While a lot of the focus has been on Pirates and Reno decks, Mid Range Jade Shaman has been a low key deck that is incredibly powerful in the current meta. With all the tools to counter aggressive decks and the extremely powerful Jade mechanic that is the bane of Control decks, Mid Range Jade Shaman is a deck of choice for many for getting to high ranks and climbing the Hearthstone ladder.
We picked Somotequila’s Mid Range Shaman that hit Rank 1 Legend last season due to how well equipped it is at dealing with aggressive decks while also maintaining very favorable win conditions against slower decks like Renolock and Reno Mage. Let’s break down the card choices and find out how to build a Mid Range Jade Shaman deck.
Card Choices
Devolve: A lot of people might not have tried out the card to a great extent but Devolve is just great in the current meta. With so many 1 drops in the game right now that are used in aggressive decks, Devolve counters all of them at one go. Transforming these snowballing 1 drops to 1/1s as a setup for Maelstrom Portal can single-handedly swing the game in your favor. All the 0 You can shut down a lot of aggressive minions and thereby negate a lot of repetitive damage. It is also a great card against control decks as well because you can technically ‘silence’ their deathrattle minions and prevent them from getting any value for your opponent.
Jade Claws: This 2 mana weapon is one of the easiest ways to get the Jade train running. While there are various advantages and disadvantages of including other Shaman weapons in the current meta, the Jade Golem synergy is of severe relevance and you definitely want two copies of this card in your deck. Just like some of the past builds of Jade Shaman, this deck too is heavy on weapons and the deck cashes in on Spirit Claws as well, despite the recent nerfs to the card. Since there isn’t a lot of 3 HP minions to worry about in the very early turns in the current meta, Jade Claws is quite good in the current ladder meta!
Maelstrom Portal: One of the strongest early game board control spells available to us in the Shaman arsenal, this card is the bane of aggressive decks that run a lot of 1 HP minions. With the recent nerf to Small-Time Buccaneer the card is more powerful than ever. With so many 1-2 HP minions in the meta, it’s easy to clear them all out in one turn for just 2 mana and also establish some board presence. The synergy with Spell Damage makes your totems a threat to the enemy and they need to keep clearing your board in case of spell damage totem rolls that can blow up their board.
Spirit Claws: One of the strongest weapons printed in the game according to a lot of professional players and after several months of seeing play the card was finally nerfed. Despite the nerfs, the card is a solid pick in the deck and it gets the job done quite well. It is no surprise that Spirit Claws sees play in pretty much all the Shaman decks that are played right now even after the nerfs. A 25% or more chance for making your weapon turn into a better Fiery War Axe using your hero power or a spell damage minion is what makes this card extremely powerful and worth the inclusion in the deck.
Healing Wave: A situational healing spell that can heal you for either 7 or 14 depending on how good your RNG is at jousting. Even if you do not get the maximum heal possible out of the spell, 7 HP is a considerable amount of healing to have and it’s quite mana efficient as well. Shaman has a ton of healing options but they are generally expensive, making the inclusion of a cheap comeback card like Healing Wave absolutely worth it.
Hex: It is one of the most powerful spot removals in the game that does not need any setup. While it can be argued that Warrior spot removals can be a lot more powerful if you have the right setup but you do not need to meet any conditions when it comes to Hex. If you can target a minion, it can be wiped off the board instantly! The 0/1 with Taunt can be cleared very easily since the deck is heavy on board presence and you definitely want to run two copies of this card.
Lightning Storm: It has been the number one choice of board clear for the class ever since the release of the game and it’s one of the better AoE spells in the game due to its cheap cost and very little drawback involved. It has great synergy with spell power for clearing out bigger boards. Even though there is a RNG element in the game, with a little luck on your side you can get great results out of the card.
Mana Tide Totem: One of the most potent choices for Shaman when it comes to card draw, if left protected or unchecked it can draw infinite cards for you. Even in the worst of cases, you force your opponent to answer the minion and get a card with the potential upside and if your opponent cannot answer the 0/3 then you just keep getting value at the end of your turns.
Jade Lightning: Shaman has had plenty of spot removals added to their pool of cards and Jade Lightning joins the party with Jade Golem synergies thrown into the mix. While Jade Lightning isn’t ‘cheap’ compared to one of the most notorious sources of Shaman burst damage Crackle, it is still a viable card you should consider running in your deck for added burst damage. The cost to damage isn’t very high but if you chain your Jade Golem cards properly you can get good value out of the card and it allows you to develop board and deal face damage or remove a minion at the same time.
Jinyu Waterspeaker: Jinyu is a very sticky minions due to the amazing stats it has, it is not easy to deal with the 3/6 statline which is shared by only a handful of minions. Jinyu can heal you up for a significant amount of HP and it requires you to overload by just 1 mana which is more than acceptable for the kind of value you get for investing ‘5’ mana (including the overload) into the card. Since there are not good healing options in the game in the neutral slot and Blizzard wanting to move healing and removals to the class cards, Jinyu is one of the finest healing cards in the game right now.
Thing From Below: A very powerful card that caused a lot of concern for pro players in the Mid Range Shaman meta and the card has remained untouched ever since release with no signs of nerfs. Thing From Below can create massive tempo swings and since the card’s cost reduction works with both your hero power and also totems that you play from your hand – Thing From Below is a very powerful card to run in the deck that can offer very good value in the early-mid game.
Jade Chieftain: It is a great lategame card for Jade Shaman decks due to the massive amount of stats it can offer if you play your early game Jade cards on curve. The taunt effect that the card provides to your Jade Golem makes sure that you are not just adding a wall of stats on board, but also getting value out of your minions.
Bloodmage Thalnos: With so many spells to synergize with and Spirit Claws requiring spell damage to activate its full potential, Bloodmage Thalnos is a great pick in the deck. The ability to cycle is not something Shaman is very mana efficient at and Bloodmage Thalnos is the cheapest way to add spell damage and card draw at the same time.
Brann Bronzebeard: With most of your minions with battlecry effects, Brann is a perfect fit in the deck with the ton of synergy it offers. You can save him for insane value in the lategame or simply play him early in the game to bait out removal from your opponent. Jade Claws also works with Brann and you will be able to generate 2 Jade Golems instead of one when you play the weapon. Against slower decks you ideally want to save him for insane swing turns and the combo with Jade Chieftain is particularly good since you will be able to generate two beefy taunts on the board.
Jade Spirit: One of the better Jade cards to play in the mid game thanks to the multiple bodies it spawns, helping you to get trades on the board. It is one of the only options to play in the deck for Shaman along with Aya Blackpaw. While the stat line on the Jade Spirit might not be the best, if you keep putting out enough Jade synergy cards you can generate a lot of stats for 4 mana.
Azure Drake: One of the most reliable minions in the game to play in the mid game, Azure Drake is definitely a card every Shaman deck wants to run thanks to the spell damage synergy and card draw that it offers. While the card is used mostly for the draw in most decks, the spell damage is very relevant since you have a bunch of spells to use in the deck and you also have access to Spirit Claws, which requires spell damage to activate itself into a 3/3 weapon.
Aya Blackpaw: The leader of the Jade Golems herself, Aya Blackpaw is a premium legendary in every Jade deck and she brings a lot of value on the board. You can combo her with Brann for some insane value!
Tech choices
Lightning Bolt: It is a great early game removal that you can pack in if you are facing a lot of 3 HP minions and it is more of a meta call based on the average health pool of early game minions in popular decks.
Ancestral Knowledge: It is not the best card in terms of value if you compare the mana to card draw cost since you overpay by 1 due to the overload effect. Nonetheless, it is a very cheap way to draw cards since the Overload effect is not very relevant due to the slightly slower curve that you have compared to standard Mid Range lists that people run.
Acidic Swamp Ooze / Harrison Jones: Both of these weapon removal cards cards are great tech choices but the prevalence of aggressively costed weapons makes Acidic Swamp Ooze a lot more viabe right now. Most weapons that are popular in the current meta are cheap and sometimes Harrison is just too late. However, you can try cutting out an Azure Drake for Harrison Jones if you want to run both of these cards to shut down weapon based classes. With Water Rogue being extremely popular right now Harrison is a good fit since you are almost always assured to hit Rogue weapons that they play using their hero power.
How To Play
The goal of the deck is to use your early game spells and weapons to contest the early game and make room for your powerful Jade Golem cards to drop on the board and get the Jade Golem train chugging along. There are powerful Jade Golem cards in the deck that can snowball out of your opponent’s control quite easily.
The deck has a lot of healing and removal to make sure you survive the early turns and spiral back into control in the lategame with great lategame plays through Jade Chieftain and Brann Bronzebeard combos with your Jade cards. The deck is specifically tuned to counter aggressive decks and you can change things up if aggressive decks do not pop up in your matchups to often and there is always room for lategame to include if you want a top heavy deck.
Mulligan
- Jade Claws
- Maelstrom Portal
- Lightning Storm (against aggro)
- Spirit Claws
- Mana Tide Totem
Matchups
Favored Matchups
- Aggro Shaman
- Pirate Warrior
- Miracle/ Water Rogue
- Dragon Priest
- Anyfin Paladin
Unfavorable Matchups
- Renolock
- Freeze Mage
- Reno Mage
- Jade Druid
Even Matchups
- Control Shaman
- Control Warrior
- Mid Range Jade Shaman
Conclusion
Mid Range Jade Shaman is a great deck to play right now with a variety of removals, self sustain and AoE effects to keep you alive until your Jade Golems begin to get big. It is definitely a great counter to decks like Pirate Warrior and Water Rogue, which are seeing a ton of play on ladder. Against control decks you can keep dropping a wall of stats with your Jade golems and they will eventually run out of steam since they will not be able to keep up with your powerful board spam in the lategame. Hope you guys have fun with the deck and we hope to see some great cards in the coming week with Journey to Un’goro cards being spoiled March 17 onward!
Published: Mar 12, 2017 09:54 pm