Hearthpwn

3 years ago I reached legend for the first time. I achieved everything I got and didn't feel like ever getting legend again. However, 3 years after the release I got the feeling it was more difficult to reach legend, so I put myself up to the challenge once more!

I only had 2 requirements.
- I had to reach it with a deck I don't see on the ladder all the time (I hate mirrors)
- I have to reach legend at least 1 week in advance (seems cheap to do it at the last day)

And I did it! but not without effort.... I am never going to try to reach legend again ;)

The deck: Elemental Shaman

Its an anti aggro midrange deck. Mostly great against aggresive decks, but does decent against other types. I got a 80% winrate towards rank 5 and 60% winrate from rank 5 to legend. It is mostly the same as other elemental shaman decks, with the exception that it fits in a jade package as well as Thing from Below.

Against aggro, go full tempo, you will win eventually do not worry about trading efficiently. Against tempo, go for value, try to outlast him
Against control, start with tempo, but hold your ammunition mid game, bait out AoE, then push with everything you got

The matchups:
Great (highly favourite): swarm druid, any hunter deck, aggro and midrange paladin
Good (favourite): secret mage, any priest, jade druid, pirate warrior
Average (50:50): token shaman, elemental shaman, control paladin, control mage
Mediocre (unfavourite): mirracle rogue, quest warrior
Very bad (highly unfavourite): quest rogue

Ofcourse it also depends on your tech cards, especially in the average catagory. I could change the outcome of some matchups drastically by changing one of the following cards.

Devolve: play a 2nd one against paladin or druid, remove it against control
Volcano: situational card, good versus midrange and control, too slow versus aggro
Aya Blackpaw: in a slower meta
Gluttonous Ooze: better card than Harrison Jones versus pirate warrior. The latter is better versus hunter, paladin and mage.
Mana Tide Totem: good if you manage to keep the board