Totem Goliath
Totem Goliath is a 5 Mana Cost Epic Shaman Minion Totem card from the Scholomance Academy set!
Card Text
Deathrattle: Summon all four basic Totems. Overload: (1)
Flavor Text
It was an art project, and nobody knew when to stop.- Mana Cost: 5
- Attack: 5
- Health: 5
- Crafting Cost: 400 / 1600 (Golden)
- Arcane Dust Gained: 100 / 400 (Golden)
- Rarity: Epic
- Class: Shaman
- Card Type: Minion
- Minion Type: Totem
- Set: Scholomance Academy
- Mechanics: Deathrattle, Summon
Honestly, this card is flashy as hell, but quite overrated. This card is one of the most interesting cards I’ve seen in a long time, but sadly I’ll have to give this one a 2.5/5.
It costs 5 mana and has zero impact on the board when it is played. No taunt, no rush, nothing. Basically this card is useless against aggro.
The deathrattle is super flashy, but in reality is way too slow. Shaman doesn’t have any deathrattle triggering cards, so you won’t be able to get your 4 basic totem value anytime soon. If you want your 4 basic totems, you’d have to trade this awkward 5-health minion into something so that it dies. Most players by turn 5 don’t have any minions on the board with 5+ attack for this guy to trade into, so you’d have an awkward 4/5 body on board for probably at least 2 turns.
Even assuming that you trigger the deathrattle, you’d have to follow it up with some big totem-buff plays like Totemic Might. Otherwise your 4 basic totems would get decimated in no time by some AoE clear, or get traded into by enemy minions.
This card is also hella vulnerable to silence or transform effects, given that it just sits around for a full turn not doing anything. Plus it cripples your next turn with its overload.
I’d also like to add that Totem Shaman is basically an aggro deck right now. Either you win by turn 5-7, or you don’t win at all. This card gives off a more midrange-y feel to the archetype, but I doubt this card alone can pull it off.
Dude it summons 4 tokens on a 4/5 body for a total of 5 mana. How is this “2.5” stars? You could buff the totem shaman or bloodlust them. Also you know exactly what you will be getting so that makes it possible to plan ahead how to use the totems to the fullest. Definitely not 2.5 stars! And yes you can silence it but it’s still a dangerous card. You could use your argument to argue that every single death rattle card is bad because of silence which is definitely not the case.
Buff them in totem shaman*
“The deathrattle is super flashy, but in reality is way too slow. Shaman doesn’t have any deathrattle triggering cards, so you won’t be able to get your 4 basic totem value anytime soon.”
Like I said, this card is way too slow. Look at a similar card called Eccentric Scribe – a strong 6/4 body that summoned 4 1/1 tokens upon death, for 6 mana. How much play does it see? Pretty much none. Why? The 6/4 doesn’t do anything the turn it is summoned, and neither do the 1/1s when they pop out of the 6/4.
This card is pretty similar. It’s a 4/5 body that summons 3 0/2 tokens and 1 1/1 token upon death. It does nothing on the turn you play it, and the 4 totems you get from the deathrattle also do nothing on the turn they pop out. It’s also not gonna see any play, much alike Eccentric Scribe.
So let’s say I play this dude on turn 5. On my opponent’s turn, they have the opportunity to silence or transform this big guy. Then on turn 6, I trade this measly 4 attack minion into something, hoping that it dies so that the totems pop out (if it doesn’t die, then your totem combo is delayed for ANOTHER turn). After the totems pop out, they have no immediate impact on the board. My opponent is free to clear them all with a simple AoE spell. FINALLY, on turn 7 (assuming everything has gone to plan), I can drop some token buffs on my totems like Totemic Might and Totemic Surge and attack. Which is not an impressive play at all by turn 7 – all I get are 3 2 attack totems and 1 3 attack totem.
So as you hopefully can see, Totem Goliath is simply too slow for standard. You need to wait at least 2 turns (and hope your opponent doesn’t counter this card with either a silence or an AoE) before the power of this card is fully realized. Which even then, is quite mediocre.
Also, this is NOT a 5 mana card; it’s a 5 mana card that also cripples your turn 6 with overload.
Eccentric Scribe and TOTEM GOLIATH are two completely different cards. This card is 1 mana cheaper gets you 4 different minions not 4 1/1 but a 1/1 and three 0/2 with different effects. Also the overload can be utilized in shaman with a variety of different cards you now also have lightning bloom which can cheat out multiple cards. Therefore I think this card is at least 3.5 stars and it will see some play. Sure not a game breaking card but still not trash either. Just seems like you really hate death rattle cards.
” Just seems like you really hate death rattle cards.”
LMAO, what are you saying? Stop putting words into my mouth that I never said. My point was that SLOW deathrattle cards that have no impact on the board when they are immediately played are weak by the standards of modern-day Hearthstone. By “no impact”, I mean that the deathrattle minions don’t have either taunt or rush. There are plenty of good deathrattle cards, like Convincing Infiltrator, Khartut Defender, Bone Wraith, Coilfang Warlord, Zixor, Scrapyard Colossus, etc.
If you look around at the current pool of cards in Hearthstone, the only deathrattle cards that see play are the ones with taunt or rush. The only exceptions to this rule are deathrattle cards that are cheap and not a high tempo loss, such as Serpent Egg, which when played in the right zoo decks can be triggered the next turn.
“Eccentric Scribe and TOTEM GOLIATH are two completely different cards. This card is 1 mana cheaper gets you 4 different minions not 4 1/1 but a 1/1 and three 0/2 with different effects.”
Woooowwwww, such a big difference. 5 mana with overload 2 is SOOOOOO much more better than 6 mana. And 4 1/1s is SOOOOOOOO much more different than a 1/1 and three 0/2s with different(mostly useless) effects. If you really think that it’s such a big difference, I don’t know what to say to you LOL.
“Also the overload can be utilized in shaman with a variety of different cards you now also have lightning bloom which can cheat out multiple cards. Therefore I think this card is at least 3.5 stars and it will see some play.”
Overload can be utilized? Sure, but the handful of overload-utilizing cards like Vessina and Cumulo Maximus see zero play. I doubt Totem Goliath will single handedly change that.
Anyways, nice talking to you. This discussion isn’t getting anywhere, and I think we’d be better off not replying to each other. Peace!
Take it easy dude. And yes you heard me those two cards are completely different cards. The 1/1’s on the Scribe have no effect they are just tokens the tokens on the goliath are totems so they each are unique to each other you get board heal, spell damage, a taunt and a 1/1 therefore it’s not even comparable. But I agree at one thing. This discussion is not getting anywhere.
Vastly underrated card. Definitely 4 stars
Solid support for totems, but will it be enough?
Unless we get more support for totem tribal this is not worth running anywhere
This is the card totem shaman and aggro shaman always dreamed of totem tag and board flooding power.
Not gonna Lie, thought this is ment for the Totem Meta with Totem Goliath, I’m still going to call it Evolving Goliath, becuase that’s all I really see with the Totems. Totems Need a Buff, and although have a 4/5 and than a 0/2 with both of them having Taunts is whatever, it help the fact that it has 2 Overload. I would say to MAYBE give it either 1 more health or even 2 more health but removing 1 attack, or making the Overload be 1 instead of 2. The Overload along with the stats can scare Shamans from using Totem Goliath, unless they are going for the obvious Evolivng Card one it dies.
Yes, the Totem Meta can be threatening themselves, but honestly, if Totem Goliath can’t make Totems (of all things) Meta, I don’t think anything else can for the rest of this expansion.
2 Stars. 3 Stars if I’m proven Wrong with the Totem Meta, and 3 Stars if it works and it’s becuase you evolve the Totems.
Actually, that’s not a bad idea to use this guy for evolve effects.
But sadly, this card’s effect is a deathrattle, and Shaman has pretty much zero deathrattle synergies right now. Before you could evolve your board of 2 mana totems, you’d have to trade this minion’s awkward 5 health into enemy minions so that it dies(on your next turn too, because this minion sadly doesn’t have rush). Which is a pretty tall task, given that most players don’t have any 5 attack minions on the board by turn 6.
Also, this card overloads you for two and basically cripples your next turn. Assuming that you’ve successfully found a 5 attack enemy minion to trade this guy into, you still wouldn’t even be able to evolve your totems. You’d have 4 mana to spend on turn 6 thanks to the overload, and you wouldn’t be able to play Boggspine Knuckles.
Oh yeah, if this was changed to Battlecry, this would have been 5 Stars immindetly, becuase then it would have been a No brainer. I think the Devs looked at that though, and they looked at Desert Hare, and they realized how stupidly broken, a “9 mana Weapons= + Minion Combo, that makes makes 5 minions evolve” really was.” The spike was just too much, so I think they had to change it back to Deathrattle but I still feel like the Overload is a bit much.
Totems are still the most boring mechanic in all of Hearthstone to me… I never get excited from these cards cause it’s a thing that has never worked despite them trying to make it work constantly.
1/5 A nice card to evolve into I guess…
Totems have been good many times in the past, as a result Flametongue has been nerf from 2 to 3 mana!
Totem shaman was really close to being viable last set. It could really strong with just a bit more support
I think it is a bit slow but the Totem tag opens a new door with buff spells and Axe! Scaring if this snowballs. Silence ir Devolve missiles are mandatory this expansion.
This + Totemic Reflection. Probably the best Totem Card ever! With this, Totem Shaman will probably become a serious Meta Deck! Now all we need is the Goku Version of Totems (Your Totems have +1/+1 for the rest of the game) and this is Tier 1 😀
Memes memes memes
Absolutely agree, this is crazy for totem Shaman. Really powerful.
Only card that can make WINDSHEAR STORMCALLER remotely interesting.
otherwise, yeah a shaman can do a lot with four totems.
Totem Shaman dies if he loses the board. Now he doesn’t. And those totems are ripe to be evolved or Vessina’d or Bloodlusted, depending on when this dies and where you are overload-wise. A+
You might as well play a 4 mana 4/5 yeti instead of this card, honestly. They both don’t have rush or taunt and therefore have no impact on the board when they are played. Your opponent would just ignore this minion and go face.
The deathrattle is pretty irrelevant honestly, given its delayed nature. Shaman has zero deathrattle synergies I can think of right now, so taking immediate advantage of its deathrattle is out of the question. You’d have to trade this minion’s awkward 5 health into a 5+ attack minion to make any use of it.
This card is also ripe for silence, transform or return to hand effects. Plus it overloads you for 2 mana and cripples your next turn.
Decent in totem shaman.