Decks are expensive. New decks from a new set are also expensive. So, when HypeHorizen’s own 3-year World of Warcraft Shaman main TheWarshack said he had two spicy decks that cost less than 5,000 dust each to build, one being Shaman, we had to see what’s up.
Maximum Totems
“Totems in World of Warcraft is one of the most important things to a Shaman build. Hearthstone has been trying to push a Totem Shaman forever. They’re always trying to do totem things and they always suck. So Totem Shaman, every expansion, is something I visit and see if I can make it good even if it’s budget or non-budget. It normally ends up being a pretty solid cheaper to mid-range deck for players to jump behind.”
Warshack said Totem Shaman didn’t have much in the way of keeping the value rolling. However, now it has cards like EVIL Totem, and still has Mana Tide Totem. This fits a token theme of the longer a minion is out, the more of a threat it becomes. Especially on three as there’s now the followup of Totemic Reflection to really lay down the pressure.
He said the most important thing is to mulligan correctly and stick the board.
“Mulligan is the most important thing. You can say that about literally any deck, but in this particular deck, you mulligan wrong, you’re going to lose. It all revolves around getting on the board early with explosive turns. Like you have to be able to summon two minions a turn and in order to do that, you need the proper cards. A lot of people will hold the wrong cards in the early game because they’re like ‘Totem Goliath is good.’ Well he’s good on turn five, but we’re on turn one or two; we need to be able to get on the board quickly, effectively and keep our totems alive.”
He said as long as you keep the board, play explosive turns, and finish with either Totem Goliath, Runic Carvings, or Bloodlust, you should be good to go.
It’s important to remember that you don’t have a lot of “in-air damage” like Hunter, so it’s especially important to play to the win condition of sticking your totems as if playing a zoo or token deck. Speaking of Hunter by the way…
Budget Face Hunter
As DJ Karl The Dog once famously said “Do me trade? Nope. Me go face? Yep.”
If you’re looking to repeatedly apply pressure to the facial region, this is the deck for you. Also, it’s only 2,180 dust!
“Face Hunter is a deck that always is cheap. It’s always just a cheap, reliable deck that punishes slow decks. It’s always been what it does, and it does it really freaking well. It’s also a great introductory [deck] for beginner players because the deck not only wins, it’s cheap and it teaches you when to go face, and when to trade. ”
Warshack said Face Hunter has always been good, but Voracious Reader really put it back into the spotlight. Hunter never really had such efficient card draw, and since all cards are three mana or less, it’s fairly realistic to empty your hand by turn four and refill for three.
Similar to Totem Shaman, your objective is to get on the board early to deal chip damage. However, this deck does have burn, so you can still lethal even if you lose tempo. Just be sure to do it quickly.
“Because the deck caps out at three, the games aren’t going past turn five or six, and if they are, you’re most likely losing. So, getting on the board as early as possible to put in as much damage as you can is the core of the deck. At some point in the game, because of your low curve and the power level of your minions, your opponent will probably have better stuff. At one point, the game moves from no longer being able to control the board, so you need to start going face and playing Unleashes, and Kill Commands and hero powering as much as possible… If you’re not getting on the board ’till turn three, you missed two turns of a minion attacking. So if you can get on there at one, start chipping away, ‘tch-tch-tchough,’ your overall game plan gets extended and you’re able to kill your opponent faster.”
And remember players, when in doubt, SMOrc it out.
