Hearthpwn

I think people are underestimating how strong a 3 mana 3/4 is, even if its effect doesn't trigger. It literally beast every 3-mana minion on its own and works wonders against aggro. 4 health is hard to deal with early on, and 3 attack is enough to provide a solid amount of pressure and kill, for example, Harvest Golems. A 3/4 is nearly guaranteed to at the very least match the opponent. Add the fact that if they don't kill it straight off, you can play a minion and trade and get a free 3 health, and this card gets really, really solid. This card is enough to make me play some Priest after Naxx, I think. Everything you could ask for in Priest except something to kill Yetis and something to pull off a big finisher combo.

Though, on further thought, Priest is gonna have to have its shit together to deal with deathrattles galore (including Cairnes) and Nerubian Eggs.

For the millionth time, they actually have win stats on this and going first still has a slight advantage. You gain mana first so, aside from when the coin is used, you're ahead on mana, and you draw first so you end up equal in cards on your turn.

I'm currently running one in my deck alongside a Doomhammer. It's generally pretty good and strong against Zoo/Pally, so I plan on keeping it in until I see more decks that I need stuff like Lava Burst for.

I was very skeptical of it myself and am still not sure how great it really is, but it definitely feels strong and relevant on turn 1. Simple because Shaman has no early plays, it can add pressure against control and keep up with Zoo better. It gets crazy with Flametongue in control games.

Out of choice I only run Thalnos in my Shaman deck- the spell damage is amazing and the draw makes it never wrong to use. Cairne is general all-around value against control decks but can be too slow. If you only face Warriors, Druids, Handlock, etc. it's great, and can be used in most decks as well, but it hurts against Zoo. Rag is big and powerful but there's a lot of BGH in the meta right now and it's slow. Al'Akir and Leeroy/Windfury are both strong burst damage if you need to finish out games, but expensive and inconsistent, respectively. TBK is also good in the right meta, mostly Druid and Handlocks. Personally, I love Thalnos in the deck, but it's not as flashy or powerful as the others so I understand waiting on it.

I drafted this Shaman today and went 12-2. First loss was due to a misplay, accidentally playing a kodo into nothing instead of a crucial Spellbreaker to stop some big threat, and I just got steamrolled because I was behind. I actually only got to use Doomhammer->Rockbiters once or twice, but it was still satisfying. The deck looked like constructed Shaman a lot, except with a lot more 1-mana removal and a disproportionate amount of Ogres. It's Ogre for you!

I'm not seeing it as that great. Sure, I said that about Avenge and now think it'll be really strong, but it's like a delayed Arcane intellect for the weakest minion you have on board, but twice. The best use I've seen is for some sort engine in mage secret decks- going Kirin Tor into this, getting two Kirin Tors back to battlecry into other secrets. Still, though, not something that I'd use in anything but very specialized decks.

Hey guys, so I have Rag, Cairne, Thalnos, TBK, Leeroy, Al'Akir, and recently pulled Grommash. I'm up to craft another legendary right now and not totally sold on what I should make. I'm mostly running Shaman, midrange Mage, and some druid variants, though I've also tested some Miracle, Zoo, and Pally Zoo.

-I'm highly considering Alexstrasza (slightly discouraged because I pulled one as my first legendary, saw no use for it over a couple months, and DE'd it to craft Cairne alongside Van Cleef since I didn't play Rogue -_-) because I'm thinking of trying both control Warrior and Handlock- though it's not necessary in the latter, I guess.

-Sylvanas might be nice to make since it's going to be very good with Naxx cards and will be common with Rebirth, a card that I want to build a deck around (I play shaman a lot as is)

-Harrison Jones is really a popular card now, and seems strong.

-I've also considered Geddon, Ysera, Mukla, Van Cleef, and Tirion, but I'm not sure I need them or how good they are (Geddon will probably be soon if I go for Alex, since it's pretty staple in control warrior).

What do you think I should make?

This card combos well with chargers like Leeroy and Al'Akir for even more shaman burst. It works well with Cairne, Sylvanas, and other beefy deathrattles (though you could proc small stuff like Loot Hoarder or Leper Gnome if you needed), and also can work with Injured Blademaster. Finally, it has some pretty good synergy with Cult Master and Flesheating Ghoul. I'm sure I'm missing some big uses of the card and can't wait to see how shaman uses it.

I've been using this deck lately (converted to it after trying to build the same deck and not having great results, so I'm using the exact same list as above even though I wasn't convinced on all of the choices).

I'm pretty happy with how it performs, pretty solid ability to draw huge amounts or make big pushes for game. Sometimes the lack of early game sucks and it often feels like you're on the edge of losing, but the deck is pretty good at holding on and drawing into what you need to survive and win.

I'd recommend Cairne, though Rag is a solid option and if you really like Shaman Al'Akir's pretty great. Rogue likes Van Cleef (if you play it enough).

Wild Pyro can pull its weight. Doomhammer seems meh to me.

Not what I said... I said they'd be less popular than they are now, but they'll still be more popular than before the buff. 3 IS between 2 and 4. Hunter will not be a top class anymore, but it will still work (I was responding to many complaints that Hunter was hardly going to be hindered since UTH still has a ridiculously strong effect.)

I imagined/predicted this change as soon as Hunter started wrecking the meta. I'm not sure that Hunter absolutely NEEDED to be nerfed in terms of balance, but it certainly wasn't fun to play against. This change is right in the middle of "doesn't help" and "kills Hunter" judging by the mana cost and the general responses I've seen, which I think is perfect. Every class should feel viable and fun to play as, but also fun to play against. Blizzard's balancing is very solid.

This is what I envisioned as soon as the newly-buffed UTH was realized to be ridiculous. To everyone saying that the mana cost is irrelevant, remember how badly the 4-mana UTH got laughed at when it was unveiled? It simply makes UTH harder to combo and less efficient at a higher mana cost. Hunter decks still work, UTH is still potentially great as a combo card, but they have to work harder for it. The mana constraint helps other decks control the game a little more easily by getting essentially an extra turn to prepare for the same combo of doges (e.g. they can play a Taz'dingo before the combo of Buzzard+UTH). Hunters will be a little less common and feel a little less "cheap." If they had made it unviable, they'd get equal whining from hunter players who don't like the fact that the entire Hunter class is now too weak to play, but I guess it just goes to show that they'd get whining either way. Hunter decks will fade from the top and learn to rely on more strategies like Traps+Bow, Midgame cards, strong removal, and maybe even dabbling in control. Shaman, I think, is the biggest benefactor of this change and I can't wait to hit the ladder now.

Shaman can't be "guided" like something like Zoo can since it's generally midrange and very versatile. Your plays vary a lot based on your draws, the board, and your opponent. Cards like Feral Spirit, Lightning Storm, and Overload in general have a lot of nuance in when to use them- there's no one way to do it. Trump's F2P Shaman run is a good guideline for early game plays, though.