Hearthpwn

Hey Hearthpwn, this is my take on Big Spell Mage (BSM)! Hope you enjoy.

Stats:
I will briefly note that Aggro Paladin, Tempo Rogue, and Zoo are oppressively favored. I did not play against enough Hunters to make any strong claims, but I consider that matchup to also be very favored. Big Priest and Razakus Priest are oppressively unfavored. Tempo Mage is extremely unfavored if you are going first, for reasons I will discuss below. Other matchups, to the extent I encountered them, seemed fairly even.

General Overview:
This deck runs as light on late-game as possible for a control deck. The game plan is to stall in the first few turns with Doomsayer (usually on turn 2) into 3 mana taunts. Turn 4 is most awkward turn, usually involving floating 1 mana. For the next 5 or so turns, you kill everything your opponent can throw at you. When you have enough mana, you can start to play Arcane Artificer to gain armor. Whenever you can do so without endangering your life, play Medivh, the Guardian and Frost Lich Jaina. Finally, deep in the late game, play Dragoncaller Alanna. If she doesn't close out the game for you, you've probably lost.

Card Selection:
2x Arcane Artificer: Thanks to this card, now Jaina can be a warrior too! Never play it before turn 7 (the soonest you can reasonably combo it with meteor or something better). For best results, play two of them together with a 7+ spell on turn 9 for 14 armor.

2x Doomsayer: Played on turn 2 90% of the time to seize initiative and give you Lone Champion on an empty board. Somewhat more rarely played behind a Lone Champion on turn 4 if you played a Raven Familiar on turn 2. Even more rarely played with blizzard on turn 8 to set up Frost Lich Jaina or Medivh, the Guardian.

2x Raven Familiar: Played whenever you have 2 free mana and don't need to Doomsayer. Almost always draws a big board clear. Try to play it before turn 5 to maximize your odds of getting a Dragon's Fury in hand.

2x Acolyte of Pain: Can't run Arcane Intellect because its a cheap spell that would ruin Raven Familiar and Dragon's Fury. Acolyte of Pain is thus the only viable form of card draw for BSM. Try to play this is a last resort when you would otherwise be floating 3-5 mana. Sometimes aggro decks will attack it rather than your face, which is usually a good thing.

1x Gluttonous Ooze: A concession to Tempo Mage's Aluneth. Can win you that matchup if you have it ready on turn 6. Definitely a flex slot.

2x Lone Champion: One of the best anti-aggro tools you have. The downside is virtually irrelevant. Play it after an on curve Doomsayer and let it carry you to turn 5.

2x Tar Creeper: Not much to be said for this card except that its the second best Lone Champion available, so we run it because we would like more of that effect.

2x Arcane Tyrant: The problem with removal in hearthstone is that it automatically loses you initiative. Well, not anymore thanks to this card. Play it as soon as it costs 0 mana to remove your opponent's board AND gain initiative.

2x Dragon's Fury: The deck is built around this card. Always hits for a minimum of 5 damage which is great because 5 damage kills Corridor Creeper andCobalt Scalebane. Pay attention to your deck because if you draw both of them it will hit for a minimum of 6.

2x Blizzard: Another part of the BSM removal package.

2x Meteor: Another part of the BSM removal package.

2x Firelands Portal: Used as removal 90% of the time. Sometimes triggers Dragon's Fury for a really big aoe. For best results, use after Medivh, the Guardian.

2x Flamestrike: Another part of the BSM removal package.

1x Medivh, the Guardian: Turn the tables on aggro decks by generating more tempo than they can ever hope to match. Rotating out in January April. Probably best replaced then by The Lich King. Any other ideas for replacements are welcome.

1x Dragoncaller Alanna: 33/33 of stats if you've played 6 spells or more. Immune to Dragonfire Potion and many other staple removals but unfortunately highly vulnerable to Twisting Nether and Psychic Scream, hence the poor winrate vs control decks.

1x Frost Lich Jaina: A nod to Control Mage mirrors that would be unwinnable without her. She only helps vs aggro, but she is definitely still a flex slot. The early iterations of this deck did not run her.

Cards That Don't Make the Cut:
Grand Archivist: If Dragon's Fury wasn't reciprocal, I would probably run it. The other bad thing that can happen with this card is it can Meteor the wrong target.

Ice Block: Ruins the consistency of the deck and virtually requires Alexstrasza. Rather than deal with all the problems it causes, I would prefer to just not get popped in the first place.

Pyros: Unhelpful against Aggro and not helpful enough to salvage the Control matchup. For what it's worth, I saw Kibler running it, but I disagree with its inclusion in his deck.

Pyroblast: There are a lot of good reasons to run Pyroblast. It makes some control matchups that are currently unwinnable winnable and it also enables Spiteful Summoner if you choose to run it. Worth considering if you don't mind a dead card in more than half your match-ups.

Polymorph: A very reasonable inclusion. The only reason it doesn't make the cut is all the 5 health minions in the meta at the moment you would really like your AOE to be able to clear.

Spiteful Summoner: The early versions of is this deck ran this card and I'm still on the fence about it. Ultimately, it was a little too high variance and not impactful enough. I think it has a better home in certain Paladin and Priest decks that can use it more consistently. The big problem with it is that it costs 6 mana rather than 5, which means you cannot pair it with a spell.

Babbling Book/Shifting Scroll/Shimmering Tempest/Kabal Courier/Leyline Manipulator/Cabalist's Tome (The Spell Generation package): The first version of the deck ran this package. While I was able to cheese a lot of wins against Control by throwing discovered spells at their faces, that incarnation of BSM was more inconsistent.

Deck of Wonders: I only had to try it a couple of times to see the disaster that this card was. Fal'dorei Strider this is not.

Simulacrum: Generate an extra Dragoncaller Alanna at the expense of less deck consistency overall. To be considered only in control metas.

Ghastly Conjurer: Gives you a nice way to profitably trigger Counterspell on a decent body. If you're hitting a wall of tempo mage and insist on playing this deck, throw 1-2 of these in the deck.

Conclusions:
BSM is a fairly new idea, and I am pleased to report its a very viable one. There is a time and a place for this deck. The time is whenever you are seeing Aggro decks. The place is wherever Priest isn't present. At the moment, the most pressing issues BSM has are what can be done about the Priest match-ups, how to do deal with Counterspell, and what to do about Medivh, the Guardian rotating out in January April. I welcome feedback on all of these issues and any others I have no thought to mention. Cheers!