(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
Subscribe To YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/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
Thank you very much! Hope the guide was helpful as well :D
Hey,
First off, I'd like to say I appreciate your deck-building skills. Your decks all seem pretty viable!
I'm going to update my current budget zoo deck to be like this one. However, I have a Dr. Boom and Bane of Doom, and was wondering if it is replacing anything in this deck with either of those. For Bane of Doom, I saw your post in a previous comment and you wrote Mortal Coil or Doomguard, and was wondering which one you would personally pull out for that, as well as if its worth putting Boom in this deck.
Thanks!
Thank you so much for the kind words! They are extremely appreciated. :D
I would try to make room for Dr. Boom definitely, but Bane of Doom doesn't feel as strong or worthwhile. However if you still would like to play with both, here is what I would cut:
-1 Mortal Coil
-1 Acidic Swamp Ooze
+1 Bane of Doom
+1 Dr. Boom
These are the interchangeable slots, but removing Mortal Coil hurts your Hunter Matchup slightly (it's already a bad matchup). The Swamp Ooze was just there to answer an early Weapon from your opponent to soak up some damage, so he wasn't a major card by any means.
I would for sure play Dr. Boom if I had it, but the Bane of Doom is a bit too RNG dependant for me. That being said, Bane of Doom seems helpful in the fact of giving you a chance to win a game that you were so far behind in.
Hope you find this helpful. Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Yea Bane of Doom seems a bit too gimmicky to be consistent. You can sometimes get a Malganis, then other times you get an Imp (the extreme ends of it). I'll try playing with -Ooze +Boom and see how it works. Thanks for the very quick response!
i watch on video 15ranks games... with this deck..
its not deck for up legends ranks...
Hopefully I figured out your poor English properly.
Before I started streaming, this decklist got me to Legend 3-4 times (a few months ago). The Videos are only there to show you how to pilot the deck, they were never a claim of me getting Legend. It was for educational purposes only. For sure this deck can get you to Legend if you pilot it well. There was also 5+ people who messaged me from the end of last season who got Legend with this list.
Hope this clears things up. Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
If you added Imp Gang Boss to your deck, I would make the following changes:
-1 Mortal Coil
-1 Acidic Swamp Ooze
+2 Imp Gang Boss
If you were to add Bane of Doom, either one of the two following would need to be cut:
-1 Mortal Coil (the 2nd Coil)
or
-1 Doomguard
Unfortunately cutting Coils from your deck makes this strategy much weaker to Hunters, but would definitely improve most of your other matchups.
Hopefully this helps! Good luck and Grind On,
-Wings
Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. So...lower as in a losing streak? or lower as in a winning streak? lol
Well I'm glad it's helping you Rank-Up. This decklist has brought me to legend multiple times (Top 100 once) in the past and it still can bring anyone to Legend if piloted relatively well.
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
replace for 2x Doomguard, or should i craft him ?
There's no replacement for Doomguard, I'd recommend crafting him to play the deck. He's the only top end minion available to Warlock that pushes for large amounts of burst and is a sturdy body.
Glad you like the deck! It's not a new strategy by any means. I just wanted to come up with a Budget Solution Deck list and in-depth Guide for newer players to start ranking up with and have fun in the process.
Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
Hello i like your deck, is there any ubgrade into this deck? like dr.boom or voidcaller, or is it better like it is ? and what would you replace if you would put boom or voidcaller in
Thanks :) keep on good work!
In the FAQ section, I have a "Budget Not a Problem?" portion that shares a deck list for those who have a larger collection. Outside of that, I don't have a separate guide for that deck list since I was focusing more towards Newer/Budget Players.
Hopefully this is helpful. Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
thanks :) keep on good work buddy!
Hi I'm currently play zoo Warlock similar to this deck but I would like to try yours since it look more aggressive (only small changes).
My question here is what do you think of following cards since I noticed that you didn't put them into your deck:
- Dark Bomb (for spell dmg without having to sacrifice your minions)
- Hellfire : I know it is strange for a zoo deck to put Hellfire but from what I have been experiencing this card save me quite a lot of time when my board is behind especially when I got overrun by Grim Patron or those Squires, Just wanting to know your opinions
Anyhow this deck look like fun I will definitely try it (I don't have Loatheb though gotta save Gold fast)
Thanks man
Hey there!
Dark Bomb - This is a great card, but it doesn't give us enough damage per mana needed for this deck list. If you're spending 2-mana on a card, it should be a minion or a spell of huge powerlevel. Dark Bomb is an average burn spell that doesn't get a lot of value outside of being pointed to your opponents dome. Another thing is, compare all the other 2-mana minions in this deck compared to Dark Bomb, they are all either worth at least 3 damage or can be more in most scenarios.
Hellfire - I don't mind this card as much, but I only see it becoming a possible addition if you are running into a lot of Mirror Matches (Zoolock) and Aggro Paladin where you could "surprise" board clear their offensive by sandbagging some of your minions. Obviously it has other applications for example removing a Grim Patron board, but that is not how you want to be approaching the Patron matchup anyways. Against Grim Patron, you should be pressuring them every turn, forcing them to use their resources on your minions so they don't get to build an enormous board state.
If you don't own Loatheb, I wouldn't fret about it just yet. Playing another aggressive card is fine for now if you'd just like to play the deck and have some fun (Worgen Infiltrator, Elvin Archer, Dark Iron Dwarf). However if you'd like to get serious at some point with Hearthstone Ranked, I'd recommend getting all of Naxx (and eventually BRM) to unlock some top tier cards.
Hopefully this helps. Good luck and grind on,
-Wings
i play grim patron alot, and i'v seen so meny people play OOZ, and dobbel hellfire just to kill patrions decks and i dont think it make sens, if you play vs a good patrion warrior one hellifre will not save you the game!, you need to hit whit 2 hellfire and somthing more. if you can use 2 hellfire and a ooze you can maby win, or if you use 2 hellfire and get 2 domgards from voidcallers but even vs this decks grim patrion is favorit, i think its more important to put preshure early in the game to win it. hellfire will make your deck so mutch weaker in other matchups, and can be dead cards you never get to use. And even when you easyer can see that you will win the games were you have one hellfire over having a other card you can't see the that you will win more games whitout it.
sorry for super bad english.
Hello , how good is Imp Gang Boss in this deck ?
Img Gang Boss is one of the best 3 drops in the game. It helps out this strategy extremely well by producing at a bare minimum of 3/5 worth of stats by trading him away and all for 3 mana (ususally you have to pay 4 mana for that).
Most of the time he's worth at least a 4/6 stat-wise by your opponent needing 2 attacks to clear it, but he could be worth even more than that.
Imp Gang Boss also has some great synergies in this deck. Knife Juggler gets more juggles. Void Terror gets more 1/1s to eat up. Defender of Argus gets extra bodies to obtain value from his effect.
If you have Imp Gang Boss, I would recommend -1 Acidic Swamp Ooze -1 Mortal Coil for +2 Imp Gang Boss. This makes you a little more midrange oriented, which gives you a better matchup against decks looking to have a longer game.
Good luck and Grind on,
-Wings