Crusher Shaman [Legendary]
- Last updated May 15, 2016 (Old Gods)
- Edit
- |
Wild
- 16 Minions
- 14 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Control Shaman
- Crafting Cost: 7340
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 6/30/2014 (Live Patch 5506)
- HSCrusher
- Deck Architect
-
- 12
- 23
- 46
-
Battle Tag:
N/A
-
Region:
US
-
Total Deck Rating
1574
Peak Legend Rank (Season 3): 777
WotoG Update! I'll hopefully do a more complete write up later this season. In the meantime, enjoy an updated, if not finalized decklist. Also, here's a video of me piloting the deck on Twitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UssHC_rep98
Mission Statement: Rely on spells and taunts, including the Ancestral Healing + Injured Blademaster combo, to make it to the late game, then lock the board down with a nearly endless supply of Earth Elementals (using Ancestral Spirit and Faceless Manipulator). The deck can win other ways, but if the game goes long enough this usually works.
(Thank you FromDust for the pic; my record is 4 Earth Elementals at the same time.)
The Story: I was playing my Divine Control Paladin when I faced a player named Loboguerrero. I was surprised when he played Earth Elemental, a risky card in an environment rife with Big Game Hunters and The Black Knights, but with Ancestral Spirit and Faceless Manipulator, the Earth Elementals gained value and seemed nearly endless. I gritted my way through the first four Earth Elementals, but the fifth one did me in. I instantly fell in love with the concept and made my own Ancestral Shaman. I fine tuned it throughout the course of the season, taking it from Rank 13 to Legendary.
The Meta: I think this is a good meta call right now. The copious taunts hold up well against Aggro, Zoo, and give you a shot against Miracle Rogue, while the strong removal options and threatening minions let you outlast most control decks. Opponents will generally expect that you are playing the standard Shaman build. That build has few threats, so opponents will often waste removal on some of your only mildly threatening cards like Fire Elemental, Azure Drake, and even Mana Tide Totem. They will also become detrimentally defensive when they drop into the standard Shaman's burst range of about 18 health. This deck runs almost no burst favoring the Earth Elemental lockdown, but it still benefits from this expectation.
The Stars:
Earth Elemental: This card is usually risky because of its vulnerability to Big Game Hunter and The Black Knight. It costs you 8 mana total and can easily wreck two turns. You should only play this on turn 5 out of utter desperation. The objective is to combo it with Ancestral Spirit and/or Faceless Manipulator to cement its value, burn out the opponent's removal, and hopefully lock down the game.
Ancestral Spirit: Ideally comboed with Earth Elemental for an extremely resilient wall, but can be reasonably comboed with Kel'Thuzad, Fire Elemental, or Injured Blademaster (you get a 4/7 back). Sometimes you just need taunt, so playing it on Sen'jin Shieldmasta is even an option. Finally it can proc (and give future procs) to Wild Pyromancer.
Ancestral Healing: Ideally comboed with Injured Blademaster for an early sturdy taunt. Often draws some hard removal making your Earth Elementals stronger later. Ancestral Healing can also be comboed with The Black Knight for the equivalent of a Chillwind Yeti and an Assassinate at a 3 mana discount. Also useful for emergency taunts or healing up an Earth Elemental (especially just before it is copied with Faceless Manipulator).
Injured Blademaster: Besides the combo with Ancestral Healing, it works well with Ancestral Spirit and to some degree Healing Totem.
Some Other Cards:
Feral Spirit: I only run one of these because in my mind it is a situational card. In the early and mid game when the opponent has only 5 or less attack minions, it essentially functions as a 2/6 taunt that is vulnerable to AoE (and less vulnerable to single target removal). This is not worth 5 mana even if it is spread out over two turns and even against aggro. Later though it is very effective at slowing big threats and blocking finishing combos. You should almost always mulligan this card away and hope to find it later if and when you need it.
Unbound Elemental: A good turn 3 play if you haven't found your Injured Blademaster + Ancestral Healing combo yet. The 4 health helps it stick to the table and with 7 overload cards it can actually get somewhat threatening (maybe draws a silence). It may be worth replacing these with Earthen Ring Farseers to help against Miracle Rogue and Alexstrasza (especially in Freeze Mage).
Sen'jin Shieldmasta: Could have easily been Chillwind Yetis instead, but the extra taunt goes a long way against aggro toward surviving to play an Earth Elemental combo. The extra taunt also helps to block finishing combos.
The Black Knight: A good card in this meta all by itself, since everything but Aggro and Miracle Rogue are forced to play taunts to survive them. Also, the most popular aggro, Zoo, runs taunts of its own. The Ancestral Healing combo (cast Ancestral Healing on an enemy minion to give it taunt, then use The Black Knight's battlecry to destroy it) ensures its inclusion.
Ragnaros the Firelord (replaced): I felt that this deck needed one more big threat past the elementals. I experimented with Alexstrasza for the heal after stabilizing, but Ragnaros feels a bit more versatile. Often a good target for Ancestral Healing to make sure your opponent can't just ignore Ragnaros for the win. Its vulnerability to Big Game Hunter sometimes just ends up helping your Earth Elementals.
Matchups:
A list of the most common matchups I faced on my way to legend. Some mulligan information is included and I rate them according to how well this deck performs against them.
Handlock (Strong): You must be patient. Shamans usually hold Handlock healths hovering in the high teens range and then finish them with a windfury Rockbiter Weapon burst of some sort, but this deck does not have that ability. Instead you have to outlast the Handlock, which sometimes even means literally waiting for the opposing Handlock to run out of cards before making your move. The key is that Handlock actually has fewer threats than you might think: 2 Twilight Drakes, 2 Molten Giants, 2 Mountain Giants, and 1 or 2 Faceless Manipulators. They may also have Alexstrasza (this makes the matchup more difficult). Earth Shock can kill one Twilight Drake while The Black Knight and Hexes can kill three giants. The rest you can kill the hard way. I usually won't attack the opponent's hero until I can handle all of the remaining threats hitting the board on the same turn. This means trading on the board as much as possible and just not attacking a lot of the time. Beware of the Leeroy Jenkins + Power Overwhelming + Faceless Manipulator, 20 damage finisher. Avoid taking damage as much as possible, and have the appropriate number of taunts down to block it. The main danger is falling too far behind in card advantage, so don't overextend on the board for fear of Shadowflame or Hellfire. Finally, try to draw out his Faceless Manipulator(s) before dropping an Earth Elemental + Ancestral Spirit combo.
Zoo (Strong): Mulligan for early drops (4 or less mana), Lightning Bolt, Ancestral Healing, Wild Pyromancer (now removed), Lightning Storm. If you get a Wild Pyromancer or a Lightning Storm by turn 5 you're probably fine. Taunts help you stall until you get it together. Save Lightning Bolt for Knife Juggler or Dire Wolf Alpha if you can. Likewise, save Hex for Doomguard. No need to wait much on Earth Elementals in this matchup since there's no hard removal. If you get one down with Ancestral Spirit, that pretty much ends it.
Control Warrior (Strong): Another patient matchup. Try to save Hexes for truely scary minions, like Sylvanas Windrunner, Cairne Bloodhoof, or Alexstrasza. As a general rule, trade on the board rather than using removal if you can, since Warrior will probably be able to efficiently remove them next turn, and you're not going to rush him down.
Miracle Rogue (Fair): Mulligan for Lightning Storm, Bloodmage Thalnos, Wild Pyromancer, early drops, and Lightning Bolt when facing Rogue. You might even keep a Mana Tide Totem for a turn 3 play, since miracle rogue has to spend removal on it just the same (and you get a card back). Your first goal is to find Lightning Storm + spell power and/or Wild Pyromancer by turn 5 so that you have a chance at killing a Concealed Auctioneer. While you wait play your early drops, but favor playing non-taunts over taunts, so that you can save the taunts to block the Leeroy Jenkins combo. Make sure to keep the opponent's board clear, because it is very difficult to make your own minions stick. Do this with Lightning Bolts and trading. It is key to burn the opponent's Saps, so play your cheap taunts like Sen'jin Shieldmasta and Ancestral Healing before droping your Earth Elementals. Try not to play Feral Spirit until after your opponent plays Blade Flurry; it can really shine in this matchup. Ultimately the shear number of taunts can prevent the Leeroy Jenkins combo and let you coast to victory.
Ramp Druid (Fair): Keep a Hex when mulliganing against Druid just in case they Innervate out a Chillwind Yeti. Druid has limited removal options, which should work to your advantage, but does almost guarantee they run The Black Knight and Big Game Hunter. Beware the Savage Roar + Force of Nature combo (minimum 14 damage). Make sure you have enough taunt if your health gets low.
Freeze Mage (Poor): Go, Go, Go! Kill them as fast as possible...but it probably won't work. Mulligan for anything that will do damage fast; forget cards that help with board control. Earth Shock is really helpful for unfreezing your minion or neutralizing a Doomsayer. If you really want to increase your odds in this matchup, try adding Earthen Ring Farseers in place of Unbound Elementals. Save them for after the opponent plays Alexstrasza. They're helpful in some other matchups too, especially Miracle Rogue.
If you have any more questions about matchups, card choices, etc. or suggestions, let me know in the comments!
Season 4 Update: I have replaced one Unbound Elemental with an extra Earth Shock to help combat the influx of Zoo and the prominence of some new cards, especially Nerubian Egg.
Naxx Update: I have replaced Ragnaros the Firelord with Kel'Thuzad. Kel is great behind the many taunts in this deck or with Ancestral Spirit. He's almost like another win condition for the deck. Also Wild Pyromancer has been replaced with Loatheb. Loatheb belongs in almost every deck.
Deck in Action:
Zilea - Control Warrior (caution: language, 5 Fire Elementals)
Faction - Midrange Shaman
News: It sounds like on Wednesday, July 2nd, Day9 will be playing this deck on his daily: http://day9.tv/d/Day9/day9-hearthstone-decktacular-23-crusher-shaman/ . Tune in; it should be fun!
The Hearthstone streamer, Realz, has been playing this deck on ladder with great success. He explains his reasoning very well, and it would be a great way to learn about the deck.
http://www.twitch.tv/realz_/b/543631041 (Starts playing the deck at 6 hour mark)
http://www.twitch.tv/realz_/b/543924429 (Continues playing and later modifies deck at starting at 1:05)
http://www.twitch.tv/realz_/ (His stream)
Some fans of the deck have provided video spotlights that explain card choices, matchups, and/or give example gameplay. Check them out for advice on how to play the deck. Enjoy!
TheChiv: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2vekv7C3Xg&feature=youtu.be
Matt Sparks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Xf2dkLxUM
Tim Clark features Crusher Shaman in an article from PC Gamer's Hearthstone Help series called "Three Fun Decks to Try": http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/07/09/hearthstone-help-three-fun-decks-to-test/
I haven't played this matchup much, but I assume this deck would do better against Control Paladin than Midranged Shaman does since it doesn't rely on burst, which heals prevent. Some things that come to mind are to always be mindful of Equality. Ancestral Spirit counters Equality quite nicely, but don't have too many big minions on the table at the same time. Save an answer for Tirion (Hex ideally, Earth Shock secondarily). I just played against someone using this deck earlier this week while I was playing my Control Paladin, and they Facelessed my Tirion and gave it Ancestral Spirit, lol. I never quite recovered. In general focus on controlling the board, since you aren't going to be able to rush them down with all their heal.
2nd Faceless is definitely viable. Realz goes this route, and I think it could be a good replacement for The Black Knight. Sunwalker is another possibility. Realz also played this deck without The Black Knight, and it still worked well for him; though, he ultimately decided he preferred the deck with TBK in it. Neither Geomancer nor Loot Hoarder has enough value in this deck I think. I would go with something like a second Earth Shock instead.
How would this deck work using Cairne instead of TBK, one more earth shock instead of an injured blademaster and Al'akir instead of ragnaros?
Al'Akir isn't very good without Flametongue Totems or Rockbiters, so I wouldn't recommend using him. If you remove The Black Knight and an Injured Blademaster, you lose two of the cards Ancestral Healing can combo with, meaning you should probably remove one of the Ancestral Healings. Putting Ancestral Spirit on Cairne isn't overrated in my opinion. You copy a 6 mana minion, which is pretty good for 2 mana, but Cairne's biggest problem is how slow he is and this combo is even slower. I feel there is significant risk that your opponent just completely ignores him and does just fine. Perhaps for a Rebirth deck Cairne makes more sense, since the deathrattle synergizes with Rebirth, and Rebirth speeds up the combo, mitigating some of its downside.
Do you have an example of a Rebirth by any chance? I'd be interested in checking it out.
Not mine, and obviously it hasn't been playtested since Rebirth isn't out yet, but here's an example someone came up with: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/71453-naxx-crusher-shaman
I got Rag in a pack, so damn lucky, crafted TBK right after. Loving the deck!
Great! You're ready to go.
This deck looks really fun to play, since my favorite class by far is Shaman. Too bad I don't have the all cards to create it. Also, really love the use of the rarely used cards such as Ancestral Spirit and Ancestral Healing (Y)
Hi,
I've been playing this deck for the last week and I must say it's ALOT of fun!! Props!
Although I really can,t manage to get a decent winrate against zoo with this deck! I read your zoo section but I still have issues. Divine shields and harvest golems make lightning storm almost obsolete and by the time my first taunt is out, they can just abusive sergeant an imp and 1 shot it...
Since 40% of my opponents are zoo, I've been considering putting a blood knight in there. What card would you suggest I replace with Blood knight? Do you have another card suggestion to counter zoo/murlocs?
Thanks!
I like Blood Knight so I approve of adding him. I would replace an Unbound Elemental. Alternatives (or possible replacements for the other Unbound) are a second Earth Shock or a second Wild Pyromancer.
Just wanted to say a quick "thank you". I love playing shaman and was getting frustrated with Zoo and Miracle matchups.
This deck actually is quite favorable right now... Just crushed ( ;-) ) a miracle rogue (who got all the draws he needed and ended up drawing his whole deck), when I was able to play 2x earth elementals AND faceless on one of them. Rogue used up all of his removal but was not able to get through. Won the matchup without a scratch. It is so satisfying to drop a turn 7 earth elemental with ancestral spirit knowing your opponent wasted his removal on the earth elemental/blademaster before :-)
Your deck has been featured in the Shaman Information Hub under "Decklists". Congrats!
Hooray, thank you!
Tried this deck today and my first matchup was against a hunter. I pulled out an Earth Elemental and Manipulated it. He pulls out Tundra Rhino, Hunters Mark, and Emperor Cobra.....by by elementals. :(
I made a variant of this deck and I have played the most interesting games ever with it.
Because I don't have these:
Earth Elemental x2, Mana Tide totem, BMT, Ragnaros, TBK, and Faceless.
I replaced them with:
Loot Hoarder x1, Kobold x1, Harvest x1, Yeti x2, Stormwind Champ x1, and Ysera.
I have enjoyed this deck a lot and wonder what cheap replacements would fit better. Thanks for the deck and giving me a base by which to create the variant.
Earth Shock, Earthen Ring Farseers and Sunwalkers are cheap alternatives that immediately come to mind. I like the idea of Stormwind Champion for a budget version of the deck. It's something with enough value to justify Ancestral Spirit, while adding some utility to the totems. Let me know how it pans out.
Those replacements are great! Thanks for that. I can't believe how well this deck is. it is awesome. I played a few games against Priest and Warlock that were pretty sweet. I played a game against warlock where I was zooed down to 9 health by turn 5 and came back through means of sen'jin + ancestral spirit and yetis + ancestral healing. I can't wait to augment this deck further when I get the earth elementals but this deck is very sweet. Thanks again.
This deck really brings something new to the table for us the shamans, finally a way to use efectively our biggest overload card and make it a scary monster that crush everyones face. the feel when some aggro fools smash their whole board against earth elemental just to leave other one alive is priceless.
How does one get 5 elementals as in the picture? Even with 2x Faceless, that's only 4.