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Dragon Control

  • Last updated Sep 28, 2016 (Karazhan)
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Wild

  • 15 Minions
  • 13 Spells
  • 2 Weapons
  • Deck Type: Ranked Deck
  • Deck Archetype: Control Shaman
  • Crafting Cost: 15400
  • Dust Needed: Loading Collection
  • Created: 6/24/2016 (Old Gods)
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After the release of Karazhan's last wing I thought I'd give this deck another try with some of the new cards and it's working out pretty well so far. If you're looking for a deck that includes some fun cards and plays differently to the curve-oriented decks dominating the meta (but doesn't auto-lose to them) then give it a shot.

Overview

I experimented with various Control Shaman set-ups and this one seems to be the most consistent. Enough board clear and life gain to survive aggro but enough threats to wear down other control decks. 

Your early game will consist of controlling the board with your early game tools and hitting the totem button to reduce the cost of Thing from Below. You want to take control of the board as early as you can once you've cleared your opponent's minions and outvalue them with your lategame. Against other slow decks, it's essential that you play as the aggressor: take the board as early as you can and force them to react to you rather than the other way around. 

Card Changes

Removed: 2 x Doomsayer, Ancestral Knowledge, Blackwing Corruptor, Emperor Thaurissan

Added: 2 x Spirit Claws, Bloodmage Thalnos, Healing Wave, Sylvanas Windrunner

Spirit Claws was the reason I revisited this deck. I had my doubts over it's consistency at first but so far it's been great. Even without the spell-damage boost, you can ping off divine shields (something the previous version of the deck struggled with) or get the extra hit on a minion when your Lightning Storm rolls too low. With 2 copies of this plus Bloodmage, we were able to get rid of Doomsayer. I still like the card, but it's a terrible top-deck and harder to get value out of now that Kindly Grandmother is a thing. Over the course of the game, you'll get more value on average out of Spirit Claws + Bloodmage than you will from 2 x Doomsayer and the new approach also helps our Healing Wave jousts. Speaking of Healing Wave, we now run 2 copies since we'll be tanking extra face damage from the Spirit Claws.

Blackwing Corruptor was too midrangey and low value, plus we have Spirit Claws as an extra source of (conditional) 3 damage. We also never really had a hand-size big enough to make full use of Emperor Thaurissan, who we can reluctantly live without by managing overload better. In their place, we've gone Sylvanas Windrunner, who is too useful to ignore against cards like Rag, Arcane Giant or C'Thun. With a bit of spell damage, you can also use Stormcrack to kill her yourself. I also tried to fit Barnes in somewhere but pulling Twilight Drake or Thing From Below isn't good enough. If you wanted to make this work, I'd recommend dropping the dragon synergy for more deathrattles and N'Zoth, the Corruptor.

Matchups 

In general, the deck is strong vs. Zoo and aggro due to the 5 taunts and 5 board clears (including Chillmaw). You usually don't even need a win condition in these games, just use your defensive tools to run them out of resources. Most "midrange" decks tend to have pretty low mana curves in the current meta so as long as you get good value from your board clear and save Hex for the right targets, you should be fine against those too. 

Midrange decks with higher curves and lots of fatties that don’t die to Elemental Destruction are really tough, however. C'Thun Druid, Yogg Druid and Tempo Warrior fall into this category. Control the board, get as much value out of your removal as you can and hope they don't draw well. If it goes your way, you'll eventually run them out of cards and overpower them with your lategame.

Against control, it's vital that you play the aggressor and curve out well from turn 4 onwards. With the addition of Elise, you should be able to put down more threats than they have removal. If you can make them use multiple cards to deal with one of your threats you're in a good position. Just don't over-extend into AOE and never play Elise until you've seen N'Zoth/C'Thun/Grommash from your opponent.