Battlecry Shaman (also known as Quest Shaman) is a Shaman deck focused around its Saviors of Uldum quest card, Corrupt the Waters, and utilizes a large array of Battlecry minions.
The deck is powerful in all stages of the game, possessing a good amount of early game tempo, mid-game burst, and late-game value. Once it completes the quest, it finishes off the opponent with direct burst damage from Lifedrinker, Kobold Lackey, and Weaponized Wasp. Against other control or value decks that can survive the burst, it maintains momentum with copious amounts of value generation from cards like Swampqueen Hagatha, Barista Lynchen, and Shudderwock.
With the release of Descent of Dragons, Battlecry Shaman upgraded to Galakrond Shaman. Using Galakrond's powerful Invoke effect, the deck has access to easy removal throughout the game, with Dragon's Pack as an extremely powerful tempo play. A fully upgraded Galakrond, the Tempest would then secure the board with huge Elementals with Rush, which could also be repeated with Heart of Vir'naal and Shudderwock. Galakrond Shaman was notoriously oppressive in the beginning of the Descent of Dragons meta, so much so that it prompted nerfs within only a week of the expansion.
Highlander can also be used to great success with this deck. Using the powerful effects of Zephrys the Great and Dragonqueen Alexstrasza twice is very valuable.
Following the rotation of Shudderwock and Lifedrinker in the Year of the Phoenix, Battlecry Shaman lost much of its potency, although it does remain a viable deck. More decks began to distance Corrupt the Waters and Galakrond from each other.
Common cards[]
The following cards are usually in this deck:
Core Cards[]
The following cards are played in most or all versions of the deck:
Quest Variation[]
The following cards are played in the Quest version of the deck.
Galakrond Shaman[]
The following cards are played in the Galakrond version of the deck.
Highlander Variation[]
The following cards are played in the Highlander version of the deck.
Optional cards[]
The following cards are played more than occasionally, but not always:
Wild cards[]
Wild cards that fit well into this deck type: