Hearthpwn

Legend Rank 5 Proof: https://imgur.com/a/WlFC6

Hey guys, I'm here to show you the deck I made and hit Rank 5 Legend with this season. I'll also give the guide to a few key matchups and talk about a few tech decisions I made and why I made them.

Basic Outline:

So the key concepts of the deck are fairly similar to normal Aggro Shaman lists. You build a strong early game board presence using cards such as Tunnel Trogg, Totem Golem, and Feral Spirit and then burst them down in 1 or 2 turns from about 15-20 HP using your burn spells like Crackle and Lava Burst along with the ever so overpowered Doomhammer.

Now what sets this deck apart from other Aggro Shaman builds is that it plays more like a tempo deck such as Mech Mage than a regular face deck. It attempts to hold the early board actually going for favorable trades and goes face whenever there is extra damage. You use cheap removal found in Rockbiter Weapon and Lightning Bolt early on and then just capitalize on your early lead.

Matchups and Mulligans:

The Mulligan Strategy is actually very similar to that of Zoolock, wherein we hard mulligan for 1 and 2 drops and keep 3 drops if we already have solid 1 and 2 drops or a 1 drop while holding coin. You generally look for all 1 drops, Haunted Creeper, Totem Golem. Knife Juggler can be kept in the case that you have a hand which has strong early game already or you have a one drop and Feral Spirit or Tuskarr Totemic to follow it up with. You also generally never want to keep Argent Horserider. You almost always want to keep Doomhammer if you're up against Warrior or Priest.

Druid (60/40):

You want to play this matchup as if you're Zoolock. Simply establish strong early game board presence with minions and favorable trades and you should be golden. The only problem is usually Ancient of War due to the lack of any silence in this deck, which can usually be dealt with using burn spells.

Hunter (50/50):

Not the best matchup. Just keep trading. Trade and trade and trade, and them burst them down in two turns. You really want to look for your Feral Spirit and they are really key in this matchup.

Secret Paladin (60/40): 

Usually secretdin is a bad matchup for Aggro Shaman, however, since our deck is more minion-centric and plays more for the board than regular Aggro Shaman builds, it actually is a good matchup. You definitely want to keep clearing their boards if you can because of cards like Blessing of Kings. After you have a sizable lead in board state, start SMOrcing.

Rogue (80/20):

Almost an insta-win. Just keep SMOrcing. Only kill really threatening cards. This includes Violet Teacher, Azure Drake, Gadgetzan Auctioneer, and Bloodmage Thalnos.

Zoolock (45/55):

Look for cheap minions. Many people make the mistake of keeping their removal but you simply want to look for minions. This is so you can put pressure ASAP and keep the trades in your favor. You want to be the aggressor and not play on the back foot.

Renolock (50/50):

Simply put, this game just depends on whether or not they are able to draw Reno Jackson. Play as you would against any other control deck. Play around Molten Giant if possible.

Priest (40/60):

You want to keep Doomhammer in this matchup. If they don't have Deathlord early on, you are favorite to win, otherwise it's a tough matchup. Just play around AoE and you should be good.

Control Warrior (50/50):

You want to keep Doomhammer here also. Just SMOrc here. Only cards that you want to kill ASAP and as effectively as possible are Armorsmith and Acolyte of Pain.

Patron Warrior (70/30);

EZPZ. Just go face man. Face is goooood. Only cards you want to kill are same as Control Warrior with an addition of Frothing Berserker. You want to be applying as much pressure as you can with minions so that they cannot have a turn for Patron Flood.

Tempo Mage (70/30):

Again, just go for good early game trades and kill their Mana Wyrms and Flamewakers. 

Freeze Mage (65/35):

This one is a bit tricky. You want to kill them as fast as possible, before they have a chance to reset their health to 15 using that one pesky dragon. Just go as fast as possible. A neat trick is to pierce through Ice Block using Leper Gnome if they have Doomsayer up, though that situation doesn't arise too often. The main thing is to realise when it is just not worth it to use your burn spells to kill Doomsayer and just letting your board die.

Tips and Tricks:

1. Coin Totem Golem into a one drop such as Leper Gnome is a very strong play as it lets you play a 3 drop on turn 3.
2. It is crucial to realise when you want to take Life Tap and when you want to take Steady Shot using Finley. For example, I prefer steady shot against zoo and warrior whereas I like Life Tap against Priests.
3. Don't overload before turn 5 almost ever if you have Doomhammer in hand.
4. Realise that the card is called Doomhammer and not SMOrchammer. Often, trading with Doomhammer is better than blindly going face with it.
5. Plan 2-3 turns ahead. A good shaman player always deals with overload in advance.
6. See the state of your hand and decide how aggressive you want to be. Eg- If I have to Lava Bursts in hand, I probably want to go face and end the game ASAP, whereas if I have minions then I probably want to trade favorably a bit more.

Card Choices:

Tuskarr Totemic: I think this card is severely underrated. It helps in providing solid early game presence. Consider the things you can get out of it. Flametongue Totem, Mana Tide Totem, and Totem Golem are simply bonkers. Even if you get just a regular totem,  you really are not that behind on tempo! It's a great card with huge upside potential and and little to no downside risk. Also it synergises really well with Knife Juggler.

Knife Juggler over Flame Juggler: The amount of synergy that this card has with this deck is insane. Tuskarr Totemic, Feral Spirit and Haunted Creeper synergise so well with this card it would be stupid to not play it.

Flametongue Totem: Flame tongue works really well because often it can generate just so much value. It can be used for both value trading and SMOrcing. Furthermore, it synergizes really well with Argent Horserider and Haunted Creeper, due to the sticky nature of the cards. I play only 1 because getting two in the early game just sucks and can be really tilting.

Ancestral Knowledge or the lack thereof: I don't like this card too much because often you just draw it early game and you're stuck with a dead card and it just feels awkward. I'd rather just have more consistent early game.

Lava Shock or the lack thereof: I don't like this card because our deck is more board oriented. You rarely ever overload for more than 2 mana in the early game and hence it usually just acts as a 0 mana deal 2 damage, is which quite underwhelming. 

 

And that's it folks! Feel free to write to me on Hearthpwn or comment underneath if you have any questions. If you'd like to talk to me personally you can always add me on Battle.Net, my gamertag is sempok#1676. Thank you!

 P.S - I understand why some people might think the deck is bad, but at least mention a reason for it instead of blatantly just saying it's bad without any basis for it. I hit rank 5 legend with it. I'd argue that doesn't really happen with a bad deck.