Hearthpwn

Hello! This is the zoo deck I used to climb to legend. It got me to around rank 600 on the NA server and I believe it could get me even higher if I spent even more time playing.

I've played so many games with this deck and I have a very good feeling on how to use it. If this gets any attention I will add a detailed guide, with mulligans, synergies, replacements and card explanations.

UPDATE: This has received some positive feedback, so thanks for the support.

ANOTHER UPDATE: I added a little bit here and there because I had the time to do so. Should be finished tomorrow in the late evening. 

ANOTHER NEW UPDATE: Due to time constraints, I am not able to finish this guide so easily. I am doing my best to add a chunk every so often. Should be done in the near future. All that's left to put out are mulligans and a few more card explanations. Thanks for the patience, hope you enjoy.

I would like to take a moment to note that there are many pro players running extremely similar decks at the moment, and I am not at all trying to take full credit for this type of deck. Also, I get that there a lot of similar zoo guides. If you're going to complain about this being unoriginal I don't know what to say.

Intro: Zoo has always been a very powerful deck-type, but with the newest expansion, restrictions and meta, playing this deck is not exactly what it used to be. Nerubian Egg and Voidcaller were extremely efficient counters to this deck's prevalent arch nemesis, Brawl. The Knife Juggler nerf was although fair, a slight downgrade for this deck. Thankfully, Forbidden Ritual was the type of card we needed to validate keeping this minion.

Despite these minor setbacks, zoo still has the power it takes to reach legend.

General Guide: If you think this is a brain dead deck, well you're not COMPLETELY wrong, but wrong nonetheless. There are important decisions you need to make with this deck, such as when to go face, when to tap, when to bite your tongue and not play more minions even though you have the mana to, which of these one drops do I play, when to trade, etc.

Additionally, a good skill to have for playing competitively is knowing what cards they are likely to have/play. If you are serious about making it to legend, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with popular decks and which cards are in them. I note this because it is a skill you learn mostly from intuition, rather than a deck guide.

For example, being able to distinguish a Midrange Shaman from an Aggro Shaman is important, because then you can tell whether or not they will (probably) have a Lightning Storm ready to crush your valuable tempo. If you are safe from AOE, you can load your board all you want ftw.

Back to what I was saying before, I will do my best do go over each of these questions throughout the guide.

Going Face vs. Board Control:  There are two ways in which this deck wins.

Typically, the main goal of this deck is using your tempo to both reasonably control the board and put pressure on the face at the same time. Depending on the matchups, you need to one a bit more than the other.

Examples + Explanations:

C'Thun Warrior, Control Warrior, C'Thun Druid, Freeze Mage, N'Zoth Paladin. 

If you are going up against one of these types of decks, where they benefit majorly from the late game with heals and cards such as C'Thun, Ancient Shieldbearer, and Ancient of War you need to play slightly aggressively. Keep in mind, this does not mean throw down all of your cards you can, Power Overwhelming on turn two and push face no matter what. The reason these decks are so threatening is because they use cards like Brawl and Swipe to make sure they maintain themselves until late game, so play around AOE.

I know this seems contradictory, as in well do I aggro them down and then get board cleared or do I play slightly aggressively and then get wrecked by their late game? That's the struggle you face against these opponents, you have to find the perfect mix of the two. What really helps though, is your burst potential. You will almost never beat these types of decks by slowly chipping them down to 0.

It is important you save your Leeroy Jenkins,  Power Overwhelmings, Soulfire and sometimes Abusive Sergeants to surprise them with a bursty combo.

My best advice against control, is to tap often to make sure you can always play a decent amount of minions assuming your board gets cleared. Ask yourself often, "Is it likely that my board will get cleared, and if so, can I recover?"

Midrange Hunter, Aggro Shaman, Zoo, Tempo Mage.

These are the types of decks that will present you with a lot of potential trading, and although they have no heals, it is still important to control the board so they cannot out tempo you. Very often do inexperienced players ignore trades and go face. Even if it's just an 0/2 totem, you KILL THAT LITTLE SHIT, BECAUSE THEN THAT LITTLE SHIT GET'S +2 ATTACK FROM Flametongue Totem AND IT KILLS YOUR DUDES. DON'T LET THEM KILL YOUR DUDES. There comes a point though, where you go for (mostly) the face in the later game when you have a nice board, and have the potential to kill them quick. Most important advice for these matchups, don't be too shy to play a few extra minions, and try to tap enough to keep you in both good supply and health. Ask yourself, "What is the most efficient way for me to trade here, what will happen if I don't trade, do I have lethal in the near future?"

 

Midrange Shaman, Token Druid,

Decks such as Midrange Shaman for example, feature threats that both of these groups have. They've got a few taunts and lightning storm or two for AOE. Decks that are between these two groups require a proper mix of these two approaches. Think about AOE, consider facing some taunts, think about late game cards you're going to have to deal with. Make smart choices which help you control the board and maintain tempo at the same time. If you think you have the opportunity to burst them down soon, go for it. If they have the potential to burst you down however, use your minions to efficiently destroy theirs, and consider tapping less often to maintain life.

A lesson from Trump

Firstly, I will start by saying that Trump is my favorite hearthstone streamer. He has a great ability to teach players and I learned a lot from him on how to play the game. I did not realize he had a deck only one card off however, so my apologies to Trump.

Anyway, the reason I mentioned him is because a while back he released a very helpful "Trump Teaching's" video on the basics of Warlock. It stresses the importance of tapping for cards. If Warlock is totally foreign to you, I recommend you check out his videos for extra information.

Certain Card Explanations/Synergies

Forbidden Ritual x 2

A lot of people decide to put in only one of this card. I highly recommend you include two. It does a great job of setting up a full board after you get cleared, which is a great counter to decks with AOE. Additionally, it has synergies with your Knife Juggler Dire Wolf Alpha and Darkshire Councilman

Mortal Coil x 1

A ping is always nice to have, especially in the current meta where early game cards can seriously lead a player into victory. It can really help finish off that annoying Tunnel Trogg that NEEDS to die.  

Power Overwhelming x2

Helps a lot with reach and clearing taunts. Never use this card unless you benefit immediately. Note the synergy this has with Possessed Villager, there may come a time where that combo + Knife Juggler = lethal.

 Soulfire x1

Helps with reach potential, very important to have against opponents with lots of defense 

One drops and which to play when

Argent Squire x2

Great to play turn 1 when you have a card that can buff it the following turn to kill something, because it is the most likely to survive. Note that this card is the best (tied with Imp Gang Boss and Sea Giant) minion to use Defender of Argus on because it will retain the buff for two hits due to its divine shield. The main point of this, is to consider it's divine shield and how that will benefit you.

Flame Imp x2

Consider playing this card when you can use it's attack value to benefit you. Perhaps your opponent is likely to play a 1/3 minion, making this the best counter. Typically it is best to play this along with another 1 drop so that this can take care of the pressure to face while you use your other cards to help him survive. 

 

Voidwalker x2

Usually you want to play this card when it's taunt will help protect one of your valuable minions like Knife Juggler or Darkshire Councilman. Play this card tactically, when you have other minions to benefit from it's protection. Not a very solid play turn 1 when this will be all that's on your board.

Possessed Villager x2

This card gets compared a lot to Argent squire. They both take a hit, and you're left with a 1/1 minion. It is important to note the ways in which these two cards are different. Possessed Villager has synergy with Knife Juggler and Darkshire Councilman. Additionally, you can trigger this card's deathrattle with Power Overwhelming, so always consider using this to your advantage. This card is a a solid turn 1 play, for reasons similar to Argent Squire. 

Abusive Sergeant x2 

Almost never play this card alone on turn 1, save it to benefit from it's battlecry. The only acceptable time to play this alone for a 2/1 body is when you REALLY have no other plays and you are worried about losing tempo. However, if you mulligan correctly, this should almost never happen.

 

Hey guys, I'm really sorry this is taking a while to finish, I can't help how busy I am doing other things. I hope the effort I have put into this is appreciated, and I promise this will get finished sometime soon. Plz don't hate. Good luck.