Normally this blog is only about StarCraft, but I’ve been playing a lot of Hearthstone lately, so figured I’d write about the deck I’ve been using.

I woke up several hours after the Beta had begun, and started playing immediately. After playing through and unlocking all the characters, I immediately bought some packs and constructed an earlier version of this deck. I played only this since then, and changed many of the cards in it along the way. Right now I’m in a German hotel room for Gamescom, but this was the deck I used until the end of Monday night, the 19th KST. As of that moment, I won 51 ranked ladder games, and was at 2 Star Master league level. Not sure how to check how many losses I had, but it wasn’t too many.

Anyways, onwards about the deck:

Overview

As the blog is titled, this is a Shaman Control deck. The 50,000 foot view is that I kill early threats, gain card advantage, and kill my opponent in the end game.

Generally you will be using multiple Overload spells per turn, so you want to get into a position where the board is pretty empty and you are safe for 2 turns in a row to start laying out the bigger threats.

Cards I’m super happy with

The deck’s MVP is most definitely Gadgetzan Auctioneer. This guy is a total badass. The amount of cards you can draw off of him is insane. Massive card advantage gained every game from him. Generally, I try to not play him until I have enough mana to cast some spells in the same turn and get a return off of him.

Stormforged Axe is amazing in this deck. I play it turn 2 in just about every game where I possibly can. With 3 durability and 2 damage, it allows me to trade some life points and itself for 3 cards generally. It just fits so perfectly well in the deck, its hard to imagine the deck being as solid without it.

The removal spells: 3 of which have Overload, 1 of which is Hex. Hex is so badass, I generally throw it back in the deck if I draw it in my opening hand. That’s the end game removal for the real scary creatures. 2 of the Overload removal spells (Forked Lightning, Lightning Storm) target 2 or more of my opponent’s minions, giving me card advantage and making me live longer. The other (Lightning Bolt) just does some more damage directly, and normally I save it till the mid game.

Feral Spirits are super important in this deck as well. 2 Taunt minions with 3 health each in 1 card generally slows down my opponent and often times generates card advantage.

Cards I quite like but could change

Rockbiter Weapon - its kind of like additional Stormforged Axes, but at a cheaper cost and without the card advantage. Useful, keeps me alive.

Ancestral Healing - if this costed even 1 mana it would already be out. At 0 though, I love how it works with my Auctioneers. Its sometimes a lifesaver, and really punishes anyone who takes the risk of trying to kill a big guy over 2 turns. Sometimes its very unimpressive too though.

Mana Tide Totem - as I get better and better at deciding when to play this guy, he gets more and more awesome. Almost always awesome. Almost makes the list of my favorite cards in the deck, definitely the one right inbetween the 2 categories.

Sen'jin Shieldmasta - Taunt is super important, and 5 health is super important too. (I feel like 5 is right where it gets hard to deal with stuff). This guy keeps me alive, is troublesome for my opponent, and only costs 4 mana. Quite like him.

Twilight Drake - pretty synergistic with how many cards I get to draw. Rarely is smaller than a 7/7. Don’t think I’ve ever gone more than a couple turns until he gets silenced though :P

Unbound Elemental - Really synergistic with the amount of overload in the deck. I almost always get him up to 5 health right away, and then he becomes really hard to deal with. The problem is, when I want to cast him, normally I have something more important to do with my mana. Normally a later game drop despite the low cost.

Al'Akir the Wind Lord - this card everyone keeps telling me to take out. I love him though. Reminds me so much of Morphling from M:TG. Sick good late game card that always gives me card advantage, and is a pain to deal with.

Cards I’m not too sure about



Earth Elemental - he’s pretty cool and big with taunt, but in practice he doesn’t do as well as I wish he did.

Azure Drake - a cantrip is nice, and the spellpower is a huge bonus. I do like him, but I’m just not 100% sure hes the best fit in this deck.

Card I hate and am looking to replace ASAP

Sunwalker - complete garbage. been rotating through lots of guys in this spot, unhappy with all of them so far.

What I like best about the deck

Something that I just love about this deck is just how hard it is to play correctly. Every situation against every deck is vastly different, and you have to really calculate ahead of time for when to use specific removal spells, use Overload, or generate totems. The deck is insanely fun to play, and I feel like my wins are generally based on my own quality of play, which is great.

Closing

Well, that does it for this little Hearthstone blog. Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to follow me on twitter.com/artosis, and to check out my stream at:

http://www.twitch.tv/artosis