Well, you’re in luck. The Spell Damage Shaman deck we’ve guided here is perfect for boosting your damage and hitting your enemy for big chunks with spells. Scholomance Academy has helped a lot with this archetype - we’ve seen a whole load of handy new minions and spells to add in, from Diligent Notetaker to Instructor Fireheart.
Spell Damage Shaman deck list and strategy
Here is the version of Spell Damage Shaman we like in the Scholomance Academy meta. Expect further refinements with card reveals and meta shifts, and we’ll be sure to update this page as and when they happen. Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game. Deck Import ID: AAECAaoIBO0FnM4D0M4D9c4DDfkD4AbLB66bA6ytA9u4A6bLA+DMA+HMA83OA87OA8bRA/DUAwA= General strategy
- 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)
This deck is all about getting Spell Damage cards on the board and hitting the enemy with chip damage until you can finish the fight with your high-damage spells. This deck is heavy with Scholomance Academy cards, so is a great one to pick up once you’ve got your initial packs open. Here’s how to pilot it. Early Game: Early card draw and resource generation is important. Primordial Studies gives you the chance to Discover a Spell Damage minion, as well as discounting it (or another Spell Damage minion) by 1 mana. Bloodmage Thalnos is a great option here, and if you can get Arcane Watcher on board you’ll have a lot of activators for the minion, letting it attack. A lot of your cards are early game, with the most expensive minion costing 5. You can start setting up some nice Spell Damage boards at this point too. It’s worth getting chip damage in when you can too - if you have a 7 damage Lightning Bolt or a big Frost Shock, you might as well cast it and get that face damage in. Rune Dagger is a constant source of Spell Damage, and Diligent Notetaker lets you double up on the use of a spell thanks to its Spellburst effect. Mid Game: Your chip damage should be coming through and hopefully you’re approaching a kill. Voracious Reader is a really good option to refill your hand if you’ve played aggressively, and the likes of Arcane Watcher, Speaker Gidra, and Squallhunter can deal decent face damage from the board. If you get the chance to finish the enemy with burn spells, do it - Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, Serpentshrine Portal, and Frost Shock can all be used in this way and Lightning Bloom can provide you with the immediate mana on your turn to benefit. Of course, you can use your burn spells on enemy minions, but you’d often rather save them for face - Devolving Missiles is a much more value-positive way to deal with big enemies, especially if they’ve been buffed a bunch. Late Game: Late on, you should be pushing to finish the game. Ras Frostwhisper is a fantastic way to guarantee constant face damage (boosted by Spell Damage) if the minion remains alive. One final gambit is Instructor Fireheart. Played on a turn with a lot of mana available, you can absolutely pop off by constantly discovering low-cost spells to finish your enemy. Best case scenario is that you play Fireheart and then get to whack out 7 Lightning Bolts for a total of 21 damage. Obviously not a likely story, but it’d be absolutely brilliant if you could pull it off.
Spell Damage Shaman Mulligan Guide
Here’s the cards to keep with Spell Damage Shaman.
- We like keeping hold of Diligent Notetaker, as it lets you challenge on board as well as keep hold of some value by returning a spell cast to your hand.
- Primordial Studies lets you Discover a Spell Damage minion and discounts it, letting you choose a minion best suited to the early game situation.
- It’s worth holding onto Devolving Missiles against all kinds of enemies, from aggro to control. It’s a great disruption tool early on when the enemy tries to implement a gameplan.
Spell Damage Shaman tips, combos and synergies
Spell Damage Shaman is a nice and basic aggro deck, but here’s some things to look out for:
- Squallhunter is a giant minion for its cost. A 4 mana 5/7 with Spell Damage +2 is a great play on curve, as it’ll let you get a strong attack in and also deal extra damage with something like Lightning Bolt.
- Arcane Watcher needs you to have Spell Damage in order to attack, but to compensate for this it has huge stats for its mana - a 3 mana 5/6. Rune Dagger gives you a constant source of Spell Damage that can’t be destroyed unless your foe has brought in something like Acidic Swamp Ooze.
- Molten Blast, when boosted by Spell Damage, summons extra 1/1 Elementals as a reward. For example, if you end up dealing 4 damage, you’ll summon 4 1/1s instead of just 2. Keep this in mind when compensating for board space.
- Instructor Fireheart lets you keep Discovering spells, but only if you continue playing them on the same turn as when Fireheart is played. Otherwise, it’s just a 3 mana 3/3 who lets you Discover a spell.
- Constantly be counting for lethal damage, taking into account both Spells and Spell Damage bonuses, as well as minion hits. Remember - Ras Frostwhisper deals damage the turn he’s played much like Despicable Dreadlord, but he’s also able to damage face.
- Sometimes, you’ll need to cast Frost Shock without the Spell Damage bonus for the Freeze effect - this can stop an enemy from attacking for a turn which could save you for a later big-damage turn.
- Try to cast Speaker Gidra with a more expensive spell - if you can use Serpentshrine Portal with the minion you’ll end up with a 4/7 with Rush and Windfury, which can deal great board damage and even hit face for a bunch afterwards.
