Hearthpwn

The first question, of course, is: anyone else tinkering with anything similar?  There are lots of subtle changes you can make here.  Ultimately, the goal is to stall until you can play an incredible combo with Reincarnate + Sylv, KT, or Sneeds.  The idea, in theory, is not to get greedy: keep the deck balanced and focused such that you can get the most value from a Reincarnate.  

Ideas I'm kicking around: 1.) Fireguard Destroyer in place of some taunt at 4 mana.  2.) Sludge Belchers in place of Stalagg and Feugen. 3.) Some combination of 1 & 2. 4.) Perhaps most importantly, how to create a stronger and more consistent early game?

Results: Playing right now at Rank 11.  Big win streak last night, big losing streak this morning.  I've won enough to think it can work, but have been losing too much to think it's efficient.  Control Shaman seems so close to being viable.  The Reincarnate combos are potentially game breaking.  Is it the class or the deck?  What advice do you have?

When I play Deathrattle based Shaman's I like to have Nerubian Egg/Harvest Golem for early game. The harvest golem is really good with Argus as it helps you have a target for turn 4 if you need it.

Personally I think Cairne is a lot more reliable than Feugen/Stalagg since they're about as gimmicky as Deathrattle Shaman gets next to Reincarnate infinite KT train. And since replacing both gives you can extra slot you can add Thaurissan to make your end game combos more viable. Only thing you lack in that instance is card draw to have a really large hand to discount. Alternatively you could add Baron Rivendare instead of Thaurissan.

Appreciate this, Ratheil.  I'm currently trying Piloted Shredders.  Took out Feugen and Stalagg for Sludges.  Doing better and will report back.

Quote from Ratheil »

[...]Personally I think Cairne is a lot more reliable than Feugen/Stalagg since they're about as gimmicky as Deathrattle Shaman gets next to Reincarnate infinite KT train. And since replacing both gives you can extra slot [...]

I agree with that. Try to replace Feugen/Stalagg with something more useful..something that is good by its own..like Cairne, Sludge or Thaurissan. In my opinion, there is too much silence that could screw up the combo  (Hunters, Mages, Shamans, Druids...).

Some people played a lot with nerubian eggs vs aggro ( me too) and it worked out pretty well, although I used 2x Argus and Rockbiters and Flametongue. I also like Rockbiter Weapon in this kind of deck. It's like a Lightning Bolt without drawback and it can help you to trigger some deathrattles or serve as early removal (Mana Wyrm, Mech Warper, Piloted Shredder....). What about adding Ancestral Spirit? Is it too situational?

I personally like including Ancestral Spirit in mine just because it plays more into the fun of the deck for me. It's a good card but incredibly weak to silence if you're playing on the defense. But Ancestral Spirit on a Sludge Belcher can just shut aggro down on the spot. It's also pretty good at turning your board into a Nerubian factory with Nerubian Egg. The key is to not be afraid to use your Reincarnate and Ancestral Spirit on your cheap minions to gain early board control.

I found Ancestral Spirit to be too situational when running Reincarnate.  When Ancestral Spirit works, it feels as though I've already won.  I tried it with Earth Elementals, but this made the deck too heavy.  It's hard enough to waste two 2 mana cards on situation spells, let alone 4.  Those infinite chains of minions seem win more rather than win, though I could be wrong.

Thaurissan just won't work, I'm afraid.  Card draw in Shaman is just too much of a rarity.  I'm trying to make room for Dr. Boom and Cairne Bloodhoof, since they're both fairly consistent.

no Baron Rivendare? :O

What would you remove for Ancestral Spirit here?

Baron Rivendare seems to me the essence of gimmick :) 

Quote from mattbonetti »

Baron Rivendare seems to me the essence of gimmick :) 

That is true, but at the same time if you even get a couple deathrattles to trigger twice you've gotten value out of him, plus he's still a body.

If you Argus him you've just made a Deathlord. He alone is good vs Aggro anyway.

With decks like these you don't have to hit every minion or combo to make it work. I like Baron because he is going to attract attention and his 7 health can be an issue. If his effect gets triggered, even better. Feugen and Stalagg are great minions with great stats even if you don't get Thaddius out. Again, they will demand attention. The key is to stall for the first 3 or 4 turns and then get rolling. I use Chows, Eggs and Weblords in my version for the early game. Is it going to take you all the way to Legend? Highly doubtful! Is it fun as hell? Bet your ass!

Thanks, all.  I thought I would share my updated version:

The key, again, is to remove the gimmicks from this archetype.  I took out Feugen and Stalagg for that reason, replacing them with the more consistent Sludge Belcher.  The Shredders help give this deck some board stability, and they synergize with Powermace. After taking a ton of losses, this variation has resulted in a nice win streak against a variety of decks.

Far sight? rly?:O do u have it for occasional lolo combo, if u get like cheap KT or something? there would be better draw options, if it is purely for draw.

Right now it's kind of for the lolz.  I'm just trying it out for fun; Mana Tide is probably better, though I'm curious if I'll be able to pull something off.

Swapped out that Far Sight for a Mana Tide Totem.  It's working especially well in this deck because you can easily protect it behind taunts.

Thanks, AleMental.  Powermaces and Mechs are the heart of this deck, it turns out.  The mechs give this some early aggression (if needed), but you can also play defense handily with the taunts.  Piloted Sky Golem and Azure Drake are always on the cusp of inclusion; I'd probably add Azure Drake first though.  As others have pointed out, Cairne Bloodhoof is a slightly more consistent version of Piloted Sky Golem.  Sure, he can't be buffed, but you generally want to use the Powermace's buff on the taunts anyway (and it would put Piloted Sky Golem in BGH range anyway.)  The Drake would be nice.  What might you remove?

I find those other Shaman staples to be part of a fundamentally different deck archetype.  The deathrattle synergy, in itself, was really only valuable pre-Undertaker nerf.  There's enough taunt and removal here to survive the early game, it turns out.

For those of you following this, I've played it now to Rank 8, 5 stars.  The win conditions look something like this: 

Pretty much the current decklist I'm running:

http://www.hearthpwn.com/deckbuilder/shaman#33:1;77:2;270:1;335:1;386:2;390:2;491:2;542:1;676:2;7731:2;7742:1;7749:1;12182:1;12187:1;12191:2;12227:1;12269:2;7756:2;7738:2;7740:1;

The end game is very similar, Arch.  What match ups give you the most trouble?  

Ya'll seem to be echoing my intuitions.  Specifically, the need for a 3 drop.  The Harvest Golem might be the best thematically (and maybe in reality, too), but I'm experimenting with Earthenring Farseer first.  This provides versatile heals while providing some prescience on the board.

Cairne has been replaced with another Fire Elemental.

i dont know when i see this resurrection decks nobody even thinks in Injured Blademaster much better option than that clumsy golem even works if you run Ancestral Spirit amd ofc the healing totem