Deck of the Week: Renolock

Renolock

Hearthstone’s League of Explorers adventure introduced several new mechanics to the game, all aimed at shaking up the game’s status quo. The Discover mechanic allows players to add a bonus card to their hand. Sir Finley Mrrgglton lets players switch to a hero power not normally available to their class. Elise Starseeker gives players a convoluted opportunity to play a deck full of legendary cards.

However, one legendary card that was introduced in this adventure has had a bigger impact on the meta game than any other card since the Grim Patron from Blackrock Mountain. That card is Reno Jackson. With the ability to completely heal your hero to full health, Reno Jackson has done more to slow down matches of Hearthstone than any other card. It has managed to almost wipe Face Hunter off the map, kept Agro Shaman from taking off, and paved the way for the mid-range heavy meta we find ourselves in right now.

This week, we’re going to look at the Warlock deck built around Reno Jackson and his “unique” conditions. This version of Renolock is one that Savjz, a professional Hearthstone player, used lately, which I’ve had quite a lot of success with.

We’re Gonna Be Rich 

Reno Jackson has one of the most powerful Battlecry effects ever introduced in Hearthstone. When his Battlecry activates, your hero is healed back up to 30 HP, no matter what your current health is. That effect is balanced by an equally powerful condition: you can only have one copy of any card left in your deck when you play him, or you won’t get the full health heal. There are several ways to go about ensuring you meet this condition, but the simplest and most effective way is to intentionally build a deck with only one copy of each card. This way, you know for sure that under normal circumstances, if you have 6 mana and Reno Jackson in your hand, you can heal to full health.

At first, only having one copy of each card in your deck might seem like a disadvantage. Dark Bomb, Sludge Belcher, or Antique Healbot are certainly powerful cards that you would want to include multiple copies of to increase the chance you have them when you need them. However, the warlock class is able to combine its ability to draw cards through Life Tap with its powerful removal spells to almost always have some way to answer your opponent’s threats.

There is also another card type that is powerful and lends itself to only using one copy in a deck, the Legendary card. With only one copy of class cards and other basic minions in this deck, there are several slots open to high powered Legendaries. Boasting almost as many Legendaries as a Control Warrior deck, Renolock has ample threats of its own, often allowing you to bully opponents into submission before you even need to play Reno Jackson.

Flexibility 

The final benefit that a deck composed of single card copies affords you is flexibility. While there certainly are more synergistic deck builds than others, you can put pretty much any card you need into a Renolock deck. Refreshment Vendor, for example, is a card that most decks simply don’t have a use for. Healing your opponent for the same amount as it heals you doesn’t usually help you kill them. Since this deck needs to draw cards and survive until you can ensure your health reset, often times you won’t be in control of the board. In these situations, Refreshment Vendor will heal you for its full amount, but heal your opponent for very little. It also gives you a 5 health minion to start making trades with.

Sylvanas Windrunner is another good fit for this deck because of her ability to swing the board state in your favor. Sylvanas forces a response from your opponent because they don’t want you to pick and choose the minion that you get to steal. If that means inefficient trades so you don’t get any minions at all or targeted removal like sheep or hex, this still costs your opponent resources that might have been used more efficiently.

Fel Cannon is another excellent tech choice because it forces your opponent to deal with it. Every turn, Fel Cannon will deal 2 damage to a non-mech minion. If it’s your only minion on the board, it will only hurt your opponent’s minions (Unless they happen to be mechs. I’m looking at you Shielded Minibot). If your opponent has no minions on the board, then the Fel Cannon is free to attack their face, slowly killing them. If you find yourself facing a lot of weapon classes, switch a card out for Harrison Jones. Lots of secret classes can be handled with a Kezan Mystic. This deck can be tailored to whatever opponents you are facing.

Timing is everything

The main win condition of the Renolock deck is to outlast your opponent, letting them burn their damage spells and big minions, then reseting your health so they don’t have the resources to finish you off. If you use Reno Jackson, only to find your opponent was saving their Alexstrasza to take you back down to 15 health the following turn, you will have a tough time turning the game around. Worse is when you hold on to Reno Jackson too long and your opponent bursts you down with the card sitting there in your hand. If you use Demonwrath to clear the board, but your opponent simply fills it up again the following turn, you might die before you can draw another board clear.

Like any control oriented deck, you have to deal with your opponent’s threats while also playing some of your own. Fight for board control with high health minions and taunts. Force your opponent to make bad trades. Also make sure you use the right removal at the right time. If your opponent plays Dr. Boom and you have a Big Game Hunter and Siphon Soul in your hand, use the Big Game Hunter. Siphon Soul is more flexible, allowing you to deal with threats like Emperor Thaurissan or Archmage Antonidas who have less than 7 attack damage.

The goal of this deck is to make your opponent think they have you, then heal back to full HP once they overcommit. This requires some careful planning and constantly trying to out think your opponent, which makes it an intense deck to play. Learn to manipulate your opponent like this however, and Renolock will take you far. Also, let me know what tech cards are working for you in the comments or on Twitter @AGRitterific.

Key Cards