Boomsday Big Spell Mage
- Last updated Aug 21, 2018 (Boomsday)
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Wild
- 18 Minions
- 11 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Big Spells Mage
- Crafting Cost: 16160
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 4/20/2018 (Witchwood)
- Symphony_VK
- Registered User
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- 19
- 62
- 101
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Battle Tag:
Symphonyl#21188
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Region:
EU
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Total Deck Rating
258
Hello everyone!
I have made Boomsday Changes and I know they are not the best yet, but I hope they work for you, still trying to figure the best list possible.
The new additions are Luna's Pocket Galaxy & Astromancer as I believe they are really strong in the current meta, where the last couple of days I am facing quite a few Control Odd Warriors and Spell hunters.
Big enemies to this deck however are Togwaggle druid and Deathrattle hunter from time to time if you don't control him early on.
I think I need to include Azalina Soulthief for those match ups, but I will experiment a bit more.
Card choices:
Arcane Artificer - Included in all big spell mages -> after we no longer have Ice Block it is our key way of survival. It is incredibly useful, especially when combined with the higher cost spells. MVP against aggro decks.
Acidic Swamp Ooze - I run two weapon destroyers, feel free to swap this for another that you like more. The reason for that is the high amount of Odd paladins, Odd warriors and especially against locks. I will mention this in the mulligan guide, but if you don't have a weapon destroyer at their turn 5 or whenever they play the weapon, you pretty much will loose 80% of the time. Currently trying Gluttonous Ooze to get more armour.
Doomsayer - No real explanation here. MVP against aggro decks and usually buys a turn which is great so you could ramp up to your key stronger late game cards.
Pyros - Very high value card, usually generates at least one more, has lifesteal after you play your DK hero, mostly good for tempo as well.
Raven Familiar - One of the few draw cards in the deck, very important to get it early on and to get your big spells. The downside is that note it is full with spiteful decks which renders this useless. If you are up against a druid or a priest, you might just mulligan it away since you won't get any value out of it.
Stonehill Defender - I run those in stead of Tar Creepers because they generate one more additional card AT LEAST which is the key to playing this deck. Sometimes you get great taunts too which really helps win the late game.
Voodoo Doll - One of the new witchwood cards which really help us, mages. It is an insane value card due to the ability to just kill it after turn 5 and it generates a water elemental with Frost Lich Jaina
Arcane Keysmith - one of the more underrated cards of this expansion, I think is one of the best new cards the mages got. Playing this on the right time can very much win you a game - getting a Counterspell against Call to Arms or a Mirror Entity vs a cube lock is simply amazing.
Polymorph - Standard edition in every big spell mage. MVP vs cards like Voidlord. You need to run 2 in my opinion.
Dragon's Fury - one of, if not your best board clear. It is cheap, it deals A LOT of damage BUT the downside is that you need to be VERY aware of what you have left in your deck and use it before fatigue, otherwise it is almost useless, unless to generate another drake, or armour.
Harrison Jones - My second weapon destroyer and one of draw mechanics. I love this card since vanilla HS and I think he is very useful in this meta, drawing extra cards is the tip of the iceberg.
Blizzard - It can help you stall, clear the board, generate armour, water elementals, I am pretty sure it can cook too. Run two, don't regret it :)
Meteor - MVP clear for giants and other big minions. Also great for gaining armour and momentum.
Toki, Time-Tinker - my favourite card of Witchwood so far. She is so underestimated and called meme card and everything but the truth for me at least is that she is amazing. Sure she can give you useless legendaries from time to time, but 75% for me at least it gives cards like Dr. Boom, Medivh, the Guardian, Emperor Thaurissan etc. Test her and you will <3 her. See here for example: https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/8dgl6l/toki_is_useless_in_big_spell_mage_they_said_d/
Baron Geddon - best card to use with Frost Lich Jaina. He can heal you, clear the board and further help you survive.
Flamestrike - Pretty standard, you need to run two, especially now when you don't have Fireland's Portal (we need more spells) and there are more aggro decks than ever out there.
Alexstrasza - Not everyone choses to run her, but I think she is very key to every mage deck out there. She can use to heal, help in fatigue games A LOT and also in combination with Dragoncaller Alanna (if you get 3 drakes alive) to close the game from 30 health to 0.
Dragoncaller Alanna - MVP of this deck, everything is built around her. Try to use her with at least 3 spells so far and in the very late game where the opponent don't have any removals.
Frost Lich Jaina - just won't bother talking how amazingly super galacticly awesome she is :)
Match ups and Mulligan guide:
Now on the ladder there are mainly several types of decks. I will rate them by the number of times I've encountered each of them roughly:
- Odd paladin - one of, if not the most popular deck in the past week or so. Many, many people play it and it is mostly an easy and cheap one but at the same time incredibly strong. You need to mulligan hard for early game cards like: Doomsayer, Raven Familiar and Stonehill Defender. If I have The Coin I leave Dragon's Fury as well. Game strategy is to just survive the early game and if you get to 7-8th turn, and if you manage to get an Arcane Artificer with a big spell it is pretty much over. Since I don't run a lot of card draw they can't get much value of Divine Favor and we have two weapon destroyers which should be able to remove any weapons they have, they usually run 3. I think this is about 65/35 in our favour. The only time you loose from this deck is if they have a really good or descent start and you have 7-8 drops in the opening hand.
- Cube lock - cubelock is a pretty common and could be a difficult matchup if you don't understand it correctly. Most important thing is to have a weapon destroyer for turn 5 and to have at least one removal early one for his minions. Should you have at least one of the two you will be fine. I try to get Vodoo Doll and either Acidic Swamp Ooze and some draw. General tip here is to save Polymorph for Voidlord or Doomguard and Vodoo Doll + Meteor for giants. Play patiently. If you kill his weapon he has to discard cards to get Doomguard out and they really need 90% of their cards. If you don't destroy their weapon or start with a bad hand it is next to impossible to win. Also always play around Defile and Hellfire. Arcane Keysmith also plays a big role here. A well placed Mirror Entity or a Counterspell can make a huge impact. I say this is around 60/40 in our favour.
- Face Hunter - one of the harder match ups in my opinion. You really need to get a good anti-aggro starting hand to deal with their board early on. Doomsayer & Stonehill Defender are a must and third most important is Arcane Artificer. Try to survive and armour up with him. Also if you have those, consider keeping Acidic Swamp Ooze. This match is hard if they have a good hand but it's definitely winnable. I'd say 50/50, if not 45/55 in their favour.
- Tempo Rogue - play exactly the same like face hunter. Also always try to calculate how much damage they have with Leeroy Jenkins with Cold Blood or Shadowstep Try to destroy their weapons and save a removal for a big Edwin VanCleef. This is again 50/50, if not 45/55 in their favour.
- Rin lock - this is the match up I personally hate most. It is really easy for them to destroy our deck now that Dirty Rat is gone. The only saviour we have now is Arcane Keysmith with a Counterspell or them to draw really bad. If the locks knows the matchup it is really hard to win. You need to pressure them, save Polymorph for Voidlord and if they get Rin out, try to pressure them with everything you can to buy another turn so they don't play their spells. Another reason this match up could be hard is if you mulligan for cubelock and end up playing a Rin. No savings there. I'd say this is a 40/60 in their favour, if not 30/70 even.
- Spiteful Priest - in my opinion one of the harder matchups since they have a lot of cards that need to be removed and if they have a good hand can be extremely difficult to handle. I like keeping Voodoo Doll & Polymorph. Never keep Raven Familiar since it is useless against them. If they don't have great curve this match is rather easy. Key strategy here is to survive until you command the board. With Medivh gone just try to big spell clear everything until you can get Dragoncaller Alanna out. She usually wins the game. I'd say 45/55 in their favour.
- Even Paladin - plays exactly like the ODD paladin. One great tip I can give here is to keep Arcane Keysmith and try to get Counterspell or Spellbender out. They run both Call to Arms and Blessing of Kings and both of those secrets really ruin their lives. I think this is 60/40 in our favour.
- Big Spell Mage - like very mirror expect around 70% similar deck list. This match really comes to experience and luck in drawing. Almost vs all mages I would keep Frost Lich Jaina I know it sounds a bit extreme but she wins that match up. Always think ahead and plan for what they might do and what spell they might use. Also even if it's not valid try to use Dragon's Fury before fatigue. Best case scenario is they use their two Polymorph on something else and then you can play Pyros. One last tip is play as slow as possible so they fatigue first. This is extremely important. Definitely anyone's game here, so I'd say 50/50.
- Elemental mage - much like the mirror match except this is more tempo. You need to keep up and always think ahead "What kills me". They don't run any burns so this is easy to anticipate. Again in my opinion save Frost Lich Jaina and try to starve them out and play the value game. If they have a good curve this could be a really hard to win match up. 55/45 in our favour.
- Quest Warrior - I think this is a rather easy match. We have all the time in the world to build up to our strong minions. In my experience I've won almost all matches. I always keep Frost Lich Jaina and try to put on secrets and just take my sweet time. After I get Frost Lich Jaina out and things like Pyros it's hard for them to win. Don't worry about their armour stacking, just play the value game. One thing to consider here is Reckless Fury so play Dragoncaller Alanna after you see them both gone and the Brawl out. Don't try to get through your deck fast or you will fatigue really quickly which you never want with Big Spell Mage. I'd say 75/25 in our favour.
- OTK Shaman - If they get their combo out we loose, there is hardly anything we can do about it, however we can still win this. Just try to be as aggro as possible. You want Raven Familiar to draw quickly and Frost Lich Jaina to make elementals. Play Dragoncaller Alanna even with 2-3 drakes out. Try to finish them off with Alexstrasza I personally didn't face many on my climb but the I won once and lost 2 times when I did, so this is something to consider. Just remember like any other match - it is winnable. 33/67 in their favour.
There are definitely other decks out there like Quest Rogue is gaining a lot of popularity now but I haven't seen many.
General Tips & Tricks:
- Always play the patient game - this deck's games are at least 15 min long. If you don't think and plan ahead you just gonna end up loosing. Playing another game + one more to get a win will result in 45 min to gain one star, in stead of 15 if you plan correctly. Just think it that way, it is better to think one turn than one more whole game.
- Never rush to fatigue. If possible wait for your opponent and outvalue them in every possible way. Rushing opponents make more mistakes, more mistakes mean bigger chances for you.
- It is a hard deck and it has it's learning curve. If you end up loosing 5 games in a row try and analyse what you are doing wrong. I've given explanations in this guide but if you have any questions, please ask them here) I will always answer your question.
- Always ask "What kills me". This will help you with all decks, not just this one. Also always consider the worst case scenario so you could adapt.
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR READING, I HOPE YOU MAKE IT TO LEGEND AND IF YOU ENJOYED MY GUIDE, PLEASE GIVE IT A LIKE, IT MEANS A LOT TO ME!
It's true, you can't pressure Quest Warrior. But they can't really pressure you, either. The only real threat they have is their Rag HP, and that can be played around to some extent. They also have a lot more card draw, so they will go into fatigue faster (unless they run Dead Man's Hand). Don't play into Brawl, Polymorph their Direhorn Hatchlings, and always try to keep 2 or 3 minions on the board to soak up Fireballs.
The few Quest Warriors that I've faced lost because they didn't play smart. I think that it is a mistake for them to play Sulfuras early in the match-up. Their armor-up ability is MUCH more valuable, simply because it usually turns into a fatigue game. They should HP almost every turn, and simply wait it out. Most of the BSM deck is reactionary spells/minions, so doing NOTHING often means the Mage has to start dumping cards from their hand. After the Warrior has piled on enough armor and removed most of the Mage's threats, THEN they should switch to the Rag power and start burning down the mage.
Hey! Looks like an awesome deck! I do not currently own neither pyros nor Toki. Are these absolutely needed to make this deck, or can they be replaced, and if the can, with what? Was thinking Elise might find a place in this deck, due to great late-game value.
Toki is replaceable. I'm running a Geist instead. Pyros is just a really strong card in this deck...not sure what I would replace it with.
hey man, I am glad you like it :) I don't think geist is really needed in the meta, at least I didn't feel the need for it. You can swap Toki for him if you'd like :)
Feel free to craft them if you are willing to invest into both arcane dust and learning curve. Both cube locks and big spell mages aren't an auto-win deck architectures, so if I were you I'd consider which class I like more (in my case mage). Warlock is a big powerhouse as well, so if you are to go this direction I am sure you won't regret it either.
If you craft and test this deck, please contact me if you have any troubles or questions, I would be more than happy to answer/help you make that legend push :)
Hey, thanks for the comment and for the constructive criticism. Usually with big spell mage you win by overrunning the board and eventually drying out your opponent. This is done by forcing them to try and break you and clearing their stuff with your big spells. Eventually you get jaina and you start making water elementals and play the Dragoncaller. This is hardly a deck where you straight out dominate the opponent, since you don't run that powerful early game minions, you mostly run defensive minions and cards, rather than aggressive ones.
Having said that, try to survive and eventually control the board with the best value possible, if I have to summarise the gameplay, at least mine. Probably top legend players have a different mindset but sadly I am just a casual legend and don't know the game to that extend.
I hope you give it a shot and share your feedback!
Thank you mate, it means a lot! I meant I am not Top 100 Godlento level to have this next level mind set :)
Ran this deck 100% from rank 17-rank 10 in 4 days. Only switch i made was Toki for Lich King as i don't have toki and used all my dust to craft dragoncaller and sindragosa(which i was using in another version of big mage)
Have to say this deck works really well in the current meta. Most of my losses either came from very bad opening hands and getting steam rolled from aggro decks or just misplays on my part. I feel this deck can handle most meta decks right now besides maybe Spiteful Priest?(Or i'm just playing against that deck wrong which could very well be true. To me since raven gets no value against this deck its just hard to keep board control in the early game.)
The main thing about this deck is you have various win conditions that will change almost every game. Some games you simply have to stall until u get jaina. Some u have to use Alex on yourself for a quick burst heal to save u. Others you have the game already won with a good hand and dropping Baron or Pyros on curve. Also don't be afraid to use Alanna before u get all 6 dragons. Just having 18 damage on board is enough to win if u have alex waiting next turn.
Random thought but do you think there is any room for Tinkmaster Overspark? Having a 3rd poly for cube/rin lock seems really valuable imo but i dont know what to switch it out for and when your not playing against warlock it would be a dead card.
Also it may just be me but i very rarely ever even get dragoncaller allana out. I'll keep her in as the whole deck is designed around her but i might of played her maybe 3 times out my entire run to 10th rank lol.
Edit-Lmao. As soon as i type this my next game is won with Allana lmfao
https://hsreplay.net/replay/nA24FQArsxt5care64vkvd
against spiteful, keep voodoo dolls . its ok if deathwing but tyrantus is really lethal threatening as voodoo doll is the only card to trade for it .
against cube , poly and weapon removal.
against agro . aoe spells.
only thing here is against OTK , quest in which its hard to counter them . only way I can win them is inserting azalina soulthief so we can do mirror match and at least I know what is he going to play for the next 2-3 turns.
I have a match that I have gotten his kingsbane and sulfras , DK card as well is really insane with azalina.
I am really happy that you like it!
I will definitely try to finish the guide so other people can do it too :)
we can remove toki/pyros and jones for two witchwood piper for immediate need for artificer.
this deck for me is a good deck esp that voodoo doll and polymorph really own spiteful decks.
Toki = RNG based value
Pyros = value once get DK jaina
Maybe you’re right, but I rarely found myself looking for Arcane Artificer. Almost every cubelock and paly game I was praying I’d draw weapon removal.
No no way I’d cut weapon removal.
I'm a big control mage fan and seeing this and playing it, I'm having plenty of enjoyment though there a little bias. The only card I changed was 1 Arcane Keysmith with Meat Wagon which honestly is a subpar card overall that only pulls doomsayer but I didn't have a second copy, but the flexibility of the card is really nice and is underrated. My only concern is Stonehill Defender since mage has no taunt class cards which I'm assuming it's there to possibly get value cards like Lich King but you tend to get a lot of crap neutral taunts in the discover pool.
I found Stonehill Defender really good. It helps you fill your curve with a solid minion and the 1/4 taunt was good against palys. Not sure I’d play Meat Wagon.
Stonehill is there just for taunt in general to play on curves and buy you more time to get to your end game win condition. The few times u do pull cards like Lich king is just a bonus.
Yeah it's the biggest gimmick Meat Wagon, but somehow people have fallen for it and killed it pulling the Doomsayer and clearing the board. I would replace it with Arcane Keysmith anytime for consistency.
is Toki compulsory in this deck ? also Can i sub in Glutttonous Ooze for Harrison since i dont own him ?
I would say Toki is definitely replaceable. I enjoyed it but most times it’s a 6 mana 5/5 draw a crappy card. I’d prolly replace with Lich King. And yes on ooze. The draw rarely mattered. But must have 2 forms of weapon removal. It’s how you beat paly and cubelock.
Just hit legend with this deck. It absolutely destroys the meta. Really enjoyed dominating cubelock and taunt Druid with this. Great deck man. Thanks.
Wow, I am so happy dude ! Congrats!