Mill Warlock deck list guide - October 2017

Mill Warlock is a Hearthstone deck that has you controlling the board, burning through your opponent's deck and generally scuppering their game plan. Once the end-game comes around, Bloodreaver Gul'dan provides you with a fresh board of Demon minions, not to mention a new hero power that should ensure you outlast the enemy in just about any Fatigue situation.

We must confess that mill decks are not our strongest area of expertise here at Metabomb, and so the first edition of this guide sticks firmly to the bsaics. We've got a deck list used by Dog to great success last season, some tips on Mulliganing your starting hand, and a breakdown of the combos contained in this deck. That should be enough to at least get you started with this fascinating new archetype!

If Mill Warlock proves popular, we'll bring one of our experts on board to flesh this guide out in much greater detail. Until then, please share your own tips in the comments so we can work this one out together!

Mill Warlock deck list and strategy

This is the Mill Warlock deck list used by Dog last Season. The archetype itself is not the most competitive you can take to the ladder at the moment, but this particular version of the deck is about as good as it gets.

Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game.

Deck Import ID: AAECAf0GCPauAuTCAsXMApLNAqLNAqDOApfTApfoAgsw2wb4B8wI3bwCm8IC3sQC38QC58sCrs0C980CAA==

Right now this is very much a fringe deck in Hearthstone, and so we'll return and flesh out the strategy section of our guide if Mill Warlock becomes more popular over time. Until then, take a look at the combo section at the bottom of the page. This explains how all of the key cards in this deck interact with one another, and will give you a solid grounding in the fundamentals of this archetype.

Mill Warlock Mulligan guide

In slower match-ups your most vital card is in fact Bloodreaver Gul'dan, as it's such an important part of your win-condition. Against aggressive opponents, board clears such as Defile and Drain Soul become much more crucial - that way you don't get overwhelmed before your strategy's even got off the ground.

Beyond that very broad overview, you will not go too far wrong by making use of minions like Mistress of Mixtures, Possessed Villager and Voidwalker. Against Rogues and Warriors, you are currently advised to hold onto Golakka Crawler as you're very likely to be facing a Pirate-fuelled opponent!

It is not uncommon at all to use Life Tap at least a couple of times in the first four turns, so as long as you've taken care of the basics you do have some time to draw into any gaps in your game plan.

Mill Warlock tips, combos and synergies

Understanding the combos you have at your disposal here is a crucial part of playing the deck correctly. Study these carefully before taking Mill Warlock to the Standard ladder this month:

If Golakka Crawler manages to target a Pirate minion, it'll not only destroy that target but also gain +1 / +1 stats in the process.

Tainted Zealot increases the strength of your damage-dealing spells by a single point per spell, and for as long as she remains on the board. The spells affected in this deck list are Defile and Drain Soul.

Every time a minion - friendly or otherwise - dies to Defile, the spell will be cast again. This repeats until the next cast fails to eliminate a minion. Do your maths carefully before commencing this chain-reaction play!

Apply Treachery to Howlfiend in order to switch it to your opponent's side of the board. Any damage it takes will then cause the opponent to burn the card on top of their deck pile. Despicable Dreadlord, Abyssal Enforcer, Defile, Drain Soul, or your weak minions can all be used to good effect here.