Hearthstone Year of the Hydra, the 2022 Core Set, and Voyage to the Sunken City are almost here and it's about time we give Warlock a review of what is to come. Below you will find our thoughts on Warlock as they pertain to the brand new Hearthstone year. We're going to go over the archetypes we expect to see play, the heavy-hitting cards, a general overview of Warlock, and a theorycraft deck for you to try out on Day 1.

Before we jump straight into our review though, we've got a few pieces of content you may want to check out.

Now with that done, let's jump into it!

Year of the Hydra Warlock Quick Impressions

  • Warlock gained a lot of ground in their Murloc archetype which is a difference from most previous years.
  • With the additions of Brann Bronzebeard and Reno Jackson in the new Core set, Warlock staples will shape the year and make for some interesting deckbuilding decisions.
  • Gigafin, despite being a Murloc, is an absolute powerhouse and will be seen in a great many decks.
  • Overall, this class is looking alright and I rate it an 7/10 for its power level. This is almost entirely carried by Murlock, for the record.

Warlock Power Level

Year of the Hydra Warlock Archetypes

There are a few different archetypes that have some great support right out the gate and another one that although it lacks support now, Blizzard adding a few cards for it means we might see things more positively further on in the year.

  • Murloc Warlock - Murloc Warlock, affectionately referred to as "Murlock" or "Wurlock" by some, makes its explosive return with a new mid-range handbuff strategy. 
  • Control Warlock - Warlock is gaining additional tools for its Warlock archetypes and a new win condition with Abyssal Curses
  • Discard Warlock - Discard synergy has been getting drip fed support over the last year, and the trend continues going into the Year of the Hydra.

With our quick archetype overview out of the way, let's talk more about them. 

Murloc Warlock in Year of the Hydra

Gigafin Card Image Chum Bucket Card Image Bloodscent Vilefin Card Image

  • The archetype Warlock got the most support for.
  • A primary mid-range handbuff gameplan, but some cards can be flexed elsewhere.
  • Mrrglgr!!!

Murloc Warlock hasn't been considered let alone supported since Seadevil Stinger all the way back in Mean Streets of Gadgetzan. As with every expansion cycle and year rotation, the jury is out on what the meta will ultimately look like, but this version of Murloc seems to be more mid-range oriented. There is not much in the way of cheap ways to swarm the board, but rather higher-statted medium-cost Murlocs that use big stats to threaten the board. Chum Bucket, Voidgill, and Azsharan Scavenger (with Sunken Scavenger) provide powerful, but slow abilities to buff Murlocs in hand to help create a mix of wide and tall board threats. Meanwhile, Gigafin and Bloodscent Vilefin provide powerful tools for the archetype themselves, but also have enough utility to break out of Murloc-dedicated decks and see experimentation in other kinds of decks.

My initial impression is that Murlock is going to be one of Warlock's best options going into the Year of the Hydra, given its considerable amount of support within the class itself as well as the powerful Neutral Murlocs that will be available, such as Twin-fin Fin Twin, Gorloc Ravager, Slimescale Diver, and Lushwater Scout. Additionally, as I'm sure some of us know from Battlegrounds,  Brann Bronzebeard works very well with Murlocs, and his inclusion in the Core set could support Murlock's slower, mid-range plan with the many powerful battlecries these new Murlocs have. The future's looking bright for Murlock, but Warlock's other strategies look a little rough.

Control Warlock in Year of the Hydra

Za'qul Card Image Abyssal Enforcer Card Image

  • New Abyssal Curse support gives a new win-condition to the archetype.
  • A few spots of support here and there, most exciting stuff from the Neutral Core set.
  • Lord Jaraxxus probably still won't see play until Dreadlich Tamsin rotates ;-;

Truth be told, Control Warlock decks aren't getting too much in the way of new toys. Rather, they are being given a single new tool in the form of the Abyssal Curse cards as a way to help close out games with direct, albeit very slow, damage. This continues the trend we saw in Onyxia's Lair with Curse of Agony, helping manifest the Warlock damage-over-time (DoT) identity Warlock has in WoW. To assess Za'qul and his curse squad, we'll need to do some quick number crunching. With no additional support, you can give the opponent a maximum of 7 Abyssal Curses. If you do, the total damage dealt can range from 28-56, depending on how many curses your opponent decides to play early. This is a very respectable amount of damage, but the slowness and ability to reduce the amount taken hinders its overall damage potential. However, there are some nifty ways to increase the total possible damage. Tamsin Roame can duplicate either Dragged Below or Abyssal Wave and Brann Bronzebeard or Zola the Gorgon (who are both in the Core set!) can double up Sira'kess Cultist or Za'qul. You can also generate more cards that give Abyssal Curses through effects such as Venomous Scorpid and Vulpera Scoundrel. Every additional curse beyond the original 7 drastically increases the damage floor and ceiling of the curses. Thus, decks that utilize Abyssal Curses will have to be very slow and must be able to keep the board nice and tidy.

Beyond Abyssal Curses, Warlock is getting some other nifty tools, namely the return of Reno Jackson. Renolock was one of the premier decks that could utilize Reno back in the day, since Warlock could efficiently cycle through their deck to find him and had some of the strongest Control tools around. Time will tell if Warlock still has what it takes to use Reno, but there are some other new powerful Control cards to help meet Reno's requirement, such as Gigafin and Abyssal Enforcer, who continue to provide Warlock with ample board clears and damage.

Discard Warlock in Year of the Hydra

High Priestess Jeklik Card Image Darkshire Librarian Card Image

  • Not too many Warlock archetypes got support this rotation, but Discard is technically one of them.
  • Exactly two "new" cards that directly support the archetype.
  • Panicking at the Disco(lock).

Well, they sure did print more Discard support this year for Warlock. Discard Warlock is one of my favorite archetypes, to the point where I primarily played Lakkari Sacrifice Warlock back in Rastakhan's Rumble after its support peaked. This time around, Blizzard is bringing back one of my favorite cards of all time, High Priestess Jeklik, which serves as one of the few cards historically that wants to be discard and can generate a powerful hand-advantage as well. However, this inclusion is coming on the back of the new standard rotation, in which we are losing Hand of Gul'dan, one of the strongest Discard synergies printed, and only Darkshire Librarian is being gained in addition to Jeklik.

The most glaring issue with Discard Warlock however is that the discard cards just don't do anything. For cards that actively discard things we have Lakkari Felhound, Darkshire Librarian, and Spawn of Deathwing. Of those, only Felhound and Spawn immediately impact the board, providing taunt and random removal, respectively. They are also over-statted for their costs, but then we run into the other issue of there not being enough cards that care about discarding. There will only be High Priestess Jeklik and Tiny Knight of Evil, neither of which are especially compelling reasons to run the discard cards when value from either is not guaranteed. Targeting discard with Jeklik requires you have her in hand, and that your random discard effects hit her and not anything important. These issues really beg the question "Why run discard in the first place?" Besides being a hipster and trying something wacky for the sake of it, there currently isn't a reason. The addition of two more Core discard cards for the second year in a row makes me hopeful the archetype will actually see some support, but we're not quite there yet.

Year of the Hydra Warlock Heavy-Hitters

With a fresh Core Set and the Voyage to the Sunken City, there are a ton of cards to talk about in our review. We're going to go over the heavy-hitters, the cards that are going to make the most impact to start this year off.

Gigafin's Impact in Year of the Hydra

Gigafin Card Image

At this rate, we'll get a Terafin in a few years

Gigafin is the largest Murloc to be added to the game (if you include Gigafin's Maw), and is the second one after Mutanus to have some kind of devour effect. That said, Gigafin's 'devour' actually kills the minions and will trigger any deathrattles they have. To help prevent Gigafin's own deathrattle from proccing, the other pieces of the Warlock package buff Gigafin and make him even stickier. Gigafin's massive cost make him a bit tricky to play in a Murloc deck though, since the archetype has historically been filled with very cheap minions to spam the board. Even if Gigafin is on the expensive end for a traditional Murloc deck, it is extremely efficient and provides a good chunk of threat that can be difficult to deal with. 

Gigafin is also unique from the other members of his archetype in that it doesn't need to be slotted into a Murloc dedicated deck. On its face, Gigafin is a Twisting Nether that summons a 7/4 and 4/7 with Taunt, which is simply amazing value in its own right. This means Gigafin could very easily see play in slower decks such as Handlock or even the recently confirmed possibility of Renolock. Gigafin can be slotted in alongside Twisting Nether to give a huge number of hard-board removals in the late-game that can be quite annoying for some decks to deal with.

Bloodscent Vilefin's Impact in Year of the Hydra

Bloodscent Vilefin Card Image

Some-fin smells fishy

The spiciest Murloc Warlock is getting this set second only to Gigafin. Bloodscent Vilefin is on the expensive end for a Murloc, but has decent stats to back it up. The spicy portion of the card comes in converting the cost of a Murloc into health, taking a page from Seadevil Stinger's book. This can be very helpful in overcoming Chum Bucket's weakness of not having any board pressure by giving you a 'free' minion to play. This can in turn enhance Chum Bucket's buff effect, or give another buff target so you can respond on the board quickly.

Unlike the Stinger of yore however, we are in a world with 7 and 8-mana murlocs in Mutanus and Gigafin. This helps expand Vilefin's use beyond the typical Murloc deck and grants it possibility into something slower. Slimescale Diver also lends itself well to a potentially mid-range or even control oriented Murloc deck. You could use a curated selection of powerful Murlocs and occasionally highroll with Vilefin to cheat out a 'free' Mutanus or Gigafin, drastically turning the game in your favor while still being able to play more cards.

Za'qul's Impact in Year of the Hydra

Za'qul Card Image

Rumor has it Abyssal Curses used to be 'Za'qul-ade'

"Heavy-hitter" might be a generous phrase for Za'qul and his Abyssal Curse crew, but its only one of the only things Warlock got this time around. We haven't even talked about Za'qul's special ability though, healing off of curse damage. Being generous, you would need to heal ~4 damage from the turn Za'qul is played for it to feel somewhat worth. While it is easy for Warlock to be damaged by turn 5, getting at least 3 curses into the opponent's hand by then is unlikely. There is some powerful late-game healing potential, especially when combined with Brann or another curse card where you can come back from the brink of death, but the lack of board presence hurts quite a bit.

The variety of decks the Abyssal Curse package can be used in is quite limited. All Abyssal Curse cards cost 3 or more, thus suggesting a home in some kind of control deck. Control is also good since it increases the chances you get to play all your curse cards. However, since the curses need to be stacked, it is ill advised to combine the package with a highlander deck. Finding a deck for the curses will be tricky, and we'll still need to see the archetype in action to truly determine if it is worth the build-around.

The Rest of Warlock in Year of the Hydra

Rock Bottom Card Image Voidwalker Card Image

Now that we've talk about the archetypes and main cards that Warlock is going to have access to in Year of the Hydra, let's talk about what we hope to see from the class and some of the other cards that are going to help us get there.

I touched on how Bloodscent Vilefin could be flexed into a variety of decks to fish out high-value Murlocs and help cheat them out for tempo. Rock Bottom has similar flex potential that I think may not be immediately obvious. Without considering any Murloc synergy, Rock Bottom summons a 1/1 to help contest the early-game and still Dredges, possibly putting a vital card on top of your deck. Rock Bottom is also a spell, so it can trigger a bunch of Naga synergies.

Voidwalker is not an exciting card, but this isn't an especially exciting time for Warlock. Voidwalker is notable however in its potential flexibility. Although typically run in Zoo decks, its statline and Taunt do offer it some consideration in slower decks as well.

Neutral Cards for Warlock in Year of the Hydra

Brann Bronzebeard Card Image Reno Jackson Card Image

The Neutral Core 2022 set has some powerhouse cards this time around, such as the incredibly powerful Brann Bronzebeard and Reno Jackson. Brann can be used in a wide variety of Warlock decks, since the Warlock cards and strategies this year utilize very powerful Battlecries. As anyone who plays Battlegrounds can tell you, Brann works very well with Murlocs. Being able to double up on Azsharan Scavenger or its generated Sunken Scavenger can lead to massive stat swings. Brann also slots in ncieely to Abyssal Curse decks by doubling some of the curse generators like Sira'kess Cultist and Za'qul. of Reno on the other hand helps handle Warlocks healing problems (which are admittedly less of a problem these days) and is a powerful build-around for Control strategies.

Twin-fin Fin Twin Card Image Gorloc Ravager Card Image

Voyage to the Sunken City brings very strong Murloc cards, which can be used by Murlock arguably better than any other Murloc deck. Twin-fin Fin Twin doubles the effectiveness of any handbuffs Murlock can offer it and comes with an unconditional Rush, making it extremely synergistic with Murlock. Gorloc Ravager is a powerful refill tool for any Murloc deck, but only Warlock has access to Bloodscent Vilefin to convert its expensive cost into health and minimize tempo loss from playing it.

Selfish Shellfish Card Image Smothering Starfish Card Image

Although I did not dedicate a larger section to it, Tamsin's Phylactery OTK Warlock got a couple of fancy new options to kill the opponent without losing as much tempo as before. Selfish Shellfish offers massive tempo with the funny haha 4-mana 7/7 statline and has a deathrattle that, when spread across the board via Tamsin's Phylactery, can quickly mill your opponent's deck and kill them. Naval Mine also brings a targeted deathrattle that can burn the opponent down, but it still loses tempo with its poor statline. I bring Smothering Starfish up since outside of Mulock's buffs, Warlock does not get penalized too much for the Silence effect and could probably slot the card handily into a Control deck.

Curse Warlock - A Theorycraft Deck for Warlock in Voyage to the Sunken City

Although Murlock got more overall support than Warlock's curse package, I felt like the Murlock deck kind of makes itself and has less room for modulation. The Curse archetype on the other hand only needs to fit into some Control chassis and allows for much more customization and iteration. The included deck here is my attempt at a Warlock deck that tries to maximize the output of Abyssal Curses to burn through the opponent while keeping itself afloat. The deck has Tamsin Roame and Brann Bronzebeard to get double value from some of the curse generators, but can also count on Zola the Gorgon and Queen Azshara's Ring of Tides to create even more copies. Venomous Scorpid and Vulpera Scoundrel can create even more Abyssal Curse generating spell if needed, or could provide an answer to a dire board state. There could definitely be some adjustments to build more defensively, but this is my attempt at maximizing how many curses you can shove into the opponent's hand.

Abyssal Copium Theorycraft
A Burn Warlock Deck created by . Last updated 2 years, 6 months ago
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Final Thoughts

Warlock definitely has some 'Good, Bad, and Ugly' this rotation. In the 'Good', there is Murloc Warlock, which seems to have gotten tons of love from Blizzard and brings a new mid-range handbuff strategy to overwhelm the opponent with taller stats, rather than the traditional wide swarm strategies Murlocs are typically known for. I would categorize the 'Bad' as Discard Warlock, who got middling support and has no real incentive to be built around. The idea is still cool and very in-flavor for Warlock, but the tools still just aren't there. That leaves Control and Abyssal Curses as the 'Ugly.' Control in general got some handy tools, but is also losing very strong cards such as Hysteria and Tickatus. Curses could be a viable win-condition with its ramping damage and ability to deny the hand space and mana, but it's a little rough around the edges and needs refinement. On the whole, I'm excited to see the how the new strategies being pushed for Warlock will pan out and develop over the course of the rotation!

Thanks for taking the time to read our review on Warlock for Year of the Hydra. Do you agree with our take? Let us know your thoughts on our review and Warlock in the comments below.

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