Spelunker
This is a 2-drop that pays for itself with a future discount on a temporary card. Note that the discount is not limited to the turn it is played. It can happen at any point in future turns, which makes Spelunker’s discount significantly more powerful and comparable with Shield Battery.
This type of minion can see play, as it helps us contest the early game while giving us a mana advantage. In a Quest Warlock deck that aims to play temporary cards, it looks like a decent inclusion because it helps us accelerate quest progression without sacrificing initiative.
Score: 2
Tunnel Terror
This is strictly a quest progressor for Warlock. If Terror is played on turn 3 and dies, we have the option to play the two temporary 2-drops on turn 4, which completes a third of the quest by itself. There might be moments when we want to play something else on turn 4, which means Tunnel Terror is not always an optimal turn 3 play.
However, for a deck that looks to stabilize into the late game, having a minion that shores up two mana slots in our curve while furthering our ultimate game plan is a good thing. For the same reason Scarab Keychain and Creature of Madness end up in competitive decks, Tunnel Terror should serve its role. A 3 mana 4/3 that generates two cards, even if temporary, is fine.
Score: 2
Caustic Fumes
This spell is weak at its baseline. A Siphon Soul that does not heal is not something we would ever be interested in. The Kindred condition adds an AOE effect, but it is important to note that these effects will not gain optimal value as they often target different board states. Of course, it is possible that the opponent will have a wide board and one big target. In any other case, Caustic Fumes will not look as good as it does on paper.
Ultimately, if we need AOE, Caustic Fumes seems to require more setup and do a worse job than Domino Effect or Table Flip, which are asymmetrical. If we want single target removal, the spell under delivers again. We would rather have spells that do one thing well.
The other issue, which might be the most important one, is that Fel spells in Warlock are underwhelming, making the Kindred effect difficult to activate anyway. Cursed Catacombs is great, but the rest of the pool is extremely questionable. “Health” Drink is the next best option. We do not think Warlock needs to work this hard to make a removal spell acceptable.
Score: 1
Bloodpetal Biome
A very cheap and efficient progressor of the Warlock quest. Biome guarantees us two ticks, a third of the quest, at a total cost of 3 mana. That is a good deal, especially when we have the option to discover the best 1-drop for any given moment. We can find early game plays on turn 2 that contest board. The temporary drawback does not matter here, as we will have no problem spending mana on whatever we generate, as we get to choose when to generate it.
Post-Quest completion, the Biome can also offer us fodder to throw into the Underfel Rift. A decent card for Quest Warlock but has no other role beyond this specific package.
Score: 2
Deathrot Maw
Fel Beasts are powerful minions that are worth roughly 5 mana when taking their stats and keywords into account, so Deathrot Maw packs a lot of value into its deathrattle. It is also a taunt; thus it cannot be ignored.
One drawback on Felbeasts is that two of them have charge or rush, making them better when they are summoned on our turn. This is unlikely to happen with Maw, due to its massive health total. The randomness of the summoning also makes the deathrattle worth less than the theoretical 5 mana cost of a Fel Beast.
The question is which Warlock deck plays this minion, which draws us a blank. This is still a very expensive minion that does not apply that much pressure on the opponent. Its 2 attack makes it vulnerable to value trades, especially later in the game when it becomes easier to clean up.
On paper, this minion packs a lot of value. In practice, we do not think it is good enough for constructed play.
Score: 1
Story of Lakkari
A full wave of 3/2 minions, repeated over three turns, should represent value that drastically exceeds the cost of 7 mana. However, it does not always work like that in practice.
First, if our board has minions in play, then Story of Lakkari suffers from diminishing returns and does not summon a full board. We want to play this card realistically in a deck that looks to pressure opponents, which means we will be playing other minions and may not find as much value from the spell as we think.
Second, this spell comes online a bit late for an aggressive deck. Turn 7 is often when games are usually decided for this archetype. There is a solid argument that Story of Lakkari offers insurance in slower matchups, allowing us to maintain a chance of winning even on turn 9, stressing the opponent’s removal. It can also act as a secondary win condition in faster matchups, making us comfortable to go even until turn 7, knowing our opponent will eventually be overwhelmed.
However, it is a dead card throughout the average game length of an aggressive deck. Story of Lakkari’s awkward mana cost and our struggles to envision a real deck for it makes us somewhat skeptical.
Score: 1
Cursed Catacombs
Discovering a minion from our deck for free is bonkers. This is a stronger form of Aquatic Form, which was a staple card in every Druid deck from the moment it was released to the moment it rotated out of Standard. The temporary drawback does not matter at all, as we get to discover our minion choice, which means we will pick whatever we can immediately play and is the best answer to the game state.
Obviously, this card is amazing for Quest Warlock, as it allows us to progress the quest at no real deck building cost. But we think every single Warlock deck will play this spell regardless of whether it runs the quest or not. When you have the option to dig into your deck for free, you essentially get a draw of your choosing, which is extremely powerful in card games.
Until March 2027, every single Warlock deck in Standard will start with two copies of Cursed Catacombs and go from there.
Score: 4
Whispering Stone
Another taunt with an even weirder stat line. Spending 5 mana on a 0-attack taunt does not seem like the best choice for constructed play. This is a huge investment for a body that the opponent kills for free. If we are that desperate for defensive tools, there are far better options available to the class.
The deathrattle does not make the minion look any better. Random Fel spells are generally low-quality cards. Even if they are “free” (they still cost health), they are not likely to make up for us spending 5 mana on the equivalent of air.
We will be shocked if this minion sees the light of day. We do not understand what it is even doing in this set anyway. Caustic Fumes activator? Please…
Score: 1
Razidir
This is a 4 mana 7/7 with a drawback that turns into a powerful upside through Kindred. Razidir simply looks crazy powerful in any beatdown deck that runs a package of demons and/or beasts. Playing a 4 mana 7/7 while discarding a card from the opponent’s hand sounds downright oppressive. Not only are we playing a massive threat, but we are also taking away one of the opponent’s potential responses. It is rare that a card puts so much pressure on the board, while also giving us card advantage in the process.
With this blatantly busted card revealed, we instantly went to try to build decks for it and found out… that Warlock might not be able to use it well. Warlock does not have great support for a beatdown Demon deck, or one with a beast package. All we have are leftovers from the glory days of Pain Warlock.
It is possible that Warlock can make such a deck work. However, this entire set pushes for a different, late-game-oriented direction, which is one that does not fit in with Razidir that well.
We are certain that this legendary will eventually become an extremely powerful pillar of a competitive deck, but it might not be immediate.
Score: 3
Escape the Underfel
This can be considered one of the easiest quests to support in the set. It requires a modest package of cards with most of them strong by themselves. This leaves a lot of room for the rest of the deck to take shape and head in whatever direction it wants. We estimate that only about 9 to 11 cards are needed, including the quest, to properly support it.
When we look at its timing, we can see quest completion being erratic. Since it is a small package of cards compared to the rest of the deck, we could have games where the bulk of our temporary cards are at the bottom half of our deck. Unless we are power cycling, this could represent a consistency issue.
As for the reward, it does not possess game ending lethality whatsoever. It does possess stability. We can play the Underfel Rift, instantly throw a card into it and summon powerful Fel Beasts. All of them immediately impact the board and two of them are particularly powerful defensively. But we cannot expect to win games late with the Rift alone, which means the rest of our deck needs to be built around another win condition.
Another thing Warlock does need to keep in mind is that Underfel Rift requires us to sacrifice one card if we wish to feed it every turn, which means we need to make sure our deck is strong with regards to card advantage. It is a quest that requires support even after completion.
Not a high deckbuilding cost and a powerful stabilizer, but requires post-completion support, does not win games on its own and may suffer from consistency issues.
Score: 2
Final Thoughts
The Lost City of Un’Goro Set Rank: 9th
Overall Power Ranking: 10th
Warlock has not enjoyed a good time during the Emerald Dream. Starship Warlock was able to compete well at higher levels of play, but the class was struggling to justify play throughout most of ladder. The class’s Un’Goro set is largely supportive in nature, while not quite delivering the win buttons it needs.
There is a lot to like in Escape the Underfel. It is a flexible quest that leaves plenty of room for Warlock to run whatever other win condition it wants. It is a stabilizing package that can win faster matchups and bridge us into our primary goal in the late game.
What we do not like about it is the inconsistency in its quest completion, as well as its ability to close out games. Since the package of temporary cards is small, quest completion timings could significantly vary between games. Meanwhile, its quest reward is the only one needing continued resources to function.
We can envision many different archetypes that can add the Quest package. Wheel is a low hanging fruit that may prove to be too slow. Wallow’s effectiveness should not be any different. Starship is stable but lacks the killer instinct too. The path we like the most is focused on rapid cycling, while taking advantage of The Soularium and a cheap curve to overwhelm the opponent.
Warlock may skip the quest and take a different path in the late game too. It is a strong candidate to utilize Elise, as it has some built in synergy with locations and it can comfortably run a curve to meet Elise’s condition thanks to its affinity with the Ceaseless Expanse and the addition of the incredible Cursed Catacombs at the 0-mana slot.
Warlock’s late game is a puzzle that needs to be solved, or it will fall flat, while the chances of a proactive Warlock deck to emerge are low based on the lack of support. This uncertainty is keeping us reserved.
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