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Lightning Storm full

Shamans are shockingly good at keeping the board clear.

Control Shaman is a Shaman deck focused on long-term board control and value plays, looking to defeat the opponent using cards like Saviors of UldumZephrys the Great, Rise of ShadowsSwampqueen Hagatha, The WitchwoodShudderwock, and The WitchwoodHagatha the Witch to generate more cards and value and eventually wear the opponent down. It uses a large number of board clears to survive into the late game.

History[]

Control Shaman (known as Shudderwock Shaman at the time, due to its Combo focused nature) first became a popular deck during The Witchwood, which saw the release of The WitchwoodShudderwock. It was way more of a Combo deck than it ever was a Control deck (like many competitive decks of its era) relying on just drawing its combo pieces, playing them to stack their battlecries and then playing The WitchwoodShudderwock to automatically win against any deck the turn/turns after with infinite 1 mana Shudderwocks.

The deck used LegacyLightning Storm, Journey to Un'GoroVolcano, Journey to Un'GoroPrimordial Drake, and sometimes The WitchwoodHagatha the Witch to keep the opponent's board clear and stall so they could draw cards and eventually assemble a strong Shudderwock to finish the opponent off. This was accomplished through Knights of the Frozen ThroneSaronite Chain Gang, Kobolds & CatacombsGrumble, Worldshaker, and The WitchwoodLifedrinker. It punished fast swarming decks like Aggro Paladin and Zoolock through its high amount of efficient board clears, taunts, and heals. Like any combo deck, it also punished slower/reactive decks as there was no way to stop a "completed" The WitchwoodShudderwock and,by nature, these decks often couldn't pressure it fast enough to win before The WitchwoodShudderwock came onto the board to automatically win the game the following turn/turns.

Due to balance changes applied to Knights of the Frozen ThroneSaronite Chain Gang on December 19, 2018, it's no longer possible to copy infinite Shudderwocks using that, but it's still possible with Mean Streets of GadgetzanDoppelgangster.

Following the Year of the Dragon rotation, the deck shifted gears into a true Control archetype. In the Year of the Phoenix, the archetype lost its Shudderwock win condition, instead transitioning into Highlander builds to use Saviors of UldumZephrys the Great and Descent of DragonsDragonqueen Alexstrasza. The deck (and Shaman itself) initially faltered at the start of Ashes of Outland, but surprise buffs to Ashes of OutlandTorrent and Ashes of OutlandThe Lurker Below and large nerfs to Aggro Demon Hunter gave it some relevance. It gained more traction in Scholomance Academy with the powerful addition of Scholomance AcademyDiligent Notetaker, although it still lacked a solid win condition to beat other Control decks. While Madness at the Darkmoon FaireC'Thun, the Shattered eventually gave it a much-needed way to close games, the deck was slower and less flexible than Control Warrior. As such, it remained a low-tier pick.

Common cards[]

The following cards are usually in this deck:

Core Cards[]

The following cards are played in most or all versions of the deck:

Devolving Missiles
Diligent Notetaker
Witch's Brew
Zephrys the Great
Instructor Fireheart
Lightning Storm
Groundskeeper
Hex
Torrent
Hagatha's Scheme
The Lurker Below
Earthquake
Tidal Wave
Walking Fountain
Dragonqueen Alexstrasza
C'Thun, the Shattered

Galakrond Package[]

The following cards are played in the Galakrond variation of the deck:

Invocation of Frost
Devoted Maniac
Dragon's Pack
Shield of Galakrond
Corrupt Elementalist
Kronx Dragonhoof
Galakrond, the Tempest

Optional cards[]

The following cards are played more than occasionally, but not always:

Lightning Bloom
Corrupt the Waters
Earth Shock
Lightning Bolt
Sludge Slurper
Acidic Swamp Ooze
Bloodmage Thalnos
Doomsayer
EVIL Cable Rat
EVIL Totem
Stormforged Axe
Wandmaker
Far Sight
Lady Vashj
Mana Tide Totem
Plague of Murlocs
Speaker Gidra
Stormstrike
Vulpera Scoundrel
Bone Wraith
Circus Medic
Dunk Tank
The Fist of Ra-den
Frizz Kindleroost
Twilight Drake
Bandersmosh
Barista Lynchen
Cobalt Spellkin
Faceless Corruptor
Shattered Rumbler
Scavenging Shivarra
Siamat
Strongman
Swampqueen Hagatha
Twin Tyrant
Archivist Elysiana
Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate
Y'Shaarj, the Defiler

Shudderwock Shaman[]

Wild iconThis section concerns content exclusive to Wild format.

The following cards are played in the Shudderwock combo variant.

Baleful Banker
Fire Plume Harbinger
Murmuring Elemental
Zola the Gorgon
Lifedrinker
Doppelgangster
Grumble, Worldshaker
Shudderwock

Wild cards[]

Wild iconThis section concerns content exclusive to Wild format.

Wild cards that fit well into this deck type:

Mistress of Mixtures
Ancestral Knowledge
Devolve
Maelstrom Portal
Omega Mind
Acolyte of Pain
Brann Bronzebeard
Elemental Destruction
Electra Stormsurge
Healing Rain
Tar Creeper
Jinyu Waterspeaker
Storm Chaser
Elise the Trailblazer
Loatheb
Servant of Kalimos
Volcano
Thing from Below
Hagatha the Witch
Kalimos, Primal Lord
Primordial Drake
Shudderwock
Yogg-Saron, Hope's End
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