Our Murloc Shaman deck list guide goes through the ins-and-outs of this popular Shaman build for the Rise of Shadows expansion! This guide will teach you how to mulligan, pilot, and substitute cards for this archetype!
Introduction to Murloc Shaman
The expansion is finally out and the decks are being tested as we speak! One of the best performing decks at the moment is Murloc Shaman, an aggressive list (what else!), that relies on flooding the board early and using Bloodlust as a finisher. Although Unite the Murlocs rotated, without making much of an impact during its existance in the Standard rotation, the archtype got some really cool cards that help with flooding the board and keeping card advantage, such as Soul of the Murloc and Underbelly Angler.
Although the deck lacks removal entirely (apart from Toxfin), it focuses on minions heavily, with the goal of making the mulligan as consistent as possible, since you want to flood the board during the first couple of turns to have any chance of rushing your opponent down. As with most aggressive decks, it is really important to recognize when it’s a good idea to trade, in order to protect some of your more valuable minions, and when you should be dealing damage to your opponent, so you can finish him off.
Rise of Shadows Murloc Shaman Deck List
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. 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. You must be logged in to post a comment.
Key Cards:
Mulligan
Without Coin
With Coin
Main Goal and Strategy
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Scargil is amazing with ghost light angler. Drop it T4, if it still lives the next turn you’ll play 5 anglers. I also like Hagatha for the same reasons, makes you comeback in the lategame viable with ghost light angler. Combined with Underbelly of SCargil, it’s pretty gross.
Im not really convinced on Scargill… it was always a “win more” card for me. Im running the list without amalgams right now and so there are too little +2 murlocs to make it worth
Scargill feels kinda meh. Most of the time he is just a 4/4 for 4 with tribal synergies.
I am running the above list with:
-2 Murloc Raider
+1 Toxifin
+Leeroy
You are already kinda all in and Leeroy can steal a few games.
I use this variarion.
Actually ranking 1 70% Win rate.
Did they change the above list? I don’t see murloc raider listed. I’m interested in seeing your full list.
He kind of acts as a fail-safe against slow decks, comboed with Underbelly Angler. If you are already winning a lot of those games you can replace Scargil with Leeroy.
Scargil is essential when your board gets cleared, which happens a lot. Soul of the Murloc does that but he is a good reload tool. He is also a 4/4 body so he tends to stick better than the other Murlocs. I do agree with two Toxfins and Leeroy though – the removal and extra reach helps.