Hearthstone Standard Rotation: The 5 Best Cards Shaman Will Lose From Arena in Blizzard's Card Game

Shaman in Hearthstone has always been weak in Arena, mostly due to the class' hero power. Summoning 4 totems at random is very hard to manage and you can never get what you need. Overload is also not an easy mechanic to deal with in Arena.

In Arena, you need to tempo out your minions and avoid giving your opponent board advantage. Shaman has a strong collection of high statted minions but lesser board clears compared to other classes. Shaman does pretty well in Constructed though.

Cards from Journey to Un'Goro, Knights of the Frozen Throne and Kobolds & Catacombs are rotating out from Arena in 2019. Here are some of the good ones Shaman will lose from its pool.

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#5. Primalfin Totem

Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro

At 2 mana and with 3 health, Primalfin Totem summons 1/1 tokens which are useful on your board at that early stage. It's hard to remove it at 3 health, but it's easy to lose if you go 2nd. Your opponent would not want that many tokens being generated so they will trade or use removal spells against it on early turns.

It may be a little weaker in the later turns, but those Murlocs come in handy.

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#4. Crushing Hand

Expansion: Kobolds & Catacombs

Crushing Hand is a solid removal spell for its cost. You normally wouldn't play this on turn 2 and Overload yourself on the next turn. Crushing Hand is strong against high health minions while resorting to lesser trading of your minions.

Since it costs only 2 mana, you will still have a lot of mana to spend on minions or other spells. At 8-10 mana, the 3 Overload can be bad but not as bad as earlier turns. A removal of this scale is a loss for Shaman, but maybe they'll get a bigger one in the next expansion.

#3. Hot Spring Guardian

Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro

Hot Spring Guardian is a heal and a Taunt, so a better version of the Classic Card Earthen Ring Farseer which does the same thing. It also has an Elemental tag to it, so it synergizes well with other Elemental cards, which Shaman has plenty of along with the Neutral ones.

At 4 health, it can withstand most 2-drops and 3-drops while dealing enough damage. Even in the late game, when you need 3 health or a heal on a minion it comes in handy and as a second barrier.

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#2. Unstable Evolution

Expansion: Kobolds & Catacombs

Unstable Evolution is cheap and an early version of the Echo mechanic. At 1 mana, you can evolve your minions on board to much stronger ones gaining a significant advantage on the board. You can trade your minions without killing them and evolve them into much better ones and turn the game around for you.

#1. Volcano

Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro

Shaman doesn't have very many board clears, with Lightning Storm being, Beakered Lightning and Volcano being the other. Volcano does a high amount of damage at 5 mana and gets you back the board if your opponent has been advancing faster. The spell does damage your minions, but streamers like Kripparian have used it to get lethal from Gurubashi Berserker.

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Honourable Mentions

Fungalmancer

Expansion: Kobolds & Catacombs

Fungalmancer synergizes well with Shaman's Totem and small token minion generated from cards like Thunderhead. Fungalmancer is a great card on its own across all classes, but with Shaman and Paladin where they can generate minions, Fungalmancer is a little stronger.

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Fire Plume Phoenix

Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro

Fire Plume Phoenix is a strong ping just like Fire Elemental, which is why both are extremely strong with Shaman in Arena. Both cards are Elementals that synergize well with all the Shaman Elemental cards.

Stonehill Defender

Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro

Stonehill Defender is a great minion across all classes, but it can help you Discover some strong Shaman Class Taunts. Earth Elemental, Drakkari Defender, Al'Akir are among the strong Shaman Taunts you could discover. Neutral Taunts are also always helpful, but Stonehill shines in classes that already have great Taunt cards in their pool.

Stonehill Defender will be missed but its time has come. The card's power level is really high in many classes (if not all), so its time for it to rest.

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Kalimos

Expansion: Journey to Un'Goro

Kalimos is a high power level card, with all its Invocations being strong effects. Fire and Water are on the weaker side, but a 3 damage board clear and filling your board with Tokens can help you gain a significant advantage. They're basically a free high roll Lightning Storm or a Violet Wurm Deathrattle.

The only condition is you need to play an Elemental on the previous turn. It is relatively easy to trigger Kalimos because of the high number of Elemental cards that Shaman have.

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