What's the secret to good drafting and playing Warlock in Arena? My average with Warlock is much lower than that of all the other classes.
I use HearthArena. I take its suggestion most of the time, but not every time.
What are the best drafting strategies for Warlock? What is HearthArena getting right or wrong?
I feel like self-damaging is more dangerous in Arena than in constructed, and that HearthArena should score healing and taunts more highly for Warlock. It seems like Flame Imps and Inspire cards are scored too high. I find that low-cost agro decks almost never work in Arena, at least for Warlocks.
The key is to draft and play as you would a zoo deck. You need early board control with sticky minions and trade favorably. If you have board control you shouldn't be afraid to tap as your life total won't matter that much.
Lastly you have to know when to go all in on your face push. If you don't draft a lot of late game your at some point going to have to swap to face. Board wipes hurt lock a ton so you need to keep taping to keep card equality.
Frankly, I haven't played it much since the last update, but this is my opinion.
Some ways to win: always pick some demons and never skip Voidcaller. Once you have Voidcaller and other solid demon (like Dread Infernal) in hand, play Voidcaller. Experienced enemies will not attack Voidcaller, might silence it or freeze it.
Streamers like Imp Gang Bos, it's very powerful if you know how to use it.
When drafting avoid not so good 4 mana - 5 mana minions. Rather took 1-2 mana playable and 6+ health minions to play around board clears.
If playing against potentially aggressive enemy, avoid using early hero power. Against some mages, it might be ok. You'll use hero power later on when you don't have anything else to play.
That's my opinion. If others ahve something to add, I'd be happy to read.
I've had show successful runs as warlock even though it's not a class I have much experience with. As mentioned, look to build a low curve since you can restore your hand with tap. My most successful run was around a deck that could gain early board then use voidcaller to easily (and early) transition into my late game by pulling doomguard or dread infernal.
The best thing about warlock, much like mage, is that most of the cards you really want are common/basic with shadowflame being pretty much the only rare you need so everything else is just a luxury.
Early tapping is fine imo, just be careful late game vs mage/huntard for burn damage or warrior if you think he's been holding a strong weapon
I wouldn't play Warlock post-Karazhan. Even hunter seems like it would do better. The problem with Warlock is you're forced to draft a low curve, and even if you do, it might end up too low, and lacks the same consistency as OG due to lacking the bonus of getting Councilman and Possessed Villager.
In OG Warlock was as good as the 3rd best class for me, now I might put it around 7-8th lol
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Regular NA Arena Leaderboard player. Reached #1 in NA arena leaderboard in May 2018 with a 9.07 average!
I wouldn't play Warlock post-Karazhan. Even hunter seems like it would do better. The problem with Warlock is you're forced to draft a low curve, and even if you do, it might end up too low, and lacks the same consistency as OG due to lacking the bonus of getting Councilman and Possessed Villager.
In OG Warlock was as good as the 3rd best class for me, now I might put it around 7-8th lol
What you've said feels right on. Recently when I've drafted low-curve, it has been too low and inconsistent. The fact that Councilman and Villager are less available is probably a big reason, yes. I've done pretty well with Hunter lately maybe because Grandmother, Huntress, and Cat Trick are decent arena cards. The Karazhan Warlock cards are not that hot in Arena, or at least don't fit well in a traditional zoo draft.
I wouldn't play Warlock post-Karazhan. Even hunter seems like it would do better. The problem with Warlock is you're forced to draft a low curve, and even if you do, it might end up too low, and lacks the same consistency as OG due to lacking the bonus of getting Councilman and Possessed Villager.
In OG Warlock was as good as the 3rd best class for me, now I might put it around 7-8th lol
What you've said feels right on. Recently when I've drafted low-curve, it has been too low and inconsistent. The fact that Councilman and Villager are less available is probably a big reason, yes. I've done pretty well with Hunter lately maybe because Grandmother, Huntress, and Cat Trick are decent arena cards. The Karazhan Warlock cards are not that hot in Arena, or at least don't fit well in a traditional zoo draft.
Yeah, pretty much. Karazhan gave Hunters two premium low curve common minions. If you look at tier lists Hunters have plenty of premium common class cards. With lack of taunts in this meta and hypering tempo, Hunters deals with a weakened Rogue, a slower Mage, a kamikaze Warrior much better now than ever before (traditionally they've had good matchups against Warlock anyway). I'd imagine the shift in perception will be slow, but there will probably be way more Hunters once they started playing what was once the 2nd worst class in Arena in OG.
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Regular NA Arena Leaderboard player. Reached #1 in NA arena leaderboard in May 2018 with a 9.07 average!
What you've said feels right on. Recently when I've drafted low-curve, it has been too low and inconsistent. The fact that
Do you have heartharena for that draft to take a look?
I agree that Warlock looks inconsistent and Hunter or Shaman seems like much better pick (honestly I play it better than Mage, but I suck at Mage play. I've just finished Hunter 9 wins and have running another 5:1 with shitty deck, while my Mage avg is about 3. As TachiiDerp said perceptions will change.
I've been very successful with Warlock in Karazhan because of Kara Kazham!. I try to draft as many of those as I can because the value is actually insane and it's a very underrated card. I've had several 7+ win decks on the backs of 2-3 of this card.
I just went 12-2 with a Warlock and didn't go aggro at all. 3 Hellfire, 1 Demonwrath, 1 Corrupted Seer, 2 Dread Infernal, 2 Floating Watcher, 2 Imp Gang Boss, 1 Siphon Soul, 2 Refreshment Vendor, 1 Earthen Ring, 1 Tournament Medic, 1 Lightwarden (surprisingly good "crap card" pick). 0 Darkbomb, 0 PO, 0 Implosion, 0 Shadow Bolt. I think the nonstandard archetype caught my opponents off guard, especially at high wins, as I still had filler minions at cheap costs (2 Haunted Creeper, 1 Loot Hoarder, 1 Annoy-o-Tron). Beat a Mage in a triple-Portal game; that was satisfying.
The odd thing was how I *still* felt like I didn't have enough healing. Warlock just can't go long unless it stacks those heals. At the beginning of the run I was keeping Hellfires in opening hand; by the end of the run I'd mulligan them and hold onto Refreshment Vendor. I also wish I'd grabbed a Violet Illusionist; I had a chance at two, but chose Hellfire and Floating Watcher over them (I only regret the former, Watcher is amazing in Control Lock, it's a great combo finisher).
I also wish I'd grabbed a Violet Illusionist; I had a chance at two, but chose Hellfire and Floating Watcher over them (I only regret the former, Watcher is amazing in Control Lock, it's a great combo finisher).
I don't get what you meant by "I only regret the former", since you need Hellfire in your opening hand and Watcher was amazing in finishing enemies? You regret the Watchner, although if you play Violet Illusionist, it doesn't synergize with further Hellfire?
Hellfire is actually BAD in opening hand. Didn't realize this until a few games into my recent 12-2 run; lost my two games, won some really close ones, and learned from them, ended with a 7-0 streak.
You can't just Hellfire on 4. I think that literally never happened; I always had a better play. It's more about setting up for a good Hellfire. I think they were mostly on turn 6-9. You know how you both tend to curve out in Arena, then at some point someone stops curving and just plays two or three small dudes in the same turn? That's when you win with it; you counter with trades + Hellfire + your own minion and win from there. (I guess this can also happen on turn 4, where people do double 2 instead of a 4, but you can't rely on that.)
So Hellfire becomes a lot like "combine this with a medium minion to get a Flamestrike." Keeping Hellfire in opener is like keeping Flamestrike in opener; it's very risky because it's such a dead card early.
I had another Warlock run where I drafted Reno Jackson around pick #8. I picked 2 Demonwrath, 2 Loot Hoarder (those two cards were my only duplicates), 1 Hell Fire, 1 Dread Infernal, 1 Void Caller, 1 Doomguard and 1 Fearsome Doomguard. I didn't pick small Demons and had around 5 two mana cards always playable.
I'm not so good Arena player but I found the deck and result interesting.
First loss was against a Paladin who had Pilloted Shredder which I killed and he left 3/2 windfury on board, which he buffed with +4/+4, to deal me 14 damage (that was after the Turn where my Void Caller triggered so I had card advantage) and dealt me 3 more damage and I was dead before playing Reno (which I intended on my turn).
2nd loss was against a Shaman which played twice card "Deal 2-3 damage to all enemy minions" both times at the super time, and also 1 Ancestral Knowledge when he ran out of cards. IMO, he had great shaman deck and he is very good player.
3th loss was against a Hunter with I think not so good deck, but aggressive enough and I didn't get Reno into my hand mid game. Against Hunters are difficult if you are Warlock.
It was interesting. I feel that with Warlock card pool, you need a lot of luck to draft a great deck, contrary to Hunter where even not so good decks can bring you 5+ wins. But I wouldn't try Zoo with Warlock with the current Arena meta.
I think people are a little wrong when they say to draft Zoo with Warlock. In my experience, you want late game cards to get to 12 wins with Warlock. My most successful Warlock Arena decks have all had late game, whereas super zoo type Warlock have topped out around 10 wins. With Warlock though you definitely want a semi low curve/play on curve.
Overall, Warlock you have 1 of 2 paths towards success:
1)Flood early game and Zoo it up
2)Play for a neutral early game and then outvalue as you tap and they run out of cards
Here is my current Arena run that is Warlock and is at 11-2. The 1st Loss was due to a disconnect where I never even got into the match. The 2nd loss I had won as long as his fireland's portal didn't give him a taunt-and of course gave Earth Elemental
My boyfriend recently had a 12-2 Warlock run. Similar to MrPerfect01's deck, he had 2 Soul Fires, a Mortal Coil, and a Shadow Bolt. The deck above also has two Siphon Souls.
I find that if I don't have burst or removal as Warlock, I just get outvalued and sputter out, no matter how much damage I deal in the early game. That is also a big difference - if you're offered removal or burn spells or not. Without that to back up your zoo, you're in trouble.
I think people are a little wrong when they say to draft Zoo with Warlock. In my experience, you want late game cards to get to 12 wins with Warlock. My most successful Warlock Arena decks have all had late game, whereas super zoo type Warlock have topped out around 10 wins. With Warlock though you definitely want a semi low curve/play on curve.
Overall, Warlock you have 1 of 2 paths towards success:
1)Flood early game and Zoo it up
2)Play for a neutral early game and then outvalue as you tap and they run out of cards
Pretty much.
The way I see it is: with Warlock your hero's Health is your strongest resource. If you spend the whole game trading AND your deck has decent value (not all cheap Flamestrike-able minions), you will win. If your opponent has enough board to damage you a lot, your hero power becomes worthless. If you don't have enough value in your cards, your hero power becomes mandatory to keep up, rather than a way to advantage.
So what you really want with Warlock isn't ridiculously aggressive, but a midrange (or hybrid midrange/aggro) deck which can be played in a controlling way if necessary.
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What's the secret to good drafting and playing Warlock in Arena? My average with Warlock is much lower than that of all the other classes.
I use HearthArena. I take its suggestion most of the time, but not every time.
What are the best drafting strategies for Warlock? What is HearthArena getting right or wrong?
I feel like self-damaging is more dangerous in Arena than in constructed, and that HearthArena should score healing and taunts more highly for Warlock. It seems like Flame Imps and Inspire cards are scored too high. I find that low-cost agro decks almost never work in Arena, at least for Warlocks.
The key is to draft and play as you would a zoo deck. You need early board control with sticky minions and trade favorably. If you have board control you shouldn't be afraid to tap as your life total won't matter that much.
Lastly you have to know when to go all in on your face push. If you don't draft a lot of late game your at some point going to have to swap to face. Board wipes hurt lock a ton so you need to keep taping to keep card equality.
Good luck
Pick mage or rogue
Frankly, I haven't played it much since the last update, but this is my opinion.
Some ways to win: always pick some demons and never skip Voidcaller. Once you have Voidcaller and other solid demon (like Dread Infernal) in hand, play Voidcaller. Experienced enemies will not attack Voidcaller, might silence it or freeze it.
Streamers like Imp Gang Bos, it's very powerful if you know how to use it.
When drafting avoid not so good 4 mana - 5 mana minions. Rather took 1-2 mana playable and 6+ health minions to play around board clears.
If playing against potentially aggressive enemy, avoid using early hero power. Against some mages, it might be ok. You'll use hero power later on when you don't have anything else to play.
That's my opinion. If others ahve something to add, I'd be happy to read.
Easier said than done, mate! If you can draft all these cards in an arena run it's an easy 12 wins.
I've had show successful runs as warlock even though it's not a class I have much experience with. As mentioned, look to build a low curve since you can restore your hand with tap. My most successful run was around a deck that could gain early board then use voidcaller to easily (and early) transition into my late game by pulling doomguard or dread infernal.
The best thing about warlock, much like mage, is that most of the cards you really want are common/basic with shadowflame being pretty much the only rare you need so everything else is just a luxury.
Early tapping is fine imo, just be careful late game vs mage/huntard for burn damage or warrior if you think he's been holding a strong weapon
I wouldn't play Warlock post-Karazhan. Even hunter seems like it would do better. The problem with Warlock is you're forced to draft a low curve, and even if you do, it might end up too low, and lacks the same consistency as OG due to lacking the bonus of getting Councilman and Possessed Villager.
In OG Warlock was as good as the 3rd best class for me, now I might put it around 7-8th lol
Regular NA Arena Leaderboard player.
Reached #1 in NA arena leaderboard in May 2018 with a 9.07 average!
Regular NA Arena Leaderboard player.
Reached #1 in NA arena leaderboard in May 2018 with a 9.07 average!
I've been very successful with Warlock in Karazhan because of Kara Kazham!. I try to draft as many of those as I can because the value is actually insane and it's a very underrated card. I've had several 7+ win decks on the backs of 2-3 of this card.
I just went 12-2 with a Warlock and didn't go aggro at all. 3 Hellfire, 1 Demonwrath, 1 Corrupted Seer, 2 Dread Infernal, 2 Floating Watcher, 2 Imp Gang Boss, 1 Siphon Soul, 2 Refreshment Vendor, 1 Earthen Ring, 1 Tournament Medic, 1 Lightwarden (surprisingly good "crap card" pick). 0 Darkbomb, 0 PO, 0 Implosion, 0 Shadow Bolt. I think the nonstandard archetype caught my opponents off guard, especially at high wins, as I still had filler minions at cheap costs (2 Haunted Creeper, 1 Loot Hoarder, 1 Annoy-o-Tron). Beat a Mage in a triple-Portal game; that was satisfying.
The odd thing was how I *still* felt like I didn't have enough healing. Warlock just can't go long unless it stacks those heals. At the beginning of the run I was keeping Hellfires in opening hand; by the end of the run I'd mulligan them and hold onto Refreshment Vendor. I also wish I'd grabbed a Violet Illusionist; I had a chance at two, but chose Hellfire and Floating Watcher over them (I only regret the former, Watcher is amazing in Control Lock, it's a great combo finisher).
I don't get what you meant by "I only regret the former", since you need Hellfire in your opening hand and Watcher was amazing in finishing enemies? You regret the Watchner, although if you play Violet Illusionist, it doesn't synergize with further Hellfire?
Hellfire is actually BAD in opening hand. Didn't realize this until a few games into my recent 12-2 run; lost my two games, won some really close ones, and learned from them, ended with a 7-0 streak.
You can't just Hellfire on 4. I think that literally never happened; I always had a better play. It's more about setting up for a good Hellfire. I think they were mostly on turn 6-9. You know how you both tend to curve out in Arena, then at some point someone stops curving and just plays two or three small dudes in the same turn? That's when you win with it; you counter with trades + Hellfire + your own minion and win from there. (I guess this can also happen on turn 4, where people do double 2 instead of a 4, but you can't rely on that.)
So Hellfire becomes a lot like "combine this with a medium minion to get a Flamestrike." Keeping Hellfire in opener is like keeping Flamestrike in opener; it's very risky because it's such a dead card early.
I had another Warlock run where I drafted Reno Jackson around pick #8.
I picked 2 Demonwrath, 2 Loot Hoarder (those two cards were my only duplicates), 1 Hell Fire, 1 Dread Infernal, 1 Void Caller, 1 Doomguard and 1 Fearsome Doomguard. I didn't pick small Demons and had around 5 two mana cards always playable.
I'm not so good Arena player but I found the deck and result interesting.
First loss was against a Paladin who had Pilloted Shredder which I killed and he left 3/2 windfury on board, which he buffed with +4/+4, to deal me 14 damage (that was after the Turn where my Void Caller triggered so I had card advantage) and dealt me 3 more damage and I was dead before playing Reno (which I intended on my turn).
2nd loss was against a Shaman which played twice card "Deal 2-3 damage to all enemy minions" both times at the super time, and also 1 Ancestral Knowledge when he ran out of cards. IMO, he had great shaman deck and he is very good player.
3th loss was against a Hunter with I think not so good deck, but aggressive enough and I didn't get Reno into my hand mid game. Against Hunters are difficult if you are Warlock.
It was interesting. I feel that with Warlock card pool, you need a lot of luck to draft a great deck, contrary to Hunter where even not so good decks can bring you 5+ wins. But I wouldn't try Zoo with Warlock with the current Arena meta.
I think people are a little wrong when they say to draft Zoo with Warlock. In my experience, you want late game cards to get to 12 wins with Warlock. My most successful Warlock Arena decks have all had late game, whereas super zoo type Warlock have topped out around 10 wins. With Warlock though you definitely want a semi low curve/play on curve.
Overall, Warlock you have 1 of 2 paths towards success:
1)Flood early game and Zoo it up
2)Play for a neutral early game and then outvalue as you tap and they run out of cards
Here is my current Arena run that is Warlock and is at 11-2. The 1st Loss was due to a disconnect where I never even got into the match. The 2nd loss I had won as long as his fireland's portal didn't give him a taunt-and of course gave Earth Elemental
Forbidden Ritual, Malchezaar's Imp, Mortal Coil, Soul Fire x2, Zealous Initiate, Zombie Chow
Dark Peddler x2, Dire Wolf Alpha, Jeweled Scarab, Stonesplitter Trogg
Darkshire Councileman x2, Ice Rager, Scarlet Crusader, Shadow Bolt
Aberrant Berserker, Infested Tauren, Mechanical Yeti, Voidcaller x2
Floating Watcher, Frostwolf Warlord
Corrupted Seer, Siphon Soulx2, Wobbling Runts
Fearsome Doomguard, Stormwind Champion
My boyfriend recently had a 12-2 Warlock run. Similar to MrPerfect01's deck, he had 2 Soul Fires, a Mortal Coil, and a Shadow Bolt. The deck above also has two Siphon Souls.
I find that if I don't have burst or removal as Warlock, I just get outvalued and sputter out, no matter how much damage I deal in the early game. That is also a big difference - if you're offered removal or burn spells or not. Without that to back up your zoo, you're in trouble.