So I've been playing a lot of secret tempo mage on ladder and been doing pretty well with it, I just run the same list everyone's running but I don't have the aluneth and I don't want to craft anything yet, I know that the only archetype this weapon fits is this type of aggresive, short hand-size type of deck, other mage archetype either usually have a big hand-size so the aluneth ends up milling a lot of cards or are slow to the point where even if you don't mill cards, you'll end up fatiguing easily and that's not what slow decks want. My question here is: Is Aluneth really sooo game changing to that secret tempo mage? Is it like the change you feel when you draw Keleseth and you don't? Or is it just a nice card if you have it but can be replacede without too much impact if not?
I don't think aluneth is worth crafting, i mean if you played aluneth you really need to finish your opponent asap since you can't always do that especially when you played turn 6 aluneth against control decks, so that game gets into mid to late game which control decks shine, otherway you just ended up milling and fatiqued urself. So if u are doing well w/o aluneth that seems u don't really need aluneth, so i suggest you that wait a little bit at least until meta settles.
Looking at the stats for the most popular secret mage build including Aluneth on hsreplay, Aluneth is an interesting card. I thought it would be awful if it ended up in your opening hand, but the stats suggest that this has almost no effect on win rate. Drawing it later than this, however, has a pronounced negative effect on win rate, and playing it bumps the win rate up a fair bit. From this, I'd conclude a few things.
Aluneth is good, but not incredibly so, when you can plan around it in advance (e.g. dumping your hand and trading efficiently so you can spend 6 mana to do nothing to affect the board). If you survive after playing Aluneth your win rate increases but not dramatically.
Aluneth is bad as a surprise topdeck in most situations. Presumably, this is because when in "topdeck mode" you often cannot afford to do absolutely nothing but refuel for a turn. Contrast this to Arcane Intellect. This makes a good topdeck because it immediately gives you more options to do on the turn you play it, but if you survive after playing it you'd have been better off drawing Aluneth for the repeatable draw.
I'd definitely say that Aluneth falls into the "nice option" category. It will single-handedly win you slower matchups with less pressure, but if you can play it in an aggressive or tempo matchup without sacrificing the board and losing the game, then you were probably going to win without it. It certainly isn't as impactful as Keleseth, which increases your win rate by something like 15 percentage points if he ends up in your opening hand.
EDIT: In this version of Secret Mage, which runs a lower curve, Aluneth has a more positive effect. This list really relies on finding its burn and its synergies to close out the game compared to the one above, which can rely on Firelands Portal and Medivh to create strong threats in the late game. In this list, the card is quite a bit more impactful. Still not on the level of Keleseth, but it can certainly be the difference between winning and losing a lot of games.
I aluneth as free legendary. Played +-20 games with the tempo secret deck listed on this site. I played aluneth about 2-3 times, and it won me maybe 2 games.
Its a good card, but a lot of times you want to keep pushing instead of playing 6 mana to draw. Aluneth is sort of insurence that gives you some extra fuel if your hand is empty, but a lot of time you dont need it.
I would say that if you want to push for rank 5 or legend with tempo mage, you should craft aluneth. If not, you can replace it with a card that does direct damage.
So I've been playing a lot of secret tempo mage on ladder and been doing pretty well with it, I just run the same list everyone's running but I don't have the aluneth and I don't want to craft anything yet, I know that the only archetype this weapon fits is this type of aggresive, short hand-size type of deck, other mage archetype either usually have a big hand-size so the aluneth ends up milling a lot of cards or are slow to the point where even if you don't mill cards, you'll end up fatiguing easily and that's not what slow decks want. My question here is: Is Aluneth really sooo game changing to that secret tempo mage? Is it like the change you feel when you draw Keleseth and you don't? Or is it just a nice card if you have it but can be replacede without too much impact if not?
I don't think aluneth is worth crafting, i mean if you played aluneth you really need to finish your opponent asap since you can't always do that especially when you played turn 6 aluneth against control decks, so that game gets into mid to late game which control decks shine, otherway you just ended up milling and fatiqued urself. So if u are doing well w/o aluneth that seems u don't really need aluneth, so i suggest you that wait a little bit at least until meta settles.
Looking at the stats for the most popular secret mage build including Aluneth on hsreplay, Aluneth is an interesting card. I thought it would be awful if it ended up in your opening hand, but the stats suggest that this has almost no effect on win rate. Drawing it later than this, however, has a pronounced negative effect on win rate, and playing it bumps the win rate up a fair bit. From this, I'd conclude a few things.
I'd definitely say that Aluneth falls into the "nice option" category. It will single-handedly win you slower matchups with less pressure, but if you can play it in an aggressive or tempo matchup without sacrificing the board and losing the game, then you were probably going to win without it. It certainly isn't as impactful as Keleseth, which increases your win rate by something like 15 percentage points if he ends up in your opening hand.
EDIT: In this version of Secret Mage, which runs a lower curve, Aluneth has a more positive effect. This list really relies on finding its burn and its synergies to close out the game compared to the one above, which can rely on Firelands Portal and Medivh to create strong threats in the late game. In this list, the card is quite a bit more impactful. Still not on the level of Keleseth, but it can certainly be the difference between winning and losing a lot of games.
I aluneth as free legendary. Played +-20 games with the tempo secret deck listed on this site. I played aluneth about 2-3 times, and it won me maybe 2 games.
Its a good card, but a lot of times you want to keep pushing instead of playing 6 mana to draw. Aluneth is sort of insurence that gives you some extra fuel if your hand is empty, but a lot of time you dont need it.
I would say that if you want to push for rank 5 or legend with tempo mage, you should craft aluneth. If not, you can replace it with a card that does direct damage.
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Aluneth carries vs priests. Craft and don't question.