Hearthpwn

Update: I was not expecting this many people to upvote the deck, thank you all for your support in making Shaman great again :)

Update 2: I cut 2 cultists for 2 Tidal surges, much more of a controlly feel.

Hello everyone! I am GayPirate, a Shaman enthusiast and Shaman deckbuilder. Control shaman has been my favourite archetype for almost 2 years now, and I love adapting my card choices based on each meta. Given that this meta is quite board-centric early, playing for board and generating value a-la-priest is the most effective way to reach the late game. So I came up with this tempo heavy control shaman deck that's quite fun to play but tricky to pilot.

Mulligan:

General: Your mulligans are generally your small minions: Wandmaker, Menacing Nimbus, Venomous Scorpid, Tidal Surge in aggro matchups. I also like Serpentshrine Portal if I have other early game as well, and Primordial Studies really helps with Landslide. 

Specific: Devolving Missiles is a great card in general that can be kept against the likes of Paladin and Warrior (Priest also if it's miracle). Kazakus, Golem Shaper is a good keep against slower decks, whereas keeping Lightning Bloom allows for big swing turns early, which is great in tempo heavy matchups, especially if you can bloom out an Inara Stormcrash that the opponent can't deal with (great into Rogue, Hunter, Paladin for example).

General tips: Don't be afraid to race your opponent if you get a good start; the deck has enough card generation and tempo/anti-tempo tools that you are able to SMOrc down your aggro opponents if given the opportunity. In control matchups, your aggression is not nearly as intimidating, which is when you'll have to rely on "The combo".

The combo: Al'Akir the Windlord with Nightmare paired with a Diligent Notetaker, or 2 with a Lightning Bloom for a maximum of 30 damage.

Matchups:

Mage: use your early minions to chip as much damage as possible in the early game, use them to soak up Mask of C'Thun damage and force their burn on your minions. Use part of the combo for lethal. Slightly unfavoured.

 Rogue: Weapon rogues are one of the "race" matchups. Try to generate enough board presence that they cannot ignore your minions, and if they do, reach turn 8 and tidal wave up to full. Even/Slightly Favoured.

Miracle/Secret Rogue: A classic control vs tempo deck situation, try to gain a tempo lead and force the rogue to play from behind; Landslide is great in this matchup. Unfavoured.

Paladin: Devolving Missiles is the key to this matchup. Don't be afraid to use it with Diligent Notetaker to get more to your hand; as a control deck you are definitely able to win the long game without the combo. Landslide is also a great card to have. Slightly Favoured.

Priest: Full 30 damage combo needed, or just play to fatigue since you have even less draw than a Priest. Not sure who is favoured in this matchup, but it's probably about even. 

Warrior: Try to keep their boards in check and try to generate tools to run them out of resources. Don't dream their Alex unless it wins you the game. Even.

Hunter: Same as the Paladin matchup except Devolving Missiles is less valuable, whereas Landslide is more valuable. Get out that Inara Stormcrash early if you can and find your healing. Even.

Demon Hunter: Against OTK, pressure as quickly as possible and try to put large minions in play as soon as you can. Deathrattle DH folds to Devolving Missiles and Tidal Wave. Favoured against Deathrattle, slightly unfavoured against OTK.

Control Warlock: Gather as many combo pieces as you can as soon as possible, and pray Tickatus is in their bottom few cards. Unfavoured.

Gibberling Druid: Landslide is the key to this matchup, and Tidal Wave puts the final nail in the coffin. I haven't played this matchup enough to get a good feel of it, but it might be even/slightly unfavoured if you don't get your board clear.

Shaman: Since you are the only Shaman on ladder, do whatever you want.

Add me on Discord GayPirate#2579 if you have any questions about the deck. Have fun!