Wild Control Shaman deck list guide - Un'Goro

Wild Control Shaman is a Hearthstone deck that seeks to play a hard control game in the early stages of each match before fielding a disgusting number of sticky minions from the mid-game onwards. Regardless of whether you're facing another control player or an aggro opponent, you have the tools required to deal with just about any threat, and it's a top-tier Wild deck in the current meta.

In our guide to playing this archetype, we've highlighted one of the most popular deck lists being used to climb the Wild ranks right now. We've also got some important tips for Mulliganing the deck correctly, which you should study carefully as losing the early-game can be disastrous for Control Shaman. Finally we've got some general strategy advice for dealing with different opponent types, followed by a card by card teardown of all the combos.

If you've any questions about playing this kind of deck, let us know in the comments and we'll try to answer them as best we can. There are lots of different versions of this deck in use and so we'd love to know what you're finding success with yourself.

BREAKING NEWS! A new expansion is coming! Check out our Frozen Throne guide for all the latest information.

Wild Control Shaman deck list and strategy - Un'Goro

As with all Wild deck lists there are quite a few versions of Control Shaman out there, but this one created by Sipiwi94 is being highlighted on just about every deck resource site right now. It's the best place to start your journey with this archetype in our opinion:

Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game.

AAEBAaoIBrkNgg6iEOCsAoW4Aqa8AgyUA/UE/gWyBvUIgQ6RDtITtBSgtgL2vQLHwQIA

Against aggro opponents your main objective is to stop them from building up an army of minions that will gradually wear down your health total. Lightning Storm is an obvious help here, as is Maelstrom Portal, although it's vital you extract as much value as you can from both of these spells without risking too much of your health pool. You should dominate the mid and late-game though, so if you can get there in one piece and start dropping cards like Sludge Belcher, you're halfway home.

In control match-ups you can focus more on developing your hand in the early-game before beginning the process of slowly fielding your Deathrattle minions. These will of course feed a Turn 10 N'Zoth, the Corruptor tidily, but just be mindful of the AOE clear options your opponent may still have in their possession after you've done so. You really need to run down their resources here, and exhaust all of their options before making your big late-game play. Gather together all of your removal options and use them judiciously throughout the match.

(For the Standard version of this deck, make sure you take a look at our Control Jade Shaman deck list guide)

Wild Control Shaman Mulligan guide - Un'Goro

Against aggressive opponents you need fast board-clear answers. Lightning Storm represents a very cost-effective way of dealing with the meatiest aggro decks, but a Devolve / Maelstrom Portal combo can almost certainly eliminate even an out-of-control push. All three of these cards are worthy keeps in every aggro match-up as a result. Always remember that you are playing the long game here, so draw out your opponent's threats and then punish them hard for over-extending.

You need lots of answers when you're playing against slower opponents, which means you want card draw and extra time through hard removal above all else. Prioritise keeping Hex to deal with potentially showstopping threats, and Ancestral Knowledge / Far Sight to start building up a toolbox of answers. Your strength is in the late-game, but you need to shut down the most dangerous threats early and keep the playing-field even as best you can.

More popular guides:

• 1. Wild Aggro Shaman - Wild Aggro Shaman deck list guide
• 2. Wild Control Shaman - Wild Control Shaman deck list guide
• 3. Wild Midrange Shaman - Wild Midrange Shaman deck list guide
• 4. Wild Murloc Shaman - Wild Murloc Shaman deck list guide
• 5. Wild Token Shaman - Wild Token Shaman deck list guide
• 6. Best Wild decks - The best Wild Hearthstone decks
• 7. Best Standard decks - The best Standard Hearthstone decks
• 8. Tier List - Deck Tier List
• 9. Arena guide - Arena guide

Wild Control Shaman tips, combos and synergies - Un'Goro

Here are the biggest combos that you need to be aware of when playing this particular version of Wild Control Shaman:

- As mentioned earlier in the strategy section, one of your most powerful clears combines Devolve with Maelstrom. Against aggressive opponents you'll almost always clear down the threat they've been building up with this combo.

- N'Zoth, the Corruptor will fill the remaining space on your side of the board with a random selection of friendly Deathrattle minions that died earlier on in the match. Be wary of any remaining board clears that your opponent might still have.

- If you can drop Ancestral Spirit onto White Eyes, you'll be able to build a fantastic back-up pool of 10/10 minions which will only become more valuable as the late stage of the game wears on.

- Likewise, Ancestral Spirit applied to Kel'Thuzad can be a show-stopping move, especially on a busy board. If they can't eliminate this summoning creature, they're going to struggle to overcome whatever board you've managed to establish.

- Sylvanas Windrunner can be used to grab a preferred minion from the other side of the board if you do some light trading first to narrow down the options. This can be more art than science on a busy board, but it's worth trying to steer the odds in your favour before sacrificing this minion. Reincarnate has obvious synergy here.

- Reincarnate can also be used to trigger the Deathrattle effect of any cards in this category, before reestablishing the target minion in question. Every use of this card is situational and so you'll need to choose a preferential target based on the particular circumstances you find yourself in.

- It's not a combo as such, but Healing Wave restores much more Health if the minion you draw for comparison is bigger than the opponent's.

- If you're unfamiliar with the Overload penalty in Hearthstone, we'll wrap things up with a very quick explainer. This mechanic allows you to play unusually powerful cards at the cost of a certain number of Mana Crystals that you'd otherwise be able to use on your next turn. The penalty only lasts one turn.