Tuskarr Aggro Shaman [Top 5 Legend][70% WR]
- Last updated Apr 20, 2016 (Explorers)
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Wild
- 18 Minions
- 10 Spells
- 2 Weapons
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Unknown
- Crafting Cost: 1960
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 4/14/2016 (Explorers)
- semp0k
- Registered User
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- 4
- 20
- 25
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Region:
N/A
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Total Deck Rating
198
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Don't overload before turn 5 almost ever if you have Doomhammer in hand.
- Realise that the card is called Doomhammer and not SMOrchammer. Often, trading with Doomhammer is better than blindly going face with it.
- Plan 2-3 turns ahead. A good shaman player always deals with overload in advance.
- 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.
Interesting variation on the archetype here. The introduction of more early game minions to establish board control is definitely cool. I play a lot of aggro shaman and normally I'm just crossing my fingers for my tunnel trogg and totem golem during the mulligan. So far I'm still liking the traditional variation better since I've been able to establish board control with only a few minions, which when you get lucky enough to pull it off gives you access to all sorts of things. However if you've reached legend rank 5 I'm sure your deck is better than what I use. If my board control game starts getting shut down as I climb ranks I'll likely switch over to this. Thanks for the guide, very insightful.
Very nice deck here . I really wanna play it but I can't yet (don't have all the cards yet)
I would like to know if this deck will work in standard or wild after nerfs and how would look like .
Hope the more experienced players can say their opinion about this .
Yeah I definitely think the deck will be here in standard!
Why do people hate aggro decks ??
I personally love aggro and especially face decks :D .
Makes the games much more fun when you can do a lot of damage early in in the game and the games take less time meaning you can get to legend faster, earn more gold etc . etc .
This is a fair statement. Unfortunately, it rustles the Johnnies of the HS community. Aggro is convenient, but is played so much (probably due to the said convenience), that's why all the hate. A healthy metagame contains all styles of play, though. And a skilled player has a grasp on most--if not all--styles.
this deck sucks pretty hard, i think you got very lucky with your matchups
I don't think you got to rank 5 legend by playing a bad deck and just getting lucky...
personnaly i would not. doom hammer is not essential in this deck plus they are getting removed in standard. please research before being stupid.
Are you stupid or what, DoomHammer is one of the essentials cards here and they are from the classic set, I hope you were trolling or something...
maybe a stupid question, but is there a replacement for [card]Sir Finley Mrrgglton[/card]?
ok, ty - i guess i will go with[card] Ancestral Knowledge[/card] :)
7-1, and I just made it to do quest lol, crazy reach in this one. Thx
It basically looks like an aggro shaman with tuskarr, instead of ancestral knowledge.
As with all variants, if it works for you, awesome. If not, learn to play with it.
Obviously, no silence tools hurt a bit, as well as the lack of card draw, so this deck plays a more tempo/burst kind of gameplay, instead of the traditional smorc (face).
Congrats on the deck.
i feel you bro
A game should not be won in 3 turns...
You are right , games should be won on the mulligan...
The sad part is this deck loses nearly nothing in standard. Months of Freeze Mage vs Face Shaman are gonna be real fun...
You forgot Haunted Creeper and Leper Gnome/Knife Juggler nerfs
If you win with this deck in 3 turns you must be super lucky or 1 of the best pro players
Sure Tuskarr provides a body, but you need silence and card draw...