro being Warlock Control's archenemy).
Just curious, did you not see those comments? Should I move one to the very top of the article? [Edit: Added that right up front in the guide]. Tried to be transparent. When I posted the list, it was because of the success I was having at the lower ranks. Never dreamed it would make front page, so the attention it has gotten should NOT be construed as any claim or endorsement of it as competitive in the current meta.
I love this deck, but sometimes I found really hard to get in hand the big minions like Tickatus, Y'sharj, Alex.. any ideas on how to get them?
Hey, Vicarious_Russ, thanks for the question! So, in the current list, these are all your options for help to pull them (forgive the obvious ones, just trying to be thorough):
1.) Mulligan:
I usually keep Tickatus and one Claw Machine then hero power a lot (unless I get a Far Watch Post, which I may keep and drop ASAP), because most matchups in the current meta require the aggressive mulligan strategy. I do not keep any other minions usually. I only ever keep other minions and removal in safer matchups under the passive mulligan strategy.
2.) Hero Power:
Warlock's power helps you get deeper into the deck faster. As mentioned with the aggressive mulligan strategy when matched up against broken decks (which right now include Mage, Pally, Rogue, and maybe Druid), I tend to use the draw as much as possible early, looking for Tickatus, Demonic Studies and Claw Machine, so I can cast a discounted corrupt Tickatus ASAP.
3.) Claw Machine:
When it dies, it digs out and buffs something. Although it is not guaranteed to be a big creature, even if it is not, it will thin your deck further, which will increase the odds of later draws (from either natural draw, hero power, the second Claw Machine) getting you whatever what you are looking for.
Note, unless I am playing against Demon Hunter or Priest (the only two classes which can reliably Silence), I don't necessarily care if the Claw Machine dies the turn I play it, so I wont hold it to wait until I can play it and trigger its rattle same turn. I only hold it if I am waiting to trigger a discounted Tickatus. Sometimes it is more important to remove something and get it on board, or even just get it on board and make them deal with it.
Sooner its on board, sooner it replaces itself and thins your deck, often by the very next turn. Just have to watch hand size and try to stay at 8 cards or less when leaving it in play so you don't overdraw. If you are waiting on Tickatus, you may be tempted to hold it... sometimes I would not. Once in a rare while, you might play it with the discount already banked, then immediately draw Tickatus and feel bad. But its ok... that is rare.
4.) Demonic Studies:
You can't control what you are offered, but it is possible to get Tickatus from this (or other cards that may help you get things that you need or out of your deck).
5.) Timing of Envoy Rustwix and Kanrethad Ebonlocke:
This is mentioned because playing them too early can hurt your odds of getting a particular draw. I am not saying do not play them, but if you have the luxury of holding them against anyone but Demon Hunter (who can force one in hand back into your deck), consider that the cards they add to your deck will thicken the deck you have been thinning and add an opportunity cost of decreasing the chances of other draws... it may take longer to get other cards you want after that.
Just because the deck has multiple win cons, doesn't mean you can necessarily work them all at once equally efficiently. Sometimes you have to prioritize one win con over another and time your plays accordingly.
If you have Envoy Rustwix is in hand, and choose to prioritize that win con, consider that adding three Primes to your deck will mean it takes longer to get other cards. If you really need something in your deck more than you need Envoy Rustwix in play (like removal, or healing, or Tickatus), consider whether drawing a Prime instead will be worth it or cost you the game. Great example is playing him on turn 4 or 5... you cant play most of the Primes you could draw until several turns later and they can brick your hand. Keep that in mind.
6.) Mortal Coil, Altar of Fire & Shadow Council from Wandmaker + other discovered cards:
Some of the cards you can discover or get from Wandmaker or discover can impact your odds of drawing or otherwise obtaining something you need.
7.) Tech in something that helps:
I had Taelon Fordring in the original list. You could sub him back in for something, to improve odds that you pull one of the large minions.
Hope that helps you out!
What are your thoughts on adding in Tamsin Roame and Soulciologist?
I like Tamsin Roame. She could generate more Demonic Studies, removal, and cards from Wandmaker, so yes, could be a great sub for something. One of the others asked about putting it in for Kanrethad Ebonlocke and I wrote in depth on that farther down in the thread.
Soulciologist Malicia would not get as consistent a board of 3/3s as in other lists, unless you basically convert this to those lists, BUT I still think its a viable sub for Kargal Battlescar (or for something else if you want both)... my list isn't optimized for Kargal Battlescar either.
So, sure, it could work, as long as you are not expecting to fill the entire board. I am sure situationally 3/3 Souls with Rush would be better than 5/5 Lookouts at times. No card has to be maximized to be worthy, we just tend to like that, lol. Mana value wise, if you only get one Soul, you are ahead, especially if SM corrupts Tickatus, which is sometimes more important than the board state impact. Sometimes, lol.
Interesting, if you were to sub something out for just tamsin, what would it be?