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Heroic Nefarian - Shaman's Shudderwock deck

  • Last updated May 19, 2019 (Rise of Shadows)
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Wild

  • 18 Minions
  • 12 Spells
  • Deck Type: PvE Adventure
  • Deck Archetype: Shudderwock Shaman
  • Boss: Nefarian
  • Crafting Cost: 4840
  • Dust Needed: Loading Collection
  • Created: 12/20/2018 (Level Up Nerf)
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  • Total Deck Rating

    445

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Heroic Nefarian - Shaman's Shudderwock deck

Consistency: Super (win rate is close to 100%)

Introduction:

Nefarian is yet another boss, whose hero power produces minions. He is a bit harder than Omnotron, but easier than Rend. And unlike these two he always produces the same 2-health minions, so you can build your deck around countering these minions specifically.

His deck has a good share of direct damage spells, which makes him dangerous when you are low on health, but complete absence of draw basically means, that he will play a top-deck game most of the time. You still need to kill those 4/2 every turn, though and this can drain your resources. So ideally you need some way to produce unlimited 2 HP damage, which does not require additional cards.

There is more than one way to do this, and one such idea is to use Shadowreaper Anduin. I actually made a deck with him. It was less consistent, than the one I am currently presenting, but it was kind of ok.

This Shudderwock deck, however, is absolutely amazing, although you need to know how to play it right. I used a deck of "fakeweed649" from Hearthpwn as a starting point, but it is so much better now, that you will barely recognize it.

Shaman actually is very good against this boss even without Shudderwock. In fact, I think, that Shaman is the most underrated class for PvE. People in general don't understand this class and its strengths, which are cheap efficient spells, strong healing and great AoEs to clear low-health minions, which is exactly what you need for this boss.

Let's talk a bit about Shudderwock:

The first thing you need to understand is that PvE Shudderwock is completely different from PvP Shudderwock. In PvP your Shudderwock's battlecry must be devastating or you may die to some OTK in few turns. But in PvE you don't need spectacular battlecries. Since you know what you are facing, you can use them just to do specific things you really need.

That's why I removed Lifedrinkers and Glacial Shards from the original deck. You don't need face damage or freeze effects from Shudderwock's battlecry and these cards are bad for board control and waste space in your deck. So instead I added more AoE and draw - Avalanche and Ancestral Knowledge. These cards are very helpful for early survival and so increase consistency.

General strategy:

Your Shudderwock is basically used to heal you and to kill enemy minions. And obviously to duplicate itself. A lot. This means, that there are few mandatory battlecries, which must be played before the first Shudderwock play - Primordial Drake, a bounce effect (Bog Slosher or Youthful Brewmaster) and Doppelgangster. Antique Healbot is fine to have as well, but less important. Shudderwocks on the board can be used for face damage, before playing the next one.

Until you can play your Shudderwocks you just to have to defend. This deck has everything you need to stay alive pretty much until fatigue even if Shudderwock is the last card in the deck. In fact, I am pretty sure that this deck can win even without Shudderwock, if you will replace him with something like Baron Geddon, although it probably won't be so easy.

Deck composition:

I replaced brewmasters from the original deck with Bog Sloshers, which do the same thing, but also buff your creature, which is amazing with Doppelgangsters. By the way Doppelgangsters were much better in this deck than Saronite Chain Gang even before the nerf, that made saronites unplayable with Shudderwock.

Don't add Grumble, Worldshaker into this deck. His battlecry is actually bad for your strategy here. Hagatha the Witch is bad well, but Zola the Gorgon can (and should) be used instead of Youthful Brewmaster, if you have her.

This deck has a lot of draw (which is very important) and a lot of board clears. Lightning Storm, Avalanche, Volcano, Primordial Drake... Hex for those high-stat minions. Doomsayer, Tar Creeper and Rotten Applebaum will keep you alive while you are browsing through your deck and waiting for your win condition.

Mulligan:

Mulligan is pretty obvious here. In the early- and mid-game you need defensive tools, so keep Doomsayer, Tar Creeper, Lightning Storm, Volcano, Avalanche.

Since this boss tends to use his Hero power only if he has nothing else to play, quite often you won't see his 4/2 until turn 4 or so... this means, that you also can keep Ancestral Knowledge and play it on turn 2. You will skip your turn 3, but you certainly will be ready to handle the board afterwards.

The art of preserving Shudderwock:

Since order of Shudderwock's battlecries is random, it is possible, that you won't get him back into your hand after the first play. You also want him to duplicate himself as much as possible to do more face damage next turn. So:

1. Before playing your first Shudderwock play only one bounce effect, but as many Doppelgangsters as possible. Ideally you want to play two Doppelgangsters, use Bog Slosher on them and play Doppelgangsters again. This sequence makes the best Shudderwock's battlecry. And don't forget about Primordial Drake.

2. Before playing Shudderwock for the first time, ensure, that you can return him manually, if something will go wrong (keep Bog Slosher or Youthful Brewmaster).

3. Also trade your other creatures on the board (or they may be returned to your hand instead of Shudderwock).

Tactic tips:

This deck has a lot of draw. You certainly need it, but don't overdo it. At some point you may want to be careful to don't burn your key cards.

Don't worry if Shudderwock or some other combo pieces are in the end of your deck. Because of Antique Healbot's battlecries, Shudderwock will heal you to full health every time you play him, so you will have enough time to kill the boss even in the worst-case scenario.

As I said before, avoid playing too many "return-a-minion-to-hand" effects. You only need one for Shudderwock's battlecry. Keep others in your hand to return Shudderwock to your hand manually, if battlecry order will screw an automatic return, especially before the second phase transition.

Consistency notes:

If you do it right (follow battlecry creation rules I described), then this deck doesn't lose. If you do it wrong, then it still wins most of the time. If you do it VERY wrong (play Shudderwock too early, for example)... well, just don't do it next time.

I think I only lost once in 15 or so games because of very bad draw, and it was not exactly this deck, but its weaker variation.

Blacktiger's Blackrock Mountain deck collection:

Provided win rates are approximate. They are based on my tests and so partially depend on how lucky/unlucky I was during my testing. Also keep in mind, that you need a bit of experience with a deck to use it to its full potential. So first attempts usually have lower win rates, than suggested in this list.

Check my profile for updates and plans.