Murloc

"RwlRwlRwlRwl!"

Murlocs are a type of minion.

Background

This section uses content from Wowpedia.

The murlocs are a bipedal, amphibious humanoid race residing along coastlines, lakeshores, and riverbeds. Murlocs possess bulbous bodies, large mouths lined with rows of sharp fangs, and slime-coated skin. Individuals range in coloration from turquoise to darkish grey, while their heights vary from 3-1/2 feet to 6 feet. Depending on the variety, murlocs may lean towards a closer resemblance to frogs or to fish; the iconic green murloc, for example, has coloration similar to the Cuban tree frog.

Murlocs tend to dwell in amply-populated coastal settlements, and it is unusual to find individuals wandering too far from their compatriots. Players looking to engage murlocs should be wary of their surroundings; the creatures often lurk out of sight beneath the surface of the water. This tendency, coupled with their large social aggro radius, can often lead to larger pulls.

Strategy

Due to their reasonably low mana cost, building a deck around murloc cards can give you a very early board advantage by overwhelming your opponent with minions. Early game dominance and setting up your murloc army will be your main objective. Most murloc cards benefit from having other murlocs on the field with them. For example, you could play Murloc Tidecaller and then Murloc Tidehunter in order to turn your Murloc Tidecaller into a 3/2 minion instead of a 1/2. Many other combinations exist as well.

Many classes can lend their unique strengths to the Murloc deck:

The "Murlock" warlock is highly popular because of their Life Tap ability. This allows them to draw more cards and get out murlocs more quickly, speeding up a murloc deck's ramp up time. Voidwalker and Blood Imp are a strong early defense to keep murlocs alive, while Soulfire and Shadow Bolt provide cheap removal of enemy threats.
The shaman class has highly efficient removal spells; Rockbiter Weapon, Stormforged Axe and Lightning Bolt can keep the board clear. Earth Shock and Hex gets rid of Taunt and other threats. In addition, Bloodlust serves as an excellent finisher.
Druids have the signature spell Innervate that will allow the Druid to put out more murlocs in the early game, have Power of the Wild and Mark of the Wild to buff their murlocs cheaply, and have Wrath, Claw and Naturalize for cheap removal. Moreover, since the finisher Savage Roar is relatively cheap, it can be played twice in a turn for large damage burst before their opponent can stabilise.

Minions and spells that buff or are more useful with more minions on the field synergize well with murloc decks such as Blood Imp, Raid Leader, and Frostwolf Warlord.

Counters

Spells that target all enemies, such as Arcane Explosion, Fan of Knives or other field-wide damage cards, are strong against Murloc decks due to their low health and swarm nature. Taunt cards are useful against murloc decks because they force the murlocs to attack them before your hero can be targeted, possibly dying in the process.

It is recommended to remove any murloc on the field as soon as possible, especially high priority targets such as Murloc Warleader or Murloc Tidecaller, because of the increasing difficulty in killing murlocs as more and more are put on the field. Be sure not to exhaust your options to early, using a Blizzard or Consecration too early on only a few murlocs may leave you defenseless when they summon out even more. Gauge the situation and see if waiting a turn is the better option.

Priests can effectively counter murlocs by having Northshire Clerics early out and buffing them with Power Word: Shield. After that they can clear weak murlocs using clerics and heal clerics for good card sustain and suffocating murloc player.

Also, Hungry Crab is a direct early-game counter to murlocs. If played early enough, its ability to destroy a murloc when summoned plus the subsequent attack and health buff could be used to halt a murloc deck from snowballing past its initial phases. If you know you will be going up against a murloc deck, adding two Hungry Crabs should make it much easier to deal with.