Updated from back in June when I first tried to make a Dragon Shaman deck viable. Maybe new and improved...maybe just new. You can go directly to the deck for a more detailed breakdown.
I wanted a deck to take advantage of the new dragon cards. I tried Paladin (as most have) and found it underwhelming (as most have). So I turned to the Shaman.
Removal - Two copies of Hex (best removal in the game in my opinion), BGH for any big uglies and Rend for the big uglies that avoid BGH. Also two copies of Lightning Storm for some AoE options and the battlecry for both the Blackwing Corruptors and Fire Elementals.
Taunts - Defender of Argus x2
Dragons - 7 total dragons to activate Blackwing Technician and Blackwing Corruptor. Haven't had too much of a problem activating either thus far, though occasionally you get a crappy draw. The Technician is a great play on curve and even better on turn 2 with coin. The Sorcerers are great because they add to our total number of dragons and they gain a buff when you target them with Rockbiter and/or Windfury. Faerie Dragons are great early game minions they cannot be targeted by hero power or spells, so your opponent has to have something on the board to take it out. And it's another (cheap) dragaon. Azure Drakes are pretty standard with their decent body, card draw and spell power - all great for this deck. Ysera is a great finisher that gives you additional card draw and a body that is hard to remove.
Bloodlust, Windfury and Rockbiter (along with Big Al) make for excellent finishers. You would be surprised how much reach you have with just a minion or two on the board combined with dropping Windfury on one and Bloodlust.
The two drawbacks are card draw (which every Shaman deck faces) and early aggro rush decks. If you get a bad draw and can't get a minion on the board on turns 2 or 3, you are in for a rough time against aggro decks. I'm trying to find better solutions for the early game but it's difficult.
All thoughts, feedback and suggestions welcome!
Well with a first sight it is clear it has a very tough time against rush aggro decks. You are behind from the beginning and there is no comeback possible. You don't run any heal either.
So, well. There is too much removal. 2xHex, 2xEarth Shock are okey, 1xBGH on top is already a little bit too much, plus Rend makes it purely reactive. I guess it can do well against any type of control deck but you will die with no solution against rush.
The first solution would be, the classical zombie chow x2. That is good, you have a nice turn 1 and turn 2 (with the faerie dragons). Turn 3 is already very well covered with the technicians. On the other hand, you will probably be forced to use the rockbitters early on to hold against rush (and even midrange) so you will hardly have an option for activating Al'akir. The two nicer options would be 1) Ragnaros (AFTER Rend eats BGH), 2) Chromaggus in all cases or 3) Nefarian (also after Rend eats BGH). Same problem with the Dragonkin sorcerers. At most you will be able to put a windfury on them, but otherwise it will be a dead card in your hand.
You run no taunts at all. Okey, there are two Argus, but you need minions on board for the Argus, and with a slow deck it is difficult that your opponent will let you have two minions there @turn 4. In the best case, they would be a Blackwing Technician and either a Faerie dragon or Zombie Chow. The first is a nice target, the second is not optimal at all, and the chow will probably be already damaged. A totem fits, but it would become either a 0/3 or a 2/2.
Also you have no card draw, which means you will run out of steam pretty soon.
I am sorry if the comments do not look very positive, but I am trying to be sincere, I do not think this deck can work. Your opponent has to give you a lot of room for your minions to start getting value, and they will not likely do. Even against combo decks like oil rogue or patron warrior, all they have to do is build the combo without hurrying and then blast you down before you get your big guys out. The idea is nice, but the deck should be completely reworked!
No, all good man, I appreciate the feedback....thanks! I'm having success with it against midrange and control decks, but the aggro decks are definitely a problem. I can usually make a game out of it and come close, but they win in the end. Definitely need a better early game strategy and probably better taunts. And maybe I will re-think my legendaries as well.
As for the card draw...yeah, I'd love to have some options there, but Shaman are so borked on card draw options. Mana Tide Totem isn't a viable answer. I'm open to any suggestions in this area.
I know almost any form of Dragon deck is going to be suspect (for any class). I just wanted to think outside the box a little and see what might come of it. Definitely going to keep tinkering. I suspect the necessary changes will just turn this into a fairly standard midrange Shaman deck, which, while effective, isn't new or different (meaning "fun"). It's probably a fruitless exercise but I'm going to keep playing with the Dragon theme and see if I can make something work. Shaman seems to be my home for my fun decks.
No, all good man, I appreciate the feedback....thanks! I'm having success with it against midrange and control decks, but the aggro decks are definitely a problem. I can usually make a game out of it and come close, but they win in the end. Definitely need a better early game strategy and probably better taunts. And maybe I will re-think my legendaries as well.
As for the card draw...yeah, I'd love to have some options there, but Shaman are so borked on card draw options. Mana Tide Totem isn't a viable answer. I'm open to any suggestions in this area.
I know almost any form of Dragon deck is going to be suspect (for any class). I just wanted to think outside the box a little and see what might come of it. Definitely going to keep tinkering. I suspect the necessary changes will just turn this into a fairly standard midrange Shaman deck, which, while effective, isn't new or different (meaning "fun"). It's probably a fruitless exercise but I'm going to keep playing with the Dragon theme and see if I can make something work. Shaman seems to be my home for my fun decks.
It is always refreshing to try out some new archetypes, as every time you face a shaman on the ladder right now is 80% mech and 20% standard midrange. Mhantra for example is trying some very funny decks, and working on them they will probably start working. You cannot underestimate the surprise effect, either, as most players high in the ladder think more about their opponent's deck than in their own, which drives them to misplaying as they expect some moves from your side that never take place, and others come instead.
That said, I think a shaman midrange deck is not a bad idea, maybe you lose some of the dragon synergies but all in all you can have a solid midrange with different cards. Turn 3 technician is one of the best available minions possible. Put it against an unbound elemental, i.e. It's more or less the same card without the overload drawback you need in the next turn to make it grow. The idea of running 4 fire elementals is cool, but I am afraid it may turn your curve a little bit too high. Let's have a look spot by spot:
1 mana -> Here you definitely need something against aggro, or to start building a board against midrange. At least 1 zombie chow would fit here. Another options? Maybe including dragon eggs and some activators, like sunfury protector (which is also a nice turn 2 play by itself). The problem is that dragon decks do not synergize with dragons "on" board, but rather with them in your hand.
2 mana -> Actually the faerie dragon is very powerful in the current meta. The drawback is that it is not sticky, but if you have some big minions coming behind you can just sacrifice it to trade, or prevent your foe of playing any minion so that they do not get an unfavourable trade. Flametongue totem is a great card by itself, it does not fit the deck too well, but for now I would leave it there.
3 mana -> Blackwing technician is great. No doubts. Maybe you can substitute here the BGH by a mana tide totem or by an acolyte of pain for some extra card draw. I am still not convinced about Rend, though. Another good option would be a powermace, preparing for your next move (see below).
4 mana -> Two Argus here. Well, they are not threatening and are a response move at turn 4, which might be too late. Dragonkin sorcerers are nice and threatening, but the stats are similar to a buffed technician, and you need to activate them afterwards. Twillight drake is the other 4-mana dragon option, which is also not too appealing without card draw. Then you have hungry dragon... Dangerous against aggro, but strong by itself. You can also forget about dragons all of a sudden and slide in a piloted shredder or fireguard (danger overload!). The hungry dragon with a powermace behind is not a bad option actually, yet not optimal. I would give it a try.
5 mana -> Bloodlust is an amazing spell, yes, but you face the same problem as with Argus: you need minions on board. With your big late-game minions, which are most likely the only ones that will survive, you do not really need bloodlust. Azure Drakes are perfect, true. Blackwing corruptors are cool as an idea, also. You need some heal, which means either a healbot or a healing totem. The healbot would mean you have 5 5-mana cost minions yet it is more reliable. I leave the decision which heal to include up to you.
6 mana -> Fire elementals, good. They are still vulnerable (5 hp is too low as a couple of crappy minions can kill him). Maybe it would be a good idea to put a Drakonid crusher in here. Being a control-ish deck your foe will likely have more than 15hp when you can play him, so I am not that sure that he is a good option. Volcanic drake is the only other 6-mana drake, while it is intended to be dropped much before. Maybe you can put it in the deck to combo with lightning storm. Sylvanas could be a good bait for a silence, leaving the field free for Ysera.
7 mana -> Rend... okey. I do not really like that card, it is expensive, too weak, too vulnerable to everything and very situational. Probably Dr. Boom would fit here... if there is place for him in the deck.
8 mana -> Chromaggus would do better than Al'akir, I guess. You might also put Alexstrasza in here, but that would be too many big guys imho.
9 mana -> Ysera is more than okey.
And while I wrote this I thought again, that you run no taunts in the deck. Maybe it should be good to replace both Argus for 2 Sen'Jin, and replace one of the corruptors for a sludge belcher.
Well these are some initial ideas, but seeing the options I get to think dragons are not made for shaman.
Thanks for the feedback! I am in the process of re-working the deck some, but it's not easy. It's a shame the meta is so narrow in terms of decks you can run. Shaman is in a tough spot right now. But I'm going to keep trying! Some good ideas here though.
I think that the Dragonkin Sorcerercould be the MVP of this type of deck. As mentioned above, clear out some of the clutter and make room for some taunts and some more early game.
If you get to turn 5/7 and have the sorc out there a rockbiter+windfury+bloodlust would do Massive Burst ~13 dmgx2 (26 or 30w/ Flametotem), it might be a tough combo to set up, but lethal on a full health opponent turn 7 would be interesting.
What about something like this as a Dragon Shaman deck?
It's more or less the same thing. The deck is very strong vs. control but vulnerable against aggro. If you can save your lightning bolts for when you play Maly, then it may be very good. On the other hand, if you are forced to use them before, it will be too bad.
MCT has a good synergy with hungry dragon, but you would have to play the dragon @turn 7, by when the game is more or less already settled and it will not change much - normally. Then, you are running 2 corruptors but no Fire Elementals, while having no other 6-mana drops (Other than Drakonid Crusher which, on the other hand, will die to BGH if you play it when your opponent is <15hp). So you might probably want to subs at least one of them by a Fire Ele. Keeping the other one is not a bad idea.
Having Malygos in, I would strongly recommend to find a place for Emperor Thaurissan so that you can unlock crazy combos (Malygos + 2 crackle up to 22 dmg or Malygos + lightning storm).
Updated from back in June when I first tried to make a Dragon Shaman deck viable. Maybe new and improved...maybe just new. You can go directly to the deck for a more detailed breakdown.
Well with a first sight it is clear it has a very tough time against rush aggro decks. You are behind from the beginning and there is no comeback possible. You don't run any heal either.
So, well. There is too much removal. 2xHex, 2xEarth Shock are okey, 1xBGH on top is already a little bit too much, plus Rend makes it purely reactive. I guess it can do well against any type of control deck but you will die with no solution against rush.
The first solution would be, the classical zombie chow x2. That is good, you have a nice turn 1 and turn 2 (with the faerie dragons). Turn 3 is already very well covered with the technicians. On the other hand, you will probably be forced to use the rockbitters early on to hold against rush (and even midrange) so you will hardly have an option for activating Al'akir. The two nicer options would be 1) Ragnaros (AFTER Rend eats BGH), 2) Chromaggus in all cases or 3) Nefarian (also after Rend eats BGH). Same problem with the Dragonkin sorcerers. At most you will be able to put a windfury on them, but otherwise it will be a dead card in your hand.
You run no taunts at all. Okey, there are two Argus, but you need minions on board for the Argus, and with a slow deck it is difficult that your opponent will let you have two minions there @turn 4. In the best case, they would be a Blackwing Technician and either a Faerie dragon or Zombie Chow. The first is a nice target, the second is not optimal at all, and the chow will probably be already damaged. A totem fits, but it would become either a 0/3 or a 2/2.
Also you have no card draw, which means you will run out of steam pretty soon.
I am sorry if the comments do not look very positive, but I am trying to be sincere, I do not think this deck can work. Your opponent has to give you a lot of room for your minions to start getting value, and they will not likely do. Even against combo decks like oil rogue or patron warrior, all they have to do is build the combo without hurrying and then blast you down before you get your big guys out. The idea is nice, but the deck should be completely reworked!
Golden Shaman, Paladin and Mage experimentalist: http://twitch.tv/red_tony
No, all good man, I appreciate the feedback....thanks! I'm having success with it against midrange and control decks, but the aggro decks are definitely a problem. I can usually make a game out of it and come close, but they win in the end. Definitely need a better early game strategy and probably better taunts. And maybe I will re-think my legendaries as well.
As for the card draw...yeah, I'd love to have some options there, but Shaman are so borked on card draw options. Mana Tide Totem isn't a viable answer. I'm open to any suggestions in this area.
I know almost any form of Dragon deck is going to be suspect (for any class). I just wanted to think outside the box a little and see what might come of it. Definitely going to keep tinkering. I suspect the necessary changes will just turn this into a fairly standard midrange Shaman deck, which, while effective, isn't new or different (meaning "fun"). It's probably a fruitless exercise but I'm going to keep playing with the Dragon theme and see if I can make something work. Shaman seems to be my home for my fun decks.
It is always refreshing to try out some new archetypes, as every time you face a shaman on the ladder right now is 80% mech and 20% standard midrange. Mhantra for example is trying some very funny decks, and working on them they will probably start working. You cannot underestimate the surprise effect, either, as most players high in the ladder think more about their opponent's deck than in their own, which drives them to misplaying as they expect some moves from your side that never take place, and others come instead.
That said, I think a shaman midrange deck is not a bad idea, maybe you lose some of the dragon synergies but all in all you can have a solid midrange with different cards. Turn 3 technician is one of the best available minions possible. Put it against an unbound elemental, i.e. It's more or less the same card without the overload drawback you need in the next turn to make it grow. The idea of running 4 fire elementals is cool, but I am afraid it may turn your curve a little bit too high. Let's have a look spot by spot:
1 mana -> Here you definitely need something against aggro, or to start building a board against midrange. At least 1 zombie chow would fit here. Another options? Maybe including dragon eggs and some activators, like sunfury protector (which is also a nice turn 2 play by itself). The problem is that dragon decks do not synergize with dragons "on" board, but rather with them in your hand.
2 mana -> Actually the faerie dragon is very powerful in the current meta. The drawback is that it is not sticky, but if you have some big minions coming behind you can just sacrifice it to trade, or prevent your foe of playing any minion so that they do not get an unfavourable trade. Flametongue totem is a great card by itself, it does not fit the deck too well, but for now I would leave it there.
3 mana -> Blackwing technician is great. No doubts. Maybe you can substitute here the BGH by a mana tide totem or by an acolyte of pain for some extra card draw. I am still not convinced about Rend, though. Another good option would be a powermace, preparing for your next move (see below).
4 mana -> Two Argus here. Well, they are not threatening and are a response move at turn 4, which might be too late. Dragonkin sorcerers are nice and threatening, but the stats are similar to a buffed technician, and you need to activate them afterwards. Twillight drake is the other 4-mana dragon option, which is also not too appealing without card draw. Then you have hungry dragon... Dangerous against aggro, but strong by itself. You can also forget about dragons all of a sudden and slide in a piloted shredder or fireguard (danger overload!). The hungry dragon with a powermace behind is not a bad option actually, yet not optimal. I would give it a try.
5 mana -> Bloodlust is an amazing spell, yes, but you face the same problem as with Argus: you need minions on board. With your big late-game minions, which are most likely the only ones that will survive, you do not really need bloodlust. Azure Drakes are perfect, true. Blackwing corruptors are cool as an idea, also. You need some heal, which means either a healbot or a healing totem. The healbot would mean you have 5 5-mana cost minions yet it is more reliable. I leave the decision which heal to include up to you.
6 mana -> Fire elementals, good. They are still vulnerable (5 hp is too low as a couple of crappy minions can kill him). Maybe it would be a good idea to put a Drakonid crusher in here. Being a control-ish deck your foe will likely have more than 15hp when you can play him, so I am not that sure that he is a good option. Volcanic drake is the only other 6-mana drake, while it is intended to be dropped much before. Maybe you can put it in the deck to combo with lightning storm. Sylvanas could be a good bait for a silence, leaving the field free for Ysera.
7 mana -> Rend... okey. I do not really like that card, it is expensive, too weak, too vulnerable to everything and very situational. Probably Dr. Boom would fit here... if there is place for him in the deck.
8 mana -> Chromaggus would do better than Al'akir, I guess. You might also put Alexstrasza in here, but that would be too many big guys imho.
9 mana -> Ysera is more than okey.
And while I wrote this I thought again, that you run no taunts in the deck. Maybe it should be good to replace both Argus for 2 Sen'Jin, and replace one of the corruptors for a sludge belcher.
Well these are some initial ideas, but seeing the options I get to think dragons are not made for shaman.
Golden Shaman, Paladin and Mage experimentalist: http://twitch.tv/red_tony
This and Patron Warrior got me to Legend last season.
गञ्जा गञ्जा
Thanks for the feedback! I am in the process of re-working the deck some, but it's not easy. It's a shame the meta is so narrow in terms of decks you can run. Shaman is in a tough spot right now. But I'm going to keep trying! Some good ideas here though.
I think that the Dragonkin Sorcerercould be the MVP of this type of deck. As mentioned above, clear out some of the clutter and make room for some taunts and some more early game.
If you get to turn 5/7 and have the sorc out there a rockbiter+windfury+bloodlust would do Massive Burst ~13 dmgx2 (26 or 30w/ Flametotem), it might be a tough combo to set up, but lethal on a full health opponent turn 7 would be interesting.
http://www.hearthpwn.com/deckbuilder/shaman#10:2;73:1;77:2;213:2;214:1;241:1;270:1;280:2;368:1;676:2;7756:1;12182:1;12227:2;12241:2;14436:1;14437:2;14447:2;14449:1;14451:1;14455:2;
What about something like this as a Dragon Shaman deck?
It's more or less the same thing. The deck is very strong vs. control but vulnerable against aggro. If you can save your lightning bolts for when you play Maly, then it may be very good. On the other hand, if you are forced to use them before, it will be too bad.
MCT has a good synergy with hungry dragon, but you would have to play the dragon @turn 7, by when the game is more or less already settled and it will not change much - normally. Then, you are running 2 corruptors but no Fire Elementals, while having no other 6-mana drops (Other than Drakonid Crusher which, on the other hand, will die to BGH if you play it when your opponent is <15hp). So you might probably want to subs at least one of them by a Fire Ele. Keeping the other one is not a bad idea.
Having Malygos in, I would strongly recommend to find a place for Emperor Thaurissan so that you can unlock crazy combos (Malygos + 2 crackle up to 22 dmg or Malygos + lightning storm).
Golden Shaman, Paladin and Mage experimentalist: http://twitch.tv/red_tony
Since Dragon Shaman are becoming more popular, thought I'd revive this thread since my old Dragon Shaman deck has undergone big changes.
Nice let me know how it is working for you. With the Twighlight Guardians you may not need the faerie dragons anymore