“My jaws that bite, my claws that catch!” If these words don’t impose some sense of fear on you, don’t make you sweat and have you look up at the ceiling, asking what you did wrong in life to deserve this, you probably haven’t spent much time playing Hearthstone.

At least, not just after The Witchwood was released. After Shudderwock was highlighted in the final card reveal stream with Ben Brode and Day9, many were eager to try out this controlled version of Yogg-Saron themselves. The excitement didn’t last too long, and Shudderwock’s popularity quickly turned into notoriety. With animations taking ages to complete and the deck being highly uninteractive, the ever so loud part of the Hearthstone community cried out for changes to Shudderwock.

By the time those changes came, the Shudderwock-hype had already died out. Most of the decks that had been good during the Kobolds and Catacombs meta turned out to be far more consistent. A change to Shudderwock came still, with all the animations changing to dizzying speed and the amount of Battlecries copied being capped at twenty. The card had to feel less oppressive and, perhaps more importantly, less of a drag. Not that it seemed to matter much, as only British player Meati seemed to actively enjoy playing the deck.

Until this week. When the balance changes hit the servers, and the Hearthstone meta was thrown into uncertainty once more. Quickly people resorted to the deck they had once dreaded facing: Shudderwock Shaman.

It isn’t completely surprising that Shudderwock Shaman has popped up once more. As established two month ago, the deck fares well against unrefined lists. The high concentration of removal gives the deck a reasonable amount of time to trigger all the Battlecries required for the combo and find its win condition.

The deck follows the trend of a Hearthstone classic: Zoolock. No, not in terms of playstyle. Obviously the decks differ wildly in that regard. Ever since it first came around (all praise inventor of everything, Reynad) it has lurked in the shadows, every now and then having its moment in the spotlight. And yes, those moments used to include the launches of new expansions. While the core of the deck has changed in many ways over the years (except for you, Flame Imp, you pesky thing), its strategy has remained roughly the same. Jam some cheap minions together, control the board early, and go face.

But does Shudderwock Shaman have the capability to be as much of a new-meta punisher as Zoolock ever was? The answer to that does lie in a core difference between the decks. And no, it’s not the difference in strategy.

Whereas Zoolock is built around Warlock’s ever-consistent, always present Hero Power Life Tap to keep the resources flowing, Shudderwock Shaman is (shockingly) built around the eponymous card. And it’s Shudderwock whose power that is so inconsistent, so dependent on other minions. Small minions and buffs will always be accessible to Zoolock, but how long can the right Battlecries be around to support Shudderwock’s combo? Blizzard will have to be careful with printing strong Battlecries for at least another year, until at the very least Saronite Chain Gang, Zola the Gorgon and Grumble, Worldshaker have rotated out. Then all that’s left of the core combo is Lifedrinker, which isn’t that bad.

Now of course Blizzard can continue to support the archetype again after the Year of the Raven has finished. Much like how they kept pushing Taunt Druid for expansions on end. It is hoped that doesn’t happen, however. The deck is frustrating to play against as is, with the consolation that this is its peak power. Yes, for the remainder of this Hearthstone year it will keep crushing unrefined lists. And you know what? That role is just fine for it.