Hearthpwn

Control Warrior - One of the toughest matchups. If the warrior plays well and saves their removal for the right targets, only Yogg can save us. You need to simultaneously play around their 6+ pieces of removal (Execute, Shield Slam, Brawl, Gorehowl) and control the board, because if the board is empty, they will easily gain 50 shield before the decks run out. Because chances are this will go to fatigue, try to draw as little as possible. Also, answer their minions with damage from hand, don't trade minions because then they will have answers left for Ysera. You need to play Ysera as late as possible. If they play Golden Monkey they have made a mistake: your aoe becomes useful and Ysera will likely stick, which is key. Play Hallazeal the Ascended for tempo, and use Healing Waves to heal your minions unless you are about to die.

 

Midrange Warrior - This deck has gained in popularity lately, which is great because it's one of the easier matchups. Answer their Frothing Berserkers  with Stormcrack or even Hex. Don't let them get crazy value from Battle Rage. In general you should have enough 1 for 1 spells to deal with their threatening minions, and you can restore enough health to make their weapons not matter too much. If they play Bloodhoof Brave, you can let it live and answer it later with aoe if they damage it, since your health is less of an issue here.

Your greatest source of tilt playing Phoenix Shaman will come from losing 30 minute games against Control Warrior, but just remember that this is your worst matchup.

 

Dragon/Midrange Warrior -This matchup is very good, and more frequent than Control Warrior. Keep the board clear on early turns by normal means, and try not to fall to 15. Don't forget about Deathwing, and keep track of which cards in their hand might be Dragons. As long as you have a couple Lightning Bolts or Stormcracks, you should get to turn 6 without too much trouble, at which point your midgame minions are very hard for the Warrior to deal with. Master Jouster is super hard for them to deal with and usually puts you ahead on board.

 

OTK Worgen - Super easy matchup. Use your hero power often to try for taunt totem, and answer every minion they play. If you know what deck it is, feel free to Hex Acolyte of Pain. When they have spent their Slams and Ravaging Ghouls on your other 6 drops, then play your taunts to ensure that you can't die to their combo. Be aware that a good Warrior will be flexible, and can play Faceless Manipulator on your beefy dudes like Ysera. Play Hallazeal the Ascended for tempo, you can't heal over 30 anyways.

 

Weapon Pirate - This list was popular a while ago, but has mostly died out. It is a very aggressive list and can win early if you aren't careful. 1 for 1 almost any threat for the first 3 turns (Lava Shock a Southsea Deckhand), then try to get a 3 for 1 on turn 4 with Elemental Destruction or Lightning Storm. Using Hex on small minions is reasonable if you want full mana the next turn, since basically anything they play will die to Lightning Bolt or Stormcrack. You should almost always win jousts, so drop Master Jousters early to soak some of the weapon damage that would otherwise be going towards your face. Also remember that you can Hex your totems if you need an emergency taunt.

Aggro - Phoenix Shaman's much more popular cousin, Aggro Shaman is one of the easiest matchups. Place high priority on not taking damage, since you can die from 15. Given the option, play minions on 6 over clearing board, since most of our 6-drops will 2-for-1 or 3-for-1. Use Earth Shock on Tunnel Trogg or Flametongue Totem to neutralize their board, and later wipe with aoe. If the game goes long, Phoenix Shaman should have no trouble closing, but push damage when you can to leave the possibility of bursting from hand and punish their Doomhammer trades. Hex gets used on Flamewreathed Faceless.

 

Midrange Totem - This match is a little bit tougher, be careful when his board is full of totems, since Thunder Bluff Valiant can hurt a lot. Try to keep Earth Shock  for Mana Tide Totem if you don't have any other answers. Be aware that his board can regenerate quickly with Thing from Below and Tuskarr Totemic, so be careful when overloading with Elemental Destruction. Try to be proactive on board so you can attack a totem each turn.

 

Bogchamp/Zoth - Their are some Control Shaman builds that have been popping up, and for the most part they are very easy. Save Hex for a target that has Ancestral Spirit, don't let their Faceless Manipulator get value, and know that they play less minions than you, so you should win the long game. Be aware that many other control lists run more aoe and less spot removal than Phoenix, which is good for us, but don't commit too hard to board.

Miracle - I'm excited that this deck is coming back. More than any other deck you need to keep track of what the rogue plays, as you need to have the right responses and make the right gambles when the critical turns come. Taunts will keep you in the game against charge/stealth minions. Prioritize taunts and keeping your health high over playing late game threats, as it really is just a game of survival. If Gadgetzan Auctioneer get stealthed, wipe it with Elemental Destruction. Don't spend your aoe if you can use spot removal instead, since you may need to kill stealthed minions. Hex their Tomb Pillagers whenever possible, and Earth Shock Edwin VanCleef.

 

N'Zoth Deathrattle - Like most N'Zoth matchups this boils down to dealing with their minions early and then having Elemental Destruction in case of N'Zoth, the Corruptor. Remember that if you Hex Sylvanas Windrunner she won't come back. Also be aware of Unearthed Raptor and Shadowcaster which can get lots of value if there are juicy targets left on the rogue's board. Prioritize keeping their board empty over developing yours.

Smorc - If they play something like Selfless Hero on turn 1, coining Stormcrack is reasonable. Play this matchup as you would most control vs hyper-aggro matchups: spend your kill spells liberally and hope to survive until turn 6 to get a taunt, at which point you probably win. Having a bolt for Steward of Darkshire is important, as is keeping a small hand in case of Divine Favor.

 

Anyfin - The purest form of this combo deck runs 2x Bluegill Warrior + Murloc Warleader in the hopes of their second Anyfin Can Happen ending the game. Their are a couple ways to deal with this, either Hex their Murlocs as soon as they pop up, denying them their combo, or throw up taunts near the end. Try to force them to spend their removal on your other threats, like Fire Elemental so that Master Jouster can survive.

 

Zoth - Most control paladins run N'Zoth, the Corruptor, which means you'll want aoe for "the big turn". Because their first 3-5 turns will be hero power pass, or maybe Acolyte of Pain, we aren't under much pressure early. Be aware that Humility and Aldor Peacekeeper will debuff our early taunts, so prioritize Emperor Thaurissan and Fire Elemental over them so you still get value. Count on 2 Equality plus enablers like Wild Pyromancer/Consecration. Paladin also runs a ton of healing in the form of Forbidden Healing and Truesilver Champion, so try to out-value them instead of bursting them down with spells. Save Hex for Tirion Fordring, and remember that all of the debuffs can be removed with Earth Shock if you need the extra damage or want to trade.

 

Dragon - This deck is not meta at the moment. Read on for historical reason :P

Dragon paladin is much less common than control, but it does show up and plays like a midrange deck. Faerie Dragon can deal lots of damage early and force awkward Lightning Storm turns, and several of their mid-game threats (Dragon Consort, Blackwing Technician, Twilight Guardian) can't be easily removed with damaging spells. That means that early board presence with totems and taunts is crucial to not lose value. Keep in mind that cards like Humility and Aldor Peacekeeper can make your early minions much worse, so try to get value out of aoe effects after these debuffs have come through. Play around the same answers as in control, but don't expect the board flood or the healing that control paladin has.

Midrange - They won't run many minions, which means we can 1 for 1 through the early and mid game. Be careful about your life total because hunter can deal 15 damage from hand. Try not to leave any beasts on board in case they have Houndmaster or Ram Wrangler. Don't expect your 6 drops to live, but don't be afraid to play them since they will soak Kill Command and a minion in most cases. Fire Elemental is worse because of Freezing Trap, so you may just have to sit back and not attack until you're in a good position and can afford to lose your minion. Keep an Elemental Destruction for turn 8, and a Hex or Earth Shock + dmg for Savannah Highmane. Mostly this match is about predicting his turns and holding the appropriate answers. This matchup is pretty tough, but if you can get your heals you should survive.

 

Lock and Load - This is a pretty difficult matchup, though rare. It's hard to contend with the raw card advantage that they get from holding until turn 10 then unloading and getting hunter cards. Try to pressure board and keep up taunts, and hope that when you play Ysera they're out of removal. Be aware that they run Yogg-Saron, Hope's End, as well as 2 Call of the Wild.

Token - A very popular list at the moment, the good thing about it is that we have more removal than they have threats, but be sure that you have a source of 5 damage, or Fandral Staghelm and Violet Teacher can get out of control. Frequently they play early Living Roots, and the 2 1/1s continue to poke us until we can get off aoe. Because Druid has such a hard time removing threats, early Emperor Thaurissan is great for us, and later minions like Ragnaros the Firelord will get huge value.

 

C'Thun - This is probably the hardest matchup of them all. Use spot removal to deal with Beckoner of Evil and Twilight Elder, and play Master Jouster to get reasonable trades against C'Thun's Chosen and beefy minions like Klaxxi Amber-Weaver. Early on you might get 2 for 1 value with aoe, but later the druid will have at most 3 minions all of which have at least 5 health. Try to be proactive and play minions instead of attempting to spend spells killing their threats. Because of how hard it is to remove their minions, play your minions liberally instead of trading multiple spells for just 1 minion.

 

Beast - I haven't seen much of this deck, but it can be hard to deal with because your spells won't be able to 1 for 1 with many of their minions, such as Druid of the Flame. Clear out their beasts and Darnassus Aspirants whenever you can to prevent Mark of Y'Shaarj from losing you the board or them having more mana than you. Be aware that this variant of druid has a lot of burst with Savage Roar and Leeroy Jenkins among other cards. Try to have at least 1 taunt out if you expect they have charge in hand and you are low. Since their curve is pretty low, Hex any reasonably sized minion that you can't answer otherwise, or if you don't want to be overloaded the following turn.

Zoo - The always popular zoo deck is incredibly common on the ladder, luckily it's one of the easier matchups for Phoenix Shaman. Use Lightning Bolt, Stormcrack, and sometimes Lava Shock to deal with meaningful early drops like Flame Imp, Knife Juggler, and Dire Wolf Alpha. If he plays sticky minions (Argent Squire, Possessed Villager) feel free to answer with Earth Shock, otherwise save it to neutralize a Darkshire Councilman. If his board only has ~5 damage worth of minions and his hand is full, hold off on Lightning Storm until you can get more value. Your mid game taunts should trade with roughly 3 of his cards each, which will let you get back some control. Playing Elemental Destruction without Lava Shock is fine unless you are low. Have an answer for Sea Giant if you think he might run it, but don't be afraid to Hex priority threats like Imp Gang Boss if you get low. If you can get to turn 8 he should have few cards left in hand, and will likely be low from tapping often. At that point you should be set but don't forget about board regeneration like Knife Juggler/Darkshire Councilman + Forbidden Ritual. Ragnaros the Firelord is pretty bad in most situations because it only kills a single minion each turn, but if you can play it on an empty board it becomes super hard for the warlock to get back in the game. All-in-all it's an easy matchup once you have some practice.

 

Handlock/Renolock - These decks are similar, except that one runs more 8/8s than the other. The new Renlock will play a bunch of minions early, which eventually get us aoe value. Try to get board presence around turn 8, since they won't run that many answers to high toughness minions. One great strategy to avoid dying the long death to Lord Jaraxxus is to save 15 damage in your hand to otk. Without the 6/6s Jaraxxus generates, the Warlock should run out of value before we do, especially since very few of their minions have 5 or more power, and thus can't trade well into our minions. Watch out for N'Zoth, the Corruptor, and play around it as normal.

Midrange - This deck is reasoably popular right now, it plays things like Mana Wyrm, Cult Sorcerer, Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Flamewaker early and then play lots of spells. In the midgame, threats like  Water Elemental, Ethereal Conjurer, and Faceless Summoner come out. Most of the early threats are easy to deal with using the usual Lightning Bolt/Stormcrack/Lava Shock or Lightning Storm/Elemental Destruction if you get behind. Even the midgame threats are easy to deal with, which makes the matchup mostly about not taking too much damage early, because the mage has lots of direct damage which can drop you from 20 to 0 pretty quickly. Luckily, most of that damage ends up directed at your midgame taunts, or they close out the game while the mage restocks with Arcane Intellect and Cabalist's Tome. Some variations of mage also run ~5 aoe freezes/damage spells, all of which don't stop our minions from getting value at the end of turn or blocking our face. Be aware of Counterspell: Try to proc it with your less desirable clearing option, for example spot removal, instead of your vital aoe and healing. Similarly, play around Mirror Image by waiting until you can play both a body and an answer to it, or cheese with Doomsayer. For example, play Emperor Thaurissan + Flame Burst or even Hex because the mage has so few relevant targets. Be sure that you have some answer to late game Archmage Antonidas, since if left alone he will end you. Count their damaging spells, and don't end turn low unnecessarily.

 

Freeze - I've only seen a couple freeze mages in my ~250 games with this deck, but I'm writing this out of loyalty to the freeze mage cause. This matchup is super easy, their damaging spells can't contend with 2 Healing Waves + Hallazeal the Ascended, and our midgame threats win the game quickly and are hard to deal with. If the mage plays Frost Nova then Emperor Thaurissan, Ragnaros the Firelord, and Ysera all keep getting value, and we don't mind the game going long. Answer Acolyte of Pain with Earth Shock, Lightning Bolt, or even Hex. Be aware of the 3 minion threats that freeze mage plays: Emperor Thaurissan, Archmage Antonidas, and Alexstrasza.

Yogg provides a special sort of rng that can make unwinnable games suddenly end up in your favor. With 10+ spells, he will more likely than not wipe the board, and because of secrets and card draw he is usually better for you than the opponent.

 

His inclusion is to make heavy control matchups more winnable, so try cards like Arch-Thief Rafaam, Elise Starseeker, or Cairne Bloodhoof.

While Rag is a great late game threat, he can also be replaced by the above legendaries. Just be sure that you have enough late game value to be able to contend with control decks.

She does a great job of healing you up in dire times and also chunking you opponent for 15 damage if you've been on the back foot all game. If you need to replace her, refer to the above list of late-game legendaries and be aware that you can't burst as hard without her.

 

Because she is so good in the Hunter matchup, consider adding a Bog Creeper if you don't have her.

She is great at getting huge value if you've thoroughly controlled the game. If you need to replace her, consider one of the above legendaries, preferably one that can get lots of value like Arch-Thief Rafaam or Nefarian.

What he does is very unique, if you need to replace him try another Fire Elemental since it's a similarly greedy (In terms of your life total) 6 drop. Be aware that Thaurissan gives you explosive turns late, in which you clear board and heal, and without that you will suffer.

It's really hard to survive with just 2 Healing Waves. Cult Apothecary is meh in most metas. If you see tons of zoolock then maybe it's okay, but otherwise just play another taunt such as Thing from Below/Bog Creeper and pray that you don't get dropped too low.

The tempo that you get from this card is really hard to replace. First of all, I don't recommend playing this deck without the shocks, but if you really want to maybe try Nerubian Prophet so that you can gain tempo on overloaded turns. Alternatively,  including a Rockbiter Weapon for more spot removal could work reasonably well.

This isn't a super popular card, so while the deck suffers hugely without it, you could play a variation that instead runs Doomsayers + more midgame and doesn't rely on jousting as much. It would take some tinkering but a similar deck could be made.