Hearthstone guide: Tips for improving as a Zoo Player

If there's one deck archetype that's stood the test of time throughout Hearthstone's existence, it's the Warlock Zoo. Not only is it a solidly dependable deck for climbing the ladder with each month, the basic version is also relatively cheap for newcomers to craft, and they'll also learn a huge amount about Hearthstone's fundamentals by mastering the deck.

Here are some of our best tips for getting better at playing this evergreen deck archetype.

1. Pulling Doombringer onto the board without the discard penalty can really make the difference in a match. Look at how you can sacrifice Voidcaller to your advantage, or empty your hand to minimise or negate entirely the downside of Doombringer.

2. Use Defender of Argus to frustrate your opponent's board clears. If you can buff a pair of weak minions out of range of your opponent's AOE, you'll either minimise its impact, or delay it passed the point of usefulness.

3. You've got lots of cards that will help you trade up, so always buff your weakest minions if it means you can use them to make a powerful trade on the board. Cards like Dark Iron Dwarf can really catch your opponent by surprise, and allow you to make some very tidy plays.

4. If you're playing a Zoo deck that contains Dire Wolf Alpha, your positioning of minions is absolutely crucial. Always think about the optimal positioning when laying out your board. If this minion shows up, you'll want to cycle through your flimsiest minions, with the damage-boosting affect dropping onto the next target in line.

5. You have more leeway to use Life Tap against control-orientated players, so try to tap it every turn as you approach the mid-game. Be careful against extremely aggressive opponents like Hunter though, as you have to watch your health levels extremely closely.

6. If you're playing a Zoo deck with Mal'Ganis, it's a fantastic card to bring out on the board early with Void Terror. If it's the only Demon in your hand and you can make smart trades on the board, it's almost always worth bringing this character into play as soon as you can.

7. Don't forget to Life Tap when you have Mal'Ganis out on the board either, and if you have the Mana spare to do so. You can consider this an extra bit of card-draw without penalty, as the damage effect won't occur as long as you're protected by your demonic friend on the board.

8. Spending your Mana efficiently is really important as Zoo, and so it's crucial that you always have one eye on your next turn or two. If you have nothing to play on the next turn, it might be better to Life Tap, and so increase the odds that you'll have better plays to make in the turns ahead.

9. Sea Giant's a very popular inclusion in the current metagame, but do your maths carefully. Anything you remove from the board will increase its cost, and sometimes Imp-losion can hit just a little too well for our liking...

10. You'll find the Zoo deck archetype being tweaked more than just about any other in Hearthstone. It's lasted this long by being so easily adapted to the latest metagame, so keep an eye on our Warlock page to stay up to date with the latest versions in play.