Hearthpwn

Introduction

Looking to climb fast? Don't have all of the new legendaries yet? Too little dust to play a Reno list? This guide has you covered! It is an update to the Zoo guide I wrote pre-Karazhan, aimed at players who are looking to learn Zoo, both beginners and intermediate players. An advanced player who's made it to legend a bunch of times but hasn't seriously played Zoolock yet will probably pick up a few helpful things as well.

Zoo is a great, yet rather cheap deck to climb up in the ladder and eventually make it to legend. This 1520 dust deck list will get you there, provided that you're sufficiently skilled. The deck also teaches you a lot of concepts about Hearthstone, so if you're fairly new and you're looking to get good, this deck is an excellent choice. Note that you will need the 3 adventures BRM, LoE, and Karazhan. If you're just starting out and you don't have the adventures yet, other decks might be better for you.

Most of the information is gathered from various guides and sites across the internet, as well as pro player streams, especially Rdu. If you could point out mistakes, make suggestions, or link me to resources I've missed so far, I would find that very helpful! 

Are you new to Zoolock?

If you don't really know what Zoolock is about, I recommend watching a few videos before you read on. Trump's Fearless Tapping video teaches you why the Warlock's hero power is so incredibly strong. Next, watch his Zoo Deck teachings video. While the decklist is outdated, all the basic concepts are still the same. Then, go on to watch his Standard Teachings: Zoo video. It's also a different deck list, but is set in the previous meta, WotOG. Finally, after reading the guide, I recommend that you go to Rdu's twitch channel and check out the archives. He is one of the best Zoo players in the world and he goes in great detail about his plays. 

General Strategy

The classic strategy of Zoo is to take board control from turn 1. We aim to populate the board with cheap but effective minions and trade efficiently by buffing the minions with cards such as Abusive Sergeant, Dire Wolf Alpha, and Defender of Argus. Zoo is commonly misclassified as a face deck, but board control is an important element. If this strategy works, Zoo can close out games really quickly. If it doesn't and we lose the board, it is often hard to come back.

However, Karazhan has given the Zoo player a few tools that make such comebacks possible. Malchezaar's Imp and Silverware Golem can give us explosive turns the deck didn't have before. The best case is quite insane. You have two Malchezaar's Imps on the board and a Doomguard with two Silverware Golems in hand. Playing the Doomguard for 5 mana gives you the following: summon a 5/7 charge, summon two 3/3s, draw two cards!

One of the difficulties when playing Zoo is to know when to go for face damage and when to control the board. It is key to identify which type of deck your opponent is playing. If you're facing an aggressive deck such as Face Hunter, Pirate Warrior, or another Zoolock, it is all about board control. Face damage is irrelevant for most of the game in these match-ups. If you control the board you will likely win the game. Against control decks, however, you'll start going for face much earlier, only trading if you have to. Key in these matchups is knowing what kind of removal your opponent has at his disposal, especially AoE. For example, you don't want to have one 4 health minion and a bunch of 1 health minions against Druids, because a single Swipe will wipe your whole board out. 

The deck list

The discard package (10 cards)

Nobody really plays the pure Zoo lists anymore. This meta is all about discard Zoolock, also known as Discolock. All of the following cards are usually ran twice, unless otherwise noted.

- Doomguard is the best card of this deck. A 5 mana 5/7 with charge is an insane card, though its battlecry is obviously not that great. The general idea of this deck is to play as many cards as possible early on and then to play Doomguard and get massive value from it. You can get the most value from it by discarding Silverware Golem and drawing cards for the discards with Malchezaar's Imp. All 3 of these cards are core cards of every Discolock. Almost all lists run Soulfire and Darkshire Librarian as the other discard mechanics. Soulfire's 1 mana deal 4 damage is obviously great and with the Karazhan cards, the battlecry doesn't hurt Zoo as much anymore. The Darkshire Librarian is not a card we're looking to play early if we can avoid it. Top-decking it later in the game or playing it with discard synergies can be very powerful, however.

Zoo staples (18 cards)

- 2x Flame Imp is one of the best one-drops in the game and it fits our strategy perfectly. It helps us to apply pressure from turn 1. It has always been a bad card late in the game when the your health is quite low, which is why it has gotten even better with Karazhan. With a Malchezaar's Imp and one of our discard cards, we can cycle it into another card.

- 2x Voidwalker is the second core 1-drop in the game. It's normally used to protect our more valuable minions or to stop early aggression from face decks.

- 2x Possessed Villager is a sticky 1-drop that synergizes with Knife Juggler and Darkshire Councilman. It is also a favourite to buff with Abusive Sergeant and Power Overwhelming, since it leaves sa 1/1 behind. With all the AoE we're seeing in the current meta, it is key to have sticky cards.

- 2x Dark Peddler is an insane 2-drop as Warlock has so many good 1 mana cards. It often gives you a great answer to the current situation.

- 1x Dire Wolf Alpha helps us trade efficiently. The current list has cut one in favour of Demonfire.

- 2x Knife Juggler is still strong, though it has lost its strongest synergy card, the Forbidden Ritual. It is the only card in the deck that allows zoo to ping.

- 2x Darkshire Councilman has lost some of that synergy as well, but he's going nowhere. You know that a 3-drop is good when Druid often mulches it in this match-up- The councilman is very good, indeed.

- 2x Imp Gang Boss is arguably even better, possibly the best 3-drop in the game. Most decks struggle dealing 4 damage and it gives us some extra stickyness.Super good against aggro.

- 2x Defender of Argus has lost its favourite synergy partner, the Argent Squire, but is still insanely strong. One of the key cards against decks like Pirate Warrior and Face Hunter, slowing them down just enough so we can finish them in time.

- 1x Abusive Sergeant used to be a staple, now people run anywhere from 0-2. It is still strong as it helps us trade up and leaves a body behind, but that body being a 1/1 instead of a 2/1 weakens the utility of this card as you can't really play it for tempo anymore. I like running 1.

Tech choices

This leaves us with 2 slots.Besides these cards, an extra Dire Wolf Alpha and a 2nd Abusive Sergeant are solid options.

- 0x Power Overwhelming also used to be a Zoo staple, but is quite uncommon nowadays. It does pretty much the same thing as Soulfire and running both hurts your consistency. 

- 1x Demonfire: Can be a nice 1-off, too. It is useful to be able to deal 2 damage, and buffing an Imp Gang Boss, Flame Imp, or Voidwalker early on can completely swing the outcome of the game. This list runs one.

- 0x Young Priestess can be useful because she buffs your cards out of AoE range. Improves the Shaman and Control Warrior match-ups, specifically. Doesn't really fit the current meta as well as it fit the Shamanstone meta.

- 0x Crazed Alchemist: A strong card that one can use to either insta-kill minions such as Doomsayer or Flametongue Totem, or to use cards like an unbuffed Darkshire Councilman as a finisher. It's really nice against control decks (Doomsayer), Spell Druid (Ancient of War), and Shaman (Totems). Perfect for the Yogg Nerf meta, but not ideal at the moment.

- 1x Acidic Swamp Ooze is a card that can work quite well as a one-off. It also improves the Warrior, Hunter, and Shaman match-ups, as a strong weapon is at the core of each of their strategies. Since you'll be facing on of these classes in about every other match you're playing on ladder, it makes a lot of sense to include it.

Cards that you shouldn't run in Disco Zoo.

These were either staples or tech choices in previous versions of the deck, but they don't cut it anymore. Note that Disco Zoo is less consistent than classic Zoo, so some of these choices would be even riskier.

- Argent Squire is a good 1-drop, but it got replaced by the much better Malchezaar's Imp. There's no good reason to run it more. Maybe if you really want your deck to be super consistent and draw tons of 1-drops.

- Forbidden Ritual was very strong and a staple before Maelstrom Portal got released. Not only is that card a direkt counter, but since Shaman has gotten so strong, other decks are including more AoE to counter Shaman, as well. Some like to run Forbidden Ritual as a 1-off, but I'm not a fan.

- The Sea Giant doesn't make the cut without Forbidden Ritual, either.

- Mortal Coil: A great utility card, but we can't really fit it in. Can be a fantastic situational pick from Dark Peddler.

- Brann Bronzebeard: This deck is all about consistency, and we don't get that by adding another 3-drop. Brann raises the ceiling of the deck, but he also lowers its floor. The negative synergy with Doomguard and Flame Imp can also be a problem. We also don't run that many good battlecries anymore.

- Dark Iron Dwarf: Usually ran as a 1-off, it's simply not powerful enough in Disco Zoo.

- Gormok the Impaler: People used to play this instead of Dark Iron Dwarf. Gormok is more powerful, while Dark Iron Dwarf is more consistent as well as much cheaper to craft. It is difficult to evaluate which card is better, though playing Gormok seems pretty greedy. It is also irrelevant, as neither card is good enough post Karazhan.

Replacements for adventure cards

Since the deck list is already quite cheap, I don't want to go into a lot of variations of it. If you don't have Karazhan, you shouldn't run Disco Zoo. Take a look at the WotOG Zoo list, instead. The two other cards worth mentioning are the cards from the adventure slots, Dark Peddler and Imp Gang Boss. You'll probably have to go with Flame Juggler instead of Dark Peddler and Harvest Golem or possibly Argent Horserider for Imp Gang Boss. It's also possible to use one of the tech cards in those spots, though your deck will be a little less consistent if you make that change. The deck gets worse without these very strong cards, but the replacements aren't terrible, either.

Early Strategy

Turn 1:

It is crucial to play a 1-drop on the first turn. You will usually hard Mulligan for 1-drops, meaning that if you don't have one in your hand, you throw all cards away.

Flame Imp is usually your preferred 1-drop, but there are exceptions, which we will get to in the hero-specific matchups. It is a really good 1-drop since it applies pressure very early on and can deal with most 2-drops. Here is a very rough and by no means set in stone order in which we would like to play our 1-drops on turn 1:
Flame Imp >>> Possessed Villager >> Voidwalker >>> Malchezaar's Imp >>>>> Young Priestess >>>>>>>>>> Abusive Sergeant.

On turn 1, Flame Imp is the tier 1 1-drop; Possessed Villager, Malchezaar's Imp, and Voidwalker are tier 2. If we have one of the tier 2 drops but not the Flame Imp, we usually play it no matter what. If we have multiple 1-drops, it gets a bit more complicated. If you have want to bait out removal, Malchezaar's Imp is a good choice. Usually you want to play the Possessed Villager or Voidwalker earlier since they trade better. You don't want to use Malchezaar's Imp for its body, but for its effect.

If you're on the Coin, you're usually looking to use it either to play a second 1-drop on turn 1, or coin out a 3-drop on turn 2. Flame Imp Coin Voidwalker is a beastly turn 1 play.

Turns 2 and 3:

Unlike a lot of other decks, we are not looking to play a 2-drop on turn 2, but two 1-drops. This is a crucial concept to understand that many players new to Zoo do not know about. The four 2-drops Zoo runs, Dark Peddler, Dire Wolf Alpha, and Knife Juggler, do not help us too much to contest the board early on since they only have 2/2 bodies. The Darkshire Librarian does a little better in that regard, but he also discards a card, likely one we want to play on the next turn. What the 2-drops do is boost our other cards, which makes them much more useful from around turn 4 onward. This doesn't mean that you never play these on turn 2, but as a general rule, avoid it. Turn 3, then, is the moment we would like to play one of our 3-drops, Imp Gang Boss or Darkshire Councilman. So the ideal Zoo progression is as follows:

Turn 1: 1-drop (or Coin 2 1-drops)

Turn 2: two 1-drops (or Coin 3-drop)

Turn 3: 3-drop

That's also a reason why the deck is so heavy on 1-drops, as it allows us to reach this progression more consistently. Another reason is that we want to get as much value from Doomguard as possible. Of course, this doesn't mean that we play like this every game. Sometimes we simply don't get the cards, and sometimes we have to react to the board and play differently. You'll sometimes end up playing a 2-drop on turn 2, even if you have two 1-drops in your hand. But in an ideal world, this is how we build the board fast.

Mid + late game strategy

If you came out of the early game controlling the board, there comes a point where you want to start hitting face. It is hard to give a general guideline as to when that is, but if you think that you can set up lethal the following turn you should usually go for it. 

- Doomguard is ideally played around turn 6, especially in combination with a Malchezaar's Imp. It is most often used to claim the board, but can sometimes be your finisher as well. Don't be afraid to play it early if you've lost the board, either. It may not work out that often, but not playing it will work even less. You also don't want to hold on to your Doomguard for too long, since the chances that you draw the 2nd Doomguard increase every turn. Remember that this is the star of the deck, so get him on the board. Playing Malchezaar's Imp on turn 4 sets off alarm bells in every half-way decent opponent, so don't expect it to be around when you slam the Doomguard on turn 5. If you can manage to do this, even better. Sometimes you can use the Imp this way to bait out removal and follow up with something like Darkshire Councilman + two 1-drops on turn 5.

- Part of the reason why you want to hold on to your 2-drops for a little longer is that they get much better when the game is more developed. Dire Wolf Alpha is best when you have a bunch of minions on the board and you can trade them in such a way that all of them get buffed at some point. If you play Dark Peddler too early you might end up wishing that you'd taken another later on. The Knife Juggler doesn't juggle when it gets removed before you have the chance to play another minion. Darkshire Librarian is best when it either doesn't discard anything at all, or if it discards Silverware Golem, or if it discards something you can cycle with Malchezaar's Imp.

- Late game – if you've made it this far and you're not close to delivering lethal, chances are that you're going to lose. Most decks have better late-game minions than this one, so you have to do well early on. If you're against another aggro deck, keep trading until you've blown them off the board.  

Zoo Positioning

Value minions > big minions > Imp Gang Boss > medium to small minions > small to medium minions > Possessed Villager > big minion

Zoolock has many cheap minions that it relies on buffing, so board positioning is crucial in this deck. I will keep this section short and send you to this outstanding and in-depth guide instead. Just as a brief summary, here are some things to look for.

- There are two cards for which position is important, Dire Wolf Alpha and Defender of Argus. We always want to play with these cards in mind, even if we haven't drawn them yet.

- In general, the minions that die easiest go in the middle, while the minions that die hardest go to the outside. Note that this means that taunts also go in the middle, since they will generally be attacked first. Imp Gang Boss and Possessed Villager go to the outside, since their deathrattle will affect the conga line. The Imp Gang Boss goes to the left, so playing the Possessed Villager on the far right is usually fine.

- Valuable minions (Knife Juggler and sometimes Malchezaar's Imp), go furthest out, as we want to avoid trading them, if possible. Knife Juggler is the most valuable card, while [card]Malchezaar's Imp very much depends on the state of the game. Silverware Golem makes the far left better than the far right for these.

- We want our taunts to be next to Dire Wolf Alpha so they get buffed. Use the Defender of Argus such that it helps our Minions to stay alive, e.g. buff 1 health Minions against Druid to make the board more resilient against Swipe. 

- If possible, we want to buff our minions such that we have a 1-attack minion, a 2-attack minion, a 3-attack minion, and so on. This usually allows for the most efficient trades and gives us more options. This is also why we don't simply go left-to-right with out big-to-weak minions but put some of the stronger minions on the right side, as well. 

Mulligan

General Mulligan Guidelines

The mulligan is crucial for Zoo, as it is for any deck. We are generally looking to play 3 1-drops on the first two turns, so if you don't have any, it is usually correct to mulligan all offered cards. With the coin, it is often correct to keep a 3-drop, looking to play it on turn 2. The following are general guidelines. Keep in mind that these will sometimes be contradicted by the class-specific mulligan suggestions later on.

- Flame Imp, Possessed Villager, Malchezaar's Imp, Voidwalker: You will usually keep all of them. An exception could be against a Warrior, on Coin, if you have all of them. Ditching 2, looking for an Acidic Swamp Ooze or 3-drop, could be an option. Never ditch the Flame Imp, though. You will usually play the Squire before the Villager, as mentioned above. Keeping 4 1-drops is probably not a good idea, either.

- Abusive Sergeant: Kept if you already have one of your 1-attack 1-drops (Voidwalker, Possessed Villager). Very useful to trade those guys into bigger minions and establish a 1/1 at the same time.

- Power Overwhelming: Keeping Power Overwhelming in combination with Flame Imp to deal with turn 2 Doomsayer can be a good idea if you strongly suspect that you're up against a control deck. You'll sometimes want to keep it against Druid or Shaman if you already have solid 1-drops to kill of their big minions/taunts. You can also keep it with a Possessed Villager against Shaman, to kill their Totem Golem.

- Soulfire is a card I'd keep against Shaman, to deal with their Totem Golem.

- Acidic Swamp Ooze: Must-keep against Warrior and Shaman.. I would only keep it with the Coin and 1-drops against the Hunter (Eaglehorn Bow), though, as it is basically a 3-drop. You can keep it against non-weapon classes if you already have a good 1-drop and simply play it on turn 2. It is a better turn 2 play against non-weapon classes than your other 2-drops.

- Demonfire: You can often keep this if you have a Flame Imp or Voidwalker for turn 1 and think that they will survive until turn 2. Voidwalker + Demonfire against Pirate Warrior is really good.

- 2-drops (Dark Peddler, Dire Wolf Alpha, Knife Juggler): Mostly ditch these. This contradicts what a lot of players do, especially with the Peddler. But these cards are better played from turn 3-4 onward, and the first turns are crucial for us to establish a board presence. Exceptions do exist. For example, I like keeping the Dire Wolf Alpha with a Flame Imp against Shaman. The Wolf is also a fine keep on the coin if you have 2 1-drops that you're looking to play on turn 1.  I'd pretty much always throw the Darkshire Librarian away. Even if you have Malchezaar's Imp, chances are that your opponent will kill it off and you're discarding cards you don't want to get rid of. If you want to cycle a card, doing so by mulliganing the Darkshire Librarian is the more consistent choice.

- 3-drops: Usually ditched going first, but you'll typically keep one of them going second. We'll get to the details in the class-specific sections, but as a rule, Imp Gang Boss is better against aggro decks as it contests the board better. Darkshire Councilman is difficult to kill since he's got 5 HP, he'll often make the opponent use heavy removal. Some like keeping one of the 3-drops going first if you're up against a class that's not super aggressive. I'm not a fan of this though, as I try to play a more consistent style. Always ditch the Silverware Golem, obviously.

- Defender of Argus and Doomguard: Run. Run and don't look back.

Curving out:

Sometimes you can keep your whole hand. If you get Flame Imp, Dark Peddler, and Imp Gang Boss against Tempo Mage, I'd keep all of them. This is generally the case if one of your 3-drops is the MVP in a certain matchup, like Imp Gang Boss is against Tempo Mage. In addition, most of their 2-drops and Mirror images have 2 health, so your 2-drops will challenge them. Flame Imp really helps you make these decisions, as it puts a lot of pressure on the opponent right away. Keeping a hand like Voidwalker, Knife Juggler, Darkshire Councilman against Hunter is not the best idea, though. 

- How about a hand like Malchezaar's Imp, Darkshire Librarian, Silverware Golem, Imp Gang Boss on the coin? Note that you'll draw 2 more cards and never get the perfect Malchezaar's Imp into Darkshire Librarian, discard Silverware Golem & draw a card, play Imp Gang Boss on 3 sequence. Your opponent will usually kill of Malchezaar's Imp, and you'll only have a 25% chance of discarding the Silverware Golem, anyway.

- You'll have 33% going first, however. I don't mind keeping the discard trio against a class like Paladin that will likely not be able to kill off Malchezaar's Imp on turn 1, though. But if you can't get the Imp to stick around, it's probably a good idea to ditch the Darkshire Librarian along with the Silverware Golem. Keeping them might be a decent line if you're up against something like Freeze Mage, were your chances of winning are very slim. That's the kind of situation that you want to make these high risk, high reward plays.

Matchup-specific Mulligan guide

Druid