My very first attempt at this deck had Windfury, but I found that if my Earth Elementals stuck around long enough to use Windfury, I was probably going to win anyway.
Oh, I see... yeah, I suppose if your opponent silences your minions other than Earth Elemental and Kel'Thuzad, you've already won. Also, is there any way to play this sort of deck effectively without the Earth Elemental + Faceless Manipulator combo? It's effectiveness obviously drops to not use the exact cards, but I lack all 3 of those cards, and the deck looks so fun to play.
...Also, is there any way to play this sort of deck effectively without the Earth Elemental + Faceless Manipulator combo? It's effectiveness obviously drops to not use the exact cards, but I lack all 3 of those cards, and the deck looks so fun to play.
They don't have the same defensive capabilities but offensively I kinda like Venture Co. Mercenary. It is to some degree a similar-stats-same-cost sort of evaluation but threat wise I feel like they draw out the same sort of removal, with the exception of silence. I do feel like Venture Co lean more towards midrange rather than control so they won't work as well in this sort of list.
What I do like about Venture Co is that on turn five it puts the same sort of pressure on your opponent and gives you more options on turn six. Yeah the downside lasts as long as he is on the field but it only applies to minions which leaves you with all your mana to play spells that will clear the way and/or protect him. You don't have to worry about it if they get removed the turn after you play them, and that early your opponent will almost certainly throw what they can at it. Plus, if they don't take care of it then you have a 7/6 on the field! If you end up having to trade him away your next turn, the downside is gone and you can play cards after. If the elemental ends up getting removed you're still stuck with 3 mana overcharged.
I don't think playing an Earthen Elemental/Venture Co is exactly what you want to be doing on turn five, but even if you play it later in the game it is still a fat threat. It doesn't have taunt so it won't stop you from getting killed the next turn, but your opponent can't exactly ignore it. I'd also say the copying it with Faceless Manipulator doesn't work out nearly as well because 1) can't be done on the same turn and 2) makes minions cost +6, but you don't have that card, still something to keep in mind if you're moving forward with the deck though. Good luck!
I would say if it doesn't have Earth Elementals, then it isn't a Crusher Shaman :)
I actually use two Venture Co Mercenaries in my priest deck on my noob account (play it to remember what it is like to not have a single Legendary or even Naxx card). Ended up with one and a single target priet silence after mulligan stage (didn't keep them on purpose). Well, I pulled the second Venture Co on turn 4.
Finally got the 1600 dust, and instead of Thalnos, created a Ragnaros. That was a great choice. Then, lo and behold, this Crusher Shaman changed to have Rag, but not Thalnos! Perfect!!
I have been playing around with all sorts of weird things in ranked this season, so generally hanging around rank 13-14, but wow, this deck surprises people. Here are some thoughts about this current rendition (has both rag and KT, two Pyros):
1. Your ability to pull out people's silences and hard removal on strong threats before you drop your REAL threats is uncanny. With reasonable luck on card pull, you can drop all kinds of things to get them to start using their sheep etc. And it is hilarious how often you have more badasses to drop over the next two turns. Dropping an EE at turn 10 and having it sheeped doesn't hurt at all if you have another one, plus your resurrection spell sitting in your hand...
2. Faceless is not only useful in copying your own badasses, but also copying your opponents right before you Hex his..haha. One opponent dropped a Rag right on turn 8. I facelessed his rag, then Hexed. He used all manner of damage to remove it. I dropped Rag next turn...lol
3. Early game is the tough part. In the description of the original rendition of this deck, it mentions "surviving" the early game, and boy is that true. This deck doesn't depend much on totems, and they don't know the deck early on usually. Dropping a lot of totems dupes them into removing totems instead of hitting your face. That's a VERY good thing for you. It is amazing how often you can pull a win when you were behind. Most people don't know this deck at all, and it completely surprises them. Much rage is aimed at me playing this deck...
4. Wild Pyros seem so be a must in this deck; both of them. A simple earth shock gives you the silence and 1 damage, then another AOE damage after that to all. It is not difficult to gather your earth shocks and lightning bolts so you can use multiple of them in one turn to get a great AOE. Wild Pyro also good to drop early just to make them clear it. Boy they want to clear it...
5. I am sure most people know this, but ancestral healing puts a taunt on your enemy so you can use The Black Knight.
Sorry to spam, but I couldnt help it. The new GvG card released today, Ancestor's Call, is going to be amazing for this deck!
Ancestor's Call, 4 mana, Epic
"Put a random Minion from each player's hand into the battlefield."
First of all, just what the doctor ordered against agro. Would probably drop a Wild Pyro for this. Might skew mana curve, will have to explore that.
Secondly, anytime you can set upn EE for 4 mana without Overload is awesome.
Thirdly, in later turns, as long as you don't randomly pull the Faceless Manipulator from your deck, you could drop a big minion with Ancestor's Call, then immediately copy it with your Faceless Manipulator.
Fourthly, against, say, a control warrior or driud or Handlock, you may pull out a minion that is out of sequence for them, thus making that minion far less valuable. Pull out Grom when you have a frog in hand or dmg on the table to remove him? Perhaps pull out one of druid's choose cards, thus leaving their Ancient of War a simple 5/5? Pull out one of Handlock's Defender of Argus or Sunfury Protectors and plop it on the field along with your EE. Sure, you may lose your Battle cry on your fire elemental, that's true, but if at turn 4, that is something I would definitely trade for.
Lastly, this makes me wonder if more higher mana overload minions are on their way to Shaman. That would make this card more valuable.
Yeah, Ancestor's Call could fit in this deck, but wow is it expensive for a symmetric ability. Your minion has to be 4 mana and a card better than the opponent's. You basically have to set it up with only Earth Elemental, Ragnaros, and/or Kel'Thuzad for it to possibly be worth it. Playing it with Faceless Manipulator is pretty risky, since it might pull Faceless. I'll give it a shot, since it is thematic, but my expectations are tempered.
Good point on it pulling the Faceless. Guess I am an optimist. After further thought, it would see a great late game card when you have used a lot of your lower cards, have few, but big, minions in your hand and hopefully a Hex in hand too. Dropping an EE, pulling his Rag and then immediately hexing it would be brutal for them.
Of course, there are tons of other cards that may change the whole face of the game. I am sure you will explore your Crusher Shaman more once all the cards are out. Let us know!
Yeah, I was just saying in the other thread that I don't understand how this card was costed. From a tempo + card advantage perspective, you are spending the equivalent of about 5.5 mana, or 11 stats (counting a card as about 1.5 mana) for an ostensibly symmetric effect. You need your minion to be the equivalent of 12 stats better than your opponent's to come out ahead. In my deck you need to get out an Earth Elemental, Ragnaros, or Kel'Thuzad against your opponent's 5 stat (probably 2 mana) minion. Against aggro, if you pick your timing right, you could probably do this with some regularity, but it's way more likely to backfire against anything else. But against aggro, your concern is not dying; it isn't getting out big threats. I'll give it a shot, but it just doesn't seem worth it sadly.
After further thought, the excitement has died down and I am tempering my expectations pretty strongly. I really wanted this to work, but it seems pretty harsh. I certainly will try to make a deck where it is usable, but I am guessing that there will be too many games where it isn't pulled early enough, or I don't have an answer for early game.
So I mentioned why I don't like Ancestor's Call for this deck, but I am considering a couple cards. Not too confident in either of them though. Thoughts?
Antique Healbot: This deck often stabilizes with a taunt wall only to lose to the opponent's direct damage. A substantial heal like this one could help a lot, even if the body is pretty weak. Perhaps it replaces a Wild Pyromancer, since they both should help a lot against hunter, which is actually a pretty good matchup right now.
Dr. Boom: Ragnaros the Firelord is great in this deck except for one critical flaw, he can't be played the turn after you play an Earth Elemental due to overload. A 7-cost minion should be better, but prior to GvG there were no good options (Baron Geddon just kills all your totems :(). Dr. Boom doesn't seem amazing, but he at least gives you some ability to be aggressive at 7 mana. Wild Pyromancer could even proc the Boom Bots the turn he is played if necessary.
I don't see it as dependable, per se, but if any deck would make use of a Dunemaul Shaman, it would be this deck. But it would be later in the game. It is a gamble, but a gamble you can have some control on. Hear me out while I work through it. I think I already am not sold on it, but it is at least interesting
I love the Crusher Shaman, have played it a lot, and if there is one thing you can depend on in this deck, it is that if you survive long enough, you WILL use up every piece of removal in their deck. This is how I beat priests frequently. If things work out right, you will also have some form of taunt wall going.
If both of those conditions are met, dropping a Dunemaul Shaman and having him survive until the next turn would be incredible value, especially if the E.E. can take out anything with higher attack, and double especially if you can drop 10 HP of damage to their frickin’ face!
Anytime you can get a Dunemaul up with a Kel’Thuzad…well, that’s straight up h4x0rZ.
Yet, on the down side, I really don't know what it would replace. If you want to give up TBK, then that is one option. But TBK is phenomenal in this deck (even in a pinch using the ancestral healing to taunt an enemy, then TBKing it), and the 5 HP instead of 4 really seems to be a HUGE difference in survivability. Now, the Dunemaul Shaman could take out a Sludge Belcher on its own but it would then die, and obviously, you have to survive the turn first, THEN you have to hit it twice, and if there are other minions, that is that much less likely. Dunemaul seems more of a face hitter…
I suppose you could replace a Sen’jin Shieldmasta’. But again, the Dunemaul wants taunts because of its weak sauce 4 HP, so removing one to add him seems counter intuitive. He is an option because of the taunts in this deck.
Earthen Farseer. Possibly, but now you are giving up flexible healing (hero, injured blademaster, an EE after he takes out a big minion…) And you are giving up potential early game for late game. This deck is already alittle slow in the early game.
Faceless, E.E. Injured blademasters, ancestral spirit and healing are the deepest core of this deck, so none of those are options. Anything card pull (drake, mana tide) are so needed that I can’t see removing a single card pull….
So yeah, there’s the problem, it is an impractical, though very, very powerful and cheap face hitter/finisher that would probably require too many things to go right to not weaken the deck.
Damn, though, I sure WANT it to work. I will still try it out for fun.
Crackle: So which is better: this or Lightning Bolt? An average of 1.5 more damage for one more mana and variance. I'm thinking Lightning Bolt is still a little better.
Vitality Totem: This is the class hero heal Shamans have been asking for. Not sure it fits well in the midrange archetype, but it could be quite good here. Reminds me a bit of Lightwell... which is a bad sign, but it also functions a bit like [/card]Holy Light[/card] (essentially you heal the 3 damage it takes to kill the totem) with some upside, and Holy Light is good enough for control Paladin. The taunts should help keep it alive, and I think it's a better option than Antique Healbot.
Arcane Nullifier X-21: Is this better than Sen'jin Shieldmasta? It has the taunted Spectral Knight effect everyone dreamed about when Naxx was spoiled, but the difference between 3 attack and 2 is substantial. I think I'll at least give it a shot.
Any other cards I should note from the latest dump?
I know that Neptulon is far from a good card but you mentioned Dr. Boom replacing rag for the earth ele overload. While i fell Dr. Boom is far superior being a 9/9 for 7 no over load with a death rattle, how do you feel about the extra murloc cards possibly using up enemy removal. My gut feeling is that the card is bad for crusher as your turn 8 will essentially be a turn 5 but with murlocs in your hand, however they are still cards for free. How do you feel about using it in general. Maybe sneeds old shredder is better in general, or Troggdor. I feel BGH is going to be very popular for poor removal classes with so many high attack minions coming out that require immediate removal such as Mal'Ganis or Ghaz'rilla. I imagine both minions in general as well as Earth elemental will suffer.
I place a premium on Bolt for its 1-mana cost. I've aborted many a snowball with it and Earth Shock or Rockbiter in tandem. I'd venture to say Crackle is vying for Lava Burst's spot more than anything, but I still don't like the RNG, despite the value. I enjoy the reliability of Bolt and Burst more. Bolt's utility cannot be undervalued in the fright fest the early game has become with the current aggression in the meta.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Wielder of Botsbane, The Slayer of That Which Has No Life.
Earth Elemental already makes this deck vulnerable to BGH, so adding extra BGH targets isn't too bad. Also, when new sets come out and people want to try new cards, they are likely to swap them in for tech cards, like BGH. Maybe BGH becomes more popular eventually, but I bet that when GvG comes out, he'll be even less popular.
I was hoping for a minion with more immediate board impact than Neptulon or even Sneed's Old Shredder. Trogdor is interesting.
I personally love Crackle for what it will add to my decks, but this isn't one of the decks I would use it in. I feel it is a great spell for attempting to remove a high HP minion, but generally only when you have a bunch of smaller, backup plans on the board.
Say you have a Healing Totem, 2/1 Loot Hoarder on the board and a flametongue in hand. Plus your LB or Crackle. Druid has a Yeti. Turn 4.
You have a couple options.
1. LB would be hit for three, then hit with loot hoarder.
2. Drop flametongue hit with both healing totem and Loot Hoarder to kill it, leaving a solo Flametongue (though leaving enough mana to drop another totem, hoping for a healing ot taunt totem).
3. If using Crackle, use it. You have a 50% chance to just kill the bastard outright. Or you may do three or four damage. If so, you use the loot hoarder to finish it off as if you used a LB. Either way, drop another totem. 1 mana for a chance at gigantic swing in tempo is awesome in this situation, because the one mana saved from the LB may have gone to waste anyway.
But in Crusher, we don't have these small, tradable minions. So yeah, I agree with the LB assessment. 1 mana instead of 2 when you may be overloaded from E.E. may make a big difference.
I also think that the healing totem is a great fit for this deck. My mana tide lives far more in this deck than any other shaman deck. Same theory.
As for the new cards, I loved Troggdar the Earthinator in this deck. First of all, it is out of BGH range, forcing a higher probability of them having to use a spell (or two? 6 HP isn't tiny). This would also be great to copy by Faceless Manipulator as having two of these would be ridiculously burdonsome to remove by spells, as it would create minimum two irritating taunts to then have to work through after already using two large/removal spells... If you can hide the Troggdor behind a taunt or two and it can sit there and pound away. 6/6 is useful in that regard. Even just dropping him out on turn 7 in a pinch will certainly cause some sort of reaction. Did I mention that the 2/3s will, themselves gain attack when spells are cast? This is a whole new element to the Crusher Shaman, though really, one of many approaches.
That is where my mind goes with all these new cards. You have your basic Crusher approach, which really is the ancestral spirit/healing, E.E. berzerkers and Faceless. Probably a few others that you don't want to lose, like the fire elementals plus your "no duh" shaman cards like hex and lightning storm. Card pull is something that might be tinkered with. Tough to lose the two Azure Drakes, but perhaps something else could replace them in a different sub-type of Crusher deck.
But the finishers, the big boys, like Rag and KT are swappable for different player, which make different approaches. Having Troggdor instead of KT is a huge difference. Using the Arcane Nullifiers instead of Tazdingos! in the same deck really fills out the Crusher anti-magic sub-style.
I will swing by and update this when more sub-style form. I am sure they are out there. Is there a way to add the murlocs as early game plus late game/card draw synergy in this deck (not likely, but one would have to try). The new neutral 3/2 two drop is a pretty standard and acceptable 2 drop, and would be more flexible if your deck supported it. But neither the legendary or the epic murloc shaman cards are that worthy of Faceless...
I think I'm leaning toward Troggzor the Earthinator over Dr. Boom now, simply because his ability plays nicer with resummoning, which ignores battlecries. I am actually not as enthusiastic about Trogdor as a lot of other people are, but he's a 7-drop with a nice persistent effect, which is what this deck is looking for.
What about Lil' Exorcist? Obviously, it depends on whether deathrattle aggro remains a popular style, but running one of these could help with survival into the late game.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Retired streamer and Hearthstone journalist @Shevvek
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
My very first attempt at this deck had Windfury, but I found that if my Earth Elementals stuck around long enough to use Windfury, I was probably going to win anyway.
Twitch: CrusherHS, Youtube Channel: Hearthstone Crusher
Season 2, 12: Divine Tempo Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 48, 80)
Season 3: Ancestral Control Shaman (Peak NA Legend Rank: 777)
Season 6: Handmage (Peak NA Legend Rank: 301)
Season 7: Deathrattle Aggro Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 135)
Season 10: Deathrattle Tempo Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 335)
Season 15: Inner Fire Combo Priest (Peak NA Legend Rank: 1315)
Season 22: Silent Hybrid Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 138)
and more...
Oh, I see... yeah, I suppose if your opponent silences your minions other than Earth Elemental and Kel'Thuzad, you've already won. Also, is there any way to play this sort of deck effectively without the Earth Elemental + Faceless Manipulator combo? It's effectiveness obviously drops to not use the exact cards, but I lack all 3 of those cards, and the deck looks so fun to play.
-
I don't really know how to replace the Earth Elementals. There aren't really any neutral cards that have the offensive and defensive capabilities that it offers. Maybe Sunwalkers and a Loatheb. Or you could try to go the deathrattle route. Baron Rivendare with Cairne Bloodhoof and Sylvanas Windrunner.
Twitch: CrusherHS, Youtube Channel: Hearthstone Crusher
Season 2, 12: Divine Tempo Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 48, 80)
Season 3: Ancestral Control Shaman (Peak NA Legend Rank: 777)
Season 6: Handmage (Peak NA Legend Rank: 301)
Season 7: Deathrattle Aggro Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 135)
Season 10: Deathrattle Tempo Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 335)
Season 15: Inner Fire Combo Priest (Peak NA Legend Rank: 1315)
Season 22: Silent Hybrid Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 138)
and more...
They don't have the same defensive capabilities but offensively I kinda like Venture Co. Mercenary. It is to some degree a similar-stats-same-cost sort of evaluation but threat wise I feel like they draw out the same sort of removal, with the exception of silence. I do feel like Venture Co lean more towards midrange rather than control so they won't work as well in this sort of list.
What I do like about Venture Co is that on turn five it puts the same sort of pressure on your opponent and gives you more options on turn six. Yeah the downside lasts as long as he is on the field but it only applies to minions which leaves you with all your mana to play spells that will clear the way and/or protect him. You don't have to worry about it if they get removed the turn after you play them, and that early your opponent will almost certainly throw what they can at it. Plus, if they don't take care of it then you have a 7/6 on the field! If you end up having to trade him away your next turn, the downside is gone and you can play cards after. If the elemental ends up getting removed you're still stuck with 3 mana overcharged.
I don't think playing an Earthen Elemental/Venture Co is exactly what you want to be doing on turn five, but even if you play it later in the game it is still a fat threat. It doesn't have taunt so it won't stop you from getting killed the next turn, but your opponent can't exactly ignore it. I'd also say the copying it with Faceless Manipulator doesn't work out nearly as well because 1) can't be done on the same turn and 2) makes minions cost +6, but you don't have that card, still something to keep in mind if you're moving forward with the deck though. Good luck!
I would say if it doesn't have Earth Elementals, then it isn't a Crusher Shaman :)
I actually use two Venture Co Mercenaries in my priest deck on my noob account (play it to remember what it is like to not have a single Legendary or even Naxx card). Ended up with one and a single target priet silence after mulligan stage (didn't keep them on purpose). Well, I pulled the second Venture Co on turn 4.
Turn 5, dropped first one.
Turn 6, silenced him and dropped thesecond one.
gg
Finally got the 1600 dust, and instead of Thalnos, created a Ragnaros. That was a great choice. Then, lo and behold, this Crusher Shaman changed to have Rag, but not Thalnos! Perfect!!
I have been playing around with all sorts of weird things in ranked this season, so generally hanging around rank 13-14, but wow, this deck surprises people. Here are some thoughts about this current rendition (has both rag and KT, two Pyros):
1. Your ability to pull out people's silences and hard removal on strong threats before you drop your REAL threats is uncanny. With reasonable luck on card pull, you can drop all kinds of things to get them to start using their sheep etc. And it is hilarious how often you have more badasses to drop over the next two turns. Dropping an EE at turn 10 and having it sheeped doesn't hurt at all if you have another one, plus your resurrection spell sitting in your hand...
2. Faceless is not only useful in copying your own badasses, but also copying your opponents right before you Hex his..haha. One opponent dropped a Rag right on turn 8. I facelessed his rag, then Hexed. He used all manner of damage to remove it. I dropped Rag next turn...lol
3. Early game is the tough part. In the description of the original rendition of this deck, it mentions "surviving" the early game, and boy is that true. This deck doesn't depend much on totems, and they don't know the deck early on usually. Dropping a lot of totems dupes them into removing totems instead of hitting your face. That's a VERY good thing for you. It is amazing how often you can pull a win when you were behind. Most people don't know this deck at all, and it completely surprises them. Much rage is aimed at me playing this deck...
4. Wild Pyros seem so be a must in this deck; both of them. A simple earth shock gives you the silence and 1 damage, then another AOE damage after that to all. It is not difficult to gather your earth shocks and lightning bolts so you can use multiple of them in one turn to get a great AOE. Wild Pyro also good to drop early just to make them clear it. Boy they want to clear it...
5. I am sure most people know this, but ancestral healing puts a taunt on your enemy so you can use The Black Knight.
Sorry to spam, but I couldnt help it. The new GvG card released today, Ancestor's Call, is going to be amazing for this deck!
Ancestor's Call, 4 mana, Epic
"Put a random Minion from each player's hand into the battlefield."
First of all, just what the doctor ordered against agro. Would probably drop a Wild Pyro for this. Might skew mana curve, will have to explore that.
Secondly, anytime you can set upn EE for 4 mana without Overload is awesome.
Thirdly, in later turns, as long as you don't randomly pull the Faceless Manipulator from your deck, you could drop a big minion with Ancestor's Call, then immediately copy it with your Faceless Manipulator.
Fourthly, against, say, a control warrior or driud or Handlock, you may pull out a minion that is out of sequence for them, thus making that minion far less valuable. Pull out Grom when you have a frog in hand or dmg on the table to remove him? Perhaps pull out one of druid's choose cards, thus leaving their Ancient of War a simple 5/5? Pull out one of Handlock's Defender of Argus or Sunfury Protectors and plop it on the field along with your EE. Sure, you may lose your Battle cry on your fire elemental, that's true, but if at turn 4, that is something I would definitely trade for.
Lastly, this makes me wonder if more higher mana overload minions are on their way to Shaman. That would make this card more valuable.
Yeah, Ancestor's Call could fit in this deck, but wow is it expensive for a symmetric ability. Your minion has to be 4 mana and a card better than the opponent's. You basically have to set it up with only Earth Elemental, Ragnaros, and/or Kel'Thuzad for it to possibly be worth it. Playing it with Faceless Manipulator is pretty risky, since it might pull Faceless. I'll give it a shot, since it is thematic, but my expectations are tempered.
Twitch: CrusherHS, Youtube Channel: Hearthstone Crusher
Season 2, 12: Divine Tempo Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 48, 80)
Season 3: Ancestral Control Shaman (Peak NA Legend Rank: 777)
Season 6: Handmage (Peak NA Legend Rank: 301)
Season 7: Deathrattle Aggro Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 135)
Season 10: Deathrattle Tempo Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 335)
Season 15: Inner Fire Combo Priest (Peak NA Legend Rank: 1315)
Season 22: Silent Hybrid Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 138)
and more...
Good point on it pulling the Faceless. Guess I am an optimist. After further thought, it would see a great late game card when you have used a lot of your lower cards, have few, but big, minions in your hand and hopefully a Hex in hand too. Dropping an EE, pulling his Rag and then immediately hexing it would be brutal for them.
Of course, there are tons of other cards that may change the whole face of the game. I am sure you will explore your Crusher Shaman more once all the cards are out. Let us know!
Yeah, I was just saying in the other thread that I don't understand how this card was costed. From a tempo + card advantage perspective, you are spending the equivalent of about 5.5 mana, or 11 stats (counting a card as about 1.5 mana) for an ostensibly symmetric effect. You need your minion to be the equivalent of 12 stats better than your opponent's to come out ahead. In my deck you need to get out an Earth Elemental, Ragnaros, or Kel'Thuzad against your opponent's 5 stat (probably 2 mana) minion. Against aggro, if you pick your timing right, you could probably do this with some regularity, but it's way more likely to backfire against anything else. But against aggro, your concern is not dying; it isn't getting out big threats. I'll give it a shot, but it just doesn't seem worth it sadly.
Twitch: CrusherHS, Youtube Channel: Hearthstone Crusher
Season 2, 12: Divine Tempo Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 48, 80)
Season 3: Ancestral Control Shaman (Peak NA Legend Rank: 777)
Season 6: Handmage (Peak NA Legend Rank: 301)
Season 7: Deathrattle Aggro Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 135)
Season 10: Deathrattle Tempo Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 335)
Season 15: Inner Fire Combo Priest (Peak NA Legend Rank: 1315)
Season 22: Silent Hybrid Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 138)
and more...
After further thought, the excitement has died down and I am tempering my expectations pretty strongly. I really wanted this to work, but it seems pretty harsh. I certainly will try to make a deck where it is usable, but I am guessing that there will be too many games where it isn't pulled early enough, or I don't have an answer for early game.
So yea, we'll see.
So I mentioned why I don't like Ancestor's Call for this deck, but I am considering a couple cards. Not too confident in either of them though. Thoughts?
Antique Healbot: This deck often stabilizes with a taunt wall only to lose to the opponent's direct damage. A substantial heal like this one could help a lot, even if the body is pretty weak. Perhaps it replaces a Wild Pyromancer, since they both should help a lot against hunter, which is actually a pretty good matchup right now.
Dr. Boom: Ragnaros the Firelord is great in this deck except for one critical flaw, he can't be played the turn after you play an Earth Elemental due to overload. A 7-cost minion should be better, but prior to GvG there were no good options (Baron Geddon just kills all your totems :(). Dr. Boom doesn't seem amazing, but he at least gives you some ability to be aggressive at 7 mana. Wild Pyromancer could even proc the Boom Bots the turn he is played if necessary.
Any other cards I should be considering?
Twitch: CrusherHS, Youtube Channel: Hearthstone Crusher
Season 2, 12: Divine Tempo Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 48, 80)
Season 3: Ancestral Control Shaman (Peak NA Legend Rank: 777)
Season 6: Handmage (Peak NA Legend Rank: 301)
Season 7: Deathrattle Aggro Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 135)
Season 10: Deathrattle Tempo Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 335)
Season 15: Inner Fire Combo Priest (Peak NA Legend Rank: 1315)
Season 22: Silent Hybrid Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 138)
and more...
I don't see it as dependable, per se, but if any deck would make use of a Dunemaul Shaman, it would be this deck. But it would be later in the game. It is a gamble, but a gamble you can have some control on. Hear me out while I work through it. I think I already am not sold on it, but it is at least interesting
I love the Crusher Shaman, have played it a lot, and if there is one thing you can depend on in this deck, it is that if you survive long enough, you WILL use up every piece of removal in their deck. This is how I beat priests frequently. If things work out right, you will also have some form of taunt wall going.
If both of those conditions are met, dropping a Dunemaul Shaman and having him survive until the next turn would be incredible value, especially if the E.E. can take out anything with higher attack, and double especially if you can drop 10 HP of damage to their frickin’ face!
Anytime you can get a Dunemaul up with a Kel’Thuzad…well, that’s straight up h4x0rZ.
Yet, on the down side, I really don't know what it would replace. If you want to give up TBK, then that is one option. But TBK is phenomenal in this deck (even in a pinch using the ancestral healing to taunt an enemy, then TBKing it), and the 5 HP instead of 4 really seems to be a HUGE difference in survivability. Now, the Dunemaul Shaman could take out a Sludge Belcher on its own but it would then die, and obviously, you have to survive the turn first, THEN you have to hit it twice, and if there are other minions, that is that much less likely. Dunemaul seems more of a face hitter…
I suppose you could replace a Sen’jin Shieldmasta’. But again, the Dunemaul wants taunts because of its weak sauce 4 HP, so removing one to add him seems counter intuitive. He is an option because of the taunts in this deck.
Earthen Farseer. Possibly, but now you are giving up flexible healing (hero, injured blademaster, an EE after he takes out a big minion…) And you are giving up potential early game for late game. This deck is already alittle slow in the early game.
Faceless, E.E. Injured blademasters, ancestral spirit and healing are the deepest core of this deck, so none of those are options. Anything card pull (drake, mana tide) are so needed that I can’t see removing a single card pull….
So yeah, there’s the problem, it is an impractical, though very, very powerful and cheap face hitter/finisher that would probably require too many things to go right to not weaken the deck.
Damn, though, I sure WANT it to work. I will still try it out for fun.
A few more cards have caught my eye.
Crackle: So which is better: this or Lightning Bolt? An average of 1.5 more damage for one more mana and variance. I'm thinking Lightning Bolt is still a little better.
Vitality Totem: This is the class hero heal Shamans have been asking for. Not sure it fits well in the midrange archetype, but it could be quite good here. Reminds me a bit of Lightwell... which is a bad sign, but it also functions a bit like [/card]Holy Light[/card] (essentially you heal the 3 damage it takes to kill the totem) with some upside, and Holy Light is good enough for control Paladin. The taunts should help keep it alive, and I think it's a better option than Antique Healbot.
Arcane Nullifier X-21: Is this better than Sen'jin Shieldmasta? It has the taunted Spectral Knight effect everyone dreamed about when Naxx was spoiled, but the difference between 3 attack and 2 is substantial. I think I'll at least give it a shot.
Any other cards I should note from the latest dump?
Twitch: CrusherHS, Youtube Channel: Hearthstone Crusher
Season 2, 12: Divine Tempo Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 48, 80)
Season 3: Ancestral Control Shaman (Peak NA Legend Rank: 777)
Season 6: Handmage (Peak NA Legend Rank: 301)
Season 7: Deathrattle Aggro Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 135)
Season 10: Deathrattle Tempo Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 335)
Season 15: Inner Fire Combo Priest (Peak NA Legend Rank: 1315)
Season 22: Silent Hybrid Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 138)
and more...
I know that Neptulon is far from a good card but you mentioned Dr. Boom replacing rag for the earth ele overload. While i fell Dr. Boom is far superior being a 9/9 for 7 no over load with a death rattle, how do you feel about the extra murloc cards possibly using up enemy removal. My gut feeling is that the card is bad for crusher as your turn 8 will essentially be a turn 5 but with murlocs in your hand, however they are still cards for free. How do you feel about using it in general. Maybe sneeds old shredder is better in general, or Troggdor. I feel BGH is going to be very popular for poor removal classes with so many high attack minions coming out that require immediate removal such as Mal'Ganis or Ghaz'rilla. I imagine both minions in general as well as Earth elemental will suffer.
VS
I place a premium on Bolt for its 1-mana cost. I've aborted many a snowball with it and Earth Shock or Rockbiter in tandem. I'd venture to say Crackle is vying for Lava Burst's spot more than anything, but I still don't like the RNG, despite the value. I enjoy the reliability of Bolt and Burst more. Bolt's utility cannot be undervalued in the fright fest the early game has become with the current aggression in the meta.
Wielder of Botsbane, The Slayer of That Which Has No Life.
Earth Elemental already makes this deck vulnerable to BGH, so adding extra BGH targets isn't too bad. Also, when new sets come out and people want to try new cards, they are likely to swap them in for tech cards, like BGH. Maybe BGH becomes more popular eventually, but I bet that when GvG comes out, he'll be even less popular.
I was hoping for a minion with more immediate board impact than Neptulon or even Sneed's Old Shredder. Trogdor is interesting.
Twitch: CrusherHS, Youtube Channel: Hearthstone Crusher
Season 2, 12: Divine Tempo Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 48, 80)
Season 3: Ancestral Control Shaman (Peak NA Legend Rank: 777)
Season 6: Handmage (Peak NA Legend Rank: 301)
Season 7: Deathrattle Aggro Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 135)
Season 10: Deathrattle Tempo Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 335)
Season 15: Inner Fire Combo Priest (Peak NA Legend Rank: 1315)
Season 22: Silent Hybrid Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 138)
and more...
I personally love Crackle for what it will add to my decks, but this isn't one of the decks I would use it in. I feel it is a great spell for attempting to remove a high HP minion, but generally only when you have a bunch of smaller, backup plans on the board.
Say you have a Healing Totem, 2/1 Loot Hoarder on the board and a flametongue in hand. Plus your LB or Crackle. Druid has a Yeti. Turn 4.
You have a couple options.
1. LB would be hit for three, then hit with loot hoarder.
2. Drop flametongue hit with both healing totem and Loot Hoarder to kill it, leaving a solo Flametongue (though leaving enough mana to drop another totem, hoping for a healing ot taunt totem).
3. If using Crackle, use it. You have a 50% chance to just kill the bastard outright. Or you may do three or four damage. If so, you use the loot hoarder to finish it off as if you used a LB. Either way, drop another totem. 1 mana for a chance at gigantic swing in tempo is awesome in this situation, because the one mana saved from the LB may have gone to waste anyway.
But in Crusher, we don't have these small, tradable minions. So yeah, I agree with the LB assessment. 1 mana instead of 2 when you may be overloaded from E.E. may make a big difference.
I also think that the healing totem is a great fit for this deck. My mana tide lives far more in this deck than any other shaman deck. Same theory.
As for the new cards, I loved Troggdar the Earthinator in this deck. First of all, it is out of BGH range, forcing a higher probability of them having to use a spell (or two? 6 HP isn't tiny). This would also be great to copy by Faceless Manipulator as having two of these would be ridiculously burdonsome to remove by spells, as it would create minimum two irritating taunts to then have to work through after already using two large/removal spells... If you can hide the Troggdor behind a taunt or two and it can sit there and pound away. 6/6 is useful in that regard. Even just dropping him out on turn 7 in a pinch will certainly cause some sort of reaction. Did I mention that the 2/3s will, themselves gain attack when spells are cast? This is a whole new element to the Crusher Shaman, though really, one of many approaches.
That is where my mind goes with all these new cards. You have your basic Crusher approach, which really is the ancestral spirit/healing, E.E. berzerkers and Faceless. Probably a few others that you don't want to lose, like the fire elementals plus your "no duh" shaman cards like hex and lightning storm. Card pull is something that might be tinkered with. Tough to lose the two Azure Drakes, but perhaps something else could replace them in a different sub-type of Crusher deck.
But the finishers, the big boys, like Rag and KT are swappable for different player, which make different approaches. Having Troggdor instead of KT is a huge difference. Using the Arcane Nullifiers instead of Tazdingos! in the same deck really fills out the Crusher anti-magic sub-style.
I will swing by and update this when more sub-style form. I am sure they are out there. Is there a way to add the murlocs as early game plus late game/card draw synergy in this deck (not likely, but one would have to try). The new neutral 3/2 two drop is a pretty standard and acceptable 2 drop, and would be more flexible if your deck supported it. But neither the legendary or the epic murloc shaman cards are that worthy of Faceless...
I think I'm leaning toward Troggzor the Earthinator over Dr. Boom now, simply because his ability plays nicer with resummoning, which ignores battlecries. I am actually not as enthusiastic about Trogdor as a lot of other people are, but he's a 7-drop with a nice persistent effect, which is what this deck is looking for.
Twitch: CrusherHS, Youtube Channel: Hearthstone Crusher
Season 2, 12: Divine Tempo Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 48, 80)
Season 3: Ancestral Control Shaman (Peak NA Legend Rank: 777)
Season 6: Handmage (Peak NA Legend Rank: 301)
Season 7: Deathrattle Aggro Paladin (Peak NA Legend Rank: 135)
Season 10: Deathrattle Tempo Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 335)
Season 15: Inner Fire Combo Priest (Peak NA Legend Rank: 1315)
Season 22: Silent Hybrid Druid (Peak NA Legend Rank: 138)
and more...
What about Lil' Exorcist? Obviously, it depends on whether deathrattle aggro remains a popular style, but running one of these could help with survival into the late game.
Retired streamer and Hearthstone journalist @Shevvek