Quote (deathwinger @ Mon, 17 Aug 2009, 14:21)
Its pretty easy logic actually.
Every other build in D2 pvp has at least one counter build. What do BvC's do against BvB? They cannot win. What does a windy do against a trapper and/or hybrid/ghost? That smiter looks real badass up until a necro ironmaiden / bone prisons him and shoops bone spirits. That hybrid? She gonna lose to a pure trapper. That trapper has a bad date with a smiter. And bowazons lose to everything. Fact of the matter is, all these other builds have clear counters and they normally can't do anything against them. Even bad trappers can beat good windys some times.
But for a shaman to have a really bad matchup, you have to assume that the player is going to be both extremely skilled *and* sorbing, for example a sorbing BvC. Now that can be an issue. Ghosts/hybrids can be difficult, but those who have dueled against me can attest that shamans can still lay down some beating done properly (even if I'm not terribly great at it myself). But theres no class that directly counters a shaman. You do well against sorcs, druids, barbs, pallys, necros, zons, and sins. When you enter a pubby game with a shaman, you hostile 7 people without caring what class they are.
Now how many builds in d2 can be that well rounded? Hybrids come close, as do V/T's & to some extent BvC/A.
A shaman might not have the easiest time in each duel, but at least theres no duels where hes explicitly bad, unlike everything else. Thats the difference between being Mario and being Toad or Donkey Kong in ur little gokart
windy can win against average trapper pretty easily, wwbuilds are harder but possible too
smiter can win against necro
hybrid can beat pure trapper
trapper can beat smiter
shaman can beat ghost or hybrid
no matchup here is impossible, and example trap v smite is much easier than shaman v ghost imo