Menagerie deck

A menagerie deck is a deck which specifically includes Beast, Dragon and Murloc minions, with the intention of benefiting from specific cards such as The Curator. The term does not dictate a specific strategy or deck type, although most menagerie decks are currently midrange or control decks.

The menagerie deck was introduced with One Night in Karazhan, with the adventure adding the first cards to specifically reward the inclusion of multiple minion types in one deck.

The concept of synergy with multiple minion types was left unseen until The Witchwood, with the introduction of the Nightmare Amalgam, who had every type at once. Descent of Dragons released cards which let 2/3 of the iconic menagerie tribes interact with each other once more, with Tasty Flyfish and Skyfin being Murlocs with Dragon synergy, and Scalelord from Galakrond's Awakening being vice versa. Madness at the Darkmoon Faire had the new warrior cards Ringmaster Whatley and Ringmaster's Baton introduce a new menagerie combination of the Dragon, Mech and Pirate types, as well as some cards such as Tent Trasher and N'Zoth, God of the Deep supporting any combination of types.

Deck type
Menagerie decks are minion-focused decks, often including a good number of each type of minion. While The Curator acts to provide additional card draw, Zoobot and Menagerie Magician specifically reward the presence of all three types of minion on the battlefield at once, making them fit with an overall strategy of minion-based board control.

An alternative use for The Curator is to draw a specific key card, such as Alexstrasza or Deathwing; the inclusion of only one minion of given type ensures that The Curator will always place that card into the player's hand (unless already drawn or removed from play). However, this approach will likely waste much of the synergy of the other key cards, making this more appropriate to a combo deck than a true menagerie deck.

Various classes offer special synergy with the various minion types: Druid and Hunter offer Beast synergy; Priest and Warrior offer good Dragon synergy; and Shaman and Paladin offer Murloc synergy.