Leyline Exodia Mage w/ In-Depth Analysis
- Last updated Apr 16, 2018 (Witchwood)
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Wild
- 16 Minions
- 14 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: TTK Mage
- Crafting Cost: 8500
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 2/7/2018 (Patches Nerf)
- blackhinder
- Registered User
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- 2
- 9
- 11
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Battle Tag:
BlackHinder#1195
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Region:
US
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Total Deck Rating
134
**Updates**: Newest to oldest updates are from top to bottom
-2 Ice Block, -1 Arcanologist, -1 Novice Engineer, -1 Bloodmage Thalnos, +2 Tar Creeper, +2 Book of Specters, +1 Molten Reflection
With the new Witchwood expansion, I have updated my list at a new post, including some new analysis! Give the new post an upvote if you like the new list :)
https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1094309-rank-4-leyline-exodia-mage
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-1Cult Apothecary, +1Novice Engineer
Wasn't too happy with how Cult Apothecary performed. Most of the time I found it awkward to play, and it was only good early in the game before I started freezing the board. I'm happier with Novice Engineer when I'm cycling into cards that can consistently stall.
From my last update, I've been happy with how Dragon's Fury has been performing against Paladin and Hunter. I don't think it's worth adding a 2nd Fury instead though because it's mostly useless in other matchups. Sometime it is possible to find use with 1 Fury, but I'd imagine the 2nd one being a dead card.
Potentially, a Cone of Cold can be added, but I prefer the Novice Engineer for the same reason as why I dropped Cult Apothecary.
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-2 Novice Engineer, +1 Dragon Fury, +1Cult Apothecary
While trying to climb the ranks at Rank 5 over ~60 games, I've been seeing a lot of paladins lately. While my winrates vs slower decks were near 100%, Paladin and Hunter were rough matchup. With these changes, I expect better outcomes. Dragon Fury is a good board wipe against murlocs or wolves, and Cult Apothecary is a good additional heal. I chose to cut the Novice Engineer because I believe there is already enough cycling in the deck and the body is too weak against Paladin and Hunter.
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-2 Coldlight Oracle, +2 Novice Engineer
After further testing, I realized that having too many Acolyte of Pain or Coldlight Oracle in hand caused hand management issues, so I replaced Oracles with Novice Engineer because it's easier to play. I chose to drop the Oracles instead of the Acolytes because Acolytes are better against aggro decks (*cough cough* Paladin). If you face more control decks like Warlock, then you can consider switching to Oracles.
Introduction
Hello, with the new nerfs on Patches the Pirate and Corridor Creeper, Exodia Mage's winrate is more likely to rise. Thus, I attempted to optimize the Exodia Mage list.
Why not use Open the Waygate?
While Open the Waygate enables another exodia combo, I would rather not rely on RNG to dictate whether I can get useful random mage spells. Therefore, I favor the Leyline Manipulator combo because I know that my wins come from my skills.
How to Fully Utilize the Combo
Before reading ahead, if you're not familiar with the combo, google "Leyline Manipulator OTK" and read up on it. If you know of the combo, you probably do not know the true flexibility of this combo because based on my own research, every popular Hearthstone figures had a rigid mindset on how to pull off the combo.
While people will think that both Simulacrum needs to land on Sorcerer's Apprentice, the combo also works if one of them lands on Archmage Antonidas. In fact, it's better if one of them lands on Antonidas because then he can be discounted twice by two Leyline Manipulators, allowing flexibility in mana.
Also, instead of a Molten Reflection, Coin + 4th Apprentice can be used in the combo (though it is less likely).
Deckbuilding
The bare minimum of cards required to pull off the combo is:
With this in mind, these cards should be separated into two categories: the Set-up and the Actual Combo.
Set-Up: Cards that lie in this category are the Simulacrums, Leyline Manipulator, and Apprentice because we must set up discounted copies of either Apprentices or Antonidas. This means that it is absolutely bad if any of these cards end up being at the bottom of the deck because then the game would go into fatigue, leading to demise.
Thus, including an extra copy of each of the set-up cards is a necessity. That means running a second Leyline Manipulator, a second Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Zola the Gorgon as the third Simulacrum.
Actual Combo: These cards are Antonidas and Molten Reflection because they are only going to be used on the exodia turn. It is okay for either of them to be at the bottom of the deck, so no extra copies are needed.
Other than those cards, there is a mix of cards that draw and stall. While there are many ways for this to be changed, I prefer the list that I have posted. This can be changed to your own liking, but the core cards for drawing and stalling are
2x Arcanologist
2x Ice Block
1x Ice Barrier
2x Frost Nova
1xBlizzard
2x Doomsayer
How to play this deck?
The deck played similarly to Freeze Mage. There are many in-depth guides on playing Freeze Mage if you need more info, but it's basically prioritizing draws in the early turns, and stalling when your life total is lowered. While stalling, you are looking into drawing and setting up for the combo.
Conclusion
Thanks for taking the time to read this. If there is anything I wasn't clear about, or if you have any questions, feel free to comment below. Also, remember to upvote if you like :)
That sounds interesting, I'll give it a try and see how it goes.
EDIT: After a few games, I think it has potential. You do lose a bit of draw, but you do get a lot more flexibility. Adds all the things you mentioned, as well as some hard removal (Polymorph, etc.) for when Doomsayer fails/doesn't show up.
DOUBLE EDIT: I've also decided to replace Bloodmage Thalnos with Coldlight Oracle for better draw. The spell damage is next to worthless in this deck, and one less attack than Loot Hoarder means it's not worth including if I've already cut out the actual Loot Hoarders.
Primordial Glyph is a good option if it is within your preferred playstyle. As for me, I like having the Loot Hoarders to draw further into the deck and find the cards I need, and I don't want to lose to poor RNG from glyphs :P
I've also learned pretty early on that Potion of Madness is your worst enemy when using loot hoarders.
Loving this deck. Tried it without Zola at first but found that relying on drawing both Simulacrum caused problems if they were at the back of my deck. Once I crafted Zola I had a lot more consistency.
I am glad that you are happy with the deck :)
How many games did it take you to get to rank 5?
When the meta was still fresh from the nerf patch, I had a win-streak most of the time, so it didn't take me long. As for trying to go even higher, I find it difficult now that Paladin and Secret Mage has become more prominent in the meta. I can keep my win-rate over 50%, but it's not good for quick climbing. I can see this deck being useful in a tournament though!
Since the goal is to mass draw, why not aluneth? Afraid of overdraw?
If Aluneth is included, it is likely to overdraw with all the other drawing cards. If we cut some drawing cards, then we become more reliant in drawing into Aluneth. Also, there is not much we can do if Aluneth draws into fatigue.
Since you have to hold a lot of cards in your hands, you will probably end up burning cards.
I was considering crafting the quest instead of Zola, and I’m glad I chose Zola instead. Despite how awesome it would feel to pull off the quest, it seems smarter to hide what you’re doing for a few turns instead. Needless to say, I am loving this deck.
Still sucks to go against Mill Rogue, tho.
I feel you. Against Mill Rogue, all we can do is pray we don't overdraw important cards xD
This variant does not use the Mage Quest.
If you still insist on using this variant, the best card that can substitute for Zola is Manic Soulcaster if you want to preserve the functionality. Otherwise, you could replace it with Cone of Cold but just know that if one of the Simulacrum ends up at the bottom of your deck, you are likely to lose the game.
Nice suggestion! It's a shame that it is still a problem if a Simulacrum is at the bottom of the deck though.
This archetype is really interesting to me, so I'm learning how to play it. The correct use for Zola the Gorgon is to duplicate a non-replicated Sorcerer's Apprentice that you don't count for the combo, right? So the two original Sorcerer's Apprentice's are throwaways after they're copied?
You are correct that in that you want to duplicate a non-replicated Sorcerer's Apprentice. However, you may still want to keep one of the two originals because the combo can still be used like this:
(7)Archmage Antonidas + (2)Sorcerer's Apprentice + 2x (0)Sorcerer's Apprentice + (1)Molten Reflection.
If you throw away all the original Sorcerer's Apprentice too early, and either Zola the Gorgon or Simulacrum is at the bottom of your deck, then you would have to go into fatigue in order to pull off the combo. It's never good to go into fatigue Ice Block cannot protect you from fatigue damage.
If you happen to get a 3rd copy of the Apprentice, then it is okay to throw away all the originals, but it may still be good to keep because you can then use this combo:
(7)Archmage Antonidas + (2)Sorcerer's Apprentice + 3x (0)Sorcerer's Apprentice.
In my opinion, if you already have Molten Reflection in your hand, instead of making a 3rd copy of Sorcerer's Apprentice, you can instead copy a draw minion or a [card]Doomsayer/card].
There is a lot of flexibility for the combo :)
Thanks for the decklist and explanation! Just wanted to add to this - if there's even a small possibility your opponent plays Dirty Rat (i.e. vs. control warlock, priest, or warrior), you should keep the Molten Reflection as a spare Sorcerer's Apprentice in case one gets pulled.