'Hearthstone' deck guide: Use Aggro Shaman to burn through your foes

Welcome to the Hearthstone Meta Update, where you’ll find a review of one of the most powerful or exciting decks currently in competitive play. This week, we’re looking at Aggro Shaman.. Learn how to build and play this deck, and be a little more prepared to climb the ladder.

For as much love as the World of Warcraft community has for Thrall, the Shaman class has not always been the darling in Hearthstone. Sure, there have been some notable builds and skilled players who found ways to dominate tournaments with Shaman, but they were long seen as the surprise exception rather than the rule.

The one-two punch of The League of Explorers and The Whispers of the Old Gods expansions changed all of that. Shamans got some of the coolest new cards, and innovative deckbuilders have come up with a few different ways to put them into action. One of the most successful and popular builds on ladder these days is the Aggro Shaman.

Why it’s good

Aggressive decks are fast, and are often the style of choice for those looking to rank up quickly at the beginning of each month. At least your matches will be short and sweet. So if you’re looking to race to Legend at break-neck speed, the Shaman approach might be worth having in your arsenal.

The neat thing about the Shaman build is that it offers a little more flexibility than many other aggro variations like Zoolock. You won’t be totally out of luck the second you queue into a heavy control deck, and some of the resources in your hand can be re-angled if you end up in a longer game.

Build the deck

Whispers of the Old Gods had loads of great additions for Shaman, and many of them find their way into this fast-paced deck. Flamewreathed Faceless and Thing From Below are two such cards, both must-haves. They bring a lot of power into your board for cheap, and aggressive decks love cheap.

There are some classic vanilla cards in the deck too. The dual taunts in Feral Spirit can protect your board. Flametongue Totem and Abusive Sergeant can push lots of damage or improve a trade’s efficiency. Other regular additions are Argent Squire, Flame Juggler and Argent Horserider, all of which are great cards for any attack-focused decks.

It’s good to include some of Shaman’s direct damage spells for flexibility. Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst are the most common, but even Lava Shock, Stormcrack or Earth Shock could merit a spot in your build depending on what you find you’re facing most on ladder.

The other required inclusions here are Doomhammer and Rockbiter Weapon. Separately, they offer removal of just about any early-game threat. Together, they’re a massive 10 damage to the enemy face in one turn; a potent closer if ever there was one.

Tips for playing it

Since aggro decks hope to only play for about six or eight rounds, the mulligan choices are critical. You’ll want to dig for your strong openers, ideally a Tunnel Trogg into a Totem Golem, but starting off with Argent Squire or Sir Finley Mrrgglton on the first turn is also fine. From there, load the board with as many difficult-to-clear minions as you can.

As your turns unfold, be sure to manage your overload cards carefully. Most of your big power swings, such as Totem Golem and Doomhammer, will reduce your available mana on the following turn. Miscalculating your resources when you think you’ve got lethal will make you sad.

Even with all the great Shaman card resources, the you still may feel underpowered for a rush-down play style. Enter Sir Finley Mrrgglton. Ideally, you’ll want to swap in the Hunter hero powers for more direct damage to the enemy face. Mage and Druid can offer more flexibility in your attacks, while the extra card draw of Warlocks can help get important cards in your hand faster. Warrior’s the only one that really won’t be any use, so try to choose based on the deck you’re up against in that particular match.

Lastly, remember to be patient in doling out your direct damage spells. You’ll want to maintain a strong board of those smaller minions so that you can keep chipping away at your opponent’s health, so spells are your best bet for removal of enemy minions. Make any trades with value and efficiency in mind.

How to counter it

Taunt-heavy decks can make life inconvenient, but given the amount of direct damage spells as finishers, they’re not as good a bet. However, any deck running several early-game board clears can stand a good chance against Aggro Shaman by forcing them to rebuild their board multiple times. Ironically, that means a more controlling Shaman with Lightning Storm can do a great job of ruining the aggro player’s day.