Hey all,


Fauna Shaman is one of the primary pieces of the Naya Shaman deck.  Like Survival of the Fittest, she acts as a way to fetch select creatures from the deck and pitch creatures to the graveyard at the cost of a green mana, a tap, and a creature card from your hand.  Unlike Survival, she's easy to destroy since she's a creature as opposed to an enchantment.

The question is -- should you destroy her as soon as possible when you first see her?


This is not the first time a gateway creature has been played in a popular deck.  Check out this creature integral to the function of the Thopter Depths deck:


Like Shaman, opposing players have one free turn before its ability can activate.

I have seen many players leave this on the board saving up their removal for the 20/20 Marit Lage token.  After all, in the eyes of a player unfamiliar with the deck, what's scarier?  A 2/1 that takes a turn to fetch a player a card, or a flying, indestructible 20/20 who can kill you in one turn.

Okay, pretend you're playing against a Thopter Depths player.  He sticks a Dark Confidant and you decide to let it be.

First upkeep passes -- reveals a land.  No harm, no foul.
Second upkeep passes -- reveals a Thopter Foundry.  Score! 4 damage to him.
Third upkeep passes -- Thoughtseize.  He plays it, taking your removal and kills you next turn.

Two things to note here.  For each turn Confidant remained on the battlefield, that's one more card your opponent gets more than you.  The life loss is pointless if he's going to kill you in one turn.

The other thing to note is that each card drawn from Confidant is a potential answer to your card. Also note that this doesn't count the cards normally drawn each turn. Your opponent is getting twice the number of chances to draw the card he needs with the Confidant present.

Back to Fauna Shaman.  Superficially, Fauna Shaman by herself is going to break out even in terms of card advantage; you're exchanging one creature for another.  The card advantage comes from the creatures Shaman discards or the creature fetches.

Second, Shaman can fetch out an answer creature based on the current board situation.  Rather than leaving the card draw to chance like Confidant, Shaman targets the card needed for the game status.

What can you expect a Fauna Shaman to fetch out during gameplan?  Here's a short list of likely candidates:

• Vengevine -- Used as pitch fodder for Shaman, Vengevine comes back into play when two or more creature spells are played.  Red decks can take a shortcut from hardcasting creatures by getting lucky with Bloodbraid Elf.  With the combines haste, an alpha strike against an unprepared player can end the game.
• Ranger of Eos -- Ranger of Eos opens up another guessing game, fetching two copies of a one-mana costed creature from a huge pool.  While one-mana costed creatures do not seem like a threat, beware of creatures such as Student of Warfare and Serra Ascendant.
• Sun Titan -- Getting a Sun Titan means that unless you're removing Fauna Shaman from the game, Sun Titan can bring it back for as long as it remains in play.  Sun Titan allows the reuse of other utility cards such as Qasali Pridemage and Oblivion Ring.
• Baneslayer Angel -- If you can't answer Baneslayer Angel, you're losing the game.  
• Cunning Sparkmage -- Sparkmage is a mutually exclusive play with Basilisk Collar -- with a colar on the mage, it turns into a targeted deathtouch attack.  Otherwise, the Sparkmage isn't much of a threat, but watch a low life total with those pings. 
• Obstinate Baloth -- It's a 4/4 mana for 4 mana that gains 4 life.  While it sounds like a Tuesday night pizza deal, the Baloth can be a roadblock for aggressive opponents. 
• Qasali Pridemage -- Pridemage acts as a tutorable form of artifact/enchantment removal.  Otherwise, the Pridemage acts as a totem for a small +1/+1 boost.
• Realm Razer -- Realm Razer comes out when having a large amount of land matters, like Destructive Force and other Primeval Titan decks.  
• Stoneforge Mystic -- While typically Mystic fetches out Basilisk Collar for Sparkmage antics, don't be surprised if you see a Sword of Vengeance, Behemoth Sledge, or other gamewinning equipment pop out.