During our first week in Karazhan, we fought Disney parodies and played intriguing games of chess. The cards we got as a result were generally interesting, though not exactly meta-defining. Like Beast Druid before it, Discard Warlock, an archetype Blizzard’s been trying to make viable since launch, finally got enough tools to take a second look at. Note, Malchezzar’s Imp isn’t in this particular version because as of this publishing date, it isn’t live yet. Keep that in mind.
Discard Warlock combines the board flooding of Zoolock with cheating the mana curve through key cards. Fist of Jaraxxus and Silverware Golem top this list, as they can radically alter the board when combined with discarding minions like Doomguard and Succubus. This, combined with some powerful early-game minions, can completely catch opponents off guard, who are only anticipating Zoolock and only Zoolock. By the time they realize you’ve been pushing out great minions that cheat the mana curve, they may have already lost.
The mulligan phase is perhaps the most crucial step in your match, as it will dictate the pace of the game you’re about to play. You can opt into a regular sort of Zoolock at first, with Flame Imps and Dark Peddlars at the ready. However, the real fun is cheating out Silverware Golems and Tiny Knights of Evil. This will make your board impressively strong as soon as turn 2.
Sometimes the discard mechanic can get away from you. It’s oftentimes random, so if you happen to stack a bunch of cards like Soulfire and Doomguards, you’re bound to lose some of them. That’s just the nature of the inherent randomness of the discard mechanic. This makes it not as reliable as traditional Zoolock, but the way it can throw your opponents off is amusing every time.