Launching Starships to Legend! Again!

Multiplayer Discussion
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That’s right boys, girls, and NBies! Gather 'round! It is time for my monthly write up after hitting legend! As always, I just do these to get my thoughts out and maybe help others hit legend for the first time!

This month has been crazy busy, so I just now did my D5-L grind today, It did not take long as I mauled my way through ranks. I was considering playing Discover Zerg Hunter, but I just don’t have the time.

Full disclosure, this is the first time I used someone else’s list. It came up on my feed and wanted to see if the slight changes made a difference. It was MTHD’s Terran Shaman list. But, considering there was literally a 4 card difference between the lists, I do not feel so bad. After playing their list I 100% agree that those 4 cards are the right choice and made a difference. My deck had 2x Pop-up Books, 2x Gift and The Exodar. His had 1x Gift, 2x Dirty Rat, Cookie, and Patches.

With that, let’s get into it!

The Meta!

The meta feels very much like it is being strangled by 7 decks. During the climb I saw Protoss Druid, Protoss Rogue, Terran Shaman, Zerg DK, Zerg Hunter, Protoss Priest, and Terran Control Warrior. There being 8+ decks that can viably get to legend is not bad though. Some are definitely more popular than others. There are a ton of Zerg DK on the ladder right now.

Death Knight:
Zerg Dk is EVERYWHERE. While the deck is not the most powerful in the meta, it is very easy to pilot and can just ‘win’ games on turn 3-4. Giving your Zergs +3/+3 or more as early as turn three is insane. The deck is very feast or famine though. If you do not see an Infestor you are probably just going to lose horribly. I focused on being able to wipe their board multiple times and they would run out of steam whether they saw the Infestor or not. Once they use up Spawning Pool they have no real way of dealing with boards. I put it pretty heavy into Shaman’s favor.

Druid:
I really only saw Protoss Hero Power Druid. This feels like a truly AWFUL match up for the druid. Someone who did their climb with it please let me know. As long as you gain some armor and keep putting up taunts it feels like it is impossible for Druid to win. I never really felt like I was in danger of dying against them. You just curve out and focus on pumping out Starship pieces. Medivac turns into a piece you actually want to see in this match up. A bunch of 2/2 taunts are just such an inconvenience for them. Heavily in Shaman’s favor.

Hunter:
I really only saw Discover Hunter and it was very few. Again, this feels like a match up where if you are gaining armor it just becomes impossible for Hunter to win; even with crazy Hydralisk turns. Snapshots, Eruptions, and Shudderblock just give way more long game than the Hunter can put up with. I put it in Shaman’s favor.

Priest:
Only saw Agro Protoss Priest or Protoss Control Priest. Agro Priest was by far the more annoying one to deal with. If you do not get some armor gain or taunts they will run you over very fast. Early minions with Orbital Halo can cause serious issues. Follow it up with Trusty Fishing Rod and it becomes very hard to take the board without losing a ton of HP first. That being said, I was able to stabilize more times than not. The control version feels like a layup, especially with Dirty Rat. Taking their Mothership with Bob or Griftah feels so unfair. Again, Snapshot, Shudder, etc just give you far more late game than they can overcome. Shaman’s favor for sure.

Rogue:
I did not see a single weapon rogue from D5-L. Every one of them was Protoss combo Rogue. These decks are scary, I was brought down to single digits multiple times before either winning or stabilizing. One got me down to 2hp on turn 8. I won with a Launch into Raynor launching 2 Ships to clear the board and net me 14 armor and almost full healing. If I had not gotten early armor from launches the Rogues would have won more. I give a slight advantage to Shaman, but you can easily die turns 6-8 if you do not get armor.

Shaman:
I think this list is currently the most popular, but I did see some of the aggressive versions. Against the aggressive versions you just automatically win if it goes into the late game. For the mirror whoever gets better/more Starship pieces will often win. It may sound reductive, but it feels very true.

Warrior:
I am surprised I did not see more, but it was a pretty quick climb. You just play the Starship game better. As long as you can also get a high value Shudderblock it is hard for Warrior to outvalue you in the mid game. The only thing you are really afraid of is Boomboss. Getting a cheeky Dirty Rat on their Boomboss always feels amazing. You can also Bob their Zilliax and Griftah their Ham. You can make their Hydration Station nearly useless. Favor goes to Shaman.

Classes not listed:
I did not see them a single time.

The deck:
I think this might be the strongest deck currently. It has decent early game and amazing survivability that leads into a strong late game. Lowering the cost of your launches allows you to have insane tempo turns where you wipe the board, heal, and have a strong board yourself. the late game is incredibly strong with Shudderblock having multiple great interactions.

Deck list:

Terran

Class: Shaman

Format: Standard

Year of the Pegasus

1x (1) Glacial Shard

It didn’t really get to shine since I did not see any weapon rogues, but it still did a little work.

2x (1) Lock On

Reduces launch costs and makes it easy to kill anything. Easy include.

1x (1) Patches the Pilot

I was skeptical about this inclusion at first. It grew on me more and more. While it never felt game changing, it did feel impactful when it was played early.

2x (1) SCV

One of the best 1 drops ever. Obvious inclusion.

1x (1) Thrall’s Gift

I was running two of these in my list. Two did feel a little clunky sometimes though. If you REALLY feel like you need more you can Triangulate for them.

2x (2) Dirty Rat

This little rat was brutal. Ripping out key minions and killing them just tilts people so badly. I got 3 copies with Bob and proceeded to play all 3 into a launch killing everything. Opponent conceded immediately.

2x (2) Missile Pod

2 mana 1/3 with 1 damage to everything. It is insane.

2x (2) Starport

Makes Starship pieces.

2x (2) Triangulate

I love this card. I was already running this in my build. Triangulating Lift Off creates more value than most decks can handle.

1x (3) Carefree Cookie

I played this card twice. It was pretty awesome both times. Getting to turn your Starship pieces into 3 drops is great.

2x (3) Lift Off

Draws. Makes a Starship piece. Great card. No notes.

2x (3) Paraglide

This card is slept on in Shaman. ESPECIALLY if you are running Patches and Incindius. I also used it to mill people a few times. Card is great.

1x (3) Photographer Fizzle

Insane late game value. Always try to get Shudder, Raynor, and Ceaseless in the photo if you can.

2x (4) Arkonite Defense Crystal

Taunts. Gives armor. Starship piece. Amazing.

1x (4) Griftah, Trusted Vendor

An amazing Swiss Army Knife. Gives so many options that sometimes win the game.

1x (6) Bob the Bartender

All modes are amazing and I used all 4 at some point in the climb. Stealing Zilliax always feels amazing.

1x (6) Golganneth, the Thunderer

Heals. Wipes boards. Nukes a big minion. I think every time I played it I also played Lift off lol.

1x (6) Incindius

Shudderblock’s best friend. Constantly keeps the board clear and chips down the opponent’s health.

1x (6) Shudderblock

It’s Shudderblock.

1x (7) Jim Raynor

It’s Raynor.

1x (100) The Ceaseless Expanse

Wips boards and you get a 15/15.

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Final Thoughts:
I 100% agree that Terran needs some of the nerfs coming its way. The deck kind of does everything incredibly well. Some good early game, draws, heals, armor, board wipes, and tons of value. I do believe this is the strongest deck in the meta right now. If you have not made it to legend and want to, use this version.

Got questions? Let me know!

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Not sure whos deck this is, yours or someone elses, but 2x triangulate is definitely a deck building mistake.

you want exactly 1x triangulate and exactly three other spells. Of those 3 one of them should be lift. running an extra triangulate means about 1 every 4 games you get a early triangulate, it will mess up your game.

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MTHD was playing this to rank 54. So saying it is a mistake seems like a bit of a stretch. You run 2 because you REALLY want to see it on turn 2 almost all the time. i also have no idea what you mean by messing up 1 in 4 games. It did its job every time. Not sure how it could mess up. You also run 2 so you can copy Eruptions later if you use the other early for more Lift Offs.

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I figured it out!! After all this time!! Who you remind me off!!

“Long” John Silver!! In Black Sails, he was portrayed to be a sort of a journalist/clown on the ships, once he’s already lost his leg and they were about to hit some hard times. Apparently, he had to find a way to stay relevant and perceived as needed by his mates, so everyday at launch time, when people wanted to talk or eat in piece, he would start banging his wooden leg on the floor screaming the same text you open your write-ups with, and proceed to spill the newest gossip and events on the ship openly for everyone to hear, and everyday someone would get beated (although, first few times, it was mainly Long John Silver xD)

I think he even called them something alone those lines, of write-ups xD

Did you watch that particular TV show?

Better in general

Better against weapon rogues

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Gratz are in order but you played Shaman so I take it back :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m surprised you didn’t see Mage but I wasn’t able to get my Protos Mage from D5 to L so that checks out. I was proud of myself for taking my Rainbow DK to Legend blasting through primarily Zerg DK.

In the end such an exhausting meta void of any actual fun.

But Gratz anyway.

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That’s the slow version of the shaman. I think it was worse than the regular non-Fizzle non-Shudder shaman. I went to legend 335 EU with the basic version.

Granted I did not want to craft Fizzle anyway. But I believe the version you used is an antisynergy for diamond (maybe better at top 100 legend only).

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This version is nearly identical to the version I theory crafted with a top 100 player week 1 of the mini set. The only really big difference is the Dirty Rats. I have always enjoyed a more control version to the agro version. Especially last month when the agro version was everywhere. The control version demolishes the agro one.

@Altair - I have no idea what show that is.

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You missed weapon rogue, terran swarm shaman, discover hunter, location zerg warlock and dungar druid on your list.
There 's also 2 versions of protoss priest, one with more aggresive which include a lot of 3 or less cost minions.

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I did not play against a single weapon rogue on my climb. I mentioned agro/swarm Shaman in my meta class breakdown. I mentioned discover hunter. I somehow did not see a single Dungar Druid or Zerg Warlock. I talk about both versions of Protoss Priest.

I know those other decks exist, I just keep my analysis to what I saw in my climb. I can’t analyze or talk much about those decks if I do not see them.

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zerg warlock rarely being played by people higher than top 1k rank so maybe that was the reason. good job btw for getting legend

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My D5-L was very fast, so my sample size is very low.

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yea it doesn’t matter, it depends on your MMR, most people who play warlock are around 1k and below since the meta is favorable for them there. it’s not about skill, more about diversity and variance of metadecks around specific mmr

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Low sample size does matter because it could have been variance. It is why I am surprised I didn’t see multiple popular decks.

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Weapon rogues and location warlocks are all legend by the 2nd of March with the amount of sweat they poured. Also, I dont think I saw a single dungar for over a month. Did you really?

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That’s not how you make decks. You counter the rest of the meta. Early in the month the core version of Terran Shaman was more reliable.

It’s probably because it was filled with very basic aggro decks, and those were countered well with the early control tools like taunts.

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I did not have time to play early this month. Also, I do think this build does well against the rest of the meta. I am seeing it in top 100 play.

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Late in the month it’s a weird situation that makes it somehow confusing to pick a deck. Most low rated players copy paste the decks they see on streams so they may be playing very complex “top 100” decks but they play it badly but at the same time they do have the defensive tools that may save them.

Very early in the month it might be a more basic situation that most pre-Legend is basic aggro or at best mid-range with very little complex control late-game.

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When I have the time and get into legend in the first few days of the month the players and meta are vastly different from mid or late in the month.

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