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!
Wanting to craft Alanna, Alexstrazsa or Pyros. Which are replaceable and which are must-haves? I’m having a hard time creating any pressure late-game. Please help!!!
Alanna > Alexstrazsa > Pyros.
Imo Pyros is replaceable. I was not playing its second form and sometimes I needed a 3 drop instead, so I switched for Tar Creeper. Still testing though.
You can go without Alex but its combo with Alanna is almost always lethal.
I might just craft both. This deck looks like it will be good for the next year. Thanks!
Try getting Alanna first. Without her big spell mage is not really worth it. After Alex after pyros :)
I crafted Alex and Alanna and replaced Pyros with the Lich King. Amazing deck I’ve been having a blast!
this deck is quite expensive lol. any alternatives for Alex ?
I am sorry mate, this is how blizz designed control decks. Try lich king or sindragosa for Alex.
Yes, could work, give it a shot!
Out of the cards you listed Geddon would be #1 Priority. He's gonna be a auto include in any mage control deck up until Frost Lich Jaina is rotated out. Hell he even won me a few games while not even having Jaina out.
Toki is a very fun card to play but i wouldn't waste dust on it. For the few times you do pull greatness such as Dr Boom Rag or Sylannas there's far more times where you are just suck with a dead card.
Lich King/Sindragosa is a good replacement.
Voodoo Doll and Keysmiths are not replaceable imo. Voodoo doll just synergies way to well with Frost Lich as well as given u a excellent option against must remove targets while Keysmith provides you options for keeping tempo or stalling until u get to your late game.
I just hit legend for the first time with this deck!!! Yey. I made some changes tho. I switched Toki, Time-Tinker (do not own her) for Zola the Gorgon and Harrison Jones (do not own him either) for Skulking Geist. I must say that the Skulking Geist works amazingly as a counter to taunt druid and cubelock since it removes naturalize and dark pact.
Congrats man, I am really happy you had a success with it!
I'm playing Big Spell Mage for a while in different variations. This is the seventh version I use - and by far the best one in my opinion. Really fun to play and really strong against many meta decks - even cube lock if you are a little lucky.
Thanks mate, I am happy that you like it!
Craft this deck. Will try play it. Thanks for great guide
I hope you have much success with it man!
Is it possible to replace jones and the ooze with two normal oozes? Thanks for the great deck btw!
Win or lose this deck is just incredible to play. I always feel like I have options even if they don't completely pan out. Opponent messes with plan A and B? I have C and D ready to go. I did a lot of painful disenchanting to get this deck and I don't regret it at all. And meta be damned I'm running Toki until she rotates. Thank you so much for this deck, Sensational. You're one of the people making Hearthstone fun and saving us from whatever cancer the meta throws at us.
I played a very similar list to legend this season 3 days after the expansion, except with sindragosa in place of toki, no pyros, and various tech cards over the keysmiths. Keysmith is a solid card, but I think it's the weakest part, so I'll take it out for applebaum/tar creeper or another ooze or a geist based on what I'm facing. There are better defensive tools against aggro, and I just haven't found it consistently powerful. People tend to only remember the flashiest uses of the card I think, like when you spellbender kings or mana bind a rin seal, but good players usually play around it well. I haven't really changed my list since the first few days of the expansion, it seems like the best list is already mostly solved.
I think you make some really good points about patience. The most common mistake I see people make with the deck is feeling the need to play something every turn. Sometimes you should just pass against slow opponents. I agree with most of what you are saying, except for your analysis of the tempo rogue and quest warrior match ups. I think that big spell is probably the best tempo rogue counter out there, maybe 75% against it. Fr0zen brought the deck to worlds because it farmed tempo rogue even back when it had corridor creeper, and now the mage has voodoo doll and other defensive tools. Odd only tempo rogue actually has a fighting chance vs big spell, but I absolutely think the mage is still favored if the match up is played correctly. Odd tempo rogue runs out of resources pretty fast without minstrel so it won't ever really be able to come back from a turn 5 fury like paladin can. Only way I ever lose is if I don't have an aoe by 6 or if jaina and the other healing is really buried. Taunt warrior however is an absolutely brutal match up in my experience, with only rin lock and quest rogue being harder to win. Usually they get ragnaros shot online before mage can apply really any pressure, and their minion game is much stronger so mage has to be defensive in the early game too. Even sindragosa and alex aren't too scary with execute to deal with them. Alanna usually gets dealt with easily by brawl or reckless flurry. None of the other minions generate pressure fast enough to contest rag shot. Only way I win is if I can get Jaina down before the quest and get water elementals nearly every turn.
Hey mate, thank you for the analysis, I just shared my experience based on the players I met recently. I do agree with you that Rin locks play around it very well and generally good players will play around secrets well. I am thinking of where I can place the Sulking Geist as well, as it becomes more and more needed! Thank you for that constructive comment, I will definitely take notes!
congratz for the explanation man, love the deck, trying to build it here (too much dust to spend) but's ok, thanks <3