I hate to be one who complains about a class and I know shaman just got an awesome 4 drop but seriosuly shaman really isn't very good as a class (competitively speaking) they have a lot of neat effects but that doesn't make a class good. They don't have the heals to be control, the card draw to be aggro and there are definitely better mid-range classes. They are also plagued with rng which bases a lot of their success off luck and the overload (even with their new spell) ruins tempo. Most classes can easily out class shaman because shaman seems to be the jack of all trades master of none class Or something like that. Perhaps I'm wrong but I really don't see any compelling reason to play shaman other than to enjoy some gimmicky decks. What do you guys think?
Seatstorycup with highest winrate =P Shaman is viable, its just hard to master and it has fallen out of the meta but that doesn't mean it cant beat the meta. =P
It's honestly the class I play the least. It's sitting around level 23 while everything else is 45+. For the reasons you said most of it's decks just aren't competitive. Warrior, paladin and priest have all the cards to be control, while hunter and mage have the cards for aggro. Shaman just seems to have 1 or 2 of everything that don't really work that well together. As for the overload mechanic, it can lead to some pretty big tempo swings with strong low costed cards, but I feel like the tempo is all lost when your opponent has a decent amount of mana more to play than you the next turn, it's just an awkward mechanic.
Yeah it needs a little help but I think it will swing back around. Once the full adventure is out we will see how the meta changes. And hopefully the next expansion will give shaman some love. Its a very creative class but its just slightly worse at everything it does than another class.
I'd say it is the best burst class in the game. Windfury, Doomhammer , the sheer number of direct damage spells, Flametongue Totem and Rockbiter Weapon all contribute to one direction. However it is by no means viable :/. With no card draw, and the requirement to have minions on the board to use cards like Bloodlust and Flametongue Totem and Windspeaker just hurts the class. Don't even get me started on " Use your hero power and hope for that 1/4 results that could help you in this specific situation".
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I would Agree that it has the best burst spells but not that it's the best burst class simply because of its lack of card draw. For a combo style deck like that you have to be drawing a lot for it to be consistant.
Control Shaman might actually have the best matchup against all the other control archetypes.
Better than priests?
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the only reason you dont see that many shaman any more, is because hunter is unstoppable, and pretty much hard counters it. Other than that, shaman beats pretty much every other class pretty easily.
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Check out my decks & feel free to make suggestions!
This is going to sound like the dumbest thing, but hear me out: shaman needs a buff to Searing Totem. Seriously. It's small, it's inconsequential, and it might be the on thing to push it over the edge.
Has there ever been a single time as a Shaman you've said "god I hope I get a searing totem"?
What would be fantastic is if the Searing Totem either a) had charge or b) was at least a 1/2, with two health like the others.
Make it so Shaman has as consistent a hero power as the other classes and not a "darn not another Searing Totem", and there you go.
Control Shaman might actually have the best matchup against all the other control archetypes.
Better than priests?
I'd think so, yes.
If it's true I have yet to see it. Anyway have a good day and may RNGesus shine light on your packs.
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If you look closely, you can see this is a signature and not a comment. Why are you reading? Stop reading this. Did you read this too? Dang you must like reading.
If you look closely, you can see this is a signature and not a comment. Why are you reading? Stop reading this. Did you read this too? Dang you must like reading.
Searing Totem is actually very excellent. It helps trade efficiently with aggro, and often can give you the flametongue synergy you need the turn after. If you've never thought "I really hope this is a searing totem", you haven't played enough shaman, or enough shaman well.
As for the main topic, shaman is the best anti control and among the better anti midrange decks. Hunter isn't really its problem, as antique healbots and vitality totems keep them alive wonderfully. What shaman suffers against is a mass number of tokens. Paladin, Warlock, and Hunter can all provide this to some extent.
If Shaman needs anything, it's solid two-for-ones, and easy token clear. Lightning Storm is a waste on a token board, which is why I think we might see wild pyros come back into the shaman mix.
Mostly the reason for Shaman's decline from its once glory days were little by little changes that weren't really targetted at shaman, that ended up hurting it more than intended. Nerf to pagle, nerf to gadgetzan, popularity of Harrison Jones, the list goes on. Lots of shaman's most reliable options and cards just got weaker over time, and the prevalnce of incredibly sticky threats where there were once easy fodder for shaman removal has hurt the class a lot.
It's definitely still viable though. Lower on the "tier lists"? Maybe, but it remains one of the more stable, more consistent, hard to play meta decks, that also happen to be really good against druid and non freeze mages. (And, with good draws, sometimes also freeze mages)
Maybe it is time to rework the Healing Totem, so that it also heals Thrall for 1 HP. That would be very good and would make Shaman more viable.
Tournament is a little bit different to the ladder, where you only have to beat 1 deck in the most played format. Shaman has some very strong matchups like Zoolock, Druid and Warrior, but the ladder is also full off Face Hunter and Paladins. You also kind of struggle against Midrangier Zoodecks or Demonlock.
Maybe it is time to rework the Healing Totem, so that it also heals Thrall for 1 HP. That would be very good and would make Shaman more viable.
It used to, I really doubt blizz will un-nerf shaman but of course its possible. Just waiting for the W4 to get the fireguard and ultimately test the lava shock which some hate so much.
If it makes you feel any better, think about those moments when your Fireguard Destroyer rolls 4 attack to trade easily for a Hungry Dragon. If this dragon ends up being a problem, i can see some people playing Shaman just for the Fireguard kill. Other than that, Shaman needs more bulky minions. The two cards above are good examples, better than Earth Elemental because of the huge overload. They could keep this style, add some rng to the attack instead of a 3 mana overload and preserve a good health, so you dont end up overloaded and with nothing on board on the next turn.
The issue with shaman, as I see it, is the lack of good class-specific early game. Paladin has Shielded Minibot, mage has Mana Wyrm, and hunter has their entire freaking deck. Shaman, on the other hand, is forced to rely on neutrals for early game minions. And while the 4-drop will be great, what shaman really needed was a sturdy 2-mana minion.
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I hate to be one who complains about a class and I know shaman just got an awesome 4 drop but seriosuly shaman really isn't very good as a class (competitively speaking) they have a lot of neat effects but that doesn't make a class good. They don't have the heals to be control, the card draw to be aggro and there are definitely better mid-range classes. They are also plagued with rng which bases a lot of their success off luck and the overload (even with their new spell) ruins tempo. Most classes can easily out class shaman because shaman seems to be the jack of all trades master of none class Or something like that. Perhaps I'm wrong but I really don't see any compelling reason to play shaman other than to enjoy some gimmicky decks. What do you guys think?
Seatstorycup with highest winrate =P Shaman is viable, its just hard to master and it has fallen out of the meta but that doesn't mean it cant beat the meta. =P
Surprise!
It's honestly the class I play the least. It's sitting around level 23 while everything else is 45+. For the reasons you said most of it's decks just aren't competitive. Warrior, paladin and priest have all the cards to be control, while hunter and mage have the cards for aggro. Shaman just seems to have 1 or 2 of everything that don't really work that well together. As for the overload mechanic, it can lead to some pretty big tempo swings with strong low costed cards, but I feel like the tempo is all lost when your opponent has a decent amount of mana more to play than you the next turn, it's just an awkward mechanic.
Yeah it needs a little help but I think it will swing back around. Once the full adventure is out we will see how the meta changes. And hopefully the next expansion will give shaman some love. Its a very creative class but its just slightly worse at everything it does than another class.
Why am I sticky?
I'd say it is the best burst class in the game. Windfury, Doomhammer , the sheer number of direct damage spells, Flametongue Totem and Rockbiter Weapon all contribute to one direction. However it is by no means viable :/. With no card draw, and the requirement to have minions on the board to use cards like Bloodlust and Flametongue Totem and Windspeaker just hurts the class. Don't even get me started on " Use your hero power and hope for that 1/4 results that could help you in this specific situation".
If you look closely, you can see this is a signature and not a comment. Why are you reading? Stop reading this. Did you read this too? Dang you must like reading.
I would Agree that it has the best burst spells but not that it's the best burst class simply because of its lack of card draw. For a combo style deck like that you have to be drawing a lot for it to be consistant.
Why am I sticky?
Control Shaman might actually have the best matchup against all the other control archetypes.
"Put your face in the light!" - Tirion Fordring
Better than priests?
If you look closely, you can see this is a signature and not a comment. Why are you reading? Stop reading this. Did you read this too? Dang you must like reading.
the only reason you dont see that many shaman any more, is because hunter is unstoppable, and pretty much hard counters it. Other than that, shaman beats pretty much every other class pretty easily.
Check out my decks & feel free to make suggestions!
I'd think so, yes.
"Put your face in the light!" - Tirion Fordring
You know what Shaman needs?
This is going to sound like the dumbest thing, but hear me out: shaman needs a buff to Searing Totem. Seriously. It's small, it's inconsequential, and it might be the on thing to push it over the edge.
Has there ever been a single time as a Shaman you've said "god I hope I get a searing totem"?
What would be fantastic is if the Searing Totem either a) had charge or b) was at least a 1/2, with two health like the others.
Make it so Shaman has as consistent a hero power as the other classes and not a "darn not another Searing Totem", and there you go.
If it's true I have yet to see it. Anyway have a good day and may RNGesus shine light on your packs.
If you look closely, you can see this is a signature and not a comment. Why are you reading? Stop reading this. Did you read this too? Dang you must like reading.
woops double post
If you look closely, you can see this is a signature and not a comment. Why are you reading? Stop reading this. Did you read this too? Dang you must like reading.
Searing Totem is actually very excellent. It helps trade efficiently with aggro, and often can give you the flametongue synergy you need the turn after. If you've never thought "I really hope this is a searing totem", you haven't played enough shaman, or enough shaman well.
As for the main topic, shaman is the best anti control and among the better anti midrange decks. Hunter isn't really its problem, as antique healbots and vitality totems keep them alive wonderfully. What shaman suffers against is a mass number of tokens. Paladin, Warlock, and Hunter can all provide this to some extent.
If Shaman needs anything, it's solid two-for-ones, and easy token clear. Lightning Storm is a waste on a token board, which is why I think we might see wild pyros come back into the shaman mix.
Mostly the reason for Shaman's decline from its once glory days were little by little changes that weren't really targetted at shaman, that ended up hurting it more than intended. Nerf to pagle, nerf to gadgetzan, popularity of Harrison Jones, the list goes on. Lots of shaman's most reliable options and cards just got weaker over time, and the prevalnce of incredibly sticky threats where there were once easy fodder for shaman removal has hurt the class a lot.
It's definitely still viable though. Lower on the "tier lists"? Maybe, but it remains one of the more stable, more consistent, hard to play meta decks, that also happen to be really good against druid and non freeze mages. (And, with good draws, sometimes also freeze mages)
shaman is quite strong.
Maybe it is time to rework the Healing Totem, so that it also heals Thrall for 1 HP. That would be very good and would make Shaman more viable.
Tournament is a little bit different to the ladder, where you only have to beat 1 deck in the most played format. Shaman has some very strong matchups like Zoolock, Druid and Warrior, but the ladder is also full off Face Hunter and Paladins. You also kind of struggle against Midrangier Zoodecks or Demonlock.
It used to, I really doubt blizz will un-nerf shaman but of course its possible. Just waiting for the W4 to get the fireguard and ultimately test the lava shock which some hate so much.
Surprise!
If it makes you feel any better, think about those moments when your Fireguard Destroyer rolls 4 attack to trade easily for a Hungry Dragon. If this dragon ends up being a problem, i can see some people playing Shaman just for the Fireguard kill. Other than that, Shaman needs more bulky minions. The two cards above are good examples, better than Earth Elemental because of the huge overload. They could keep this style, add some rng to the attack instead of a 3 mana overload and preserve a good health, so you dont end up overloaded and with nothing on board on the next turn.
shaman is love shaman is life fuck the haters
The issue with shaman, as I see it, is the lack of good class-specific early game. Paladin has Shielded Minibot, mage has Mana Wyrm, and hunter has their entire freaking deck. Shaman, on the other hand, is forced to rely on neutrals for early game minions. And while the 4-drop will be great, what shaman really needed was a sturdy 2-mana minion.