With the Un’goro meta being one of the most diverse metas Hearthstone has ever seen, there are plenty of decks out there that offer the perfect mix of fun and highly competitive winrates. I have been toying around with this Evolve Shaman decklist that Hotform used on stream and hit Legend with it on the Europe server. The deck is quite fun to play and it has plenty of removals and early game to ensure the deck matches up to the fastest decks out there and beats them in the value game quite consistently. The deck has been doing quite well against aggressive decks and slow decks alike and packs quite a bit of punch.
Card Choices
Evolve: Ideally you want to land Evolve on your Dopplegangster for generating three 6-mana minions in one turn. You also have good targets like Stonehill Defender, big Jade Golems and Thing from Below to Evolve. You do not want to use Evolve when there are too many totems on board as you run the risk of pulling a Doomsayer or Wild Pyromancer which might wipe your own board. Evolve can also be used in emergency situations against aggressive decks to ideally generate taunt minions that might block lethal and give you a chance to survive.
Fire Fly: One of the best early game minions to come out in Journey to Un’goro, the card can help you contest against aggro decks quite well with plenty of aggressive decks running minions that have 1 HP. It is also a very good Flametongue Totem target and helps you trade against bigger minions very handily.
Flametongue Totem: One of Shaman’s strongest class cards, it allows you to buff up your minions and trade better. Flametongue Totem is particularly good with cheap minions in the early game like your small Jade Golems or Fire Fly/Flame Elemental. It can get multiple turns of value when hidden behind taunt minions.
Jade Claws: A very good early game weapon to deal with your opponent’s early game and it also has Jade Golem synergy that is present in the deck with various other Jade Golem cards.
AoE package: Maelstrom Portal, Lightning Storm and Volcano make it into the deck allowing you to always contest the board with a substantial amount of AoE spells. With several decks in the current meta seeking to flood the board, AoE spells are very powerful in the current meta.
You can also tech in a copy of Devolve into the deck if you face a lot of Murloc Paladin or Aggro Druid as the card can singlehandedly shut down their buffs and Devolve is particularly good against Living Mana and can win you games if you follow up with a board clear.
Hex: Hex is one of the best single target removals in the game and it is very powerful in the current meta with several decks running buffs and heavily stated minions. With plenty of high priority targets being run in almost every deck, we definitely want to include two copies of the card.
Mana Tide Totem: When placed behind a taunt it can offer immense value and if you draw at least 2 cards off one of your Mana Tide Totems it is good enough value. It also has synergy with Thing From Below and helps lower the cost of the card.
Spirit Echo: Spirit Echo is a very interesting addition to the deck and it is best used on high value targets like Thing From Below or on your evolved minions to get them back for additional value. Landing the spell on at least two decent minions is good enough value from the card as it essentially allows you to draw 2 cards for 3 mana, which is as good as an Arcane Intellect; but you get to choose which cards you get back.
Stonehill Defender: While the card has been doing the rounds in Taunt Warrior and Murloc Paladin, it is very good in Shaman as well and once you check out the taunt options Shaman has access to in its class set you will be pleasantly surprised. With high value cards like Thing From Below, Earth Elemental, White Eyes and Al’Akir The Windlord, you can pull out some high value cards and the class drop rate bonus makes the card particularly good in the deck.
Jade Lightning: A very good spot removal and Jade Golem synergy card packed into one. It is a solid card all around and it’s one of the few damage spells that Shaman has access to which does not have an Overload cost, allowing you to curve out your turns perfectly.
Master of Evolution: Alongside 2 copies of Evolve we also have Master of Evolution in the deck for upgrading our minions. Stonehill Defender, big jade golems and Thing From Below are great targets to evolve and it can lead to some crazy RNG-riddled turns that swing the game in your favor.
Dopplegangster: You ideally want to save your Dopplegangsters for Evolve as it allows you to summon three 6 cost minions for 6 mana, which is really great! You can also use it with Spirit Echo and have a bunch of Dopplegangsters to play for board presence and keep pushing in some chip damage.
Aya Blackpaw: A card you want to run in any Jade deck and being able to pump out three bodies for the cost of one card is quite good. We do not run too many Jade cards in the deck but they’re enough to push out some substantial board presence in the mid to lategame.
Thing From Below: A prime target for evolving and a solid card overall nonetheless against aggressive decks. Being able to push it out for a discounted cost against aggressive decks can help you trade against multiple small minions and prevent a lot of face damage.
Mulligan
Against Aggro
- Fire Fly
- Flametongue Totem (With Fire Fly)
- Maelstrom Portal
- Jade Claws
- Lightning Storm (against Aggro Druid, Paladin and Zoo)
- Stonehill Defender
Against Control
- Fire Fly
- Mana Tide Totem
- Dopplegangster + Evolve
- Jade Claws
- Stonehill Defender
How To Play
Ideally you want your removals and early game to contest the board as you draw into your swing turns with Evolve or Master of Evolution. Against slower decks you can easily beat them in the value game with Dopplegangster and Evolve along with Jade Golem synergy that just keeps on spiraling. You also have access to a bunch of early game AoEs and removals to fight against aggro decks and once you take care of their early game you can easily out-value them on board control.
Conclusion
Evolve Shaman is a fun deck to climb with at the moment and it has been doing quite well in the current meta with a healthy winrate against most decks right now. Do try out the deck and let us know how it works out for you on the Standard ladder!
