Highlander Control Shaman(Legend)
- Last updated Aug 14, 2020 (Scholomance Academy)
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Wild
- 19 Minions
- 10 Spells
- 1 Weapon
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Unknown
- Crafting Cost: 18260
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 8/14/2020 (Scholomance Academy)
- user-100133957
- Registered User
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- 4
- 23
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Total Deck Rating
7
This is my Shaman list that has carried me from platinum to legend, which I put together after realising how inadequate Spell Shaman was. It is surprisingly strong and I ended up on a 8 winning streak from diamond 3 to legend. It has a lot of tools to deal with the decks that people play on ladder. Can also keep up with Priest in terms of value.
Devolving missiles - Amazing card which counters the reigning kings of the meta(namely Paladin and Druid). Also effective against Aggro Rogue since it devolves their stealth minions(thus unstealthing them). This means you can target them with minions or spells to gain control of the board. Also messes up their synergy with the rogue card which lets you draw 2 card if you have a stealth minion
Primordial Studies - Can give Thalnos and Lady Vashj for card draw, Squalhunter for Lightning Breath. This card also powers up Ras
Diligent Notetaker - Valuetown!( good with missiles or lightning breath/Portal)
Manafeeder - Draw with a solid body
Wandmaker - Can give missiles and Earthshock for buffed/deathrattle minions, Lightning bolt for burst, or Storms wrath for buffs
Zephrys - No explanation needed lol
Far sight - Draw with potential highroll eg. Alex, Hagatha etc
Fireheart - Amazing card that could provide answers in sticky situations
Marshspawn - Value
Lightning Breath - Flamestrike for 3 mana? Sign me up
Portal - Solid card which controls the board while also developing something
Scoundrel - Same as Marshspawn
Groundkeeper - Heal + taunt. Nice. Dont hesitate to play this for tempo if needed. Holding onto this until you draw/generate a 5+ cost spell against aggro is very greedy
Hex - No explanation needed
Squalhunter - Synergy with Ras and Breath.
Fist of Ra-den - Slow card which should be avoided against aggro. But very good vs control as it can generate Primes(to delay fatigue). Nice synergy with Tidal wave, earthquake, portal etc.
Torrent - 1 mana deal 8 damage, hey not bad.
Bandersmosh - Can be cut. But quite nice now and then. Can give Bran(5 mana 13/13), Nozari, Alex, Zephrys etc. Very fun card in general
Barista - Greedy card but provides insane value in some situations. Getting another Zephrys, fireheart, Alex etc. can be game changing
Cobalt Spellkin - Synergy with Lightning Breath + more missiles, Earthshocks and bolts
Hagathas scheme - Nice boardclear if drawn in the earlier rounds.
Ras - Potential boardclear, removes divineshields which makes Hagathas,earthquakes etc more effective the next turn. Amazing with Squalhunter. Also, Soft taunt.
Onyx - Dragon for breath, and generates value
Lurker below - Solid minion which can clear a whole board of small minions.
Earthquake - Boardclear
Swampqueen Hagatha - Amazing valuecard which can win you the game. Eyestorm + Vivid spores is the dream. Getting tidal wave is also quite insane
Tidal wave - Not a very good card but can buy you a turn. In some situations it can be game wining though( E.g vs full board of small tokens --> heals your hero to full + clears). Nice combo with Ra-den(Spawns 8-cost legendary which tend to be very good)
Walking fountain - Heal + good body. Very nice
Alexstrasza - Can help close out games, or heal yourself to 15 thus buying more time. Also, dragon for breath
Dragonqueen Alex - Obvious pick for a highlander list. No explanation needed
Feel free to try the deck out, and tell me what you think :)
Really good and fun deck. I'm 56-21 playing mostly 7-3 diamond range. 8-0 vs hunter (best), 5-5 vs druid (worst)
My substitutions
Swampqueen Hagatha -> Siamat
- I can only use Hagatha vs Priest. Its a card that pays off the next turn, usually too late
Manafeeder Panthara -> Acidic Swamp Ooze
- Ooze is SO usefull vs paladin, hunter, warrior
Barista Lynchen -> Speaker Gidra
- Barista is rarelly used. Its a win more card that depends on having the right minion alive on board
Primordial Studies turn 1 into Squallhunter turn 2/3 is awesome
Tidal Wave is really underrated, it gave me so many victories
I get my ass handed by Druid, I mulligan for the most explosive cards and hope for a miracle!
Def. agree wtih you. Whilst not very compettitive(its shaman afterall), it is possible to get to legend just like I have provided that you can pilot it well which isnt as easy as the other deck that are currently being played in standard. Although, it is very fun with the greed cards, and climbing with an underdog class is very satisfying ;). Manasaber does fit quite nicely and could easily replace something such as Bandersmosh, Barista etc.
Actually I'm finding this deck to be very competitive at Diamond tier so far. I've been trying various Shaman builds and was bobbing around at Diamond 10 this morning, but since switching to this deck, I am now at Diamond 3 (for the first time ever) and still winning fairly consistently!
I made a few tweaks:
Tidal Wave is probably going to be cut too. Not sure what I want instead yet - probably Lightning Storm. I'm wondering if Ras Frostwhisper might also be cut. He's really great, but there's not really enough spell dam to make him amazing in this deck - perhaps a Lady Vashj for some more early plays? Or maybe I should craft a Bandersmosh...
What do you think? I think I'm benefiting from an element of surprise to some extent, but this deck has real potential to be (nearly) top tier IMO. Thanks for posting it!
Im glad the deck is working out for you :). it might not be the best but it has done its job of getting me to legend. Ironically, I have only reached legend with Shaman at its worst. I couldn't get to legend when shudderwock was broken or even when galakrond shaman was at its prime. Highlander Shaman, however, has managed to fulfill this job without any issues. As far as cards are concerned:
-Bandersmosh was later put into my list simply because of the highroll potential, which actually replaced Gidra. The card can single- handedly win you games by giving you a win condition(which control shaman currently lacks). This could range anything from an additional Alex to Madame lazul(stealing a win condition from another class lol). I am quite conservative with the resources which is why I cut Gidra. Having to spend an additional card after playing Gidra just to power her up does not really resonate with my playstyle. It feels like Gidra was meant to be a druid card because they have so many more highcost cards that has syngergy with her such as overflow, Survival of the fittest etc. Although, Gidra is more consistent than bandersmosh simply because bander doesnt always give you a card that is beneficial to the current situation resulting in it being a dead card in hand(which happens now and then). If Gidra suits you better then go for it :). I, however, like bander for the potential value that it brings hence why it is included. Whether you should craft bander depends on your dust economy. If you have lots of dust, go for it. But it is not a must-craft card for shaman, and can therefore be replaced as mentioned in the card breakdown.
-Ooze is a solid candidate for the deck. The reason why it is not included is because I barely face any rogues/warriors, which means it is essentially a 2 mana 3/2 do nothing. If you face classes with weapons frequently, then you should consider teching in an ooze or even harrison(which is useful in shaman due to the lack of draw). Manafeeder was one of the last cards I put into the deck after realizing that I needed some form of card draw, apart from far sight, to add some consistency. It can feel awkward sometimes but I feel the draw is worth it.
- Hagatha is one of my favorite Shaman cards in standard simply because of how it can turn a game around. Getting a tidal wave and/or Eye of the storm can result in huge swings which eventually can be the factor which wins you games. Against aggro, it is almost useless since you cannot afford to put down a 7 mana 5/5 without any immediate effects. This is where Siamat could shine, helping you stabilise the board. But I believe that Hagatha is a must include simply because she acts as one of your win conditions against control and midrange. And if you do manage to get her down against aggro(and get some solid spells), then it is in most cases GG.
-I love barista because of the the value generation. It feels as if though Shaman has few card draw options because the developers wants this class to rely more heavily on card generation, and Barista helps them with just that. Getting her out on 4-5 is fine if you get an extra marshspawn. Getting an extra Zephrys, Hagatha, Alex etc is just the potential she has. But it should by no means mean that you should keep her just for that purpose(very greedy). She has worked quite fine in my list but can ultimately be cut for another value card or boardclear. In regards to Earthshock replacing her, I feel like there are numerous options of dealing with buffed/tall minions already. This includes wandmaker(silence + missiles, vulpera and marshspawn( discovering hex, plague etc,), Hagatha with horrors that will cast plague, hex, torrent, Zephrys and Barista which can give you extra copies of said minions thus giving you the opportunity to discover those spells again. In addition, you have notetaker which can be used in junction with the missiles teched into our deck already, hex, torrent etc to get another copy of it. From my experience it has always been enough. However, if you feel like this is not consistent enough then, without a doubt, put in an earth shock.
- I believe tidal wave is such a lackluster card. Sure, it may heal you a lot but it does rarely clear. I see it more as a buy yourself an additional turn so that you can draw into something useful. The most important reason for it being in the deck has to do with the Fist of Ra-den. If the weapon was not in the deck, It would most certainly be cut from the deck. Lightning storm could take its place but I am generally not a big fan of the card because of the overload and the rng-based damaged(which has screwed me over so many times, always dealing 2 dmg to 3 health minions lol). I never really had issues with dealing wide boards since we have cards like breath in our deck. Also, cutting tidal wave for storm will diminish the effectiveness of Fist of Ra-den.
-I simply see Ras as a despicable dreadlord(from KotFT expansion). It can help stabilise the board by dealing with tokens. Shaman also has the spell power totem which greatly increases the effectiveness of his effect(albeit unreliably). He is one of the reasons as to why we have primordial studies and Squalhunter(also for breath) in the deck. I also regard him as a soft-taunt, meaning that the opponent will always try to spend their resources and damage on trying to get rid of him as opposed to hitting you in the face.
-I used to have Lady Vashj in an earlier build but felt she was far too inconsistent when it comes to drawing her prime. Sometimes your draw her quite early into the game, thus meaning that you get to utilize her effect. However, it also means that you will reach fatigue sooner which is very bad against control match-ups. There are also scenarios when you draw her in the end game --> 7 mana 5/4 battlecry: do nothing lmao. So I ended up cutting her from the deck. Just does not feel right in my opinion. Although it is possible to discover her from primordial studies which gives less reason to actually put her into the deck.
I have not seen highlander shaman in ages, and therefore assume that the people I face on ladder haven't either which indeed comes to serve as an element of surprise. I mean, how can they play around you if they do not know which cards you actually have in the deck :P. I highly encourage you to experiment. It is important that you adapt by teching in cards that are effective against the archetypes you tend to face(such as Ooze, earthshock etc.). Anyway, Good luck on ladder and I wish you the best ;)
Probably insanely fun but not that competitive. I like your build though, greedier the better with these sorta shammy decks ;) Maybe an Escaped Manasaber could be a consistent addition