by bgriggs
When my Warlock prepares to embark upon arena matches, he always double checks that he has his extra Lash of Hellfire in his backpack. To leave it at home is certain suicide. I play Warlock exclusively and non-beast to this point. There are a few cards that are essential.Deathlock - this is a turn one card for me for a Priestess opponent. No healing and holy spells for a Priestess is really stressful for your opponent. No HP growth either. I like to spice with cards enchants that do direct damage for casting spells, etc. such as Magebane and Ghoul Rot. Some games find Idol of Pestilence (all receive 1 direct damage during Upkeep), Mordok's Obelisk (Upkeep+1 for non-mage creatures), and Suppression Orb (non-mage movement costs 1 mana).
Dissolve and Explode are great for destroying your opponent's favorite weapon/wand.
My Warlock deck is rather specialized against Priestess and Beastmaster, but here is a link to a tournament winner's Warlock deck and turn progression: [geekurl=Bashcon Beatdown]http://magewars.com/jsite/forum/20-spellbook-design-and-cons...[/geekurl]
I think this should get you going. The only thing I would leave you with is you should be stomping on your opponent's head within just a few turns. The Warlock is a cast, run, cast, stomp mage. If you aren't lashing your opponent in a frenzy of Hellfire within 3-4 turns, you aren't serious about being a Warlock. :)
