Hearthpwn

Hey guys, it’s Strika again, this time with a fit-a-budget Zoolock deck that took me from Rank 9 to Legend pretty quickly with a winrate of about 65 %.

It is a common mistake to treat Wild as a less competitive mode that Standard. The possibility to use all cards makes Wild decks less predictable and thus harder to deal with. It is also harder to create a consistent deck that would efficiently counter your opponents’ setups. Moreover, top ranks (starting from 5 and on) in Wild are so packed with tough players (most of them Legends) that Standard hasn’t ever dreamt of.

Anyway, I used mostly N’Zoth decks (except for some occasional testing of a pirate Warrior – which is pretty crap, if you ask me) to climb up to Rank 5 in Wild – them being Hunter, Priest and Pally. Priest is the least competitive of them all due to the being too bulky, but Paladin worked best of them all for me. However, at rank 5 they just stopped performing. The once 71% winrate Pally suddenly started losing everything, and I crashed down to Rank 9, flabbergasted. Desperate, I turned to an old and dusty Zoolock deck (courtesy of somebody from Hearthpwn – sorry, can’t remember the name), made a couple of tweaks to it and it immediately started making wonders for me. I won the way back to Rank 5 in two or three hours and then it was matter of a couple of more days (I can’t play more than 2-3 hours a day due to work and family stuff) to grind up to #143 Legend.

Below is little strategy guide for you (in case you don’t already know how to handle one of the most popular sets in the game – the Zoolock set).

GENERAL STRATEGY

The mechanics are pretty straightforward: fill the board, buff the attackers and mostly hit face trying to make occasional trades with your smaller minions to cover the buffed high-attack ones. Always try to use taunts to protect your high attack force or those minions that are crucial for your next move. That is, don’t put Defender of Argus beside a Knife Juggler or a Dire Wolf Alpha, as you make them exposed and will potentially lose their effect.

Board control is key in early game as you need to set a firm foothold on the table. The thing is you don’t have any removals which can be played directly from your hand (except for the Imp-losion) and no AoE whatsoever. Your removal power vests in trades – ideal example would be using Power Overwhelming and Abusive Sergeant with Nerubian Egg to wipe off Druid of the Claw. So, plan your plays carefully – try to predict what your opponent might have in hand and, of course, try not to overextend and lose all your board power to an AoE. If the course of the game allows, try to play Nerubian Egg as early as possible – it will make your opponent think twice before using AoE or random target removals (hello, Ms. Jaina).

Use your hero power wisely. Do not overhurt yourself trying to get as many cards as possible, but do not hesitate to tap when you are becoming too short on cards. Just try to guess how much health is enough to survive next two turns (or one – if you have lethal), and you’ll be fine.

Your goal is to bite bits off your enemy’s face until you can make your last lethal spurt. Do not spend your buffs (Power Overwhelming and Abusive Sergeant) until you are sure you can finish the foe this (or at least the next) turn or unless you absolutely have to make a trade! Leeroy Jenkins should be played only as a finisher unless you must use him as a last resort measure to avoid a certain defeat.

MULLIGAN

No coin: Always keep one-mana minions such as Flame Imp, Possessed Villager, Voidwalker. Dark Peddler, Knife Juggler, Dire Wolf Alpha are also good to keep, especially with coin. Don’t keep Abusive Sergeant unless you have a Nerubian Egg and, preferably, a coin. Don’t keep spells like Power Overwhelming and Mortal Coil as you don’t know when you will need them – usually they don’t come in handy before turn 3. Never keep any card that costs more than 3 mana.

Coin: While preference is always to 1-mana minions, you can keep Dark Peddler, Knife Juggler, Dire Wolf Alpha, Nerubian Egg (especially with Abusive Sergeant), Imp Gang Boss. Darkshire Councilmanshould usually be dropped.

CARD CHOICES

Most of the set are the classic Zoolck cards that hardly require any in-depth explanation. Below are several examples.

Sea Giant– I used to underestimate his value, and that’s partially why my Zoolock didn’t perform as good for me in previous seasons. This card is immensely valuable for zoo decks as it is a virtually free 8-8 which you can often play as early as turn 4 with no downside (yes, Fel Reaver, I am talking to you). A must-craft for a zoo player.

Mortal Coil– a very useful card. It can serve as a removal and bring you a choice of useful cards at a right time. Two is a bit too many (as you will have to drop something else from your deck, which is not good). However, in the last build I decided to switch it for Argent Horserider. It works just fine so far.

Dark Peddler– one of the best Warlock cards. Gives you card draw and some nice buffs or taunts (you will usually get Power Overwhelming, Abusive Sergeant, Mortal Coil, Voidwalker, Possessed Villager, Flame Imp, Reliquary Seeker, Soulfire or Corruption) and all of them generally come in handy.

Leeroy Jenkins– big-time finisher. Keep your buffs in hand and let him fly out boosted: two Power Overwhelming will give you 14 points of charge damage just for this guy alone, which is GG at most times.

Why no Haunted Creeper? Can’t really explain. But thing is, there are no cards that I would give away for a Haunted Creeper. Yes, it works nicely with Knife Juggler, but believe me, this deck runs pretty many cards that also work just the same.

Soulfire is for discard decks – don’t run it, because you have no cards to spare.

MATCHUPS

Secret Paladin

Usually an easy win. Ignore his minions, try to feed him with taunts, go face mostly and wait until you have lethal. Don’t hit his minions when you suspect he has Avenge (unless they are taunts, of course). Be careful about Consecration though.

Healadin

A tougher matchup. These gays have various means of AoE removals (Wild Pyromancer + Equality is every Zoolock’s nightmare) and they have plenty of heal. In the late game, you will have no chance against the likes of Ragnaros, Lightlord, so try to be very quick to hit his face early on.

Freeze mage

Very hard. Your only chance is to keep the early pressure so he has to remove your threats rather than make his card draws. If your early game is weak, it is going to be a sure loss. Heavy AoE starting from T5 (Doomsayer + Frost Nova, Blizzard, Flamestrike) will ruin your gameplan so be very quick. Denying his card draw is crucial.

Tempo Mage

Hard, but winnable. Flamewaker can give you some trouble, and all those nasty cheap spells. Try to get rid of Mana Wyrm and Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Watch out for Yogg-Saron, he is a real bitch. Their AoE is scarce so you can usually fill the board with no hesitation.

Fellow Zoolock

This is just a race. Make sure your mulligan has no heavy cards and flood the board mercilessly. They usually run no AoE, so don’t be afraid to overextend.

Handlock

You are not likely to face many of these guys up the ladder, but be prepared when you do. Be very quick and at the same time do not overextend. They have mighty AoE spells like Hellfire and Shadowflame. If it's a Renolock, and he manages to play Reno Jackson when you have almost brought him down to death, you can just concede - do not waste your time. Ignore his minions (unless you feel Shadowflame is coming) and go face as much as possible. Keep your buffs for his big taunts.

Warrior (any)

Easy-peasy. They can’t be quick enough to hurt you (even the Pirate Warrior). Unless your starting draw is total crap, you will no problem beating the Warrior. Just don’t throw it all in against the Control Warrior, otherwise you can really suffer from the Brawl. Patron also goes down the drain quickly, just be careful with the Frothing Berserker (he can be nasty if hidden behind a taunt).

Rogue

They are usually too slow, so you are favored. However, don’t get lulled by their visual clumsiness. They can burst quickly. Also, don’t forget Deathrattle Rogues who through taunts at you and then resurrect them with multiple N’Zoths.

Shaman

This is the toughest matchup of all. They build the board quickly and they have AoE. Wild mode gives them all the power to own the meta, and they usually use it. In this matchup you should concentrate on keeping the board clean (especially care for spell damage boosters) and occasionally snatch at his face. Keep your buffs to go through taunts (Thing from Below, etc.)

Druid

The easiest game, an instant win. They just can’t handle the zoo (Swipe doesn’t do the job). Just be ready to pass his taunts in the mid-game (Druid of the Claw and Ancient of War) and you’ll have no sweat.

Hunter

A rare guest in the Wild top ranks these days. However, you are usually favored as his own response to a board flood is just Unleash the Hounds and Explosive Trap. Be watchful for a Secret Hunter though – they can deal with your threats pretty efficiently. Don’t let him get a Freezing Trap on your big guys – try to play around his secrets.

Possible card replacements

As I mentioned you can get the Haunted Creeper back to the pack. It will get some boost to the Knife Juggler synergy, and they work good with Defender of Argus as well.

Leeroy Jenkins is pretty hard to replace. However you can experiment with other charge minions like Argent Horserider for instance.

Sea Giant is very important to this deck. It creates pressure and is hard to remove by most AoE spells (those run by Shamans, Druids and Mages). If you don't have them, try to make sure you have some minions that can come out big for a small price - a good example would be the Reliquary Seeker.

That’s it guys – have fun and thanks for the upvotes!

You can check my streams at twitch.tv\strika78 and Hearth_Raider channel on YouTube.

Proof of Legend.

Update 08.11.16:

- added a Handlock part to the matchup section of the guide;

- added a Card Replacement section.

Update 15.11.16:

+1 Argent Horserider, - 1Mortal Coil

Update 21.11.16:

-1 Argent Horserider + 1Enhance-o Mechano

After some testing, Enhance-o Mechano proved better in the current Shaman-mobbed meta as it helps to improve the board and make it less susceptible to AoE (by way of divine shields).