Hearthpwn

This cheap Zoo deck is aimed at beginner players who don't have a large collection, but want a ladder-viable deck.

I've based this deck off of my "Perfect" Zoo deck found HERE. The Warlock Zoo, as an archetype, is unique; because even the most competitive decks make use of a lot of relatively cheap cards... and even the expensive cards in those lists have inexpensive replacements.

(NOTE: Due to the nature of Zoo decks, there is no one "correct" decklist. Every deck will be different depending on your card collection, personal play style, and the "meta". This list is merely a template, and individual cards can - for the most part - be subbed out for different cards depending on the 3 conditions I just mentioned above.)

CARD CHOICES

The following cards are included in most of the top-rated Zoo decks...

• Forbidden Ritual
• Flame Imp
• Possessed Villager
• Power Overwhelming
• Voidwalker
• Darkshire Councilman
• Abusive Sergeant
• Dire Wolf Alpha
• Knife Juggler
• Defender of Argus
• Argent Squire
• Bilefin Tidehunter

These 12 cards are mostly basic and common cards. If possible, you should included as many 2x of these cards as your collection will allow. That's upwards of 24 cards that you could have in common with a majority of the most competitive zoo decks on the ladder.

These cards are so important because they buff other cards (Abusive Sergeant, Power Overwhelming, Dire Wolf Alpha, and Defender of Argus). Also, Darkshire Councilman is an MVP in this deck, as it is buffed by everything that you play, and even moreso by token-generating cards, such as Forbidden Ritual, Bilefin Tidehunter, and Possessed Villager.

Generating tons of cheap minions, and buffing them to either trade with more expensive minions or deal massive damage to the enemy face, is why zoo decks are so powerful.

THE OTHER CARDS

• Acidic Swamp Ooze to deal with weapon classes (especially Warriors, which always seem to have a Turn 2 Firey War Axe)
• Flame Juggler for early ping damage.
• Cult Master for extra card draw. Great to use on a turn in which you plan on trading in a bunch of Forbidden Ritual tentacles.
• Dark Iron Dwarf for more buffs. Also, with 4 health, it's one of the least-fragile minions in the deck.
• Wolfrider is used here as a finisher. The idea is to use a charge minion paired with buff spells/minions to deal a scary amount of damage from hand to close out the game. Doomguard or even Reckless Rocketeer could also work; but we try to keep the overall cost of our minions under 5 mana, and discarding 2 cards could potentially ruin a combo if some buff cards get tossed.
• Frostwolf Warlord is used for getting a big threat on board. I wouldn't play this card unless you have more than 2 minions on board in order to get good value... and with a zoo deck, that should be easy enough to accomplish.
• Soulfire is used to push for that little extra lethal damage, or to remove a troublesome minion. Shadow Bolt can also be used... but it's not as versatile, and discarding a random card isn't too much of a detriment in this deck. Also, Mortal Coil is an option for extra card draw, but card draw isn't too important for Warlock due to the hero power.

Hopefully, out of all the cards listed above, you are able to scrape together 30 of them to make a decent zoo deck, however...

IF YOU STILL DON'T HAVE A FULL DECK

If your card collection is really small, or are just unlucky enough to not have unpacked many of these cards yet, you can pretty much fill out your deck with just about anything. Just remember what kinds of cards are useful for this type of deck: Cheap Minions, Buffs, and Token-Generators. That includes cards like:

• Shattered Sun Cleric
• Raid Leader
• Razorfen Hunter
• Murloc Tidehunter
• Silver Hand Regent

HOW TO PLAY ZOO

• Hero Power - This is what makes Warlock the perfect candidate for this type of deck. Card draw is king. After about turn 4, you are pretty much always going to hit the hero power button. Many new players think that losing 2 health for a card is a raw deal, but veteran players will tell you that Warlock has the most valuable hero power in the game. Think of it this way: you can essentially draw 2 cards every turn, while your opponent is only drawing 1. And with the number of cheap minions that this deck plays, you will always be putting pressure on the board.
• Board Control - This is a simple concept, but shouldn't be underrated: Keep your enemy's minions off the board. With the number of cheap minions/buffs we play, zoolocks can do this pretty efficiently. Basically, our 2/1 minion can "trade up" into a 6 health minion if we use Power Overwhelming on it... that's our 1 mana minion and 1 mana spell removing their 5 or 6 mana minion. That's efficient! (Watch out for board clears, such as Consecration or Flamestrike. These can set you back a lot, but luckily we are drawing 2 cards per turn, so we can hopefully replenish our board in no time!)

THE END

And remember to check out THIS decklist to see what cards you should include if you have adventures and/or legendary minions.