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[markusin]

So in the Expansion Speculation thread, I posted how I wanted to make a deck similar to Trump's Jeeves deck, but for Shaman. I tried it out, at it doesn't work out well because you just run out of steam if you don't draw Jeeves. I guess Mage has a better time stalling with the Mage's cheap spells (cast at 0 when Sorceror's Apprentice is out).

So the deck needed a backup plan in case Jeeves isn't drawn or dies too early. Well hey, Warlock has its hero power, and the deck I was trying to build does not depend on class cards. So here's my take on the Warlock variant:

http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/140204-jeeves-zoo

With this deck, you still have the hero power draw engine even without Jeeves. Plus, Jeeves lets you draw back up quickly after playing Doomguard.

I'm not sold on the Voidwalkers. They're solid taunts and get boosted by Hobgoblin, but maybe there's better. I'd put in Bloodmage Thalnos if I had the card. What's cool about Hobgoblin in that you can kinda cheat by boosting  Cogmaster and Micromachine. Still an experiment though, as is the Enhance-o.

Well this deck is performing very well so far. I'm just afraid to ladder with it, because then it will be harder to complete my quests for my weak classes.

Do quests in casual and ladder with a ladder deck?

But in casual you can get really good decks doing the same. On play mode you can be sure that players at rank 16-17 will usually have weaker decks.

[Twistedarcher]

2x Earth Shock
2x Lightning Bolt
1x Rockbiter Weapon
2x Zombie Chow
1x Bloodmage Thalnos
2x Flametongue Totem
1x Unstable Ghoul
2x Feral Spirit
2x Hex
1x Lava Burst
2x Lightning Storm
2x Earthen Ring Farseer
1x Antique Healbot
2x Azure Drake
1x Loatheb
2x Sludge Belcher
2x Fire Elemental
1x Al Akir
1x Ragnaros

I've been having fun with this deck. It's been doing really well against Hunter, pretty well against control warrior (though I think the people at around rank 10 aren't playing it very optimally), but it struggles against zoo and Druid and gets demolished by control priest.

I was running Mana Tide Totems before, but took them out since I was struggling more with aggro decks than control decks. I've been thinking about adding one back in, though.

Lava burst has been okay but I could take it out -- flametongue totem can be hit or miss sometimes, too. I'm debating replacing Loatheb and especially Al'Akir with other legendaries. The deck isn't bursty at all, it's very, very heavy control and the games I win usually get close to fatigue.

Legendaries I'd consider adding are Sylvanas, Dr. Boom, and Black Knight. Any thoughts/suggestions?

[ycz6]

Why Lava Burst rather than Crackle? General consensus seems to be that Crackle is just better.

[Twistedarcher]

It can consistently kill a sludge belcher, which a crackle can't always do. Also better against innervate/yeti. I haven't tried using crackles, though.

[popsofctown]

It can consistently kill a sludge belcher, which a crackle can't always do. Also better against innervate/yeti. I haven't tried using crackles, though.

Spending 5 mana and a card to kill PART of a creature that costs 5 mana and a card is rather defeatist play.  You shouldn't be looking to make that play, Sludge Belcher is best killed with minions.

[HiveMindEmulator]

Rockbiter is generally better than Lightning Bolt because it costs less mana and can combo with your Al'Akir. I'm wondering why you're running only 1 Rockbiter but 2 Lightning Bolts, especially since you don't have Unbounds. Also I think Crackle is better than Lightning Bolt as well. Seems like 2x Rockbiter 2x Crackle just covers your bases better than 1x Rockbiter 2x Lightning 1x Lava.

Also your Flametongue is probably having trouble because you're not running anything sticky. No Creeper or Harvest Golem or Squire. I think Creepers are almost a must-have for Shaman. Either that or just lose one of your Flametongues for a weapon. You have tons of heal, so you might as well have a weapon.

[KingZog3]

I've played a lot of Shaman, and Crackle is better for sure. The only advantage lighting bolts has is that it's 1 mana on the turn you play it, so you can more easily squeeze it into a larger play. Also Creeper is amazing, I can't imagine playing my Shaman decks without them. Rockbiters as well. Lava Burst isn't great, and Crackle beats almost always.

I've never been impressed with the Shaman weapons. Stormforge Axe is great in arena, but doesn't so a lot in constructed, especially now with all the sticky minions and the 2/3's from GvG. and Doomhammer is similar. Sure it combos for a nice finisher, but so often you use the rockibters to clear the board that you rarely get to combo for that burst finish.

[ashersky]

I'm looking for updates/upgrades to my Pirates! Warrior deck.  Here's the current iteration (expected -- I don't have the second cannon yet):

Upgrade! x2
Southsea Deckhand x2

Fiery War Axe x2
Heroic Strike x2
Bloodsail Raider x2
Captain's Parrot x2
Ship's Cannon x2

Ogre's Warmaul x2
Shield Block x2
Southsea Captain x2

Arathi Weaponsmith x2
Dread Corsair x2
Kor'kron Elite x2

Arcanite Reaper x2
Captain Greenskin
Leeroy Jenkins

Issues:

--I'm not convinced the Southsea Deckhands are the best option at 1 mana, given if I'm dropping it early the Charge has no effect and if I'm dropping it late it sucks.
--Do I need Heroic Strike?  It's removal on demand, it can add to a game ending turn, etc.  I usually toss it from the starting hand.
--If I drop Deckhands, are Southsea Captains even less important?
--Is there a better option than Weaponsmith?

I'm thinking Grommash would be helpful, but too slow.  I don't own him anyway.  I went with Warmauls over Death's Bites because it comes out a turn earlier and weapons are there to combo with the Pirates anyway.

If I drop too many pirates, it's not really a pirate deck anymore.  I mean, it's a face warrior with pirate subtheme anyway, but it's fun anyway.

I currently have a single Mortal Strike in place of the missing Cannon.

[popsofctown]

2x Hunter's Mark
2x Undertaker
2x Webspinner
1x Glaivezooka
2x Feign Death
2x Freezing Trap
1x Snipe  *****
2x Haunted Creeper
2x Loot Hoarder
2x Mad Scientist
1x Deadly Shot  ******
2x Kill Command
1x Baron Rivendare *****
2x Piloted Shredder
2x Sludge Belcher
1x Savannah Highmane ******
1x Sylvanas Windrunner ******
1x Dr. Boom
1x Sneed's Old Shredder ******


Here's my Feign Death aggro-control.  It's the highest winrate deck out of things I've brewed and might actually win me more games than cut and pastey control Warrior although I can't be entirely sure.  The asterisk's are things that I could possibly take out of the deck, the other stuff seems necessary to the archetype to me.

I like to call it aggro-control instead of midrange because it is a weird mixture of just beating down aggressively and screwing up what your opponent is trying to do such that they can't do anything.  Against aggro you can mull for the aggressive stuff, use Hunter's Mark as a backstab, and just gain board position and not have to give it back, using Feign Death for very little value.  It's pretty aggro or midrangey in those cases.  Against control decks you can go to a lot of effort to Hunter's Mark big things and force really relevant stuff to get caught up in freezing trap, and also stall play out so much that you can get a wombo combo off feign death. 

Deadly shot represents a sentiment that I seem to need another 3 drop but I don't know what.  Maybe Deadly Shot is the best thing to put there, but with 5 removal cards that ignore target's health and Scientist pulling 2 of those out more frequently it seems like an unnecessary amount of spot removal.  Harvest Golem is obviously a deathrattle buddy but he doesn't gel with the deck right at all, 3 mana 2/1 would be the worst Feign Death efficiency of any card in the deck and a 2/3 provides poke which I have in spades, I need something that kills Acolyte for only 1 draw or cooperates with other minions to take down Tinkertown better.  So what I'm saying is I'd probably rather take a non-deathrattle 3 drop than take Harvest Golem
Baron I just threw in, we'll see how he goes.  I felt like he deserved a chance but seems pretty more winnish.

The six drops are tough. Sylvanas does some things no one else can do against control.  Highmane is crazy and I kinda feel bad for running only one.  Cutting a Sneed for an additional highmane is probably correct but he's sneed and he's golden... and I'm not entirely sure three six drops is the right move even if it's highmane.
Snipe should maybe switch over to Explosive Trap, I wouldn't run 2 nonfreezing traps though, I run the bare minimum to keep scientist mostly consistent.

Are there any awesome cards I'm missing?  Eaglehorn seems dubious because if you actually play this deck out it can command so much board control that your Freezing traps take forever to pop.  And it would validate the control Warrior mirror Harrison Jones tech.  I try out 1x Clockwork Gnome but Reversing Switch, Armor Plating, and Finnicky Cloak Field have below average value in a deck that wants your own dudes to die so much.  1x Owl is ok, but I have lots of 2 drops, I wish Owl was a 3 drop, like I might seriously run that as a 3 drop 2/2 if it was so.
Anyone who suggests Tracking I would consider perceptive about the style of this deck, but the card has a tragic interaction with Scientist and few traps

[markusin]

^ Are you struggling more against Control or Aggro? Have you thought about Nerubian Egg? Against explosive traps it's a 2 mana 4/4, and against control it can work as anti AOE and has a chance of working with Feign Death. I guess the problem is that your deck has no buff cards other than Glaivezooka, but maybe you can replace snipe and deadly and some other card for egg and another Glaivezooka.

I like Dr. Boom in the deck. He's hard to deal with effectively.

[popsofctown]

I've thought about Egg, but nonhunter aggro is a large amount of my problem so it doesn't seem worth the changes necessary to make it work. 

[Jorbles]

I've thought about Egg, but nonhunter aggro is a large amount of my problem so it doesn't seem worth the changes necessary to make it work.

If non hunter aggro is the problem why not Explosive Trap?

[Jorbles]

I've thought about Egg, but nonhunter aggro is a large amount of my problem so it doesn't seem worth the changes necessary to make it work.

If non hunter aggro is the problem why not Explosive Trap?

Or Multi-Shot or Explosive Shot. AOE is the way to deal with Zoo and other minion heavy aggro decks.

[Jorbles]

I've thought about Egg, but nonhunter aggro is a large amount of my problem so it doesn't seem worth the changes necessary to make it work.

If non hunter aggro is the problem why not Explosive Trap?

Or Multi-Shot or Explosive Shot. AOE is the way to deal with Zoo and other minion heavy aggro decks.

Orrrrr tying into Feign Death, Explosive Sheep.

[popsofctown]

I've thought about Egg, but nonhunter aggro is a large amount of my problem so it doesn't seem worth the changes necessary to make it work.

If non hunter aggro is the problem why not Explosive Trap?

yeah i have actually added that

[Twistedarcher]

I incorporated a lot of your guys advice into my shaman deck, and it's by far my most played deck. Bringing it back here for another round of critiques

Current decklist:
x2 Earthshock
x2 Rockbiter Weapon
x2 Zombie Chow
x2 Crackle
x2 Flametongue Totem
x2 Haunted Creeper
x1 Thalnos
x1 Big Game Hunter
x1 Feral Spirit
x2 Hex
x2 Lightning Storm
x1 Antique Healbot
x2 Azure Drake
1x Loatheb
2x Sludge Belcher
2x Fire Elemental
1x Hogger
1x Al'Akir
1x Ragnaros

Additional Thoughts:
I'm definitely crazy for playing Hogger, and should absolutely be playing Dr. Boom or Neptulon in his spot, but I'm irrationally attached to the card. It's so much fun, and when it's good, it's really good. It's weak to AoE clear, but it's useful when I can curve it out against aggro decks, and it's been getting pretty good results.

I should probably add a second feral spirit, but I'm not sure what I should take out. Most of the cards seem pretty essential. Probably the most droppable cards would be either a Fire Elemental or Loatheb.

I could drop Loatheb for another legendary (Sylvanas/Dr Boom/Neptulon)

I've seen some Shaman lists running Defender of Argus in place of Sludge Belcher. I haven't tried it but I think I prefer Sludge Belcher.

Any thoughts, guy? The last edits were definitely helpful to this deck, and I've been having fairly good results with this deck.

[Jorbles]

Except for Hogger (which you've already explained) that looks like a really solid deck. I don't think a second Feral Spirit is good enough to replace a Fire Elemental, but maybe Loatheb? I'd probably prefer Loatheb unless you felt you were getting run over by aggro all the time.

I think Al Akir is underwhelming personally and would consider putting in Boom, Neptulon or maybe even Troggzor instead.

You could maybe put in Whirling Zap-O-Matics or Unbound Elementals but you'd have to swap some of your other early game stuff out probably, maybe Chow or Creeper? They don't look essential without Undertakers (you could also maybe find home for Undertakers here, but then you'd have to take something else out that doesn't have Deathrattle, maybe swap one in for an Earthshock, not sure). I feel like all those changes are just flavour changes though, done to suit playstyle and make the deck more or less agressive.

(And if you were open to removing Hogger, I'd say put in a Sylvanas if you have her.)

[ashersky]

Earth Elemental?

[Titandrake]

If you're seeing Black Knights I wouldn't risk Earth Elemental. Also, BGH.

How much is Thalnos helping you? Without bolts you're down to Earth shock, Crackle, and Storm for spells, and Crackle spell power seems less important. Thalnos is always okay value, but it depends on how much trouble you're having with aggro. If there's a lot of aggro then a 2 drop with larger body would be nicer.

I wouldn't drop a Fire Elemental.

Besides that, it looks really hard to cut anything here.

[HiveMindEmulator]

If you're looking for things to cut, I cut an earthshock from my Shaman deck. With BGH, you can afford to just use Hex on something smaller if needed. And then if you only have 1 Earthshock, you don't really need Thalnos that much.

Also Loatheb I don't think is as useful as in a Bloodlust deck. His main use is to stall out one turn for your board to get a little bigger, but that's less critical if you're trying to win with the big legendaries rather than with the totems.

Re: Argus vs Belcher, you should try it for yourself. Argus helps get more value from your totems as it turns them into 1/3s to kill 2/1s.

And Neptulon and Dr. Boom are both better than Rag.

[KingZog3]

I put only one Earth Shock in my Shaman deck, and no Thalnos, no Loatheb, but I also run 2 Healbots in order to counter aggro. But I just got Dr Boom so I'll be putting him in.

[EgorK]

So I decided to build somewhat straightforward token druid. Here's my list:

0:
2x Innervate

1:
2x Zombie Chow

2:
2x Wrath

3:
2x Savage Roar
1x Big Game Hunter
2x Harvest Golem
2x Shade of Naxxramas

4:
2x Swipe
2x Defender of Argus
2x Keeper of the Grove
2x Piloted Shredder

5:
2x Druid of the Claw

6:
2x Force of Nature
2x Piloted Sky Golem

7:
2x Ancient of Lore
1x Dr. Boom

While it plays decently at ranks 4-5 (I'll add stats from Track-o-bot when I'll be from my laptop), I'd like to curve it out better. Candidates to replace are Arguses and some of 3 drops. I need some 2-drops probably. Advice?

[ashersky]

Egor, I'm not seeing how that's a Token deck at all.  No Violet Teachers or PotW? 

[Titandrake]

Also confused by no Teacher or Power of the Wild.

I think you need more sticky minions - if you want 2 drops, good candidates are Echoing Ooze, Haunted Creeper, Annoy-o-tron.

Are you trying to make the deck more aggressive or play towards the semi-long game? If it's the latter, I'm not sure if you need the 2nd FoN. If it's the former, you might not want Chow, or maybe cut a Sky Golem.

I recall reading a post by Brian Kibler who says he got good results by swapping Ancient of Lore for Ancient of War in one of his Druid decks. That's still sounds crazy to me, but if you want a more tempo-based deck you could try either cutting a Lore, or change 1 Lore to War to try it out.

[EgorK]

Well, I call it token because of win condition which is to have board and kill oponent with burst from FoN/SR. My playstyle with this deck is controlling board until I can put enough threat to be able to go face. I target this to win around turn 9-10.

Chow is great vs hunter and pally. Creeper will fit really well, I'll likely replace 1x shade and 1x Argus for 2x creeper. Putting in AoW is against this deck philosophy as I mostly concede board control around turn 8 to get ready for final burst

I am currently 16-10 with this deck, all of it at ranks 4-5. Class breakdown:
Warrior 2-1
Warlock 2-1
Paladin 6-2
Mage 2-1
Hunter 4-3
Druid 0-2

Hadn't played vs Shaman, Rogue or Priest