Discardlock, also known as Discolock or Discard Lock, is a warlock aggro or midrange deck that utilizes discard effect synergy.
Discardlock first made its presence in One Night in Karazhan, due to the addition of Malchezaar's Imp and Silverware Golem. This version of Discardlock followed a template close to Zoolock and persisted as the main aggro Warlock deck until Knights of the Frozen Throne with the addition of Prince Keleseth.
Journey to Un'Goro gave Discardlock another variation with the Quest card, Lakkari Sacrifice. This version of Discardlock, however, fell into many pitfalls related to the discard mechanic itself, seeing little play until Rastakhan's Rumble, which added many cards that fixed the issues that plagued the discard mechanic.
Deck type
Discardlock comes in two variants: one that follows closely to Zoolock and Quest Warlock.
The first version of Discardlock for the most part uses a basic Zoolock strategy to minimize the drawback of discarding, with cheap minions and cards like Darkshire Councilman and Knife Juggler to benefit from their summoning. The difference lies in their chief gimmick: negating the drawback of discard effects by emptying out their hand and gaining extra benefits from their use, with discard synergy effects like Silverware Golem to secure the board.
Quest Warlock, on the other hand, plays much more differently, utilizing a midrange or control playstyle instead. While it also heavily utilizes discard mechanics, it does not play the same way as traditional Discardlock because you are required to actually discard a card to complete the quest. The deck utilizes low-cost, high-value discard cards to maintain the early game, while utilizing Clutchmother Zavas, High Priestess Jeklik, and Soulwarden to mitigate the effects of discard or make up for lost value. Once the quest is completed, Nether Portal creates a constant stream of infinite board value to gradually overwhelm the opponent.
Common Cards
The following cards are usually in the deck.
Core cards
The following cards are played in most or all versions of the deck:
Optional cards
The following cards are played more than occasionally, but not always:
Wild cards
Wild cards that fit well into this deck type: