Hearthpwn

www.twitch.tv/donniemckarlo

Introduction

with 5 out of 9 of my classes shiny, I decided to tackle the hardest challenge first - making a shaman deck that would be enjoyable to grind for 350+ games.

Those of you who have heard of me, should know that I pride myself on creative while at the same time competitive deckbuilding and looking for innovations that warrant an experimental approach.

Incidentally I wanted to explore the classes abilities to tackle the current meta, and very welcome cards in that matter are Earth Shock and Hex. So I thought I'd make an effort.

The first iteration was seemingly a success with a record of 6-0 till I met my match in a freezemage. But that was just the beginning of a long slide downwards, so I had to take a look at it again. And I concluded that most of my success could be attributed to the lone Charged Hammer in the deck. So I decided I'd run 2 copies and make necessary adjustments. 

The following list is what I came up with, and after getting used to it, sported an impressive winrate. 

I can't offer any actual proof, since I was running the deck on my other computer where I don't have decktracker installed, but considering a lot of disconnects and various other problems, I would say it had a solid winrate of around 70% in a sample of around 30 games. 

Started tracking stats on my preffered machine and currently it's a 12-10 (55%) at rank 6. Some games weren't recorded though, and I must have more wins then that, because I started tracking at rank 7 0 stars.

The Deck

It's hard to call this a control deck since it lacks some defining characteristics, mainly big drops but also healing. I can assure you though, it absolutely plays like one. The longer you will drag out a game, the more favoured you will be. Only exception being the enemy running Elise Starseeker but that's why we have one of our own. 

On to that point, this is not a deck designed to cater to elise, but I just think of her as a tech card in general. I prefer the idea of always AT LEAST having a chance against heavy control decks just by adding one single card in the form of elise. As a slight bonus, there are definitely cards you can afford keeping in your hand to be legendaries later, due to irrelevance depending on the matchup or stage in the game. Also, there is card generation available in the deck in forms of Nexus-Champion Saraad and Brann Bronzebeard + Jeweled Scarab.

What mostly differentiates this deck from standard control decks is it's great start that can carry you to a good and healthy board position in the midgame. And the go to card that accomplishes this is Charged Hammer. It's an ok card, as you prepare to change your hero power, but once you get that guaranteed 2 damage ping you are a control monster.

When you compare similar iterations of hunter and Steamwheedle Sniper or priest and Auchenai Soulpriest - those are board state dependant and disruptable. Whereas you just need your weapon destroyed and the opponent will be stuck with a struggle to mount any kind of board against you with a very potent option of removal at your disposal at all times.

The combinations how you deal damage to specific targets with this deck are quite vast and will come to you slowly while playing the deck. I can vouch, that if you play smartly and with foresight, you can control the board really, really well.

But in addition to that, you have options of finishing the game early, thanks to an array of early game value minions that can possibly set up a Thunderbluff Valiant which is a huge threat and can lead to really big bursts of damage if you can set up a double inspire turn.

This double inspire thing is something I stumbled upon rather accidentally after I added the 2nd hammer. You would basically hold off on your last charge of the hammer to use your hero power twice, when the hammer breaks. This interaction is not limited to the first hammer being played, you can also use it with the second one, for a double jolt.

Though it may seem insignificant, it has a lot of relevance when you consider cards like the valiant and saraad. And while it may seem slow, this deck has all the potential to get to that stage where you can afford a slow play like this.

Card Explanations

Zombie Chow - your go to minion as far as control decks are concerned, using only one copy, because we have other options and don't want to compromise too much of our valuable options in the lategame

2xEarth Shock - amazing for either the aggro or control matchup with loads of targets in any stage of the game

2xTunnel Trogg - not for aggro purposes but it serves as an early body that can become increasingly relevant for trading up. This also keeps it's usefulness in the late game where you will be able to save up on more overloads. As a slight bonus, with aggro shaman being a thing, you can fake out your opponent as to what deck you are playing, thus leading them to panic overcommit and such.

2xAncestral Knowledge - having and array of options at all times is key to a control deck and these cards provide necessary steam.

Acidic Swamp Ooze - just a meta call which serves as a good enough vanilla 2 drop.

Flametongue Totem - a simple tool to help you trade up your minions, excellent, though it's only one copy, do not use it sparingly - whenever you see a value play, go for it, there's a lot of options for that in the deck.

2xJeweled Scarab - I think shaman just might be the best class for this card. The 3 cost slot is simply outstanding, just to name a few - Hex, Lightning Storm, Tuskarr Totemic, Elemental Destruction. Also you will find a lot of cards from the neutral slot, that at the very least are decent in the context of this deck. It's rarely a good turn 2 play and is best kept to suit your needs on the fly rather than meticulously going for the same cards in a strict fashion.

Lava Shock - not too much overload in the deck, but just enough to warrant one copy.

2x Totem Golem - zombie chow v2 as far as board control is concerned. It's really not that great in the later stages of the game, but can still make a difference thanks to the totem tag.

Brann Bronzebeard - lot's of value battlecries to take abuse of and even playable on turn 2 with coin in some situations to set up a turn 3 tuskarr totemic.

2xHex - Amazingly flexible card, that doesn't really shine in most aggro matchups but is a beast in every other. Premium removal with built in silence for just 3 mana.

2xLightning Storm - cheap board clear with a mild powerboost from the occasional spellpower boost. Advisable to use only at around turns 6-7 and otherwise only when of the utmost need.

2xTuskarr Totemic - great diceroll card that has a 37,5% chance of being very beneficial, 12,5% very broken and the rest of the time, it's just nice to have that free hero power.

2xCharged Hammer - the namesay of the deck and arguably the most important piece. In the introduction I covered mostly all that is to say about it though. Even with all the totem hero power synergies, it's best to get this thing broken asap.

Elise Starseeker - a countermeasure against the super lategame oriented decks with not much sacrifice made to utility or statlines for it's cost.

Azure Drake - a little bit of extra fuel as well as that guaranteed spellpower.

2xThunder Bluff Valiant - There's a lot of arguments towards him becoming obsolete with the change to hero power, but I can vouch that is not the case. There are also natural totems in the deck that can be made use of and the statline is very nice in general. Shouldn't be disregarded for the lack of obvious synergy.

Nexus-Champion Saraad - a nice late game addition to the deck that further enhances your options. A little bit of a gamble though.

2xFire Elemental - a very respectable ping to minion that often leads to it's death with various means of pings or additional trades. Then there's the 6/5 body. Exceptional.

more to come soon