The full set of cards for Murder at Castle Nathria has been revealed a little while ago, and we're nearing the time when they can finally become a part of our collection. Still not sure what to make of Warlock or what kind of decks to play? We've broken down all class archetypes for the upcoming expansion and gathered a variety of theorycraft decks from streamers, pros, and community members to guide you on Day 1.
First off, there is a lot of other relevant content that you might be interested in:
- You can find all important information about the upcoming set in our Murder at Castle Nathria expansion guide.
- You can also build decks with all these new cards in our deckbuilder.
- The new Rewards Track has been fully detailed. Get a head start on the early XP gains!
- Major Patch 24.0 (plus hotfixes) prepared the ground for the expansion with various game mode updates and features.
- Need a more detailed overview of new themes and mechanics? We've also covered the Infuse keyword.
- This time around, you'll be able to open your packs faster than before - should you wish to!
Now, onto what's right around the corner. Before we jump into a variety of potential decks, here is a quick look at the class in the upcoming expansion:
Castle Nathria Warlock - Quick Imp-ressions
- Warlock got a ton of support for the Demon sub-category, Imps! We've seen Imps show up in plenty of cards before, but never quite like this.
- There is also a fair amount of support for Shadow spells. These combine with the existing Abyssal Curse archetype and make Tamsin Roame even stronger.
- Each package is flexible enough to be slotted into a variety of different decks and even have some crossover with themselves!
Castle Nathria Warlock - Expansion Cards & Archetypes
For Warlock, two archetypes have asserted themselves as the favorite to play on Day 1: Imps and Shadows spells.
Imp Warlock
Warlock is no stranger to flooding the board with Imps with cards like Fiendish Circle, Wicked Shipment, and Imp Gang Boss, but there are rarely massive payoffs for Warlock swarming the board. Enter Impending Catastrophe and Vile Library, possibly two of the strongest payoff cards an archetype has seen. Impending Catastrophe at its worst draws one and draws eight at its best. In most scenarios it will draw between 4-6 given how easy it is to summon Imps, which is absolutely insane for 2 mana. Similarly, Vile Library allows you to take you wide board of imps and translate it into a singular tall threat as well. Imp King Rafaam stands as the center piece of the archetype, providing a minimum of 10/10 in stats (assuming 1/1 Imps are resurrected) with the potential to buff the board as well. This package has a lot going for it and is predicted to dominate the early meta.
While many Imps can be identified by name there are also a handful of cards that count as Imps without being named as such: The Fiend from Dark Alley Pact, Tiny Knight of Evil, Imprisoned Homunculus, Vulgar Homunculus, Street Trickster, Unlicensed Apothecary, Sneaky Devil, Ring Matron, Envoy Rustwix, and Demonizer from Duels.
Shadow Warlock
Warlock already has powerful Shadow spell synergy - I'm sure we have all heard of Tamsin Roame by this point. Lady Darkvein is the stand out powerhouse among these cards, since she creates a decent board presence and offers cheap ways of re-casting Shadow spell. Abyssal Wave, Dark Alley Pact, and the new Shadow Waltz are especially potent. Shadowborn offers Control decks with expensive Shadow spells a way to play them earlier, but isn't as flexible as the other cards.
Other Warlock Cards
Suffocating Shadows is a Shadow spell, but gets lumped with 'other cards' because it isn't strong enough on its own and needs the Discard synergy. There might be some merit to doubling it with Tamsin Roame, but Warlock has far stronger uses for their mana. Tome Tampering is definitely one of the most interesting cards Warlock got from the expansion, but Discard decks are not currently a thing and it remains to be seen if this kind of effect is desirable enough to run.
Castle Nathria Warlock - Top Neutral Cards
Warlock does not clearly benefit from most of the Neutral cards from Nathria. Sire Denathrius offers Imp Warlock another way to close out games and can be easily Infused with the constant flood of Imps onto the board. Although Warlock does not have a way to specifically draw Denathrius, the enormous card draw from Impending Catastrophe will help ensure he is in hand soon enough to Infuse plenty.
Murlocula fits into the existing Murloc Warlock quite well, although the deck has fallen out of favor. Even so, Murlocula might find a place in an Imp deck. Warlocks can take a lot of damage from their cards and Life Tap, so having a little Lifesteal might go a long way, even more if its buffed by Vile Library. Costing 0 after some Infusing is also especially handy when Imp Warlock can constantly refill its hand with Impending Catastrophe.
Castle Nathria Warlock - Day 1 Decks to Try
Not sure what to play for the class once it's time to enter Castle Nathria? We've gathered a handful of early deck ideas from all across the Hearthstone tavern just to help you out:
Imp Zoolock
NohandsGamer made an Imp Zoolock with slightly less emphasis on the Imps. Thanks to the incredible draw power of Impending Catastrophe, cards like Anetheron and Goldshire Gnoll become much easier to play. Battleground Battlemaster also makes an appearance since it can provide a shocking amount of burst damage when combined with Vile Library.
Full Implock
Trump opted to go far more Imp-focused with his list, including many more cards that summon Imps and cards that support going wide, such as Shady Bartender and Murlocula. The Imp package is fairly flexible and fits very aggressive and midrange playstyles, making it a bit tricky to optimize given how many Imp related cards there are.
Renathal Curse Control
Old Guardian took pieces of the current Renathal Curse package and slotted in some of the new Shadow tools Warlock is getting. Lady Darkvein represents the potential for two more Abyssal Curses for the opponent, which can be expanded upon even further with Brann Bronzebeard or Zola the Gorgon. Shadow Waltz and Shadowborn offer additional ways to protect the deck from early aggression, either by presenting strong Taunts or by cheating out Abyssal Wave or Twisting Nether three turns earlier.
Wild Mode - Tome Tampering Mecha'tun
MarkMcKz made a Wild Mecha'thun OTK deck featuring Tome Tampering! Wild has many more synergies for Tome Tampering such as Malchezaar's Imp and Hand of Gul'dan, all which help mitigate the immediate value loss from discarding the hand.
More Class Coverage for Murder at Castle Nathria
Want to look at what we've put together for another Castle Nathria suspect class? The navigation links below can take you there in an instant!
What do you think of Warlock's card package for the upcoming expansion? Which decks are you going to take for a spin once Murder at Castle Nathria goes live on August 2? Is there something else from your favorite content creator that we didn't include here? Let us know in the comments!
Comments
I truly wish there were an option to see "sub-type" of a minion/tribe. Like, why I need to double check an art of a card whether it resembles of an Imp if the name of a card doesn't contain "Imp" or not baffles me. Had it not been mentioned, I'd not consider Vulgar Homunculus as an Imp but rather as a fat Demon. Whether you are playing on Standard or Wild, I hope to see devs implementing an arrow to the left and/or to the right of a minion type, enabling us to press and revealing its type. Demons aren't only related to Imps after all, there are also Infernals too. This will help either formats base their decks with respect to their archetypes.
Same deal goes for Treants. I see yet another 2 cards related to them and Wild format has (in)direct support to Treant Druid archetype. Why do I literally have to check every big/small tree from card artworks to search for Treants when Blizzard can literally implement same QoL feature?
As a last note, can anyone share a "nod" from official source which minions are Imps? I'm asking because I'm a Wild player and would like to know, of all minions, which ones are Imps and which ones aren't so that I can tinker with Imp archetype without messing myself around all due to "missing card artwork and/or minion type".
Same as Hedge Maze, Vile Library will only see play if the whole Implock archetype is powerful, which it might be considering how everyone is worried about Impending Catastrophe. I do appreciate Blizzard making an attempt to bring Zoolock back and looking forward to playing a lot of imps!
One thing about Imp King Rafaam, is it really worth slotting in cards like Fiendish Circle? I'm sure there's enough "good" imps in standard that you can forfeit the 1/1s
Rafaam is probably worth a slot, even if you're only getting 1/1 Imps back. In his worst case, you're getting a 6/6 and four 1/1s, refilling the board and pressuring the opponent. Everything above the worst case is still quite good for establishing more board presence, becoming very strong if he's infused.
From what I saw on theorycrafting, Fiendish Circle was a lot more important with Vile Library and Impending Catastrophe than with Rafaam. Those two are the ones that push the archetype. I felt Rafaam was more of a win-more card.
Turn 2 Vile Library, Turn 3 Circle is 9/9 stats on turn 3. If you have coin, you can draw 5 cards with Impending Catastrophe. 9/9 and draw 5 in turn 3 is an insane turn and most probably you won.