Hearthpwn

Last year on July 22, 2014; Naxxramas was released. At that moment I played Shaman. I have never really been interested in playing Shaman, but to me there was a cool new card released: Reincarnate. As the Quarters were opened and new cards were available I continued to build a deck working around this one card. Reincarnate a Sylvanas Windrunner, Reincarnate a Sludge Belcher with Ancestral Spirit to copy it. Using Reincarnate on Kel'Thuzad to make a powerful Reanimated Army of Risen Minions!! Even Baron Rivendare were useful with his double deathrattle effect. It was actually mostly a Deathrattle deck back then. The way of the my decks back then was aggressive tactic with Bloodlust with Haunted Creeper tokens. All in all I thought I finally had a deck fitting for my name (not my actual name, but my Avatar name - it is inspired by the Death Knight in Warcraft 3...) ANYWAY!

I soon learned that Reincarnate wouldn't be good enough for the meta unless used on a powerful minion and that required the deck to outlast the early- and mid-game before those minions would be available. So moved on... UNTIL on 8th December 2014 when GvG came out! Piloted Shredder, Dr. Unbalanced and defensive sustain minions like Annoy-o-Tron and Antique Healbot to make the deck sustain more and even maybe gain value from Reincarnating the Shredder... but no still no good. It was even worse with the BRM release on April 3 2015. So I had sort of forgotten all about this deck entirely.

TGT was released this summer and most people including myself was still convinced that the Patron Warrior was still the best deck around. But at every release it is fun to experiment and Shaman did receive some pretty cool cards like Elemental Destruction and Healing Wave. So like other people I began to visualize and create a control type of Shaman deck with Malygos and spellpower. At some point this last week Monday the 5th October I was playing friendly games with another college student when I had that bold idea of using my old Reincarnate deck, but it had to be up to date - so I used the new Joust cards, the big AOE, big minions only and I suddenly had a pretty good deck.

This is how it all began.

Difficulty: 5/5

Like any other game you'll play you are forced to play passively the early game. Having Ancestral Knowledge used on turn 2 may not be the best choice since it denies you from using AOE on turn 3 and Face Hunters tend to have a board up and running at turn.

If you do not draw into AOE or Healing Wave you'll be screwed. Therefore the mulligan is important. Be sure to pass up the Lava Shock or Ancestral Knowledge if you do not have a Healing Wave, Lightning Storm or Elemental Destruction in your opening hand.

Even though the AOE cards are crucial in this match-up keep in mind what you'll be capable of doing next turn. If you have no way to answer what he throws down next turn or you have denied yourself a taunt minion, then maybe you'll have to wait another turn before  using it. I recommend using and AOE at turn 3 since you would want to have Taunt minion at turn 5.

If everything goes as planned you'll be able to chuck down taunt minions at turn 5 and 6 keeping him from using minions on your face, but his Hero Power is going to put a timer on the game, so do not trade with him unless if in your favor.

The Charged Hammer is a grey zone card in this match up since you need to control the board, but you do not want to take too much damage to the face, but you want the Hero Power to make it easier. If you get to wield your Charged Hammer, try not to hit too many minions with it since it speeds up the game for the Face Hunter and you will not be able to stabilize until late-game. Use it mostly on his face, but be careful not to also run into Explosive Trap.

Like many other decks, facing against a Face Hunter can be really annoying when he gets all the top decks, but it is not impossible you have a little bit of luck in your favor too.

Difficulty: 2/5

Like any other Tempo decks out there: If they can't get you before turn 11, then you are most likely going to win. The early game is all about being patient and have self-control. Do not panic if you have Elemental Destruction and he have 3 minions out on turn 3. Save it until you get a lot of value out of it. Lightning Storm is not as powerful and should be used when it fits.

Charged Hammer is awesome in this and other tempo matchups since you'll want to have the 2 dmg Hero Power out as soon as possible and you will not in most cases be bothered too much by hitting his minions with the hammer since you should be able to throw down your taunts and they'll keep the game running until you have Healing Wave or board control.

In late game you have Dr. Boom and Ragnaros the Firelord to keep pressure on the board. You have Master Jouster, Earth Elemental and Sludge Belcher to keep your Hero save. You can also try and set up some Reincarnate and Ancestral Spirit combos.

Whether it is on your taunt minions to copy it (remember that Master Jouster will not have taunt if copied) - Sylvanas Windrunner to steal an enemy minion - copy Ragnaros the Firelord to have two Fireball throwing minions on the board or Reincarnate Kel'Thuzad to secure complete and utter board control.