Hearthpwn

Yes, this is a Midrange Shaman list. I even achieved top 100 legend with this deck. Taking into consideration how inefficient Midrange Shaman is these days, that's not too bad, is it?

EDIT: TGT updated list is not the final version yet. I`m still testing cards to see what works and what doesn`t not only in theory, but in practice as well. In the next days i`ll try to finalize the decklist and update the guide in general.

Proof of getting legend with it: Image

Highest Rank with the newest list: Image

Highest Rank Achieved: Image

I do have a stream in case someone would like to see this deck being piloted in real life plus i do stream nearly every day so it should be easy enough to catch me live: http://www.twitch.tv/ottigan

What`s special about this particular list?

2x Zombie Chow -  This type of a deck really cares about establishing board control as early as possible and if we are going first having this playable turn 1 in most matchups puts us in a  really good spot. So for consistency purposes we run 2x.

Doomhammer - Running a card like this in the CURRENT META are you insane? Maybe i am, but at the same time it is easily one of the best Shaman cards if not the best. So i decided to man up, add this card to the list and use it as another finisher in case [card]Al'Akir the Windlord[/card] has decided to take a day off....   :D Have i lost games to Harrison Jones ? Yes, but compared to how many games i have won because of being able to lethal my opponent before he could lethal me makes it worth the risk!

Big Game Hunter - Even though Shamans have Hex as a removal,  it`s not enough, simply because of the number of sticky and threatening minions out there. Plus in certain matchups to gain board control you tend to be forced to use Hex as a tempo play and you do need a back up plan for that Dr. Boom.

Harrison Jones - Well, what can i say... it`s good vs Patron Warriors to delay their Patron wave, makes the Control Warrior matchup even better, gives you a chance of winning vs Oil Rouge, Midrange Paladin and if a Priest steals your Doomhammer then joke`s on him! :D Plus the fact you draw cards means a lot for a Shaman. At the moment i have removed him as a meta call and the fact we had to cut certain things for the new TGT cards.

"No Antique Healbot or Healing Wave?" - In my opinion Midrange Shaman does not need the heal and can`t necessarily run another 5 mana cost situational minion. The matchups where you would like to have heal are Hunter and Eboladin, but if you are on verge of dying then most of the time it`s turn 6-8 and it means that you have drawn only 1/3 of the deck and even if you topdeck this card at the right moment spending 5 mana to gain 8 health will not win you the game if you were losing up to that moment. When it comes to the Healing Wave it`s a 0 value spell that doesn`t give any board presence plus the joust mechanic doesn`t work that well with this deck either and i can`t find a card i would be willing to cut for something like that, maybe Haunted Creeper?

"Why no Neptulon?" - Simply put, this card is too slow and does nothing when you play it. Spending your turn 7 to drop a 7/7 in most cases is not worth it. If for some reason "meta" becomes slower i might reconsider, but not now.

"Why no The Mistcaller?" - Same as with the previous legendary too slow, does nothing and the body is even weaker. If for some reason "meta" becomes slower i might reconsider, but not now.

 

It`s time for MULLIGANS!!!

 

A general rule for all mulligans is to keep Zombie Chow, Totem Golem and  Haunted Creeper when it comes to Flametongue Totem leave this card only if you got atleast one of the minions i mentioned  or  otherwise toss away simply because you NEED actual minions to establish board as early as possible.

I`m not trying to distinguish Control Warrior from Patron or Handlock from Zoo simply because we are talking about the ladder and in most cases you mulligan vs the fastest deck or pick cards that are good vs both.

Vs Warrior - for the most part try to get minions, but Harrison Jones, Rockbiter to 1hit Acolyte of Pain or deal with Armorsmith , Earth Shock to deal with Acolyte of Pain. And you can keep Piloted Shredder as long as you are going second and your hand is looking good already. Main idea for this matchup is to deny any type of card draw while establishing board presence. So it`s very important to actually deal with the early minions thus denying Battle Rage.

Vs Druid - Totem Golem, Rockbiter Weapon to deal with Darnassus Aspirant, Hex to able to deal with a big Innervate creature or sometimes just to gain tempo even by hexing a Piloted Shredder. This is probably one of the hardest matchups for this deck simply because of how hard it is to keep up with druids mana acceleration and especially the threat of them having a good Emperor Thaurissan turn.

Vs Warlock - Lightning Storm if you don`t have this card in your hand ready to go vs Zoo when it`s needed you will LOSE, Rockbiter Weapon mainly to deal with small minions during the first ~2 turns, Earth Shock because it does wonders vs Nerubian Egg and Twilight Drake.

Vs Hunters - getting Zombie Chow is super important, but Earth Shock is decent vs Webspinner, Mad Scientist and Haunted Creeper. Rockbiter Weapon can be nice to deal with Knife Juggler or King's Elekk. When it comes to this matchup if you can`t answer their early threats you lose and it doesn`t matter what kind of a hunter you are facing. But when it comes to Midrange Hunter you are actually slightly favored as long as you don`t get too far behind considering of how well Hex deals with Savannah Highmane.

Vs Mage - Rockbiter Weapon, Earth Shock is NOT worth a keep to only deal with Mad Scientist. In all honesty mage is a very weird matchup simply because of all the different archetypes: Mech, Tempo, Freeze, Echo, Dragon, Grinder/Control. And it just comes down to dealing with early threats like Mana Wyrm, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Mechwarper while playing around secrets like Mirror Entity, Duplicate and Counterspell. Whenever you face a mage you should feel slightly happy unless it`s a Freeze Mage because it`s not that fun playing Midrange Shaman vs a deck with 5+ board clears! :D

 Vs Paladin - Lightning Storm, Feral Spirit, Rockbiter Weapon, Earth Shock. The most popular Paladin lists atm are Midrange and Eboladin/Aggro the funny part is that i feel like Aggro Paladin might be one of MY best matchups while Midrange is the WORST. Just for comparison my winrate vs Aggro is ~80% while vs Midrange ~20%. When it comes to aggro you have to realize it`s all about dumping hand(to play around Divine Favor) as fast as possible and not to be greedy with Hex because personally i`ve hexed Leper Gnome multiple times and it does win you the game. Another note is that you should never ever use Harrison Jones to deal with Muster for Battle weapon.

When it comes to why is Midrange Paladin such a bad matchup just think about Muster for Battle + the threat of Quartermaster and the fact that they tend to run with 1 copy of Equality plus they have their high value Truesilver Champion. So in general the second you get slightly behind you are not coming back....

**UPDATE**

I really tried to make Draenei Totemcarver work, but atm i`m going back to Piloted Shredder.

While running Draenei Totemcarver i considered to swap Ancestral Knowledge for Mana Tide Totem to have extra totem synergy, but for now i`m sticking with the spell.

Because ladder is filled with Paladins and Hunters we have to go back to the old school Feral Spirit tech by cutting 1 copy of Tuskarr Totemic, because it`s very weak to Explosive Trap and Consecration.

We are cutting Ancestral Knowledge for a 2nd Haunted Creeper, because card draw is meaningless against aggro decks and it`s actually bad vs Divine Favor. So having another early drop for board control is just purely better.