Seriously not every class "truly need x-mana minion".. That is part of class balancing. Shamans early game is already good with flametongue + creeper + hero power. Shaman also has really good early removal so A) what minion could be better in early shaman and B) what would you replace for it.
Shaman is a rad class. But there are a couple of underlying issues that hamper it's effectiveness. Having a random hero power will always be a drawback. And the class cards are tilted towards board control and trading which means it plays slow. The current meta is way too fast for it.
Right now control Shaman can hold it's own against other control classes but it gets wrecked by Face Hunter and Zoo. Mech Shaman is good though and can outrace Face Hunter if you get the right draw.
I think Fireguard Destroyer is going to be a rad card. And I'm going to be testing a Dragon Shaman when all the good dragons are released.
MOAR TOTEM SYNERGIES!! Apart from the already invaluable Totemic Might!!
Seriously though. an early totem buffing spell that gave +attack or even more mid-late game like paladin has with Quartermaster would be some awesome!
My card creation for this week is based around totem synergies but rather than buffing the totems, the totems are used for the buff. ;)
But yeah as for everyone saying that Shaman is severely under rated and that their removal spells are off the chain! You are so right! Just slow early game and no lightning storm and you're dead most of the time (especially with the resurrection of zoo), but if you can use flametongue cheap spells to get board, then them adding a card like Fireguard Destroyer that can soak up a silence, still leaving a 3/6 body that can 2-1 probably 98% of the time if it's played on curve. I CAN'T WAIT!
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.
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.
Whirling Zap-o-matic not good enough for ya?
Who on Earth plays that outside of mech aggro, and who else on the earth lets it survive? Shaman needs a solid two drop, not Face Hunter's lost son.
Control Shaman might actually have the best matchup against all the other control archetypes.
Better than priests?
My control shaman beats priest almost every time. I don't think that's ever been different. Tempo priest was a bit harder to deal with, but once I learned it I rarely lost. Control shaman also beats up on warrior and druid pretty hard. I've always had a tough time facing paladins, though. Midrange mages often get me, too. The nice thing about lack of card draw is often times control shaman hits fatigue second and burn spells make quick work once fatigue happens. Also lava burst loves a handlock.
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)
Pyro is pretty good in control shaman. It synergizes with hex, acts like a +1 spell power with storm, and has great value when healing totem is out.
I think something like this would help. 4 mana 2 overload spell: Chain Lightning. Deal 1 damage to each enemy minion and receive either a Crackle or a Lightning bolt for each minion damaged this way. Start using that Malygos!
(Completely trash, but I think it's kinda cool nonetheless)
I think something like this would help. 4 mana 2 overload spell: Chain Lightning. Deal 1 damage to each enemy minion and receive either a Crackle or a Lightning bolt for each minion damaged this way. Start using that Malygos!
(Completely trash, but I think it's kinda cool nonetheless)
That might just be OP, use it as AoE then follow up with some of the draws and Lava shock.
I think something like this would help. 4 mana 2 overload spell: Chain Lightning. Deal 1 damage to each enemy minion and receive either a Crackle or a Lightning bolt for each minion damaged this way. Start using that Malygos!
(Completely trash, but I think it's kinda cool nonetheless)
That might just be OP, use it as AoE then follow up with some of the draws and Lava shock.
Jeez, this with a thaurissian on board would make for ridiculous malaygod turn
I think something like this would help. 4 mana 2 overload spell: Chain Lightning. Deal 1 damage to each enemy minion and receive either a Crackle or a Lightning bolt for each minion damaged this way. Start using that Malygos!
(Completely trash, but I think it's kinda cool nonetheless)
That might just be OP, use it as AoE then follow up with some of the draws and Lava shock.
Jeez, this with a thaurissian on board would make for ridiculous malaygod turn
Really? I think it seems pretty garbage. It punishes aggro and token-based decks pretty hard, but that's it. I think it would be kinda bad against anything else, like Warrior, Druid, or Priest. It would be INSANE verse Zoo, Paladin, and other Shamans though, but again, terrible verse something like Grim Patron Warrior, especially considering it's 6 mana, even if you do use lava shock (just an extra 2 damage)
I think something like this would help. 4 mana 2 overload spell: Chain Lightning. Deal 1 damage to each enemy minion and receive either a Crackle or a Lightning bolt for each minion damaged this way. Start using that Malygos!
(Completely trash, but I think it's kinda cool nonetheless)
That might just be OP, use it as AoE then follow up with some of the draws and Lava shock.
Jeez, this with a thaurissian on board would make for ridiculous malaygod turn
Really? I think it seems pretty garbage. It punishes aggro and token-based decks pretty hard, but that's it. I think it would be kinda bad against anything else, like Warrior, Druid, or Priest. It would be INSANE verse Zoo, Paladin, and other Shamans though, but again, terrible verse something like Grim Patron Warrior, especially considering it's 6 mana, even if you do use lava shock (just an extra 2 damage)
Hrm, not sure I see your point. This whole thing is hypothetical right, so in my head of course I am thinking of advantageous position where you hit 3+ minions. Or I could just as easily hypothetically hit 1 minion. I guess the point is in useless situation it's useless and it situations where it's not and you survive to the next turn your opponent could quite easily be dead.
Pretty much, we can make up whatever imaginary situation we want for this imaginary card.
Edit: Also it doesn't take token decks to have three minions on board for something like this.
Really? I think it seems pretty garbage. It punishes aggro and token-based decks pretty hard, but that's it. I think it would be kinda bad against anything else, like Warrior, Druid, or Priest. It would be INSANE verse Zoo, Paladin, and other Shamans though, but again, terrible verse something like Grim Patron Warrior, especially considering it's 6 mana, even if you do use lava shock (just an extra 2 damage)
Hrm, not sure I see your point. This whole thing is hypothetical right, so in my head of course I am thinking of advantageous position where you hit 3+ minions. Or I could just as easily hypothetically hit 1 minion. I guess the point is in useless situation it's useless and it situations where it's not and you survive to the next turn your opponent could quite easily be dead.
Pretty much, we can make up whatever imaginary situation we want for this imaginary card.
Edit: Also it doesn't take token decks to have three minions on board for something like this.
My favorite class is Shaman. Once I started playing last August, the first class cards I crafted was Feral Spirit and Lightning Storm. Sadly, the current meta just doesn't fit for the Shaman. They have really bad early game due to the lack of solid 1 and 2 drops that promote board presence and board control. Using Overload too early also kills you tempo, but we have no choice but to do so. Maybe once we get some cards like those with NO Overload, we can see a much more reliable class.
My favorite class is Shaman. Once I started playing last August, the first class cards I crafted was Feral Spirit and Lightning Storm. Sadly, the current meta just doesn't fit for the Shaman. They have really bad early game due to the lack of solid 1 and 2 drops that promote board presence and board control. Using Overload too early also kills you tempo, but we have no choice but to do so. Maybe once we get some cards like those with NO Overload, we can see a much more reliable class.
Shaman is strong because your AoE damage totem allows the totems youve already summoned to favorably trade with the opponents minions. You can then carry this type of thinking into the later game or earlier if your thinking Rockbiter, but also think bloodlust.. So many people go to face with bloodlust but if you can clear with it favorably you should do it.
Windfury speaks for itself and that one weapon combo that goes good with that one windfury mech should be in every deck IMO.
Shaman also houses one of the best cards in the game: Fire elemental. Also good with earth elemental if you can put that overload to work.
Also really popular right now is the egg shaman, use reincarnate on an egg, gives u a 4 and 4 and u have the egg again.
Seriously not every class "truly need x-mana minion".. That is part of class balancing. Shamans early game is already good with flametongue + creeper + hero power. Shaman also has really good early removal so A) what minion could be better in early shaman and B) what would you replace for it.
Surprise!
Shaman is a rad class. But there are a couple of underlying issues that hamper it's effectiveness. Having a random hero power will always be a drawback. And the class cards are tilted towards board control and trading which means it plays slow. The current meta is way too fast for it.
Right now control Shaman can hold it's own against other control classes but it gets wrecked by Face Hunter and Zoo. Mech Shaman is good though and can outrace Face Hunter if you get the right draw.
I think Fireguard Destroyer is going to be a rad card. And I'm going to be testing a Dragon Shaman when all the good dragons are released.
MOAR TOTEM SYNERGIES!! Apart from the already invaluable Totemic Might!!
Seriously though. an early totem buffing spell that gave +attack or even more mid-late game like paladin has with Quartermaster would be some awesome!
My card creation for this week is based around totem synergies but rather than buffing the totems, the totems are used for the buff. ;)
But yeah as for everyone saying that Shaman is severely under rated and that their removal spells are off the chain! You are so right! Just slow early game and no lightning storm and you're dead most of the time (especially with the resurrection of zoo), but if you can use flametongue cheap spells to get board, then them adding a card like Fireguard Destroyer that can soak up a silence, still leaving a 3/6 body that can 2-1 probably 98% of the time if it's played on curve. I CAN'T WAIT!
गञ्जा गञ्जा
Whirling Zap-o-matic not good enough for ya?
Who on Earth plays that outside of mech aggro, and who else on the earth lets it survive? Shaman needs a solid two drop, not Face Hunter's lost son.
Shaku, the Collector gave me the Plague
My control shaman beats priest almost every time. I don't think that's ever been different. Tempo priest was a bit harder to deal with, but once I learned it I rarely lost. Control shaman also beats up on warrior and druid pretty hard. I've always had a tough time facing paladins, though. Midrange mages often get me, too. The nice thing about lack of card draw is often times control shaman hits fatigue second and burn spells make quick work once fatigue happens. Also lava burst loves a handlock.
Pyro is pretty good in control shaman. It synergizes with hex, acts like a +1 spell power with storm, and has great value when healing totem is out.
I think something like this would help. 4 mana 2 overload spell: Chain Lightning. Deal 1 damage to each enemy minion and receive either a Crackle or a Lightning bolt for each minion damaged this way. Start using that Malygos!
(Completely trash, but I think it's kinda cool nonetheless)
Shaku, the Collector gave me the Plague
That might just be OP, use it as AoE then follow up with some of the draws and Lava shock.
Jeez, this with a thaurissian on board would make for ridiculous malaygod turn
Really? I think it seems pretty garbage. It punishes aggro and token-based decks pretty hard, but that's it. I think it would be kinda bad against anything else, like Warrior, Druid, or Priest. It would be INSANE verse Zoo, Paladin, and other Shamans though, but again, terrible verse something like Grim Patron Warrior, especially considering it's 6 mana, even if you do use lava shock (just an extra 2 damage)
Shaku, the Collector gave me the Plague
Shaman is ok, it's not bad. Just need a good deck and someone who knows how to play it. I am climbing legend with him now, almost rank 2.
Hrm, not sure I see your point. This whole thing is hypothetical right, so in my head of course I am thinking of advantageous position where you hit 3+ minions. Or I could just as easily hypothetically hit 1 minion. I guess the point is in useless situation it's useless and it situations where it's not and you survive to the next turn your opponent could quite easily be dead.
Pretty much, we can make up whatever imaginary situation we want for this imaginary card.
Edit: Also it doesn't take token decks to have three minions on board for something like this.
Just think about it in the current meta, with midrange pally (Muster for Battle) and zoolock (Imp Gang Boss + Imp-losion) everywhere.
My favorite class is Shaman. Once I started playing last August, the first class cards I crafted was Feral Spirit and Lightning Storm. Sadly, the current meta just doesn't fit for the Shaman. They have really bad early game due to the lack of solid 1 and 2 drops that promote board presence and board control. Using Overload too early also kills you tempo, but we have no choice but to do so. Maybe once we get some cards like those with NO Overload, we can see a much more reliable class.
Hey man, i haven't tried this deck out yet but apparently it's having quite a bit of success: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/238195-egg-shaman-top-50-legend
गञ्जा गञ्जा
Tried it and in my opinion, it actually works. But as usual for Shamans, the problem is consistency.
Shaman is strong because your AoE damage totem allows the totems youve already summoned to favorably trade with the opponents minions. You can then carry this type of thinking into the later game or earlier if your thinking Rockbiter, but also think bloodlust.. So many people go to face with bloodlust but if you can clear with it favorably you should do it.
Windfury speaks for itself and that one weapon combo that goes good with that one windfury mech should be in every deck IMO.
Shaman also houses one of the best cards in the game: Fire elemental. Also good with earth elemental if you can put that overload to work.
Also really popular right now is the egg shaman, use reincarnate on an egg, gives u a 4 and 4 and u have the egg again.
How exactly do u put that overload to work?
"Put your face in the light!" - Tirion Fordring
Im blanking on the card name but gains 1+1 from overloads played