Hearthpwn

Crusher Classic Ancestral Shaman

I'm Crusher, and this is a guide to Ancestral Shaman, which I just used to go from Bronze 10 to Legend NA 183 in the first full season of the Classic mode.  By the time I reached Gold 7 I had a pretty solid list, and from there I piloted five slight variations on the list with a combined win rate of 57.9% to Legend NA 183.

For those of you who don’t know this deck from back in the day, it has a fun, unique style combining midrange and control elements that plays very different from the usual shaman lists you see on ladder.  It relies on powerful card combinations like Injured Blademaster + Ancestral Healing and Earth Elemental + [cardAncestral Spirit[/card] and/or Faceless Manipulator to build an endless wall of beefy taunts. This blocks combos and aggro’s damage, often forcing them to simply concede.  In the meantime it survives off Shaman’s stellar removal package.  I took this to legend back in Season 3, and I think it’s still viable today in Classic.

This list is still probably not optimal, so I’m excited to see what insights come from community stats in HSReplay if people start trying this deck out.

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Mulligans

Generally keep the following cards, but you might want to avoid duplicates at the same cost for curve considerations.

Druid (assume Ramp): Ancestral Healing, Far Sight, Hex, Injured Blademaster, Mana Tide Totem, Sen'jin Shieldmasta

Warlock (assume Zoo): Ancestral Healing, Earth Shock, Lightning Bolt, Wild Pyromancer, Hex (in case Handlock), Injured Blademaster, Lightning Storm, Sen'jin Shieldmasta

Rogue (assume Miracle): Ancestral Healing, Lightning Bolt, Bloodmage Thalnos, Wild Pyromancer, Far Sight, Injured Blademaster, Lightning Storm, Sen'jin Shieldmasta

Hunter (assume Face): Ancestral Healing, Earth Shock, Lightning Bolt, Bloodmage Thalnos, Wild Pyromancer, Injured Blademaster, Sen'jin Shieldmasta, Earth Elemental

Warrior (assume Control): Ancestral Healing, Earth Shock, Ancestral Spirit, Far Sight, Injured Blademaster, Sen'jin Shieldmasta, Cairne Bloodhoof

Shaman (assume Midrange): Ancestral Healing, Earth Shock, Lightning Bolt, Bloodmage Thalnos, Wild Pyromancer, Far Sight, Injured Blademaster, Lightning Storm, Sen'jin Shieldmasta, maybe Fire Elemental if you have some early game.

Mage (...assume Aggro I guess?): Ancestral Healing, Earth Shock, Lightning Bolt, Wild Pyromancer, Injured Blademaster, Sen'jin Shieldmasta, Earth Elemental, and Ragnaros the Firelord because its just too good against freeze.

Priest (assume Control): Ancestral Healing, Earth Shock, Lightning Bolt, Ancestral Spirit, Far Sight, Injured Blademaster, Mana Tide Totem, Sen'jin Shieldmasta, Cairne Bloodhoof

Paladin (assume Control I guess): Ancestral Healing, Earth Shock, Ancestral Spirit Far Sight, Injured Blademaster, Mana Tide Totem, Sen'jin Shieldmasta

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Matchups

Here is a breakdown of individual matchups on my climb from Gold 7 to Legend.  Only matchups I faced at least 9 times appear separately, otherwise they’re grouped under “Other”.  This is sorted from statistically best to worst matchup.  Sample gameplay is linked for each matchup.

Other: 14-3 (82.4%)
This deck is strong against off meta decks. Just stick to the general game plan.

Mage (too varied to separate): 11-5 (68.8%)
Mage is all over the place so this is a bit tricky.  Remember that Earth Shock can unfreeze minions in a pinch, and Ragnaros the Firelord still fires when frozen.  Against aggro, be very protective of your life total, since they have good reach that can go over taunt.  Against Freeze, only worry once you've been hit by Alexstrasza and make sure you keep attacking face when possible.

Handlock: 11-6 (64.7%)
Try to make sure your Earth Shocks land on Twilight Drakes and your Hexes land on 8/8s.  Be patient, and don't attack until you're absolutely sure you can handle both [/card]Molten Giant[/card]s coming down on the same turn (especially with Shadowflame), even if your opponent is at full health.  I'm serious.  Usually you will win with little to no attacking face, and they will just concede once they run out of cards.  Handlock has the most vicious combo amongst meta decks, doing 24-28 damage, so once they get up to 10 mana, try to make sure you have a taunt down, and guard your life total.  Try to get them to use their Ironbeak Owls on lesser targets or their own Ancient Watchers before playing Ancestral Spirit.  Hold off on Ragnaros the Firelord as long as possible, as he has a tendency to go face.

Token Druid: 11-6 (64.7%) and Ramp/Taunt Druid: 37-22 (62.7%)
You're mostly focused on four cards here, 2 x Keeper of the Grove, Big Game Hunter, and The Black Knight.  Usually you want to wait to play to play Ancestral Spirit, Earth Elemental, and Ragnaros the Firelord until you've baited out the respective answers.  They may even play Big Game Hunter without a target since most Shaman's don't have one.  The Black Knight has a lot of value here.  Earth Shock usually is good for the Ancient of War; it removes 6+ health.  Hex is good for anything with 5+ health, unless they are playing a lot of taunts; then you'll want to hit something bigger.  Don't be afraid to use it early on anything that gets Innervated out.  Getting a Mana Tide Totem behind a taunt can often win you the game or at least bait out a Keeper of the Grove.

Miracle Rogue: 27-16 (62.8%)
Try to find Bloodmage Thalnos/Wild Pyromancer + Lightning Storm to clear a Conceal play.  Make sure you are not too overloaded when that play is likely to happen turn 5 or 6.  Sap is the most important card here, and some Rogues only play 1.  Try to get it out on Injured Blademaster with either Ancestral Healing or Ancestral Spirit so that your later taunts can stick.  Count out their combo damage carefully, generally 16, 20, 22, or 28 with 7, 8, 9, or 10 mana respectively, but less if they've already spent certain pieces like Shadowstep or Cold Blood.  Once you're in range, you need to make sure you always have taunt down to block combo, even if it means Ancestral Healing on a totem.  You have lots of answers to 3/3s (Lightning Bolt, Fire Elemental), but you'll probably need Hex for anything bigger.  If you can, save an Earth Shock or Hex for Edwin VanCleef, but don't move yourself in combo range to save an answer.  Faceless Manipulator on any taunt is pretty good here.  Taunt wall is your main win condition here.

Control Warrior: 13-9 (59.1%)
This game will usually go pretty long, maybe even into fatigue.  Try to make sure your Earth Shocks hit meaningful targets like Cairne Bloodhoof or Sylvanas and your Hexes hit the biggest threats, like Ragnaros the Firelord or Alexstrasza.  Beware 12 damage + weapon attack from Grommash Hellscream + Cruel Taskmaster and play taunts accordingly.  Only put two threats down at any time until you've finished out the one Brawl most Warriors are running.  Cairne Bloodhoof is strong here and a good Faceless Manipulator target.  Don't spend removal to deal with Acolyte of Pain even if they get to draw more cards, and don't worry at all about Armorsmith.  There's plenty of time to take their armor down.  You'll probably want to save one Ancestral Healing for The Black Knight, since an extra hard removal goes a long way in this matchup and they don't usually run taunt.  Favor trading on board to using removal, since you're unlikely to rush them down, and they are likely to have removal for your minions.

Zoo/Murlocs: 20-19 (51.3%)
Focus on being mana efficient, not card efficient.  Earth Shock is good for Leper Gnome and Young Priestess and Lightning Bolt is good for Knife Juggler and Dire Wolf Alpha.  Ideally Hex lands on Doomguard, but you may have to settle for Dark Iron Dwarf.  Getting a Wild Pyromancer and/or Lightning Storm is the key to success here.  Try to make sure they take out at least 3 minions, otherwise wait if you can.  You need them to go a long way to win.  If they can't top deck silence, Ancestral Spirit on an Earth Elemental can often end the game.

Sunshine/Midrange Hunter: 4-5 (44.4%)
I usually avoid hero power after turn 2, it will only make their Unleash the Hounds stronger.  Their hard removal is rough, so try to get Ancestral Spirits down to protect priority threats.  Try to have one big minion and one small minion to hedge your bets against Unleash the Hounds and Deadly Shot.  Preserve your life total as best you can, and don't be afraid to use Ancestral Healing primarily for taunt.  Don't attack into traps with a big taunt, since it's likely Freezing Trap.  Find a smaller minion to do it, or just let the taunt do its thing without attacking.

Face Hunter: 9-13 (40.9%)
This one is a bit tricky, but you'll want to against be mana efficient, not card efficient.  Try to remove their minions as fast as you can and get taunt to stick. You have to play around Explosive Trap and Misdirection.  For the latter you will often want to drop other minions and hero power even if they might be lost to Explosive Trap just to avoid accidentally attacking your own face.

Midrange Shaman: 5-14 (26.3%)
Hex and Earth Shock are a nightmare against you.  Try to bait them out on lesser targets before dropping Ancestral Spirit or Earth Elemental.  Mana Tide Totem and Flametongue Totem are key for your opponent, and it's best to make sure you hold some removal for them.  You may even have to Hex them, but ideally those go toward Fire Elemental or Azure Drake.  Shaman's have pretty good reach so preserve your life, but at least it seems like you don't have to worry about Bloodlust; no one is running.  Save Lightning Storm for when they have minions down that can actually do a decent amount of damage.

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Video Guide

A short, poorly edited video guide to this deck.