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Nerf Blaster

  • Last updated Feb 18, 2017 (Gadgetzan)
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Wild

  • 20 Minions
  • 7 Spells
  • 3 Weapons
  • Deck Type: Ranked Deck
  • Deck Archetype: Control Shaman
  • Crafting Cost: 17760
  • Dust Needed: Loading Collection
  • Created: 2/17/2017 (Gadgetzan)
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  • Battle Tag:

    PowerOfCheez#1873

  • Region:

    US

  • Total Deck Rating

    224

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This is a deck I built for Shaman based on some of the core cards in my Fatboy Jack (Barnes Stages "Legend") Warrior deck, to improve its win rate against aggro, which has worked for me fairly well.  

Statistics:

When I first posted this I had a 35-23 win rate (60%), with decent stats across the meta (except vs. Mage), and especially against shaman, which had been 13 of the games: Druid 6-4, Hunter 2-0, Mage 0-2 (both were Reno), Paladin 1-1, Priest 5-2, Rogue 2-2, Shaman 9-4, Warlock 4-3, Warrior 6-5.   Those games were all from 20 to rank 12.

 

Since then, I have played a lot more up to rank 10.  It stayed at 60% until my last several games, during which I went on tilt and played very badly (even missed lethal I had in the last one), so taking a break to update this.  Current stats (which should be about 4 wins better than shown except the tilt factor): 62-46 (57%) Druid 10-4; Hunter 2-1;  Mage 4-4; Paladin  1-1; Priest 8-7; Rogue 5-6 (would be 6-5 if I hadn't missed lethal); Shaman 13-10; Warlock 8-4; Warrior 11-9.

 

 Deck Strategy 

The goal of the deck is to survive until you can start overpowering the board.  It is a little more control oriented than other archetypes, but it can get occasional fast starts, too, just not consistent enough to really call it mid-range either.  You have to trade well, but also know when it makes more sense to face.  And, of course, with limited draw, you have to play economically, sometimes holding cards to avoid sweep or Mind Control Tech (the latter common in other Reno decks).  

Hex/Earth Shock Targets

Hex as a one of, and Earth Shock as a limited back up for it, are important to hold for cards that are otherwise very hard to deal with, depending on the matchup.  Here is a list of some examples from notes I took in the last half of my recorded matches (by no means exhaustive, but these are important):

Druid: Aya Blackpaw, Ancient of War
Hunter: Savannah Lion
Mage - Archmage Antonidas (No other Mage card is as important a target)
Paladin: Tirion Fordring, Ragnaros the Lightlord
Priest - The good stuff he Entombs, Big Dragons, 
Rogue - Gadgetzan Auctioneer, deathrattlers, Edwin VanCleef
Shaman - Flamewreathed Faceless, White Eyes (or Storm Guardian), Thing From Below,, Aya Blackpaw
Warlock - Abyssal Enforcer; Taunted Giants & Twilight Drakes
Warrior - Frothing Berserker

 

Weapons:

The two claw weapons are supplemented with the Charged Hammer, which is great in this build.  Not only is it durable, but the ability afterward is better than the totems, by far.  It is especially effective against Shaman, I have found.  Keep in mind you can use the totem ability, then switch and use the other when you convert, and that you can get the conversion early if you really need to by breaking it when you load another weapon before four uses.

 I am adding for the edit the following list of Barnes interactions for the deck, as its important to time and place him according to the possibilities of what's left in your deck:

 

Barnes/Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound Interactions (19 possible minions):

These require a little more thought for Barnes than Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound because Barnes brings them out during the turn, and more often with potential mana left for further spells or summonings. 

 

Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound can also have mana left, if brought out with Naga Sea Witch or Emperor Thaurissan reductions (or someone's Dirty Rat), but usually nothing gets played after him, and some things like charge and end of turn effects don't trigger the turn played from Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound.  Also, placement for Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound creatures will always be at the far right, unlike Barnes, who inserts them directly to the right.

 

Buff Others: Flametongue Totem (Place Barnes w/this in mind, and cast w/any mana left any charger in hand to the left of it)

Charge: Argent Horserider, Patches the Pirate

Spell Damage: Azure Drake, Bloodmage Thalnos

End of Turn Effects: Hogger, Ysera, Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound, Ragnaros the Firelord

Deathrattle: Sylvanas Windrunner, Bloodmage Thalnos, White Eyes

Game State Changer: Violet Illusionist (damage free weapons), Naga Sea Witch (Ramp for Big stuff), Emperor Thaurissan (Ramp, also lowers Naga Costs)

Triggerable Selfie Buffs: Small-Time Buccanneer, Tunnel Trogg

Taunt: Storm Guardian

Whiffs: Bloodsail Raider, Reno Jackson, Totem Golem

 

Non-whiffs with a complication to keep in mind in addition to the plus they bring are White Eyesand Naga Sea Witch ... its rare, but if you Barnes White Eyes out and play him out later, you can get 2 of The Storm Guardian in your deck, which could impact Reno. Has never happened to me yet, so that should tell you how rare it is, though.  With Naga Sea Witch, just be aware of the impact on your remaining plays that turn if she shows up...sometimes she is great if you are holding Ragnaros the Firelord, Ysera, or Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound and drop into it on turn 4 if she lives, or turn 9+, but if you are holding removal you plan to use, just try to keep track of the odds.

 A deck tracker is pretty important to play this well given the variety of cards, interactions, and turn planning, in all ways, not just the Barnes interactions in the spoiler.  It helps to detect some deck types, like Reno decks before you see dead giveaway cards like Warlock Reno's Mind Control Tech, so you know to play with those in mind. And to know when all copies of key cards have been played by your opponent, to help you time when to stop sandbagging on those times you have been.

 

Substitutions

It is a pricey deck, so naturally there will be many who have substitution questions.  If you have specific needs, comment with what you don't have and ask, but, I can say that Aya Blackpaw is a front-runner, if you lack a card at 6 mana or higher.  Its not a true Jade deck, of course, but she works great with Barnes, and will draw silences or Hexes (Shaman is by far more prevalent during my testing than any other class) that will help you keep your other fatties in play to see more than one turn.

 

At the lower mana slots, Mind Control Tech is a good card to consider, for the same reason's it is in so many other Reno builds.

 

Deck Building Background:

The core from the other deck that I brought was Barnes and Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound (Fatboy Jack was built around those and Varian Wrynn), and many of the top heavier creatures that work well with them due to EOT effects (for Barnes only, of course), taunt, and game state changers (like Violet Illusionist).  The changes included making it a Reno Jackson version for added durability and to free up the slots to swap in the low end pirate/jade/overload/removal cards. 

I realize that this makes the list less efficient in those various package's dimensions (much less overall pirate or jade synergy, slightly less Barnes/Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound synergy), but in application, it makes it a very flexible deck across the meta at least in the teens, so far.  I will have to wait and see (or hear from others) how it might do at higher ranks, but as I climb, I will post updates.  It is certainly able to handle a wider range of decks than Fatboy Jack was.

So the pirate pieces in this are small, just three cards, including Patches the Pirate. And the Jade side is only two cards, too (but they are mainly in there for the removal aspect and the two little bodies you get are just a small tempo bonus).  Both pirate and jade portions are important to add the early game, but they can also lead an opponent into thinking its a standard pirate/jade deck at first, which can help you stealth into the long game better.  My average game is 10.3 turns.

 

Mulligans:

I will come back for another edit later if this climbs back to visibility (which requires upvotes, though I am not setting some number, just they are the only way this floats back up the list) to add mulligans by matchup.  For now, the only mulligan tip I have is related to the Whiffs in the Barnes Interaction spoiler...Keep in mind with other matchup specific mulligan strategies, that those three Whiff creatures (Bloodsail Raider, Totem Golem, Reno Jackson) creatures are cards you usually want to have early, two for cost reasons and all to improve results with Barnes (and Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound).  I usually keep Reno Jackson even, at least against any class that can run aggro.  

 

I will add more later if it gets any interest. Would love to hear others describe any adventures with it.  And I will return all effort taken to reply constructively by taking a look at any of your more recent lists, too.

So, until the Nerfs take away a chunk of the deck, Blast away and enjoy!

[Edit: Shortly after first posting caught that I accidentally had Power Mace showing in the list, which was never in there, it should have been Hogger, so I made the fix. )