MUA: Reno Lock Mirror Match

Introduction

Hello everyone, today I decided to write something quite different than what I use to write: Today I am writing the Renolock MUAs. Not only one, but I will try to write MUA guides for all the most common matchups Renolock can face in the ladder.

Renolock is a new archetype created after League of Explorers’ release, thanks to reno-jackson, Life Tap(Warlock’s Hero Power), and Warlocks arsenal of redundant spells, Reno Lock became one of the most powerful decks to be played in this metagame.

Sample Decklist

Thanks to the high number of utility cards available in the game right now, the versions of Reno Lock can vary a lot. There are simply thousands of ways you can build your Reno Jack Warlock deck, but regardless of this I decided to post here the most updated Reno Warlock list  up to date.

This list runs acidic-swamp-ooze as a response to Aggro Shaman’s Rise on the metagame, it also run the voidcaller demonic Shell (but only 1 of each) which adds up consistency to the Deck as well as extra survivability.

Most of the cards contained in this deck are, however, standard to most Renolock decks, and only part of the Techs such as the ones mentioned above (among other techs) will change from Renolock to Renolock.

Mulligan Guide

The Reno Lock matchup is very different from the other matchups we saw until now: Most of these games were pure Aggro and Midrange games, while the Reno Lock matchup is a pure Control mirror, which works completely different than other games.

The cards you’ll want here are:

• zombie-chow, dark-peddler and imp-gang-boss – The all-star Warlock cards that you’ll always want on your starting hand.
• voidcaller, piloted-shredder and twilight-drake – The strong-board-position cards that you’ll want to play on turn 4, or 3 with The Coin.
• ironbeak-owl – Response for a possible twilight-drake.

In case you have a Voidcaller in your starting hand, feel free to also keep doomguard or malganis.

How to Win

The Reno Lock mirror is a Control War, so whoever uses their resources better, wins. Sometimes playing lord-jaraxxus before your opponent also results in a win, but it is nice to do so whenever you’re already on a good board position when compared to your opponent, since it generates huge value and is very hard for your opponent to deal with an ongoing flow of 6/6s every turn without a Jaraxxus of their own.

Always remember that outside of random dark-peddler picks, Reno Locks have no burst.

Early Game Strategy

Here both players will want to Life Tap as much as possible to draw into responses for their opponent’s threats as well as threats of their own.

Basically you’ll want to tap every free turn you have, in order to have more cards. A turn 4 (or 3, with The Coin) twilight-drake is devastating given how Reno Lock’s only response for this is their solo ironbeak-owl, but a Piloted Shredder or a valuable voidcaller can be equally challenging to deal with.

Note that, given Reno Lock’s healing arsenal, it is very unlikely that a deck like Reno Lock can rush another Reno Lock down, so always go for value plays and disregard the rush.

corruption is the best card you could pick from your dark-peddler here, in case the option doesn’t present itself to you, go for soulfire or power-overwhelming for possible reach, or the strongest possible minion stat-wise.

Mid Game Strategy

Here is where both Warlocks will start to test each other’s hands and start dropping threats on the board, a well timed (and unresponded) emperor-thaurissan can easily close the game, but so does other cards (just not as much).

Don’t overextend into Sweepers but don’t play so it will be possible to lose Control of the board. Try to save your removal here, since it is limited, and do good trades as much as you can. Don’t feel inclined to big-game-hunter your opponent’s 7+ Attack minion if you can easily deal with it some other way.

Late Game Strategy

At this point both Warlocks health pools are going to be low enough that they’ll reno-jackson themselves. The game is going to be in such a state that whoever performed better in the Mid-game (still has more and better resources) is very likely to win, but don’t forget a well timed Lord Jaraxxus can still win the game on its own.

There are a couple of factors here that should be taken into consideration:

• Removal – Feel free to use them when the game is about to be finished.
• Fatigue – Try to get to it after your opponent, don’t rush into there by doing unnecessary taps.
• Jaraxxus – If a good situation to play this presents itself (which is: you have responses in hand and Control of the Board), even if you’re going to lose some health doing so, go ahead and do it.

Conclusion

The Reno Lock mirror is a skill matchup, and usually the best player will win, so getting in touch with information such as the one posted in this MUA will give you a great edge in the Mirror match.

I hope I was able to deliver you guys the best possible explanation on how to play this matchup 😀

I love you all, good luck in the ladder!

Cuddles,

Nuba

---