Demigod NA Rank 1 Legend Aggro Shaman

Demigod continually finds himself going back to what he loves – Shaman. Check out this guide on his Aggro Shaman list that he used to get to Rank 1 Legend.

S__4685850Basic Strategy

The win condition is to apply pressure early game with minions then using burn spells and Doomhammer to finish. The hardest part about this deck would be knowing when to trade and knowing when to play around certain spells. Sometimes you are put in a tough spot; for example, “Do I over extend with feral spirit on turn 3 knowing my opponent is playing Renolock and he may have a hell fire on turn 4?” Only experience and practice will help you make these decisions during your gameplay.

CY82dHhUkAA3ssf.png largeGeneral Mulligans

Aggressive mulligans (desperately looking for) / Always keep:

  • Tunnel Trogg, Leper Gnome, Sir Finley Mrrgglton Totem Golem, Flame Juggler

Okay to keep:

  • Abusive Sergeant – If no other early minions
  • Feral Spirits – If you already have a 1 drop, Excellent with coin

Doomhammer * CRUCIAL Against Control (Warrior & Priests), also vs Rogues *

Situational:

  • Lightning Bolt, Rockbiter – Against aggro for removal only if you already have an early drop

Never Keep:

  • Earth shock, Ancestral Knowledge, Crackle, Lava Shock, Lava Burst, Argent Horserider

Sir Finley Mrrgglton Hero Power guide

Choosing the correct hero power is extremely situational. Take your time and think about the matchup, current state of board, and your hand. Typically, we want to pick a hyper aggressive choice such as Hunter’s Steady shot but this is not always the case.

Top picks:

  • Steady Shot (Hunter): Extra burn with a shot of steady damage.
  • Life Tap (Warlock): Useful against more control matchups (Much less valuable if already holding Ancestral Knowledge). Tap dat life.
  • Shapeshift (Druid): Synergy with Doomhammer/Rockbiter. Shift the shape of the battle.
  • Fireblast (Mage): Burn & Desperate removal. Blasting fire is always fun.

Situational:

  • Armor Up / Lesser Heal (Warrior/Priest) powers can be useful to survive while under heavy pressure and can provide that extra game-winning turn.

Almost never:

  • Reinforce (Paladin) – Very low impact – doesn’t apply enough pressure.
  • Dagger Mastery (Rogue) – Anti-synergy with Doomhammer

Shaman2-350x277

Mana / Overload management

Shaman is unique in that it is the only class with the Overload mechanic. Similar to the Druid’s ramping, this allows us more options to apply pressure and create big swings. Overload is always looked at being a negative feature in shaman but with the addition of tunnel trogg it has become a very powerful aggressive mechanic.

The key to being a great shaman player is recognizing when to use overload cards and when to hold back. Typically, using coin + Totem golem is typically better than starting with a turn one leper gnome. This will allow you to establish much more pressure a turn earlier, which forces your opponent to play defensively.

Ultimately, you need to play into your hand. Plan out your mana ahead of time, and avoid awkward situations where you simply don’t have any mana to keep up the pressure. For example, if holding a Doomhammer, you want to be able to play as soon as possible to maximize your damage per turn.

Tempo vs Value/Board control

So, we know the game plan. Early game minions, go face, late game spells, go face. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to make some pretty important decisions along the way.

During the first few turns, we need to put out as much minion pressure as possible – this requires early board control. That lightning bolt sitting in your hand might be better off destroying a Knife Juggler that threatens your Tunnel Trogg, which should bleed your opponent every turn. Depending on how threatening your opponent’s board is, make the call – Keep in mind that you need to end the game as soon as possible.

Sometimes, using Crackle to clear out a Sludge Belcher or Druid of Claw is the correct play – even over a Lava Burst – in order to make the best usage of your mana. Unfortunately, the RNG does not always work in our favor, but risks must be made to win games.

Another thing to think about is that the opponent will often be trying to slow the game down by trading down into our minions – forcing them to do so allows us to save the burn spells for their face.

Doomhammerdoomhammer artwork

When doomhammer is equipped, the clock speeds up. A common misconception is that all swings of this need to go face. While it is ideal to get in as much damage as possible, there will often be situations where the value of removing a key threat takes priority over face damage. Protecting the minions you already have on board can produce more damage over the next few turns than the raw doomhammer damage. That being said, make sure to hold on to your last charges in case of a possible Rockbiter Weapon combo.

TECHING

WHY FLAME JUGGLER OVER KNIFE JUGGLER?!

The Big Question Everyone Wants to Know

With the rise of secret paladins on ladder, I decided knife juggler was just too vulnerable (Shielded Minibot, Noble Sacrifice) and was accomplishing too little to help with the matchup. I often found  myself in tough situations where dropping knife juggler on turn two was punished and got no value – he basically just died and got zero apples on anyone’s head, resulting in a tempo loss on board. The early stage of the match is so important for this deck that I chose to sacrifice a more aggressive card for a more defensive card based on what I saw on ladder.

(Internet troll): “But Demigod!  this is an aggro deck! Knife juggler is a 3/2 SMOrc while flame juggler is just a puny 2/3 river croc! You’re crazy!!!!”

Uh huh okay..  I still feel that flame juggler is far superior as a two drop rather than knife juggler in this specific meta. The immediate effect on board that flame juggler provides is way more effective in early game situations. If you do end up running into more control style of decks feel free to take flame jugglers out and test out zap-o-matic… it’s purely a tech choice after all.

Other Tech Choices

  • Versus Midrange/Aggro decks
  • +2 Flame Juggler –
  • – 2 Zap-o-Matic

Versus Control

  • -2 Flame Juggler –
  • +2 Zap-o-Matic
  • Knife Juggler
    • By the time we have enough mana to get value from juggles, our minions should already be on the board.
    • Besides, most of our decks is full of spells, not all minions!
  • Whirling Zap
    • This card FORCES an immediate response, representing 6+ damage as soon as it hits the board. Also has synergy with Rockbiter Weapon & Abusive.
  • Earth shock
    • This is our ace card. While it can be a lifesaver to push through taunts and stealing a win, running two is too clunky. The problem with this card is that it does not always get guaranteed value in this style of deck. Can be used offensively for tempo as well.
  • Flametongue
    • Has potential to represent a lot of damage; however, it is pretty much worthless individually. While useful in midrange decks for trading up with tokens, we will often find more use of a card that can threaten face damage alone. Ultimately, it’s not as versatile as Abusive Sergeant.
  • Bloodmage Thalnos
    • Although the value in this card is insane, it does not make the cut because it is simply too slow. Two mana is a lot for this deck, and this card does not provide enough immediate pressure to justify running it.

Knowing When To Tech

Think about what the meta looks like. Even though Priest is a very hard matchup, they are rare on ladder these days and thus not worth the tech choice. However, if Secret Paladin makes up 30% of your ladder, switching from Whirling Zap-o-Matic to Flame Juggler can increase your winrate against them by ~10%, at which point the tech is a valid choice. Obviously these numbers are hard to know without grinding hours of games, so make sure you have a deep understanding of the current state of ladder.

To Conclude:

You will piss people off. You will make them rage. You will make them add you and call you a noob… but you will win games.

Btw noobs I offer coaching for $420/hr xD

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