Creatures with more than 3 attack, on average will do less damage before they die.
Example:
Abomination 5/5 against the unupped shield without adrenaline, assuming all infects succeed.
Damage | HP | Poison counters |
5 | 5 | 1 |
5 | 4 | 2 |
5 | 2 | 3 |
5 | 0 | dies |
Total 20 damage in 4 turns.
Abomination 5/5 against the unupped shield with adrenaline, assuming all infects succeed.
Damage | HP | Poison counters |
5 | 5 | 1 |
4 | 4 | 2 |
2 | 2 | 3 |
5 | 0 | dies |
Total 16 damage in 2 turns.
Slightly less damage, however faster damage.
Anyway, it is not worth a whole deck around that strategy, even for creatures with abilities. And for the frogs, it is better to just run Adrenalines instead of tears.
By the way, a single Steal can be a disaster. If the opponent gets the shield, the frogs and adrenalined nymphs are doomed.