Hey everybody! It’s Fireflyer again with another deck guide for those that are bored of playing Pirates or Reno all the time. But first, let’s get this out of the way.
WARNING: THIS DECK IS VERY LUCK-BASED. ONLY PLAY IT FOR FUN.
Evolve Shaman is a fun deck to mess around with but this deck should NOT be used to try and climb ranks. It’s a semi-competitive deck but a lot of its win % is based on getting good evolutions or good hands. It has many weaknesses in the current competitive meta BUT it’s a fun deck to play when you want something new and fun to play around with.
Deck Introduction: Evolution
The Evolution Shaman deck looks very much like a Midrange Shaman deck with half of the deck changing to focus on basically one card, Evolve. By using minions that can create multiple copies of themselves or extra minions such as Doppelgangster or Jade Spirit, you can Evolve a group of small minions into an army of large ones. The deck also uses Master of Evolution to achieve the same effect but because of the mana cost we only run one of them since it only affects one minion and doesn’t quite work when we have cards like Jade Golems and Doppelgangster since the extra minions are still pretty useless.
The version that I’m using can be split into three sections:
First, we have the basic Shaman toolkit which uses awesome cards like Tunnel Trogg and Totem Golem to eat up the early game and provide some quick damage and board control. It also uses removal such as Lightning Bolt, Maelstrom Portal and Lightning Storm which are part of the basic “strong” Shaman cards that should go into most Shaman decks since they help counter a lot of the Pirate meta that is going on right now.
Second, we have the Jade toolkit with cards: Jade Claws, Jade Spirit, Jade Lightning and Aya Blackpaw. I feel like these help the Evolve part of the deck because the Jade Golems you create cost the same mana as their size, which means if you drop a 4/4 or a 5/5 golem and attack next turn to kill something, you can then Evolve it into a bigger minion (which also kind of heals it). I’m not 100% sold on the Jade Golem part of the deck so if you don’t like the Jade Golems, you can look down below at my “Non-Jade” alternate decklist for a version that doesn’t use them and replaces the Jade cards with good replacements.
Third, we have the Evolve cards. While the Jade Golems are great for evolving the best targets for your Evolve are going to be Doppelgangster, Nerubian Prophet and Thing from Below. Also part of this package is one Master of Evolution but I’m iffy about it, I’m tempted to replace it with another Doppelgangster but you know what, I’ll let you be the judge of that. Test out a few games with this deck and if you like one card over the other, feel free to make the change yourself and pick what works best for your playstyle.
Decklist: Fireflyer’s Jade Evolution
Basic Shaman Kit
Tunnel Trogg: One of the best 1 drops in the game. Helps defend you against early Pirates and also provides a good aggro outlet thanks to all your Overload cards. The only time you would want to avoid a Turn 1 Tunnel Trogg is against Shaman because they might Coin into Totem Golem and then you lose your Trogg for nothing. Other than that, always play Tunnel Trogg early and use it to distract your opponent and make them believe that your deck is Midrange Shaman or Aggro Shaman.
Totem Golem: Another great early game card that fights off Aggro decks and is pretty difficult to kill. I always try to play this as early as possible unless I need to activate Tunnel Trogg. Another great side effect is that it will help cheapen your Thing from Below which will help you in the later turns when you want to Evolve. The only time I wait on maybe playing a Totem Golem and using my Hero Power is against Rogue because they can Sap him and cause the Overload to really mess up your next few turns.
Mana Tide Totem: Just a singleton in the deck for card draw and also a pretty good target for Evolve if it happens to live a turn. Get a free 4-mana cost from a 0/3 is not bad especially if you’ve already drawn a card or two off of it. Never curve out into this on Turn 3, it’s better to drop a Hero Power totem instead of this unless you’re very desperate for card draw. I prefer playing this late in the game for a free card and if it happens to live, you can choose to keep trying to get cards or Evolve it into something that can attack.
Bloodlust: You only need one of these in the deck because it’s a surprise card. Even with an army of 0 attack totems, you can turn the tables on a game and surprise someone with a 15-20 damage attack in one turn. Slowly pick away at your opponents and drop Hero Power totems and if you see an opening, take the attack. I also like to cast Bloodlust when I have an army of totems I don’t need and I feel like trading with their minions. You don’t need this to finish a game, so if it’s better to use it as removal and sacrifice some totems to kill important minions then do it. Example: Bloodlust + Totem Golem can kill a Twilight Guardian while also giving your other totems enough attack to either deal some damage or kill more minions.
Removal Spells
Lightning Bolt: One of the best early game removal spells that can control pretty much any early game and also gives you ways to win when your opponent is low and you just need a little bit of damage to finish them off. This deck is more control based so I like to use these early to remove minions, unlike aggro where you sometimes like to hold on to these so you can finish your opponent off. Don’t use them TOO early since you can rely on a good Maelstrom Portal or Lightning Storm to handle lots of small things at once but if you see a Tunnel Trogg getting too big or a Northshire Cleric that could draw lots of cards, get rid of them.
Hex: One of my favorite reasons for playing this deck is because I get to have 2 hex in my deck. In my Aggro Shaman I don’t run any of these so when I see something like Edwin VanCleef or some big Dragons from Dragon Priest, all I can do is sigh and try to finish the game quickly. This deck has lots of control and Hex is a very important card. If you need help choosing targets I have another article called “The Power of Polymorph” which explains some good targets that you want to save this for since you can rely on your other removal to take care of most minions. Save Hex for important targets.
Maelstrom Portal: One of the 4 “board wipe” removal cards this deck has. Combined with spell damage from a totem or Bloodmage Thalnos it’s AMAZING but even alone it can handle most Pirates and give you a distraction with a free 1 mana minion. Because this deck has so much board removal I use these early to handle 1-2 small minions while also giving myself a minion to attack with and distract my opponent.
Lightning Storm: Use Maelstrom portal early to handle small waves of minions but save your Lightning Storm for the big board removal. It does a better job of it and if you use it too early the Overload will hurt you and set you back a turn. The only exception is if you see a good opening versus Pirates and you have a Tunnel Trogg out that will get huge from the Overload. Against Rogue/Warrior/Shaman Pirates, try to aim for 3-4+ minions with this. Against Reno or Dragon Priest it’s okay to use this on two or even just one minion since those decks don’t usually drop an army of minions out. Pay attention to the Overload and time it out or else you’ll have a whole turn where you’re doing nothing.
Bloodmage Thalnos: I put this with removal spells because that’s really all it’s here for. This version of the deck doesn’t use Spirit Claws so you won’t need it to help trigger that, so your best use of this legendary is to combine it with Maelstrom Portal or Lightning Storm. Every once in awhile you might need it for a Lightning Bolt to kill an Azure Drake but it’s best used with board wipe. The deck doesn’t have too much spell damage so once it’s Turn 7 or Turn 8 and you’ve used a good amount of it up, don’t hesitate to drop this down and use it as a card draw to get into things like Evolve or Doppelgangster for your “combo”.
Jade Golem Kit
Jade Claws: In my opinion, better than Spirit Claws because you don’t have to gamble for the extra damage. Helps kill lots of Pirates and the free Jade Golem is nice. Be careful for the Overload.
Jade Lightning: Good removal spell because of the 4 damage that hits lots of good targets like Azure Drake and can also go face if you’re trying to finish your opponent off. I prefer using it early as removal so I can get my Jade Golem out and it also doesn’t have Overload so it won’t ruin your next turn when you’re trying to curve out. Rarely do I save it to go face since this deck is more focused on control and Evolve rather than being aggro so use it early and get your free minion.
Jade Spirit: I like this card in Evolution Shaman because it helps my Jade Golems get bigger and also is a great target for Evolve. It becomes a 5 mana minion which is almost always a huge upgrade from a 2/3. Play this on curve so your opponent thinks you’re a Jade Golem deck and then surprise them by playing down things like Nerubian Prophet on Turn 5 and Evolve your field to make them dangerous.
Aya Blackpaw: Just a great card for Jade Golems. You won’t ever want to Evolve her but if you’re about to, just get her killed and get a free Jade Golem to Evolve instead. Because our deck isn’t a true Jade Golem deck, when she gets targeted by things like Hex or Entomb it won’t really hurt us since we already got a free Jade Golem and wasted your opponent’s turn by making them deal with Aya Blackpaw. Not much else to say, she’s the queen of Jade Golems and goes in any Jade Golem theme.
Evolve & Friends
Evolve: The main theme of the deck. You only have 2 of these and Master of Evolution so you need to save them and use them wisely. Combo them with your high cost minions and pray you don’t get screwed over by the randomness of Evolve. If you’re concerned about winning and you already have the upper hand in a game, don’t screw things up by casting Evolve to try and get a better field, lots of things can happen and I see myself getting screwed over a LOT. Only use this if you’re losing and need to get an advantage. Unless you’re playing for fun (like you should with this deck) in which case get your biggest combo off that you can and see what you get! Tip: Some of the minions you get after the Evolve will have Inspire triggers like Nexus-Champion Saraad so even though you would like to have a Hero Power totem get Evolved, use the Evolve first and then the Hero Power after.
Master of Evolution: I’m 50/50 on this card. He’s real nice to drop on curve especially with something like Nerubian Prophet on Turn 3 but that rarely works out. The way I like to use him is to try and get one of the 6 mana cost minions, either Nerubian Prophet or Thing from Below up to an 8 mana minion by playing one of them for 0-2 mana, then Master of Evolution for 4 mana, then Evolve everything. This way you can boost one of your minions up to the 8 mana slot which is a really strong bracket of minions and it also Evolves your Master of Evolution up to a 5. There’s only one of these in the deck so if you find that you aren’t using them I would maybe remove it and add another Doppelgangster in.
Doppelgangster: The perfect card to combo with Evolve. You get three small minions but after Evolve they’re all 6 mana cost minions which will almost always be better than a 2/2. There’s only one of these in the deck because without Evolve it’s kind of a weak card so if you don’t have one in hand or used them up already, your only hope is using this with Bloodlust. I find myself in that situation a lot where I have Doppelgangster in hand but no Evolve so I can see why this is only a single in the deck. It also doesn’t really work with Master of Evolution like the other two cards below this one so it’s just difficult to combo.
Nerubian Prophet: Great card if you can get it in your opening hand or early in the game. If I happen to get it in my opening hand I like to drop it either on Turn 3 (if I feel lucky or think it won’t die) or on Turn 4 with an Evolve to try and get an early start with a big 7 mana minion. If I don’t get it in my opening hand I hold it back and keep faking the deck as a Midrange Shaman until I’m ready to combo Evolve in which case I drop it after Doppelgangster or something to create an army of Evolved minions. Watch out when you do this against Reno decks (Mage/Priest/Warlock) because they have some superior board wipe and can usually wipe your whole field, so in that situation spread out the minions instead of Evolveing them all at once.
Thing from Below: Much like Nerubian Prophet this card can get really cheap around the end of the game for a good Evolve combo with Doppelgangster or Nerubian Prophet. Use your early turns to drop Hero Power totems and cheapen the cost of this card for later so you can drop multiple minions and do a big Evolve combo army.
Alternate Decklist: Non-Jade
I personally like the Jade Golem version of this deck since the golems work well with Evolve while also doing well on their own when you don’t draw into the Evolve that you need, but there are definitely games where I only play one or two golems and I wonder what it would be like running a version without them. The Non-Jade version of the deck looks more like a Midrange or Control Shaman deck so it’s easier to hide your tactic and pretend you’re a control shaman deck until you’re ready to Evolve.
Here are the changes I’d recommend if you don’t want Jade Golems in your deck:
Jade Claws for Spirit Claws: This is basically swapping one weapon out for the other. The good thing is that Spirit Claws isn’t going to Overload you like Jade Claws will and also gives you a Turn 1 answer to Pirate minions. Combined with Spell Damage totem or Bloodmage Thalnos you’ll end up doing more damage and having better control of the match but it’s VERY reliant on you getting that spell damage going. Even if I didn’t want Jade Golems I would personally still run Jade Claws for the guaranteed 2 damage but there’s no denying that Spirit Claws is great when you’re lucky enough to get the spell damage you need.
Jade Lightning for Feral Spirit: Here we’re basically giving up direct damage and removal for better early-game aggro control. Feral Spirit is going to help in the Pirate matchup and is also not too bad against Reno Priest or Reno Mage because it’s hard for them to control multiple minions early in the game. Feral Spirit is also not bad for Evolve since it gives you multiple minions for one card. I personally have trouble with the Overload but it’s a great card if you feel like you’re facing a LOT of aggro.
Jade Spirit for Jinyu Waterspeaker: This is a great tech change that I wish I could make in my deck if I wasn’t so focused on the Jade Golems. Jinyu Waterspeaker is great against aggro after you’ve survived the first few turns and need to recover a bit to avoid death from Shaman spells, Rogue spells or Warrior weapons. It’s also a GREAT tactic against Freeze Mage since it allows you to get a pretty big heal after they Alexstrasza you and want to avoid death the next turn. I personally love the heal from Jinyu Waterspeaker but I don’t have room in my version of the deck, so if you don’t like Jade Golems make sure you tech these guys in cause they’re great for the current Aggro meta.
Aya Blackpaw for Doppelgangster #2: Here we’re just taking out a high cost legendary and replacing it with another great Evolve target. You don’t want to run too many high cost minions in your deck but if we’re taking out Jade Golems, we definitely have room to put in another Doppelgangster for some massive Evolve fun.
Mulligan Guide: Fake Shaman
The mulligan tactic for this deck is to pretend that you’re either Aggro Shaman or Midrange Shaman. Since we don’t have any Pirates it’s hard to pretend we’re aggro so it’s best to go for the Midrange look.
Priority #1 Aggro: Tunnel Trogg and Totem Golem.
These are your best defense against aggro decks. Even against Reno decks they’re a good start and give you some gas to try and put some damage in or keep control of your opponent’s minions while you start saving up for your Evolve trick.
Priority #2 Evolve: Nerubian Prophet
If you’re looking for a fast Evolve and want to try and get something out fast, your best bet is with Nerubian Prophet in your opening hand. If you go first, this means that on Turn 4 you can play it and Evolve in the same turn for a 7 mana cost minion. If you feel safe, you can play it on Turn 3 as a 4/4 and then attack with it the next turn before you Evolve it. Even if you don’t plan to Evolve early in the game, having this in your hand early is great because you can lower the cost down to 0 over the next few turns and on Turn 6 or later, you can surprise your opponent by playing this for free, along with a Doppelgangster and a Evolve for an ARMY of minions.
Priority #3 Removal: Lightning Bolt, Jade Claws, Maelstrom Portal/Lightning Storm and Hex.
The deck focuses on the middle of the game where you can Evolve a lot of strong minions so if you don’t have Tunnel Trogg or Totem Golem to start being aggressive, your next best bet is to be ready to remove your opponent’s minions. Lightning Bolt does a good job of getting rid of most targets such as Small-Time Buccaneer and Tunnel Trogg. Jade Claws also does a good job of controlling minions while also getting your Jade Golems started up.
Against Aggro decks like Shaman/Rogue/Warrior you’ll definitely want either Maelstrom Portal or Lightning Storm to handle the wave of small early minions. The deck has plenty of these board wipe spells so go ahead and use them early to take out 2-3 minions if you can.
Hex isn’t SUPER important but it’s very important to try and save one of these in your hand if you’re playing against Rogue. Edwin VanCleef is a popular card and has been getting huge thanks to Counterfeit Coin so having a Hex ready will counter that pretty hard and make the match much easier. If you’re not playing against Rogue, I wouldn’t worry about keeping this in your hand during the mulligan phase.
Matchups: Get Lucky
This deck isn’t made for good matchups. Against Aggro you’re going to rely on your board removal or else they will burn you down before you can even get a good Evolve combo off. Against Reno your Evolve combo is going to fall victim to board removal such as Dragonfire Potion or Kazakus potions. For those matchups you’ll need to play Nerubian Prophet or Thing from Below without Evolve to try and bait removal. There are people running this deck up in the Legend rankings but honestly, Evolve is all about luck and what you can get off of it.
Play your deck like an Aggro/Midrange Shaman and hide your key Evolve minions like Nerubian Prophet or Thing from Below until you’re ready to combo out and then surprise your opponent.
Conclusion: Fun but Frustrating
The thing you need to make sure you remember when playing this deck is that it is severely lacking in competitive play. If you really want to grind ranks you’re MUCH better off playing Aggro/Midrange Shaman or some other type of deck that is more consistent.
For me, this deck is all about a change of pace. I haven’t been playing much due to not enjoying the current Pirate meta. The Reno decks are fun but they’re so luck-based with their need to draw certain things or else the decks fall prey to Pirates. Between Pirates or Reno, I’ve just been bored of the meta and wanted something new to try out. At first I wanted to use this to grind ranks but it’s VERY inconsistent, one game I dropped Doppelgangster and Evolve only to turn 2 of them into Big-Time Racketeers. The key is to remember that this deck is about randomness and fun and not to worry about winning your matches. If you get a bad Evolve don’t blame yourself, it’s just bad RNG and it’s going to happen.
USE THIS AS A PALATE CLEANSER. Enjoy a little change from the Pirate/Reno meta and play something new, and when you get bored of Evolve go back to your Ranked decks and start climbing again.
I hope you all enjoyed this deck list. I’m currently on a hiatus from streaming since I’m moving soon and going through a lot of life changes. I won’t be boring you with my Twitch or my Twitter but I have a new article I’m posting up every 2 weeks that showcases some of the best Reddit Hearthstone clips that were posted during those 2 weeks so please go read those articles, they’re really fun to check out and you’ll learn a lot from other people’s mistakes and heroic moments. I have the “Best of Reddit Vol. 2” coming out sometime next week so keep an eye out for it and go back and check out the “Best of Reddit Vol. 1” to see what I mean. I will be doing those every 2 weeks so keep an eye out!
