This card is underwhelming normally and Baku doesn't fix it. Against Mage, Druid, and Rogue it will be removed turn 1. Nope, thats a third of the classes. Late game, it has no impact whatsoever.
I would like to take this as a signal that Blizzard developers hide cards in currents sets that may in fact be geared towards future expansions.
At the very least it tells me that the echo concept was floating around the office during the development of Kobolds and Katacombes, meaning that cards with unique attributes can sometimes grip developers and influence the future of the game.
Another card like this would be Charged Devilsaur, which clearly has Rush, not Charge.
Hopefully, these cards will get text changes with the new keywords, once Witchwood releases.
Evolve (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/35232-evolve) is good for shaman, and it's better in some ways than the actual Evolve card because u can take a totem all the way to 10 on one turn if the game goes late. Goes in the Maybeboard for our brew, but I'd keep an eye on it.
Because Baku upgrades the Shaman hero power to Totemic Slam I think this card gets a massive buff.
Choosing Air Totem turn after turn can reliably turn this into 5 damage for 1 mana, which would compare favorably to similar spells like Soulfire.
But what if they just pop your totems?
I'd call that a favorable trade.
Worst case, they wasted turns attacking your totems, saving your life total.
Best case, they wasted removal from hand, which is card advantage for you.
Keep in mind both these lines fit a control deck more so than aggro.
I am worried that the overload mechanic may mess your curve up given that you have no even spells to weave in, leaving you with some dead drop totem turns.
Alternatively, we may be able to judo this situation and flip a hiderance into something helpful with Sapphire Spellstone.
Currently, I don't like the "Frozen" package available to Shaman.
This card would primarily serve to set up Ice Breaker.
Both are odd, making it viable, but using 2 cards to take a hefty amount of damage from a minion to large to trade with one board seems like a primage example of negative card advantage.
No totem synergy. Would rather have Stonehill Defender. Better heals on Healing Rain.
Maybe in elemental tribal but, I see even/odd elemental tribal as a trap deck.
The tribal payoff mechanic requires you to have played an elemental the turn prior.
Those cards are Servant of Kalimos, Blazecaller, Stone Sentinel and Ozruk, which are odd.
The low cost setup cards, Firefly, Glacial Shard, and Igneous Elemental are what you want so you can hold 1 cast dudes in hand for when you finally draw your payoff.
But to draw, my 3 slot is gonna have Mana Tide Totem, which makes 15 cards so far (2 each of the elementals listed).
Team even gets Fire Plume Harbinger, Grumble Worldshaker, Fire Elemental, Al'Akir the Windlord, and Kalimos Primal Lord.
So odd elemental doesn't get the cost reduction cards or the class specific legendaries.
Even elemental doesn't get the setup or payoff cards.
Neither gets tempo plays like Fire elemental into Blazecaller (basically Medivh's Valeigh into Firelands Portal, with a turn delay on each section).
Not for me.
I take it all back if the new Shaman Hero is elemental focused.
Witchwood 2/4 taunt, for 3 with ekko. I like this card in odd shaman. We dont have access to Saronite Chain gang, and getting 2 taunt bodies with 1 card is what this deck will need. Testing will determine whether Militia or Stonehill gets the 3 drop taunt spot.
Section Two - The Brew
Here is a tentative Decklist:
Shaman Al'Baku Cube
1x Forked Lightning
2x Lightning Bolt
1x Gluttonous Ooze
2x Healing Rain
1x Ironbeak Owl
2x Lava Burst
2x Lightning Storm
2x Mana Tide Totem
1x Primal Talismans
1x Stonehill Defender
1x Phantom Militia
1x Zola the Gorgon
2x Carnivorous Cube
1x Thrall, Deathseer
2x Volcano
2x Windshear Stormcaller
2x Lesser Sapphire Spellstone
1x Baku the Mooneater
1x Snowfury Giant
2x ??Insert Card Here??
To many what this deck is doing is obvious.
It's an iteration of cube-lock in Shaman.
Our game plan is to land an early Air totems and leverage that into buffed damage spells.
Trow Al'Akir in a Cube, and break it with Volcano, or Lava Burst (or even Lightning Bolt if you have 3 Air totems).
Continue to clone Al'Akir with Sapphire Spellstone, Cubes, or Zola.
Go face.
If the legendary elemental can't get there, upgrade with Thrall, Deathseer.
At this junction we can compare to existing cube decks, and see advantages and shortfalls.
Our combo feels alot like getting a Doomguard/Voidlord build a beast off of Possessed Lackey if we were looking at Warlock.
Both Lackey and Windshear Stormcaller are 5 mana.
Windshear, however doesn't need to be popped to pull a 50/50 chance at the demon we want/need.
We only have to pop the cube, so its twice as card efficient.
Mana efficiency, goes to Warlock for sure.
1 Mana to break a Cube with Dark Pact compared to 5 or 3, with overload, and the potential to wipe our hard earned totems.
Doomguard gets in for 5, while Al'Akir hits for 6 with windfury.
Al'Akir is superior in that it gets through small chump blockers with ease using windfury while a single instance of triple Void Walker (usually spawned of a broken Voidlord), can be trouble for the Guard.
Divine shield negates many otherwise bad trades with cards like Tar Creeper, because Al'Akir will survive as a 3/2 after the trade.
This leaves him right on queue to be put into another cube, or get the golden spa treatment from Zola.
Having taunt/shield is similar but subpar to Voidlord. The fat demon is 4 bodies in 1, while Al'Akir is optimally 2.
Skull of the Man'ari needs a mention. When Warlock gets the weapon, they take the express lane to value town.
Shamana has nothing like that in their kit.
But Skull is also a hinderance.
A well timed Ooze and they are stuck.
You don't want to hard cast Doomguard, for fear of discarding key control or combo pieces (unless your going for the kill on that turn).
Snipe the skull, and if the wrong demons are in hand Lackey is a dead card.
Even more so after rotation, when N'zoth can't bring Lackey back for later value.
As far as healing goes its Shamans category to win.
Dark Pact is 2x8, plus fully charged Spellstones is 2x7 = 30.
But you also take 3x2 from Hellfire and 2x2 from Kobold Librarian.
So -10. Total sum = 20 for Warlock.
Don't include Mistress of Mixtures, that's gonna rotate, and heals both players anyway (but yes usually Warlock more because lifetap vs them at full heal because you haven't attacked).
Shaman gets 24, 12x2 with Healing Rain. But it could hit a few minions, so 18 to 24 depending on conditions.
However its on 2 cards. Warlock needs to get 4, 2 Dark Pact which are prime targets for Skulking Geist, 2 Spellstones which require 4 other cards (2x Librarian, 2x Hellfire) to set them up to full power.
Plated Beetle is a moot point. No N'zoth, rotation. Neutral card, we could tech that into Shaman.
The spell package feels more like Mage than Warlock because you can use Lava Burst and Lighting Bolt to get reach later, something current cube-lock can't do.
Why Zola instead of Faceless Manipulator? Sometimes they will kill Al'Akir (think Siphon Soul), but leave Windshear on board. Zola targeting the Windshear, get another elemental.
Sapphire Spellstone also subs for Faceless in the late game.
Yes it requires setup, but it's one card for potentially 3 clones, instead of 1 for 1.
Yes, 7 mana vs 5, but if you get 2 clones on Spellstone thats 10 mana worth of Faceless, so net 3 mana Shaman, Totemic Slam, choose Healing Totem to protect your investment.
Jargon blather aside, its close. It'll come down to play testing to determine whether overload hampers your curve/development, how much so, and on what key turns.
Ironbeak Owl? Spellbreaker is on, sigh, team even.
Gluttonous Ooze? Acidic Swamp Ooze is on, sigh, team even.
Snowfury Giant? Overload synergy means that he is free late, similar to Arcane Giant, which is a foil to Mountain Giant who is cheap early, but uncastable in certain low hand top deck situations for Shaman. And...Mountain Giant is on, sigh, team even.
Stonehill Defender/Phantom Militia? The other good 2 taunts minions on 1 card, Saronite Chain Gang is on, sigh, team even. This spot is flexible. I think you want a turn 3 taunt to defend your turn 2 totem of choice but you could go with Tar Creeper, Ironfur Grizzly, Wax Elemental, Hot Spring Guardian, or Drakkari Defender.
Primal Talismans? Protection vs wipe, Doomsayer, sets up Windshear.
So why don't we see this in the current META?
Simple, no Baku.
Right now, the setup is to clunky.
You really need turn 4, with no overloaded mana to play Murmuring Elemental (for double Battlecry) into Kobold Hermit (to chose missing totems).
That is also contingent on turn 2 totem, turn 3 totem (hoping its not a duplicate).
The other line would be repeat Murmuring Elemental/ Kobold Hermit on turn 5 and Windshear Stormcaller turn 6.
Neither is good. Aggro Paladin will remove totems on turn 2-3 in scenario 1.
Control Decks like Mage and Warlock can clear or wall off in scenario 2.
Either of these leave you with no gas, and random totems to try and go off.
Baku solves this.
Even if they remove a few totems early you can always pick the right ones later on.
If they remove totems late, you can rebuild safely without having invested 4 cards into a setup combo thats a prerequisite to the real combo.
Murmuring Elemental would be great in this deck but, sigh, team even.
The best part about all this?
2 open slots in the deck for tech/new spoilers/innovation.
Room to improve is a good thing. The deck may need cards like Bloodlust, Doomhammer, Unstable Evolution, Feral Spirit, Farsight, or the new Shaman Hero.
Second, all but 2 cards you can get NOW. If you don't luck into Baku with your 70 pack deal (or you are free to play) you can always bank the 1600 dust and get a META defining legendary that will go in several decks over the course of Witchwood.
Cube-lock is super good, we all know that. Why not bring it to Shaman for some early Witchwood ladder stomp.
Thanks for reading.
GL HF.
P.S. This is my first attempt at formating so be kind.
I also want to be kind and I love me a nice discussion but I can’t help but feel all these analyses are completely pointless. Because they are...without having seen the new set.
Baku as a minion does little if nothing for the deck. The ability triggers at the start of the game. You get an upgrade to your hero power. For 2 mana you don't summon a random totem. Instead for 2 mana you summon a totem of your choice. This makes setting up for Windshear Stormcaller very easy. The added bonus is that in a deck like this you can chose one totem type to go ham with. I chose AIr because it gives bonus spell damage. Two air totems turns Lightning Storm into 2 mana for 4-5 damage across your enemies board. That's a huge upgrade. Other classes have gotten spells like Hellfire in Warlock for 4 mana dealing 3 damage but it also hits your minions. Mage had Volcanic Potion at 3 mana, but that's only 2 damage, and again all minions. You could also chose the 1/1 Volcanic totem over and over, in which case you can play more like Paladin, using Bloodlust to buff a wide board and go face. Or you could chose a combination of Healing totems and Taunt totems to defend against agro. Baku makes the deck, not just with Stormcaller but with flexibility.
I anticipated some comments like this. And don't take that the wrong way. I'm with you on the lolz, speculation, lolz, just wait a month bro. Part of the post was a personal exercise in formatting, theory crafting, deck analysis ect. A brew project if you will. I like speculation during the hype season, some people don't. It's exciting to think about what's around the corner, what would make a deck like this work, and the lack of complete information is was keeps the dream alive. But if cube shaman does well, give me the credit. Documented on hearthpwn, my idea. Lolz, gl hf.
Yeah, I get what it does. But I just don't think choosing a totem helps all that much. It strikes me as pretty much the worst upgraded hero power (maybe aside from Rogue). The basic hero power doesn't create duplicates, so nothing really changes in terms of Windshear Stormcaller (which is a pretty bad card, anyways).
I get the feeling Shaman is headed more towards Genn, if anything. Murkspark Eel seems like a bit of a give away. There's also some value in having a guaranteed turn 1 minion on board without having to dilute your deck with 1-drops. I'm skeptical that a tempo or token Shaman deck will work without Bloodlust, but maybe we'll get an even card that rewards wide boards.
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Howdy,
Let's talk Hearthstone.
Shaman (https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Shaman) is in bad place right now.
Previously, evolve Shaman was very competitive.
But since the appearance of Frozen Throne and Kobolds, the archetype has been less than so.
With the upcoming Witchwood expansion, I'm hoping to see this class on life support get the jolt it needs.
Today we are going to do some speculative brewing in our cauldron of cards.
Maybe we can sus out some breakout strategies so on day one we can have an edge on the ladder.
A good place to start is the "even" and "odd" archetypes heralded by Genn Greymane (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/89336-genn-greymane) and Baku the Moon Eater (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/89335-baku-the-mooneater).
Genn lets you use your hero power for 1 mana, with the condition that all cards in deck must be even.
Baku upgrades your hero power, provided at that you have commited to fielding odd cards.
Today I want to go through every odd Shaman card that is not rotating out of standard.
The only Shaman class card spoiled is even but...upgraded hero power seems super strong and the Shaman Death Knight is odd.
"Even" Shaman needs more cards released first before we do any brew work, and will hopefully make use of The Runespear.
First, I will do a some commentary/analysis on our current pool of cards.
Second, I will brew an odd deck based on the power of Baku.
TLDR: Baku good. Play in Shaman. Use deck list below. Win. Have fun.
Section one will begin with the cards available to "Odd" Shaman. (Note: Baku (https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Baku_the_Mooneater) upgrades Shaman to Totemic Slam - Summon a Totem of your Choice)
Section One - The Cauldron
::Casting Cost - One::
Dust Devil (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/129-dust-devil)
This card is underwhelming normally and Baku doesn't fix it. Against Mage, Druid, and Rogue it will be removed turn 1. Nope, thats a third of the classes. Late game, it has no impact whatsoever.
Unstable Evolution (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/76931-unstable-evolution)
This Kobolds card already has echo.
I would like to take this as a signal that Blizzard developers hide cards in currents sets that may in fact be geared towards future expansions.
At the very least it tells me that the echo concept was floating around the office during the development of Kobolds and Katacombes, meaning that cards with unique attributes can sometimes grip developers and influence the future of the game.
Another card like this would be Charged Devilsaur, which clearly has Rush, not Charge.
Hopefully, these cards will get text changes with the new keywords, once Witchwood releases.
Evolve (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/35232-evolve) is good for shaman, and it's better in some ways than the actual Evolve card because u can take a totem all the way to 10 on one turn if the game goes late. Goes in the Maybeboard for our brew, but I'd keep an eye on it.
Unite the Murlocs (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/55470-unite-the-murlocs)
With the Rotation of Vilefin Inquisitor, Murlocs as an archetype could be going as well.
The best hope for the angry fish warriors probably lies in odd Shaman.
The strong murloc tribal buffs are in the odd camp, namely Grimscale Oracle, Murloc Tidecaller, Murloc Warleader and Coldlight Seer.
Hungry Crab, the go to anti-Murloc tech card, is also odd.
If murlocs makes it to the new META, I can foresee mirror matches defined by aggressive mulligans for a one off copy of this crustation.
Lightning Bolt (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/10-lightning-bolt)
Because Baku upgrades the Shaman hero power to Totemic Slam I think this card gets a massive buff.
Choosing Air Totem turn after turn can reliably turn this into 5 damage for 1 mana, which would compare favorably to similar spells like Soulfire.
But what if they just pop your totems?
I'd call that a favorable trade.
Worst case, they wasted turns attacking your totems, saving your life total.
Best case, they wasted removal from hand, which is card advantage for you.
Keep in mind both these lines fit a control deck more so than aggro.
I am worried that the overload mechanic may mess your curve up given that you have no even spells to weave in, leaving you with some dead drop totem turns.
Alternatively, we may be able to judo this situation and flip a hiderance into something helpful with Sapphire Spellstone.
Frost Shock (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/233-frost-shock)
Currently, I don't like the "Frozen" package available to Shaman.
This card would primarily serve to set up Ice Breaker.
Both are odd, making it viable, but using 2 cards to take a hefty amount of damage from a minion to large to trade with one board seems like a primage example of negative card advantage.
Forked Lightning (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/530-forked-lightning)
The same analysis done on Lighting Bolt applies here.
Air totems make this go from meh, to fairly good.
Random means this is best early when they only have 2-3 minions, or in a control deck that can limit how wide they get.
Earth Shock (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/77-earth-shock)
Does not benefit much from team odd.
Would rather have Ironbeak Owl or Spellbreaker, since they function as a 2 for 1, being both a body and "removal."
::Casting Cost - Three::
Unbound Elemental (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/51-unbound-elemental)
I feel that this card is still lack luster in odd.
Doesn't benefit from totems.
Would rather have a neutral card like Stonehill Defender or Tar Creeper at this cost, even in the overload Sapphire Spellstone deck this would go in.
Mana Tide Totem (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/613-mana-tide-totem)
I like this.
Consistent draw will be at a premium unless a new neutral card comes to replace Coldlight Oracle.
Alternatively each class could get a good draw card, but that seems unlikely.
Goes well with Bloodlust, and Thrall Deathseer.
On one hand it helps find these power cards, and on the other hand it is utilized to great effect by the exact same cards.
Hot Spring Guardian (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/55564-hot-spring-guardian)
No totem synergy. Would rather have Stonehill Defender. Better heals on Healing Rain.
Maybe in elemental tribal but, I see even/odd elemental tribal as a trap deck.
The tribal payoff mechanic requires you to have played an elemental the turn prior.
Those cards are Servant of Kalimos, Blazecaller, Stone Sentinel and Ozruk, which are odd.
The low cost setup cards, Firefly, Glacial Shard, and Igneous Elemental are what you want so you can hold 1 cast dudes in hand for when you finally draw your payoff.
But to draw, my 3 slot is gonna have Mana Tide Totem, which makes 15 cards so far (2 each of the elementals listed).
Team even gets Fire Plume Harbinger, Grumble Worldshaker, Fire Elemental, Al'Akir the Windlord, and Kalimos Primal Lord.
So odd elemental doesn't get the cost reduction cards or the class specific legendaries.
Even elemental doesn't get the setup or payoff cards.
Neither gets tempo plays like Fire elemental into Blazecaller (basically Medivh's Valeigh into Firelands Portal, with a turn delay on each section).
Not for me.
I take it all back if the new Shaman Hero is elemental focused.
Drakkari Defender (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/62887-drakkari-defender)
Maybe.
The overload calculator for Sapphire Spellstone may need this.
We'll get to the Spellstone when we get there people.
Spirit Echo (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/55514-spirit-echo)
I like the flavor of Infestation in Hunter, but filing your hand is a non starter with Coldlight Oracle seeing so much play against Warlock.
Spirit Echo has the same feel, and isn't rotating like Infestation and Coldlight. Keep an eye out for 1 off copies come Witchwood.
Primal Talismans (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/76923-primal-talismans)
This is going into the brew below.
Totem synergy will be the bread and butter of odd Shaman.
Better than Spirit Echo for board wipe protection in that context.
Lighting Storm (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/676-lightning-storm)
Everything we want.
Mass removal, buffed by choosing one totem ad nauseam (Air), overload for Spellstone.
Lava Burst (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/679-lava-burst)
Yes. The single target version of Lighting Storm. Also see Lighting Bolt and Forked Lightning.
Healing Rain (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/77008-healing-rain)
Tentative thumbs up.
This really depends on how testing plays out in the new META.
If we can keep minions healthy with Healing Totem maybe not.
If new face decks pop up then yes, because it's likely 12 heal to our Hero.
Feral Spirit (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/214-feral-spirit)
Unlikely to see play in the odd archetype.
I can make taunt totems on demand, and other spells will crowd this out.
Far Sight (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/107-far-sight)
Same thoughts as Healing Rain.
Depends on the META shakedown.
If I can stick Mana Tide Totem, no.
If not, yes.
Ice Breaker (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/61813-ice-breaker)
Nope. See Frost Shock above.
::Casting Cost - Five::
Windshear Stormcaller (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/76921-windshear-stormcaller)
A key card for our brew.
Goes amazing with Totemic Slam.
Summons an even legendary minion for the odd deck, how strange (dare I say, odd?)
Voodoo Hexxer (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/61826-voodoo-hexxer)
Nope. See Ice Breaker, or Frost Shock.
Earth Elemental (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/124-earth-elemental)
Maybe. See Drakkari Defender, and then Hot Spring Guardian.
Volcano (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/52581-volcano)
Massive boardwipe. In the same vein as Lava Burst, Lightning Storm, Lighting Bolt, and Forked Lightning.
Bloodlust (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/256-bloodlust)
Possible win condition. Shaman could do Paladin immiations by summoning lots of searing totems and going for an alpha strike.
Hammer of Twilight (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/33163-hammer-of-twilight)
This is hard to call.
I could see this going well with Healing Rain if for some reason Shaman needs to trade with your Hero instead of with minions.
Doomhammer (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/172-doomhammer)a
As above with Hammer of Twilight.
Thrall, Deathseer (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/62861-thrall-deathseer)
Death Knights are super powerful.
I could see this as late game insurance for armor and upgrading a few outclassed totems.
I doubt evolve will get a functional reprint so I won't rely on the mass buff that is typical of current Jade Shaman builds.
Instead focus on the Hero power upgrade making one minion better and better.
::Casting Cost - Seven::
Stone Sentinel (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/55467-stone-sentinel)
See Hot Spring Guardian.
Sapphire Spellstone (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/73330-lesser-sapphire-spellstone)
This is also a key piece of the brew bellow.
Because it's 7 mana, we want to ideally copy a hefty minion multiple times.
I forsee hard mulls to get one in hand at the start of the game as to get the full Greater Spellstone upgrade.
::Casting Cost - Nine::
None
::Casting Cost - Eleven::
Snowfury Giant (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/62918-snowfury-giant)
Whoa.
I got tired, I'm sure you could tell.
This will be our version of Mountain or Arcane Giant, since both of them are even.
Right now Mountain Giant sees play in Cube lock, and a few fringe Quest Mage decks combo off Arcane Giant, Simulacrum, and Molten Reflection.
We want to do the same things and get an 8/8 all our own.
::Witchwood Spoiler::
Phantom Militia (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/89337-phantom-militia)
Witchwood 2/4 taunt, for 3 with ekko. I like this card in odd shaman. We dont have access to Saronite Chain gang, and getting 2 taunt bodies with 1 card is what this deck will need. Testing will determine whether Militia or Stonehill gets the 3 drop taunt spot.
Section Two - The Brew
Here is a tentative Decklist:
Shaman Al'Baku Cube
1x Forked Lightning
2x Lightning Bolt
1x Gluttonous Ooze
2x Healing Rain
1x Ironbeak Owl
2x Lava Burst
2x Lightning Storm
2x Mana Tide Totem
1x Primal Talismans
1x Stonehill Defender
1x Phantom Militia
1x Zola the Gorgon
2x Carnivorous Cube
1x Thrall, Deathseer
2x Volcano
2x Windshear Stormcaller
2x Lesser Sapphire Spellstone
1x Baku the Mooneater
1x Snowfury Giant
2x ??Insert Card Here??
To many what this deck is doing is obvious.
It's an iteration of cube-lock in Shaman.
Our game plan is to land an early Air totems and leverage that into buffed damage spells.
As the game moves on your looking to assemble the totemic voltron and summon Al'Akir the Windlord (https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/335-alakir-the-windlord).
Trow Al'Akir in a Cube, and break it with Volcano, or Lava Burst (or even Lightning Bolt if you have 3 Air totems).
Continue to clone Al'Akir with Sapphire Spellstone, Cubes, or Zola.
Go face.
If the legendary elemental can't get there, upgrade with Thrall, Deathseer.
At this junction we can compare to existing cube decks, and see advantages and shortfalls.
Our combo feels alot like getting a Doomguard/Voidlord build a beast off of Possessed Lackey if we were looking at Warlock.
Both Lackey and Windshear Stormcaller are 5 mana.
Windshear, however doesn't need to be popped to pull a 50/50 chance at the demon we want/need.
We only have to pop the cube, so its twice as card efficient.
Mana efficiency, goes to Warlock for sure.
1 Mana to break a Cube with Dark Pact compared to 5 or 3, with overload, and the potential to wipe our hard earned totems.
Doomguard gets in for 5, while Al'Akir hits for 6 with windfury.
Al'Akir is superior in that it gets through small chump blockers with ease using windfury while a single instance of triple Void Walker (usually spawned of a broken Voidlord), can be trouble for the Guard.
Divine shield negates many otherwise bad trades with cards like Tar Creeper, because Al'Akir will survive as a 3/2 after the trade.
This leaves him right on queue to be put into another cube, or get the golden spa treatment from Zola.
Having taunt/shield is similar but subpar to Voidlord. The fat demon is 4 bodies in 1, while Al'Akir is optimally 2.
Skull of the Man'ari needs a mention. When Warlock gets the weapon, they take the express lane to value town.
Shamana has nothing like that in their kit.
But Skull is also a hinderance.
A well timed Ooze and they are stuck.
You don't want to hard cast Doomguard, for fear of discarding key control or combo pieces (unless your going for the kill on that turn).
Snipe the skull, and if the wrong demons are in hand Lackey is a dead card.
Even more so after rotation, when N'zoth can't bring Lackey back for later value.
As far as healing goes its Shamans category to win.
Dark Pact is 2x8, plus fully charged Spellstones is 2x7 = 30.
But you also take 3x2 from Hellfire and 2x2 from Kobold Librarian.
So -10. Total sum = 20 for Warlock.
Don't include Mistress of Mixtures, that's gonna rotate, and heals both players anyway (but yes usually Warlock more because lifetap vs them at full heal because you haven't attacked).
Shaman gets 24, 12x2 with Healing Rain. But it could hit a few minions, so 18 to 24 depending on conditions.
However its on 2 cards. Warlock needs to get 4, 2 Dark Pact which are prime targets for Skulking Geist, 2 Spellstones which require 4 other cards (2x Librarian, 2x Hellfire) to set them up to full power.
Plated Beetle is a moot point. No N'zoth, rotation. Neutral card, we could tech that into Shaman.
The spell package feels more like Mage than Warlock because you can use Lava Burst and Lighting Bolt to get reach later, something current cube-lock can't do.
Why Zola instead of Faceless Manipulator? Sometimes they will kill Al'Akir (think Siphon Soul), but leave Windshear on board. Zola targeting the Windshear, get another elemental.
Sapphire Spellstone also subs for Faceless in the late game.
Yes it requires setup, but it's one card for potentially 3 clones, instead of 1 for 1.
Yes, 7 mana vs 5, but if you get 2 clones on Spellstone thats 10 mana worth of Faceless, so net 3 mana Shaman, Totemic Slam, choose Healing Totem to protect your investment.
Jargon blather aside, its close. It'll come down to play testing to determine whether overload hampers your curve/development, how much so, and on what key turns.
Ironbeak Owl? Spellbreaker is on, sigh, team even.
Gluttonous Ooze? Acidic Swamp Ooze is on, sigh, team even.
Snowfury Giant? Overload synergy means that he is free late, similar to Arcane Giant, which is a foil to Mountain Giant who is cheap early, but uncastable in certain low hand top deck situations for Shaman. And...Mountain Giant is on, sigh, team even.
Stonehill Defender/Phantom Militia? The other good 2 taunts minions on 1 card, Saronite Chain Gang is on, sigh, team even. This spot is flexible. I think you want a turn 3 taunt to defend your turn 2 totem of choice but you could go with Tar Creeper, Ironfur Grizzly, Wax Elemental, Hot Spring Guardian, or Drakkari Defender.
Primal Talismans? Protection vs wipe, Doomsayer, sets up Windshear.
So why don't we see this in the current META?
Simple, no Baku.
Right now, the setup is to clunky.
You really need turn 4, with no overloaded mana to play Murmuring Elemental (for double Battlecry) into Kobold Hermit (to chose missing totems).
That is also contingent on turn 2 totem, turn 3 totem (hoping its not a duplicate).
The other line would be repeat Murmuring Elemental/ Kobold Hermit on turn 5 and Windshear Stormcaller turn 6.
Neither is good. Aggro Paladin will remove totems on turn 2-3 in scenario 1.
Control Decks like Mage and Warlock can clear or wall off in scenario 2.
Either of these leave you with no gas, and random totems to try and go off.
Baku solves this.
Even if they remove a few totems early you can always pick the right ones later on.
If they remove totems late, you can rebuild safely without having invested 4 cards into a setup combo thats a prerequisite to the real combo.
Murmuring Elemental would be great in this deck but, sigh, team even.
The best part about all this?
2 open slots in the deck for tech/new spoilers/innovation.
Room to improve is a good thing. The deck may need cards like Bloodlust, Doomhammer, Unstable Evolution, Feral Spirit, Farsight, or the new Shaman Hero.
Second, all but 2 cards you can get NOW. If you don't luck into Baku with your 70 pack deal (or you are free to play) you can always bank the 1600 dust and get a META defining legendary that will go in several decks over the course of Witchwood.
Cube-lock is super good, we all know that. Why not bring it to Shaman for some early Witchwood ladder stomp.
Thanks for reading.
GL HF.
P.S. This is my first attempt at formating so be kind.
Edit 1: Confirmed, no more even or odd cards. We know everything on that front. https://www.hearthpwn.com/news/4477-dean-ayala-no-more-even-odd-cards-for-witchwood
I'd like to be kind, but it's kind of a mess. I hope you'll go back and edit it to clean that up, though. I'd love to read it!
yeah working on it now, was originally designed for reddit, and the formatting didn't carry over. Thanks though. :)
Can you put it in video format? I don't like reading things longer than a tweet.
I also want to be kind and I love me a nice discussion but I can’t help but feel all these analyses are completely pointless. Because they are...without having seen the new set.
I'm not sure I understand the point of Baku in this deck.
Baku as a minion does little if nothing for the deck. The ability triggers at the start of the game. You get an upgrade to your hero power. For 2 mana you don't summon a random totem. Instead for 2 mana you summon a totem of your choice. This makes setting up for Windshear Stormcaller very easy. The added bonus is that in a deck like this you can chose one totem type to go ham with. I chose AIr because it gives bonus spell damage. Two air totems turns Lightning Storm into 2 mana for 4-5 damage across your enemies board. That's a huge upgrade. Other classes have gotten spells like Hellfire in Warlock for 4 mana dealing 3 damage but it also hits your minions. Mage had Volcanic Potion at 3 mana, but that's only 2 damage, and again all minions. You could also chose the 1/1 Volcanic totem over and over, in which case you can play more like Paladin, using Bloodlust to buff a wide board and go face. Or you could chose a combination of Healing totems and Taunt totems to defend against agro. Baku makes the deck, not just with Stormcaller but with flexibility.
I anticipated some comments like this. And don't take that the wrong way. I'm with you on the lolz, speculation, lolz, just wait a month bro. Part of the post was a personal exercise in formatting, theory crafting, deck analysis ect. A brew project if you will. I like speculation during the hype season, some people don't. It's exciting to think about what's around the corner, what would make a deck like this work, and the lack of complete information is was keeps the dream alive. But if cube shaman does well, give me the credit. Documented on hearthpwn, my idea. Lolz, gl hf.
Yeah, I get what it does. But I just don't think choosing a totem helps all that much. It strikes me as pretty much the worst upgraded hero power (maybe aside from Rogue). The basic hero power doesn't create duplicates, so nothing really changes in terms of Windshear Stormcaller (which is a pretty bad card, anyways).
It's nice to guarantee a spellpower totem roll on occasion (though less so with Maelstrom Portal rotating out), but at the cost of Flametongue Totem, Hex, Primalfin Totem, Murmuring Elemental, etc.? I'm not so sure.
I get the feeling Shaman is headed more towards Genn, if anything. Murkspark Eel seems like a bit of a give away. There's also some value in having a guaranteed turn 1 minion on board without having to dilute your deck with 1-drops. I'm skeptical that a tempo or token Shaman deck will work without Bloodlust, but maybe we'll get an even card that rewards wide boards.