I don't even know how to play shaman anymore, missing wrath or air totem is basically missing a hero power for control decks. A completely unnecessary nerf to the worst HP. And I still get to summon 1/1 shit totem 90% of the time. Great.
Just think about it, Blizzard decided to nerf the actual worst Hero Power in the game, and in the process kill an entire deck archetype, Odd Shaman. For what reason honestly?
Just think about it, Blizzard decided to nerf the actual worst Hero Power in the game, and in the process kill an entire deck archetype, Odd Shaman. For what reason honestly?
Not that I expect people on this website to state objectively correct facts, but for the record, killing an archetype means literally no one plays it anymore and that it isn't competitively viable in any way, shape or form.
I don't know what you are talking about, I play my own odd shaman around rank D5 and almost able to push to D2 with it. It is on my account. It is not dead.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Minion to minion the basic of all combats, only a fool trusts his win to an OTK"
I don't know what you are talking about, I play my own odd shaman around rank D5 and almost able to push to D2 with it. It is on my account. It is not dead.
But isn't it a completely different deck now ?
Odd shaman with wrath of air totem and Odd shaman with strength totem must be playing different cards I assume.
Air Totem was either the strongest or weakest depending on the deck. The new one is more in line with the others.
Yeah, not to discount what anyone else is saying, but I always thought that the new totem was just objectively better overall, since you will almost always have minions to benefit from the buff (especially if you hero power again), whereas you won't always have spells that benefit from spell damage.
I can see how some decks would like spell damage, but is it really that bad? Any examples?
I can see how some decks would like spell damage, but is it really that bad? Any examples?
Basically any burn Shaman deck or some versions of aggro shaman (Spirit Claws and Mealstrom Portal for example). But yes, the new one is much better because it has an ability in every shaman deck. Even burst shaman runs minions, or atleast has another Totem to buff, while the Spell damage one would be completely useless in Murloc shaman for example.
Air Totem was either the strongest or weakest depending on the deck. The new one is more in line with the others.
No it's still the strongest or the weakest, except now it's strongest for aggro and weakest for control, not the other way around
Strength totem does absolutely nothing for me in control. Giving +1 atk at the end of turn to shit 1/1 totem is worthless.
Isn't it the same for most hero powers ? Warrior HP is the best for control and the worst for aggro... So make it more in line with druid HP ? Of course not.
Imo there was no justification for this change, it didn't make any deck significantly better (both aggro and control use damage spells, in both wild and standard, only the very specific murloc shaman wouldn't play damage spells, and if you use HP as murloc shaman you already lost), but it made MANY decks significantly worse.
Okay, so, maybe my take was bad, I guess I'm just miffed cause I liked the artwork for Wrath of Air Totem so much, especially in gold. Why couldn't Blizzard just have kept the old art, with the effect of the new Totem, and maybe a new name?
Wouldn't replacing Seering Totem be a much better change?! Like even if Strength Totem was the incoming totem, I'd much rather give another basic totem 1 attack than to roll a 1/1. Paladin at least gives its 1/1's buffs. Shaman just gets a 1/1. People literally just avoid Seering totem, but would clear every other totem instantly. I wouldn't even consider using Totemic Reflection on it. 2 vanilla 3/3's doesn't compare to having 2/4's that do something.
I was in favor of the change because Wrath of Air seemed too high rolly. Is it really that big of a positive for Shaman to have a completely unreliable Spell Damage boost out of their Hero Power? I don't think so. Looking at everything Shaman is capable of doing, Strength Totem is a perfectly fine lil totem who's going to do their best.
Shaman's problems are fundamental and rooted in the design of the class and its cards. Its Hero Power being the worst in the game (or at least in the bottom 3) only sucks as hard as it does because the rest of the class stinks on ice. At least Hunter, with its pretty bad Hero Power, is structured in a way that actually makes it really strong, and a logical feature of the class. Nothin about Shaman and all of its mechanics really leads "summon a random totem that MIGHT help" as a logical feature.
Shaman needs Draw. It needs efficient cards. It needs Overload to suck less. It needs to be given actual burn spells. Shaman got like 3 different Spell Damage tools recently with the Imprisoned Phoenix, Bru'kan, and Novice Zapper but absolutely jack to take advantage of those with. Mage gets all the card draw it wants, and the most efficient burn in the whole game. Shaman gets Spell Damage, but no spells. or draw. or a good Hero Power, just for good measure.
Goddamnit Blizzard, bring my golden boy back, I miss him so much. :((((((((((
Strength Totem just doesn't compare.
:^(
I agree on this one (quite a lot actually). Losing the Spell Damage totem seems like a swing and a miss to me. The new totem is vaguely useful (mostly for totem-based decks I suppose) but the air totem was possibly the strongest HP totem. It's loss heavily damages the class's presence in the game as a whole since it inadvertently affects every Shaman deck to some degree. I would like to see it make a comeback as well.
What they really should do is add a few more types of totems to the basic pool and make it so the hero power discovers one. That way, you won't always get exactly what you want, but at least you'll have some agency in choosing something that will help at the given moment.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Why, you never expected justice from a company, did you? They have neither a soul to lose nor a body to kick." -- Lady Saba Holland
That'd be cool, being able to chose between 6, 7, or 8 different totems, maybe even more. But would you make it so you can discover Totems you already have? Or would it work like it does now, with no duplicates?
Or what if a Shaman could decide which 4 Totems out of X his Hero Power could summon in the deck creator?
Goddamnit Blizzard, bring my golden boy back, I miss him so much. :((((((((((
Strength Totem just doesn't compare.
:^(
Fuhgeddaboudit
https://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/general-discussion/212005-group-therapy-need-to-blow-off-steam-mega-salty
*Honestly though* yes can the totem just be called grace of air and do the same thing so theres a totem of each element
I don't even know how to play shaman anymore, missing wrath or air totem is basically missing a hero power for control decks. A completely unnecessary nerf to the worst HP. And I still get to summon 1/1 shit totem 90% of the time. Great.
So much truth here.
There have been so many games I could have won if we still had wrath of air.
I honestly believe that part of their game design is to have weaker classes that can't compete with
what they consider top tier classes.
There is simply NO other logical reason for the state shaman are in.
They aren't stupid. They are fully aware, as most of us are what the problems with shaman are.
Lets see what happens with the next balance change.
Just think about it, Blizzard decided to nerf the actual worst Hero Power in the game, and in the process kill an entire deck archetype, Odd Shaman. For what reason honestly?
Fuhgeddaboudit
Not that I expect people on this website to state objectively correct facts, but for the record, killing an archetype means literally no one plays it anymore and that it isn't competitively viable in any way, shape or form.
https://hearthstone-decks.net/odd-shaman-188-legend-营火之灾祸领主/
Keep to it feels bad, at least that one is entirely correct.
I don't know what you are talking about, I play my own odd shaman around rank D5 and almost able to push to D2 with it. It is on my account. It is not dead.
"Minion to minion the basic of all combats, only a fool trusts his win to an OTK"
But isn't it a completely different deck now ?
Odd shaman with wrath of air totem and Odd shaman with strength totem must be playing different cards I assume.
Air Totem was either the strongest or weakest depending on the deck. The new one is more in line with the others.
Yeah, not to discount what anyone else is saying, but I always thought that the new totem was just objectively better overall, since you will almost always have minions to benefit from the buff (especially if you hero power again), whereas you won't always have spells that benefit from spell damage.
I can see how some decks would like spell damage, but is it really that bad? Any examples?
Basically any burn Shaman deck or some versions of aggro shaman (Spirit Claws and Mealstrom Portal for example). But yes, the new one is much better because it has an ability in every shaman deck. Even burst shaman runs minions, or atleast has another Totem to buff, while the Spell damage one would be completely useless in Murloc shaman for example.
No it's still the strongest or the weakest, except now it's strongest for aggro and weakest for control, not the other way around
Strength totem does absolutely nothing for me in control. Giving +1 atk at the end of turn to shit 1/1 totem is worthless.
Isn't it the same for most hero powers ? Warrior HP is the best for control and the worst for aggro... So make it more in line with druid HP ? Of course not.
Imo there was no justification for this change, it didn't make any deck significantly better (both aggro and control use damage spells, in both wild and standard, only the very specific murloc shaman wouldn't play damage spells, and if you use HP as murloc shaman you already lost), but it made MANY decks significantly worse.
Okay, so, maybe my take was bad, I guess I'm just miffed cause I liked the artwork for Wrath of Air Totem so much, especially in gold. Why couldn't Blizzard just have kept the old art, with the effect of the new Totem, and maybe a new name?
Fuhgeddaboudit
Wouldn't replacing Seering Totem be a much better change?! Like even if Strength Totem was the incoming totem, I'd much rather give another basic totem 1 attack than to roll a 1/1. Paladin at least gives its 1/1's buffs. Shaman just gets a 1/1. People literally just avoid Seering totem, but would clear every other totem instantly. I wouldn't even consider using Totemic Reflection on it. 2 vanilla 3/3's doesn't compare to having 2/4's that do something.
I was in favor of the change because Wrath of Air seemed too high rolly. Is it really that big of a positive for Shaman to have a completely unreliable Spell Damage boost out of their Hero Power? I don't think so. Looking at everything Shaman is capable of doing, Strength Totem is a perfectly fine lil totem who's going to do their best.
Shaman's problems are fundamental and rooted in the design of the class and its cards. Its Hero Power being the worst in the game (or at least in the bottom 3) only sucks as hard as it does because the rest of the class stinks on ice. At least Hunter, with its pretty bad Hero Power, is structured in a way that actually makes it really strong, and a logical feature of the class. Nothin about Shaman and all of its mechanics really leads "summon a random totem that MIGHT help" as a logical feature.
Shaman needs Draw. It needs efficient cards. It needs Overload to suck less. It needs to be given actual burn spells. Shaman got like 3 different Spell Damage tools recently with the Imprisoned Phoenix, Bru'kan, and Novice Zapper but absolutely jack to take advantage of those with. Mage gets all the card draw it wants, and the most efficient burn in the whole game. Shaman gets Spell Damage, but no spells. or draw. or a good Hero Power, just for good measure.
please don't bully my son
I agree on this one (quite a lot actually). Losing the Spell Damage totem seems like a swing and a miss to me.
The new totem is vaguely useful (mostly for totem-based decks I suppose) but the air totem was possibly the strongest HP totem. It's loss heavily damages the class's presence in the game as a whole since it inadvertently affects every Shaman deck to some degree.
I would like to see it make a comeback as well.
What they really should do is add a few more types of totems to the basic pool and make it so the hero power discovers one. That way, you won't always get exactly what you want, but at least you'll have some agency in choosing something that will help at the given moment.
"Why, you never expected justice from a company, did you? They have neither a soul to lose nor a body to kick." -- Lady Saba Holland
That'd be cool, being able to chose between 6, 7, or 8 different totems, maybe even more. But would you make it so you can discover Totems you already have? Or would it work like it does now, with no duplicates?
Or what if a Shaman could decide which 4 Totems out of X his Hero Power could summon in the deck creator?
Fuhgeddaboudit
Pretty sure the new totem is objectively better given the normal shaman game plan. The hero power itself is still garbage though so it doesn’t matter.
Remove 1/1 trash totem from the pool, it's more punitive than an option itself.
Replace air with it. Solved,