Hearthpwn

Hey guys,

after I hit legend this season, people keep asking me what I am playing and surprise surprise:

it is Shaman again!

I played my deck SILENCE IS CHEAT! up to rank 5 but to be honest: I can't enjoy to play more aggro shaman, it is just to boring.

I switched to "the other (Kazakus) side" and played reno dragon priest from rank 5 to 1 but was struggling against reno locks which is normally an auto loose in this match up and I met a lot of them at this rank.

I decided to try out Jade Shaman and reached legend. I had some problems with the aggro match up's sometimes so I teched in 1 x Lightning Storm which helps a lot.

Last night I went 14-2 to climb from rank 3400 up to 853 (Hi @ NickChipper):

edit: hit top 500

 I cannot confirm how it works under rank 1 since I only played it from rank 1 to legend and than to top 500 legend. I might test it in S35 to climb but did not do so yet!

You are heavily favoured in any reno match up.

I can write another full guide if this will get like 30 upvotes.

(please don't get me wrong : I am not begging for upvotes ! I don't care about it and my point is just that I want to ensure that people really want to see a full guide before I start to spend hours of my time to write it but in the end nobody really cares!)

More than 30 upvotes and front page again so here is the guide :

I will sum up mulligan + playstyle for every match up again!

This time I will add Hex targets to this guide which might help some of you!

Note: The mulligan with this deck is nearly the same in all match up's since you are always looking for pirates (obviously not Patches), and weapon but there are still some slightly differences.

Mulligan + Playstyle:

Hunter & Paladin:

I know that there might be murloc pala around on ladder but I still did not face any Hunter or Paladin in S33, 34 or 35 until now so I can't really give an opinion about those match up's.

Priest:

This can be dragon or reno version but still I assume that you will face more dragon versions on lower ranks!

You mulligan for Small-Time Buccaneer, Southsea Deckhand, and Spirit Claws or Jade Claws (I would never keep both). You can keep Flametongue Totem if you have a pirate.

The game plan is to flood the board with your cheap early game minions and to have a weapon available. Jade Lightning helps a lot to remove taunts like Wyrmrest Agent and Twilight Guardian. Use Lightning Storm during mid game to win the board.

Game plan sticks the same if your opponent is playing the reno version which might be a bit easier cause they can struggle to remove your pirate board in early game!

Hex targets:

Twilight Drake, Twilight Guardian for tempo, Chillmaw, Ysera or any other big dragon they might play

Rogue:

You mulligan for Small-Time Buccaneer, Southsea Deckhand, Hex and Spirit Claws or Jade Claws.

I would always keep Maelstrom Portal to clear his turn one Swashburglar + Patches the Pirate!

Try to remove his Tomb Pillager with Jade Lightning!

Rogue seems to be more of "all in" plays these days, I rather saw the Auctioneer turn since they are trying to play an early huge Edvin or Questing and if you can hex it directly they will struggle to come back!

Hex targets:

Edwin VanCleef, Questing Adventurer or in some cases Gadgetzan Auctioneer

Warlock:

You should always try to do as much damage as possible to force them to play reno asap!

Flametongue Totem helps a lot in early game.

In the best case, you try to play only usual aggro shaman cards before he plays his reno and start to build up your golems with Jade Spirit so that they cannot notice that you play the jade version before. They will usually waste a lot of removals until this point what makes you favoured to win the game.

You mulligan for Small-Time Buccaneer, Southsea Deckhand, and Spirit Claws or Jade Claws and Flametongue Totem.

Hex targets:

Abyssal Enforcer, Emperor Thaurissan, Twilight Drake

Warrior:

I really did not face a lot of pirate warriors in high legend ranks and was lucky to face more control versions which is obviously a great match up with this list since they cannot handle the golems after a while.

Against the pirate version you are slightly unfavoured and really need the AOE's and taunts to be able to survive 5 or 6 turns. In early game you have to fight aggro with aggro so you mulligan for Small-Time Buccaneer, Southsea Deckhand, and Spirit Claws or Jade Claws but the MVP in early game is Maelstrom Portal to clear his early board effective so you should always keep it!

With the coin it makes sense to keep also Lightning Storm if you do not find a portal!

 Removing his Frothing Berserker with Jade Lightning always feels good.

If you can survive long enough to play Thing from Below, you should win!

Hex targets:

Frothing Berserker or sometimes one of your own minions just to have a taunt on board in order to block their weapon for a turn

Mirror:

Since you will almost only face the aggro versions until rank 5, you mulligan for Small-Time Buccaneer, Southsea Deckhand, and Spirit Claws or Jade Claws . In addition, you should look for Maelstrom Portal or even Lightning Storm to clear his early game board (pirates).

If I see Hex in my mulligan, I always keep it for their 7/7 since this card alone can win them the game unfortunately.

At high legend I faced a lot more slower jade versions similar to this deck but without the pirate package. I always felt unfavoured in this match up simply because all of them were playing Brann and could remove the pirates to play Healing Wave afterwards but that's okay since you will not face them at lower ranks I guess.

Hex targets:

Flamewreathed Faceless, Aya Blackpaw or in some cases even just a Flametongue Totem

Druid:

This is one of the easier match up's and you should always be favoured!

You simply have to build up your golems faster than they do and this works because you have the pirate package in early game.

You mulligan for Small-Time Buccaneer, Southsea Deckhand,  Spirit Claws or Jade Claws and Flametongue Totem.

Also you are looking for Jade Lightning and Jade Spirit just to have a turn 4 play which creates a golem.

So in the best case the games goes like this:

You play pirates with flametongue in early game which forces him to play removals like Wrath and Living Roots instead of any jade cards. In the best case you also have Spirit Claws on curve. In turn 4 the dream play is Jade Lightning (even if you just hit face for tempo because his board is empty) or Jade Spirit. You have won it at this point because he is far behind with golems.

Hex targets:

Aya Blackpaw, Ancient of War and in some cases Jade Behemoth for tempo

Mage:

Similar to the Warlock match up, you should try to "fake" that you are playing the aggro shaman version by trying not to play any card which does not concern to this build until they play reno (best case by turn 6-8). This is obviously not always possible and more difficult against mage because they have so many cheap removal against pirates.

Try to outvalue them with golems during midgame and you can win!

If they are able to play Brann + Kazakus for 2 x 10 mana polymorph potion, you cannot come back at any point.

You mulligan for Small-Time Buccaneer, Southsea Deckhand, and Spirit Claws or Jade Claws and Flametongue Totem.

Hex targets:

Alexstrasza, Medivh, the Guardian or sometimes just a Water Elemental

 UPDATE for S35 (17.2.17):

I started to play the deck at rank 4 yesterday and went 6-1 up to rank 3.

Changes:

- Jinyu

+ ooze

The deck still works great at higher ranks and I will play it again to hit legend this season.

Under rank 5, I would still suggest to play aggro shaman or pirate warrior just to rank up as fast as possible.

Update (22.02.17):

I met a lot of mid range decks at higher ranks so I cut 1 x portal and added second storm which is also very strong in mirror match up.