[75% WR] FaceTwitch's Control Shaman (Updated v...
- Last updated Apr 15, 2020 (Outland DH Nerfs)
- Edit
- |
Wild
- 18 Minions
- 10 Spells
- 1 Weapon
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Highlander Shaman
- Crafting Cost: 17120
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 3/12/2020 (GA Week 4)
- FaceTwitch
- Registered User
-
- 1
- 5
- 18
-
Battle Tag:
N/A
-
Region:
N/A
-
Total Deck Rating
35
UPDATE: This is an updated version similar to my original deck used by the professional player Dmoney. Here is his youtube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpfQIGrY8Sk
If you wish to try another variation of highlander shaman, then you are welcome to use a battlecry quest version of highlander shaman made by Brian Kibler - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIE4E_dfECs
Hey everyone,
I have been working on improving my Highlander/Galakround/Big spell shaman - https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1330881-facetwitch-s-biggalahigh-shaman#c4
Here is what I came up with. The deck is incredibly strong and leaves no chance to your opponent in the late game since they will simply run out of board clearing spells to destroy your minions. It can perform very well against the current meta, however, is difficult to pilot. It is crucial to understand what deck you are up against in order to counter it accordingly.
Here are some of my games that I recorded on my computer from rank 10 to rank 6 -
The reason for running a dragon package in the deck is because Lightning Breath provides far more value than Lightning Storm since you do not have to gamble on your damage and do not overload your crystals which you would not want to do with this deck. Thus, it is far more reliable. In addition, Lightning Breath + Zentimo = mad board clearance. Whereas, combing it with Omega Mind may also heal you to full health.
Firetree Witchdoctor provides you with an additional spell which is incredibly important in any highlander deck since you can only have one copy of any card.
The rest of the dragons just genuinely help you with keeping the pressure as well as other benefits related to particular dragons.
Will write a detailed guide if the deck receives 8 upvotes to see if anyone is even interested. I certainly recommend giving it a go as you won't regret it. From rank 10, I am currently on rank 7 with around 80% win rate. The biggest struggle is obviously aggro hunter, however, with the right tools, he runs out of juice in no time.
As promised, here is the detailed guide:
In general, you want to survive through your opponents' threats and then dominate the board with King Phaoris or fully invoked Galakrond, the Tempest as well as Dragonqueen Alexstrasza. If your opponent manages to clear the board all of those times, you play Shudderwock and pretty much finish the game.
Now more detailed guide against each of the classes-
Priest:
Probably the easiest of the matchups. No matter what kind of priest your opponent is playing, you would want to mulligan for Hex and/or Plague of Murlocs, The Fist of Ra-den to help you escalate early on and/or Hagatha the Witch to provide you with as much value as possible from an early game. Any invoke cards will also be incredibly useful as it is always good to invoke as quickly as you can.
If the priest plays any kinda resurrect cards then you would want to add garbage units into that pile of resurrection. Therefore, whenever he summons the biggest amount of units or he plays his most important units such as Catrina Muerte or Archmage Vargoth or any other unit you find annoying such as Unlucky Albatross you then turn them into murlocs via your Plague of Murlocs. It is also good to Hex someone like Catrina Muerte on her own but if it is possible, try waiting for Zentimo to turn three of his minions into frogs instead of just one.
Warrior:
Most of the warriors seem to be galakround warriors that will have many little annoying minions. While the minions are not a big threat in the early game as most of them only have 1-2 damage each, it is important to be mindful of his invoking as well as his burst potential with Bloodsworn Mercenary. Therefore, always try to not be too low on your health or guard your self with taunts such as Eye of the Storm to prevent him from doing his crazy combo on you.
For mulligan, try to keep any cards that can help you in an early game such as Storm Chaser, Lightning Breath, Hagatha's Scheme and any invoke cards to help you survive until late game.
Paladin:
Pretty much any paladin is a mech paladin, therefore, it is crucial to get a mulligan in order to survive. Plague of Murlocs is very helpful to turn his mechs into murlocs, however, do be careful with it as it doesn't provide you with board clearance and may make things even worse if you do not have an answer to them.
I also found a combo of Zentimo + Invocation of Frost to be very helpful. As for 5 mana, you can invoke your galakround three times as well as provide you with a 6/3 rush body to help you clear the board. In general, you will need anything to deal with mechs, so you can keep Mana Tide Totem, Hex and Walking Fountain or Zephrys the Great to provide you with some sustain. Additionally, it is always useful to keep your invoke cards.
Druid:
Druid is a difficult matchup if you believe that you are facing token druid, then you gotta act pretty much the same way as you would against mech paladin. Whereas, embiggen druid will require you to keep onto some of the cards. Mulligan hard for Zentimo, Hagatha's Scheme and Zephrys the Great. Cards such as Firetree Witchdoctor, Lightning Breath and Storm Chaser can also be useful.
Simply try to hang on to some of your cards if you do not have any other board clearing spells to remove his units at once as he will eventually struggle to keep up with the game due to the cost of his units and low card draw. It should also be remembered that druids in general struggle with board control as they don't really have powerful board clearing spells. So do not be afraid of going full bonkers on them as they won't be able to deal with your units.
Hunter:
Hunter is a difficult matchup, they are so many different hunter variations such as quest hunter, face hunter, dragon hunter, highlander hunter and highlander/secret hunter. It is therefore difficult to pick up your mulligan. Walking Fountain is always a good idea to keep as well as any invoke cards and Lightning Breath, Hagatha's Scheme, as well as any, invoke cards.
It is always a good idea to play Omega Mind + any descent board clearing spell to heal your self on turn 10 to remove any immediate threat. After you have healed yourself, any aggro deck will struggle to finish you off.
Rogue:
Majority of the rogue players play galakround rogue, which is pretty slow, doesnt have any board clearing spells and is only dangerous if they manage to invoke 4 times and then pull out all of their combo cards. However, by the time they manage to do this, they should be struggling to keep up with your deck.
Once you have healed yourself to prevent him from doing his Leeroy Jenkins combo, establish the board and since he lacks tools to deal with your big units, it might be the best choice to go face to finish the game even faster.
It is really difficult to write every appropriate response to every particular situation you might face. The deck can offer a great degree of versatility, therefore, use your cards wisely. So if the threat, for example, is not that serious, then sometimes it is better to instead hang on to your board clearing spell to get rid off as many of opponent's units at once and turn the game around instead of simply wasting them.
Overall, I hope you find some of the guidance that I have provided to be helpful, however, no guidance will assist you more than your own practice
If you have any questions, please make sure to leave a comment down below and I will help you as soon as I as can.
since Im playing control shaman for the last 2 months here my comments; the weapoon or king pharao is too greedy and just stick in your hand while you need playable cards early on or any hunter kills you by turn 6. Theres a lot on the ladder so you wont climb.Omega Mind is a nice idea, but again I found games at 10 mana+ not that difficult and having Electra and Zentimo again nice combos but they force you to wait in hand. And against rogue or Mage its too many threats, Nithogg also not any good. I even took out Dragons Pack because its not really helping, because you cant invoke consistantly by turn5/6.
The whole invoke package is more of a plus plus against control or taking 5 armor or just surving with the rush minions. Im having way more success with copying rogue strategy and using lackeys or using the aggro shaman overload elementals. So far I haven't lost to other control shamans or Quest shamans around Rank5-3. Also Bog Slosher is really good. You also wanna consider some 4 Mana Taunts and use Far Sight instead of Mana Totem.
Im still struggling against Dragon Hunter (no real answer against those 5+2 dmg to face on turn 5 if you dont draw frog) and of course lucky Rogue.
Thank you for providing your feedback. You have some very interesting ideas. However, I have also been playing control shaman for a while and with the lackey package, you have to solely rely on your galakround to finish off your opponent. Therefore, mages, priests and warlocks will absolutely obliterate you in the late game by using their many board clearing spells.
When it comes to a weapon and king phaoris, the value they provide is absolutely incredible. However, once again, the deck is not the easiest one to pilot. You have to understand when to play them in order to get value out of them. Weapon costs 4 mana, I play it often on turn 4 if there's much stuff on board and/or if I have a board clearing spell that I can play next turn which gives me a minion onto an empty board, applying immediate pressure to my opponent. In addition, do not forget that due to hagatha, you are likely to have an incredible amount of spells that you can play to help you control the board. It can also be played again anytime, considering you can either play a clearing spell straight away or next turn if there is not much threat.
Nithog, is a very underrated dragon, he is needed to increase the consistency of the dragon package as well as provide you with some additional value due to his eggs. Speaking from experience, most of the time your opponents will attack the eggs to prevent you from getting that value of 12/12 for 6 mana. If they don't, you have an opportunity to trade and therefore maybe play your weapon or phaoris to apply more pressure.
Far sight might work, I have tried it before and it wasn't consistent enough to include it. Many of the times it would simply reduce the cost of a spell I needed for the weapon or phaoris.
Speaking of phaoris, you just gotta play him in very late game or if there is no pressure on the board. He is needed to first of all, provide you with value, secondly, force your opponent to use one of their board clearing spells so when you get to galakround or shudderwock, they have nothing to answer it.
I don't know how this deck didn't work for you, but the value it generates leaves no chance to any control deck out there. I have never lost to any control druid or warrior or any kind of priest. You must be having a bad day to lose to rogue as normally they are quite small and don't have any board clearing spells, therefore, do not have any means to deal with your big dudes you summon. Hunter is a problem, but so is for any other control deck. Yet this variation of control shaman does provide you with multiple tools to deal with him if you play right and if the cards you draw are descent. Wish you luck, if you haven't played this variation, do give it a try as it might surprise you. Hope what I have said here helps.
2-1 after 22 minutes trying it out. Loss was to a dragon hunter - too aggressive for this deck unless you get lucky draw on the start. Wins were both over galakrond rogues. This is at rank 5, 4 stars.
Bandersmosh is a good replacement and hope it works for you. With one less dragon, however, be mindful of utilising your play accordingly to play the dragon needed cards such as witchdoctor and lighting breath.
Against hunter, just try to mulligan either for any board clearing spells, invoke cards or walking fountain to heal yourself.
Might also be a good idea to keep Storm Chaser to hopefully draw Hagatha's Scheme out of your deck so you could start ramping it or Earthquake to later clear his board. In addition, a 3/4 body will be helpful to trade.
I have everything but Nithog. Gonna replace it with Bandersmosh.
A bit shit for the meta
Or maybe you are just a bad player. I am having great success with this deck
you can't call people bad when you're rank 6, especially with a p2w deck in a p2w game
Whatever man. Neither of you two justified your statements and if you hate the game so much, then what are you doing on its forum writing some meaningless angry comments?