SC2SEA.com - Starcraft 2 SEA eSports Community Site

This is Shaman week!


I’ve been playing a lot of Shaman lately, and have been enjoying the slow yet stern defensive pace. A lot of people seem to quickly nudge off Shaman to be a RNG hero since many of its spells & hero power rely on it. It’s true that the difference of a favorable RNG compared to a unfavorable one could mean winning or losing the match, but I feel that if you build your deck towards a defined goal the RNG leans more towards a bonus rather than a necessity.

I’ve dabbled with both constructed & arena Shaman in the past few days and found quite some success. I don’t really know how to categorize my style. I guess it’s somewhere between zoo & control deck? I caught some of my arena runs on stream, I'll share it here.


Shaman Arena VODS:



I know my VODs are raw, apologies in advance. Renovations are in the works~


Here’s the 2 decks in the VODs for easy access:






Shaman cards:

- Ancestral Healing - I like this card. I like the heal, I like the taunt, I like the zero mana. Oddly enough I can’t seem to fit this card into a deck both in constructed & arena. The card itself isn’t bad at all, but there always seems to be a better choice.

- Totemic Might - This I’m not too much of a fan off. My shaman style uses all totems as sacrificial units. There never seems to be a need to make them live longer. Making them attack is a whole different story. More life? hmm…

- Earth Shock - In arena I grab as many of these as I can. In constructed imo 2 is a must. This one card allows us to skip Spellbreaker/owl and substitute with other goodies. The order of events for the card along with the damage feels too good to be true. This is THE ultimate counter to Twilight Drake.

- Forked Lightning - I feel that the overload is a bit much considering its damage and RNG factor. The damage is AOE range is great for early clears, but the overlord makes me think twice. I still usually run with at least one of these in my decks, but I try to limit it at 1 unlike Earth Shock.

- Frost Shock - I’ve always viewed freeze as “losing slower”. My thought process is if I freeze somethings that’s gonna gg me this turn, then I’m just gonna be gg-ing 1 turn later. Not a fan. This is like the lazy brother of Earth Shock.

- Lightning Bolt - Now this I love. Low cost, low overlord, AND we can target enemy hero. There’s been countless times where this card wins me games. This card vs 1st turn Defias imo is a great ‘counter’ too. It doesn’t’ exactly counter the coin + Defias opening, but definitely dampens the advantage and makes it a tad more bearable.

- Rockbiter Weapon - I’m a big advocate of weapons. IMO all weapons with all heroes is a must grab. Rockbiter though, I’m not seduced. I guess to me it feels kind of like Ancestral Healing. It’s nice, it’s cheap, but there are a bunch of other cards I’d rather have in my deck.

- Dust Devil - Tried it. Hate it. Overload is way too much, makes it a non-viable 1st turn minion against heroes that can attack. If this was something like 3mana 3/2 windfury, I might consider it. As of now, no thank you.

- Stormforged Axe - Get this. This card almost feels too good to be true. Turn 2 we can be a rogue for 3 turns. 1 overload is cheap cost to what the weapon provides. Using this turn 2 still gives us a nice 2mana option turn 3.

- Ancestral Spirit - This… I don’t know. There are a lot of scenarios I can think of that this card would be imba, but I never really got to experience any of those scenarios. Personally this is one of the cards that’s on my ‘pass’ list, but I wouldn’t categorize it into a low tier either.

- Windfury - This feels like the downgraded version of Windspeaker, except for half the mana, we don’t get half the minion. Pass, please.

- Flametongue Totem - This is probably one of the best cards Shaman has. It brings a scary offense option to the hero power. The low cost & 3 life just makes it that much more delicious.

- Far Sight - This is a always pass for me. The ultimate RNG factor. I guess that’s what makes it fitting to be a Shaman card?

- Feral Spirit - Love love love. Any tokens with taunt is love. The overload is absolutely worth it. My only advice to this card is NEVER coin it out on turn2, you pretty much lose a turn if you do which these two taunts aren’t worth.

- Hex - Shaman’s assassinate. I can’t imagine any Shaman decks not running at least 1 of these.

- Lava Burst - I in-between with this. The big brother of Lightning Bolt, the Fireball for Shamans. I don’t particularly enjoy trading this with minions as the overload feels too hefty. Trading this with a Sen’jin doesn’t feel cost efficient.

- Lightning Storm - I run maximum of these in constructed/arena. I think this is the highest damage AOE clear in the game? Coupled with the opportunity to bust this out with a spell power totem out, the damage is devastating!

- Mana Tide Totem - I think every Shaman deck needs at least ONE of these. Two could be argued to be much, but one is almost a necessity. I like to play this as early as possible. It becomes a 0/3 taunt xD.

- Unbound Elemental - I run quite a few overload spells so I usually run at least one of these in my deck. I like its tanky stats, and it also makes overload feel less of a loss.

- Windspeaker - During my earlier days of Shaman, I use to think this guy was a must, and you must put 3 in the deck. After a while, I feel they become very situational, and 4mana for a 3/3 is quite expensive. Since then I ‘pass’ on this too.

- Doomhammer - Take 2 of these when available. You won’t regret it.

- Bloodlust - This is one of those cards where you don’t question whether you should take it or out, but you question how many to take. With my placestyle that has a even spread between spell/minions, I feel 1 is more than enough. 2 feels like overkill. I’ve played around with a Shaman Token deck, in that circumstance 2 feels like a necessity.

- Earth Elemental - I love this guy. This is like the better version of Venture Co. Mercenary. Much much better version. The 3 overload is complete worth its stats & taunt.

- Fire Elemental - Love its battlecry. Very useful in mid-late game. I’d complain that 5 life is a little low, but any higher along with its battlecry would be imba.

- Al’Akir the Windlord - No. Just no. 8 mana for 3/5?? All of its power (windfury, charge, divine shield, taunt) seems useless because it’s a 3/5 LATE LATE game card. I’d understand the use of this card if Shaman had the luxery of innervate but no, even coining this isn’t worth it. Sadly, 1st hand experience here T.T.


Quick tips

1) Don’t coin any overload cards pre turn2. They will leave you with a 1mana turn which in most cases equals a lost turn. No overload card is worth losing an early turn over. Getting out any totem would be better.

2) Before casting a spell that does damage, try your luck with a totem. Hitting that lucky spell power totem is could mean GG, or may completely change your plans for the turn.

3) Similar to 2) always think about the possibilities of x totem out before you map out your turn. I find myself in this scenario a lot where drawing a taunt or spell power totem means completely different plays.

4) Think ahead. The overload mechanic means you need to plan a few or two ahead. It’s better to have a solid plan for next turn, rather than relying on the RNG of your draw.


Next week

I know I promised mage this week, but I thought I’d go with Shaman since it’s still fresh in my mind. Mage will be next week!~


the elemental cheerleading captain,
Reere.