Hearthpwn

So I have several friends who really hate that I main sham. And just so you don't think their salt is justified, I main reincarnate control shaman in wild, so there is generally no way they would ever come across my deck or probably even lose, given that they're maining legend decks like Renolock and Midrange Hunter.

Their general argument is that shaman is super op, and that Blizzard should make up for it by not giving them any good cardsnthis expac. Now naturally I respond that Shaman is a class, and while midrange shaman is kinda broken, but there are some shaman archetypes that are definitely in need of love. But one of the arguments that Shaman is op really surprised me; they said that overload was too much of a tempo swing with not enough drawback. See, before standard hit, everyone said that overload was the reason shaman was bad. The general consensus was that overload was huge tempo loss and that shaman was always behind because of it. I know there have been cards like Flamewreathed Faceless that seriously abused the overload mechanic, but that isn't enough to fix it. Is this the new outlook on overload?

On a vaguely related note, what do you guys think of the new shaman rare? I think it's great for control shaman,  and better than Darkshire Alchemist. I'm just wondering whether I would run it instead of Healing Wave. The 8 health difference really matters, especially since I get it frequently when against aggro, but I also run Hallazeal + elemental destruction, so is it worth running for the body? I think I could always use more healing, but I don't imagine swapping out a shredder or something. Should I even run it?

Well, that's pretty much what Blizz is doing to Shaman right now. Devolve and Jinyu Waterspeaker are obvious picks for Control Shaman, and cards like Big-Time Racketeer and Dopplegangster are strong in fun Evolve decks, even Call in the Finishers to some extent. And I don't really think Midrange Shaman is going to die either, Blizzard is just giving more love to the other Shaman archetypes. And about Jinyu Waterspeaker, I would draft it in Control Shaman alongside FF unless you use the Dragon version, in which case I would keep the Healing Waves and use Twilight Guardian instead. I mean, I can't really say which one is better, since they both bring the value in their own way.

I would say the main issue with Overload is that Shamans can easily abuse it. You have Tunnel Trogg, Totem Golem at 2 mana is an insane tempo card and on turn 3 they can play another Golem or even hero power which is a really solid play. So Shamans basically never suffer a huge cost from overload because they always have a tempo play to make up for it.

On the note of the new Rare, a 3/6 body is really strong for a control deck so that alone makes it a solid card. I think it might replace a healing wave since the body should prevent a lot of damage as well. However it would need some testing before I could say for sure.

You need new friends

Quote from JohnTheGent >>

You need new friends

Tunnel trog really made the overload a tempo gain, next year things will be a lot different but I still want to see more good overload cards that don't push aggro foward, like de 3/6 heal for 6. I want to use my Unbound Elementals again like when I started the game, these guys are awesome and can snowball the game but the problem it is sooooooo weak compared to tunnel trog =/ Your friends really never touched shaman before it was this popular, never felt the punch overload could give. Just ignore and be happy playing your favorite class like I do.

... they said that overload was too much of a tempo swing with not enough drawback.

... and on turn 3 they can play another Golem or even hero power which is a really solid play.

Things I never thought i would hear in a million years. (But yeah, these are due to Tunnel Trogg and Thing From Below. Once those rotate out, it will be back to how bad overload and the hero power is.)