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Old 07-19-2016, 04:38 PM   #101
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Definitely, and it was the sole reason it was good in this particular run. 0 mana cards aren't just good to because the activate combos (any cheap card can do that), but because they can do so on curve. Being able to play SI:7 Agent on 3 when going first, or Shado-Pan on 5 and so forth is a pretty big deal when it comes to playing the tempo game.
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Old 08-05-2016, 11:08 PM   #102
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Messing around with a new Shaman deck and I love it.

2 Totemic Might
2 Primal Fusion
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Rockbiter Weapon
2 Tunnel Trogg
2 Flametongue Totem
1 Totem Golem
2 Hex
2 Lightning Storm
1 Mana Tide Totem
2 Tuskarr Totemic
2 Azure Drake
1 Bloodlust
1 Doomhammer
2 Thunder Bluff Valiant
2 Thing from Below

2 Argent Squire

It ends up being like Zoolock except instead of a bunch of disposable minions you end up with a bunch of really tough buffed totems. Totemic Might puts everything but Searing Totem out of range of most low-mana clears, which means that if you want to avoid a quick death you have to either have enough minions out already to handle a flood of totems OR spend your control spells early on and watch as your hp disappears before you can get anything important out.

So far I only lost to Zoolock, and that was because of horrible luck. Really fun deck! Even beat a Miracle Rogue who got off a huge Gadgetzan.
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Old 08-05-2016, 11:45 PM   #103
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The people in ranked are really good and they all have really good cards it's really stressful to try to beat them with my basic bitch deck.
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Old 08-06-2016, 12:50 AM   #104
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The people in ranked are really good and they all have really good cards it's really stressful to try to beat them with my basic bitch deck.
Welcome to ranked: I got off the treadmill when I realized that I was going to have to basically come home from work every day and play nothing but Hearthstone in my free time in order to actually come within spitting distance of Legend.

One month long seasons are fucking dumb.
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Old 08-06-2016, 04:19 AM   #105
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I mean don't get me wrong. It's fun to climb and it's fun to compete with these other decks. But the people past rank 18 are just...they've clearly been playing a longer time than me which means a lot more experience and a lot more skill. They're pulling out cards I've never even seen used (Faced a Zoolock with Shadowflame...there goes my totems :/).

It's really similar to when I tried to get more into Dota2. The people I asked to help me basically told me all the same thing: my mechanics are solid and my game knowledge is pretty decent. But in order to get anywhere in terms of MMR I'd have to commit not just to learning what each hero does but also how and when they do it over the course of an average game. Not necessarily for EVERY hero, but for the top ~40 most picked/powerful. Basically having some idea of the powerspikes and threat zones that each hero carries with it, as well as the counters to them. This is waaaay too much for the casual player, and the only reason it's like this in Dota2 is because everyone in ranked plays basically just dota2 and no other games, which means they do have that knowledge and experience.

Even in hearthstone, a vastly simpler game, it's the same deal. Watching streams makes it a little easier, but it's just so rough to be gauging these threats without the benefit of massive amounts of experience that all these high ranked players have :/

That's probably why my Totemic Might basic bitch deck is doing so well. Nobody expects the sudden +2 HP. "Now you have to deal with me!"
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Old 08-07-2016, 02:12 AM   #106
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shuckle View Post
I mean don't get me wrong. It's fun to climb and it's fun to compete with these other decks. But the people past rank 18 are just...they've clearly been playing a longer time than me which means a lot more experience and a lot more skill. They're pulling out cards I've never even seen used (Faced a Zoolock with Shadowflame...there goes my totems :/)

Something you have to note is that since the ladder resets every month, those same Rank 18 players you're facing now are likely high ranked players from last month's ladder. Newer players are more likely to progress further up the ladder towards the end of the month since by then most experienced (or rather, most tryhard) players would have made it to rank 5-legend already.

Also, card quality is not the end all-be-all of hearthstone. If you've been following Trump's F2P run he made it to rank 1 with a budget Hunter deck which even had a friggin Bloodfen Raptor in it.

If your deck isn't working as consistently as you'd like, rather than worrying about "not having good cards", try instead to figure out which cards in your deck are doing more harm than good, and then work towards fine-tuning it further. Are some cards too situational and often clogging up your hand? Perhaps you'll want them as single copies rather than 2, or maybe even none at all. Playing the deck, what do you often find is your most recurrent problem? Lack of early drops? No solid drops on turns 3 & 4? Do you run out of steam too quickly? Do you lack threats/win conditions? You need to keep trying to address these issues in order to find the perfect balance, and even then, you'll need to keep adjusting your deck in response to whatever shifts you encounter in the meta. The zoolock with Shadowflame you encountered is an example of this, as likely the meta was to saturated with aggro, and teching in a board clear would give him an advantage in the mirror match.

With all of that said, your Shaman deck looks nice, but it could use some fine-tuning. I would suggest:

-1 Totemic Might
-1 Primal Fusion

Even during the time Totemic Might was seriously making the cut for Totem Shaman decklists, it was always as a single copy. Cards like Totemic Might, Primal Fusion and Bloodlust are all win-more cards that have the fatal flaw of requiring you to be winning (i.o.w. have the board advantage) to make the most use of, but do instead close to nothing when you're falling behind. Running dual copies is overkill and would clog your hand more often than not. With that said, I would add:

+1 Totem Golem
+2 Flamewreathed Faceless
+1 Feral Spirit
+1 Mana Tide

Totem Golem and Flamewreathed Faceless are both some of the strongest cards available to shaman, and on top of that they're both commons! It would be criminal to not run dual copies of either, though, you might consider removing 1 faceless and slotting in 1 Fire Elemental instead for the sake of flexibility.

Feral Spirit works very well with Tunnel Trogg and also furthers your swarming game-plan. I'd even ditch Totemic Might for a second copy, but that's just me. Mana Tide benefits from your totem synergy and has potential to cycle for more than just 1. 2 copies are often run nowadays iirc.

To make room for the new inclusion, consider removing either:

-2 Lightning Bolt
-1 Azure Drake

or

-1 Lightning Bolt
-2 Azure Drake

Having dual bolts in tandem with rockbiter weapons and hex is excessive for a deck whose gameplan is minion-centric, as such, the bolts are often cut first since the overcharge can sometimes prove to be more of a hindrance for mere single target removal. Also, Shaman's hero power makes it so you can make it into the late game with minimal cycling, so the Drakes aren't really being used nowadays
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Old 08-07-2016, 09:22 AM   #107
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So One Night in Karazhan arrives later this week, excited for the new adventure?
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Old 08-07-2016, 02:31 PM   #108
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I've been considering removing the Drakes, yes.

I have been performing amazingly, I totally understand what you mean about the better cards.

Actually Totemic Might and Primal Fusion have given me a few comebacks. I've done Mana Tide + Tuskarr + Hero Power + Totemic Might a couple times now. Making your totems harder to clear means setting up stronger Thunder Bluffs and Bloodlusts without forcing you to dump out your hand repeatedly.

I'll probably do

-2 Azure Drake
+1 Feral Spirit
+1 Flamewreathed Faceless

The draw was really nice for making sure the totems made it into my hand, but I haven't found it to be essential - the mana tide is better. Not as big a fan of Faceless in this deck, even though it's high-value; it forces me to slow down in setting up the combos for my deck. I'd basically only use it if I had nothing else, or if I wanted to punish an opponent for ignoring a Trogg.

I don't have enough dust for another Mana Tide, or else I'd replace a Primal Fusion with it.

The Lightning Bolts are essential for clearing. They also let me save my Rockbiters for Doomhammer. 1 overload is actually good enough for me since it's pretty easy to plan out and prepare for bad situations.

Totem Golem has only helped me win once and it was really situational. I did like using it and I like it, but I don't need more than 1 for what I'm doing; better to have more clear or more combo power and rely on Totemic Might and hero power.
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Old 08-07-2016, 02:52 PM   #109
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@SoS: Oh, I'm super hyped. All cards have been revealed already as well, and the new tools we'll be getting have some interesting implications regarding how the meta is going to shift.

Beast Druid is gonna be a real thing, and maybe even a tier 1 deck.

There's also more Dragon synergy support and we might see a bit more of Dragon Priest and Paladin now.

The new Cloaked Huntress for Hunter has an insane ability on top of premium stats, and will either make a new type of Hunter deck, or, failing that, significantly improve Yogg-n-load. Hybrid and Midrange Hunter are also gonna be a lot better with their new 2-drop.

Speaking of Yogg, we should be seeing a lot more of it now that Arcane Giant exists. That card is insane as far as giants go.

Tempo mage will likely remain much the same, but we have some interesting new tools that will make control mage a lot more viable.

Discard Warlock might start competing with Zoo, and time will tell if it grows to be as good.

Priest continues to be the worst class out there.

@Shuckle: Dual Totem Golems is essential to ensure consistency of your early game, namely, the Trogg turn 1 into Golem turn 2 powerplay, or even better, Trogg into Golem into Golem. Sometimes you even get Golem into Golem into Totemic Might, and just like that you win the early game (until your opponent plays a 4 mana 7/7 and you're forced to trade everything into it). Also, unlike early game tools like Lighting Bolt, Totem Golem you can play proactively which is generally better, and given its statline, it will often go 2for1 whereas LB will always go 1for1. It's one of the reasons Aggro and Midrange Shaman are still so strong right now. Also, the situation you described isn't necessarily a comeback, but more of a powerplay, since it doesn't immediately deal with your opponent's board. To put it in perspective, it's like playing N'Zoth. Sure, N'Zoth fills your board with pure value... but that means little when your opponent has set up lethal on you the next turn. For the kinda deck that you have, you want cards that help push for tempo, and both TM & PF do just that, but not if they're clogging your hand while you have an empty board. It just makes your deck inconsistent. Let me ask this: What's your winrate with your deck in its current state? How often do you get dead draws and opening hands? Decks that make it far in ladder can consistently get good openings and draws because they're designed that way. You trim off the situational cards in order to ensure that your deck plays exactly the same game after game. It's best to win more often and lose only against particular match-ups, than lose often and win only the few encounters those cards really help against.
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Old 08-08-2016, 07:54 AM   #110
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So actually the edits made my deck a little weaker - not enough draw power! I ran out of cards pretty quickly and the double golems didn't give me any advantage even though one of the Tuskarrs gave me a golem!

Gonna put one of the drakes back in for the golem.
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Old 08-08-2016, 02:42 PM   #111
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That's after testing how many games? I mean, it's good that you're finding out what makes your deck stronger/weaker as it's part of the fine-tuning process, but one also needs to consider variance is a part of any CCG, and thus several tests need to be run in order to determine how consistent (or inconsistent) it is.
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Old 08-12-2016, 03:41 PM   #112
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Let's build a wall. The silverware will pay for it.

So Karazhan just got out, and that means I get to find more creative ways to conquer its Heroic mode in the most masochistic of ways (by means of playing with a super budget deck).

First off we face against Silverware Golem

Spoiler: show

Warrior naturally has planty of good ways to deal with swarms of 1/1's thanks to cards like Whirlwind and Ravaging Ghoul, and since Silverware Golem lacks means of non-minion based burst damage, playing Bolster Warrior seems like just the perfect match-up. Obviously, without the quality cards offered in the Rare, Epic and Legend categories, this deck will lose a lot against the Heroic shenanigans, but it still gets the job done, and for players with low resources, it'll be an easily affordable option at that.

With Silver Golem down, we move on to Magic Mirror, and after much testing I can conclude this dude is close to impossible with common only cards. Thus, we resort to the second best option: Peace Priest

Spoiler: show

In order to make the deck work, some rare cards are absolutely necessary. That said, what you would spend in additional gold you make up for really good consistency, boasting a nearly guaranteed win-rate. It's one real flaw, you need a bit of patience for the long game, as you will almost always win by fatigue. After you lock down his board, all he'll be able to do is just stand there, throwing crude insults and lame jokes.
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Old 08-12-2016, 11:44 PM   #113
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Having recently retaken interest in Hearthstone, I went the through the trouble of getting dust for a Murloc deck!

Current list is:
Spoiler: show

Blessing of Wisdom x2
Grimscale Oracle x2
Murloc Tidecaller x2
Vilefin Inquisitor x2
Bilefin Tidehunter x2
Bluegill Warrior x2
Equality x2
Murloc Tidehunter x2
Coldlight Seer x2
Divine Favor x2
Murloc Warleader x2
Seal of Champions x2
Steward of Darkshire x1
Sword of Justice x1
Murloc Knight x2
Truesilver Champion x2



Thinking of swapping out the Blessing of Wisdoms for that Murloc that draws you and your opponent two cards. Suggestions welcomed (Yes I know Murloc isn't a viable deck).
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Old 08-13-2016, 01:22 AM   #114
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I have a soft spot for Murlocs. My first time reaching Legend, I played Murloc Zoo when nobody else was, and it felt great. I also played a great deal of of Aggro Paladin early on before I managed to get the resources to play control. I can safely say that aggrodin and murlocs are both playstyles that go very well together. That being said, the reason it isn't viable in competitive play is simple: the meta is saturated with warriors, and the match up against that class is very unfavorable. As a control deck however, Murloc Paladin is super viable thanks to Anyfin Can Happen, despite only needing two Murloc cards to work: Bluegill Warrior and Murloc Warleader. The burst potential is great, and Paladin has the tools to play the long game until you pull it off.

Anyways, if I were to run Aggro Murloc Paladin (assuming no access to League of Explorers) it would be like so:

Spoiler: show
x2 Abusive Sergeant
x2 Murloc Tidecaller
x2 Redemption
x2 Selfless Hero
x2 Vilefin Inquisitor
x2 Bilefin Tidehunter
x2 Bluegill Warrior
x1 Dire Wolf Alpha
x2 Loot Hoarder
x1 Coldlight Seer
x2 Divine Favor
x2 Murloc Warleader
x1 Rallying Blade
x2 Steward of Darkshire
x1 Cult Master
x2 Murloc Knight
x2 Truesilver Champion

Mana Curve:
0:#
1:###########
2:########
3:#########
4:######
5:#
6:#
7:#

Some important notes:
-Selfless Hero is the best 1 drop paladin has access to and should never be ignored in Paladin decks.
-Cards like Abusive Sergeant and Dire Wolf Alpha are necessary to help give your creatures a bit more reach, allowing efficient trades and more burst potential.
-Redemption has great value in this archetype, allowing for powerful openers like redemption into selfless, or redemption into loot hoarder. It also allows an extra degree of stickiness.
-Steward of Darkshire is key to allows your Murlocs much need stickiness, it should almost always be run as two ofs.

Regarding your own deck, the only truly bad card would probably be Blessing of Wisdom, which all it usually does is cycle for 1, and that is if you have board presence. Loot Hoarder at least has a body to go along that cycle and and has more synergy with your deck. I would also argue against Grimscale Oracle in that it's just a 1 mana 1/1 and the buff doesn't quite cut the card slot, but hey, Murloc synergy. I would seriously advise, however, against Coldlight Oracle. Unless you purposely want your opponent to draw cards, the symmetric effect generally works against you. You're better off relying on other ways to draw cards rather than slapping that in just for the Murloc tag, I'd say. Lastly, I have my reservations towards Sword of Justice given how 3 mana for a 1 attack weapon is too slow and a general loss of tempo. Dire Wolf Alpha kinda does the same, but faster and cheaper.
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Old 08-13-2016, 06:03 PM   #115
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Thanks Balmund!


The Abusives have been great for the deck, and overall it seems to do a better job of getting ahead. I have noticed your build is a bit more feast or famine than my previously posted, but given how Murloc matches tend to go, that's fine and it does seem overall better.
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Old 08-19-2016, 04:06 PM   #116
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The Opera was just a show.

Turns out the second wing of this adventure was disappointingly easy, even on Heroic mode. Back in the day, you kinda *had* to build a deck specificly to beat these bosses... nowadays streamers are managing by with regular constructed decks. Anyways, for those running on a budget, here's some ideas that worked out for me:

Spoiler: show

Romulo & Julianne can easily be dealt with the ever trustworthy Inner Fire Priest. Rather than worrying about killing Romulo off turn after turn, it's far easier to just neutralize him and stall until your combo wombo is ready. Julianne doesn't really play threatening minions, choosing instead to flood the board with taunters, which allows you to take the freedom to play it slow and easy.

Spoiler: show

Big Bad Wolf's ability can be more of a blessing than a curse, and several game winning strategies can be built around this fact. Whatever you do however, keep in mind that he's coming in very aggressively, so tech in ways to stave off the aggro and stabilize after you fall too low. A F2P strategy for this encounter is reminiscent of the Hunter glory days, relying on Starving Buzzard to gain tremendous card advantage in tandem with Unleash the Hounds, culminating on the development of huge Scavenging Hyenas.

Spoiler: show

Heroic Crone at first glance seems to be exactly like her normal counterpart, until you realize that she will always pull off a Twisting Nether on turn 8. Literally, what a troll. Given that you have an 8 turn timer to burst down 65 life, playing a heavily aggresive deck works great here. As a F2P option, I decided to go with Bloodlust Shaman.
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Old 08-19-2016, 07:18 PM   #117
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So, Barnes is actually kinda nice in the right decks.
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Old 12-01-2016, 07:31 AM   #118
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Mean Streets of Gadgetzan.

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Old 12-19-2016, 04:40 PM   #119
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goddamn it why am I so bad at deckbuilding
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