So now that Karazhan is fully out and Warlock got every card I once again tried to put a halfway decent Discard-themed Warlock deck together.
Surprisingly enough I succeeded and even had a lot of fun with it. Blizz finally gave viable cards to an ignored archetype so now there is actually a strategy beyond just hoping for RNG to discard the cards you want.
Malchezaar's Imp is pretty much the only reason why this deck even works. Before the Spire was released Discardlock suffered from the fact that excessively discardin cards (even the ones you want to discard) results in having an empty hand very early on and your hero power just doesn't suffice in most cases.
However there still seems to be a lack f consistency in a lot of cases, especially when you don't get your discard combos early on plus the fact that there still seems to be a lack of cards that you'd WANT to discard.
At first I thought that Discardlock would need more of those to be anything close to viable...but then i happened to get off Doomguard with double Malchezaar's Imp on board while holding a Silverware Golem.
Drawing 4 cards and summoning a 3/3 while playing Doomguard...is kinda insane. So if this scenario would occur more often, with potentially better results (imagine a spell that reads "3 mana - deal 1 damage to all enemies, if discarded deal 3 damage") Discardlock would become downright broken if they could just produce insane tempo plays as soon as turn 5.
What I'm trying to say is...Discardlock may never become a serious competitive deck, but that might just be a good thing...because it is essentially an aggro deck and when those get strong things get depressing really fast.
Maybe some minor tweaks could help, but i think discardlock is more or less where it should be: an averagely good deck, with considerable variance on both sides, strong and weak.
Which is inherently caused by the discard mechanic.
I've been working on this style of deck too (my deck is unlisted but can be seen through my profile). Tried Leeroy in there for awhile, but I ended up with too many turn 5's and 6's with both Leeroy and a Doomguard in my hand so I'm just using 2 x Doomguard at the top end. Also messed around with Bane of Doom with some success.
Still trying to determine if either of those two cards can fit in. Other cards that I'm using but am unsure about are Forbidden Ritual, Knife Juggler, and Darkshire Councilman.... Wondering if Violet Illusionist would work as a 3 drop that's essentially a soft taunt like the Councilman.
What are some cards that others in this thread are experimenting with adding or cutting? I'd be interested in your findings :)
I've made my disco lock an extremely low curve deck, with 10 1-drops and cutting things like Ritual and Councilman, This makes hand manipulation much easier. The cards that have shined are the Darkshire Librarian and the Dire Wolf Alpha (because of the omission of Argus and DiD). The card i am considering cutting is the Succubus, although i'm afraid i wont have enough discard if i do.
Overall, i think the risky nature of the deck means you don't want to be midrange, you don't want to chase the value plays, you want to be as aggressive as possible and hope for one good discard that will lead to over-the-top pressure.
Edit: the only card i am sad to discard is Doomguard, anything else is unimportant, even Imp Gang Boss.
I've made my disco lock an extremely low curve deck, with 10 1-drops and cutting things like Ritual and Councilman, This makes hand manipulation much easier. The cards that have shined are the Darkshire Librarian and the Dire Wolf Alpha (because of the omission of Argus and DiD). The card i am considering cutting is the Succubus, although i'm afraid i wont have enough discard if i do.
I haven't considered putting dire wolf alpha in there, but that's a good idea. I'm running 8 1 drops. I wish Possessed Villager was a demon, or there was another 1 drop demon better than Blood Imp, so Demonfire would work better. I tried it a few times.
I'd suggest keeping Succubus. You just have to be fearless about playing her and the Librarian when you don't have a good discard. Waiting to set up combos has lost me a few games, but I'm learning.
I haven't considered putting dire wolf alpha in there, but that's a good idea. I'm running 8 1 drops. I wish Possessed Villager was a demon, or there was another 1 drop demon better than Blood Imp, so Demonfire would work better. I tried it a few times.
I'd suggest keeping Succubus. You just have to be fearless about playing her and the Librarian when you don't have a good discard. Waiting to set up combos has lost me a few games, but I'm learning.
Oh, i don't run Demonfire so i don't mind the Villager having no type. On the Succubus subject, it's not the discard that annoys me. It's that these days it feels like everything deals exactly 3 damage, and i don't want to lose my 2drop to a discounted frostbolt or a winaxe attack. At least the other 2-drops have some additional value other than stats.
Most of the builds I've seen run Silverware Golem, but frankly in playing both against and with it, I haven't seen a lot of value there, especially given that you're cutting Zoo staples to make room for it. So far I find the deck feels better without it.
Anyone have a strong feeling about having this card in the deck?
Most of the builds I've seen run Silverware Golem, but frankly in playing both against and with it, I haven't seen a lot of value there, especially given that you're cutting Zoo staples to make room for it. So far I find the deck feels better without it.
Anyone have a strong feeling about having this card in the deck?
If you get it in play early, like on turn 2 off of a Darkshire Librarian or Succubus it's actually a big tempo boost. The discard themed cards are already few, if you're gonna start cutting them then you'd be better off with a traditional zoo deck.
I had a feeling discardlock would just be zoo 2.0, glad to see someone else share that opinion
Not quite. Zoo is about vomitting everything as fast as possible. Discardlock, from what I saw, is rather phasing the game to have board presence and find your way (preferably before turn 7-8) to make the best discards. In that sense it's a bit more mid ranging (but remains frankly aggro). And when you lose board on Zoo, you often lose game, when Discard have the chance to seal it with Doomguard x Imp. I would not be surprised to see some Leeroy get in the deck style soon.
Thing is both discard cards introduced are very aggressive, the imp because its a 1 mana 1/3 card engine to fuel zoo, and the golem because free 3/3. Maybe this is just because i'm playing at rank 20-17 (I mostly play arena if I ever do play hs at all) and people aren't using discardlock correctly (idk) but it seems a lot like zoo from what I've seen
Only thing positive about it is that the silverware golems play and death animations are really cool and we need more stuff like that on regular cards
It's different from zoo in that you're playing bigger bodies and putting pressure on the face with huge damage that people aren't used to playing against, like Succubus and Doomguards. Doomguard in particular is a serious body that isn't an easy remove.
But the early rounds are really key, Blood Imp turn 1, Succubus turn 2 is a lot of damage on the board. If that turns out to be Succubus and Silverware Golem getting on the board, that's too much for most decks to handle.
Been playing Discard Lock since silverware golem was released. I replaced Flame imp with Mechazaars Imp once it came out. Doing really well right now as expected because last season I climbed to rank 5 with it. Right now I'm only at 15 but not playing too much. I use two Fist of Jarraxus which I've yet to see anyone else use and it's really disappointing because the card has won me plenty of games. You can deal SOOO much damage, plenty of times I have Soulfire, PO, and Fist as the only three cards in my hand.. That's 12 damage for 2 mana boys, yeah your gonna get wins like that.
Just got done with a match against a Warrior. Only two cards in hand, two Silver ware golems. Top deck deck Doomguard and I have Mechazaars imp on board. Almost orgasimed due to value overload. The way I won the game though was because I had a Fist in hand, top deck Doomguard(#2), played Doomguard so thats 9 damage face *life tap* into Soulfire for lethal... Disgusting.
So much burst potential but the play style is definetly different imp. You actually want to be running low on cards at times so that it's easier to get discard value and it helps with decision making. Making the switch from Flame imp to Malchezzars Imp was nice btw since I don't have to take 3 damage anymore but I only run one.
It's a good archtype right now but the lists out there are a bit funky in my opinion (people are trying too much). I really feel like I've created a solid list here I just have to hit Legend with it now.
The entire concept of discarding a card really doesn't sit right with me...whether it's effectively securing wins or not. It's a little like loading a revolver with 3 bullets (instead of 5 or 6) in a gun fight. Yeah, you might win the gun fight with just the 3 shots you brought, but why not come fully loaded and use all of what you brought?
So now that Karazhan is fully out and Warlock got every card I once again tried to put a halfway decent Discard-themed Warlock deck together.
Surprisingly enough I succeeded and even had a lot of fun with it. Blizz finally gave viable cards to an ignored archetype so now there is actually a strategy beyond just hoping for RNG to discard the cards you want.
Malchezaar's Imp is pretty much the only reason why this deck even works. Before the Spire was released Discardlock suffered from the fact that excessively discardin cards (even the ones you want to discard) results in having an empty hand very early on and your hero power just doesn't suffice in most cases.
However there still seems to be a lack f consistency in a lot of cases, especially when you don't get your discard combos early on plus the fact that there still seems to be a lack of cards that you'd WANT to discard.
At first I thought that Discardlock would need more of those to be anything close to viable...but then i happened to get off Doomguard with double Malchezaar's Imp on board while holding a Silverware Golem.
Drawing 4 cards and summoning a 3/3 while playing Doomguard...is kinda insane. So if this scenario would occur more often, with potentially better results (imagine a spell that reads "3 mana - deal 1 damage to all enemies, if discarded deal 3 damage") Discardlock would become downright broken if they could just produce insane tempo plays as soon as turn 5.
What I'm trying to say is...Discardlock may never become a serious competitive deck, but that might just be a good thing...because it is essentially an aggro deck and when those get strong things get depressing really fast.
I tried having fun once. It was awful.
I had a feeling discardlock would just be zoo 2.0, glad to see someone else share that opinion
Maybe some minor tweaks could help, but i think discardlock is more or less where it should be: an averagely good deck, with considerable variance on both sides, strong and weak.
Which is inherently caused by the discard mechanic.
In other words, discardlock is caotically strong.
I've been working on this style of deck too (my deck is unlisted but can be seen through my profile). Tried Leeroy in there for awhile, but I ended up with too many turn 5's and 6's with both Leeroy and a Doomguard in my hand so I'm just using 2 x Doomguard at the top end. Also messed around with Bane of Doom with some success.
Still trying to determine if either of those two cards can fit in. Other cards that I'm using but am unsure about are Forbidden Ritual, Knife Juggler, and Darkshire Councilman.... Wondering if Violet Illusionist would work as a 3 drop that's essentially a soft taunt like the Councilman.
What are some cards that others in this thread are experimenting with adding or cutting? I'd be interested in your findings :)
I've made my disco lock an extremely low curve deck, with 10 1-drops and cutting things like Ritual and Councilman, This makes hand manipulation much easier.
The cards that have shined are the Darkshire Librarian and the Dire Wolf Alpha (because of the omission of Argus and DiD).
The card i am considering cutting is the Succubus, although i'm afraid i wont have enough discard if i do.
Overall, i think the risky nature of the deck means you don't want to be midrange, you don't want to chase the value plays, you want to be as aggressive as possible and hope for one good discard that will lead to over-the-top pressure.
Edit: the only card i am sad to discard is Doomguard, anything else is unimportant, even Imp Gang Boss.
On the Succubus subject, it's not the discard that annoys me. It's that these days it feels like everything deals exactly 3 damage, and i don't want to lose my 2drop to a discounted frostbolt or a winaxe attack.
At least the other 2-drops have some additional value other than stats.
Most of the builds I've seen run Silverware Golem, but frankly in playing both against and with it, I haven't seen a lot of value there, especially given that you're cutting Zoo staples to make room for it. So far I find the deck feels better without it.
Anyone have a strong feeling about having this card in the deck?
The discard themed cards are already few, if you're gonna start cutting them then you'd be better off with a traditional zoo deck.
It's different from zoo in that you're playing bigger bodies and putting pressure on the face with huge damage that people aren't used to playing against, like Succubus and Doomguards. Doomguard in particular is a serious body that isn't an easy remove.
But the early rounds are really key, Blood Imp turn 1, Succubus turn 2 is a lot of damage on the board. If that turns out to be Succubus and Silverware Golem getting on the board, that's too much for most decks to handle.
Been playing Discard Lock since silverware golem was released. I replaced Flame imp with Mechazaars Imp once it came out. Doing really well right now as expected because last season I climbed to rank 5 with it. Right now I'm only at 15 but not playing too much. I use two Fist of Jarraxus which I've yet to see anyone else use and it's really disappointing because the card has won me plenty of games. You can deal SOOO much damage, plenty of times I have Soulfire, PO, and Fist as the only three cards in my hand.. That's 12 damage for 2 mana boys, yeah your gonna get wins like that.
Just got done with a match against a Warrior. Only two cards in hand, two Silver ware golems. Top deck deck Doomguard and I have Mechazaars imp on board. Almost orgasimed due to value overload. The way I won the game though was because I had a Fist in hand, top deck Doomguard(#2), played Doomguard so thats 9 damage face *life tap* into Soulfire for lethal... Disgusting.
So much burst potential but the play style is definetly different imp. You actually want to be running low on cards at times so that it's easier to get discard value and it helps with decision making. Making the switch from Flame imp to Malchezzars Imp was nice btw since I don't have to take 3 damage anymore but I only run one.
It's a good archtype right now but the lists out there are a bit funky in my opinion (people are trying too much). I really feel like I've created a solid list here I just have to hit Legend with it now.
The entire concept of discarding a card really doesn't sit right with me...whether it's effectively securing wins or not. It's a little like loading a revolver with 3 bullets (instead of 5 or 6) in a gun fight. Yeah, you might win the gun fight with just the 3 shots you brought, but why not come fully loaded and use all of what you brought?
That's one deck build I'll never play.
Playing this deck really made me appreciate Doomguards. What a boss play that card is.
BTW does anyone have a suggestion for a 3-drop in this deck other than Imp Gang Boss?
Feels like it needs another, I've been playing silverware golem too much on turn 3 because I have nothing else that fits.
I suppose a lot of people are going Malchezaar Imp/Possessed and tap?