Evolve Shaman deck list guide - Darkmoon Faire - Hearthstone (December 2020)
Our guide to playing the new take on Evolve Shaman in the Darkmoon Faire era.
Evolve Shaman is far from being a new deck archetype in Hearthstone, but it's been out of the meta for a while with few new additions to the archetype.
Evolve is finally back though, and about time too. The Darkmoon Faire expansion has given us enough to make playing an evolve deck worth it, with cards .
To get you started we've got an overview of the deck itself, detailed insight into how to actually play it, and Mulligan advice to help you pick your starting hand. We've also got a look at all the combos contained in this deck, and some final thoughts on card choices and possible substitutions.
Evolve Shaman deck list - Darkmoon Faire
| Shaman | Neutral |
|---|---|
| 2 x Mutate | 2 x Wandmaker |
| 2 x Revolve | 2 x Desert Hare |
| 2 x Cagematch Custodian | 2 x Hoard Pillager |
| 2 x Bogstrok Clacker | 2 x Dread Corsair |
| 2 x Far Sight | 2 x Escaped Manasaber |
| 2 x Pit Master | 2 x Derailed Coaster |
| 2 x Boggspine Knuckles | 2 x Faceless Corruptor |
| 2 x Mogu Fleshshaper |
Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game.
Deck Import ID: AAECAaoIAA+yBu4GtJcD1KUD2KkD6LADgrEDhLYD3bgD4bgD/tED3NsDpt4Dqd4Dqt4DAA==
More Shaman guides:
- 1. Best Budget Decks - Hearthstone: Best Budget Decks for Ashes of Outland
- 2. Tier List - Hearthstone deck tier list (Ashes of Outland)
- 3. Galakrond Shaman - Galakrond Shaman deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
- 4. Murloc Shaman - Murloc Shaman deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
- 5. Big Shaman - Big Shaman deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
- 6. Aggro Overload Shaman - Aggro Overload Shaman deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
- 7. Quest Shaman - Quest Shaman deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
General strategy
The strength of Evolve Shaman lies in getting minions on board and bumping their stats up to far higher than they should be. Cards with strong Battlecries and low stats are great here, such as Desert Hare, as well as cards whose cost can be reduced, like Mogu Fleshshaper.
This deck relies on highrolling a little bit with your evolves, but the cards you have are designed to maximise your chances of getting powerful random effects.
Early game: You’ll have to use things like Cagematch Custodian, Wandmaker, and your Hero Power to contest the board early. Thankfully, these two minions will give you resources for later on, including your Boggspine Knuckles, as well as 1-cost Shaman spells which can be extremely helpful early on. Think Devolving Missiles, Earth Shock, or Frost Shock - these ones can get you out of a hell of a jam.
Mid game: If the enemy is building a strong board, you might have to chuck on a Mogu Fleshshaper regardless of evolution ability (although playing it for cheap and using Mutate on it can give you something tasty and big, like a Colossus of the Moon or Living Monument. Against aggro though, you’ll have to hold onto your health before you die - that’s your primary focus.
Late game: When you have the chance, get Boggspine Knuckles in your hand. With this thing, you get two Evolve effects, and you can also play out Dread Corsair for 0 mana to give you a free 5-drop after attacking. Desert Hare is another really good option for this card, as it turns three 1/1 minions into a bunch of random 4-drops (pretty much a guaranteed significant boost).
From here, you just want to be going face. Restore your Boggspine Knuckles with Hoard Pillager, Rush in and clear enemies, then evolve your Faceless Corruptor, and don’t forget you can use Revolve if you want to get rid of a big ol’ enemy Taunt or something they’ve buffed up. It’s also a potential final gambit if you just need a minion with Charge to win.
Token Shaman Mulligan guide
These are some of the cards you’ll want to prioritise in your mulligan when playing Token Shaman:
- 1. Cagematch Custodian: Pulls your Boggspine Knuckles from your deck, and trades decently into many early minions.
- 2. Desert Hare: Great for evolving early, and also solid for contesting the board against aggro.
- 3. Boggspine Knuckles: Yup, this card is so powerful you want to make 100% sure you have it on turn 5.
Token Shaman tips, combos and synergies
Even if you played a great deal of Token Shaman in the past, you'll want to re-familiarise yourself with all of the new and old combos. Whenever we update our recommended deck list we'll also make sure those changes are taken into account in this section.
- Hoard Pillager does nothing unless you’ve already had a Boggspine Knuckles break, so save it for then if possible.
- Mogu Fleshshaper is a great target for evolve mechanics like Mutate, or even Revolve, but don’t be scared to play it early on to remove aggressive threats.
- Pit Master’s 3/2 Duelists have a mana cost of 2, so keep this in mind as you evolve and Revolve them.
- Mogu Fleshshaper goes down in cost by 1 mana for each minion on board. You'll often be able to take advantage of its Rush ability and Evolve it on the same turn.
- Dread Corsair decreases to cost 0 when you have Boggspine Knuckles equipped, but you’ll also be able to evolve it when you attack with the weapon as if it cost 4.