(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
Hey dude loving these decks.
I was trying to find room for Dr. Boom and I saw you recommended removing an Ooze or a Coil in the comments. My only problem is I have already replaced 1 coil and the Ooze for Imp Gang Boss. Do I take away my last Mortal Coil for Boom or sub something else.
Cheers.
Glad you are enjoying the decks! ^^
To find room for Dr Boom I would either take out the 2nd Mortal Coil or remove Dire Wolf Alpha from the list. The Dire Wolf Alpha is a late game card anyways and something you don't want in your opening hands similar to Dr Boom, so I could see this cut being correct to keep the Coil in for the Hunter matchups.
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Playing your deck with the Imp gang bosses in it and wow! I went from Rank 16 to Rank 11 in about 2 hours with this deck. I now understand why Zoolock is so popular. If you don't mind, I might use this for the basis of a demonlock deck once I get the cards. Thanks again for this awesome deck!
Glad you are enjoying the deck! It's very consistent and powerful, so I'm not surprised you've been climbing well with it. I have put together a Demon-Lock variation in the FAQ section if players don't have an issue with a budget. Feel free to use it however you like tho!
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Can i change the naxxramas cards ? I dont have any of the wings :(
I don't believe you would have as close of a winrate. However if your just looking for a deck to help you with completing quests, I suppose it would work.
-2 Haunted Creeper
-2 Nerubian Egg
-1 Loatheb
+1 Acidic Swamp Ooze
+1 Dire Wolf Alpha
+2 Worgen Infiltrator
+1 Dark Iron Dwarf
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
what about -2 Doomguard +2 Arcane Golem? golems cost only 3 mana and can make a great a combo with [card]Power Overwhelming[/card] and [card]Abusive Sergeant[/card]
I'm not quite sure what players have against Doomguard. It's such a great card and I don't understand wanting to cut it from an Aggro Deck or Demon-lock Deck.
If you'd like to play the Golem + Power + Faceless combo, I won't stop you. I'd still recommend the Doomguard since it's a bargain for a deck that already plans to empty its hand ASAP. An Arcane Golem is only likely to survive one attack, where Doomguard is strong enough and tough enough to survive for an additional turn at least.
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Added a Deck Overview Video to this guide. Hope you guys enjoy and find it helpful!
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Not sure what I'm doing wrong but this deck isn't working at all for me. Lost five time in a row to mages and paladins. If I play to many minions, the just clear the board. If I play it carefully, the big guns and taunters start to show up. I can't seem to keep any type of board control.
Control Paladin can be a tough matchup for sure, so I'm not surprised you are having issues with them. Do your best to preserve Nerubian Eggs and Haunted Creepers and your matchup becomes slightly easier, but not perfect. I've also found that there are waaaay less Control Paladins as of lately so this shouldn't be too big of a problem unless there's been some kind of resurgence.
However Tempo Mage shouldn't be as big of a problem as long as your opponent doesn't get a bonkers start. I'd also recommend trying to preserve your Nerubian Eggs and Haunted Creepers if they haven't cast a Flamewaker yet to help make things awkward for your opponent. If you don't kill the Flamewaker on the turn it comes out, you will definitely run into issues tho.
Hopefully you found this helpful. If you have any other questions feel free to ask!
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Doomguard is the most powerful card in the deck and the best way to finish out a game. You only tend to get punished by getting both copies in your hand, but at least when that happens you can dump the rest of your hand knowing you'll only get 1x Doomguard to stick this game or having a chance to discard 2 other cards and get to cast the 2nd Doomguard.
I don't really see any replacements because the card is perfect for this deck. Maybe cut 1x Doomguard for 1x Leeroy Jenkins since they accomplish similar effects?
It kills me that the only card I dont have for the deck you recomended in the FAQ is Mal'Ganis, I guess I have to stick with this for now.
At this point, I believe this deck to be more consistent in the current Meta than the non-budget version. Mostly because it has a plan to end the game sooner and seems to have a better matchup against Patron Warriors.
You can also do as PetzkuH has mentioned, try that swap and figure out which deck has a higher win rate is, Demon-Lock or Zoolock. Which ever one is performing more, stick with it.
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Having a blast with the deck, playing with you hunter deck, too.
Thanks.
Glad you are enjoying those two decks, they are extremely consistent. I'd also recommend the Paladin Aggro deck located in my guides since this is another fun and consistent aggro deck. ^^
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
What do you think about lerroy instead of loathab?
Leeroy's a great card for sure, but I feel Doomguard accomplishes a similar effect but with a more durable body. So if you were to add a Leeroy to the deck, I would recommend cutting a Doomguard for the reason stated previously.
Loatheb is not put in this deck for burst damage potential, so it accomplishes something completely different from Leeroy. Loatheb is here to allow our board state to survive for an additional turn against a Board Clear, which in a lot of matchups becomes relevant and is all we need to kill our opponent sooner.
Shutting down a Consecrate, Bladeflurry, Brawl, Swipe, Lightning Storm, Blizzard, Flamestrike, Whirlwinds (multiple), and more comes in handy more often than not. So it's best to learn how to time your Loatheb correctly.
Hope this is helpful! Good luck and Grind on,
-Wings
Good point. I ran close to this deck last season got to rank 7. But ill sub the doomgaurd for leeroy. Also last season i ran an enhance-o-mechano, so im trying to find something to remove for that also. Any suggestions?
Enhance-o-Mechano is a great card if you are ahead, which this deck at least plans on being, but not everything always goes as planned. :P
If you were to make room to test him out, I would recommend cutting one of your utility slots like Mortal Coil or Acidic Swamp Ooze. The extra 4-drop makes you a bit top heavy on the mana curve, but it has the potential to cause blow outs.
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings