N'zoth Lock

Introduction

Greetings Mortals! I go by the name Kevlar, I've spent time pursing and harnessing the dark Arts. Tired of dealing with traditional magic? Then have a taste of True Old Gods Eldritch Power!?!   In this Eldritch tome (Guide) You will find vast knowledge, techniques, and strategies to defeating foes that stand against you and power you wish to gain! It is seldom of me to go into great length and details to explain the Mastery of the Deck, But seeing as Warlocks having been lacking these days I'm feeling  generous in sharing this knowledge for free! (no like goals Required!)

This deck is a Control N'zoth Warlock with some hybrid zoo elements to help you fight against the early game. The deck's appeal on why to play it vs  other control decks is that most other Value Oriented deck cannot Out Value this one. I understand that is a bold statement to make but allow me to explain. This deck utilizes the Value of Expired Merchant  and being able to discard and then duplicate your N'Zoth, the Corruptor. Assuming that you Discard N'Zoth both times with  Expired Merchant  You can then play Soulwarden  to add an additional two N'Zoth for a total of 5 N'Zoth, the Corruptor

This deck was originally created by User NohandsGamer and I saw it featured in RegisKillbin's The 5 Best NEW Decks to Climb in Doom in the Tomb | Saviors of Uldum | Hearthstone Video -> ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMeuIS9d7QE&t= ) In this version I took out a 2 of the cards that I didn't think fit as well as I liked and I'll explain this when I go into the detailed card overview where I make short explanations on why each card is in the deck.

Card Overview

In this Section I'm going to explain each and every card in this deck and why it's in there. Note that this deck was created (10/13/19) so If I make any changes to the deck I'll be sure to add that to the Change list in the future. Let's get started!:

Mortal Coil - Very good early game ping as well as a good cycle card, always keep in Mulligan phase

Plague of Flames - Very good underrated flexible removal option, can be utilized in the early- mid game if necessary. Keep in Muligan if you have atleast 1 low cost minion in your opening hand

Sinister Deal - Flexible lackey generator, in early game almost always pick Kobold Lackey, Keep in Muligan almost always

Murmy - Good early game minion, can be utilized with EVIL Genius for more lackeys as well as [Hearthstone Card (Plague of Flames/card] for early removal. Always Keep in Muligan

EVIL Cable Rat - One of the card that replaced Nohand's original list. decent Lackey generator as well as EVIL Genius target and [Hearthstone Card (Plague of Flames/card] early removal option

EVIL Genius - Great early game card as well as Flexible late game card, don't hesitate to use this on your late game Deathrattle cards too! Always keep in Muligan 

Expired Merchant - One of the most important late game cards in your deck. utilize the combo mentioned in the introduction, Alternatively you can use this combined with Ragnaros the Firelord if you are trying to put pressure on your opponent. If you  Despite this card costing only 2 mana, Always Muligan it away, If you play this on 2 mana while hitting N'zoth Your opponent will shift gears and try to rush you down before turn 10 can be pulled off, I would say you can safely play it when you have at least 6 mana crystals. Important note: Always destroy Expired Merchant the turn it is played to avoid silences and Transform effects

Imp Gang Boss - Great sticky early game card, makes imps for EVIL Genius as well as [Hearthstone Card (Plague of Flames/card] Always keep in Muligan

Hellfire - Great early game board clear when you really need to kill something or your opponent has a lot of minions. Almost always keep especially if you don't start with early game before Mulligan

Dark Pharaoh Tekahn - The Reason why you run Lackeys! Tekahn makes your deck get an insane tempo boost when playing your lackeys in the late game, this Mulligan always goes by a deck by deck basis, If you think you will be over run in the early game don't keep Tekahn otherwise keep in your opening hand

Rotten Applebaum - Good mid-game defensive tool as well as important for you N'zoth, Always Mulligan away

Zilliax One of the best cards in the Standard Rotation! really good in warlock to replenish some health from Tapping, Only keep if you have other early game cards in hand and you know you are vs aggro. otherwise Mulligan away

Soulwarden - Really good at extending that Late game value with the Combo in the Introduction, Don't be afraid to play her even if you get only one N'Zoth, She was also one of the Replacements I made from Nohand's list. Always Mulligan away

Khartut Defender - Best defensive taunt card in your deck, Most of the time you'll want to have these guys die before you N'Zoth. because the have Reborn they technically come back as a 2 for 1, The healing is also super relevant for you as well, Always Mulligan away

Emperor Thaurissan - Overall one of the best legendary's to be printed, Always good to play usually on any turn. as a Note you should try to reduce your Plague of Flames to zero so you can Combo with one of your N'zoths for some good late game board clear. Always Mulligan away

Sylvanas Windrunner - other than Khartut Defender this is your second best deathrattle card to get off of N'zoth, You can combine her with EVIL Genius and [Hearthstone Card (Plague of Flames/card] to get some sneaky steals. Always Mulligan away

Lord Godfrey - Very good Late game Board clear, establishes board control if you can clear everything, Always mulligan away

Twisting Nether - Great Late game Board clear, Don't be afraid to use it for some really scary threats even if it's only one minion, Always Mulligan away

Ragnaros the Firelord - Great late game play, apply pressures to your opponent, also a great finisher Always Mulligan away

N'Zoth, the Corruptor - The Best Late game control card in your deck and the reason you play the deck. In aggressive matchups when there is too much pressure on you do not feel bad N'zothing early. Value means nothing if you are dead. 

In Nohand's version of the deck he ran Zephrys the Great and SN1P-SN4P, Below I'm going to explain why I replaced those and what I replaced them with:

Zephrys the Great - Zephrys is no doubt one of the Best designed cards ever and his power level is off the charts, However in this deck you have Multiple duplicates in your deck making him virtually only a 3/2 in early to mid-game. which means most of the time except late game, he is going to be a dead card in your hand and that could mean the difference between winning and losing. I replaced Zephrys with EVIL Cable Rat to help with the early to mid game and that addition has helped the consistency overall

SN1P-SN4P - Like Zephrys, SN1P-SN4P is no doubt a great card, a good amount of stats and is flexibly played in the early to late game. However because he is a Deathrattle card he has the possibility of Diluting your N'zoth's Deathrattle pool. When you use N'zoth you generally want Khartut Defender and Rotten Applebaum you already have cards likeExpired Merchant being brought and Although his Deathrattle is worse than SN1P SN4P his upside outweighs that possibility. In many Matches you will be left at low health and you want to be summoning your Taunts and healing rather than summoning 1/1 micro bots  

General Mulligan

this is the general Mulligan you should always aim for going First and Second

Going First: Murmy, EVIL Genius, Imp Gang Boss

Going Second: Murmy, EVIL Genius, Imp Gang Boss, Dark Pharaoh Tekahn*   *(if you know you are going up against aggro, Mulligan Tekahn.)

General Matchups

I might make a more in-depth of all the 9 classes but for the sake of time I'm just going to go over the Main three: Aggro, Control, OTK.

Aggro: your Mulligan really matters here, if you think the Aggro deck is swarmy, don't hesitate to keep Hellfire, If you think that you are going to deal with an annoying minion in the early game like [Hearthstone Card (Light Warden) Not Found], Secretkeeper, Scavenging Hyena etc Keep a [Hearthstone Card (Plague of Flames/card] if you have a minion to sacrifice it with if you make it to turn 10 don't hesitate to N'zoth early

Control: Against Value-Oriented Control decks, You should almost always win these! (Unless N'zoth or both Merchants are toward the bottom of the deck) Also you shouldn't really worry about Fatigue until you start taking 6+ damage, Reason being if you have you N'zoth's going off your Opponent has two choices to deal with it, Option 1 Ignoring it  and trying to rush you down (only works if you are really low)  or Option 2 clear you board. If he picks option 1, he better be able to kill you because if not your opponent is dead to board. If he Picks Option 2 when he clears your board you should be healed up to a healthy amount with maybe a few Khartut Defender laying around. Trade them off and Play your 2nd N'zoth. Your Opponent won't be able to keep up with you

OTK: Pressure is extremely important here, If there is any chance you believe your opponent is OTK deck (One Turn Kill) then you have no choice but to charge and Put pressure on his life total. Value means nothing if you die, Rag and playing 2-3 N'zoth should help.  Dark Pharaoh Tekahn really helps gives you a push making your Lackey's be decent threats.

Statisitics via HSreplay

This is what I have so far, Most of the games here are between Rank 5 and Legend, I'll try to make a bigger sample size from this.

That's it for now, hope you embrace your new eldritch powers when dominating your enemies, If you have any comments or criticisms about the deck let me know in the comment section below . If you enjoyed playing the deck Leave me a Like! thanks