JIVE, INSECT! - an extensive guide to Overload Burn Shaman

Hello everyone! I'm Pers, a member of the Shaman class discord server and a huge fan of Spirit of the Frog decks. In this Overload Shaman guide, I'll try to cover these questions:

• Are you dustbaiting me?
• What the hell is this card soup supposed to do?
• Where's Questline/Drek'thar/Meat Wagon/Bioluminiscence?
• What should I look for in mulligan?
• How do I beat Druid/Kingsbane Rogue/Quest Mage/Even Shaman/...?
• How exactly does Spirit of the Frog work?

...and anything else I think of while I write this guide. As you can see, this guide is gonna be quite long, so bring some tea/coffee/beer/whatever you like to drink and turn on some relaxing music :)

Why should I craft this thing? Are you dustbaiting me?

Even though I reached quite high legend ranks with this deck, I don't think it's above tier 3 because of its poor matchup into Questline Druid. It can also struggle against other decks that play an egregious amount of healing. On the other hand, it's quite strong against board based aggro, has a good matchup against all Warlock decks and a pretty good matchup into Quest Mage.

Other reasons to craft this deck are: it's quite cheap (only legendaries are Firemancer Flurgl and JIVE, INSECT!), it's very fun to play, it has a rather high skill ceiling, and the core card of the deck - Spirit of the Frog - is one of the most beautiful cards in the game. OK, that last one is subjective, but just look at it!

What the hell is this card soup supposed to do?

This deck uses cheap Overload spells in combination with Overdraft to quickly deal a lot of damage directly to the opponent. To put it simply - you go face, if the face plays Taunt you still go face (spells don't care about Taunt or your opponent's feelings).

To not run out of spells, this deck uses Spirit of the Frog, which is basically Gadgetzan Auctioneer on crack - many decks can't kill a Stealthed minion, even Zephrys the Great won't offer Flare against it. It also doesn't draw a random spell, it draws a spell of a specific cost. That way you can often be 100% sure that it'll draw you Overdraft, or Ice Fishing if you desperately need a boardclear.

There's obviously more to it, I'll get into all the tips and tricks in the later sections.

Where's Questline/Drek'thar/Meat Wagon/Bioluminescence?

Some of you readers have probably seen a different version of this deck before. For a long time, Drek'Thar was the best way to build this deck - he wasn't just a third copy of Frog, he also pulled an extremely synergistic minion with it - Diligent Notetaker or Radiance of Azshara - which was often enough to win the game on the spot. Since he got nerfed, he's just a 3rd copy of Frog, which isn't terrible, but I don't think it's enough to warrant the brutal deckbuilding restriction - you basically can't include any other minion.

Command the Elements is quite hard to evaluate. It does have some advantages: you don't have to worry about not having enough damage against control, the first step reward lets you use your Overload cards more freely, and the Taunt Elemental is also surprisingly useful. Cons: it slows down your deck. If you're facing a combo deck like Quest Mage, Tony Auctioneer Druid, Mine Rogue, Big Priest, Inner Fire, you won't have the time to play the final quest reward, and having 2 cards in mulligan instead of 3 can be devastating. That said, if you want to play Questline, use an older Drek'thar version, don't just add the QL to this deck.

Meat Wagon is a worse version of Drek'thar. Yes, it doesn't prevent you from playing other minions in your deck, but the effect being a Deathrattle matters a LOT. Against aggro you often won't be able to kill it by trading, and control decks will know what's going on and kill the Frog after they kill the Meat Wagon.

Some more OTK-centered Frog decks use Bioluminescence in combination with Radiance of Azshara and Voltaic Burst to get a LOT of spell damage and kill the opponent with discounted Nature spells + Overdraft. This deck isn't one of them. Maybe if Drek'thar gets reverted this beautiful combo will come back :)

Cards that may seem questionable:
Ashen Elemental - my tech choice against Quest Mage and QL Demon Hunter, if you don' face those decks you can swap him out.

JIVE, INSECT! - many Wild decks simply aren't prepared to deal with a Ragnaros on turn 4/5, so against control decks you can turn your hero power into a source of damage that needs to be dealt with. Alternatively you can just use JIVE on your Frog at the end of a Frog + Jazz Bass cycle turn.

Chill Vibes - it might seem counterintuitive to have a healing card in a burn deck, but it can help with getting out of range of Shadow Priest or stall Kingsbane by a turn. It's a life saver.

Cards that you can try out:
Scalding Geyser - a good 1-off 1-cost spell for potentially improving your draws
Novice Zapper - can make your Frog turn even more lethal
Cagematch Custodian - naturally curves out into Jazz Bass
Tunnel Trogg - really good 1-drop, feels bad when drawn later though
Sir Finley, Sea Guide - messes with Ice Fishing tutoring, but can find Frog very quickly
Zentimo - triple Ragnaros, triple Windchill, triple fun!

What should I look for in mulligan?

Let's look at the general keeps, ignoring the opponent's class for now.

Always keep: Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Jazz Bass, Ice Fishing. Frog is the centerpiece of this deck, Bloom is so good with Frog it's almost always worth keeping, Jazz Bass helps with the Frog turns too + it can turbo out a JIVE early. Flurgl Toxfin on demand is good against practically every deck that plays for board.

Keep with Frog: any 0-cost spell, Ancestral Knowledge, Overdraft.

How exactly does Spirit of the Frog work?

This section will be about Spirit of the Frog rules and interactions, the structure of a usual "cycle turn" and various other tricks.

• The reason why Zephrys the Great won't offer Flare against Frog is because he's an analphabet. He can't read Frog's card text, so all he sees is a 0/3 minion with Stealth, nothing to worry about. Even experienced Reno players still try that sometimes, it's fun to watch :)
• Always use decktracker, it's very important to keep of track of your potential Frog draws.
• Frog's effect triggers before your spell resolves. For example, if you have Frog in play and cast Ice Fishing, first Frog will trigger and draw you Lava Burst/Chill Vibes, THEN Ice Fishing resolves and you draw your Murlocs. Keep this in mind or you might accidentally overdraw one of your Murlocs!
• Deck order doesn't influence which card Frog draws. Dredging a spell on top of your deck doesn't make it more likely to be drawn by Frog.
• During a Frog turn, if you have Jazz Bass equipped, you want to wait with swinging it till you can discount the most expensive spell that you'll draw - let's say I have Jazz Bass at 1 durability, Frog in play and 4 mana to spend, then I'll play Lightning Bolt, Crackle, swing with weapon, cast Lava Burst for 0 mana, cast Overdraft for 1 mana.
• Don't forget that Lightning Bloom was nerfed, so now you only cast it if you're missing 2 or more mana from your current mana pool. Also, Lightning Bloom can't refresh Overloaded mana crystals - if it's turn 5 and you have 2 Overloaded mana crystals from last turn, casting Bloom at 3 mana won't get you to 5 mana, you'll only waste a Bloom.
• During basically all of my "cycle turns" I start by playing Spirit of the Frog , casting all my 0-cost spells (of course I make sure to not waste Bloom mana), and end with casting Overdraft. What exact 1 or 2 cost spells you cast depends on your situation - if you need to clear the board next turn you might want to cast 3-4 1-cost spells to maximize your chances of drawing Ice Fishing, if you are looking for a Beakered Lightning to immediately clear a Pirate board you might want to cast Windchill and Ancestral Knowledge instead.

How do I beat Druid/Kingsbane Rogue/Quest Mage/Even Shaman/...?

Now let's look at mulligan and general strategy against different decks and classes.

Death Knight: The most common DK decks are Even Unholy and Blood control. Against Even Unholy keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Jazz Bass, Ice Fishing. It's a very favored matchup for you - they don't have a way to kil Frog, it's a rather slow aggro deck that takes time to develop their threats. Just keep Grave Strength in mind, that's really the only way they can catch you off-guard. Blood DK is an unfavored matchup due to the egregious amount of healing the deck has, thankfully it's not very common.

Demon Hunter: The most common DH deck is Questline Demon Hunter - they'll try to summon large minions early and disrupt your turns with Mana Burn and Glide. Keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Jazz Bass, Ice Fishing, Ashen Elemental. Don't greed your burn spells for a combo turn, just point them at the opponent's face when you can, or they'll ruin your hand with Glide. They also don't have a way to kill a stealthed Frog, so if you have her in hand just play her before they Glide her away! Questline Demon Hunter doesn't have a natural way to heal, so just try to burn them down, and use Flurgl Toxfin on even just one or two big minions if they let you.

Druid: Keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Jazz Bass, JIVE, INSECT!, Ashen Elemental, Flowrider. Questline Druid is borderline unwinnable, they gain way too much armor, clear your small minions way too efficiently and kill you faster than you kill them. The only way I've ever won against them was with early JIVE, INSECT! and a bunch of small minions. Develop as many minions as fast as possible, keep hitting face, save burn, Overload spells and Jazz Bass for maximum effectiveness.

Hunter: The most common Hunter deck is Beast Hunter. Against Beast Hunter keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Perpetual Flame, Jazz Bass, Ice Fishing, Beakered Lightning even without Frog in hand, their small beasts are easily killed by it. Also, Hunter can reveal Frog with Flare so keep that in mind.

Mage: My most common Mage opponent is Quest Mage, but at lower ranks Secret Mage is more popular. Against Quest Mage keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Jazz Bass, Ashen Elemental. Quest Mage is a favored matchup all thanks to Ashen Elemental piercing through Ice Block. You drop the Mage down to 2-1 health, play Ashen, they at the start of their turn. Be aware that some Quest Mage lists play a copy of Objection, so if you're not sure which secret they have up you can test with less important minions like Toxfin.
Against Secret Mage: this is not a favored matchup, but it's not completely unwinnable either. Keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Jazz Bass, Ice Fishing, Flowrider. Save up your minions and your spells for testing secrets - if you have a Flowrider and Ice Fishing in hand, play Ice Fishing on turn 2, then try to clear the board on turn 4 by testing with Flowrider first, only then use Flurgl Toxfin. You need to be ready to play the game without the help of Frog, so don't trade away Overdraft - you might never get it back! Focus on killing the opponent, only use your spells to clear if you need to keep yourself alive.

Paladin: Most common Paladin deck is Mech Paladin, even though sometimes a Reno Pally appears. Keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Ice Fishing, Jazz Bass, Beakered Lightning. Keep in mind that they can give all their Mechs Divine Shield, so you may want to save your Beakered Lightning for when you want to clear with Flurgl Toxfin.

Priest: Combo Priest exisits but it's not very popular so I'll ignore that in this guide. Against Big Priest keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Jazz Bass, Windchill, Ice Fishing, Ancestral Knowledge, Flowrider. Try to do chip damage with minions as often as possible, and use Ice Fishing to either save your board from getting killed, or to save yourself from getting killed. Against Reno Priest keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Jazz Bass, Ancestral Knowledge. Try to push chip damage with minions as often as possible, and pretend that Reno Jackson doesn't exist.

Rogue: Rogue is a bit tricky, because it could be Pirate Rogue, Miracle Rogue or Kingsbane Rogue. Against Pirate Rogue keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Ice Fishing, Perpetual Flame, Jazz Bass. Try not to take too much damage early, clear their minions with your spells and weapon swings, heal up with Chill Vibes when they're out of resources, then kill them. Against Miracle Rogue keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Ice Fishing, Windchill, Jazz Bass. Be aware that Miracle Rogue can play Loatheb 3-4 times in a row, so use your Ice Fishing when you can. Against Kingsbane Rogue keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Ice Fishing, Jazz Bass. Be careful with your Frog, they can kill her with a Blade Flurry. Getting an early JIVE, INSECT! down against them if possible can make them focus their attention on it. Chill Vibes are a life saver in this matchup, can buy you an entire turn. Other than that it's a straightforward matchup, basically a race for who burns down the opponent first.

Shaman: Against Even Shaman keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Ice Fishing, Jazz Bass, Flowrider, Ancestral Knowledge. Try to wait with Firemancer Flurgl + Toxfin combo a little, bait out their Thing From Below or board buff, without leaving yourself open to a surprise lethal of course. Also, keep in mind that they have Devolve, so don't just play Frog and pass. Against Shudderwock keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Jazz Bass, Ice Fishing and any non-Murloc minions. Again, keep in mind that your Frog will likely get Devolved, and don't use Ice Fishing preemptively, because your Murlocs might get hit by Dirty Rat or Mutanus the Devourer. Also, in the early game play minions and attack face, don't trade!

Warlock: The most common decks are Evenlock, Demon Seed, random control decks. Against all of them your mulligan and gameplan is basically the same, keep Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Jazz Bass, Ice Fishing, Windchill and any non-Murloc minions. All of the mentioned decks play Dirty Rat, so don't play Ice Fishing preemptively. Early in the game play minions and attack face, don't trade!

Warrior: Abandon all hope. Warrior gains 2 Reno Jackson's worth of armor in a single Skipper Armorsmith Quilboar turn. Your best chance in this matchup is making a Ragnaros as fast as possible, because Warrior has good board clears but plays few tall removal cards. Keep the usual stuff -  Spirit of the Frog, Lightning Bloom, Jazz Bass, Ice Fishing.

Some replays:

Against Secret Mage: https://hsreplay.net/replay/jJifKMrh563d8SxHPULkhd

Against Quest Mage: https://hsreplay.net/replay/T5FSyhw4jVBkmUdGi5VHnZ

Against Shudderwock: https://hsreplay.net/replay/e2Ddi2kyy5Uq5XJgyvpzBK

Against Pirate Rogue: https://hsreplay.net/replay/72NaWYZQj8EdtKWAWMhmtb

Against Kingsbane Rogue: https://hsreplay.net/replay/a4JS5d7R4wsinpMg2M8JTq

Against Demon Seed: https://hsreplay.net/replay/bmJwGoFsUAUznR23RLr9PN

Against Shadow Priest: https://hsreplay.net/replay/EYuuBiu4BFZkpaSJZdTLPQ

Against Questline Demon Hunter: https://hsreplay.net/replay/HDhWjDzbqZypnghGyoadP2