Evil Rexxar (67% WR Full Guide + Video)
- Last updated Nov 30, 2016 (Yogg Nerf)
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Wild
- 24 Minions
- 6 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Discardlock
- Crafting Cost: 1600
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 11/1/2016 (Yogg Nerf)
- Barlender
- Registered User
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- 6
- 29
- 49
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Region:
US
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Total Deck Rating
635
SO WHY IS IT CALLED "EVIL REXXAR", YOU'RE GUL'DAN!
1) Both heroes (Gul'dan and Rexxar) are orcs. Ok, maybe that's a bit racist, but we all know that no orc can resist a good bit of SMOrc here and there (that's where the word comes from after all!).
2) Face Hunter has made a comeback as the most popular Hunter deck, so what stereotype does Hunter hold? The classic SMOrc stereotype, dag-nab-it. Warlock = Evil, Hunter = slightly less evil, so this is a more evil version of Rexxar's Face decks.
3) WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS, JUST HIT THEIR FACE ALREADY AND DON'T ASK QUESTIONS.
Who doesn't enjoy a good SMOrc here and there. Well, I can tell you something for sure, Gul'dan has picked up a thing or two from Rexxar recently, and now twists his minions to have one sole purpose: (almost always) HIT FACE!!
If you thought normal discardlock, or the new aggro-secret hunter was fast, well this deck takes both of their speed... AND SQUARES IT.
(Totally Legit Equation) HAVE SOME SCIENCE!
(Video) "But I want to see it in action!"
(Win-rate) MAN I LOVE SOME PROOF
These games took place in ranks 4 and 5.
(Card Choice) CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME ALONG WITH A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF EACH AND EVERY CARD IN THE LIST AND WHY THEY'RE THERE?!!?
This card hasn't seen much play since it's nerf, but the battlecry is still powerful enough for it to be coupled with Argent Horserider, or any of the billions of minions you control at any given moment.
1 mana 3/2 with a battlecry that isn't relavent until a minimum of about 8 turns later. In this deck, playing until turn 8 is only a myth.
I mean, the entire deck is built around this card more or less, the synergies with Soulfire, Darkshire Librarian, Silverware Golem, Fist of Jaraxxus and Doomguard, you know, half the deck.
Oh look, (statistically) a sticky 1 mana 2/2 that synergizes with Dire Wolf Alpha and Knife Juggler!
Turns out 1 mana deal 4 damage is preeeeeeety good, especially when you constantly have a board full of useless small minions for it to synergize with.
Hey Look, Power Overwhelming, except it can go through taunts, doesn't require any minions, and can on occasion summon a 3/3 or deal 4 extra damage to a random enemy (See the bargains below)!
It protects your other minions so they too can go face, and live to tell the tale for approximately 1 extra turn. And for only 1 mana?!?!?! Taunt is cheating!
If there's any card that I was first confused about being in zoolock, it would be this fella. Not only is he a cheap minion, but you can think of him as a 2 or 3 drop, due to your ability to play him and the 1 drop immediately after. The mana split among 2 bodies means that it's tougher for the opponent to remove the threats. Also you can pick up Power Overwhelmingor Soulfire, Netting 4 extra damage FOR 1 MANA.
Thank God it's not a 2/3 otherwise you'd loose 1 damage every time you'd SMOrc! The synergy with Malchezaar's Imp often means it nets you 1 card, similar to if you play it with an empty hand. Don't forget the random 3/3 or 4 damage as well (See the bargains below)!
Many people think of this effectively as a 2 mana 4/2, but it's even better. Imagine a situation whereas you have 4 minions on board, and you opponent has Ancient of War. You could throw Dire Wolf in the middle, and trade away all of your minions, starting from inner to outer, meaning the Dire Wolf effectively gave a total of +4 damage, +1 to each minion. So yea, I'll take a 2 mana 6/2 with semi-charge any day of the week (See Dire Wolf Alpha section, below!).
Look, if you play 2 minions it deals 2 damage, before it can even attack. It's like charge. Except not at all... My point is, it's insanely good, alight? Next question, please.
Alright, one of the first things that may come to your head is: why not play Wolfrider? It's the same mana, but more damage! WRONG. (well, kinda wrong.) Yes, it's less damage on the turn you play it, but it's really hard for your opponent to try to remove it. A Wolfrider dies to Ravaging Ghoul, Fireblast, Shapeshift (etc) along with any AOE, whereas with any of those, there is still a 2/1 on the board with the horserider. And guess what that means? 2 More damage to the face, netting you 4 damage where the Wolfrider was only 3. Oh, also it synergies with Dire Wolf Alpha, so enough said (See Dire Wolf Alpha section, coming soon).
And now we come to the single best card in the deck. Imagine it gets hit once; that's a 3 mana 3/5. Twice? 3 mana 4/6. Each split among multiple bodies. Also don't forget the fact that it has 4 health, and considering how most decks have easy ways of dealing 3 damage (Wrath, Totem Golem, Lightning Bolt, Frostbolt, Eaglehorn Bow etc.), It will often get hit at least twice, ensuring its insane VALUE.
BARGAIN SECTION
Excuse me sir or madam, can I offer you in a 3 mana 3/3? No? Didn't think so. Well lucky for you we have a deal going on until the Hearthstone servers crash, whereas you combo this little guy with any discard card, and you get it for 0 mana. Take that Wisp (and Walmart).
Oh, hang on sir/madam, remember that deal we established with Silverware Golem? Well, I can assure you that the same deal on 4 damage is well worth a look! May I kindly draw your attention to the synergy with Soulfire, whereas the combo deals 8 damage for 1 mana? Take that Lightning Bolt (and Walmart, again).
END OF THE BARGAIN SECTION
LEEEEROOOOO- oh wait, what is this, Leeroy Jenkins but with 1 less attack!?!?!??! How are you supposed to SMOrc with some garbage like that!? Oh wait, it doesn't give your opponent 2 whelps. Oh wait, it has 5 more health. Oh wait, it can summon a free 3/3 or deal 4 random damage (see bargains specified above).
(Mulligans) HELP. HOW DOES ONE 'HAND'!?
In any situation:
Flame Imp, Possessed Villager, Voidwalker, Dark Peddler, Imp Gang Boss
With a 1 drop:
Dire Wolf Alpha, Knife Juggler
Wtih Malchezaar's Imp:
Face is the Place!.... Right?
This deck is a variaton of zoolock, meaning so is your playstyle. Normally on turns 1-4, your sole purpose is to lock down the board via efficient trades using your unimportant minions, but buffed up with your other cards. Afterwards, you want to keep heavy pressure on your opponent, dropping their health every turn.
(Approaching Certain Matchups) "This hunter is SMOrcing me too, what do I do?"
Against Control:
Most control decks don't run too many minions, meaning you should develop your minions ASAP. Often the best starting turns are to coin out two 1 drops on turn 1, followed by a 2 drop the next turn, and keeping the pressure on from there. Don't overextend, if you have a single card in hand and 6 minions on board, save the card, chances are it will die as no more than a pretty face to their AOE. Wait until they clear the board, THEN play it.
Against Aggro:
Believe it or not, this matchup is a war for the board. The person with the most minions can trade away the opponent's minions with ease and continue to snowball themselves, which is why it's important to almost always trade away their minions. If you have. say, a 5/4 against a 2/1, don't trade though, you are still a SMOrc deck at heart, just be smart.
(Using Discard) "WHY DOES MY Soulfire KEEP DISCARDING MY Doomguard F'SAEAWEGSAEFJKSLER"
It's important to try to play your discard cards last, after you drop your important other cards. You want to try to "target" the card you want to discard, so drop all of your threats then play Soulfire in order to increase the odds that it discards what you want it to. Also, you often just have to accept the fact that you'll be in the situation of having two discard cards in hand, and can't keep them both. If you want to try to play them both, you can fill your hand with other cards first, in the hope that one of them will be discarded, as opposed to the second discard card.
Often you want to play a discard card while you have a large hand to minimize the odds of discarding a key card, FOR EXAMPLE: imagine you have Soulfire, a Silverware Golem, a Doomguard and 3 other cards in hand on turn 4. You want to play the Soulfire [/card]before playing the other cards in order to decrease the odds of discarding [card]Doomguard, because not discarding your key cards is more important than discarding your disco-synergy cards. You can play Doomguard the next turn to have good odds of discarding the Silverware Golem anyways, yes it's a turn late, but it'll just die to Lightning Storm anyways, right?
(Card Substitutions) Help! I don't have Soulfire!
Honestly, this deck really can't be substituted easily. Obviously, the main focus is the discard package (Malchezaar's Imp, Soulfire, Darkshire Librarian, Silverware Golem, Fist of Jaraxxus, Doomguard), which requires much of Karazhan. So if you don't have Karazhan, you might as well play regular zoolock. As far as the rest of the cards, they're all really cheap to make (not a single epic or legendary), so just save up some dust and you'll be there before long!
Some specifics you might not have:
**IMPORTANT**
(Board Setup) "KNIFE JUGGLER WHAT ARE YOU DOING, LET THE LIBRARIAN GET THE DIRE WOLF BUFF TO TRADE!"
When positioning minions, always think of their relationship with Dire Wolf Alpha, because often something as simple as the a Flame Imp being on the wrong side of the Knife Juggler leads to the loss of a game.
Outer to Inner
First of all, always try to place the Dire Wolf in the center, so a relatively equal number of minions are on both the left and right of it, meaning that when one dies, it can "pass" it's +1 buff onto the next minion. Always place "HVT minions" on the outside of the board. These are generally minions with effects that you want to keep a hold of, such as Knife Juggler and Malchezaar's Imp. Also try to place minions with high health, such as Doomguard, on the outside, because it's harder for them to die and actually pass the buff along in the first place. Inside of them, place the "Cannon Fodder" minions. these are minions with no useful effects, only stats which can be traded away with (or hit face, of course). Try to position low value minions directly adjacent to the Dire Wolf Aplha, such as Darkshire Librarian, since you want it to die first, and draw you a card.
Dire Wolf Alpha and Argent Horserider
First, play the Wolf, and let it buff two existing minions on the board. AFTER the existing minions get the extra damage in, place the Argent Horserider adjacent to the Dire Wolf Alpha (between the Wolf and the minions that just attacked), so that it also gets the buff that turn. Effectively, the Wolf gave +3 damage in a single turn, where it otherwise would've given only +2.
Dire Wolf Alpha and Possessed Villager
Contrary to what you may think, Possessed Villager should be placed in the "HVT Minion" section. The reason is because if it is near the center of your board, it would get buffed and traded away, yes, but the 1/1 it summons would take the position of the Villager, meaning it would prevent the passage of damage from reaching the next minion (since it has to wait another turn to attack). If you know that the Villager will die before the Wolf is played, then by all means place it near the center, so that the 1/1 it spawns can be buffed. Otherwise, keep it in the outer ring.
TL;DR: Look at the pretty picture.
Extra Content/Community Stuff
Thanks so much to everyone who did coverage on the deck. I know it's cheesy and cliche, but it really is awesome to see such positive feedback to the deck, I really appreciate it! Also thanks for just looking at the deck (and making it this far through the guide)!
FraggedByDay's Video Spotlight:
Khristophesaurus Dinosaurus' Video Spotlight:
kiwiibackon's Deck Spotlight:
There you have it! Aggro Discardlock (AKA Evil Rexxar). Remember to get out there and spread some cancer, preferably for you opponent, but I can't guarantee you won't contract it as well.
Tl;DR
Claims and proves 67% Winrate , shows gameplay at rank 17.
The games that I used in my sample were at between ranks 5 and 4 (you can see in the "Win-rate" section". But yea, as I said in the video, the season just reset, so most opponents were around the skill level of ranks 7-4ish anyways.
You know you're a skilled player when you discard the right cards like that, probability shmabrability, Glad you like it!
GOOD SMOrc ME NO EVIL SMOrc
You're welcome :D !
If you're calling this deck 'Evil Rexxar' you need Sir Finley Mrrgglton to fish for hunter pew pew shot
And top deck after turn 4-5, yea that's a really god idea
Clever one. We could get rid of one Fist of Jaraxxus because that card is so clumsy. But then again, face shamans picked either hunter or lock hero power. Imagine getting a warrior's one.
The reason I called it "Evil Rexxar" was really simply because of the comeback of Face Hunter lately, and the fact that most hunters nowadays are running a variation of that deck. The decks are very similar in playstyle (also who doesn't like another SMOrcy orc hero). The reason as to why I wouldn't recommend Sir Finely Mrrgglton is because Life Tap is already the (if not one of the) best aggressive hero powers in this deck. Yes, Steady Shot offers 2 damage consistently every turn, but with Life Tap you constantly gain more resources and options every turn. Even if you run Finely, the only considerable hero power would be Steady Shot, which you only have a 37.5% chance to get, so most of the times it worsens your situation.
I gotcha. It was just a joke haha
I don't understand the thinking that 12 games is a representative sample size at any level of play.
Also:
"This card hasn't seen much play since it's nerf" re: Abusive Sergeant
Is objectively false.
You're right about the first part, I do accept that a sample size of 12 is nothing compared to what should be used as an adequate sample size, but It's what I have for the time being. Also, addressing Abusive Sergeant, it really hasn't been any where near as popular as it used to be. Maybe you queue against a lot of zoo lists running it, but zoo lately has been largely Discardlock, and there simply isn't enough room for for the card, in favor of discard synergies such as Darkshire Librarian, or Malchezaar's Imp.
The deck does well anyway because of the surprise factor. It will probably get into trouble once people realize you aren't that concerned about board.
Been messing around with Thijs Discolock and tought about putting Fist of Jaraxxus somewhere. Will definitely try it out and you'll get an upvote :P
I don't have Imp Gang Boss and I don't want to purchase a whole wing of Blackrock just for 2 cards, what do you suggest as a replacement? I was thinking of using Imp Master instead, is that a good decision?
Well Mr. Halex00, If I could direct your attention to the "Card Substitutions" section, you can find the information you require!
Nice deck, will try it. Normal discardlock got a little boring and slow.
btw if you make a video, could you hold the mouse cursor a bit more still. It got on my nerves :)
I guess it's my equivalent to a teacher with a laser pointer, but I can understand that, thanks for the suggestion.
I just listened to your video, you do a great job explaining (earlier today at work I just watched it with no sound).
Also, may I suggest Smorlock as name for the deck ?
I'm going to be a bit nitpicky because Zoolock is my favorite deck. With the video you posted, I don't believe you perfectly positioned your minions. For example, I feel like the darkshire librarian and flame imp should have been placed to the left of the 1/1 imp (with the darkshire to the right of the flame imp). This would have allowed for more efficient use of dire wolf alpha in future turns. I know you mentioned some stuff about it near the end of the video.
Overall, great video, great guide, and really great deck. I will be sure to play it on ladder.
(PS: Your guide is hilarious)