C'thun Shaman - Long Guide

Last updated 3 years, 2 months ago by
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Backstory: I made a lot of C'Thun decks including Reno shaman, Reno galakrond rogue, Galakrond rogue, warrior, paladin, druid, warlock and was testing them all to find the best C'Thun deck.  None of them are very competitive, however this C'Thun shaman deck, after a lot of changes, proved to be the most viable option.  

This deck is not recommended for climbing ladder in diamond, however it might do ok in lower ranks where there are less competitive decks.  Mostly, this deck is for fun and winning often enough against even tier 1 decks makes it a better choice and more fun to play.

 

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strength of this deck is the speed with which it combos.  You can execute the combo on turn 10 and have C'Thun drawn somewhat consistently.  It has a very good matchup against slower combo decks like lifedrinker Shudderwock shaman and exodia paladin in my experience due to this.  It even has a good matchup against Reno priest, they play few minions and you can finish them with C'Thun more often than they draw all their combo pieces.  Finally, it does well against slow control decks and basically autowins against odd warrior and dead man's hand warrior and can win against slow reno mages and warlocks as well.  However, the main weakness of this deck is aggro.

Another strength of this deck is its greater resilience to dirty rat than decks like Togwaggle druid, exodia paladin, or lifedrinker Shudderwock shaman.

This is because if you lose Shudderwock, you can use your hero power after the quest is complete to buff C'Thun to otk levels.  Furthermore, there are a lot of minions in this deck as opposed to Togwaggle or Malygos druid so it is harder for dirty rat to hit your combo pieces.

 

Combos and win conditions

Buff C'Thun with all the C'Thun buffing cards, can use quest hero power for double the buffs, and play C'Thun for damage, play Tour Guide beforehand to use the quest hero power on the same turn and double C'Thun’s damage.

Play Grumble, Worldshaker and Saronite Chain Gang then Shudderwock for infinite 1 mana shudderwocks that buff your C'Thun.  He can be buffed to incredible levels but his damage is capped at 100.  To increase the chance of Shudderwock going infinite, play Tour Guide beforehand to set up and use the quest hero power the turn you play Shudderwock.  His battlecry will be replayed by Shudderwock so future ones are also infinite.

If you played C'Thun before Shudderwock, try to get infinite Shudderwocks that will deal 6 damage split between all enemies (12 with quest hero power)

Therefore, the deck is flexible in that you can play C'Thun first and then infinite damage dealing Shudderwocks or Shudderwocks to buff C'Thun first and then C'Thun to deal up to 100 damage later.  For more tempo, it is often better to play one of your win conditions when it is ready and then play the second win to win if the first one is not enough (sometimes a buffed C'thun is enough without Shudderwock).  

For the mulligan, always keep the Quest and try to get 2 cost minions or Spirit of the Frog and low cost spells which can draw you a lot of cards.  

 

Matchups

Quest Mage: unfavored but possible to win if they draw poorly, try to draw as fast as possible to get to your combo first

Jade Druid: favored, you can draw very quickly and buff C'Thun to a high enough level where their armor is irrelevant

Cube Warlock: very unfavored, they have a lot of minion pressure and this deck can not handle it 

Reno Priest: slightly favored but it depends on the version of reno priest, slower versions like anti aggro and dragon are more favored

Reno Quest Mage: slightly favored, after the nerf they are slower than you

Even Shaman: very unfavored, they have a lot of great minions

Odd Demon Hunter: unfavored, you need to destroy their minions

Secret Mage: very unfavored, there is no healing

Odd Warrior: very favored, they have no dirty rat and you can combo them down

Dead Man's Hand Warrior: favored, they usually only run one dirty rat and it has a low chance of stopping all of your combo win conditions

This is mostly tier 1 and 2 decks, the rest did not come up often enough but in general it is favored against slow decks and combo decks that combo slower than it and unfavored against aggressive decks.

Conclusion

C'thun Shaman is not a good deck for climbing unless you happen to have a meta with a lot of priests, druids, and warriors, however it is fun to play C'Thun, and if you miss playing him it is worth it to try this deck, as out of all C'Thun decks, this is probably the best.  Most C'Thun decks are way too slow now, if they go the anti aggro route they don't draw C'Thun consistently and do not have it buffed to the same level as the Shaman quest allows it be, so that when they play it the first time it is usually not even a otk.  If they do focus on buffing in a class other than shaman which has Shudderwock for infinite buffs, they have to include too many buff cards and do not have enough card draw.  Even in shaman, reno shaman can win more against aggressive decks but often gets outvalued against slow decks and almost always loses to combo.  Therefore, after all my experimenting I have found that a combo version of the deck with quick draws and Shudderwock is the best for C'Thun.

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Card Changelog (Click to View)
Update #3

Card changes 3 years, 2 months ago (Battlegrounds Revamp)


Update #2

Card changes 3 years, 2 months ago (Battlegrounds Revamp)


Update #1

Card changes 3 years, 7 months ago (Forged in the Barrens)


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Comments

  • Swizard's Avatar
    1190 913 Posts Joined 04/30/2020
    Posted 3 years, 2 months ago

    Portrait: Thrall

    Cardback: Eyes of C’thun

    0
  • Swizard's Avatar
    1190 913 Posts Joined 04/30/2020
    Posted 4 years, 3 months ago

    Replace Fencing Coach with Tour Guide for this expansion, this will improve the deck significantly in fast matchups, 1 mana is much easer than 3 mana to fit in a turn.

    2
  • Swizard's Avatar
    1190 913 Posts Joined 04/30/2020
    Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

    This deck has been updated: For much better competitiveness make sure to remove Emperor Thaurissan and Doomcaller and put in two Fencing Coaches, they let you double your [Hearthstone Card (C’Thun) Not Found]’s damage on turn 10 and make the Shudderwock combo guaranteed infinite the first time you play it and all the other times, because Shudderwock will replay its battlecry.

    0
  • Siegfrieddo's Avatar
    Llanowar Elves 410 217 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
    Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

    Looks really fun indeed. I may try it. What was really interesting though, was your mention of Exodia Paladin, a deck I personally love but haven’tseen in ages lol (besides myself when I’m in the mood to play it)

    1
    • Swizard's Avatar
      1190 913 Posts Joined 04/30/2020
      Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

      I saw it a couple times in the last couple of months, this is the list I made for it that wins a decent amount (it's reno for anti aggro and tempo but has a lot of card draw for consistency, it can sometimes win without the combo just with tempo too). https://outof.cards/hearthstone/decks/15448-reno-exodia-paladin

      Have you ever tried reno druid, that's one of my favorite decks as well that's sort of competitive.

      Also, I am still testing changes to this deck and will update it tomorrow, but if you are trying it today fencing coach is a good include instead of emperor thaurrisan and Doomcaller should be taken out.  

      I'd like to add you if you're on US server, I try to add anyone who likes interesting decks in wild other than tier 1 decks. My tag is Swizard#1993 (if anyone is reading this comment and likes unique wild decks feel free to add, I usually play to wild Legend first few days and then play fun decks for the rest of the month)

      0
      • Siegfrieddo's Avatar
        Llanowar Elves 410 217 Posts Joined 05/28/2019
        Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

        Loatheb is amazing to protect your board after Shudderwock! I swapped it for Bandersmosh, which frankly I'll never craft. AND good old Shuderwock's buddy Lifedrinker in Doomcaller's place, even though I considered an AoE or heal for a slight chance against aggro.

        EDIT: 1st match  playing this deck I went against Mill Rogue and simply obliterated him at turn 9 with board valor and smart hand management. Doubled my Dopplegangster/Evolve combo and he didn't have Vanish lol

        1
  • Swizard's Avatar
    1190 913 Posts Joined 04/30/2020
    Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

    This deck will be updated soon.  I am testing out the following changes, and if anyone has any ideas about whether those changes would make the deck better or worse please comment:

     

    Spirit of the Frog draw with some low cost spells might be a good alternative to draw faster and improve versus aggro, I will try to replace some cards with Spirit of the Frog and low cost spells and see if that's better.

     

    Fencing Coach will be substituted into the deck instead of Emperor Thaurissan, it seems that Fencing Coach is a much better combo piece as it takes only 3 mana to set up your infinite Shudderwock turn later.  However, remember that there is a high chance of the Shudderwock combo working if you had two doppelgangsters played and a decent chance if one was played, so if you are against a fast deck it is better to risk your Shudderwock not going infinite and playing it earlier.  Sometimes even one Shudderwock is enough to get your C'Thun to otk levels.

     

    Finally, I am experimenting with taking Doomcaller out of the deck as it is in mostly to protect against dirty rats which are not prevalent in the meta now.  You don't need to replay your C'Thun many times because if you play it once your Shudderwock can go infinite and deal damage.

     

    I would love to hear any thoughts regarding any of the changes or how this deck is working out for you.

    2
  • SnarkyGoblin's Avatar
    105 6 Posts Joined 03/25/2020
    Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

    There's no problem crafting this deck at all. All legendaries are playable and have play. 

    1
    • Swizard's Avatar
      1190 913 Posts Joined 04/30/2020
      Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

      That’s true, [Hearthstone Card (Twin Emperor Vek’lor) Not Found] is a C’thun card but it’s weak in wild, and you can replace Bandersmosh for removal or card draw.  It’s mostly there for fun and to have the ability to highroll tempo against unfavored matchups. 

      0

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