by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

We’re getting down to the wire on Hearthstone deck previews with only two left after this week. Fortunately, the most entertaining decks have been saved for last. Make no mistake, while all of the decks are viable, the Warlock, Rogue and Druid decks all bring with them a certain degree of flare players are sure to appreciate, assuming they don’t enjoy a more linear experience. Let’s talk Warlock though.

Almost no part of this deck plays it safe. Most spells and minions are buffed, but at some kind of additional cost, be it energy, card discard, health or even minion destruction. In return, the Warlock deck is capable of inflicting boat loads of pressure all throughout the game. It all comes down to your ability to keep a close eye on Gul’dan’s health pool. Failure to do so will be damning. Today we’ll touch on the risks of each of the individual spell cards featured in the deck.

Life Tap

As hero powers go, this one is absolutely my favorite, both because it’s so strong, and also because it can potentially ruin your match. Life Tap translates very well from World of Warcraft to Hearthstone, trading two health (along with two energy) for a card. There are a lot of hero powers that should be used whenever you have leftover energy at the end of your turn. This is really not one of them. Using this too much is a great way to find yourself in a deep hole, especially when you consider other spells and minions also have prohibitive costs.

However, despite all that, this unique ability is incredibly strong. If you are able to get on the offensive and build early pressure, which the deck is more than capable of, having a constant source of card draw is absolutely brutal and will assist you in crushing your opponent with demonic power. It will always come down to how you leverage your resources, what deck your facing, and frankly a bit of luck.

Soulfire

There are a lot of good examples of how the Warlock deck functions, but Soulfire is the card I would point to as the staple. Zero energy? Great. Four all purpose direct damage? Fantastic. Discard a random card? Ugh, what if you end up discarding a card in your hand that could win the game on turn eight or nine? That’s the deck, folks. How bad do you want to deal four damage? Prepare for a lot of potential heartbreak with this amazing card.

Corruption

If you think you can wait a turn before seeing a minion destroyed, Corruption‘s solid, if only because of its one energy cost. It’s a good way to deal with tanky early game minions that can slow down your high powered offensive, such as Shieldbearer and Imp Master.

Mortal Coil

There will be a lot of Warlock cards that force you to take long turns figuring out if the cost justifies the result, but there are thankfully some straightforward, easy cards. Mortal Coil is one of them. It’s only one damage for one energy, and it has to be done to a minion, but if it ends up killing the minion you get to draw a card. I’d run it for cheap direct damage options in the early game. Added perk, no terrible conundrums on whether using this card will ultimately doom you later!

Power Overwhelming

There’s definitely a place in decks for this card, but it’s important to, similar to Life Tap, use this at the correct moment, and not just whenever you feel like doing four extra damage. Power Overwhelming is cheap, so there’s a good chance you’ll be able to utilize it whenever you want to. Just try and hold out for ending the game with this spell, or taking out a large, frustrating minion. Remember, the Warlock deck is about pressure, and sacrificing a minion that you likely paid a decent amount for does not matter much if you can’t win the game or keep up momentum.

Sacrificial Pact

There’s potential for Sacrificial Pact to be run, but I don’t like it in a conventional, high pressure Warlock deck. The goal is to maintain momentum and sacrificing a demon to heal seems counterproductive. It feels like there might be some solid synergy with Power Overwhelming, since the card destroys the target minion at the end of the turn, but I’d need to see an official ruling on how all that would work before I endorsed it. In general, I’m staying away from this spell and opting for more offensive weapons.

Demonfire

Out of nowhere, Warlocks get a card that resembles something out of the Druid deck. Demonfire offers some much welcomed versatility in the form of either cheap direct damage or an efficient minion buff. Definitely run this spell in any Warlock deck.

Sense Demons

Do you need demons? If you do, Sense Demons will find you demons. This card would be great as an infomercial. Is it worth running in your deck? At three energy, I’m not sure. If you’re running a lot of demons, you probably won’t have a hard time finding any, and it’s not like this card lets you go find Lord Jaraxxus. If you’re not running a lot demons, I feel like you are doing it wrong. I wouldn’t run this card, but it’s not the end of world if you do. It just feels inefficient.

Drain Life

You spend two energy, deal two all purpose direct damage, get two health. Short version? Run Drain Life.

Shadow Bolt

This is another solid card, even if it’s limited to only hitting minions. Shadow Bolt is all of three energy for four damage, and that’s a very efficient trade. About the only disappointment here is that, for the Warlock deck, it’s sort of plain.

Shadowflame

I love this card. Considering all the buffs available in this deck, and the ability to summon 6/6 Infernals upon becoming Lord Jaraxxus, Shadowflame can be absolutely brutal when it comes to taking control of the board. For four energy and a dead creature, it could very well accomplish what Twisting Nether does for eight energy, but without the caveat of taking your minions with it. I’d probably stick to running one of this card though, as opposed to two. It won’t always be useful. When it is though, it’ll be huge.

Hellfire

I don’t like Hellfire. Shadowflame costs four energy and one creature to potentially clear the opponent’s board. Hellfire costs four energy and deals three damage to ALL characters. That’s your hero, your opponent’s hero and all minions on the board. The price just seems incredibly steep, in terms of what you stand to lose, especially when you know the Shadowflame is available to the Warlock. I don’t recommend running this subpar version of Paladin Consecration.

Bane of Doom

What a great example of Warlock spells. Okay, so, five energy. That’s high, sure. Two damage, not great, but if it destroys a minion, you get a random demon from your deck put immediately into play. It’s a roll of the dice here. You could get some underwhelming imp, or you could get Lord Jaraxxus, or even a Pit Lord. This of course could work against you if you summon a minion that deals damage to your hero and you’re under a certain threshold. If you’re the gambling sort, Bane of Doom can be a lot of fun. If you’re a bit more conservative you’ll probably want to take a pass on this spell.

Siphon Soul

This is another expensive spell, but it does a lot of good. Siphon Soul destroys a target minion and gives you, the savvy Warlock, three health. Its six energy cost can be prohibitive, but it also sets itself up to be cast in the late game on something that would be otherwise difficult to deal with. I’d recommend running it just in case your opponent has some huge, game winning minion as their endgame plan.

Twisting Nether

Eight energy, destroys all minions on the board. More importantly, this spell has an awesome visual component. If you had the chance to watch Zeriyah sit down and face the Hunter deck, she busted this thing out and it was just great to watch. Gushing aside, I’d only run one of these. This is just not something you want to see in your hand in the early game. What’s more, if by turn eight you are in a situation where’s that beneficial to destroy everything on the board, you’re probably not in a good spot. Still, it’s a good card to have around, just in case you need to reset the board in hopes of launching a new offensive and crippling your opponent.

The spells are definitely pretty nuts, but on Thursday, we’ll take a look at the Warlock’s demons, and that’s where the deck really gets interesting. Nothing says fun like being unable to summon a minion because it’ll murder you in the process!

Miss some of BlizzPro’s earlier previews? Take a look at those and other Hearthstone articles here. Have a question about Hearthstone or just want to talk deck ideas? Drop me a line at @RobertAWing on Twitter, or at ZenStyle@BlizzPro.com.