For the longest time Shaman players have been looking for a midrange deck that works. Getting behind on the board has been this class’ Achilles Heel, as losing the board almost always lead to the Shaman deck losing the game. Prior to the Whispers of the Old Gods expansion, most Shaman players had to rely on the Aggro list to climb the ranked ladder, and the class was also almost never seen in tournaments. However, with the nerfs to some Classic cards, the new standard mode and the release of the new expansion, Shaman has exploded on both the ranked ladder and in tournament play.
The recent nerfs to [card]Leper Gnome[/card], [card]Arcane Golem[/card] and [card]Ironbeak Owl[/card] have made these previously aggressive cards no longer playable, in turn slowing the game allowing Shamans to flourish. Standard mode has removed all the cards from both the Naxxaramas adventure and Goblins vs Gnomes Expansion, including strong ones such as [card]Sludge Belcher[/card], [card]Loatheb[/card], [card]Death's Bite[/card], [card]Shielded Minibot[/card], [card]Muster for Battle[/card], and [card]Dr Boom[/card]. The cards from Whispers of the Old Gods expansion that have made Shaman into a super star class are [card]Thing from Below[/card], [card]Primal Fusion[/card], [card]Evolve[/card], [card]Master of Evolution[/card] and [card]Flamewreathed Faceless[/card].
Thing from Below and Primal Fusion are powerful cards in the Midrange Totem Shaman deck, which already had a good backbone with [card]Totem Golem[/card], [card]Tuskarr Totemic[/card] and [card]Thunder Bluff Valiant[/card] from the Grand Tournament. Totem Golem is a great early game minion because it is 3/4 in stats for just two mana, where usually minions with those stats cost three or four mana. Tuskarr Totemic summons a random totem, which includes the better totems such as Totem Golem, [card]Mana Tide Totem[/card] and [card]Flametongue Totem[/card]. With a 14% chance for each totem to spawn from Tuskarr Totemic, this means that 42% of the time you're getting great value from this minion. Thunderbluff Valiant’s inspire ability is a great finisher with a board full of totems and can also be used to trade your totems into your opponents’ minions, yet the deck lacked big threats when the entire board was cleared.
Thing from Below now allows a massive swing turn by costing one mana less for each totem that was summoned, which can mean the pilot is able to establish a big taunt for free and play other cards along with it. Primal Fusion buff helps make early game minions like Tunnel Trogg out of range of being removed easily or can be used on a minion - for example an innocent looking 0/2 totem - to make a favorable trade. These cards now give Midrange Totem Shaman longevity to survive the early and mid game in order to reach the late game stage of a match.
While Thing from Below and Primal Fusion have helped develop an existing deck, [card]Evolve[/card] and [card]Master of Evolution[/card] have created an entirely new Shaman deck known as Evolve Shaman. These decks typically want to flood the board with minions by using cards like Tuskarr Totemic and [card]Feral Spirit[/card], and then use Evolve to upgrade all of the minions. Some players are even experimenting with a [card]C'Thun[/card] Evolve decks. Dropping [card]Twin Emperor Vek'lor[/card] and following up with an Evolve, thus getting two eight drops on turn eight, is a great power play.
Forsen has even recently created a [card]Grim Patron[/card] Evolve deck. This deck uses [card]Tentacle of N'Zoth[/card] and [card]Wild Pyromancer[/card] to activate Grim Patron’s duplication ability in order to fill the board with patrons. Once the board is filled, Evolve turns all of those Grim Patrons into six-mana minions. Another great power play to try in Evolve Shaman is Onyxia followed by Evolve. After [card]Onyxia[/card] fills the board up your Evolve turns all those useless 1/1 whelps into useful two-mana minions.
I had high hopes that we would see fewer Aggro Shamans due to the new cards from Whispers of the Old Gods, but Flamewreathed Faceless has only made Aggro Shaman even more popular. This card is absolutely insane for the value/threat payoff it offers, and the overload is also good as it helps buff Tunnel Trogg. The nerf to [card]Big Game Hunter[/card], which has made the card less playable, has also helped make Flamewreathed Faceless very difficult for opposing players to remove easily. This card is so good that it is even included in many Midrange Shaman lists as well.
Shamans do not have a hard counter at the moment, although it can be weak to classes like Priest who are currently running multiple board clears. There are now tons of Miracle Rogues on the ranked ladder, which are a particularly good match up for the Shaman player since they do not have an effective way to clear your board. [card]Blade Flurry[/card] used to be the staple board clear in all Rogue decks, but the recent nerf to the card has rendered it unusable.
Shaman is also thriving on the arena scene. When talking about arena it is important to focus on the common cards, especially the class common cards, since those are most likely to show up in your draft picks. Before Whispers of the Old Gods Shaman was an above average class, as cards like Totem Golem and Tuskarr Totemic from the Grand Tournament expansion improved Shamans in arena significantly. Now Shamans have Flamewreathed Faceless, which is one of the most powerful common class cards for arena, and with all three of these cards in the draft pool Shaman is now a good arena class.
Midgrange, Evolve and Aggro Shamans have been successful due to the changes from standard and the expansion, but there is still a lot of room for experimentation. Two underused cards that I was very excited for shaman to get are [card]hallazeal the ascended[/card] and [card]Hammer of Twilight[/card], with the latter a great weapon with no overload. The best part about this weapon is that even if it gets put in Harrison Jones’ museum the deathrattle from the weapon spawns a 4/2 Twilight Elemental that can take care of [card]Harrison Jones[/card]. It also has combo potential in evolve shaman by getting a free 3 drop minion for a great evolve turn. Due to all the new and exciting cards Shaman has received from the Whispers of the Old Gods, it is clear that this is the best time to be a Shaman player in Hearthstone. Hallazeal is ideal for a control style shaman deck when combined with [card]Lightning Storm[/card], [card]Elemental Destruction[/card] and Ysera Awakens, as these combos clear the board and give you a massive heal.
