Warlock

Gul'dan represents the  Warlock class in Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

Background

Main article: Warlock

In the face of demonic power, most heroes see death. Warlocks see only opportunity. Dominance is their aim, and they have found a path to it in the dark arts. These voracious spellcasters summon demonic minions to fight beside them. At first, they command only the service of imps, but as a warlock’s knowledge grows, seductive succubi, loyal voidwalkers, and horrific felhunters join the dark sorcerer’s ranks to wreak havoc on anyone who stands in their master’s way. Warlocks can ignite distant enemies in searing flame, send them fleeing in terror and pain, or afflict them with corrupting diseases and curses that steal the victim’s vitality.

These practitioners of the profane are feared across Azeroth, and many who have felt their wrath now prefer to fight alongside a warlock than against one.

Warlock hero power

Hero powers are unique abilities, specific to each class. Hero powers cost 2 mana, and can only be used once per turn.

The warlock hero power is Life Tap, allowing them to sacrifice 2 Health (and 2 mana) in order to draw a card. While this may seem like an unworthy trade, the ability to gain card advantage is very strong. As a result it is widely considered one of the strongest hero powers in the game. It can be extremely effective for both early game and late game decks, allowing Handlocks to quickly build a large hand of cards, or an aggressive Zoolock to consistently flood the board with cheaper minions.

The legendary warlock card Lord Jaraxxus causes the hero to be replaced by Lord Jaraxxus, bringing with him a new hero power: INFERNO!. This extremely powerful hero power summons a 6/6 Infernal for just 2 mana. The ability to create such a powerful minion each and every turn without consuming cards generally guarantees a victory for the player, unless the opponent can defeat them before they can muster their forces.

Strategy and gameplay

Many newer players may find themselves initially turned off from the warlock as the class makes heavy use of "self-abuse" mechanics in order to gain card advantage and summon more minions. Warlock cards generally offer a lower mana cost and higher power than their neutral and other class counterparts, but will come at an alternative price.

This style of play is most evident in their hero power Life Tap, which deals 2 damage to the player's own hero in addition to the standard 2 mana cost. However, the ability to draw cards on demand is well worth the higher cost, ensuring the warlock always has something to play.

The warlock features a variety of Demon-class minions, many of whom offer greater power but will drain the warlock's resources in exchange. The Flame Imp and Pit Lord require a portion of the warlock's health on play, but are vastly stronger than other minions of their mana cost. The Felguard is a cheaper defensive minion but lowers mana, while the Void Terror can be a huge threat but requires the sacrifice of up to 2 of the warlock's other minions.

This reckless nature extends to warlock spells as well. Shadowflame is an effective board clear at the cost of one of your own minions, while Power Overwhelming can turn a minion into a kamikaze powerhouse. On an even more destructive level, Hellfire and Twisting Nether can wipe out both sides of the board. Cards such as Sacrificial Pact, Drain Life and Siphon Soul grant further board control while recouping smaller life loss.

Other warlock-specific cards require the hero to discard their other cards to be put into play. Soulfire, Succubus and Doomguard all feature a very low mana cost for their power. A notable strategy to get around this downside is to continually play cards until only these remain, effectively negating the discard effect. Playing around discard effects is a key mechanic of the warlock class.

Due to the warlock's "self-abuse" mechanics, a strategy involving Lord Jaraxxus can be used to heal your hero back to 15 hp when your health has dropped too low. This strategy is employed by many warlocks so your opponent may be expecting it. Although it is a powerful card that may turn the tide of a game, it is best not to play Lord Jaraxxus too early in case your opponent has been hiding large amounts of burst damage in his hand.

The warlock's Life Tap is useful for gaining card count advantages without wasting spots in your deck with draw cards. Warlocks are considered a "late game" class with their life tap allowing them to draw cards to survive until expensive and powerful cards can be put into play or to create combos which can create strong monsters such as Void Terror. Although many cards inflict self-harm, other warlock cards can offset this by healing the warlock such as Drain Life and Sacrificial Pact. Molten Giants are very effective in warlock decks with their self-harming nature and can be played for little or no mana late into the game.

Warlocks are also able to play an early game rush down deck, utilizing low cost cards with penalties like Blood Imp, Flame Imp, Succubus, and even a mighty Pit Lord. Although risky against late game cards and AoE, especially in conjunction with heavy Life Tap usage, using this deck the warlock can finish a game very quickly with careful use of powerful buffs such as Power Overwhelming and Demonfire.

Common deck types

The warlock can use a wide variety of deck archetypes to great effect.

A highly popular deck is the "Zoolock", so named because of its focus on low mana-cost, high 'value' minions. Zoolocks aim to seize board control in the early and mid-game with effective minion trading, creating an insurmountable advantage before the opponent's larger minions can even be played. Life Tap is critical in ensuring the warlock has a continual supply of minions and can refill the board in case of removal. Infamous for its power and efficiency, the Zoolock is a common choice at all skill levels. Its low crafting cost also makes the deck perhaps the easiest competitive choice for many new players.

Another strategy is the "Handlock", intentionally putting the player at risk to use devastating minions. Once again Life Tap plays a key role in this deck, where the extra cards enable the Mountain Giant and Twilight Drake, and the life loss enables the Molten Giant. These large minions, when combined with the Taunt-granting battlecries of Defender of Argus and Sunfury Protector, can wrench board control back into the Handlock's grasp. From there, the warlock can safely look for finisher combos such as Leeroy Jenkins and Power Overwhelming.

Counters

• A highly offensive deck can be very effective to the generally suicidal mechanics of the warlock; generally to counteract the self-harm caused by the warlock spells and hero ability the warlock will have Siphon Soul, Drain Life and Taunt minions. An offensive deck can hit the warlock after every Life Tap for devastating results.
• Silence or other crowd control is going to be a necessity against the powerful warlock minions and should be a part of every balanced deck.
• If you have the ability to drop the warlock below 15 HP, be careful because they may be holding Lord Jaraxxus in their hand and can easily reset any damage that sends them below 15 HP that doesn't kill them.

Warlock spells

See Spell.

Warlock minions

All classes can also use neutral minions in their decks. See Minion.

Uncollectible

The following minions are generated by other warlock cards and effects, and are uncollectible.

Warlock weapons

Warlocks cannot normally use weapons, but playing Lord Jaraxxus will grant them the weapon Blood Fury. This weapon is uncollectible, and cannot otherwise be acquired.

Leveling rewards

As a hero reaches various levels they are awarded new cards, with each class having its own rewards. All cards awarded by gaining levels are soulbound, and cannot be crafted or disenchanted.

Levels up to 10 award new basic class cards, while levels after this award only golden versions of existing cards.

Starting cards

All warlocks start with the following class cards.

Level 2-10

Up to level 10, reaching each even-numbered level will reward the player with a new basic class card x 2. These cards are not obtainable through any other means.

Level 2	Level 4	Level 6
|| ||
Level 8	Level 10
||

Level 11-60

Above level 10, reaching certain levels will award golden versions of existing basic cards. As they are soulbound, it is not possible to disenchant these cards, making the reward purely cosmetic. Reaching each required level will award one golden card. Levels after 10 award golden basic class cards, whereas levels after 50 award golden basic neutral minion cards.

Level 15/20	Level 23/26	Level 28/30
|| ||
Level 32/34	Level 36/38	Level 40/42
|| ||
Level 43/44	Level 45/46	Level 47/48
|| ||
Level 49/50	Level 51/52	Level 53/54
|| ||
Level 55/56	Level 57/58	Level 59/60
|| ||