[Legend #3] - Discardlock Guide
- Last updated Apr 10, 2017 (Un'Goro Launch)
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Wild
- 28 Minions
- 2 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Discardlock
- Crafting Cost: 1640
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 4/7/2017 (Un'Goro Launch)
- Zananananan
- Registered User
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- 8
- 13
- 44
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Region:
EU
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Total Deck Rating
2967
[Legend #3] - Discardlock Guide
"Your soul shall suffer!"
Zananananan here (https://twitter.com/Zanananan, https://www.twitch.tv/zanananan). I just wanted to share my new Zoo with you. Ravasaur Runt and Ravenous Pterrordax are just insane, you are almost always getting value.
I offer coachings for 20,00 €/hour. If you are interested, please leave me a message on Twitter or Hearthpwn.
Table of Content:
1. Intro
2. General Strategy
3. Stats
4. Placement
5. General Mulligan
6. Class Specific Mulligan + Tips
7. Questions
8. Possible Replacements
1. Intro
Hey Hearthpwn,
I'm Florian 'Zananananan' Marschner, 18 years old and a German Hearthstone player for Wolves esports. I've been playing Hearthstone for almost 2 years now. During my early days I was a huge fan of Zoo. I've been playing tons of Zoo on ladder and in tournaments and it's been doing very well for me. I'm also the guy who built the first refined Discardlock when Karazhan came out. This deck is probably easy to learn but I believe that it is one of the hardest decks to play perfectly in the game.
2. General Strategy
Classic Zoolock is a strategy that revolves around taking the board early, using minions and buffs to trade favorably with higher-value minions. It also relies on high-impact/swing turns (such as a free Silverware Golem or extra card draw from Malchezaar's Imp).
The key is to realize when you have to go all in and when you can afford to play around AOE.
3. Stats
I'm not a big fan of posting stats with a small sample size, it doesn't say anything. But people asked me over and over again, that's why they are here anyway.
4. Placement
Most of the time it doesn't matter, but it can still win or lose you some games. You always want to maximize the efficiency of Dire Wolf Alpha.
- In general you want big minions, minions with deathrattle or taunt on the side and small minions in the middle.
- Knife Juggler has to be on the side (Taunt or deathrattle doesn't matter). You don't want to trade with him.
5. General Mulligan
If you don't have the coin and you don't have a 1 drop throw everything away, it's key to have a turn 1 play.
- Keep Dire Wolf Alpha and Ravasaur Runt if you have the coin and 2 1 drops.
Ravasaur Runt is just insane. You can get a better Haunted Creeper with Living Spores and Haunted Creeper was already broken.
- You can keep Darkshire Councilman or Ravenous Pterrordax if you have the coin and a 1 drop.
Only good against slower decks. The Ravenous Pterrordax is so powerful, it could be a Flamewreathed Faceless without overload.
- If you have Malchezaar's Imp, Darkshire Librarian and Silverware Golem you can consider keeping everything.
You have a 33% Chance to discard the Silverware Golem and to win the game on turn 2.
6. Class Specific Mulligan + Tips
Quest Rogue
heavily favored - Keep Darkshire Councilman or Ravenous Pterrordax if you have the coin and a 1 drop.
This deck eats Quest Rogues for breakfast. The Caverns Below is way to slow, they can only win with an Edwin VanCleef. Make sure to play around Fan of Knives. Don't play around Sap, most lists aren't running it.
Pirate Warrior
slightly favored - You really want your 1 drops in this matchup. Soulfire is a fine keep if you have a good curve.
Soulfire deals with Frothing Berserker and Bloodsail Cultist. Make sure to clear his pirates because of Bloodsail Cultist and Southsea Captain. You can play around N'Zoth's First Mate and Patches the Pirate by playing Voidwalker or Malchezaar's Imp instead of Flame Imp turn 1.
Quest Warrior
unfavored - Keep Darkshire Councilman or Ravenous Pterrordax if you have the coin and a 1 drop.
The key is to realize when you have to go all in and when you can afford to play around Ravaging Ghoul or Brawl. You can play around Fiery War Axe by playing Possessed Villager or Argent Squire instead of Flame Imp turn 1.
Token Druid
slightly favored - You want your 1 drops in this matchup.
Always clear their stuff to play around Mark of the Lotus, Power of the Wild and Mark of Y'Shaarj. You win if they don't cheat with Innervate.
Jade Druid
heavily favored - Keep Darkshire Councilman or Ravenous Pterrordax if you have the coin and a 1 drop.
It's really hard for them to deal with Darkshire Councilman. Keep Wrath and Swipe in mind. Poison Spit on Ravasaur Runt is fine. They can't play Ancient of War then.
Face Hunter
even - You want your 1 drops, the early game is really important.
Dire Wolf Alpha is really good with Possessed Villager or Argent Squire. You can kill a Crackling Razormaw, a Knife Juggler or the deathrattle from Kindly Grandmother with it. Try to not give him beast synergy with Crackling Razormaw and Houndmaster. The only comeback mechanic they have is Knife Juggler + Unleash the Hounds. You are slightly favored if they don't run Knife Juggler.
Midrange Hunter
slightly favored - Same as Face Hunter but without the Knife Juggler Unleash the Hounds combo.
Quest Hunter
heavily favored - The Marsh Queen is bad, way to slow.
Quest Mage:
slightly favored - Keep Darkshire Councilman Ravenous Pterrordax if you have the coin and a 1 drop.
Play Possessed Villager on turn 1 over Argent Squire to play around Doomsayer. This matchup comes down to Frost Nova + Doomsayer. It's nearly impossible for them to win without this combo. You can tech in Crazed Alchemist or Devilsaur Egg to make the matchup better. Most lists aren't running Volcanic Potion, you don't need to play around that. Be aware of Blizzard, you can buff 2 2 health minions with Defender of Argus to play around it. Make sure to not fill up your board, you want to be able to kill them with Doomguard if they freeze your minions. Other then that you have to hope that they don't highroll with Babbling Book Primordial Glyph or Cabalist's Tome.
Zoo
even - You want your 1 drops.
I love the mirror, you are getting punished for every single small mistake. The early game is very important, Zoo doesn't have a comeback mechanic. Make sure to always clear his minions to deny Dire Wolf Alpha, Ravasaur Runt, Ravenous Pterrordax and Defender of Argus value. You should also clear Malchezaar's Imp.
Handlock
heavily unfavored - Keep Darkshire Councilman Ravenous Pterrordax if you have the coin and a 1 drop.
This is probably the worst matchup, you can only win if they draw bad. They have big taunts and you can't do anything about it. Corrupting Mist is extremly powerful. Hellfire and Doomsayer destroys you too. Don't play around anything and hope they don't have the answer.
Elemental Shaman
unfavored - Keep Darkshire Councilman Ravenous Pterrordax if you have the coin and a 1 drop.
Be aware of Maelstrom Portal and Lightning Storm. You can't play around Devolve. Kalimos, Primal Lord is really annoying because of Invocation of Air and Invocation of Water. Most of the time you can play around 1 AOE but you never beat 2. Liquid Membrane on Ravenous Pterrordax is not that bad to play around Hex.
Aggro Shaman
favored - 1 drops are important.
They aren't playing AOE, you win.
I haven't really faced a lot of Paladins and Priests, they feel like bottom tier again. I'll update the guide when they are getting more popular.
7. Questions
Room for Clutchmother Zavas?
Just a worse Silverware Golem. Not enough impact if you discard her.
What about Lakkari Sacrifice?
Bad. Hard to discard 6 cards and it's way to slow.
Other discard cards, e.g. Lakkari Felhound?
You don't want to make the deck to inconsistent. Lakkari Felhound is terrible compared to Doomguard. It's only good with Malchezaar's Imp.
How does the Coaching work?
First of all I'll ask you a few questions, e.g. What was your highest rank so far? What are your goals? Then we'll start playing some games. I'll talk about the specific matchup and the gameplan. You'll suggest a play and then we'll talk about the reasoning behind it. We'll also talk about reading the opponent's hand and when you have to take risks.
We can obviously talk about the prize if you are booking more than 1 hour.
8. Possible Replacements
Devilsaur Egg for Argent Squire or Darkshire Librarian
I guess it depends on the meta. It's really good against Doomsayer or AOE. Also synergy with Ravenous Pterrordax on curve. Not to great in an aggro meta, that's why I'm not playing it at the moment.
Fire Fly for Argent Squire
Definantly possible, it's a good gap closer.
Crazed Alchemist for Argent Squire or Darkshire Librarian
Insane versus Doomsayer, also fine against Quest Warrior.
Update 10/04: -2 Argent Squire, +2 Fire Fly; -1 Darkshire Librarian, +1 Devilsaur Egg
I underestimated Fire Fly, it's a really good card. Darkshire Librarian is not that great of a card and the meta slowed down a bit, that's why I put 1 Devilsaur Egg in.
Any updates on this deck as today April 23rd?
Zoo is very good at punishing decks that are unrefined, many don't know much anti-aggro to play. Now that we are further into the meta things are getting figured out. That's why I didn't really played it in the last couple of days, it's just not tier 1 anymore. You could try it with Hungry Crab or Crazed Alchemist. Pretty sure you can still get Legend with it.
Upgraded version of discardlock! Nice and efficient
Great deck and great guide! I'm playing Warlock for the 1st time and this helped me tremendously! Very fun to play!
Thanks for helping me notice that [card]Clutchmother Zavas[/card] needed to go. Always felt like an awkward card.
You're the best! This deck and guide are both really awesome. I've been looking for something like this for ages (since warlock is my favorite to play) and this took me from 18 to 12 super quickly. I'd never even gotten past rank 17 in the last 5 seasons!
I just can't make it work went from 7 to 10 playing in EU, most classes are faster than this deck couldn't even beat quest rogue..
Maybe this one again prooves then EU is MUCH harder than US. Meta is shifted and zoo is BAD in current meta, too slow against aggro, too clunky against control. Basically 1! Tar creeper COCK BLOCKS you 100% of the time. Even Quest rogue is faster then you. I played couple matches and went about 30% winrate with this deck meaning this deck is PURE TRASH, maybe zoo in general is for now. I know exactly how to play zoo and overall. I play since 2013 closed beta and have almost all of the cards possible. I mean it's not me being bad with the deck. Zoo in current meta just SUCKS, at least on EU.
Sorry for being rude, but your 30% is way below the average zoo player (45% win rate) showed by Vicious Syndicate stats; so you cant say that you are a good zoo player with those stats, when a good player will have more than 50% win rate with it. Experience says nothing about your skill in the game, I saw a lot of old players complaining about being unable to reach rank 10 or even rank 15 (ever). So if you want to say that you are skilled dont talk about experience, talk about your achievements and wich deck/decks you played to do it.
In another hand, if you where that wise in hearthstone as you say that you are, you should know that this is a card game (lucky based) and even good players can have a lose streak with the best deck, especially if we talk about a pure minion deck that relies a lot on the inicial hand. So "couple matches" is not a valid sample to say if a deck is good or bad, or neither to say that you are a bad player (as I stated above).
About quest rogue, is only faster if they start with a very good hand and you with a bad one
This deck was awesome just a few days ago - I won a ton. But right now I lose to most decks, especially quest warriors and control priests. Quest rogues have also evolved into dealing with this deck..
Replacements for Malchezaar's Imp? Have 3/4 wings of Karazhan too lazy to unlock the last.
VS murloc paladin is an insta-loss
Really amazing deck using relatively inexpensive cards. And you made an outstanding write-up, too. If I ever opt for coaching, will definitely contact you. Great stuff.
Can I replace this one Malchezaar's Imp and this one Silverware Golem? I can't craft these cards. :/
Hi there!
Although Malchezaar's Imp is somewhat replaceable, Silverware Golem is definitely a core of this deck. You may have to purchase One night in Karazhan or try a different type of deck. :)
Regards!
yea I think it is pretty solid build
Haven't faced any priests or paladins? Last 50 games from rank 20 to 8 I've had 20% priests and 15% paladins. Might be that priest/paladin is way dead from rank 5 onwards.
Edit: This deck is awesome though. 74% winrate from rank 20 to 8. Hardest opponents are non-quest priests and midrange shammies.
1 Vicious Fledgling had good results. If this card attacks once the hero, with a good board presence, it haves a good chance to become a snowballing card.
Can someone explain why you keep councilman with the coin and a 1 drop?
So you can play a 1 drop turn one then coin out the councilman turn 2 so you can start buffing it early and snowballing as it's hard to remove on the opponents 3 mana turn.