Murloc Shaman Deck List Guide – Rise of Shadows – May 2019

Key Cards:

• Sludge Slurper: A new card, from the Rise of Shadows expansion, this is a really good 1-drop that helps you get some fuel if your hand lacks any good cards. The ability to have a 3-in-1 card, which this is in essence, is of great value to an aggro deck, that tends to run out of fuel quickly.
• Toxfin: The only “removal” of the deck, this is a new 1-cost Murloc that gives Poisonous to a frienly Murloc, helping you make a really favorable trade or get rid of an annoying taunt.
• Soul of the Murloc: One of the two spells of the deck, this is a weaker Soul of the Forest, but at two mana, it is more powerful, because of the ability to cast it earlier and its synergy with Murloc-related cards.
• Underbelly Angler: One of the stars of the deck, this is the number one card you want in your starting hand. The combination of giving you a random Murloc in your hand, after every Murlock you play, along with its defensive 2/3 statline, makes it one of the main reasons the deck can be so consistent in the early game and usually last much longer than other aggressive decks.
• Coldlight Seer: An old familiar, this is the card you’re looking to play on turn 3, most of the time. The extra 2 health on each of your Murlocs makes them moderately resistant to AoE or trading, helping your minions stick to the board. You can also keep Coldlight Seer in your hand and use it to follow up on a Soul of the Forest board, since the 1/1s it leaves are pretty vulnerable on their own.
• Murloc Tastyfin: Although paying 4 mana for a 3/2 is really bad for an aggressive deck, it helps refill your hand with threats as the only card draw in the list. In most situations, by turns 4-5 the game should be decided for the most part, but if it;s not, Murloc Tastyfin helps you close the game.
• Scargil: A new Legendary Murloc! Even though almost nothing can compare to the closing power of Old Murk-Eye, Scargil guarantees a full board for next turn, if he goes unanswered. Combining him with Underbelly Angler just spirals things out of control, with near-infinite murloc value!
• Bloodlust: This is your closer. Any small amount of minions can be amplified by a lot, so any board you manage to stick becomes immediately 3x more dangerous.
• Hagatha the Witch – Late game card refill + a way to come back on the board against decks like Zoo or in Murloc Shaman mirrors.

Mulligan

There are no notable differences in the mulligan for fast and slow decks, since your main concern is to get on the board on turn 1 and stay there. You should generally be looking for cheap stuff, but if you already feel you have 1-2 good minions to open with, look for a Soul of the Murloc, just to safeguard the board from AoE. Other than that, if you are on the coin, getting an Underbelly Angler is essential, so mulligan hard for it.

Without Coin

• Murloc Tidecaller, Underbelly Angler, Sludge Slurper, Murloc Tidehunter, Coldlight Seer

With Coin

• Underbelly Angler, Murloc Tidecaller, Sludge Slurper, Murloc Tidehunter, Soul of the Murloc, Coldlight Seer, Scargil

Main Goal and Strategy

This is a really aggressive list, that focuses solely on flooding the board early and using Soul of the Murloc to stick the board and Bloodlust to close the game. Other than those two, the deck lacks any other spells, although a case could be made to include a couple of Lightning Bolts and even a Zap!. Due to the high number of minions that the deck runs, the early game is pretty consistent and you’re gonna be looking for the same cards, no matter the matchup. One key card you want to get some use out of is Underbelly Angler, which you can usually coin out on the first turn, if you’re going second. It will be almost impossible to remove on turn two most of the time (unless you run into a Priest that happens to run Shadow Word: Pain), which will allow you to develop 1-2 minions to get Murlocs in your hand and protect it the next turn. A lot of early-game removal left Standard with the rotation, so don’t be afraid to go wide, especially if you can cast a Soul of the Murloc before turn 5, which is where most of the AoE starts to appear. Another card to keep in mind is Scargil, which you want to drop on an empty board early on, if you can afford it. If you can’t, you could look to save him and an Underbelly Angler for a hand-refilling turn later on, in case your board gets wiped over and over again. In the late game, once you run out of cards (and probably board), you can drop Hagatha the Witch. Not only she might help you come back against opponent’s board, but also give you a lot of value over time. Every time you drop a minion, you get a random Shaman spell, which can be a removal, burn or more board presence.