Hello hello! It’s me, Fireflyer, and more cards have been released from the upcoming Un’Goro expansion including another Quest! The warlock quest was released a few days ago and just yesterday the new warlock legendary minion was released which works REALLY REALLY well with the warlock quest. Since there’s still another 2-3 weeks until Un’Goro comes out, the meta is currently dying down and steadily waiting for the new changes so let’s take a break from ladder climbing and check out some of the new cards and make plans to try out things once the expansion releases. Today I want to talk about the new warlock quest, the new warlock legendary, and go over the current list of discard cards that are going to stick around in standard so we can start making plans for a warlock quest deck. Let’s check it out!
What is a Quest?
For those that haven’t read my previous article on the Priest quest or kept up to date on the new Un’Goro releases, there is a new type of card called a Quest. It’s a Legendary spell and there’s one for each class. They all cost 1 mana and they start in your opening hand if they’re in your deck but they can be mulliganed. Each quest has a requirement to fulfill the quest and a reward, in the warlock’s case, it’s Discard 6 cards and the reward is a Nether Portal card. A played quest is displayed on the top of your character’s portrait kind of like how a Secret would be and can be moused over to see the requirements and how much has been completed.
Warlock Quest and New Stuff
This article is coming out just in time because right after the warlock quest was revealed, the warlock legendary minion was also revealed which works REALLY well with the warlock quest. Another common minion was also revealed and it turned out to be pretty good as well so let’s check out all of these new cards before we go any further into the warlock quest.
Lakkari Sacrifice
Here it is, the warlock quest we’ve all been waiting for that is going to probably revive some sort of nasty Discard Zoolock deck once again. Even in the current meta, discarding 6 cards isn’t really that difficult to achieve. A Doomguard gets you 1/3 of the way to completion. I think it is a completely viable number to reach efficiently to abuse the reward which is…..
Nether Portal
WHOA. This card is crazy. It summons a portal on to your field which is kind of like the Netherspite fight in One Night in Karazhan where the portal doesn’t have a mana cost or an attack/health number and can’t be killed. The developers said when they released this card that the only way to currently get rid of a portal once it’s on the field is to concede the game. This brings new meaning to the phrase “infinite value” because this is truly infinite. What’s even better is that at the end of every turn the portal will summon TWO of the 3/2 demons, one on each side of the portal like they’re coming out of it. As I already stated, the value of this card is infinite since it will continue to pump out little demons for you to either trade with or start throwing them on top of your opponent. The funny thing is, I can see this card fitting in both an aggro deck and a control deck. The aggro decks could use this as a sort of finisher when they run out of gas, attacking their early game minions into their opponent and charging their Doomguard in, and then dropping down the portal to let the steady flow of minions eventually run your opponent over. I also see it working in a control deck where you can sit back and take your time to control the field and discard cards until you’re ready to get your portal into play and then just wait until they win you the game without needing anymore offense. I really like the unique quality of this card.
Next up is the new warlock minion Legendary and my god, you can definitely see that the developers really want us to focus on the quests because….
Clutchmother Zavas
HMMM. Well it’s obvious that it goes into any discard deck. Not only does it make it bigger each time you discard it, you’re also negating the downside of the discard effect, basically making things like Soulfire a 1 mana deal 4 damage that gave a minion in your hand +2/+2. The only difficulty I foresee is making sure it gets discarded since by just playing around with Silverware Golem I know that it can be quite frustrating trying to get what you want discarded when you end up dropping things like Doomguard instead. I love the flavor of the card but to be totally honest I really have to wait and see how it tests out before I’m sold on it. From playing Silverware golem I just don’t know how many times you’ll actually get Clutchmother discarded in order to make her effective and if you don’t discard her she’s just a useless 2/2. The dream is to get lucky and discard her every time but is it really feasible to expect it to happen every time? I do plan to run her and test her out but I’m making a little bit of a prediction that she isn’t going to be as reliable as people think she’s going to be.
Finally, a warlock common has been released that will help both the quest a lot and Clutchmother.
Lakkari Felhound
A 4 mana 3/8 Taunt is pretty good for a defensive minion but the thing that really stands out to me is that it discards 2 cards. The reason it’s so important is because the more cards you can discard at one time, the greater chance you have of discarding things like Silverware golem and the new Clutchmother Zavas. Doomguard is going to be the only thing coming out of the current stuff that allows you to discard 2 cards since Dark Bargain is rotating out with The Grand Tournament. As long as warlock continues to keep getting multiple discard effects like this new Lakkari Felhound, Clutchmother Zavas is going to be fine in decks and Silverware Golem is going to be MUCH more useful than it currently is, because of the lack of massive discard.
Current Discard List
Let’s look at the current “Discard” effect cards that are going to be sticking around once the previous year of expansions and adventures rotate out. A big block of these cards are already used in current Discard Zoolock decks but some of these lesser used ones might become more useful with the new expansion.
Malchezaar’s Imp: This card is almost impossible to replace in any discard deck. He’s a great 1/3 body which is really good to fight off early aggro like Pirates because of their small 1/1 and 2/1 bodies but his ability is what makes him one of a kind for Discard effects. You don’t quite “negate” the discard effect since you’re still losing cards, like if you were holding on to a Soulfire to finish your opponent but you have to Doomguard first, you’re still losing that Soulfire, but what I like about him is that he helps “cycle” through your deck, kind of like Loot Hoarder where you’re playing a card to draw more cards and get to the good stuff. With the addition of Clutchmother Zavas, he can also net gain you cards if you discard her which is pretty ridiculous. I really don’t see how this card doesn’t automatically go into the discard quest deck.
Soulfire: Another awesome discard effect card and one of its kind, the only direct damage spell with discard attached to it. More than likely this will find a spot in the new deck as well since it’s really effective, being only 1 mana and dealing a whopping 4 damage which is good enough to kill most midrange minions but is best used to finish off your opponent after a big swing. I believe this is another automatic add into the deck because it’s the only removal spell that has discard on it so it’s hard to replace.
Darkshire Librarian: An effective body, 3/2 for 2 mana is the standard for most 2 drops, and has a unique discard ability which helps you cycle through your deck in the same way that Malchezaar’s Imp does, giving up a card and then drawing one after. Combined with Malchezaar’s Imp you’re gaining extra cards and with things like Silverware Golem and Clutchmother triggering off of it as well, it’s kind of hard to replace this as your go to 2 drop. Succubus is up next and is bigger but the ability to discard and gain cards back is just too strong in my opinion.
Succubus: Much bigger than Darkshire Librarian but doesn’t have the same usefulness. I could see this going into a discard deck if it’s all about aggro and maximum damage but the draw effect from the librarian is just too good to replace with a minion that has no ability. I’m sure with the addition of new cards in Un’Goro we’re going to have plenty of discard effects to choose from and probably won’t have to settle for this card.
Silverware Golem: Another automatic in for the deck since it’s the only card that triggers off of discard and comes into play for free, making any discard effect into “Put a 3/3 into play” which is quite powerful. It’s a little tricky to get these guys out sometimes but when you get lucky it’s a real nice feeling and pretty much wins you the board if you can get it out on your first discard. With more multiple discard cards being added into the mix, I think this card will just get better as it becomes easier to drop into play for free.
Doomguard: Probably THE best discard card right now. Discards two which gives you multiple draws from Malchezaar’s Imp or double the chance of putting Silverware Golem into play and is also a huge minion with charge. 5 damage kills most things, 7 health survives most single attacks, and the charge effect makes him great for finishing off opponents or using him to remove an annoying minion. I would be very surprised to see this card replaced.
Deathwing: The only neutral card to make you discard, but also something to consider with this quest. Some people have been talking about it on the Reddit threads and it is definitely an interesting idea, since it allows you to wipe the board and put Nether Portal into your hand on the same turn so you can drop it out into an empty field next turn. The only problem is waiting until turn 10 for this to happen. I think with all the fast discard effects we have already in Zoolock, we’re better off just playing the early game with Darkshire Librarian and Doomguard and get our portal out by turn 6-7 instead of waiting for a late Deathwing but it’s still an option for those that want to tweak the idea.
Conclusion
That’s all there is to it! Sorry it was a short article today guys, just wanted to release the new information about the warlock cards and get some people a little hyped for the new warlock quest. I am personally LOVING the quests and I am planning to make a deck for each one. The Shaman quest has also been released for those interested so if you haven’t checked it out yet, google it or go to reddit and check it out, I don’t think I’ll do any more hype threads since a lot of the cards are being released but stay tuned in a week or so and I’ll release my predictions about the current released cards from the new expansion.
As always you can follow me on Twitter at Twitter @HS_Fireflyer to check out my Arena screenshots or keep up with my schedule, or you can come watch me play some Arena live on Twitch at Twitch.tv/ItsFireflyer, I am streaming again this week, just taking a day off while the servers are being worked on and finishing up some other work I need to get out of the way.
Get hyped for the new expansion and come see me again soon!
