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Update: StrifeCro's Grand Tournament Midrange Totem Shaman

Posted by: EvidentPublished: August 26, 2015Updated: October 16, 2026Dust: Dust4,460Rating: 0.5/5 (423 votes)

Class: ShamanFormat: WildType: MidrangeStyle: LadderSeason: Season 17Player: StrifeCro

Shaman Cards (20)

Neutral Cards (10)

1
0
2
1
10
2
6
3
3
4
4
5
2
6
2
7+

Deck Description

StrifeCro is brewing, and his first deck is a Midrange Shaman with a totem focus. Some interesting cards have found their way into this list, such as: Maiden of the Lake, and Garrison Commander. The more standard cards from this deck that we've seen today are there as well: Totem Golem, Tuskarr Totemic, and Thunder Bluff Valiant. I'm curious how long cards like Totemic Might and Vitality Totem will stick around, but for now they're filling a spot.

Update: -1 Ancestral Knowledge, -1 Vitality Totem, -1 Mana Tide Totem, -2 Draenei Totemcarver, +1 Totemic Might, +2 Feral Spirit, +2 Piloted Shredder

Well, we saw cards like Maiden of the Lake and Garrison Commander quickly exit the deck. Piloted Shredder was too good to deny, and Feral Spirit enters the deck to stop that early aggression. I've seen people cutting down to one Thunder Bluff Valiant, but we'll see if StrifeCro keeps it at two.

62 Comments

  1. chemopaw

    I have only one garrison commander, what card can replace it?

    1. Evident

      I just updated the deck and he removed that card!

      1. chemopaw

        beautiful

  2. koalafishy

    I'm a bit of a noob and am still saving up for some pretty key cards, in this case Al'Akir and Dr boom. what would you recommend I replace them with while i save up

    1. jak_d_ripr

      Doomhammer can replace al'akir, but there's no replacement for Dr. Boom. Sorry, his ability is just too unique.

    2. Blacwhite6

      Ive seen some people use Sunwalker vs Dr.Boom i know it a weird swap but she can take those two hits and slow down the game a little

    3. Kappa

      Dr boom = War golem + 2x wisp ez replacement

    4. Jaygon

      Replaced Dr. Boom with Neptulon. might help. chance to get Old Murk-eye and Murloc Knight.

      I think it works cuz u can have your grll mrlll grlmllrr army

    5. Chinto

      Force-Tank MAX works for me in place of Dr. Boom. One more mana, but the 7-7 body with divine sheild makes it a decent threat.
      As for Al'Akir, I agree with Doomhammer.

  3. Zuljin

    Would Gadgetzan jouster work has a replacement for zombie chow ?

    1. AzaleaTown

      I wouldn't try it. Shaman is based off low mana creatures with high stats. However, the low mana effect is pretty poor combined with Jousting. Best 1 mana replacement is maybe a Lowly Squire. Could also use Annoy-o-Tron instead for early game.

    2. DOLO

      I think a sticky 1-drop such as argent squire would be the best replacement

  4. Grighten

    Great deck out vauling people.never has been so easy. 8/0 rank 13 and climbing

  5. Blacwhite6

    I dropped a hunted creeper for bloodmage Thalnos seems to be working for early removal or drop him then lightning storm for that +1 spell damg or +2 if i have Totem out too plus if he dies i get that all powerful draw, seem like a good idea to anyone else?

    1. Mark

      Yeah, I thought of that exact replacement too. Too often if I'm behind (and hence normally don't have a azure or other spell damage) I find the 2-3 damage isn't enough for board clear.
      I would probably switch these cards depending on the meta.

  6. Top44

    Don't have Al Akir, gonna try The Mistcaller instead

  7. Phil

    What should I replace al Amir with

    1. Phil

      Akir

    2. JonX

      It's impossible to replace a charge, divine shield, windfury, taunt. Just place another valued legendary like ragnanos, sylvanas, kelthuza or the new chaman legendary

  8. Argus

    any replace to Dr. Boom?

  9. feferedrose

    why not the new frost giant? maybe replacing a fire elemental

  10. LethalJoke

    Al'Akir can be replaced by Bloodlust for finisher / burst.

    Boom can MAYBE be replaced by Ragnaros?

  11. POM

    added MISTCALLER ,-1 AZURE DRAKE

  12. Valdac

    Would you try Gormok in this deck?

    It's not that difficult to get the battlecry (with the totems, the tuskarr, the creeper and the wolves) but maybe it's more complicated to do it on curve (turn 4)

  13. Kauk

    Right now it's worth to craft Al'Akir?

    1. Evident

      I would wait and see how good Shaman ends up being.

  14. allan

    Most definitely needs work i got wiped by decks easily this deck will never climb rank unless your a genius i virtually got beat by and soundly by old mage deck, priest deck, you name it and i still dont understand the card zombie chow hes all backwards kill only to heal again! the other thing is its a deck that takes forever only to lose most of the time

    1. Mustache

      You're not a face deck. Zombie Chows, Totem Golem, and Feral Spirit are all there to gain card advantage in the early game. You aim to trade for 2+ cards putting you at a favorable position later in the game by offering less cards to the bin than your opponent. This is a very grindy deck with some explosive end game. Because Al'Akir plus Rockbitter weapon or Flametounge Totem can take a huge chunk of life in the end game it's okay for you to leave your opponent at 30 for longer than you would with other decks.

      It has some solid tools in Zombie Chow, Feral Spirit and Defender of Argus against Face Hunter but I still feel like it's a horrid match up for this deck. This is my favorite iteration of this deck so far. It's less gimmicky than what we've seen so far.

    2. Someone

      You're not playing it right then. This deck is VERY good when used properly.

      Zombie Chow is not for dealing damage to your opponent, it's for killing their early minions. That's what this deck is about, making good trades. If you just try to hit face all the time, you're going to lose.

  15. wulfsok

    Imo I run shaman a lot better with token play pinging off of the inspire. The 3/3 that inspires silver hand recruits comes to mind, the 1 drop oozes, haunted creepers etc. Once the curve hits midge shredders aren't as useful to me. They simply cost too much when I'm pumping totems onto the board. For my win condition in run 2 bloodlusts, as well as the 4/4 that inspires +2+2 and the (imo) op af kodorider. You can do cool zoo strategies with the flametongue totems too, like having the silver hand recruits to the left, the totems to the right, and you can out value you opponent in trades by running the zoo train like with dire wolf (except this one buffs by 2). Also muklas champion is a very real thing and even running just one can give me surprise lethal or even just amazing reach. I don't see many posted totem token decks which is surprising because it's so strong. Also Dr boom actually doesn't work in the deck because of the curve... I'd rather get a muklas champion out then hero power for more value. Just keep those minions stuck to the board, count your lethal with bloodlusts and have fun! :)

  16. Hassy

    what can i change out zombie chow whit? hate that card!!!!

    1. Nan3k

      You can try out Gadgetzan Jouster, but it's hard to say whether it will be a better option.

  17. whatever

    Hello, I just wanted to say I really like this deck (the pre update version with totem carver)
    I played from rank 11 to rank 5 with about 66% WR.
    I think the Shredder is inferior than the totem carver
    the vit Totem was often not used but not a lot rush decks were met.
    I don't have zombie chow and used instead 1 annoy o tron and 1 jouster (1mana)

  18. Chtulu

    I get rekt by paladins

  19. ThunderUp

    I've left out the legendaries for sea giant as tuskar and feral provide fast boards. And then I play 1 windfury.

  20. StaticBanana

    Replacement for Zombie Chow?

    1. Marvin

      Try Gadgetzan Jouster, if you have luck ;)

  21. skeyrd

    <3 totemic might, good addition to the deck IMO i think it will stick. makes a good board almost an impossible board to remove. great card against pallys

  22. FunnyBunny

    what can i put instead of the naxx cards?

  23. LighterThief

    >2015, TGT release
    >still asking how to play Zombie Chow
    >still asking for Dr. Balance replacement

    Cmon people.

  24. Flames

    Hi, I replaced the zombie chow for two Knife Jugglers, the value you get from this card is incredible. It works on the haunted creeper's deathrattle, it works on the shredder's deathrattle, on the tuskar totemic battlecry... plus it works with your hero power! Knife Juggler is a MUST in this deck!!!!!

    1. elmouseyo

      Good call mate! Works much better than the Zombie Chow.

      1. ViatheVoid

        Lol no.. no it doesn't. Knife Juggler gives the aggro opponent 1 free turn being a 2 drop. Seeing as you will play the juggler on turn 2, they will have an answer to it, most probably already on the board. With this deck, you ideal turn 2 play is play a Totem, which knife juggler gets in the way of. You can't really compare Chow and Juggler at all in this deck.

    2. Jaygon

      GG!

  25. phil

    is ragnaros a good al-akir replacement??

  26. FuDaFox

    Swap one Feral Spirit for Manatide Totem? Is it Viable?

  27. soulciak

    This deck is no good against warlocks. Any suggestions to deal with their control?

  28. Dancry

    I m trying atm this deck with 2 mukla champions, some times i stack with thunderbuff and u can see a overbuffed board, slow combo, but strong board.

  29. soulciak

    this deck is absolutely horrendous. no good against control warriors, warriors have wayyyyy to much remove and way too much shield by the time you get anything on the board. IDK how this deck has a +127 rating, are you guys playing 3 year olds?

    1. Mystik

      Seriously, how often do you meet warriors? After rank 19, warriors basically stop existing. Besides, all decks that focus on getting a lot of minions on the field get slaughtered by Warriors and Warlocks.

  30. MrHoernchen

    Hey guys, what do you think is a good substitution for the Feral Spirits?

  31. PulcoGrenade

    I don't understand people who are whining cause they lose against warrior/warlock. A deck has its strengths and it's weaknesses. You can't have a deck winning against everything.
    For the others who are always losing, maybe it's not the deck you should blame. Many people win their games with it (including me).
    Mukla champion is a good card in this deck but make the deck a bit slower.
    Anyway, good deck that I modified a bit.
    Have fun :)

  32. Hearthstone dennis

    Swap Al'akir for Mistlord,..too buff all your low and midrange cards works terrific for double and triple drops mid-late game

    Too see my edit of this deck in action,....(All gold cards BTW) check out my youtube vids :)

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8MCwezexjBCBtCD4y4sPKA

    1. Hearthstone dennis

      P.S I Swapped Zombie chow,..for flame juggler

  33. Flurpes

    Really good deck! Thanks!

  34. Jon the Scot

    Been playing this deck without al akir and using a second argent commander, really handy replacement against aggro decks

  35. YouKnowWho

    I don't have neither zombie chow nor haunted creeper .
    Which 4 cards you recommend to put in this deck instead of them ?

    1. Evident

      Two Argent Squire and Knife Juggler could work.

  36. Red Scarf Warrior

    What to replace Dr. balance ??!!

    1. Evident

      Just FYI this is a pretty old deck. Ragnaros, Sylvanas, or Loatheb.

      1. Red Scarf Warrior

        Thanks bro!

  37. Alvex

    What about replacing Zombie Chow with Tunnel Trogg? You can still play it first turn, and if you end up playing a Totem Golem second turn then the Tunnel Trogg ends up a 2/3 like Zombie Chow without healing your opponent when it dies. Also there is a lot of other overload cards to empower Tunnel Trogg in this deck.

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