Control/Hybrid Shaman
- Last updated Sep 29, 2017 (Evergreen Nerfs)
- Edit
- |
Wild
- 17 Minions
- 11 Spells
- 2 Weapons
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Control Shaman
- Crafting Cost: 7020
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 4/22/2017 (Un'Goro Launch)
- Kovachut
- Card Design Champion
-
- 15
- 35
- 110
-
Battle Tag:
N/A
-
Region:
EU
-
Total Deck Rating
201
Intro
Hey folks, if you are looking for a control deck, then this is the place. Introducing an improved version of my contra-aggro deck. Now with more threats.
This was my most favourite Un'goro one I have played so far, it was what I main-ed back then. With this deck I faced the meta ones, we all know so much, and it withstand their attacks. It deservedly defended its name. Although the highest rank I've reached with it is rank 2, I've never experienced so much success with a self brewed deck like this before. I put so much time and effort to make it work and frankly it did turned out to be a great success. From time to time I had to make some changes, in order to adapt it to the presented environment, but regardless which version I took, I always felt loyal to it.
My deck isn't an easy one. I'm not saying it's rocket science, as there are respectfully far more complicated decks out there, but with this one you have to be careful not to make big mistakes or any for that matter. You have to know, when you have to use the removals, since casting them too early or too late will be very punishing.
Anywho I'm looking forward to refine the deck more. So I would like to hear your opinion about it, I want to get some tips on what to change and I would be very grateful, if some of you tried this deck on their own and shared some experience. Don't be scared to express your opinion, even if you are skeptical about the deck. Every feedback will be welcomed.
The idea behind this deck:
Normally I am a big fan of the elemental tribe and I wanted to build a deck around it in standard. However I don't think, that there are enough strong elementals out there to make a high-tier deck only based on them. To me some of them seem to be quite slow (Igneous Elemental for example) or just not good enough for a constructive deck (Fire Plume Phoenix). That's why I made a hybrid deck - combining the late-game value of the elementals with the board flooding part of the jades.
So what's the plan here:
- because the deck is filled with cheap cards (taunts, AoEs, removals) you will most likely do well in the early game
- the win condition is:
a) against aggro - controlling the board and stabilizing;
b) against control - killing their threats and gaining card advantage over them. Get value from Aya Blackpaw, Servant of Kalimos and use Spirit Echo on more things as much as possible.
Mulligan and some strategies:
Before I continue, I want to say sorry, if some of the below mentioned things are common knowledge to you. I wanted to make a guide for everyone (including inexperienced people).
Because this deck is mixed, you won't have an easy time activating the elementals. This is why sometimes you should hold on to them and not play them on curve (e.g. Tar Creeper), so that you will synchronize the elemental synergy, when you need to. Of course, there's an exception to this "rule" and this is when you feel threatened and you are forced to play differently.
The Koft isn't here. Normally you will find more info in the other deck, but I don't recommend using either in the ladder for now. I just wanted to up-date the text a bit. The down below deck strategies are very old (still regarding Un'Goro). If you want to try out either of the decks, go ahead, but do it so in casual for now. I will most definitely up-date the deck, when blizz introduces more support for it.
Warrior
Taunt or Pirate. I would mulligan for pirate first. Look for cheap AoEs, weapons, taunts (Tar Creeper would be better), and Devolve is a good option too. All in all you have many tools to shut down the opponent's aggression. Only the mulligan and the cards you draw later on can be your enemy - if you end up with high cost minions. This goes for all the different MUs too.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taunt W however will be very tricky. They can get ahead of you pretty easy, because they have better removals and a win-condition. If you somehow get Devolve, Hex and Volcano, they will help you a lot later on. But at the same time you mustn't forget, that you are not facing old school control warrior, aka a deck filled with answers. Taunt warrior has them, but their deck is diluted with taunts, so setting up a Spirit Echo turn won't be impossible to do.
The strategy - The word we are looking for is "pressure". Try to threaten them, so that you can bait out many of their removals, for example Brawl, and at the same time preserve your strongest minions as much as possible. You have to make them spend their resources just to desperately control the board. If they do that, use Devolve, Volcano or Bloodmage Thalnos + AoE to punish them. Normally I use Hex on the Primordial Drakes, whereas Devolve mainly against a big board, containing at least Direhorn Hatchling and/or Alley Armorsmiths.
But keep in mind, we also need the minions to win, so at the beginning of the match just throw some Tar Creepers and try to set up a Spirit Echo turn.
Aya Blackpaw is essentially important in this MU, because the Jades help by flooding the board and she leaves you with a token after a board clear. That's why Spirit Echo should mark her!!! Very advisable, if you also get ticks on other value minions (Servant of Kalimos, Blazecaller, Jinyu Waterspeaker etc).
Against TW the strategy is not as straightforward as to try to survive an aggro attack with bunch of heals/taunts/AoEs, but the game still winnable with the right cards. Overall with the heal options and the totem summoning HP, you will survive another fireball. The little tokens from Invocation of Earth can distract it too.
Hunter
Aggro or mid-range. Either way I would mulligan for cheap AoEs, weapon, taunts and especially Devolve. If you get the Hex as an option - keep it. Use it for the hungry hyena, or for highmane.
Paladin
Control, Midrange control/aggro or pure aggro Murlocs. Mulligan for cheap AoEs and most importantly Devolve. Use it on a buffed board with murlocs or when a minion has the Spikeridged Steed buff. If you have those two things, then it's advisable to search for either cheap taunts or Jade Lightning. Normally, if you hold your position on the board, then you can hold onto the removals too, so that you can get bigger value from them, but don't be too much greedy, respect your health total.
Normally I cast Devolve, when on turn 3 my opponent plays Murloc Warleader (and there are bunch of murlocs duh), but if there are many of them and still no sigh of the Warleader, then kill the inner synergy, because it will be time for Gentle Megasaur!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Against control - the things mentioned above will also help. What should I also mention? - use your resources wisely. Don't throw everything on the board just for them to die to Equality. The more things you mark with Spirit Echo, the better. Again Aya Blackpaw is the most important target.
While we gain value, try to also deny theirs. Because we have Devolve and Hex, we can narrow down the summoned threats from N'Zoth, the Corruptor. That's why you should save your biggest removals for their scariest minions. We have more of them than our opponent, so the strategy here is really gaining card advantage. Keep in mind, that they can also gain additional value with Stonehill Defender and Hydrologist.
Rogue
QR or Miracle. Because of the Nerf, quest rogue will see little or no play, and thus only Miracle will stay. That's why I would mulligan for MR first, but about that later. Back to QR - in this deck our anti-aggro tools dilute it and you will have a hard time finding the minions to establish a board and to apply pressure. Regardless, if you find something to play on curve, you will be in a better shape. Just don't forget they still have Vanish and you will have to establish the board again. Don't use the hero power or you will mill yourself.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Against miracle - well, you have to understand, that they have a limited number of threats. 2x Arcane Giant, Edwin VanCleef, Sherazin, Corpse Flower and maybe Leeroy Jenkins and Elise the Trailblazer. Gadgetzan Auctioneer is the most annoying minion you have to deal with. That's why you have to plan which removals go where. Regarding the mulligan I try to find ways to build a board, as this way I will have a better time dealing with their minions - card draw, cheap taunts and a Devolve just in case for a surprise 14/14 edwin.
The strategy - killing their threats and stabilizing or just making a threatening board, which they can't deal with.
Shaman
Who will win? Spirit Echo or Devolve? That's why you should cast Spirit Echo - after they used a Devolve or when you are going to trade your minion for theirs.
Anyway:
control(Nzoth), jade, the evolve deck, elemental or Murlocs - I would go for cheap AoEs!, weapon, and probably Bloodmage Thalnos. It would be nice, if you eventually get Volcano for their turn 6: Doppelgangster + Evolve.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When facing control and jade/ele - just use your resources wisely. Deny them from flooding the board, but don't throw away your tools for nothing. Same with Paladin, they will also try to out-value us, but that's why you have to "kill" (aka transform) their key cards. Regarding the mulligan - it's the same. AoE and taunts can stall us the game, when we can unleash our threats.
! Note: Normally shaman decks run at least 1 copy of Bloodlust. Just make the math and consider when it's the time for an AoE.
Note 2: About elemental shaman decks - it's good to know how to read their hand. It's easy to find out, whether they want to activate an elemental and if this is the case, try to break the chain, so that you will make their turns awkwardly (before I ran Doomsayer and this was an option).
Druid
Token. Before I continue, I want to say, that this deck has almost no chances against the Jade dudu. That's why my advice is concentrate on the MU, where you have the possibility to win, where the situation is not a lost cause. So mulligan for Lightning Storm, Tar Creeper and again Devolve. Because they have an exploding start - you have to destroy their board as fast as possible. Devolve on their Living Mana will completely shut them down. Volcano or Hex on their Bittertide Hydra. Jade Lightning for their Vicious Fledgling, if this is the only card on the board.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jade Dudu: You might face it pretty often; If you think, that you will most definitely encounter jade, then mulligan for on curve minions. This means Jade Spirit, Aya Blackpaw, card draw. Still, some strategies:
Make a big board ASAP. This won't be easy, as our deck is filled with cheap removals, but if you get lucky with the card draw, then you could possibly do it. They won't kill out threats that easily, so Spirit Echo should hit more minions as much as possible. Flametongue Totem helps us boosting the damage from the weak tokens.
Warlock
If you happen to find one - in most of the cases you will face zoo. That's why you should mulligan for Lightning Storm, Tar Creeper and the weapon. Zoo is only strong, when there are minions on the board. The two Doomguards won't be that scary - especially if you get taunts later on.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But then again, because the class is not present in this meta, you could also encounter meme or highlander decks. If you face a warlock in one of the "save points" (ranks 15, 10, 5 or in the legend ranks), then most likely that's the case.
Mage
Quest/Discover/Freeze mages and Secret mage. The reason I'm dividing them that way, is because this deck mostly does well against the second kind. When facing secret mage use cheap taunts early on. They also use Counterspell, so throw away cheap spells or such, which you won't use and then go for the board clear/removal. Fire Fly or Jade Spirit for their Mirror Entity. When they run out of steam, you can make a comeback - after all you have many ways to stabilize.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Against Discover and Freeze mages - the win-condition is undoing the burst and at the same time doing pressure. As for the Mulligan - cheap minions, card draw, maybe Devolve for their Mana Wyrm. Just like with the Miracle Rogues, if we manage to keep most of our board, then we will be in a better shape (doing face damage or dealing with their Medivh, the Guardian and Alexstrasza). Use Spirit Echo on the heals, so that you will undo the burst.
- against freeze: don't use the hero power. Very often they won't kill our board, they will only freeze it, and the spaces for our heals are limited.
Priest
Purify or Dragon. Try to find a Devolve, Hex and Volcano. Keep in mind, that you have to use your resources wisely. Try to count how much they can buff their minions (with Divine Spirit and Inner Fire) and consider whether or not it's time for a Devolve or a Hex. If they skip a turn, because probably their hand is filled with buffs, establish a board, so that it can threaten future minions or pressure the face. Just don't overcommit, as you will risk it to Dragonfire Potion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About Dragon and Control Priest: Those decks have ability to out-value you pretty quick. But still, use your resources to kill most of their minions. Our win-condition now changed to using Spirit Echo, aka keep the pressure going. Also consider, that they can steal it or Devolve too with Drakonid Operative, so be careful.
Inb4 they can't remove big minions that easily, that's why you shouldn't throw everything on the board to die to Dragonfire Potion; my advice is use the strong minions one by one. They don't have infinite Shadow Word: Deaths.
Note: Just like in the tips versus mage you mustn't use the hero power in many cases, you will only hinder yourself. The most common case is when on turn 1 the priest plays Northshire Cleric and you play a totem, so that they could heal and get a card. If you have a board and a 6 health minion(s), know, that if you use the Hero Power, there is a 50% chance to screw yourself. The bad scenarios are with the 1/1 totem, which will get Potion of Madness-ed into your 6 health minion, or the Spell power totem, which together with Dragonfire Potion will do 6 damage to your board.
Resume for the different MUs:
The deck will do well against: Pirate Warr, Hunt, Murloc pala and shaman, evolve shaman, Token dudu, Zoo, Purify priest.
The deck will do poorly against: QR, Discover mage, Jade dudu and Dragon Priest.
The deck will do OK (it depends on what you draw and what plays you make) against - TW, Freeze Mage, Control Pala, Control/Ele shaman, miracle rogue, Secret Mage.
Explanation for some cards and some changes:
- Jade Spirit - If we had another 4 mana elemental, I would have go with that one instead. It's very weak, when, played on curve, it summons a plain 1/1 token and your opponent has a threatening board (it is acceptable with a 2/2 or a 3/3 jade). Because of this issue, I got an inspiration from StrifeCro's videos to put back the Flametongue Totems again. But since I don't like to top-deck a 1/2 minion in the late game, I'm running only 1 copy of Fire Fly.
- Tar Creeper - As we all know, this is the best cheap taunt in standard. And the reason why I'm not running Stonehill Defender instead, is that Tar Creeper handles aggro better. Because it has 3 Attack on the opponent's turn, it can deal more damage to their minions. And since it has 5 health, it will absorb more hits and thus it will kill more stuff.
If you want a more minion based deck, still using the jades and the elementals, then I suggest looking at my other deck.
Commentary on the deck itself
By definition this deck mostly resembles an anti-aggro deck rather than a control one.
Since I first made it, it has TONS of success against aggro. So people, if you constantly face aggro decks, then this is the deck for you. Shaman has many ways to deal with the early-game aggression.
The reason for this comment was to tell you, that the gem of this deck are the conditions it meets. It's not a high tier deck, universally good, but more or less a specific meta counter. If there are a lot of aggro decks, then this deck could help you climb up the ladder fast.
Yes, I know, that that's not the situation atm, but I'm updating it just in case, if the aggro decks prevail once more.
Both versions of this deck work pretty well:
<- (instead Far sight, go with the totems)
A little note.
If you go to StrifeCro's channel, you will see a deck, which can handle the current meta better. I, however, want to keep some of the anti-aggro tools, and thus I'm only taking inspiration from his deck to include more early-game options.
How is this deck performing now?
To be honest, it varies. One big weakness of the deck is how well you draw.
The reason for this sentence was to tell you, that the deck can perform very well or very badly, depending on the card draw. I have beaten a lot of decks with it, even popular ones, but there are cases, when even the favourable MUs ended up with a loss, because I drew expensive minions.
So far I'm still around rank 4. I don't care too much about laddering, I don't spend that much time doing so, but I would like to get an overall picture of the deck. That's why I would appreciate, if you try it and share the experience. :)
Edit: Like I mentioned before, I don't have a deck tracker, so I can't supply you with more specific data (like the win-lose ratio).
thx for the feedback, i will try it out as well
though i still like Volcano as a big AoE
Personal experience
aka why I'm so attached to the deck
When Un'Goro started, I was puzzled regarding the decks I had to choose from. Warlock, my favourite class, was out, so I wasn't excited by the presented options. The decks didn't feel right to me. Either they didn't suit my personality, they were too expensive or they just felt a bit unfair - QR, Pirates, Murlocs, Tokens.
The first legendary, that I've got, was Kalimos. I immediately wanted to make an elemental deck, but soon found out, that it lacked consistency and I left it for a bit. At that time the meta settled. People tried to counter QR, so the aggro and the mid-range decks got a lot of popularity. One day I asked myself "OK, how to deal with them? How to stop their explosive starts?" and the card, which immediately went through my mind, was Devolve. Soon after I imagined brewing a control deck, because normally shaman possesses a lot of resources for that role (cheap AoEs, removals, heals and taunts). Tar Creeper and Hot Spring Guardian were the ones, which caught my eye. Thus I decided to benefit from the elemental tag, especially when I've considered getting additional value out of it (Servant, Blazecaller). So the first elemental deck-build attempt was an anti-aggro one. The jade package fit amazingly well into that strategy, because it generated small tokens, which would trade off later and thus provide more board control to me. And what was the result of all of this? Rank 4, which as a self brewed deck felt like a Metabreaker.
I felt like I've found a gold mine. Back then people did really try out elemental shaman, but left it for stronger decks. I just thought, that with a tweak or two, this forgotten gem would become viable. So I decided to invest my dust there. And just imagine how proud I was, while developing the deck and seeing the end result. A deck "everyone forgot it existed". Win after win, especially against those faster decks, reaching rank 4 again and again was so pleasing. And all of this started with a single legendary, Kalimos, then the other ones slowly came along - Aya, Thalnos, Elise, Spirit Echo. And just know, that as a f2p this was hard to do, it took me 2-3 months to make the job done.
And this occurred way before Jade Spirit got the elemental tag. Once the deck got a surprise buff, I felt out of this world. It made some people experiment with it again, some even reached legend. And I was happy, that I was part of this process, of the development of this deck, its birth and rise. Although in KoFT it doesn't shine much, because the bad MUs got even stronger, I am glad that the deck was respected as a gem, which holds a lot of potential. Thanks to it I understood, that shaman is my second most favourite class.