Baron, especially with Ghastcoiler is really strong and more importantly produces a ton of DMG because you’re typical front line ideally will have a decent cleave or sacrifice minion, a couple high DMG divine shield taunts, and instead of just getting more stat minions, if you play Baron with Ghastcoiler, even though Baron can get sniped at times, without Zipp, he typically survives and coiler triggers 4 random deathrattles which have potential for being more ghastcoilers and even if not usually a fair amount of high cost and high value minions, floods the board from 2 to full in close games and usually pulls off the win with 20+ DMG. Coiler by far the best stand alone minion in the game and can be added on the end of any build especially with Baron.
Spawn of Nzoth is perfect early-mid game and can easily be sacrificed later, or if you manage to get 2 you can sacrifice some of your lower minions for buff minions then play it on the end after getting an extra minion by playing battlecries, I tend to get triples on this a lot and get a free 6 cost and it remains viable until the late game when it is a no brainer sacrifice for a better minion.
Goldrinn is great and much like Nzoth but for late game beasts, however it is no where near mama bear and although Rat Pack can be hit or miss at times it is still very consistent late. My ideal set up on beasts is 2 mama bears, 2 goldrinns, a buffed rat pack, and a pack leader hopefully a triple, then roll for triple goldrinn and mama bear, replace open spots with Ironhide or ideally Ghastcoilers, eventually sacrifice a goldrinn for another ghastcoiler towards the end and/or just roll for triples at that point. The reason this strategy works is because you slowly transition from Rat Leader / Rat Pack / Hyena build to the above version without ever missing a beat. Can get destroyed late against buffed divine shield taunt Amalgams or boards of divine shield poison BUT it can still run it if your Rat Pack goes off after both Goldrinn’s die and you can always swap in a Hydra after Goldrinns and/or Baron once you double or triple up on Ghastcoilers, that is usually the game no matter who you’re up against unless they hit that insane stat range, even then their win is usually small and you can audible in Maexxna and still win because of insane value you get off 6 stars surviving / spawning off Ghastcoilers.
Another reason Mama Bear is clearly better than Goldrinn is it is permanent, can buff Hydra to attack first where Goldrinn(s) would have to go first (Might still play them after if you have both), and it triggers again on newly played doubles and triples, I’ve even tossed minions I wasn’t willing to hold for triple just to slightly buff them after hitting double or triple Mama Bear. Usually ends up buffing at least 1/2 Ghastcoilers and then buffing again if you hit a triple and replay it. Goldrinns are okay but they’re also throw away if necessary, even Baron is better if you have Ghastcoilers. Always taunt up Goldrinns and can toss ironhides although I usually find myself stashing a double in hand and hitting triples with little faith in improving my board once I get mostly set up. Hyena gets tossed, Rat Pack is still viable especially if you can create a solid board to ensure at least 3 spawn off double / triple Mama Bears and often enough if you buff Goldrinns they end up surviving until Rat Pack spawns and then trigger (sometimes double trigger with Baron) which can be +16/+16 which is why you might like them better (Synergy with Baron).
This is one of the first builds I ever used and one of the best options if you pull it off that doesn’t require Amalgam but welcomes a divine shield taunt poison if possible.
Strongshell is playable even with 2 taunts so I don’t think anyone underestimates it at all it just doesn’t typically stay on board.
Kaboom is decent until late game but heavily RNG especially against high stat boards, only really viable with Baron and/or triple or both.
Defender of Argus is mediocre IMO because giving taunt to the wrong minions can cripple your entire build and a lot of times the only minions you want to have taunt already have it so it’s just 2x +1/+1 which is fairly weak.
Crowd Favorite is one of the best options early to transition from the early game and can end up staying late if you can’t find a reasonable trade off for something better worthy of sacrificing his stats. Once he’s up around 15-20+ it can be hard to justify without first hoarding the cards in hand and seeing if other boards require something other than stats.
Ghast already said how good it is, best stand alone card in the game.
Pogo is just risky which is why I don’t think a lot of people run it. The only time I could really justify it is if I’m Shudderwock with double battlecry. Otherwise you end up staying at 2-4 tier rerolling for pogo that ends up being a stat minion that doesn’t have poison and can be picked off by any divine shield poison, I’ve seen plenty of boards with 2 pogos well above 50+ stats get murdered by a few Amalgams and not make it to the final 4 let alone win it. So EVEN IF you manage huge pogos you’re not aiming for the ideal unless you combine it with taunt / poison / divine shield Amalgams. The allstar mech is the 6/3 that gets divine shield every time a mech is summoned because you can attack the 3/1 magnetic to every other mech you control, pump the attack up and get free hits then instantly refresh when another mech is summoned. Combined with summoning a 2/3 taunt mech every time it takes damage and buffing both sky high, having 2 6/3’s, it can be done super early and steamroll everyone.
You have to keep in mind no matter how big a minion gets it is still 1 body and can be taken out with a 1/1 poison. Divine shields that refresh, deathrattles like Ghastcoiler, double triggering deathrattles, cleave, poison / divine shield / taunt, all these abilities combined in a well constructed board will pick stats alone apart all day. By the time you finally get through the taunts poison divine shields and kill off cleave the deathrattles have room and trigger 4x bodies with deathrattles that trigger 2x while Baron survives and it usually wears down even the highest stat minions and ends up filling the board with half 4-6 stars and half tokens at least.
Selfless Hero is an absolute All Star. Obviously he’s going to force you to take some damage early if you pick him round 1 BUT his value increases exponentially.
Think about it, you said you like Kaboom Bot enough to put it at 6. Understandable because it can snipe mid-game and maybe even late with Baron and if tripled especially, it can take out hyena’s or pack leaders from the back, mama bears, etc. BUT it is 4 DMG base
Divine shield on any minion after the first 5 or so rounds should be more than 4 dmg. It may not snipe but it also may protect your minion from dying and potentially snipe high minions. It can go a minions that already had divine shield and lost it late, or grant it early before your minions have it. It can snipe a big divine shield poison taunt if it lands on your poison minion. It is essentially an extra copy of whatever minion it lands on.
Triple it and combo with Baron and you can potentially divine shield (copy) 4 minions on board, it could protect Baron for longer, keep your 30/30+ divine shield poison taunt Amalgam alive while sniping theirs and then that Amalgam goes on to clear every minion that attacks it. I made the mistake once of sacrificing a golden version late because it was a 4/2 and I’m like why am I holding this, and instantly realized that without those 2-4 divine shields my minions were dying to poison they would’ve lived through and for what? 1 decent 6 star that dies instantly? Not worth it. That card has insane value late game and if you hit the triple you can often hold it until you hit tier 5 for a free 6 cause it might benefit you mid game to put some bigger bodies down temporarily anyways.
Again; I feel like everyone thinks they need to “Go beast, Demon, Mech, Murloc” but in all honesty, having a mix and more importantly having the right balance of (Cleave (Divine shield / stat buffed ideally), Divine shield & either poison or high stats up front. Taunt / divine shield / poison / stats (Amalgam ideally). Baron + Ghastcoiler in the back. Selfless Hero depends on how many of your minions have Divine shield, but late you put it after 2-4 minions with divine shield to refresh it, early you put it up front to grant it instantly. That’s better than any 1 specific build, and maybe Zipp (buffed) in front if possible if your opponent have back minions like pack leaders, mama bears, don’t have low cost minions up front, or the jugglers etc.
If you can Zipp the effect minions from the back, cleave the taunt/divine shields, defend with a taunt divine shield poison or 2, Ghastcoiler(s) on the back with Baron, that is pretty ideal vs any set up other than maybe a full board of murlocs with divine shield, poison, windfury and buffs OR multiple Amalgam’s with taunt/divine shield / poison / stats & a similar layout.
