Cinderfin
This is a weak initial body that summons a 1-drop with its deathrattle. When you sum up the total cost for the stats in play, Cinderfin is unimpressive. We are paying 2 mana for a 1-drop and a 1/2, with the latter not worth 1 mana.
However, there are some factors that make Cinderfin playable. Its double tribal tag makes it a strong candidate for a Quest Shaman deck, as it particularly counts as Murloc. This is probably the best Murloc you can run in the archetype since it also activates elemental/kindred synergies. It is a sticky minion, with a secondary body that is also tribal, which makes it a potential inclusion in a Menagerie Jug deck. Finally, Sizzling Cinders carry extra value in Shaman decks that run Slagclaw.
This is a weak standalone card that could make the cut due to stronger synergies.
Score: 2
Flight of the Firehawk
This card comfortably passes the Arcane Intellect test. Flight of the Firehawk is a minion tutor that also buffs the minions it draws. 4/4 in total handbuff value is a hefty bonus that should be particularly powerful in initiative-focused decks.
The obvious place for the spell is in a Quest or Menagerie Shaman deck. It increases the consistency of finding minions with different tribal tags, which makes quest progression easier. The handbuff effect can help us set up a bigger board that is difficult to remove before a Menagerie Jug.
But Flight’s tutoring potential can also be subtly strong in Murmur Shaman. Nearly all this archetype’s key minions have tribal tags and finding them as quickly as possible is of the highest priority. Paired with Birdwatching and Fairy Tale Forest, a turn 7 Murmur becomes increasingly consistent.
Score: 3
Mechanized Magma
A minion with a narrow ability and weak baseline stats. Magma is never an acceptable play on turn 4, as a 2/5 body is horrendous for this mana slot. This means we need to spend more mana on the turn we play Magma to grow it. But even then, the stat buff is hardly game winning. Do we care about a turn 6 4/7 Mechanized Magma? Or a turn 7 5/8?
Minions that cannot be played on curve need to offer significant upside when utilized to leverage their abilities, but Magma is worth nothing besides some extra stats. It neither protects us nor does it immediately impact the board. The mech tag does suggest a Quest Shaman inclusion, but this minion is so bad that we are not interested. Cinderfin is a tolerable body for the cost. Mechanized Magma is not. We would rather play Blob of Tar on turn 4 and find another way to fill the unique minion type quota for the quest.
Score: 1
Mountain Map
It is difficult to include 7 different tribes in a Quest Shaman deck. Mountain Map makes it easier for us to complete the last ticks of the quest, by offering us minions of tribes we have not played. Since Mountain Map is meant to be played later in the game, we can play it while floating mana. This makes it likely that we can play one of the options immediately and discover a second quest progressor.
We do not see another role for Mountain Map. It may discover 2 minions for 1 mana in the late game, which is a good rate for the cost, but it is weak in the early game and its discover pool is diluted and unreliable. There is no other enticing synergy here. We think it is utilized in Quest Shaman or nothing at all. Our best is on nothing.
Score: 1
Volcanic Thrasher
A tutor for fire spells that gives them a sizeable spell damage buff with an activated Kindred. The obvious candidates here are the fire spells from this very set. Sizzling Swarm is likely only playable thanks to Thrasher, as its Sizzling Cinders count scales with the damage it deals. Lava Flow becomes a powerful nuke that deals twice its baseline damage.
But Thrasher can also be good with Malted Magma and Baking Soda Volcano. The ability to tutor these cards could be valuable in a slower Shaman deck that is only looking to stabilize the early game.
Thrasher’s double tribal tag means it is a strong candidate for Quest or Menagerie Shaman too. It pushes these archetypes to include a Fire spell package. We will be surprised if this 3-drop does not find its way into at least one competitive deck.
Score: 3
Sizzling Swarm
At its baseline, this spell looks weak. A Sizzling Cinder is worth 1 mana. Dealing 3 damage is worth 2 mana. We are spending 6 mana on a package of effects that is worth 5 mana. In constructed, an inefficient and expensive card never sees play.
Of course, Sizzling Cinders could have some value in a deck with Slagclaw, but those Cinders are extremely unlikely to stick for more than a turn and double proc their deathrattles.
Where Sizzling Swarm becomes more acceptable is in a deck with Volcanic Thrasher. It gets buffed by spell damage but it is so expensive that it is unrealistic to pair it with a spell damage minion. Instead, Thrasher gives it a free spell damage buff, one that turns it into a cracked card. Summoning 5 Sizzling Cinders and dealing 5 damage is an 8-mana package.
Without Thrasher, this card is unplayable. With it, Swarm is worth experimenting with.
Score: 2
Lava Flow
Fel Barrage costs 2 mana, so an extra shot for 2 extra mana looks rough. This spell is inefficient. We think Lava Flow would be a very strong card if it had no overload. With the overload and the total cost of 4 mana, it becomes very reliant on synergies to be useful.
The clear pairing is with Volcanic Thrasher, which turns Lava Flow into a 12-damage nuke. That could be a package worth exploring in Burn Shaman decks, such as Asteroid Shaman, especially when they are good at keeping the opponent off the board, funneling those shots face.
The strength of Volcanic Thrasher means that many Shaman decks will look to run about 4 Fire spells. Lava Flow might be underwhelming at an initial glance, but it should make the cut in proactive archetypes that do not benefit from running Baking Soda Volcano or Malted Magma.
Score: 2
Slagclaw
Slagclaw’s baseline effect is worth 5 mana. We are summoning a Spider Tank and a couple of Sizzling Cinders, which fits the cost. Of course, doing that alone seems too fair for constructed.
The deathrattle trigger is worth 1 mana if no other Sizzling Cinders are in play, so if Kindred is triggered consistently, this card helps us get ahead on paper, by either controlling the board or pushing face damage. Developing multiple bodies with different tribal tags makes this a good enabler for Menagerie Jug, while it should be the best dragon you can play in Quest Shaman and find its Kindred trivial to activate with the number of playable elementals or hybrids you can run in the archetype.
Score: 2
Bralma Searstone
Bralma looks like a damage amplifier for an Elemental Shaman deck. With weak stats for the cost, our goal is to play the legendary when we have a board of elementals ready to attack. It is particularly good with Sizzling Cinders, as Bralma doubles the damage they can deal through their deathrattles.
However, we have reservations about Bralma’s competitive potential. It is likely a better path for an aggressive Shaman deck to run a Menagerie package rather than a pure elemental deck. In this context, Menagerie Jug should be a better finisher to utilize, making Bralma redundant.
Bralma is also a questionable choice in Quest Shaman, as it does not have a tribal tag itself and is generally a useless card to draw before quest completion.
We suspect this card is only remotely useful in Pure Elemental Shaman.
Score: 1
Spirit of the Mountain
This quest forces a steep deckbuilding cost on a Quest Shaman deck. Although the class does receive some double tribal minions which make quest progress smoother and more comfortable, we are still likely to include weaker standalone cards to complete the quest in a timely fashion.
We estimate that Quest completion in Quest Shaman should not be done before turn 7. This makes the quest irrelevant in faster matchups, as the reward is expensive and does not guarantee an immediate impact on the board. It does have a long window of opportunity to become relevant in slow matchups.
The lethality of the reward itself is very low. There is no guarantee we will get game closing adapt abilities. It still relies on us to keep pumping out threats, which can be futile if we are facing a defensively robust deck that we let comfortably reach its late game. Removal should beat Ashalon (quest reward), unless we Shudderblock it. Then, things get a bit sketchy for the opponent.
This quest is a bit too demanding and open to too much counterplay for us to have a lot of faith in it.
Score: 1
Final Thoughts
The Lost City of Un’Goro Set Rank: 11th
Overall Power Ranking: 11th
Shaman’s precarious position in the format may repeat itself in Un’Goro, as the class has received unconvincing support in this set, one that is centered around a quest that may prove to be a rabbit hole when it comes to competitive prospects. Indeed, Shaman may have been hit with the tribal hell curse.
Our main issue with Spirit of the Mountain is that the reward is completely unreliable and still counts on us successfully establishing minions in play to pose a threat to the opponent. Some of the adapt options are just bad. We cannot help but think that Menagerie Jug provides a more reliable “quest reward” for Shaman players who manage to develop minions from different tribes.
Shaman did get some nice tools to promote aggressive Shaman decks with a Menagerie angle. It has received a burn package that is versatile enough to go into different decks with a proactive game plan. Asteroid Shaman is one candidate that we believe could enjoy building around Lava Flow.
Shaman’s late game prospects may once again lean on Murmur. Flight of the Firehawk looks like a fantastic tutor for the Murmur Shaman archetype, adding further consistency to our blow out turn by making it more likely that we find most, if not all our battlecry minions by turn 7.
Shaman could be successful in Un’Goro, but we have the most questions marks for this class. Will a Menagerie Shaman archetype prove to be strong enough to not just compete, but garner attention from players? Will the fringe Asteroid Shaman manage to step up when other classes have received arguably better support? Can Murmur Shaman maintain high MMR interest and competitiveness with possibly just one new card? A lot needs to go well for Shaman to do well.
Be the first to comment