Hearthpwn

1-2 Drops and 1 mana spells are really important for shaman. Because of their overload, it allows much easier early turns. That way, if you overload early, you still have answers to play on your next turn.

1 Drops

This deck has 3 1 drops, which is a good number for Mid Range Shaman.

• Sir Finley Mrrgglton - I don't really focus on his hero power discovery mechanics. I look at him as just a great 1 drop. His 1/3 body allows a lot of reach and vital early game trades. His discover ability is pretty good though, as you can find useful hero powers against certain matches. For example, Lesser Heal is one of the best you can get as you don't have heals in this deck, and you can control trades pretty efficiently.
• Tunnel Trogg - Just a great buff to the Shaman mid-range/aggro archetypes overall. No need to explain why 2x are included.

2 Drops

• Totem Golem - I think the strongest card in this deck. Always coin it out if you can. It sets up the whole game for board control pretty much. Coining it out works great in this deck as you have lots of 1 mana spells you can still play on T2.
• Jeweled Scarab - It works out pretty well in this deck. The versatility of the discover mechanic provides pretty insane value.
• Flame Juggler - Better than Haunted Creeper because battlecries can't be played around.

Why isn't X card in this deck, it's usually in most mid-range archetypes.

• Flametongue Totem - I feel like this card is what has been holding mid-range shaman back. It just doesn't work well anymore like it used to. And adding other cards to support it really hurts the deck. In the past, players such as ramp druid would turtle up with lots of taunts and a flametongue totem would help turn weak minions into very strong minions. That is no longer the case.
• Haunted Creeper - Well it's supposed to be a great card. It can easily be argued as such. I just really feel that is very weak. It can be ignored as doing 1 damage isn't very threatening and doesn't have to be answered. But playing a 3/2 can put an opponent on their toes, and also damage them more to finish them off. The past mid-range shamans were bad because they included this card, and played it safe. The never shook up the early game match enough, and allowed their opponents to stabilize, and out-draw them (Shaman has poor drawn). Haunted creeper was annoying to deal with, but he just didn't contribute to winning the game and is too safe of a play.
• Brann Bronzebear - Too gimmicky. He can be played on turn 3, because of how threatening he is. But why not play an Unbound Elemental on turn 3 instead...?

Why is X card here, I don't usually see it played in most lists:

• Al'Akir the Windlord - He is a really good card in the end-games that this deck produces. His ability to double as burst damage and also provide a taunt, in a meta rife with OTK's is super viable. He shuts down so many games where the opponents win condition is some charge minion OTK. When in top deck mode, his ability to provide offense (wind-fury) and defense (taunt) is really great and really versatile.
• Fireguard Destroyer - Another really good card that doesn't get much love. One does well and is pretty hard to remove.
• Healing Wave - Great synergy with weapons (Rockbiter Weapon, Stormforged Axe, Doomhammer) as removals. Adds a consistent amount of heals. As the game keeps releasing more power creep, more heals are needed, simple as that. You either play aggro or some hybrid tempo/aggro mid-range or you run heals, simple as that. Aggro/mid-range can easily run out of steam and is inconsistent unless matched against other aggro/tempo decks. It's also great tech against all kinds of combo decks.
• Elise Starseeker - Just needed as tech against the many fatigue decks and is a solid 4 drop replacement to shredder for upcoming standard. After you run into a enough fatigue renolocks (non OTK variant) and echo mages you'll be glad you have this single card.