Big Shaman
- Last updated Dec 4, 2018 (Boomsday)
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Wild
- 10 Minions
- 18 Spells
- 2 Weapons
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Clone Shaman
- Crafting Cost: 9640
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 12/24/2017 (Kobolds Patch)
- DittoLander
- Registered User
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- 8
- 27
- 86
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Region:
CN
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Total Deck Rating
335
--------------------- Original Deck December 23rd -------------------------
The main problem of their decks is card draw. Other control decks usually draw their win conditions earlier than you do, which makes losing to them feel bad. My deck solves this problem by introducing a beloved mill combo: Murmuring Elemental + Coldlight Oracle.
Against aggro, Murmuring Elemental can be good in combo with Jinyu Waterspeaker as well for massive healing. With so many healing in your deck, you have a lot of flexibility in dealing with the board and saving your AoEs. With that being said, though, aggro is still the worst matchup of this deck, which is the source of its negative win rate in rank 10ish.
Although this deck won't get you very far in winrate, it's a very hard deck to master. You have to plan your future turns, expect opponent's play, and find chance to lay out your mill and giant combos.
Lastly, this really isn't a very refined deck. I struggled between Drakkari Defender and Feral Spirit. Doomsayer, Harrison Jones, the second Lightning Storm, more card draws such as Far Sight,Novice Engineer, Gnomish Inventor, Mana Tide Totem or even Ice Fishing are being considered.
I really hope you guys can try this deck and if possible, offer some feedback to refine this deck.
Enjoy!
--------------------- First Update December 24th -------------------------
Eventually I gave up the mill combo, since it's definitely underperforming versus aggro, and sometime helps your control opponent draw their win condition.
The new version of the deck went back to use Mana Tide Totem and Thing from Below. Thing from Below usually costs less than Giants because you basically roll a totem each turn before maybe turn 4, and they have lovely Taunt. In combo with Ancestral Spirit, you can stall aggro quite a bit, and in late game, they are great alternative to Snowfury Giant to combo with Greater Sapphire Spellstone.
Another change is to use Earth Elemental. Because we now have less card draw after deleting the mill combo, and we are better against aggro, it's time to add some value to the deck. Earth Elemental is perfect for that purpose. Its 3 mana overload can upgrade your spellstone by itself and if your opponent don't have an answer for it, you can use your spellstone on him next turn, or even better, together with Ancestral Spirit.
Sorry that for realistic reason I have to give up the Murmuring Elemental + Coldlight Oracle combo, which admittedly is a source of fun. But the winrate is getting positive!
--------------------- Second Update December 25th -------------------------
Lightning Storm is removed since it's a dead card versus control. Two Jinyu Waterspeakers are removed because their healing usually can't save you if two of your more efficient Healing Rain can't. I've tried Hot Spring Guardian, but gave it up for the same reason. Harrison Jones is also removed but not replaced by other oozes, because I realized a sad truth in deckbuilding: weak decks don't tech. :)
Instead, I put in 4 additional card draws. Loot Hoarders are decent because even priests are using them. I know two Far Sights are the center of controversy. Sometimes they give you surprise, but other times they are 3 mana draw a card, and you would wish Shaman had Arcane Intellect when that happens. I'll test them more and maybe eventually they will get replaced.
--------------------- Third Update December 25th -------------------------
This third update actually contains two steps. Instead of using the inconsistent [card]Far Sight[/card], I added two [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] after I lost a game in which I had to use [card]Crushing Hand[/card] on a windfury [card]Crackling Razormaw[/card]. Several similar games made me realize that I need early light removal to deal with small but threatening minions that almost every aggro-midrangey deck has.
Then somehow it occurred to me that Shaman's almighty jade spell package may solve that problem. So I replaced 5 card draws -- two Far Sights, two Loot Hoarders, and the underperforming Bloodmage Thalnos -- with the jade package. Thus, arguably all of shaman's great control tools in standard (well, there are not many) are in the deck, providing answers to nearly all kinds of board threat. Though Aya Blackpaw can't control board, her value makes her just another good target for Ancestral Spirit and Greater Sapphire Spellstone.
After several good games with a positive winrate, I feel like the deck is pretty refined right now. Although in this latest version you have less chance to actually play the entire [card]Snowfury Giant[/card] + [card]Ancestral Spirit[/card] + [card]Greater Sapphire Spellstone[/card] combo, some less mighty variants of the combo is usually enough to steal a win, yeah, with Shaman.
--------------------- Fourth Update January 1st -------------------------
The latest update! With a lot of changes! I have been trying different things to solve the lack of tempo problem that someone raised. The first thing you might notice is the replacement of two Doomsayers with a more aggressive combo: Guild Recruiter and Flamewreathed Faceless. Doomsayer is questionable to some, so in this version I tried to remove it. Also, for consistency to pull out the once infamous 477, I reduced one Mana Tide Totem.
The second is the comeback of two Far Sights. Someone has pointed out that Far Sight into Lesser Sapphire Spellstone or Volcano can really win games. As I tried a few games, it works pretty well, so welcome back! Btw, the art of Far Sight is amazing.
Another change is the removal of two Hexes. A lot of times you would find 4 big removals (Crushing Hand and Hex) too much, especially versus aggro paladins. Although Hex is a better card than Crushing Hand in general, but for the purpose of overloading and upgrading spellstones, Crushing Hand is better performing in this deck. Removing both Hexes, though, is still a bold decision. I will evaluate the decision further. Also, one Healing Rain is removed due to the increased aggressiveness of the deck.
--------------------- Fifth Update January 2nd -------------------------
Thanks to @sirzork 's suggestion, I added in two infamous Corridor Creeper to the deck for the tempo they offer. One Far Sight and one Jade Lightning were removed from the list. Far Sight is good when you have nothing to play and 3 mana to spend, but that's about it. Jade Lightning doesn't help with the overload and is sometimes stuck in your hand. I just got a five-game win streak with the new deck list, only losing to a Big Priest. But the rhythm becomes good!
Also, I observed that sometimes on our big turn 5, you struggle between playing Volcano to clear your opponent's board and play Guild Recruiter to establish your own. I almost always ended up playing Guild Recruiter because after Volcano you only have 4 mana next turn which sucks (unless you also have Corridor Creeper). After turn 5, though, you try to compete with your opponent for board presence or even push face damage and force your opponent to exchange your 477. For that purpose, Volcano is usually a dead card. So I replaced one of it with Lightning Storm, which is good when both you and your opponent have board.
I'm also thinking about the only Mana Tide Totem I run. Obviously it interferes with our game plan of pulling 477 with Guild Recruiter, but I don't want Guild Recruiter to be dead after we draw both Flamewreathed Faceless. What about Drakkari Defender? Any ideas?
--------------------- Sixth Update January 14th -------------------------
Recently people are discovering the recruit combo in shaman like I did. Glad that some other people spot some light into this class. I like @Wumbostyle 's list (link: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1022138-new-archetype-recruit-control-shaman), and I almost feel like reducing the spellstone might actually be helpful, because we don't have a lot of card draws and winning by spellstone is getting increasingly rare in my recent piloting. However, because Snowfury Giant and (hopefully) Greater Sapphire Spellstone compose our key combo, I decided to keep it as its original flavor.
In this recent update, I followed @Ex_Aquz 's advice and completely removed jade package to add in two Drakkari Defender, and they are performing really well. Thanks! Second Healing Rain added for its nice ability to heal the high health minions all over in our deck. You wouldn't find them stuck in your hand anymore. Two Far Sights may still be controversial but we do need spell form card draw because you don't want to get Mana Tide Totem out of Guild Recruiter. I'm also trying Fight Promoter. Will update the deck if he works well.
--------------------- Update August 13rd -------------------------
It's been a long time! Since Witchwood I went ahead and played Shudderwock Shaman a lot because it's fun and interesting (not for the opponent though!). Now that Eureka! is released, I think this Giant Shaman thing can be revived again. I play-tested this current list several games at rank 4 and have won 3 straight against warlocks and hunters. Obviously the deck has changed so much that my intro and all other guides are no longer relevant, so I removed them, but I want to keep the revision history because adjusting decklist is plenty of fun, and pain of course. If I found more success with this deck, I'll update the guide.
--------------------- Update September 4th -------------------------
Double Acolyte of Pain seem like an overkill. Most of the time you will have enough card draws, and an extra minion in hand is just an extra burden for playing Eureka!.
A Zap! is added for its much-needed flexibility, but the deck sometimes still feel clunky when facing against aggro decks.
--------------------- Update December 4th -------------------------
Going to try the new tools of the expansion with this theorycraft! Shaman is getting a lot of interesting stuffs, and the most exciting to this Big Shaman deck is a potential draw engine in Spirit of the Frog. The mulligan guide is obviously outdated. Let's wait for me to pilot for a few days before making any promises. Stay in tune and have fun!
Mulligan
Against all other classes: Drakkari Defender, Acolyte of Pain, Far Sight, Storm Chaser, Lesser Sapphire Spellstone. Keep Earth Shock against hunter.
PlayStyle and Matchups
Well, so much for players having no clue what to expect from this deck. Kripp just tried it out and highlighted it lol... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLNQNN54dos
The deck he is using
Man I just loaded this deck up (most recent edition) because I wanted to try something other than Shudderwock and it's been amazing so far. People just have no clue at all what to expect from it lol... though I am in double digit ranks still ;)
I made a few small changes prior to really giving yours a chance so they are simply some of my personal tweaks and not suggestions to 'improve' yours or anything. Would appreciate you're opinion, especially of omega mind. It has been really valuable as a recent edition to my Shudderwock deck and is just so tempting to add to this one in place of a healing rain I think.
-1 Acolyte of Pain, Healing Rain
+1 Omega Mind, Earth Shock
Edit: After playing it a bit more, I think I'm going back to 2x healing rain. So for now I'm just -1 Acolyte and +1 Omega
Thanks man!! Double healing rain is necessary since they can heal up your big dudes for you to spellstone on. Omega mind is interesting but I imagine surviving through turn 10 is the real problem. I'll give it a try some time!
Yeah Omega hasn't been as great as I thought. Trying some of Kripps picks now. It's nice having some overload options other than (3) that's for sure :)
Yes, I found replacing one Acolyte with Zap! to be helpful. But I didn't find Kripps' whole version to be better than mine. Drakkari Defender is still very efficient in upgrading spellstone and can give you some early board presence. We will see.
Cannot win against zoo warlock.
I played in CN server at rank 4, and there was at max 5% of zoolock (I haven't met one in like 20 games). But yeah, if zoolock dominates your local meta, better go for Druids or Warlock to beat them.
Thank you for your support! I wouldn't say it's already viable on ladder, but definitely rewarding if you get a few wins out of it
i think that guy hung himself.
j/k! That joke was too ripe.
I honestly have been having a lot of fun with the experimentation's shaman has had. This deck is no exception.
This is the second deck I've built since the new set came out that I actually have fun playing. Had to replace a far sight for a second mana tide and a snowfury for an arcane giant, but it still works pretty well.
If you have to include Arcane Giant, I would recommend adding the jade package and Unstable Revolution. It would be another interesting deck. See Jambre's list: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1021569-jambres-unstable-recruit-shaman-68-winrate. In my deck though, you will find Snowfury Giant so much better.
Hey, I really think your deck is nice! I just find the Jade package to be kind of--I wouldn't say useless since Jade Claws really help against aggro matchups, and Aya Blackpaw synergizes well with Ancestral Spirit--but sometimes quite unusable, especially the Jade Lightning, since you tend to want to play your Flamewreathed Faceless for early board control, or you overload on turn 3 with Lightning Storm when aggro paladin or tempo rogue starts hurting you a bit too much. On top of that, with only 4 Jade generators, it's tough to get a constant stream of Jade Golems. I find that the Jade package can be put aside to insert cards that could perhaps help out with certain matchups.
I think another Healing Rain, for example, could help with sustain, especially since it can heal both your face and your minions. It can help sustain both against aggro and tempo (eg. Spiteful Priest) by healing up your big minions.
As for the Drakkari Defender, I currently run it and it kind of helps me out since I don't run the Jade package, but with a decklist like yours, I think you can leave the Drakkari Defender out.
Thank you for your comment! I'm testing a recent version that use none of the jade cards, two Drakkari Defender and two Far Sight instead of Mana Tide Totem. I now agree that two Healing Rains are worth to include. I'll update the deck if it gets successful!
I like your adjustment! Just defeated a cubelock and a highlander priest with your list, though in both games I didn't draw Corridor Creeper... But I will try a few more games and maybe I'll update the deck list again! Thanks!!
It's not possible. Your enemy will play other stronger opponents, so you can only make them feel good once.
I got around 1-12 during my 2 hours game
Lol, sometimes I do too :)
I've been playing a variant of this deck since release just about. I intentionally wanted to leave out the Jade Package, but I think it may be what I need to up my winrate to a respectable level. In The latest edition of mine (which was not as good) I tried to add Unstable Evolution to fill in the curve (similar to how you would play Forbidden Shaping) and to cheat out Arcane Giant to give another big threat and to eat some removal. I haven't tried Doomsayer yet, but aside from that my list is pretty close! I'll try yours out and see what we can do!
Edit: Phrasing
Arcane giant is such a good idea, i get my second win after 12 loses
Wow, I didn't think of the Unstable Evolution + Arcane Giant combo!! I did try to fit Arcane Giant into my deck, but they are not performing very well. I have no doubt Unstable Evolution is a super cool card, but it may not fit the game plan of this deck. But I'll try it out if I have time!