Hearthstone
Neoguli's Custom Shaman Core Set Changes
Greetings there! I'm here to present you my version of how I would change Shaman's Core Sets. I'm jumping the bandwagon a bit with the changes after seeing some other people trying their reworks and generally accepting classes may need some updates.
This time, I've put crossfire onto Shaman. While it's very hard to actually do them, please don't think I'm going to make changes for literally every class, altough if I get bored, I might do in near future. Also chose Shaman this time, because they need some refreshment in their cards.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Strengths
- Burst - Shamans strike you twice with lightning.
- Minions - Shamans ahve a lot of minions, especially their befriended Elementals, Murlocs and Totems.
- Buffs - Elementals empower you.
- Removal - Shaman can wipe your board like a hurricane.
- RNG - Nature is unpredictable.
- Limitations
- Card Generation - Shamans can call the ancestros to get some help.
- Survivability - Shamans can heal their wounds.
- Big Minions - Shaman usually summons smaller ones, but they can also summon larger guardians if they really expend their energy on doing so.
- Weaknesses
- Jack of All Trades - Master of none. Shamans excel at a lot of stuff, but never master one thing.
- Card Draw - Shamans need preparation.
New Sets
Basic Set
Classic Set
Explanations
Primal Fusion - allows for evegreen Totem synergy, showcases new players that Totems are not mere minions and amplifies Shaman's buffs as their strength.
Seashore Guide - a simple Murloc buffer, but a good one at that. Makes Shaman the premiere Murloc class. Still not sure if it should be a 2/2 or a 3/2.
Molten Blast - as much as I hate to break the rule I pointed to myself when trying to include Scholomance cards into the Hunter rework, this will probably make the cut. Some may say that it limits design space due to tying the number of elementals summoned to the damage, and I do have a bit of concers too. But in the end, it can make up for strong archetypes over an extended period of time, and at it's base is stable enough.
Hot Spring Guardian - gives Shaman a decent early game bodyguard and some healing.
Earth Elemental - now with it's art reworked and with it's functionality slightly changed. It's still a solid defensive body, but it can now deal with something by attacking. It can still be nice with Ancestral Spirit like it used to, but now that combo can be more proactive.
Elementary Reaction - card draw is still needed for the class despite being its weakness, but this card combines both card draw and generation to give Shaman an evegreen tool to draw, generate value and, most importantly, have a reason to play Elemental decks.
Whirlwind Spear - gives you a weapon to control early boards. Note that damaging one of the target's neighbours does not damage you simultaneously.
Primalfin Totem - I… just want Shaman to have more evegreen Murloc synergy. It's also a Totem at the same time, contributing to Totem synergies.
Volcano - has always been a great AoE for Shaman, so they deserve it. Also shows the RNG side of Shaman more than Lightning Storm.
Thunderhead - a better Overload synergy card overall, makes playing such cards more beneficial. Also comes with the revert of its buff to better match the power level Classic Set demands.
Tornado - a silly removal tool, truly embracing Shaman's random nature. But on average, you will deal with a lot of board states at the expense of some Overload. Still not sure if ti should be here, but that is probably the problem with massive Hall of Fame rotations, just like my Rogue core set changes where I also HoF'd around 48% of their set.
Charged Hammer - embodies Shaman's burst side. It's a timely investment, but it gives you access to a good damaging tool.
Neptulon - a massive card generation tool, but Murlocs are on average not the biggest factors in swinging you the game. And still gives you a tool to get Murlocs, which cements their place in Shaman's arsenal.
Hall of Fame
Some cards that were considered, but didn't make the cut
Evolve - as much as this form of mechanic has become a staple for Shaman, I do not believe it's healthy to include in the core sets in any capacity. It's way too toxic.
Everyfin is Awesome - sounds fun to bolster Murloc decks even further, but it's too snowbally and limits design space.
Moorabi - ah yes, the ever so legendary Freeze Shaman. I actually thought of trying to incorporate some of it's elements, including Moorabi, into the classic set to make it work, but in the end, Shamans aren't exactly known to master ice and more known as masters of the four basic elementals - air, earth, water and fire. Also too meme.
Plague of Murlocs - debating whether this or Tornado is better to have. I wasn't particularly keen on this form of both RNG and nullifying enem boards. But tbh both cards are weird in every way.
[Hearthstone Card (Sprit Claws) Not Found] - didn't think I need to give Shaman an evegreen way to have a Spell Damage archetype. Also hard to balance due to Shaman's Hero Power.
Snowfury Giant - a solid body that rewards you for deckbuilding for heavy Overload cards, but I'm against most cost reductions in core sets. However, it could make Tornado look better, as its every instance of Overloading would contribute to this boy. xd
Surging Tempest - probably the safest 1-drop I could imagine giving to the class, but Shaman has been historically too good when they got too many good early game tools and minions.
Rain of Toads - solid, but lacked room.
Among many, many, MANY other cards…
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Greetings there! I'm here to present you my version of how I would change Shaman's Core Sets. I'm jumping the bandwagon a bit with the changes after seeing some other people trying their reworks and generally accepting classes may need some updates.
This time, I've put crossfire onto Shaman. While it's very hard to actually do them, please don't think I'm going to make changes for literally every class, altough if I get bored, I might do in near future. Also chose Shaman this time, because they need some refreshment in their cards.
Strengths and Weaknesses
New Sets
Basic Set
Classic Set
Explanations
Primal Fusion - allows for evegreen Totem synergy, showcases new players that Totems are not mere minions and amplifies Shaman's buffs as their strength.
Seashore Guide - a simple Murloc buffer, but a good one at that. Makes Shaman the premiere Murloc class. Still not sure if it should be a 2/2 or a 3/2.
Molten Blast - as much as I hate to break the rule I pointed to myself when trying to include Scholomance cards into the Hunter rework, this will probably make the cut. Some may say that it limits design space due to tying the number of elementals summoned to the damage, and I do have a bit of concers too. But in the end, it can make up for strong archetypes over an extended period of time, and at it's base is stable enough.
Hot Spring Guardian - gives Shaman a decent early game bodyguard and some healing.
Earth Elemental - now with it's art reworked and with it's functionality slightly changed. It's still a solid defensive body, but it can now deal with something by attacking. It can still be nice with Ancestral Spirit like it used to, but now that combo can be more proactive.
Elementary Reaction - card draw is still needed for the class despite being its weakness, but this card combines both card draw and generation to give Shaman an evegreen tool to draw, generate value and, most importantly, have a reason to play Elemental decks.
Whirlwind Spear - gives you a weapon to control early boards. Note that damaging one of the target's neighbours does not damage you simultaneously.
Primalfin Totem - I… just want Shaman to have more evegreen Murloc synergy. It's also a Totem at the same time, contributing to Totem synergies.
Volcano - has always been a great AoE for Shaman, so they deserve it. Also shows the RNG side of Shaman more than Lightning Storm.
Thunderhead - a better Overload synergy card overall, makes playing such cards more beneficial. Also comes with the revert of its buff to better match the power level Classic Set demands.
Tornado - a silly removal tool, truly embracing Shaman's random nature. But on average, you will deal with a lot of board states at the expense of some Overload. Still not sure if ti should be here, but that is probably the problem with massive Hall of Fame rotations, just like my Rogue core set changes where I also HoF'd around 48% of their set.
Charged Hammer - embodies Shaman's burst side. It's a timely investment, but it gives you access to a good damaging tool.
Neptulon - a massive card generation tool, but Murlocs are on average not the biggest factors in swinging you the game. And still gives you a tool to get Murlocs, which cements their place in Shaman's arsenal.
Hall of Fame
Some cards that were considered, but didn't make the cut
Evolve - as much as this form of mechanic has become a staple for Shaman, I do not believe it's healthy to include in the core sets in any capacity. It's way too toxic.
Everyfin is Awesome - sounds fun to bolster Murloc decks even further, but it's too snowbally and limits design space.
Moorabi - ah yes, the ever so legendary Freeze Shaman. I actually thought of trying to incorporate some of it's elements, including Moorabi, into the classic set to make it work, but in the end, Shamans aren't exactly known to master ice and more known as masters of the four basic elementals - air, earth, water and fire. Also too meme.
Plague of Murlocs - debating whether this or Tornado is better to have. I wasn't particularly keen on this form of both RNG and nullifying enem boards. But tbh both cards are weird in every way.
[Hearthstone Card (Sprit Claws) Not Found] - didn't think I need to give Shaman an evegreen way to have a Spell Damage archetype. Also hard to balance due to Shaman's Hero Power.
Snowfury Giant - a solid body that rewards you for deckbuilding for heavy Overload cards, but I'm against most cost reductions in core sets. However, it could make Tornado look better, as its every instance of Overloading would contribute to this boy. xd
Surging Tempest - probably the safest 1-drop I could imagine giving to the class, but Shaman has been historically too good when they got too many good early game tools and minions.
Rain of Toads - solid, but lacked room.
Among many, many, MANY other cards…
"Truth is in the shadows, waiting to be revealed by the light. But light only disperses the shadow." - Me
"If other people shared traits of those considered naive, the world would've become a better place." - Also me
I'm ready for bitchslapping just like when I made Rogue. The scale of the changes for both classes is similar, with tons of cards HoF'd and new ones added, including a fair bit of mine.
EDIT: I also need to only do Priest and Neutral sets, and my job is done.
"Truth is in the shadows, waiting to be revealed by the light. But light only disperses the shadow." - Me
"If other people shared traits of those considered naive, the world would've become a better place." - Also me
A few observations:
- You basically removed all shaman's draw except for elementary reaction, and yet there's no 1 mana elemental anywhere in classic. So hamstrung from the start. I think manatide totem is a better choice. Plays well with the totem synergy too.
- Bringing back volcano and ditching lightning storm is perhaps one of the better decisions.
- How does tornado even work? 20 coin toss on whether it blows the opponent away or skips your next turn? Its an amusing card I grant you, but its not playable in any way shape and form. Perhaps you can change this to enemies instead of just minions and hits only 10 times, so its strong on its own, and there's less chance of this basically screwing you over.
- A little surprised you didnt bring back crackle, so aggro shaman can live again.
I would be very sad to see Doomhammer go , as it is such an iconic weapon, both in game and in WC universum.
edit: typo
I mean... I'm not sure about Tornado myself. And Crackle is... toxic just like Tornado. I don't like RNG when it comes to getting lethal. And also there's now ay I'm readding Mana Tide Totem - it's time to free Shamans from it, just like I rescued Warriors from Brawl. I can eventually consider returning Far Sight, but I'll probably just create a new card draw card.
I got rid of it, because I also removed Rockbiter Weapon, and so this started to make little sense. But I may reconsider it's return.
"Truth is in the shadows, waiting to be revealed by the light. But light only disperses the shadow." - Me
"If other people shared traits of those considered naive, the world would've become a better place." - Also me
Well, Tornado is funny at least. Doing it 21 times means you can actually use the statistical average as a decent measure of how it works: deal 2 damage 10.5 times to enemy minions and overload (10.5). So basically, it kills the enemy board and your next turn in most instances. Is that good? Maybe it would find some use if Volcano wasn't added too. Yes it is one-sided so in principle a more minion-centric deck can use it, but instances where both players have significant board presence are probably too rare for it to be worth it over Volcano even then, especially in the class that has the evolve mechanic to make good use of minions after they have taken damage by clearing enemy minions.
Honestly, I really like Tornado as an expansion card, but probably not in Classic. Similarly, I think Volcano is pushing it as a Classic card. I never disliked it, but boy was I glad when it rotated and you no longer had to worry about shaman opponent's having 1 card to remove both tall and wide boards (and mixtures too) in 1 card. It is far from trivial to have more than 15 health on the board, and it feels a bit like adding it is going to restrict shaman in a similar way that Brawl does to warrior currently.
I take it you were keen to remove Lightning Storm, and that is what i'm most interested to see the motivation for, since the problem most people have with it is fully in line with your RNG strength.
I replaced Lightning Storm for a card that is better on average. And Volcano happened to be one. I also like that you enjoy Tornado, tho my intention was that it does it's thing 20 times in total instead of 21.
I might create a new card draw card instead of Tornado. May debate whether to bring back Lightning Storm or not.
"Truth is in the shadows, waiting to be revealed by the light. But light only disperses the shadow." - Me
"If other people shared traits of those considered naive, the world would've become a better place." - Also me