shaman no longer works bcause the card pool isnt doing anything competitive. outside of mech shaman maybe? midrange neptulon decks? dunno.. next to Rogue in 'most unplayed class' according to deck tracker.
Hotform made a mech totem shaman last night that actually did quite well.
Also, Varranis from team Fade2Karma has started a project to make a pure control shaman. The deck has evolved, as is the goal as he tried out many cards on his ladder climb, but it is starting to take form. We will see how it turns out in the end, but the possibilities are pretty amazng. We just have to dump our insistence on old archtypes, which is hard to do.
go to Blizzpro to find his article. There are links to his blog that talks about what cards he tried and why they did or didn't fit. I can't stress enough, this isn't "big minions otherwise same old midrange""style of control, this is, you literally totem and pass way more than you would think, style of control. Use resources for value, control the game until you just have way more left than he does. Play it like the shaman we are used to and you will die horribly with no resources in hand.
Hotform made a mech totem shaman last night that actually did quite well.
Also, Varranis from team Fade2Karma has started a project to make a pure control shaman. The deck has evolved, as is the goal as he tried out many cards on his ladder climb, but it is starting to take form. We will see how it turns out in the end, but the possibilities are pretty amazng. We just have to dump our insistence on old archtypes, which is hard to do.
go to Blizzpro to find his article. There are links to his blog that talks about what cards he tried and why they did or didn't fit. I can't stress enough, this isn't "big minions otherwise same old midrange""style of control, this is, you literally totem and pass way more than you would think, style of control. Use resources for value, control the game until you just have way more left than he does. Play it like the shaman we are used to and you will die horribly with no resources in hand.
Just want to say thank you! Very interesting deck with a detailed description on blizzpro.
Also he wants to get legend from rank 25 only playing the pure control shaman deck on his stream.
Wow the deck looks awesome, and I love the ideas behind it! I have had a lot of fun with the Control Shaman/Crusher Decks here, but I want to try the deck on Blizzpro!
Just wanted to come and say that at ranks 2-legend at least midrange shaman is really good atm, reached legend today(made a separate thread about it, shameless advertising I know :D). Meta is full of druids, CWs, mages and couple of handlocks, patrons and secret paladins.
Just wanted to come and say that at ranks 2-legend at least midrange shaman is really good atm, reached legend today(made a separate thread about it, shameless advertising I know :D). Meta is full of druids, CWs, mages and couple of handlocks, patrons and secret paladins.
It's the end of the month, everyone has already got legend. I am playing dragon pally atm, and doing quite well too. You can basically level up with anything right now.
True, but my point is meta is fit for shaman now. During my climb from 2, I pretty much faced only legend players playing good decks, so its not that meaningless(played one game vs last year's participant in eu blizzcon qualifier lowelo)
True, but my point is meta is fit for shaman now. During my climb from 2, I pretty much faced only legend players playing good decks, so its not that meaningless(played one game vs last year's participant in eu blizzcon qualifier lowelo)
The Shaman is the most fun for me right now, and that's all that matters at the end of the day!
Btw, I agree with your tldr of the thread, shaman in my opinion needs a whirlwind like aoe(magma totem maybe? 2 mana 2 3, deal 1 dmg to all enemies at the end of the turn?) and a good alternative to zombie chow as a class 1 drop.
Haha....and it was pulling a golden al akir that piqued my interest in Shaman in the first place....can't seem to give it up even though I know it sucks. That said, Shaman decks ARE the most fun to play, hands down. I made it to rank 5 this season, my highest rank ever (previous best was 13) through grinding with midrange hunter - which is kind of fun to play and then secret paladin from around rank 9 to 5. It's not fun to play that deck but it was nice to see such a high ranking and get the nice end of season prize.
Playing malygos shaman on ladder just for shits and giggles, dropping down to 8 so far. It's ok I can just play secret paladin for a bit and get right back up to 5 with ease.
8/9 classes know exactly what they get when they use their hero power but Shaman gets the 25/33/50/100% gamble. Who am I kidding, Shaman will never get the higher two probabilities because we will never have more than two. In a game like Hearthstone that is massively RNG-based to begin with, having a class that is RNG at its core simply cannot work at the highest level.
Overload by itself isn't bad as a mechanic but coupled with the absolute non-existence of cards that synergize with it makes it downright miserable. The cards that have overload tacked on are amazing if you look at what they do. But considering that the previous meta was purely based on who can kill the other faster and while TGT did introduce a number of solid cards to slow down the game it is still very much tempo based. That is another problem of Shaman as it is very hard for them to fight for the board if they ever fall behind.
I can think of several cards that would utilize the overload(/totem) mechanic in no time:
Spell: Costs (1) less for each overloaded crystal
Spell: Does x. If you cast a spell with overload this turn, it also does y.
Minion: Has +1 spell power for each overloaded crystal
Minion: Overload x for both players
Minion: Deathrattle: Give your totems +x HP
Minion: Battlecry: If you have overloaded crystals, this also gets taunt
8/9 classes know exactly what they get when they use their hero power but Shaman gets the 25/33/50/100% gamble. Who am I kidding, Shaman will never get the higher two probabilities because we will never have more than two. In a game like Hearthstone that is massively RNG-based to begin with, having a class that is RNG at its core simply cannot work at the highest level.
Overload by itself isn't bad as a mechanic but coupled with the absolute non-existence of cards that synergize with it makes it downright miserable. The cards that have overload tacked on are amazing if you look at what they do. But considering that the previous meta was purely based on who can kill the other faster and while TGT did introduce a number of solid cards to slow down the game it is still very much tempo based. That is another problem of Shaman as it is very hard for them to fight for the board if they ever fall behind.
I can think of several cards that would utilize the overload(/totem) mechanic in no time:
Spell: Costs (1) less for each overloaded crystal
Spell: Does x. If you cast a spell with overload this turn, it also does y.
Minion: Has +1 spell power for each overloaded crystal
Minion: Overload x for both players
Minion: Deathrattle: Give your totems +x HP
Minion: Battlecry: If you have overloaded crystals, this also gets taunt
Minion: Whenever you summon a totem, get +1/+1
And the list goes on.
Well, we may see it in the future because Blizzard said that they want Hearthstone to go on for years. So they take it slowly...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
'There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact'
Having one of your classes at the bottom for 9 months in a row not only that but only 1 person played shaman for every 3 that played the second worst(priest) before TGT, it's just unacceptable from any point of view. Sure someone is going to be a the bottom but having the same class for that long and for 3 expansion show how little they care or how bad they are at making cards (or both). As a consumer this just show a lack of quality in their work.The only reason there isnt more complains is that shaman has always been one of the most if not the most unpopular class so there's so few people playing it that no one care anymore.Imagine the amount of riot that would cause having Warrior or Hunter in that position for so long.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
shaman no longer works bcause the card pool isnt doing anything competitive. outside of mech shaman maybe? midrange neptulon decks? dunno.. next to Rogue in 'most unplayed class' according to deck tracker.
Hotform made a mech totem shaman last night that actually did quite well.
Also, Varranis from team Fade2Karma has started a project to make a pure control shaman. The deck has evolved, as is the goal as he tried out many cards on his ladder climb, but it is starting to take form. We will see how it turns out in the end, but the possibilities are pretty amazng. We just have to dump our insistence on old archtypes, which is hard to do.
go to Blizzpro to find his article. There are links to his blog that talks about what cards he tried and why they did or didn't fit. I can't stress enough, this isn't "big minions otherwise same old midrange""style of control, this is, you literally totem and pass way more than you would think, style of control. Use resources for value, control the game until you just have way more left than he does. Play it like the shaman we are used to and you will die horribly with no resources in hand.
Wow the deck looks awesome, and I love the ideas behind it! I have had a lot of fun with the Control Shaman/Crusher Decks here, but I want to try the deck on Blizzpro!
Thanks for the info guys!
Just wanted to come and say that at ranks 2-legend at least midrange shaman is really good atm, reached legend today(made a separate thread about it, shameless advertising I know :D). Meta is full of druids, CWs, mages and couple of handlocks, patrons and secret paladins.
It's the end of the month, everyone has already got legend. I am playing dragon pally atm, and doing quite well too. You can basically level up with anything right now.
True, but my point is meta is fit for shaman now. During my climb from 2, I pretty much faced only legend players playing good decks, so its not that meaningless(played one game vs last year's participant in eu blizzcon qualifier lowelo)
The Shaman is the most fun for me right now, and that's all that matters at the end of the day!
All I wish to add to this conversation is my signature.
Btw, I agree with your tldr of the thread, shaman in my opinion needs a whirlwind like aoe(magma totem maybe? 2 mana 2 3, deal 1 dmg to all enemies at the end of the turn?) and a good alternative to zombie chow as a class 1 drop.
Just DE'd golden al'akir... no regrets
I died a little inside...
^If it's making you feel any better, reached rank 100 legend meanwhile with 16-7 record in legend total. :)
Showeth me thy deck list!
You can find it in my "first time legend-midrange shaman" thread or in my profile.
Al'Akir is a good shaman card, but that means it's mediocre crap to everyone else, so I say good play sir.
http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/class-discussion/shaman/65745-first-time-legend-midrange-shaman
It's just a standard totem midrange shaman deck....
Haha....and it was pulling a golden al akir that piqued my interest in Shaman in the first place....can't seem to give it up even though I know it sucks. That said, Shaman decks ARE the most fun to play, hands down. I made it to rank 5 this season, my highest rank ever (previous best was 13) through grinding with midrange hunter - which is kind of fun to play and then secret paladin from around rank 9 to 5. It's not fun to play that deck but it was nice to see such a high ranking and get the nice end of season prize.
Playing malygos shaman on ladder just for shits and giggles, dropping down to 8 so far. It's ok I can just play secret paladin for a bit and get right back up to 5 with ease.
8/9 classes know exactly what they get when they use their hero power but Shaman gets the 25/33/50/100% gamble. Who am I kidding, Shaman will never get the higher two probabilities because we will never have more than two. In a game like Hearthstone that is massively RNG-based to begin with, having a class that is RNG at its core simply cannot work at the highest level.
Overload by itself isn't bad as a mechanic but coupled with the absolute non-existence of cards that synergize with it makes it downright miserable. The cards that have overload tacked on are amazing if you look at what they do. But considering that the previous meta was purely based on who can kill the other faster and while TGT did introduce a number of solid cards to slow down the game it is still very much tempo based. That is another problem of Shaman as it is very hard for them to fight for the board if they ever fall behind.
I can think of several cards that would utilize the overload(/totem) mechanic in no time:
Spell: Costs (1) less for each overloaded crystal
Spell: Does x. If you cast a spell with overload this turn, it also does y.
Minion: Has +1 spell power for each overloaded crystal
Minion: Overload x for both players
Minion: Deathrattle: Give your totems +x HP
Minion: Battlecry: If you have overloaded crystals, this also gets taunt
Minion: Whenever you summon a totem, get +1/+1
And the list goes on.
Well, we may see it in the future because Blizzard said that they want Hearthstone to go on for years. So they take it slowly...
'There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact'
Sherlock Holmes
Having one of your classes at the bottom for 9 months in a row not only that but only 1 person played shaman for every 3 that played the second worst(priest) before TGT, it's just unacceptable from any point of view.
Sure someone is going to be a the bottom but having the same class for that long and for 3 expansion show how little they care or how bad they are at making cards (or both).
As a consumer this just show a lack of quality in their work.The only reason there isnt more complains is that shaman has always been one of the most if not the most unpopular class so there's so few people playing it that no one care anymore.Imagine the amount of riot that would cause having Warrior or Hunter in that position for so long.