Hearthpwn

Hi, I'm Xalnos and I'm a Legend player (http://i.gyazo.com/41d3c4365f67dd082ce3b52195ef9ae9.png) on the EU servers. For the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some of my decks that I use within Legend with you guys so you can try them out and critique them. Today, I've got a Countermage with some interesting combos. You can modify the deck to combat specific decks on the ladder and it's a very versatile deck that performs well against Miracle Rogue, Druid, Priest and Shaman amongst other classes.

Cards are in mana order.

 

Arcane Missilesx2: Good card to buff up your Mana Wyrm with. Clears early creatures fairly efficiently and it gives you some added defence against early aggro. Solid card to have in most Mage decks.

Mana Wyrmx2: Awesome card for Mage - combos well with the large number of spells in the deck and gives good board presence early game. A dominant early coin play is to Mana Wyrm on turn 1, and then coin Kirin Tor Mage and Spellbender/Counterspell to put a 3/3 and a 4/3 on the board that has to be cleared via a minion, weapon or a hero power.

Amani Berserkerx2: This card has fallen out of favour recently but I find it to be a powerful turn 2 play that is fairly scary for most other decks to deal with due to your Counterspell and Spellbender.

Bloodmage Thalnosx1: For me, this is a card that can't really be replaced in the deck. It's just so good, it gives you almost guaranteed card draw and that extra spell damage is sometimes crucial for gaining early dominance over the board, setting you up for the mid game.

Frostboltx2: Solid spell that can be used for removal, burst or delaying for a turn. Great plays include a turn 1 Mana Wyrm into a turn 2 Frostbolt to clear a scary 2/3 or a 3/2 invading the board. A must-have spell.

Acolyte of Painx2: Gives the deck some card draw potential and drops a tanky body on the board. Try pinging the Acolyte of Pain with your hero power to gain maximum value from the card. The goal is to get more than 1 card draw from the card to make it into a high-value play.

Counterspellx2: One of the 3 lynchpins of the deck, the others being Spellbender and Kirin Tor Mage. It dominates Druid, Miracle Rogue, Mage and Priest and does well against Shaman and Warrior. An underused secret in my opinion. It combos well with Mana Wyrm and Kirin Tor Mage, and it allows you to drop big creatures late game without the fear of them being cleared with spells. The deck gets taken to a new level and gets a different dimension when these secrets are involved - it constantly gives the opponent something to think about and it forces efficient trades as the opponent has to play minions to clear your much stronger board or sacrifice a spell.

Spellbenderx2: A slightly weaker version of Counterspell since it lets the spell through. However, it still blocks single target spells such as Hammer of Wrath and Wrath, and it sometimes gives you a 1/1, a 1/2 or a 1/3 which is a big bonus. Acts as a buffer vs Rogue and Druid as well as some Priest spells. Don't turn your nose up at it, it's not that bad.

Kirin Tor Magex2: Whilst many people think this is a trash card, I've seen it for what it can be - a dominant turn 3 play that also allows you to rip board control from your opponent via Counterspell and Spellbender. If this card was a 4/3 instead of a 3/4, it'd be broken. However, it's not, which makes it slightly weaker against spells such as Hammer of Wrath, Swipe, Wrath, Eviscerate and other common turn 3/4 spells. However, Counterspell and Spellbender allows you to protect your Kirin Tor Mage as it goes down, and the 4 damage makes it hard for Priests and Hunters to deal with. Trust me and use this card - you won't be dissapointed. Try playing it with one of your secrets, and don't be afraid to play it just as a 3 mana 4/3, saving a secret for a powerful Mage spell later in the game, for example.

Fireballx2: Dominant spell for Mages. It allows you to take out scary turn 4/5 drops such as Chillwind Yeti, Sen'jin Shieldmasta and Water Elemental amongst others. It also grants you a high-value burst if you want to hit face with the spell. Must-have in every Mage deck.

Water Elementalx2: Powerful Mage minion that stops Warrior and Paladin from going too big with their weapons. It also does well to act as a taunt and it allows you to buy time if necessary. A solid minion found in most Mage decks.

Azure Drakex2: The Azure Drake is a beastly card that grants a solid 4/4 body on the board, +1 spellpower which is invaluable for a Mage and an extra, guaranteed card draw. A godly card. Don't switch this out for anything and use it as a turn 5/6 play to wrest board control/card advantage and you can also play this with Arcane Missiles in order to clear the enemy's board. A powerful play in most scenarios and matchups.

Argent Commanderx2: Gives you a way to burst your opponent or clear a minion off of the board. The divine shield makes Argent Commander a sticky minion that almost always trades efficiently due to you being able to charge into a minion to take it out, and then forcing your enemy to use a spell or another minion if you have one of your secrets up. Combos well with the secrets in the deck and is a powerful turn 6 drop for either clearing the board or killing your enemy.

Blizzardx1: Blizzard gives Mages way to stall for time until they draw Flamestrike and it gives us a way to chunk down an aggro player's board. You can try substituting this for a Frost Nova if you want an earlier board clear/stall if you're running into lots of zoo decks.

Flamestrikex2: Dominant board clear card. Kills off most turn 4/5/6 drops when combo'd with a hero power or Arcane Missiles and is a core card in most Mage decks. Ridiculous value when used on more than 2 strong minions and allows you to maintain board control, which forces your enemy to either play spells to clear your board (countered by our secrets) or play more minions which will get cleared.

Ragnaros the Firelordx1: Ragnaros the Firelord is a monstrous card that can turn games when drawn. It's our win condition for the deck and it turns the tide in our favour. Ragnaros the Firelord allows you to deal 8 immediate damage and it's one of your main win conditions. It can't really be replaced but if I had to suggest something, it'd be another Pyroblast - this is a giant downgrade though, as a second Pyroblast tends to die in your hand.

Pyroblastx1: This is another burst card that should be used on the enemy's face 9 times out of 10. It's fallen out of favour recently but I still enjoy running a Pyroblast due to the ridiculous burst it gives you. It's won me games before and I'll continue using it unless it's nerfed into oblivion.

This is a very versatile deck that can be modified to counter specific decks. If you're running into too many zoo decks, try taking out a Blizzard and putting in a Frost Nova, or try removing an Amani Berserker and replacing it with a Sen'jin Shieldmasta. If you're finding that the Pyroblast lingers in your hand too long or you don't have enough damage to end your opponent, try replacing one Arcane Missiles and a Pyroblast for two Ice Lance which gives you some extra burst when combined with a Frostbolt. If you're running into loads of Miracle Rogues, try replacing two Spellbender for an Ice Block and a Vaporize/Mirror Entity, allowing you to take out the Gadgetzan Auctioneer as it appears or even copy it and start drawing into your own deck. You might even get lucky and Vaporize his Leeroy, who knows. Whilst this is a versatile deck, I feel like this is the most balanced version of it and you can experiment with your own variations to come up with the perfect Countermage deck for you! Feel free to share your own variations below and tell me how they worked for you!

This concludes my Legend rank Countermage. If you have any questions, please comment below and share this deck with your friends - don't forget to upvote! Thanks for reading!

 

Specific matchups and mulligans coming later today.