Hearthpwn

My own tweak of the semi-popular Elemental Shaman builds that are going around. By happy coincidence, it turns out to be a pretty budget-friendly deck, with just 4 Epics and no Legendaries.

I played with a netdecked version for a while and I wasn't impressed by Menacing Nimbus or Instructor Fireheart or Inara Stormcrash/Al'Akir the Windlord. So I swapped them out, adding in Imprisoned Phoenix (there weren't many choices for 2-cost elementals, I can see why Nimbus is in there) and Lightning Bolts.

15-7 at Platinum ranks, and I think 25-9 at Diamond, so I'm pleased!

Game Plan

This deck goes through distinctive phases of gameplay, and it is able to dictate the game according to its plan surprisingly often.

Basically, in the early game you do chip damage aggressively with Elementals. Then you play Doomhammer and start chipping with that too. Then you finish the game off with burst damage. Maybe that all sounds trite and common, but it's important to know what your plan is so that you don't play cards in one phase that will be needed in a future phase.

Sometimes it's right to tempo out Diligent Notetaker on 2, but not very often. It, along with all your spells, are your burst phase cards, so think twice and think hard about playing them early.

Note: You don't necessarily want to rush from one phase to another; in fact, your winrate will go up the longer you can keep the initial Elemental/chip damage phase going. The overload from Doomhammer hurts less the later you play it.

Mulligan

Mulligans with this deck are usually pretty easy.

Always keep Kindling Elemental, Wailing Vapor, Cagematch Custodian, and Granite Forgeborn (quietly the best card in the deck, which you should usually play ASAP regardless of board state even if it uses up The Coin).

Never keep Lightning Bolt, Diligent Notetaker, Rockbiter Weapon, Primal Dungeoneer, Stormstrike, Canal Slogger, Doomhammer, or Lilypad Lurker. These are not your early game plan.

I guess it's not easy to describe when to keep the remaining cards (Imprisoned Phoenix, Arid Stormer, Gyreworm). Basically, keep them if your other cards constitute a curve to support them. Otherwise, look for your super-early plays.