Elemental Fusion!
- Last updated Oct 22, 2016 (Yogg Nerf)
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Wild
- 9 Minions
- 19 Spells
- 2 Weapons
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Totem Shaman
- Crafting Cost: 4480
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 10/3/2016 (Yogg Nerf)
- Chimera
- Registered User
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Battle Tag:
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Total Deck Rating
2184
The goal of this deck is to keep the board under control while getting value from spell damage and totems, drawing through your deck full of damage until you find lethal. Win condition is usually a final burst of damage, for example:
- 15 damage with only 2x lava burst + lava shock if you have +1 spell damage
- Save wicked witchdoctor + windfury + primal fusion, and buff an existing minion for surprise lethal. PRIMAL FUSION LAST FOR THIS!
- You can also use bloodlust.
Replays
Strategy
Firstly we must identify how this deck wins. Usually it wins by a final burst of damage. It may also win simply from accumulative damage. You want to aim and plan around setting up a board and saving certain cards to unexpectedly finish off your opponent. This may be achieved through Bloodlust, however you may also harness the power of spell damage and chain together Lightning Bolts Lava Shocks Lava Bursts and Primal Fusions. Weapon damage and Flametongue Totem damage helps as well.
I aim to start the game with a Spirit Claws whenever possible. It is the best card you can play turn 1 for this deck. Turn 2 i almost always hero power, but it depends if/how much my opponent is pressuring me. If you are not being presented with many immediate threats use your cards sparingly, your hero power is your friend.
If you get the coin try to save it to summon a totem after playing Wicked Witchdoctor or for some other important situation. If you do need to spend it to contest the board that is fine, but only if you have to. When you do play Wicked Witchdoctor try to avoid spending every spell you can just to make totems; don't waste anything while getting this value. Keep in mind possible ways that your opponent can clear the board still and try not to over-extend too much. If you are really concerned about removal it may be wise to try and bait/wait it out.
Try to sequence your spells in the best possible order. This can be one of the more complicated aspects of this deck. Remember that Wicked Witchdoctor triggers before the spell actually resolves, so you will have a new totem each time before the spell actually is cast.
If you have a spell but you are one damage short, you can play it and hope you get a spell damage totem for that extra damage, but preferably you should cast other less crucial spells first to see if you actually get one first and play it safe. With Primal Fusion be aware that the newly summoned totem will count as well for an extra +1/+1 so count that when you count damage. This is best played last for the largest buff.
Think about how to ration out your removal each game. Try to identify the archetype you are matched against and which key cards they will have that are best to Hex. For example, you know a midrange hunter will have Savannah Highmane, and you know a control paladin will have Tirion Fordring, so plan to keep at least one for when they make an appearance. Do not be afraid to use one to help re-gain control of the board or neutralize a threat that you otherwise can not deal with. It can buy you a lot of time and help swing tempo in your favor often, but think carefully.
Be aware of the minions remaining in your deck when you play Barnes so you can take advantage of the summoned 1/1 if possible. I prefer to try and wait longer than turn 4 to drop it because if i get a Wicked Witchdoctor i would like to get some value from that as well. You can also get some bonus spell damage and card draw, so just be aware of the odds.
When using Spirit Claws try to only hit face when you have spell damage, and try to save the last durability for clearing a minion if you can. Beware of Acidic Swamp Ooze and Harrison Jones which some decks are running right now. Lastly, be careful with sequencing of overload spells and Lava Shock to maximize value there as well. Don't be afraid to use Lava Shock a a removal if it is required, though. Especially late game when you have a lot of mana and a lot of cheap cards; the overload has much less of an impact.
Card Breakdown
Tunnel Trogg - This is a great 1 drop and because there is so much overload going on here it there is no reason to exclude it. Turning overload into damage can stack up fast if left unattended
Feral Spirit - This is a good card for getting on the board. In this case it is useful after the inevitable board clear of your opponents to put something immediately in their way so you can prepare your next moves.
Lightning Bolt - A cheap source of damage with a lot of utility. Some matches you will use it to clear minions and trigger witchdoctor, others you will use it to burst down your enemy
Primal Fusion - Amazing card. A cheap and easy way to buff a token with up to +6/+6. Great for lethal damage as well at the end of the game. Be aware there is a disconnect bug when playing this card with witchdoctor sometimes and i am not sure what causes it
Spirit Claws - Amazing card. You can do anywhere to 3-9 damage with just one of these. Very flexible for clearing minions or whittling down your enemy's life total
Ancestral Knowledge - A very nice card to cycle your deck and draw important cards. The overload can be negated with a lava shock for more value.
Flametongue Totem - A quick way to beef up your board damage if you have existing minions and it counts as a totem as well.
Lava Shock - Flexible damage to distribute where it is needed while also relieving some overload. Very important card
Lightning Storm - This is a great aoe and the more spell damage you have the better. I ended up liking this better than maelstrom portal because it has stronger standalone damage.
Hex - One of the best hard removal cards that will bail you out of some sticky situations assuming you draw it at the right time. Try to be aware of what the best targets might be in the particular deck you are playing against so you make the best use.
Lava Burst - 3 Mana for 5 damage is really good, especially if you are using them to finish off your opponent late game. With the potential for many spell damage totems these could be potent in combination with other damage sources.
Windfury - This is a great card to combo with a minion after you use bloodlust or primal fusion for example. It basically doubles the value of the previous spell in this case. Be careful if you attempt to use it to clear minions because you don't want to waste it.
Maelstrom Portal - Auxiliary aoe in this deck, and generally a good card. Scales well with spell damage and provides a minion to add to the board. Can't go wrong with this.
Wicked Witchdoctor - Probably the most important card in this deck. You can make many totems with this and the way it interacts with your spells is really convenient. You can fill the board in no time if you plan ahead and it makes bloodlust spectacular
Bloodlust - This is another core card because it is your most clear win condition. It is simple to use, you just need to set up enough totems and count your damage. Double bloodlust on turn 10 is nuts
Azure Drake - Azure drake is a valuable card and a 1/1 with spell damage is not terrible from barnes either. Another card that helps to cycle the deck.
Bloodmage Thalnos - Very versatile with it's spell damage and cad draw in one package. A strong tool in this deck as it is in many others.
Barnes - This card gets great value with this deck because of how few minions in it.
Mulligan
You may choose to keep some other cards depending on what you expect to encounter. For some decks you may require a Lightning Bolt, Lightning Storm, Hex, or you may like to keep an Ancestral Knowledge to draw into your deck more.
When you have the coin it may definitely be wise to keep Lightning Storm in most cases, and Wicked Witchdoctor is a great choice to keep as well because of the coin. Do consider Bloodmage Thalnos as well for some spell damage when you need it most.
Replacements
Tunnel Trogg - Maelstrom Portal + Earth Shock/Stormcrack
Bloodmage Thalnos - Azure Drake
Lava Shock - Earth Shock/Stormcrack
You may also be interested in my new Handlock!
Minion (20)
Ability (9)
Playable Hero (1)
Loading Collection
Yeah some control decks like the ones you mentioned can be very oppressive. These are the hardest match-ups for this deck; more so the paladin.
You will need to be creative and try to assemble a different sort of burst. These decks have a ton of extreme board clears that will destroy or freeze everything on the board. Luckily it is easy to predict what cards they have in the deck, so there's that. You can be sure anyfin paladins will be running Equality Consecration and Wild Pyromancer, and Forbidden Healing, Ragnaros, Lightlord and likely Ivory Knight for healing. With mages you have to deal with Flamestrike Blizzard and Frost Nova, as well as Ice Block which is very annoying.
In light of this you will need to play differently. You absolutely can not over-extend and play all your valuable minions and spells. You will need to be sneaky and accumulate as much damage in your hand as possible and try not to neutralize their threads using as few resources as possible. You can in fact do a lot of damage from your hand if you plan your turns out well and sequence your spells efficiently. For example, you can't use Totemic Might here to preserve any board because they can still easily wipe it regardless of what the health totals are. You may choose to use one in an attempt to get an extra draw out of your Mana Tide Totem but you should save one to proc a totem in hopes of getting more spell damage.
First let's go over a strategy for anyfin paladins.
Obviously their win condition revolves around Murloc Warleader. In theory, to neutralize their win condition you need only to Hex both of these. You don't really need to keep one for Tirion Fordring, you can just save earth shock for that to break through the taunt and deny the deathrattle. You will need to be very careful and try to bait some aoe if you can. You may use a Wicked Witchdoctor to bait them but do not use all your spells and go nuts.
You really want to save your Lightning Bolts Lava Shocks and Primal Fusions for your final burst. Don't do too much damage because you do not want to prompt them to heal a lot. you will need to do at least 20 damage in one turn. Be prepared with a Spirit Claws equipped, and save a Wicked Witchdoctor because the plan will be to hope you get spell damage totems as you cast. It may beneficial as well if you have Bloodmage Thalnos. Try your best to leave the board with maybe one or two innocent looking totems or other tokens to allow you to attack with Primal Fusion. Calculate your damage regularly. The best outcome would be something like this
Wicked Witchdoctor --> Totemic Might (x2 if you have) --> Lightning Bolt x2 --> Lava Shock --> Primal Fusion x2 -> attack with Spirit Claws for 3 damage.
Assuming you have +2 spell damage it would add up as follows. 5+5+4+6+7+3=30 Damage. This obviously seems complicated, and it is. It's a hard match up but this i a way you can win.
Freeze mages will require a very similar strategy, however you will have to worry less about their minions and more about overcoming their 1 or 2 Ice Blocks before they can manage to burst you down themselves. They won't have so many minions to worry about at least. They won't heal in the way paladins do so carefully and conservatively chip away at them to make it a bit easier to trigger the Ice Block later on.
Hope that gives you some ideas on how to go about these match-ups. They still are very tough so you may not win often vs them, but you can't win every match-up with equal difficulty. Pirate warrior is definitely fun to play against though as you said. I find it quite easy to counter them.
Omg. You're one of the coolest guys I have ever seen here.
Thanks so so much for your great explaination. I will keep them in mind and try practicing more.
Also, I wonder if I could be able to watch more of your replays/videos..
Thank you. Appreciate your dedication! :)
Thank you for the kind words, it is not a problem! I enjoy thinking about and sharing strategies.
I am planning to link some more replays soon, and hopefully with a more diverse set of match-ups. I love those new replays they are so convenient for sharing matches. =D
Have fun!
This is my first time commenting on a deck and on that note..Great deck!!
I have been playing Shaman for 2 1/2 months now and this is by far the funnest totem Shaman i have played.
Thank you for making this game fun!
Ah, your first post! I appreciate you taking your time to provide feedback :) Very glad you are having fun as well, this is one of my favorite decks now! GLHF!
Why no Totem Golem in a totem based Shaman deck? The card is too good not to be played!
It's not that special. Totem golem in this deck would not be a good idea in my opinion. It makes barnes worse and the 3/4 is not really needed in my opinion. Regular totems can be buffed and theres tons of spells for removal etc. I don't recommend it for this deck
what did you take out for earth shock? and what made you want to put it?
Also what rank are you at now?
ok i saw what you took out, but im surprised you'd take out a flametounge for earth shock
I wanted to put it in because i felt like it could take care of some buffed or deathrattle minions that are trouble, or to perhaps deny a card draw. It is a spell that can help summon another totem and it is affected by spell damage.
Flametongue seemed a bit clunky with two in this deck because generally you want to try and contest their board so that you can build yours up mid-game. Many times i might have 1 or 0 minions, making it useless. If i don't have something to protect it it just dies too, so it is a waste. One is enough so i am not drawing one all the time, and barnes can still pull it sometimes. I don't need to include it for being a totem because i can make plenty of totems.
I am playing at rank 10-9 right now.
replace for Bloodmage Thanlnos ???
To replace it for now firstly we must look at what it's purpose is. I included it for some spell power on demand and a bonus card draw. The best replacement in that regard would be an azure drake. You make also choose a kobold geomancer, or perhaps a totem golem if you just want to replace it with anything that costs 2 mana.
But you really should craft it eventually.
How you manage to win with this deck after rank 20 is beyond me.
Good thing there's replays then
https://hsreplay.net/replay/6w93fb5t7wgWDv9EB7JtN8
https://hsreplay.net/replay/Z4St5rTebQeZwXHkMZD8jH
Why no thunder bluff?
Thunder bluff is too slow It also means better barnes pull and it is easier to do lethal with burst damage using Bloodlust. You can use a bloodlust for trading as well because there are two. Or double bloodlust turn 10 is 24 damage with 4 0 attacks totems. It is way more consistent overall.
How's Totemic Might performing? Is it a dead card most of the time?
It is a fantastic card. You can use it to help preserve your mana tide or flametongue totems, or generally preserve your whole board to set up for lethal. It's a great 0 cost spell to combo with witchdoctor as well. The totem is summoned before the spell takes effect so it is some nice value. Don't keep it in your mulligan obviously =P
what are the mulligans?
Mulligan for this deck is pretty easy.
Always: Spirit Claws
Other than that you can choose whichever 1-3 cost cards are most appropriate for the matchup.
I usually prefer to look for Lightning Bolt Maelstrom Portal Bloodmage Thalnos or Mana Tide Totem to start the game. Blood mage + maelstrom is a good early game board clear.
Typically you should plan on using hero power on turn 2.