Arguably the most interesting ofWorld of Warcraft’screatures, the Murlocs (or Ggmmmlmrmrgmg in their language, if you believe Nat Pagle) have been inHearthstonesince the very beginning. These fishlike creatures often come across as silly rather than threatening, but you underestimate them at your own peril.
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Murlocs usually see play in decks built around buffing other Murlocs, so if you see your opponent play one, there will often be more to follow. However, there are some Murlocs that are individually powerful in their own right, so here are some you should consider including in your next Standard deck.
10Bloodscent Vilefin
Murloc Warlock has fallen out of the Standard meta recently, but it would feel wrong to exclude the Murlocs in that class from this list entirely — especially not one as powerful as Bloodscent Vilefin. Looked at in the best light, the card allows you to choose a Murloc from your deck and then play it for free after a short delay. Most players will recognize that as a broken card almost immediately.
Bloodscent Vilefin isn’t quite that good, since there’s always the minor chance thatthe Dredgewill miss, and playing a card at the cost of health isn’t quite the same as playing it for free. But it’s close enough that it is a powerhouse for Murloc synergy decks.
9Sir Finley Mrrgglton
There is a lot of luck involved in making Sir Finley Mrrgglton’s effect work. To start with, Sir Finley is a Legendary, which means any deck that relies too much on his ability will be out of luck when they don’t draw him. And of course, there’s variance in the Hero Power you get. Discover only gives you three options, so you aren’t guaranteed to get exactly what you’re looking for.
However, being able to choose a new Hero Power opens up a lot of possibilities for certain decks. Classes like Warrior, which have one-dimensional Hero Powers, are allowed to go in a different direction. Using Warrior as an example, almost any Hero Power will be an upgrade over gaining two armor if you are trying to playan aggro deck.
8South Coast Chieftain
South Coast Chieftain is a powerhouse in the early game. It has decent stats for the cost, and a Battlecry that will remove many minions played during the first few turns. If its effect is active on turn two, few cards can compete with the tempo the Chieftain provides. And in the late game, it can kill your opponent if you need an extra bit of damage.
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However, it is underwhelming if you haven’t built your deck in a way that allows you to consistently have a Murloc on board on turn two. And even then, there will be games where your draws let you down.
7Spawnpool Forager
Spawnpool Forager’s Deathrattle makes it a strong option in any token-based strategy, a common Shaman deck archetype thanks to the presence of board-wide buffs like Bloodlust.
The card is even better in Murloc decks, which benefit from having other Murlocs on the board, a feature you can see from many cards on this list. Simply put, Spawnpool Forager is the best option in the game for guaranteeing that you will have a Murloc for your synergies to hit, making it a core component of any Murloc Shaman deck.
6Mutanus The Devourer
Mutanus is a card designed to disrupt your opponent’s game plan. With careful planning and prediction, it can sometimes win games outright. And even if the card he eats isn’t necessary for your opponent to win the game, if it’s big enough, Mutanus becomes a threat they need to deal with immediately.
However, in the time since Mutanus was released, other powerful disruption tools have been introduced; cards like Theotar, the Mad Duke (though he was nerfed) or Patchwerk, a card specific to Death Knights running at least one Blood Rune. Theotar is less random than Mutanus, and Patchwerk does more to inconvenience your opponent. That said, a particularly control-focused deck might well play all of them, especially when running Prince Renethal and a 40-card deck. However, there isn’t really a control deck of that type in the meta at the moment.
5Murlocula
Murlocula is emblematic of the principle that if a card can be played for free, it will find a way into the meta at some point. A 3/4 with Lifesteal isn’t necessarily exciting, but at the low price of zero mana, it becomes a much more attractive option.
Of course, Murlocula will only cost zero in decks that can have four friendly minions die, and is basically useless otherwise. That said, if you can triggerits Infuse effectrelatively quickly, Murlocula becomes an extremely strong tempo play.
4Lushwater Scout
Murloc decks tend to be relatively all-in; they need to get ahead on board and stay ahead in order to win. Naturally, they are quite good at accomplishing that, but if your opponent can wrest control away from you, the game is essentially over.
Lushwater Scout helps Murloc decks patch over this weakness. Giving all your Murlocs Rush allows you to come back if you fall behind on the board, set up powerful swing turns in board-based matchups, and quickly eliminate must-kill minions. And if the Scout survives your opponent’s turn, this effect will continue to snowball out of control.
3Firemancer Flurgl
Like the Lushwater Scout, Firemancer Flurgl is a tool that allows Murloc decks to take and keep control of the board. Murlocs are cheap, so playing a lot of them in a single turn is going to be easy to do on a regular basis, allowing you to clear surprisingly large boards with proper planning.
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In fact, Firemancer Flurgl is powerful enough that it occasionally sees play in more controlling decks. If your deck is already running a few Murlocs, Flurgl might be worth including as an extra board clear.
2Sir Finley, Sea Guide
Sir Finley, Sea Guide is a Murloc that often sees play outside of Murloc synergy decks. In fact, it probably sees more play in decks where it is the only Murloc in the list. The card’s intended purpose is to Dredge up any cards you intentionally put on the bottom of your deck, and it can be used for that purpose.
However, what it effectively does is give you an extra mulligan, an ability that is useful in a wide variety of decks. In particular, it is great in combo and control decks that need to find specific cards in order to win.
1Clownfish
As was already established with Murlocula, playing cards for free is good. Clownfish allows you to play not just one, but two cards for free in a single turn. At its best, you may play the Clownfish and two two-cost Murlocs while you have just three mana.
Unlike many similar effects, Clownfish’s Battlecry isn’t the kind that disappears at the end of your turn. As a result, even if you’re able to’t take advantage of the immediate tempo, you’ll still be able to use the discount on a later turn. Either way, it enables some extremely high-tempo plays, and is the core reason Murloc Shaman has become a viable deck.
