Hearthstone : Shaman Murloc Guide

I was saving my Goblins vs Gnomes packs I received from Arena rewards for a while, until I couldn’t hold back my anxiety anymore. Slammed them open… and a wild Neptulon appeared. Good thing I had previously enchanted close to every Murloc card in the game, so I could go all-out in creating a Shaman Murloc Deck. Not focused on being competitive or especially good, but fun at least.

Let’s take a brief look at some of the main powerhouses a Murloc deck holds. First off, the obvious eye-catcher is Neptulon. A 7/7 for 7 mana isn’t particularly amazing, but him giving you 4 Murlocs into your hand is that much better. Not to mention it’s a grab from all collectible Murlocs, including but not limited to Old Murk-Eye, Murloc Warleader, Siltfin Spiritwalker and Coldlight Seer. While the Overload (3) is a pretty hefty drawback, overcoming said overload means you have a hand full of Murlocs you can use to your advantage. And should you get a Coldlight Oracle, that’s a few extra cards in hand for the following turn.

Secondly, the aforementioned Murloc Warleader. A 3/3 for 3 mana isn’t special unless it packs a hidden punch. And Warleader does just that. For as long as he’s unsilenced on the field, he grants all other Murlocs +2/+1 to their stats. Imagine that with a field of, let’s say, a turn 1 Bluegill Warrior and turn 2 Murloc Tidehunter. That’s 11 damage on the board all of a sudden: nothing to scoff at. Especially since Hearthstone mechanics first deduct additional HP, so if something survives with 1HP and Warleader dies, they remain on the field with 1HP.

A hidden powerhouse for Murlocs is the Coldlight Seer. One of the Murlocs’ biggest drawback is their low HP. Swarming the field is easily countered by a Lightning Storm, Consecration, Holy Nova or anything of the sort. Coldlight Seer gives all other Murlocs an additional +2HP as his Battlecry, meaning a well-timed Seer (for example, dropping him on turn 4) means your minions are guarded by relative safety, especially if there’s also a Warleader on the field.

Old Murk-Eye is probably the strongest Murloc of them all. A late game sweep divinity, he gets Charge and an additional +1 ATK for each and every other Murloc on the field – this also includes your enemy’s Murlocs. Adding to that the ability for Shamans to add a bit of extra oomph to any monster through Rockbiter Weapon, Flametongue Totem and more oomphs through Windfury and Windspeaker, Murk-Eye is a force to be reckoned with.

My deck list is as follows:

Allow me to explain a few card choices:

• The Earth Shock is basically there to serve as a Legendary killer. I don’t want no enemy having a giant Tirion being all useful, that’s a no-go. Same goes for Edwin VanCleef and Malorne.
• Feral Spirit is there so that I have a little field presence, should I have a lackluster early hand. Wolves are pretty good units, despite their Overload (2).
• Coldlight Oracle, but just one, because the Siltfin Spiritwalker provides plenty of draw power, and a 2/2 for 3 mana isn’t impressive, not even when buffed.
• Dr. Boom serves as a Big Stompy Dude, providing a 7/7 body with two 1/1 Boombots that deal at least 1 damage each (unless Earth Shock’ed, but that’d be overkill).
• Earth Elemental provides a 7/8 body for 5 mana, with an Overload (3) as drawback. Thankfully, it should be able to survive that one turn, allowing a bigger follow-up play.
• Al’Akir serves the role of removal tool. His Divine Shield/Charge combination is a good one to remove pesky minions like Sen’jin Shieldmasta (with the aid of a Flametongue Totem), or hit face for 12 damage with a Rockbiter Weapon

A Few things to note

Obviously, snowballing is this deck’s strongest point. Getting a field full of Murlocs and supplementing them with an Oracle and a Warleader generally means you’ll be set for the remainder of the game, barring any mage shenanigans like double Blizzard or Cone of Cold, and stuff like that. Some of the Shaman cards tend to counter this in and of themselves, through their Overload, but these drawbacks are generally not quite so bad. After all, Murlocs are one of the cheapest archetypes in the game.

On the flip side, waveclear is a Murloc player’s worst enemy. Getting a field up, only to be shot down by a Fan of Knives or a Cone of Cold is a pain like no other, especially because those classes that already have the ability to waveclear have more than one card in their deck to do so. Another big weakness of Murlocs is big walls. Because Murlocs are weak alone, they tend to have low HP, so even when buffed, their HP isn’t all that, and even by buffing, it’s hard to overcome something as big as a Sunwalker or Tirion Fordring.

A few games with the deck, step by step:
I have a Grimscale Oracle, a Murloc Tidecaller and an Earth Elemental in my opening hand. I swap out the Oracle and Earth Elemental because they both serve other purposes, especially later on in the game. I draw into a Murloc Tidehunter on turn one, which sets up my Tidecaller nicely for turn 2. Another Tidecaller draw on turn 2 makes my field pretty full, and sets up for some nice plays. His summoned Master Swordsmith takes a few of my minions out, but double Coldlight Seer and a Warleader make sure my field is set up, nice and tanky. At turn 6, my field looks like this:

After that, my field is full enough to sweep him with a field full of buffed Murlocs. No Murk-Eye or class exclusives needed.
Next game, Shaman vs Priest. Warleader, Earth Elemental and Neptulon: I swap them all because I need early game. Get back a Puddlestomper, Seer, Flametongue and Lightning Storm. Turn two Puddlestomper goes out for board presence, and turn three is conservative: I use my Hero Power for a 1/1 Searing Totem. 4 mana goes to a Grimscale Oracle and a Seer, so my field looks pretty strong now. Earth Shock the just summoned Sludge Belcher, summon my Warleader and hit his face for 14 damage. Shadow Word: Death on my Seer and he puts his 3/8 Sludge Belcher into my Warleader: sad me.

Alas, mister priest, this is where it ends. With a double Flametongue Totem on my remaining board, I put everything on his face as the Puddlestomper takes home the MVP Trophy.
Murlocs are fun and fast, a bit like Zoolock (only not quite as annoying). They require enough skill to keep alive and you need to know what the enemy might throw your way if your board is all prepared for a good smacking. Know your opponent, know your mrghllghghllghg. That means "legend" in Murloc.