Hey folks, pretty big noob here but wanted to ask the question nonetheless.
I got a golden Shadowform last night and was curious on how it plays.
Is it a viable option to running an Aggro Priest or anything? I figured coupled with Auchenai Soulpriest and whatever else, it could be decent. Considering I have tried this out, I figured I would ask the community first. Appreciate the help.
Auchenai Soulpriest is a great card. Because of that, I can see how Shadowform seems like a good card as well. But there are pretty much no viable decks out there that Shadowform can work well in.
It is a GREAT card to use in fun decks and casual decks and a decent card in arena. But in ranked its just that it is way too slow for what it does, unfortunately :(
Auchenai Soulpriest is a great card. Because of that, I can see how Shadowform seems like a good card as well. But there are pretty much no viable decks out there that Shadowform can work well in.
It is a GREAT card to use in fun decks and casual decks and a decent card in arena. But in ranked its just that it is way too slow for what it does, unfortunately :(
That is what my concern was, I really want to give it a go but I'm worried its just to slow. Maybe I will try it out on the casual side. Thanks for the insight.
Maybe when the new priest card comes, the issue is that in Aggro the 3rd drop is very important, maybe in a more control mid-range deck it could work
Would Prophet Velen make is more viable, coupled with a second Shadowform? Would'nt that be a 6 for 2 damage output every turn, assuming Valen stays alive?
I know priests are less played at higher ends of the ladder mainly due to their speed, but I would love to see them excel. I cant wait to see what Naxx brings to the meta.
Maybe when the new priest card comes, the issue is that in Aggro the 3rd drop is very important, maybe in a more control mid-range deck it could work
Would Prophet Velen make is more viable, coupled with a second Shadowform? Would'nt that be a 6 for 2 damage output every turn, assuming Valen stays alive?
I know priests are less played at higher ends of the ladder mainly due to their speed, but I would love to see them excel. I cant wait to see what Naxx brings to the meta.
The problem is still that Shadowform is too slow though. All in all Shadowform is an amazing card. 2 damage every turn to everything? Pretty insane (if you dont look at the tempo loss from playing it).
Prophet Velen or not, Shadowform costs 3 mana. That makes it 5 mana when you want to use it the first turn. In constructed you wont have the time to actually set that up. If you have time/tempo to play a card that pretty much reads "deal 2 damage" and costs 5 mana, you should have already won the game regardless.
Thus Shadowform is a "win more" card in most cases. While that might be great at rank 19 where people might not end up having a play every turn, it wont work consistently enough at higher ranks.
Often the normal priest ability shines after turn 3, when you're keeping alive a monster with 3+ health. (i.e keeping a senjin shieldmaster alive or the 4/7 Injured blademaster if you used circle of healing on the same turn.
Dark Cultist will probably be in most priests decks.
Often the normal priest ability shines after turn 3, when you're keeping alive a monster with 3+ health. (i.e keeping a senjin shieldmaster alive or the 4/7 Injured blademaster if you used circle of healing on the same turn.
Dark Cultist will probably be in most priests decks.
I respect anyone who can play Shadowform in Ranked, since that player will have to be smart with the decision on when to change tactics.
I don't think i'm anywhere near as good as those in the top rank ladders. As a science experiment, I will create a deck once the Naxx cards are released and see what I can do, or post it to see what others who are more tactical than me can do.
Any chance you play in EU? I can show you a deck with it.
Also, I disagree with the line of thinking that Shadowform encourages a burst down win. If you use it on enemy hero, it is just the Hunter racial. It gets value when used on the board, and also it gives more value in longer games because it's permanent. In essence, you trade early tempo for mid-late control, then you need an end-game win plan. Some people go with Alexstrasza, some with Molten Giant, my own deck goes for Malygos-Prophet Velen-Mind Blast.
EDIT: I didn't answer to the actual topic, doh! It is "viable" depending on what you mean. You can get to rank 5-6 with it, I have done it before. With dedication, maybe even higher. Is is a top deck? No.
Been trying it out in the following deck recently, with... mediocre success (pretty good against slow decks, coin-flip or worse against the faster ones which flood the meta atm):
(Plan on adding in Dark Cultist once Naxx is released.)
Your mileage may vary, but I've been having fun with it; still nowhere near the consistency of Warlock Zoo, but a hell of a lot less boring with far more room for creative play. It seems very difficult to make Priest work as anything other than Midrange or Control - like trying to fit a square peg through a triangular gap - but that's not gonna stop me from trying. :P
As for the original question of the card's viability, Shadowform is generally too slow to be useful and messes up the Priest's natural synergy with healing. The only decks I can really see it working in are a fairly slow control deck so that you have time to get value out of it or something like I posted above, where it can help keep constant pressure on the opponent into the later stages of the game.
Shadowform isn't really viable at the moment. I would keep it though and use it in conjuction with Lorewalker Cho during Curse of Naxxramas bosses to nullify their hero powers. Who knows maybe they will be dumb enough to use it. :)
Now that, sir, is an idea I haven't thought of! Hopefully neither have Blizzard!
One thing to keep in mind with Shadowform is it's unique ability to allow you to use your hero power twice in a turn.
Granted, this takes a lot of mana to accomplish. However, it is possible to hero power heal, shadowform and hero power nuke all in one turn. If you're running with 2 shadowforms it is also possible to hero power nuke for 2, shadowform and hero power nuke for 3 all in a single turn.
I have a feeling that with some clever card combinations and deck construction, players could make excellent use out of Shadowform. As it stands now though, it's not a great card.
One major problem with Shadowform is it usually ends up being a tempo loss. If you cast it immediately on turn 3, you're basically just passing your turn. If you cast it on Turn 5, it's essentially a 5 cost Holy Smite. However, once it's out it is essentially the single most powerful hero ability in the game even in it's initial form of 2 mana 2 damage.
I do look forward to the day where Shadow priests becomes a thing and there's some truly viable rank worthy decks that utilize it.
@casmX, I didn't know you could double your hero power when using both shadowforms. I need to craft a second one, as I can see if any deck is to succeed I'll need two as one is just to slow. Thanks
I don't think that Shadowform is a win-more card. It is actually a sweet build-around-me-card that is not at all a good turn 3 play. Perhaps something for five mana. The issue that I find though, is that it has to compete with the healing power, which is already a really good ability. Healing keeps minions around and forces your opponent to trade creatures. Because I like healing as well, I think the Auchenai is the best of boths worlds. It is both shadowform plus a 3/5 and a way to go back to healing your guys. I like to combine it with a youthful brewmaster who is there to trade early on, reset a minion's health/battlecry and turn off an auchenai.
That said, I think shadowform could still be worthwhile, but you'll really need to play a very aggressive shell to make it good enough. Which means you'll be dependent on drawing it. But with four copies(the auchenai + shadowform), that shouldn't be too big a deal. At the same time, you can proxy your healing power with PW:Shield, temple enforcers and earthen ring farseers if need be.
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Hey folks, pretty big noob here but wanted to ask the question nonetheless.
I got a golden Shadowform last night and was curious on how it plays.
Is it a viable option to running an Aggro Priest or anything? I figured coupled with Auchenai Soulpriest and whatever else, it could be decent. Considering I have tried this out, I figured I would ask the community first. Appreciate the help.
Auchenai Soulpriest is a great card.
Because of that, I can see how Shadowform seems like a good card as well.
But there are pretty much no viable decks out there that Shadowform can work well in.
It is a GREAT card to use in fun decks and casual decks and a decent card in arena.
But in ranked its just that it is way too slow for what it does, unfortunately :(
That is what my concern was, I really want to give it a go but I'm worried its just to slow. Maybe I will try it out on the casual side. Thanks for the insight.
Maybe when the new priest card comes, the issue is that in Aggro the 3rd drop is very important, maybe in a more control mid-range deck it could work
Would Prophet Velen make is more viable, coupled with a second Shadowform? Would'nt that be a 6 for 2 damage output every turn, assuming Valen stays alive?
I know priests are less played at higher ends of the ladder mainly due to their speed, but I would love to see them excel. I cant wait to see what Naxx brings to the meta.
The problem is still that Shadowform is too slow though. All in all Shadowform is an amazing card. 2 damage every turn to everything? Pretty insane (if you dont look at the tempo loss from playing it).
Prophet Velen or not, Shadowform costs 3 mana. That makes it 5 mana when you want to use it the first turn.
In constructed you wont have the time to actually set that up. If you have time/tempo to play a card that pretty much reads "deal 2 damage" and costs 5 mana, you should have already won the game regardless.
Thus Shadowform is a "win more" card in most cases.
While that might be great at rank 19 where people might not end up having a play every turn, it wont work consistently enough at higher ranks.
Often the normal priest ability shines after turn 3, when you're keeping alive a monster with 3+ health. (i.e keeping a senjin shieldmaster alive or the 4/7 Injured blademaster if you used circle of healing on the same turn.
Dark Cultist will probably be in most priests decks.
Shadowform encourages a burst down win, often paired with Mind Blast and/or Holy Fire.
I respect anyone who can play Shadowform in Ranked, since that player will have to be smart with the decision on when to change tactics.
Not sure if hyped yet.
I don't think i'm anywhere near as good as those in the top rank ladders. As a science experiment, I will create a deck once the Naxx cards are released and see what I can do, or post it to see what others who are more tactical than me can do.
Moved to Priest discussion.
Any chance you play in EU? I can show you a deck with it.
Also, I disagree with the line of thinking that Shadowform encourages a burst down win. If you use it on enemy hero, it is just the Hunter racial. It gets value when used on the board, and also it gives more value in longer games because it's permanent. In essence, you trade early tempo for mid-late control, then you need an end-game win plan. Some people go with Alexstrasza, some with Molten Giant, my own deck goes for Malygos-Prophet Velen-Mind Blast.
EDIT: I didn't answer to the actual topic, doh! It is "viable" depending on what you mean. You can get to rank 5-6 with it, I have done it before. With dedication, maybe even higher. Is is a top deck? No.
Been trying it out in the following deck recently, with... mediocre success (pretty good against slow decks, coin-flip or worse against the faster ones which flood the meta atm):
(Plan on adding in Dark Cultist once Naxx is released.)
Your mileage may vary, but I've been having fun with it; still nowhere near the consistency of Warlock Zoo, but a hell of a lot less boring with far more room for creative play. It seems very difficult to make Priest work as anything other than Midrange or Control - like trying to fit a square peg through a triangular gap - but that's not gonna stop me from trying. :P
As for the original question of the card's viability, Shadowform is generally too slow to be useful and messes up the Priest's natural synergy with healing. The only decks I can really see it working in are a fairly slow control deck so that you have time to get value out of it or something like I posted above, where it can help keep constant pressure on the opponent into the later stages of the game.
Current Decks: Everfree (Ramp Druid), Nameless One (Control/Burn Priest), Discord (Thief Priest), Provost's Dogs (Aggro Rogue), Randar (Random Hunter), Cherubim (Zoo Priest)
Now that, sir, is an idea I haven't thought of! Hopefully neither have Blizzard!
One thing to keep in mind with Shadowform is it's unique ability to allow you to use your hero power twice in a turn.
Granted, this takes a lot of mana to accomplish. However, it is possible to hero power heal, shadowform and hero power nuke all in one turn. If you're running with 2 shadowforms it is also possible to hero power nuke for 2, shadowform and hero power nuke for 3 all in a single turn.
I have a feeling that with some clever card combinations and deck construction, players could make excellent use out of Shadowform. As it stands now though, it's not a great card.
One major problem with Shadowform is it usually ends up being a tempo loss. If you cast it immediately on turn 3, you're basically just passing your turn. If you cast it on Turn 5, it's essentially a 5 cost Holy Smite. However, once it's out it is essentially the single most powerful hero ability in the game even in it's initial form of 2 mana 2 damage.
I do look forward to the day where Shadow priests becomes a thing and there's some truly viable rank worthy decks that utilize it.
Thanks everyone for the discussion, it has been very helpful.
@Bloodmoth, I play on Us, but would love to see your deck regardless. I do not have Malygos, but I do have Prophet Velen. My other legendarires are Cairne Bloodhoof, The Black Knight, Ysera, Sylvanas Windrunner, and Illidan Stormrage
@ODCS, your deck is similar to what I am currently using, minus the Shadowform and Shieldbearer. In replace of the two shadowforms, I have a Cairne Bloodhoof and Sylvanas Windrunner and I use Sunfury Protector to give whats on my board the taunt.
@casmX, I didn't know you could double your hero power when using both shadowforms. I need to craft a second one, as I can see if any deck is to succeed I'll need two as one is just to slow. Thanks
I don't think that Shadowform is a win-more card. It is actually a sweet build-around-me-card that is not at all a good turn 3 play. Perhaps something for five mana. The issue that I find though, is that it has to compete with the healing power, which is already a really good ability. Healing keeps minions around and forces your opponent to trade creatures. Because I like healing as well, I think the Auchenai is the best of boths worlds. It is both shadowform plus a 3/5 and a way to go back to healing your guys. I like to combine it with a youthful brewmaster who is there to trade early on, reset a minion's health/battlecry and turn off an auchenai.
That said, I think shadowform could still be worthwhile, but you'll really need to play a very aggressive shell to make it good enough. Which means you'll be dependent on drawing it. But with four copies(the auchenai + shadowform), that shouldn't be too big a deal. At the same time, you can proxy your healing power with PW:Shield, temple enforcers and earthen ring farseers if need be.