Totemic Surge
This card is insane…. in Wild. It could become very strong in standard if totem synergies receive more support. For now, we think it’s more likely to stay out of the spotlight, though the potential is always there to break out.
Score: 2
Sandstorm Elemental
We can’t think of a Shaman deck that’s not limited by severe deck-building restrictions and doesn’t want this card. Aggro Overload Shaman wants this. Murloc Shaman wants this. Quest Shaman wants this. If you’re playing Shaman, you’d generally be interested in a 2 mana 2/2 that casts Arcane Explosion. That’s Maelstrom Portal territory.
Score: 4
EVIL Totem
This card is comparable to Cable Rat. A 0/2 body isn’t as good and it doesn’t scale as much in Quest Shaman, but it can continue to generate lackeys if left alone. It’s also a lackey generator in a deck that wants all the lackeys it can find, because of the next card we’ll discuss.
Score: 3
Weaponized Wasp
A stronger SI:7 Agent, Wasp is a no brainer and should enable one of the stronger turn 4 plays in the game. Lackeys are good. Dealing 3 damage on top of a 3/3 body is good. It’s an easy decision for Quest Shaman to make.
Score: 4
Mogu Fleshshaper
Mana discount cards such as these shouldn’t be taken lightly. If 4 minions are on the board, this card is worth the mana investment, and when we consider its potential combo with Mutate, it’s clearly interesting. May not immediately break out and could sleep for an expansion or two before finding a deck.
Score: 2
Earthquake
Not a bad card and has nice utility in dealing with small and sticky boards but is quite expensive and doesn’t kill giants. Will likely see play in Control Shaman if it’s a thing, but we have doubts it will be a thing.
Score: 2
Plague of Murloc
This card does deal with giants. The average murloc is a 2/2, so even if you use it as a single target removal, it’s a good deal that’s comparable to Hex or Polymorph. But unlike those two spells, it’s much more versatile. It’s a great counter to Mage, a great counter to mech decks and can also be used on your own low value boards to create a threat. It’s less effective against very wide boards, where it can be a risky play due to the chance of summoning a Warleader, but it’s great in most other scenarios. Excellent card against the most popular decks in the current meta.
Score: 3
Splitting Axe
Our thoughts are similar to Totemic Surge. Not a terrible card if the synergies are there, but we’re skeptic it can make an impact immediately.
Score: 2
Vessina
A perfect card for Aggro Shaman and amazing with Voltaic Burst and Thunderhead. Hard to not see it being played if this archetype continues to exist. Just a nice finisher that heavily punishes control decks that do not immediately clear a Thunderhead turn while offering comeback potential in aggressive mirrors.
Score: 3
Corrupt the Waters
If you’ve been paying attention to how we rate quests, this one ticks all our boxes. To complete the quest, we’re doing something that Shaman already is very comfortable and good at doing, which is utilizing battlecry minions. Shaman has some of the best battlecry minions in the game, and the best tool to leverage them into a late-game bomb with Shudderwock. There is no deck-building cost here. When we complete the quest, we get an absurd hero power that makes every minion in our deck scale incredibly hard. A constantly available Spirit of the Shark that cannot be interacted with at half the mana cost sounds powerful. We’re signing up.
Score: 4
Final Thoughts
Saviors of Uldum Set Rank: 2nd
Overall Power Ranking: 5th
Shaman has received yet another great set in Saviors of Uldum, one that makes us believe it can finally take the next step and sit amongst the top classes in the format. It won’t be easy, but its placing at 5th doesn’t tell the whole story of how highly we rate it. For us, the top 5 classes are very close in their power levels.
For starters, we think Corrupt the Waters is great. It allows Shaman to run a low curve of minions and still scale hard into the late game, producing an amount of value that’s competitive with Warrior, and could even eclipse it. Shaman is also receiving several impactful cards for both its Quest deck as well as key performing aggressive decks during Rise of Shadows, and one of the best answers to Cyclone Mage’s most powerful play. The only real question mark about Shaman’s competitive state sits at the door of Control Shaman. Shaman will be around, and it will challenge the top of the meta.
One more thing about the Warrior quest: Yes it does conflict with Madlad Boom but I think H4xx0r Warrior will be its own deck and even be very good (like tier 2). Warrior is already on the verge if being broken, and imo the Bomb-Control-Quest dark triad of warrior decks will dominate the meta. Madlad Boom will finally be nerfed.
My 2 cents:
– You’re overrating the Druid quest. You’re underestimating the huge tempo loss of having to spare mana on the first turns. Druid is a class that naturally struggles with tempo and this is making things worse. If there were more cards like Oasis Surger that are insane when the effects arr combined, it could hve been viable, but those that exist are too scarce. I can see it being viable later expansions.
– Similarily you’re overestimating the warlock set. The quest sucks, we agree on that (it’s even worse than Lakaari Sac!) but the lackey synergy doesn’t compensate for that. Youre way too optimistic about EVIL summoner, its harder to activate than you think. Will see play for sure but its not insane.
– Bug Collector is the sleeper neutral common of the set. It’s excellent tempo and fits in a wide variety of decks. I may be completely wrong but if im right i’ll take credit. Jar Dealer and Pit Crocolisk could see some fring constructed play.
Apart from that, I agree with the rest of your analysis.
Where is spitting camel?
perfect quality as usual! thank you.
THANK YOU GUYS!
I love that you all are doing this for every expansion now. love, love, love how informative it is for the reader. thank you.