There's been a lot of talk about [Grand Crusader] for New Core, but another card that has been gaining attention is [Dagax the Butcher] from Twilight of the Dragons.

Now, I'll be honest. I hate this card. It is everything I stand against. Whereas I love cards catered to slower, more grindy games such as [Etched Dragonbone Girdle], I typically shy away from cards that reward all-in play. It mirrors Ball Lightning from Magic, another card that I had a personal distaste for as it was only good at one thing: dealing damage. Actually, it was very good at doing damage if the opponent was going to lose to practically any other burn spell you could have, or very good at getting blown up by some cheap removal spell which then in turn stole any sort of momentum you had going early on. That being said, this is the WoW TCG, and I have to give credit to the burn effects in this game. The [Storm Shocks]. The [Onnekra Bloodfang]s. They actually do serve a purpose in this game.

My biggest complaint to him has typically been that he is much more unexciting on the draw when the decks he goes into are already very good when they are going first. But despite all of that, it is hard to ignore where there are synergies. I ignored one already in my earlier [Grand Crusader] article as he does play well with [Bottled Light], primarily due to me not liking his flexibility but also because there was a lack of space in the deck. Also, my build is trying to take a controlling approach to [Sinestra] with the bonus of being able to run over someone on the play.

However, another synergy that is hard to ignore is Dagax with [Akumo of Thunderbluff]. I excluded the Horde “two drop” from my Shaman variants for a while, but ultimately warmed up to him. And, at the moment, I wouldn't remove him from the deck either.

The Shaman was a fringe deck in Block Constructed that abused multiple sources of early Horde fire damage to benefit from rewards like [Gerwixicks] (he's still absurd, by the way) and [Blazing Elemental Totem]. It was very good on the play, but sometimes could stumble over itself, and it was particularly bad against Blue Hunter as a lot of its allies were immediately blown away by a [Boomer]. The deck picked up a couple of new tools in Throne of the Tides. I've tried a couple of variants, which I'll talk a little more about in a few. For now, here is what I am currently working with.

Hero: [Akumo of Thunderbluff]

Allies: 40

4 [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]

4 [Sava'gin the Reckless]

4 [Waz'luk]

4 [Rosalyne von Erantor]

2 [Onnekra Bloodfang]

4 [Gerwixicks]

4 [Abysswalker Rakax]

4 [Lordann the Bloodreaver]

3 [Dagax the Butcher]

4 [Emerald Tree Warder]

3 [Saurfang the Younger, Kor'kron Warlord]

Abilities: 12

4 [Blazing Elemental Totem]

3 [Ancestral Purge]

3 [Ancestral Recovery]

2 [Spiritual Return]

Locations: 4

4 [Kor'kron Vanguard]

Quests: 4

4 [Seeds of their Demise]

The Akumo/Dagax synergy is some big reach, and can kill heroes out of nowhere. In general, Akumo's flip gets a lot better too when combined with [Kor'kron Vanguard], as you get just a little bit more mileage out of your location.

Funny enough, this deck started out as a [Devout Aurastone Hammer] deck that ran four copies of [Mazu'kon] and four copies of [Zudzo, Herald of the Elements]. While that deck was sweet when you got your early fatties, it was really bad when you didn't, and was even worse on the draw, so I scrapped it and moved towards the fire allies.

[Erunak Stonespeaker] stood out as a combo with [Blazing Elemental Totem], as if they didn't kill your turn four totem, then you could play Erunak and hit them for 20 damage. This was usually enough to win the game, except for one thing: this is a magical Christmasland dream scenario. Your [Blazing Elemental Totem] is a lightning rod for...well, everything, once it is in play. And when you didn't have your totem active, Erunak was really mediocre. He also paled in comparison to options like [Mazu'kon], who also ended up getting the cut despite being amazing with [Spiritual Return].

As [Kor'kron Vanguard] was a natural inclusion as my deck is both aggressive and also needed some early game against opposing ally decks and [Twilight Citadel]s, Saurfang the Younger was an auto-include. In actuality, he was the only late game fatty that I wanted, as my curve got too top-heavy by moving towards allies like [Mazu'kon]. It needed more early game plays, or else it was too easy to get ran over by other aggro decks in the format. Situational cards like [Spark of Life], which is already vulnerable due to the need for ability removal in New Core, also got the cut after a few games.

In the end, the deck moved away from some newer ground with cards like [Spark of Life] and [Erunak Stonespeaker], and moved instead towards its Block roots. That included Dagax and [Ancestral Recovery], a block combination that kept the Shaman deck gassed up with ways to finish the opponent off. It also worked nicely with [Lordann the Bloodreaver], as you could play the protector early on against aggro and then bring it back to your hand later when it could become a 5/6 for two resources.

The deck, as it stands, is pretty straight-forward. Play fire allies and attack with them. Later in the game, maximize the use of your flip or curve to Saurfang. Your game plan changes a little to accommodate each matchup as well. Against [Grand Crusader] decks on the play, you will want to trade with their early guys, and a [Kor'kron Vanguard] is particularly important at aiding with this (be wary of falling into range of a Dagax/Bottle combo). [Gerwixicks] is also important for allowing you to commit to the field while pressuring their hero. On the draw, you are going to be keeping any hand with [Ancestral Purge] as you will not be able to beat [Grand Crusader] on the draw if they have their iconic ongoing on turn three. On the bright side? If you have the Purge, you probably win as they'll be losing a good chunk of their field in the exchange.

Be careful of controlling Paladin decks masquerading as [Grand Crusader] aggro decks on the draw, and be ready to start rowing your anti-aggro cards once you feel out your matchup. If you are playing conservatively, and they drop something like a [Corrupted Egg Shell], then things are going to get very difficult for you. If you expect this to become a popular strategy, then consider some copies of [Abomination Knuckles] in your deck as they answer both the shell and their [Etched Dragonbone Girdle]. It's also not terrible at letting you take out slightly larger allies with [Kor'kron Vanguard] in other matchups as well.

[Lordann the Bloodreaver] is awesome against aggressive decks. But don't think that he is the stones in control matchups. If your opponents are on a slower game-plan, then row him. He won't be growing to his Superman size in those matchups, and his Protector power is worthless in those matchups.

[Emerald Tree Warder] is something I've been fitting into more decks with [Seeds of their Demise], mainly because the non-plate draw power is fairly weak and a deck like this needs some sort of refueling power. Consider rowing cards you don't need in their specific matchups before Stashing those Sava'gins and Cairnes if you know that you are going to capitalize on Tree Warder's draw power. Also, make sure to save your copies of Seeds if you have Tree Warder for turn three or turn four.

And then, of course, there is Dagax. Four copies felt like too many, as you really don't want to play him early. Three feels fine as you don't mind having one against some decks early, and ideally you want to draw more copies later rather than risk having a hand clogged with the Ball Lightning ally. He can be really good, especially with your flip, or really poor. He's usually better later, and much worse early on. Don't be afraid to row him. I constantly do. But he is definitely something you want when your opponent is back-peddling or if they're close to death but also close to stabilizing on the board.

Shaman can go in a couple of directions, based on the meta. I do, however, feel that the Horde is the faction of choice for this class. Whether you go in the direction of fatties or in the direction of all-out aggro, the class has a couple of answers to the big threats in the format. Be wary though, as each version has their strengths and weaknesses. This particular build is weak to [Boomer], much like the all-in Block deck was. The slower more Aurastone Hammer focused variants on Shaman are weaker to all-in decks and the more aggressive [Grand Crusader] builds.

No matter which route you go, be sure to know your deck's in and outs. And be ready to change builds if your metagame is hostile to one specific flavor of Shaman.

I'll have two more posting before Worlds. Both are cloth decks. Do they have potential in the format? Maybe. Check back later this week and next week to see them.

-Mike