Hearthpwn

Quote from FortyDust >>

My gut says Galakrond Shaman can do much better in the early game than some clunky marriage with Corrupt the Waters.

Four 8/8s is a nice dream, but I'd rather have two 8/8s on turn 7 than four on turn 9.

 Still doesn't seem all that clunky to me.  But maybe I am wrong, maybe it's just a mistake to not play Galakrond asap most times.  

Quote from Inzan1ty >>

Quote from EternalHS >>

This is probably sleep depravity talking but I think that this will be one of the better ones. Maybe even second best but the again sleep depravity.

 This is OP because it stacks with Shudderwock, spawning out another pair of 8-8's will most likely force a Nerf for either of these cards. You might just go ahead and say "best Galakrond" since it's completely busted in the sense of its synergy, nothing else to say really. 

 While I agree in that i's best Galakrond, getting two more 8/8s isn't the most powerful thing that Shudderwok can do.  I don't forsee a nerf for this reason.

Quote from beppe946 >>

Comparing different versions of Galakrond is a big mistake in my opinion.
People tend to forget that not all 5 of them are suited for the same gameplan: whereas Galakrond, the Unspeakable is designed for a Control/value oriented deck, Galakrond, the Nightmare shines in combo archetypes and Galakrond, the Unbreakable is perfect for a tempo deck.

Galakrond, the Tempest needs to be seen under the right light too: both its hero power and its battlecry summon minions that immediately impact the board. Given all the other cards of the set, I dare to say that Galakrond Shaman will be a Midrange deck, that will try to close the games around turn 7 using Galakrond, the Tempest as a final weapon.

See? Now it all makes a little more sense, am I right?

 A direct comparison is bad but a comparison of how effectively each reaches it game plan is fine.  Though it is a comparison none of us can adequately make quite yet lol.

Quote from sPacEtiMe19 >>

Quote from asteroidm >>

Quote from sPacEtiMe19 >>

There is obviously synergy between the two, but that does not come without a cost. So let's say you do merge the two ideas. You are going to have to cut a lot of the value generating minions or your tempo based battlecry minions in order to make room for the invoke stuff. So you will either be cutting out your late game value generation, or your late game burst options via those battlecry damage minions. 

Lets say you cut the value and go all in on tempo. You're probably going to do very well with the board leading up to your massive galakrond turn. And yes if the 4 8/8s don't get wiped out that is probably the win. But if this fails, the deck has absolutely zero gas. 

Now let's say you cut your tempo, mutates, direct damage battlecry minions. You'll have a much better time again control, but your aggro matchup is going to become severely worse, and your burst reach will be much lower.

Dont get me wrong, I am no psychic. There may be some perfect balance of both that leads to some insane deck, but I feel people forget how small 30 card decks really are. There are going to be a TON of enticing cards to put into this galakrond hybrid shaman deck, and you won't even come close to fitting them all in.

 You don't have to cut tempo, you just replace it.  Literally Galakrond's invoke generates tempo.  I think the portion of the deck you cut is the evolve portion. As far as it not having legs, you can STILL run Shudderwok.  Who will also generate 8/8 if they do clear your board.  The only potential downside I see here is Obviously after you play Galakrond you don't have double BC anymore.  So you can't just slam him down when you want.  

I mean I think everyone here realizes you can only fit 30 cards in and that the end result isn't the same deck.  But I think the original point stands.  You don't have to choose one or the other, there is a lot of synergy between both.  

 I agree that there is a good chance the deck will work out, but there is also a chance it will not because it will be too clunky. Outside of this hare-evolve nonsense right now, the evolve package was basically 4 cards in the form of mogul and mutate. So that frees up 4 slots.  

So now we reach the point where something has to give. Whether it be lackey generators, direct damage stuff like lifedrinker, or your value generators, something has to give way to make room for new goodies. 

There is also risk of, as you stated, losing your double battlecry hero power. I totally appreciate that it is a tactical move to drop galak at the right time, don't get me wrong there. I actually like that it is a skill and timing based decision. But there is a certain clunkiness that can occur when you are including too many situational cards. The quest itself is a "dead" card for a time. And galak might just sit in hand for awhile due to the payoff of him not being worth losing double battlecry for the rest of the game. 

I want to reiterate once more that you could be absolutely right. I think there could be a deck with this theme that had a perfect combination of 30 cards that leads us to something as terrifying as what is being inferred here. I just don't think we can make that assessment as of yet because there are drawbacks to the strategy based on paper. 

 I agree it's difficult to tell at this point how good or not it'll be.  I'd also like to point  out that because of how strong the invoke card is for shaman though you could potentially stick Galakrond in with only 5 cards.  The real questions is whether or not it's "better" than the Evolve package at that size.  Personally I'd probably add in a few more Galakrond cards like the tutor for Galakrond, who also has a ridiculous battlecry.  Although you won't be able to utilize the quest hero power with it at least shudderwok can copy it.  

Lastly there is a real chance of this being too clunky.  The curve for it might be horrible and fixing it might cost the deck too much to function reliably.  

All I know is that at this point there is no need to choose.  Gotta experiment first.

Quote from sPacEtiMe19 >>

There is obviously synergy between the two, but that does not come without a cost. So let's say you do merge the two ideas. You are going to have to cut a lot of the value generating minions or your tempo based battlecry minions in order to make room for the invoke stuff. So you will either be cutting out your late game value generation, or your late game burst options via those battlecry damage minions. 

Lets say you cut the value and go all in on tempo. You're probably going to do very well with the board leading up to your massive galakrond turn. And yes if the 4 8/8s don't get wiped out that is probably the win. But if this fails, the deck has absolutely zero gas. 

Now let's say you cut your tempo, mutates, direct damage battlecry minions. You'll have a much better time again control, but your aggro matchup is going to become severely worse, and your burst reach will be much lower.

Dont get me wrong, I am no psychic. There may be some perfect balance of both that leads to some insane deck, but I feel people forget how small 30 card decks really are. There are going to be a TON of enticing cards to put into this galakrond hybrid shaman deck, and you won't even come close to fitting them all in.

 You don't have to cut tempo, you just replace it.  Literally Galakrond's invoke generates tempo.  I think the portion of the deck you cut is the evolve portion. As far as it not having legs, you can STILL run Shudderwok.  Who will also generate 8/8 if they do clear your board.  The only potential downside I see here is Obviously after you play Galakrond you don't have double BC anymore.  So you can't just slam him down when you want.  

I mean I think everyone here realizes you can only fit 30 cards in and that the end result isn't the same deck.  But I think the original point stands.  You don't have to choose one or the other, there is a lot of synergy between both.