[S17] TGT Midrange Totem Shaman
- Last updated Aug 29, 2015 (TGT Launch)
- Edit
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Wild
- 22 Minions
- 8 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Unknown
- Crafting Cost: 4280
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 8/24/2015 (TGT Launch)
- x1phias
- Registered User
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- 8
- 7
- 31
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Battle Tag:
x1phias#1712
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Region:
US
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Total Deck Rating
1210
Shaman returns to TGT with many powerful tools to become a tier 1 deck! This is what I've been using right now and am on a winstreak at Rank 4. Similar to normal midrange shaman decks but with TGT they are made stronger!
[Edit] Holy cow everyone thanks for the upvotes and comments! As promised, I'll write the deck guide for you all!
Hello everyone, x1phias here! For all you Shaman players out there super excited for this expansion I am as well! Finally, this class will get some tools to push it to a Tier 1 class.
Card Descriptions
Earth Shock - A very solid and dependable silence effect in Shaman. Useful for getting around taunts or finishing off minions.
Rockbiter Weapon - Very important in this deck as either just a simple minion removal, buffing a totem, or as the Al'Akir combo enabler. It is essential that 2 be run.
Zombie Chow - The best anti-aggro card in the game (second to possibly FWA). It helps the Shaman out significantly with rush decks and establishes a great early board presence.
Flametongue Totem - In a totem-themed deck, it only makes sense that as many totems are included as possible. Not to mention Flametongue Totem is just a great card. It helps to buff totems or just other minions for great burst damage.
Totem Golem - One of the reasons that this deck exists. With Totem Golem Shaman has a great early-game card and can take control of the board early, rather than just reacting. A 3/4 body on Turn 2 is just fantastic, and even the overload doesn't do much to dissuade you from playing it as you can just totem or playing another one turn 3.
Healing Wave - Another fantastic card for Shaman's arsenal. Comparable to Healing Touch of Druid, but with a big bonus. The traditional downfall of Shaman is aggro decks that can just burst you down, and this card is a direct counter to that. With the joust mechanic, often you will win against an aggro deck, getting you the INSANE 14 health for 3 MANA. Against a control deck this is like a healbot as the health won't be as important.
Hex - Shaman's greatest removal tool. Very versatile and can be used in a wide range of situations for very cheap.
Lightning Storm - This is your board clear mechanism. I include two of them as often I find myself searching for one in my deck. With 2, your chances of drawing one is much higher.
Mana Tide Totem - Once again, in a totem deck you want as many totems as possible. However, you also want card draw. This answers both questions. If you can get it to stick, then you can get almost infinite value. Buff it with the Thunder Bluff Valiant or Flametongue Totem and it will be even more powerful.
Tuskarr Totemic [/card] - Possibly my favorite card of this expansion. This card provides an incredible amount of value. You get a 3/2 body for 3 plus 1 of 8 totems. What makes it great is that there are no bad totems to get. There are the 4 basic ones you can get, but you can also get a [card]Mana Tide Totem, Vitality Totem, Totem Golem or a Flametongue Totem. What value!
Defender of Argus - Going along with the totem-buffing theme, get all your totems defending for argus! This is just a very versatile buff card and helps the Shaman get out taunts to halt the aggro meta.
Piloted Shredder - Probably the best 4-drop in the game, it provides good board presence and is sticky. Who knows, you might even get a Totem Golem!
Azure Drake - Another essential minion in the Shaman fold, the Azure Drake is great for card draw and spellpower, two things that Shamans love to have in their decks. It helps fill in the 5 drop spot as well quite nicely and is very versatile.
Thunder Bluff Valiant - Quite possibly the king of this deck. While testing this deck I tried running 1 because it seemed a bit clunky, but I found myself drawing for it quite often. This card has a very good effect which activates AFTER your hero power, so your new totem has +2 attack. This card can stack effects really quickly on totems which makes it essential in this deck.
Fire Elemental - This card is great. Run 2. Play on turn 6.
The Mistcaller - The most interesting Shaman card, no doubt. I won't lie, I screamed like a little girl when I opened it in a pack because I was so excited to experiment with it. While the stats are very underwhelming, the effect is extremely powerful. If you can get this card down early, then you will be in a very good spot. It makes your good cards stronger, but also makes your early game cards like Zombie Chow [/card] and [card]Totem Golem that you draw later more powerful. I'm still testing with this card, but as of right now I think that the effect is extremely powerful.
Dr. Boom - Dr. 7 should be played on Turn 7 if you have him no doubt. I actually debated not including him here to make this deck anti-BGH but I just couldn't think of card to replace him. Possibly Sylvanas Windrunner.
Al'Akir the Windlord - Your finisher. Huge burst potential with the Rockbiter Weapon and also can be used as a board control tool. Just a solid minion in general.
Why didn't I include X card?
Draenei Totemcarver- This card can be compared to Frostwolf Warlord. It's 1 mana less but relies on the number of totems on your field. This card can have big swing potential, but most often it will get only 1 or maybe no totems. It's just not worth it, and in this deck is outclassed by Piloted Shredder.
Ancestral Knowledge- While this is card draw *Shaman players can I have a hallelujah* the steep overload cost makes it hard to fit into this deck. Other cards like Azure Drake and Mana Tide Totem help fill this gap, making it not needed.
Loatheb, Sylvanas Windrunner, or Sludge Belcher - These are all excellent cards and deserve their place in many decks. In fact, I think they could all fit into this deck. Loatheb has a nice effect, but the 5 mana spot is contested right now with Azure Drake and Thunder Bluff Valiant. Sylvanas could be a definite replacement for Dr. Boom if the BGH meta continues but we'll have to see. Sludge Belcher faces the same problem as Loatheb but also we already have the 2 Defender of Argus in this deck, so at the moment I don't think Belchers would be very good.
Haunted Creeper - I know, creeper is a super good card. I'm highly considering adding it back into the list. Right now though I feel that there is enough early game support for Shaman to still be highly effective.
How 2 Play
Early Game & Mulligans:
You always want to have Zombie Chow and Totem Golem in your opening hand if possible. These are your 2 big tempo cards that you can take board advantage with. Against aggressive decks, definitely mulligan hard for the two above cards. If you have Lightning Storm, Tuskarr Totemic, or Rockbiter Weapon with a good hand, keep them. Against a control deck, you still want Zombie Chow and Totem Golem. However, you can keep a slightly higher curve like Tuskarr Totemic or Piloted Shredder if you feel safe for the first couple of turns.
In the early game, you want to get your cheap minions down ASAP and start controlling the board. You have high value minions so you will be able to beat most anything. Once the board is controlled, you can start pumping totems or playing cards like Tuskarr Totemic for your eventual totemic might madness buff turns. Lightning storm should be used early against aggro decks, before they play higher cost minions.
Mid Game:
Here you stop and assess your position. Against the aggro decks you will be the defender, against control decks you will be the aggressor. If you have board control keep building it with Azure Drake, Piloted Shredder, Defender of Argus, or other cards like that. It is now that if you have The Mistcaller you should pop him out and start getting value. Alternatively, you can play Thunder Bluff Valiant on Turn 5 and use the inspire effect Turn 6 and start cranking out totem value. Remember, this deck is all about the totems so you want to use them to their full effect.
Late Game:
Against aggro decks the game should be over by now with you mercilessly steamrolling the opponent with an army of very angry totems. However, if it is not this is the time you should be using Healing Wave to preserve health and start buffing your totems with any of the many buff cards we have. Against control decks you just want to eliminate their threats while slowly chipping away their health and finish them with either an Al'Akir the Windlord burst or like I said above, mercilessly steamroll the opponent with an army of buffed totems. TGT allows the Shaman to carry on into fatigue now with more success as the totems will now be buffed more, so don't be afraid to take it there if need be.
Replacements
The Mistcaller [/card]-----> [card]Loatheb, Sylvanas Windrunner, Sludge Belcher will all provide a decent body to fill the board, but none with the same effect as The Mistcaller.
Dr. Boom -------> Any late game threat, Ragnaros the Firelord, Sylvanas Windrunner, etc.
Al'Akir the Windlord ----------> The burst potential from him is huge, so Bloodlust would help to replicate that level of burst damage.
Possible changes:
I think that The Black Knight will find his way back into the meta, so possibly adding him?
Do you think that 2 Thunder Bluff Valiants are too clunky and should be replaced with something like a Loatheb?
1 Minute Guide
Credit to talesoflumin, you can find more great content on his Youtube channel
Once again, thank you all for the support and criticism, it only helps the Shaman to become stronger! I'm completely open to suggestions, to tell me what you think!
Don't be shy, tell me what you think! All edits I will make will be listed here:
[Edit 1]- Replaced The Mistcaller with Bloodlust. I really wanted The Mistcaller to work but don't think he fits in with this specific type of deck. If the comments you guys seem split really 50/50 about his potential, so keep testing. This is the very early aftermath of the expansion, so we still don't know what works. I added in Bloodlustbecause it's more along with the theme of the deck and helps burst down the opponent quicker and more unexpectedly. It helps to make the deck more midrangy and gives it more identity in it's purpose.
[Edit 2]- Replaced Healing Wave, 1 Defender of Argus for 2 Haunted Creeper. As a midrange Shaman, your strength lies in your tokens and Creeper is a great card for that. It adds to early game board presence and is sticky. As I've been testing the deck I've noticed that board presence is essential, and Creeper can help maintain presence as well as be a great enabler for Bloodlust. Healing Wave, while it saved me a couple times, just didn't fit in with the deck anymore as it's become less of a control deck. 2 Defenders felt a little clunky in my hand at times, so 1 seems to be the right fit for now. Also replaced 1 Earth Shock for another Piloted Shredder. The 4 drop spot in this deck is very minimal, so propping it up with another Shredder helps a lot.
What about Elemental Destruction ? It can really change the game, and the 3mana initial cost let u clean and start again with something!
Hi! The only thing with elemental destruction is that it kills your own stuff (not good when youre trying to protect your totems) and also has a really bad overload effect that cripples your next turn. Its more useful in a control deck I think. Good luck :)
Just started using this deck yesterday and am blow away by how good this is! I took out Mistcaller though for Sylvanis. Sylvanis has a way of clearing the board on turn 6 leaving you to place Thunder Buff or Boom on a near empty board. I think it just adds a lot more swing this way.
Also wanted to try and find a way to slide blood lust into here as I feel like it is a super strong closer.
Either way amazing deck!
sigh... i want shammy to work so bad, and i think i'm playing this deck all wrong. i been getting whomped. 0-4 so far.
I've been running a shaman close to this. No healing wave, and two Silver Hand Regents, the synergy is awesome.
Very fun deck. I have crushed every grim deck I've come across.
I personally like 2. I've been able to create a win condition a few times now by getting the 2nd one out, using my HP, and swinging to the face. I'm actually finding 2 azure drakes may be a bit overkill, and maybe would remove one of them for a Loatheb.
Here's the thing about this deck. Despite having 200 votes, it's not even optimized properly.
The Mistcaller is for battlecry heavy or minion heavy decks that run little to no spells. Now I know this deck currently has +200 votes, but as we all know Popularity =/= Viability. Just look at the history of US presidents for proof of that.
Let's look at how many cards Mistcaller doesn't affect AT ALL in this deck: 2x Earth Shock, 2x Hex, 2x Rockbiter Weapon, 2x Lightning Storm, 1x Healing Wave, and of course himself. That's a total of 10 cards (1/3) of the deck that does not get any buffs from Mistcaller.
Out of the 20 cards leftover, it doesn't affect the totems summoned by Tuskarr, doesn't affect the Boom Bots summoned by the Dr., and doesn't affect the 2 drop from Shredder. That roughly equates to the value of 3 cards.
Unfortunately this deck is just not viable at all in it's current iteration.
I can see that you're not a fan of the Miscaller, which is fine, since the minions in this deck don't totally need a buff. It's more of a win condition that your late game will be a lot more powerful.
Anyways, as someone without a Mistcaller, I replaced him with Draeni Totemcarver and that is working out well for me, since you can continue to get a big presence on the board late if you properly utilize Totem Golem and Tuskarr. I'm still not sure either on Mistcaller's value to the deck ultimately, except maybe the buff for Al'Akir, but Draeni seems to have what you need as far as a great turn 4 presence other than Shredder.
i also agree with this, i don't have mist caller, im using silvans, but i have the strong feeling i won't miss him at all
awesome deck tho
wondering about emporer coupon and crackle.
"With 2, your chances of drawing one is much higher." -- twice as high to be precise ;)
Nice Deck!
Yeah, Healing Wave seems better in a more control Shaman deck or combo shaman with malygos. Vitality Totem is better for the synergy.
Thaurissan would probably be a more viable replacement for this deck with the number of spells it runs. The thing about mistcaller is his battlecry doesn't affect summoned minions or spells/weapons. 1/3 of this deck is unaffected by Mistcaller AT ALL, and that's assuming you played him on curve and drew nothing but spells for the first 6 turns, if he got played later, obviously his value goes down, and if you have more spells than minions left in your deck when playing him; then his value drops even further.
Thaurissan at the very least will reduce the cost of those spells by 1, which potentially allows combos.
Yes. Someone needs to help clear up the rush decks in this meta. Be a hero Wingerz001
Sure... but in causal. Try this on ranked and you will slowly climb your way down...
I see that you are having success, but it's one thing getting from rank 15 to rank 12 and another from rank 5 to rank 2 or legend for example. Almost every deck, if played right, can climb your way from rank 15 to 12
Just read attentively, it's written in guide...
no it wasn't
Posted 1 hour ago
Thread: Last updated 11 hours ago
rofl
Love this deck! I tried making my own and was failing miserably :( Been loving this deck :) I'm running about a 75% win rate which is awsome imo