Totems May, Totems Might!
- Last updated Aug 20, 2016 (Karazhan)
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Wild
- 17 Minions
- 13 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Totem Shaman
- Crafting Cost: 3300
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 8/21/2016 (Karazhan)
- klimon
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Total Deck Rating
24
Be the totems I wish tonight!
I remember playing during the beta, when I was ignorant of what a "meta" was or how good or bad a card was. I loved Shaman, and for a few weeks I thought Totemic Might was actually a good card! I mean, hey, my hero power lived longer... FOR FREE!
Sadly, I got better at the game and realized how wrong I was!
But now, with the advent of that one FABULOUS night in Kharazan, I can finally dust off that 0-cost wonder and bring it out to play! The best BM is to take down a Zoo or Patron warrior with a deck with TOTEMIC MIGHT!
And it's not just VIABLE, it's GREAT and FUN! I'm running an 80% win rate currently, sprinting from rank 16 to 10, and still climbing. Maybe I'll get wrecked by Beast Druid next week, but for now, this is better than sliced bread!
Hhm, this looks like a nice combination of spells and totems.
I am going to try this, but I am missing some cards.
I think I will substitute Justicar for Ragnaros the Firelord. Other options are Sylvanas Windrunner or Leeroy Jenkins.
Furthermore I am lacking Thunder Bluff Valiant and I am not going to craft it anymore, so I try Mukla's Champion.
I played a few games to try it, and it is a nice deck.
Ragnaros is doing fine. Mukla's Champignons are a bit more difficult to keep alive, but boosts all creatures, not only totems.
Klimon, thank you for sharing this deck!
I get that Maelstrom Portal can be huge if you stack spell damage totems but you block a spot for a totem by spawning a random minion. Just 1 Lightning Storm is enough for me.
Also, Why Justicar? She's too slow and the body is too weak imo.
Regarding Sea Giant, I've been trying it, never managed to pull it in time once. Once you have a lot of totem you just Bloodlust so he's not that useful.
Here's my list if you are curious.
Right now I am thinking a Control OTK deck about this...
Imagine you're an BogChamp Shaman
Then suddenly you pulled out Withdoctor then Buff the Earth Elemental, or BogCreeper with Windfury, Rockbittter, and the Primal Fusion
Yes, before BogChamp became a name, I had what I just called my Control Shaman, which was a very similar variant of the same. You certainly can use windfury+ most any minion to get a similar effect, though using the combo witchdoctor + WF + Rockbiter + PF may be overly complicated. You are probably going to have nearly as good luck with just WF + RB, though please feel free to try out that deck idea. I just don't have time to test it this week.
I will admit that I had not thought of Sea Giants. It could be good. Maybe as replacements for the Totem Carvers. Downsides: you lose out on the possibility of a 10/10 or 9/9 in favor or steady 8/8, benefit: can be brought out more easily vs zoo/hunter, don't have to worry about it being 5/5-7/7.
Hey, I made a deck similar to this just this morning! I first tried a control style with Hallazeal, but since I didn't have elemental destruction it never really worked. So now I made this, and it's been quite good! Only differences are that I have a rockbiter, doomhammer and lava shock instead of justicar and the second portal and storm. Early game often feels just a bit slower than aggro, but much stronger mid-game. I just love getting crazy witchdoctor totem boards!
Doomhammer has really helped break down taunts and key threats, and push that little extra bit for lethal. My only worry about Justicar is that it might slow down the deck too much right at the key 5-7 mana turns, but it does add good consistency late game vs control decks.
Hunter has been my worst matchup, too. It really depends on if you can solidify your board presence in turns 5-7, because if you aren't way ahead on the board by turn 8, call the wild will destroy you.
I love playing this deck though! After finally finishing grinding out my 500 Paladin wins yesterday, I needed to mix things up, and totem shaman really is the way to go! Just these two cards from Karazhan made a huge difference - Wicked Witchdoctor is probably one of the most underrated but impactful cards from Karazhan
Glad you enjoyed the deck type!
Hey dude, when Spirit Claws come out, do you think they would work well in this deck? Justicar Trueheart will help combo with them. You could even add Blood Mage to the deck. What do you think?
It wouldn't be a bad inclusion, but I feel that spirit claws would maybe lend itself to a more spell-focused deck. I imagine blood mage thalnos, malygos, Barnes, some other + spell dmg minions and lots of spells. I do like justicar just to stack spell dmg totems, not sure if it will be viable. As for Spirit Claw's inclusion in this deck, I worry that having this as your 1 drop and then rolling totem turn 2 is too inconsistent. Having a 1 attack weapon 3/4 of the time is helpful against: pali, hunter, druid, and that's most of it. It won't help in too many other match ups unless you can guarantee a spell dmg minion turn 2.
I was pretty dubious about the inclusion of Justicar Trueheart given that shaman get the WORST upgraded hero power from him. That was until I was up against a control warrior (he emoted a well played because he thought he had me on the rocks, I was pretty sure I was done for too).
For a while, I built up a wall of spellpower totems for high value Lightning Storm/Lightning Bolt/Maelstrom Portals. That saved me from the lethal on board. Then I switched to taunt totems so that I could keep him at a safe distance. By this point, he'd played his Golden Monkey and had practically no chance of AOE removal.
Overall, really fun deck. Wicked Witchdoctor doesn't perform it's function very consistently, but otherwise everything fits pretty well. Draenei Totemcarver isn't even bad if you play it as a 5/5 (a better yeti), which you can consistently do on turn 4. You can usually squeeze out way more though, even in the early/mid game. It usually does some serious work if you pump it up. Only 5 or 6 games in, but digging the deck.
I wanna try this. Do you think Hallazeal or Evolution would fit
Hallazeal may be difficult because by the time you are at a high enough mana to use him + AOE, the game is probably over one way or the other. I would recommend a straight heal if you want that, but then you weaken a deck which really relies on synergies to have any significance. Maybe going vitality totem in Wild is the best heal for this deck.
Evolve could certainly work. With witch doctor + board full of totems you probably get a 4,3, and 4-5 1s and 2s changing into a board consisting of a 5, 4, and 2's/3's. A 7 cost if you manage to get a thing from below down. Would be a turn 4+ coin or turn 5 play. Not as good as decks optimized for evolve, but could be fun.
Just played twice. One with against Warlock, one loss against Mage. I won only barely thanks to the witch. I don't have Justicar, so maybe I can try Rag over Hallazeal.
legit casual game i had: turn 1 pass, turn 2 hero power, turn 3 tuskar totemic + totemic might *warrior concedes*
Turn 2 hero power, turn 3 tuskarr turn 4 thing from below or hero power + flametongue are how most of my games go. Seriously the best opener for this deck!
Yes. With justicar you can pick as many of whichever totem you want. Witch doctor can also give you totems you already have on board. I haven't yet had a match where I felt like I wanted a 2nd hex, though I have occasionally wanted board clears. The cards I am least happy with so far are the totem carvers. Sure, I can get 9/9s out of them, but that is usually a win more move, and it feels bad to have to drop them at a turn 6 5/5 which happens vs opponents with early game board control.
Thanks! Yeah, that Justicar is definitely a flexible spot. Initially it was a 2nd Bloodlust. I've also thought at times of teching it vs divine shields (palis, face shaman) and secrets (hunters), but so far don't have a big enough sample size to see which way to go, as my opponent field is pretty diverse. My worst match up so far has been vs hunter, best vs warrior, priest, mage. Hunter's early board control makes it hard for me to come back.