Nature Shaman - The Budget Deck that Can Kill Your Opponent in One Turn!

Whizbang's Workshop is officially among us! This set brought us 145 new cards, and, naturally, the entire meta changed, which opened up space for other decks.

A deck that has become very popular after the first week of the new set is Nature Shaman, which is extremely cheap. It brings only one legendary card, which in turn is uncraftable - this means you already have it, and you won't have to spend 1600 Arcane Dust to get it.

Find out more about this list and learn how to play Nature Shaman!

Out of the 30 cards in this list, 28 only cost one or two mana, but it isn't necessarily an aggro deck, considering its goal isn't to fill your board with units or play spells as much as you can. Personally, I consider it a combo deck because you need to be patient and wait until the right time to, maybe, defeat your opponent on a single attack turn.

How the Combo Works

Prepare your hand with as many cards as you can, and, one turn before you play your combo, play Flash of Lightning, to discount the cost of your Nature spells. Try to save the spells in your hand because they'll be your main source of damage.

To start your combo, play the minions that give you Magic Damage, such as Novice Zapper, Kobold Geomancer, or Bloodmage Thalnos. Afterward, take advantage of how cheap your spells are to deal direct damage to your opponent.

As your final action, play your spells, spending, most times, zero mana, to deal a lot of damage. Lightning Bolt, Thrall's Gift, and Pop-Up Book will be your main spells.

Crash of Thunder will become cheaper and cheaper any time you cast a spell on that turn, and it is a great way to either defeat your opponent, or clear their board.

Check out the damage this deck can deal on a single turn. In this match, I was on turn 6 with a hand that could be better, and, even then, I practically won on a single turn.

Minions

Basically, all our minions do one of these three things: give us Magic Damage, create spells, or draw cards.

Initially, the minions we'll want are the ones that bring us more resources. We'll start with the ones that create spells: Miracle Salesman, Flowrider, Dryscale Deputy, and Wandmaker.

Gold Panner and Needlerock Totem are excellent to draw us cards; Gold Panner also grants you armor, which will help you tank more turns.

Our sources of Magic Damage are Novice Zapper, Kobold Geomancer, and Bloodmage Thalnos. This last card will also draw us other cards.

Spells

Our main damage spells are Pop-Up Book, Lightning Bolt, and Crash of Thunder; they are the ones that can defeat your opponent on a single combo turn.

Crash of Thunder can also be useful in other turns to clear the enemy board and handle their pressure. However, keep in mind that its cost will go down any time you use a spell on that turn, so, when you're playing your combo, you'll certainly be able to play it for one or zero mana.

If these are not enough, use Thrall's Gift to discover a Bloodlust if you have many minions ready to attack, or Lightning Storm for removal. So, if you have countless minions that are ready to attack, you can get a victory by attacking with them. Another way to get resources is Lightning Reflexes.

Finally, the card that allows us to play several spells as part of our combo is Flash of Lightning. Use it one turn before playing the actual combo to lower the cost of your Nature spells.

Weapons

Lastly, this deck brings a single copy of Spirit Claws. For just one mana, it can deal three damage during three turns if you have Magic Damage.

In general, your starting hand should have minions that either draw or create cards. The ideal 1-cost is Miracle Salesman, and, on later turns, I highly recommend Needlerock Totem, Dryscale Deputy, and Wandmaker.

Looking for minions that have Magic Damage isn't interesting in our Mulligan because they'll only be useful in the combo we'll play after five or six turns. Units that draw cards will help you hoard spells in your hand.

Even though you'll only play it one turn before your combo, Flash of Lightning is essential, and I recommend you keep it in your starting hand.

Another excellent option for the earlier turns is Spirit Claws: you'll only use its attack during your combo turns, but it is interesting to already have it on your board.

Let's see how this deck performs against certain archetypes, and how to win these matches.

How to Play Against Aggro

We have an easier job against this type of deck. Aggressive players want to fill the board with minions that cost very little mana to pressure more and more every round and win. Having Crash of Thunder in hand will be extremely useful to deal with these opponents.

Having minions on your side of the board will also be important to survive until you play your combo. Your ideal hand against this style is Miracle Salesman, Dryscale Deputy (or Wandmaker), and Crash of Thunder.

I don't recommend you spend your single damage spells, like Lightning Bolt, to deal with their board because they're your win condition.

How to Play Against Control Decks

Slow lists are more challenging for Nature Shaman. They usually focus on stalling the game (be it by gaining more HP or removing enemies) until they reach later turns, when they'll have huge minions, and we won't be able to defeat them.

Control decks that focus on destroying your minions will be easier to face. Keep drawing cards and wait until you feel comfortable to play your combo, preferably when you can calculate your actions to insta kill your opponent.

I'll just give you this one suggestion: don't play your minions with Magical Damage before the proper time because they'll probably be removed, and you'll lose a big chunk of your damage.

As for decks that focus on healing or armor, these are incredibly difficult matches. I can say for certain that, based on my experience, Warrior Control was the hardest matchup, and I really don't see how to win against this deck.

In three or four turns, they can get more than 10 armor, which makes it incredibly hard for us to insta kill them.

For a cheap deck, full of common cards, Nature Shaman really exceeds expectations. This list is competitive and relatively easy to pilot. I highly recommend this deck for new players who might not have that many cards in their collection and want to play ranked queues, and also for the veteran players who want a deck that is different and wins games with a 1-round combo.

I hope you liked this article! Likewise, I'll be available in the comment section if you have any questions or suggestions.

See you next time!