Hearthpwn

Trump's Free-to-Play series: Mage [episode 19]

Following Trump's development of the Free-to-Play Deck and the climb through rankings in February 2014 season. The concept is to start with good basic cards and only use the in-game possibilities to earn Gold and get card packs without spending real money. Listed below are the changes to the Deck and the Rank achieved (Win - Loss ratio) episode by episode:

• Episode #1: Building the initial Deck from available basic Mage and Neutral cards:
• 2 Arcane Missiles, 2 Arcane Explosions, 2 Bluegill Warriors, 2 Acidic Swamp Oozes, 2 Bloodfen Raptors, 2 Arcane Intellects, 2 Shattered Sun Clerics, 2 Fireballs, 2 Polymorphs, 2 Chillwind Yetis, 2 Gnomish Inventors, 2 Sen'jin Shieldmastas, 2 Gurubashi Berserkers, 2 Boulderfist Ogres and 2 Stormwind Champions.
• First changes to the Deck include adding 2 Frostbolts, Mana Wyrm, Defender of Argus, Harvest Golem and Amani Berserker (replacing Bluegill Warriors, Shattered Sun Clerics, Bloodfen Raptor and Arcane Explosion), Rank 23 (4-0),
• Episode #2: The Deck is progressing rapidly by the addition of Azure Drake, Venture Co. Mercenary, 2 Water Elementals and 2 Flamestrikes (replacing Gnomish Inventor, Arcane Explosion, Sen'jin Shieldmastas and Stormwind Champions), Rank 16 (13-1),
• Episode #3: Free arena run using Shaman finishing with a result 6-3,
• Episode #4: More Deck upgrades by disenchanting the extra cards and crafting 2nd Mana Wyrm, 2nd Amani Berserker, 2nd Harvest Golem, 2nd Azure Drake, Acolyte of Pain, Sunfury Protector and Gadgetzan Auctioneer (replacing Acidic Swamp Oozes, Bloodfen Raptor, Arcane Intellect, Gnomish Inventor, Defender of Argus and Gurubashi Berserker), Rank 14 (19-2),
• Episode #5: Rank 13 (23-5),
• Episode #6: Adding some more early game power by including Mad Bomber (replacing Flamestrike), Rank 13 (30-8),
• Episode #7: Adding 2nd Mad Bomber and 2nd Acolyte of Pain (replacing Arcane Intellect and Gurubashi Berserker), Rank 12 (35-12),
• Episode #8: Rank 10 (41-15),
• Episode #9: Changes to the Deck to better combat an excess of Warriors on the ladder by adding back 2 Acidic Swamp Oozes and Arcane Intellect (replacing 2 Mad Bombers and Acolyte of Pain), Rank 11 (44-20),
• Episode #10: Rank 9 (49-22),
• Episode #11: Adapting the Deck to fit the metagame by adding 2 Mad Bombers and Acolyte of Pain (replacing Acidic Swamp Oozes and Arcane Intellect), Rank 9 (54-25),
• Episode #12: Swapping in 2nd Flamestrike (replacing Venture Co. Mercenary) to battle horde of Druids on the ladder, Rank 8 (61-29),
• Episode #13: Rank 7 (67-32),
• Episode #14: Adding some more defense against aggro decks by adding 2nd Sunfury Protector, Acidic Swamp Ooze and Arcane Intellect (replacing 2 Mad Bombers and Acolyte of Pain), Rank 5 (72-34),
• Episode #15: Rank 4 (80-36), Episode #16: Rank 4 (85-40),
• Episode #17: Rank 3 (89-42), Episode #18: Rank 3 (93-46),
• Episode #19: Rank 3 (97-46),

Feel free to try how well this works for you and leave a comment below.