Mulligan strategy for a burst Shaman

Question

I'm currently playing the following deck, a Shaman variant with two Doomhammer and two Lavabursts that can deal very high amounts of burst damage:

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While it worked pretty nicely so far, I still have trouble deciding which cards to mulligan. The deck has almost no early-game minions, the usual rules for minion-focused decks don't really apply here.

What are the general strategies I should follow for the mulligan phase with this deck? The big general question is whether I should keep a Doomhammer if I have it in my starting hand or not.

How should I adapt my mulligan strategy against different classes?

Answer 1

Hunter / Warlock / Paladin

I'd mulligan Earth Shock and Lava Burst and Doomhammer.

I'd keep Flametongue Totem because you can use your Hero Power + Flametongue Totem to survive the early game if need be.

Doomhammer is important early only to take out 2 low health minions, but you take all that damage to the face anyway.

Best starting hand would be Lightning Bolt, Flametongue Totem, Haunted Creeper, Loot Hoarder.

I personally really like Flametongue Totem and I have them in all my Shaman decks that I make. They really make use of your hero power and can be a never ending 2 power creature every turn if not dealt with.

Mage / Priest / Druid

You are going to want to burst them down and you'll need card draw to get all the cards you need quickly.

I'd mulligan to get Loot Hoarder and Earth Shock early.

Mage, Priest and Druid can all have really annoying minions without an Earth Shock. Mages use Mana Wyrms a 1/3 that grows in power, Priests use Northshire Clerics enabling card draw from a 1/3 minion and most Druids will cast Mark of the Wild a +2/+2 buff early in the game.

The early Loot Hoarder will stall your opponent on turn 2 and get you a card, hopefully allowing you to play an Unbound Elemental on turn three, which is the best case in all match ups.