Evolve Shaman / Spirit of the Frog

I see many pro players post the Evolve Shaman decks they have used to hit legend, or take to tournaments, with Spirit of the Frog.  Indeed, one player I respect online posted recently he wonders why anyone doesn't include this card in a Shaman deck.

But is it that great? When I play Evolve Shaman I get bad results if I include Spirit of the Frog.  I've had much better luck running a deck with Mana Tide Totem, Nightmare Amalgam and Thing from Below.  I just hit rank 1 with this deck and hoping to make it to legend this month.

Has anyone else had this problem? I wonder when I can't succeed with the "best decklist" for a class if I simply have some kind of Hearthstone cognitive block. Or is it really just a matter of personal preference?

Anyway, would love to hear everyone's thoughts. And yes, I've watched streamers use the "best decklist"... I still can't win many games with it. 

Mana Tide Totem only gives you a single draw. Nightmare Amalgam literally does nothing. Thing from Below is only good in wild with discounted hero powers and/or Totem Golem.

Spirit of the Frog is a card that you use to cycle through all your burn spells. It can draw you multiple cards on the initial turn, and even more if it survives (which it usually does thanks to the stealth for 1 turn part). It makes the deck far, far more consistent.

As to why you feel like you have more success without it... That could either be variance, or you dropping it too early. You can play it without having any spells in hand to bait out removal if you're playing against a slow deck. Otherwise it's usually best to keep it so that you can chain multiple spells with it.

First, props for doing well with an innovative build.

Second, Spirit of the Frog tutors specific cards in a chain. It's probably "less consistent" than something like Mana Tide Totem. But the average result is likely better. Not to mention that Frog gives you an uninteractable 3 drop that curves into your hare+evolve turns.

Quote From iWatchUSleep

Mana Tide Totem only gives you a single draw. Nightmare Amalgam literally does nothing. Thing from Below is only good in wild with discounted hero powers and/or Totem Golem.

Spirit of the Frog is a card that you use to cycle through all your burn spells. It can draw you multiple cards on the initial turn, and even more if it survives (which it usually does thanks to the stealth for 1 turn part). It makes the deck far, far more consistent.

As to why you feel like you have more success without it... That could either be variance, or you dropping it too early. You can play it without having any spells in hand to bait out removal if you're playing against a slow deck. Otherwise it's usually best to keep it so that you can chain multiple spells with it.

Thank you. I think this comes down to me needing to "play smarter"... I will try! :)

Now I haven't played much evolve shaman, but I have played a ton of miracle burn shaman, where Spirit of the Frog is the engine that drives the deck. With enough cheap spells the card is a 3 mana Gadgetzan Auctioneer with built-in stealth. That's crazy good. In any deck that runs cheap spells Frog beats Mana Tide, and for quest shaman you don't want either, you want battlecry effects.