

In addition to the overwhelmingly low-cost majority of their decks, Zoolocks often also include a small number of big minions, as finishers, optional win conditions or specific combo pieces. Ideally, Zoolocks play around removal through trading, sticky minions and holding back a number of cards with which to rapidly repopulate their board, something made easier by the low cost of their minions. However, the threat of AoE removal remains strong, and Zoolocks must always consider whether to flood the board with as many minion as possible, or to hold back so as to force the opponent to waste their removal in a sub-optimal play. In order to counter these effects, Zoolock often includes " sticky" minions such as Skelemancer and Possessed Villager, making it harder for the opponent to clear the board. With its reliance on board presence, the main weakness of Zoolock is to area of effect (AoE) removal such as Flamestrike, Lightning Storm and Consecration. Given the deck's dependence on preferential trading, this is usually only wise if the Zoolock has lethal that turn, or possibly the next, since if they fail to achieve lethal as a result of a reckless rush for the face, they will likely go on to lose the game. These effects allow the Zoolock to clear the opponent's board efficiently, consuming the opponent's tempo while conserving and building their own.Ĭhipping in small amounts of damage each turn over the early game while establishing the board control, the Zoolock is able to quickly near lethal, at which point their strategy switches dramatically: abandoning trading, they employ all minion damage, attack buffs and spells to damaging and defeating the enemy hero.

Zoolock has excellent trading ability, due to buffs like Acherus Veteran and Defender of Argus. Once the opponent starts playing minions, Zoolock focuses heavily on trading, very rarely going face until lethal is within reach. In the early game, Zoolock aims to quickly fill the board in the first few turns with its cheap but threatening minions. Optional deck variants such as Sea Giant reward the number of friendly minions in play, while others such as Dire Wolf Alpha simply require minions that are ready to attack, and summoning-related cards like Knife Juggler and Darkshire Councilman reward frequently summoning minions, regardless of their size. Zoolock's key strategies are to flood the board control the board and trade efficiently.
