Hearthpwn

I've been toying around and theorycrafting a Shaman Minion-Heavy deck recently, and I'm not talking "minions with core removal spells" minion-heavy, I'm talking like "no weapons/6 spells whose sole goals are minion support" Minion-Heavy. I've seen around the forums that you can technically count Battlecries as spells in themselves, and while true, I wonder if that's enough. Can decent minion synergy and effective trades make up for lack of core removal spells? I want to assume yes because it breathes versatility into the game, but what are your thoughts? I might link the deck in question I'm making, but it's a W.I.P still.

Oh yea, of course. I mean a taunt heavy deck with a great mana curve, although usually your minion heavy SHaman decks are Murloc decks or heavy Spell Damage decks.

Yeah, this one is neither of those oddly enough, its aggro/beatdown kind of deck that focuses on multiple attack modifiers and Ancestral Spirit to control the board with efficient trading. It's a bit unorthodox:

Nothing is set in stone, and of course theory is nothing compared to practice, but I think even with the emphasis on minions this might have some potential.

My oppinion on minion heavy decks is, they tend to be boring.
Draw a card, play a card, trade minions, get through what's left.
I know Arena boils down to this sometimes, but with spells the gameplay is more entertaining. At least for me.

As a Shaman, wouldn't you want to have Bloodlust in there somewhere?  Even 3 weenies getting through for damage is really good, and you can always do a 0 cost Windfury to double a damage burst from a bigger guy if needed.

Quote from hellens »

As a Shaman, wouldn't you want to have Bloodlust in there somewhere?  Even 3 weenies getting through for damage is really good, and you can always do a 0 cost Windfury to double a damage burst from a bigger guy if needed.

Yeah, I figured that question would crop up. I've debated dropping a Rockbiter or one of my lategame Minions for it, thus why its a W.I.P deck. I'm pretty sure Windfury, the spell, is 2 mana, not 0.

@Scrub: You need more consistency in your deck, the cards are all over the place. Double up on some and try push the curve up a bit. Constantly referring back to basic deck building knowledge will help carry the deck along much better.

Windfury

I personally would run Shattered Sun Cleric, Argus, and Stormwind with all your board staying power, drop the Frostwolf for Silver Hand Knights, and put more presence on the board. Earth Elementals aren't out of the question either and Fire Elementals should definitely be included. If you can't have spells per se then try for board control off battlecry effects.

Yeah, I just did a few revisions of it myself with your suggestions. Although I just realized there's an edit button and I didn't have to make a new one. Gruul might be questionable and I might swap him out for another SW Champ but I figure the only real answer to him is direct removal or BGH, and he's scary with windfury.

But this thread isn't for my silly theorycrafted shaman deck, Its more about the viability of minion-heavy decks. Although I guess with the proper synergy and knowledge, any archetype is viable on some level or another, making my question kinda silly in retrospect. :P

oops... long day at the office, wasn't thinking clearly on Windfury.  This deck is definitely barely a class specific deck, so it's actually pretty easy to see if the minion makeup could work for a different class or not. 

Mmmm I would consider adding Cho back in. Leeching spells from your opponent could possibly give you the removal that the deck would initially lack. The opponent wouldn't gain much from it either if you're saving your spells for late game.