Lots of decks got some new and exciting tools in Hunt for Illidan . Frost Mages finally got their elemental pet, while discipline Priests got their defining ability. Shamans, however, got some nice new nature damage effects. The most important of these new Shaman cards is Cackling Purge, a tempo-oriented ability-destroyer that can be just devastating if played at an inopportune time for the opponent.

With all the cards Shamans have received, it's funny to think that one of the more viable talent specs right now for the class is actually the Enhancement Shaman. Honestly, most people aren't playing Shaman for these talent cards, but rather playing them because their normal cards are simply awesome. However, players like Jonas Skali toyed around with Shamanistic Dual Wield before this new set, meaning the Enhancement Shaman may be worth looking at. When looking at this talent spec, it's also hard not to look at Stormstrike as well.

Stormstrike was the first Enhancement talent to be released for the Shamans in the WoW TCG. Its online counterpart is a double-attack with both of the Shaman's weapons if they are dual wielding, followed by the placing of a debuff on the target that makes them vulnerable to the next two nature attacks. The card version of Stormstrike doesn't actually capture the element of the dual-wielding strike, but rather only one weapon strike. This was also because Enhancement Shamans, at one point, were known for wielding two-handed weapons and using that with their haste effects and Stormstrike to dish out some random but power burst damage. If Shaman's could wield a Twig of the World Tree, then you know Stormstrike would be the first candidate other than Rak Skyfury to pair with the big weapon.

Another reason for this limitation comes from the weapon abilities that Enhancement Shamans have. It can get a bit out of hand to have added damage from a dual-wield weapon added to the weapon you are initially readying if it's got things like Maelstrom Weapon and Rockbiter Weapon attached.

However, this doesn't really hurt Stormstrike's use. Stormstrike is still a cheap way to ready your hero and a weapon for another attack. At instant speed and one resource, the potential is there for some fast damage via strikes. Its instant speed also keeps your opponent from mucking up your second attack, since you can have your hero attack your target, strike with a weapon, and then Stormstrike during combat to ready your weapon and strike again the same combat. This is a nice protective move should your opponent have problems with a second attack from your hero.

Stormstrike also lets you get a second use out of your weapon abilities. Maelstrom Weapon, as I mentioned earlier, is an example of a new and great ability to add to the Enhancement Shaman's arsenal. It is essentially increasing the damage your weapon deals by one, but it also give you an added burn effect for heroes and allies that works even without a weapon that Maelstrom Weapon can attach to. This was one of the big problems with the weapon abilities, since their usefulness was limited to you having a good and cheap weapon and also by the fact that your opponent destroys you if they destroy the weapon your abilities are attached to. Maelstrom Weapon is a utility effect that can be useful without a good weapon, but also provides the added bonus of increasing your weapon strike's damage.

It may be pretty obvious that Stormstrike works well with a weapon that is getting added bonuses when you strike with it. We've seen this already with Rak Skyfury, Heroic Strike, and a weapon already. However, Stormstrike does this at that important instant speed in order to protect your second or potentially third strikes after your first attack. Your weapon benefits are also protected by some of the new weapons Shamans have available, such as Ashtongue Blade. The Enhancement Shaman's big flaw was how its weapons could be targeted for removal, and Ashtongue Blade is a good form of protection against this.

Stormstrike, however, also has an added bonus of increasing the next source of nature damage you deal by +2 for the turn. This effect, a while back, wouldn't have meant much. However, there are a lot of new nature-damage abilities available now. Maelstrom Weapon's added damage is nature, making Stromstrike a brutal way of adding a lot more damage into your weapon strikes for little cost. For example, if you have Ashtongue Blade with a Maelstrom Weapon equipped, when you strike, your Maelstrom Weapon effect goes on the chain. Before it resolves, you can Stormstrike to ready your weapon, and get an extra two damage out of that Maelstrom Weapon effect!

There are also plenty of new nature-damage sources that Shamans can play other than Maelstrom Weapon. Storm Shock is already a brutal burn trick, dealing 4 damage to a hero for one resource at instant speed unless they wish to direct it to one of their allies. With Stormstrike active, that damages goes up to six damage for one Storm Shock. Lightning Arc, a new and very versatile burn trick from Hunt for Illidan , suddenly goes up to five damage that can be distributed however you would like. The latter card, Lightning Arx, is particularly exciting with Stormstrike. This turns a two-cost ability into a versatile piece of mass removal bordering the strengths of Chain Lightning in what it can do to an opposing field.

Like Heroic Strike could do for Twigbelly, Stormstrike when played multiple times in a single turn can be downright deadly. Not only does it bolster nature damage tricks like Maelstrom Weapon, but its impact on normal damaging nature blasts like Lightning Arc or even Lightning Bolt give the Shaman some range in how far it has to get an opponent down with weapon strikes because they can just burn the opposing hero out. Heck, if you want to look more into weapon strikes as your primary win condition, anything that increases your weapon's ATK would be great. This ranges from Rockbiter Weapon to even the most mundane pumps, such as that from the Whispering Blades of Slaying. This was seen in Skali's pre-HFI Shaman deck, which utilized the Whispering Blades with Perdition's Blade and Shamanistic Dual Wield to make the weapons' strike costs zero.

And, while this is one of the less exciting ways to use Stormstike, it is also a good way of readying your hero after opposing tricks like Hammer of Justice. It lets you keep your hero on the offensive, while offering a little extra incentive with the nature-bonus effect.

Stormstrike, when it was first released, was one of those cards that showed potential but just didn't have enough support to really make the push towards tournament viability. Now, with the new cards from the latest two WoW sets, Stormstrike has finally reached a level of power that could make it a real showing in the constructed format. Its potential for fast and effective damage can't go unnoticed, with Maelstrom Weapon being one of Stormstrike's biggest benefits. However, the new cheap nature-damage abilities to come out recently such as Storm Shock and Lightning Arc also add a lot to the effectiveness of this cheap one-cost instant. Stormstrike has reached a point where Enhancement Shamans may finally etch out a solid spot in the constructed format. Once it was the talent spec that just couldn't be as good as its competition such as Gorebelly. Now, it may very well be more viable.