Hearthpwn

Token Shaman: The Shaman deck where you actually want totems.

UPDATE: per request, here is legend proof: http://imgh.us/Hearthstone_Screenshot_12-12-15_15.15.59.png

Just got to legend NA today with this Token Shaman deck!

I'm honestly surprised this deck wasn't big in the meta before now; the only LoE cards are 2 copies of  Tunnel Trogg and they really aren't that key to the deck.

Let me mention that I ran a Zombie Chow in place of Worgen Infiltrator for a lot of games. I made the change because the downside of Zombie Chow seemed to be a pretty major impediment to getting lethal in some games. Worgen Infiltrator, on the other hand, is an excellent target for the many attack-boosting cards in the deck and doesn't give health to your opponent when you're pushing for lethal. 

The following winrates combine stats for both versions of the deck.

APPROXIMATE WINRATES (shortly after achieving legend 12/12)

Druid: 65%   |    Hunter: 64%   |   Mage: 60%    |    Paladin: 59%   |    Priest: 71%   |

Rogue: 75% |     Shaman: 77%   |    Warlock: 56%   |   Warrior: 46%   |

These results show a 77% winrate versus Shaman. The only sub-50% matchup according to these results was vs warrior. Warrior's removal including Brawl can be very effective.

GENERAL GAMEPLAY

The goal of the deck is pretty straightforward: take board control from the very start and use your board-dependent effects to get great trades while maintaining board control. Your most common win condition is Bloodlust. Your secondary win condition is through Doomhammer+Rockbiter Weapon for 2 5-damage hits to the face. Even without one of those specific win conditions, you can still often get lethal simply from snowballing your board advantage and playing aggressively. Just remember though that this deck is not an aggro deck. Like zoo, it emphasizes immediate board control and maintaining it throughout the game. However, trading infinitely often isn't the way to win. It's important to do the math of how much reach you can get off Bloodlust when you have to determine when it's appropriate to start ignoring your opponent's minions and push for lethal. The same applies when you don't draw a win condition; it may become critical for you to aggressively push for lethal before getting out-valued and removed from the board entirely. 

One of the general Hearthstone skills that is most useful with this deck is playing around board clears. Good thing the deck has ways to play around board clears. If you're approaching a board clear turn, electing to play minions such as Haunted Creeper, Nerubian Egg, and Loot Hoarder are great ways to reduce the value of their board clears and make an insurance policy of sorts. Another great tool you have is your Hero Power! Electing to make a totem instead of playing a 2-drop can be an excellent decision before a board clear to save cards.

CARDS COMMENTARY

Rockbiter Weapon: Excellent removal and partial win condition. This can be used on your hero early on to keep your board in tact and remove a pesky minion. It can also be used on a token for a fantastic trade and as surprise reach damage. 

Abusive Sergeant: Great card that helps make great trades and becomes a token itself.

Tunnel Trogg: There may not be that much overload in the deck, but this still a phenomenal minion. Simply getting out a 1/3 on turn 1 helps take immediate board control and give your board-dependent cards a target. It's also good for later game, as it synergizes well with your other later game cards like Ancestral Knowledge and Doomhammer. 

Worgen Infiltrator: Probably one of the more controversial minion inclusions, even for me. It trades well in the early game and is difficult to remove, making it an excellent target for your board-dependent cards. It fits the theme and doesn't give your opponent health (*cough* Zombie Chow) so I like it!

Ancestral Knowledge: This deck runs a lot of cheap minions, so card draw is very useful. Ancestral Knowledge is a great card draw mechanism; the overloaded mana crystals really don't matter that much in the mid to late game, just plan ahead so that you still have a play when you're overloaded. 

Flametongue Totem: A fantastic card all around. Don't forget that you can kill off a minion next to it and give the attack boost to the minion adjacent to the traded one as well; this way you can get phenomenal trades when you have lines of tokens on the board. It can also be a surprise card that you use for lethal. I also really like the interaction with Argent Horserider, which becomes a 4-point removal play.

Haunted Creeper: Token generating anti-aggro minion. Great target for Defender of Argus. Need I say more?

Knife Juggler: You've got a lot of cheap minions and flood, so why not run Knife Jugglers? They're very helpful against Muster for Battle and similar aggressive flood techniques, and are useful for other removal plays. 

Loot Hoarder: The inclusion of 1 Loot Hoarder is up for debate, but I really like the amount of card draw that the deck has overall with it included. It's also a good token minion.

Nerubian Egg: With this many cards that grant attack, Nerubian Egg doesn't have to be an egg for long. It synergizes phenomenally with Defender of Argus as well. 

Feral Spirit: This card gets phenomenal value. For 3 mana get 2 2-drop quality minions with Taunt that protect the rest of your board. Synergizes well with Tunnel Trogg as well. This card protects your tokens as well as your life total and can really pack a punch.

Argent Horserider: It's basically a removal spell whose effect you can increase with your other cards that generates a token afterwards. It can also push damage for lethal.

Tuskarr Totemic: Dr. 3. This card is simply fantastic. Even if it just pulls a normal totem, you're basically getting a 2-drop and your hero power for 3 mana, and your hero power is really good in this deck. It may also pull a Totem Golem, which is incredible value, or a Mana Tide Totem, which can lead you to victory if your opponent doesn't remove it. Then there's the Flametongue Totem, which of course has excellent synergies with this deck. When you play Tuskarr Totemic, make sure to play it to the left of something that you would like to get the attack boost from Flametongue Totem.

Defender of Argus: Into the fridge! This card is fantastic. You can use it to get a good trade, to stop aggro decks, to play around board clears, to activate Nerubian Egg, to draw attacks into your deathrattle minions, to push for lethal...that might be it. But that's a lot you can do with it.

Doomhammer: Only one copy is used in this deck. It's great for board control purposes and for pushing for lethal. Combos with Rockbiter Weapon really well. Notable, the 5 damage from the combo is enough to kill a Sludge Belcher, which is something that I see played against this deck a lot. 

Bloodlust: The primary win condition. There's not really too much to say about it; try to save it for lethal but you can use it to get trades if you must. 

Sea Giant: The bane of aggro Secret. You can often get Sea Giant out for absurdly cheap with this deck, and the aggro decks that tend to allow you to get him out for cheap often don't have ways to deal with it. 

MULLIGAN GUIDE

In general, you want to mulligan for your early game drop minions: Tunnel Trogg, Worgen Infiltrator, Haunted Creeper, Knife Juggler, and Nerubian Egg. If you're concerned about your early game, then Loot Hoarder is often a keep as well, but he's not really your top priority when it comes to the mulligan. Keeping your board-dependent cards (Abusive Sergeant, Flametongue Totem, Defender of Argus) is largely dependent on what other cards you have. Like if you have Nerubian Egg you may want to keep an Abusive Sergeant. Against classes with strong early game removal (like Mage) it may be better to focus on getting difficult-to-remove minions on the board (like Haunted Creeper and Nerubian Egg) instead of Knife Juggler. The matchup instructions give more specific advise on when/which to keep. Your 3-drops Argent Horserider and Tuskarr Totemic are often good to keep as well, but again dependent on what else you have. If you have a 1 and a 2 drop already, sure, keep Tuskarr Totemic. If not, it's often a difficult judgment call. Defender of Argus I'll sometimes keep if I have Coin and a solid curve. Turn 4 Defender of Argus when you have 2 minions on the board is a fantastic play, so don't automatically toss him. 

 

Druid: Name of the game is kill Darnassus Aspirant. This deck has many ways to do that. Mulligan for your typical 1-2 drops as well as Rockbiter Weapon. If you have a 1-2 attack early minion (Worgen Infiltrator, Tunnel Trogg, Haunted Creeper), probably keep Abusive Sergeant or Flametongue Totem. If you have Tunnel Trogg, consider keeping Ancestral Knowledge or Feral Spirit (especially if you have Coin).

Hunter: Mulligan for your typical early game drops. I like to keep Rockbiter Weapon. You really want to get a strong start in case it's a face hunter, so really focus on your 1-drops and Haunted Creeper. 

Mage: Mulligan is pretty typical, but try to prepare for Mana Wyrm. Keep Rockbiter Weapon. As mentioned before, try for hard-to-remove minions to play around early removal like Frostbolt. 

Priest: I think the key to beating priest is getting hard to remove minions on the board. That means trying not to break your Haunted Creeper or Nerubian Egg, both of which develop after a Nova, and using creatures like Feral Spirit and totems that don't die to lightbomb. So, I'd recommend keeping your usual cards, Rockbiter Weapon to kill Northshire Cleric, which can get the priest a lot of draw against this deck, Feral Spirit, and strongly consider Defender of Argus since he can boost health to play around board clears.