Beginner Shaman Deck List Guide & Tips 2017

Welcome to our Beginner Shaman Deck List Guide! If you are just starting out in Hearthstone this guide will help you learn how-to build and play this completely free Shaman deck list. The guide includes card explanations, mulligans, play strategy, and future card replacements/substitutions.

Find More Beginner Decks: Beginner’s Hearthstone Decks for Every Class

Beginner Shaman Deck Overview

Shaman is largely defined by its hero power that can generate one of four distinct totems: Searing Totem, Healing Totem, Wrath of Air Totem, and Stoneclaw Totem. Shaman decks generally look to command a wide board which takes advantage of powerful cards like Flametongue Totem and Bloodlust. This beginner deck will focus on that type of playstyle.

Don’t understand some of the terms in this guide? Check out our Hearthstone Terms & Glossary!

Card Choices

These card choices are broken down into two sections: Class and Neutrals.

Shaman Cards

Flametongue Totem – Pretty powerful 2-drop and one of the reasons to be play Shaman at all. Gives your minions and your totems the ability to trade up, but unfortunately it is very weak on an empty board.

Rockbiter Weapon – Once a more powerful card, but has been increased in mana cost. Now the card functions as okay removal, but should be removed from the deck for Lightning Bolt when possible.

Hex – Hex was once one of the best single-target removals in the game. The card was increased in mana cost, and now is still function-able but not as powerful as it once was.

Bloodlust – A very powerful minion board buff that is used for finishing games, and sometimes in a pinch works as a way to help clear off your opponent’s board.

Fire Elemental – Great tempo card that in the best case scenario takes out an opposing minion and gives you a strong minion on the board. It can also be used to get lethal damage around taunts or help soften up a minion to make a trade.

Neutral Cards

Acidic Swamp Ooze – Decent stats and an ability that is very relevant against certain classes. It’s generally best not to be too greedy with the effect unless you know for sure they are going to play a weapon. It’s almost always better to play something rather than wait and hope to destroy a weapon. Be more conservative with this card against Warrior.

Bloodfen Raptor – Mostly just a body for stats and a cheap cost.

Murloc Tidehunter – With cards like Flametongue and Bloodlust we’re looking to spread the board and Tidehunter gives us a couple of minions on the board.

Razorfen Hunter – A pretty bad overall card, but spreading the stats out across minions can be valuable (especially for this deck).

Shattered Sun Cleric – Solid minion that has a strong buff attached to it. While it’s nice to get the buff, it’s usually best to just play the minion on the board rather than hope for a best case scenario.

Gnomish Inventor – We need a bit of card draw, and getting it on a body especially in a deck that can buff minions is solid.

Frostwolf Warlord – We’re looking to spread the board, so Frostwolf Warlord works out great for that style of deck.

Chillwind Yeti – One of the best basic minions. 5-health is very important and can trade and survive against most minions of the same cost or below. The card saw some really early play in meta decks in the beginning of ranked play, but is just purely outclassed by better minions now.

Boulderfist Ogre – This is essentially the 6-drop version of Chillwind Yeti. 7-health is very hard to remove with a single card unless it’s premium removal like Hex or Polymorph is used.

Beginner Shaman Deck Mulligan Advice and Strategy

Don’t keep Rockbiter Weapon, I know it’s a 2-drop but we want minions. Flametongue Totem is a great card, but if it’s the only 2-drop in our hand we won’t be wanting to play it into our opponent and let them remove it for free. You are generally always looking to get value out of it, especially with your hero power totems.

Keep your 2-drops, and if you get one in the opening mulligan you can look to keep a 3-drop. If you are going second then you can consider keeping a 4-drop if you already have a 2-drop.

• Always Keep: Acidic Swamp Ooze, Murloc Tidehunter, and Bloodfen Raptor
• Keep w/2-drop: Flametongue Totem, Shattered Sun Cleric, and Razorfen Hunter
• Keep w/2-3 drop Curve or 2-Drop & The Coin: Chillwind Yeti

Play Strategy

If you are going to use your hero power and you have a totem on the board already you should consider if you want that totem to be the one that is generated or not. If you have one of the four totems on the board from your hero power you cannot receive it again. So, if you want to increase your chances on getting a totem you need to keep the ones you have on board.

On the topic of totems, be sure to remember that they always are generated on the very right of your board. This is relevant when playing a position-based card like Flametongue Totem. You want to look to position it in the middle of the board so you can make trades and gain more buffs on your minions. Be sure to place your other bigger minions to the left of your totems.

Bloodlust can be a great finisher, but there will be times when it’s just best to use it to help clear off the board. You do have two of them in the deck so it’s not necessary to hold onto it when you have some beneficial trades on the board.

Card Replacements and Substitutions

I’m going to list cards that you should start to look to replace to stick with the theme of this deck which is a Midrange Shaman. You should start to look towards budget decks and build towards them once you start to acquire cards. Once you’ve built a budget deck, you can then start to build towards a meta deck.

Find Budget Decks: Hearthstone Budget Decks for Every Class

You’re looking for cards that can spread the board and a cheap minions like Argent Squire, Fire Fly, and Jade Spirit are good options. Speaking of Jade cards, Jade Claws and Jade Lightning are also worth adding to the deck.

Once you’ve gotten a few of these upgrades it’s time to start looking into those budget decks listed above! Good luck out there on the ladder.