Hearthpwn

UPDATE 5/30: Testing a version with -2 Acolytes and +1 Poly +1 Dragon's Fury since our hand is too full most of the time. Also can help us better survive against aggro.

Hi, my name is Sharkception and I have gotten legend 8 times since I started playing a few years ago. I hardly ever take the time to grind to legend since it's SOOOOO boring and tedious playing the same meta decks over and over. 

INTRODUCING EXODIA MAGE

After going through at least 30 different iterations of Exodia Mage with less than 30% win rates, I finally came up with this brew. I tried to combine some of the ideas of Mind Blast Priest with Big Spell Mage removal and survival instead of going pure combo since it allowed us to actually survive against aggro in much the same way those decks do. However, this brew gives us a HUGE advantage against greedy control decks without losing too many cards to deal with aggro. With Quest Priest replacing most of the Mind Blast Priests and Control Warlock seeing a massive decrease in play, this deck is PERFECT for the current meta. From my testing of this version so far, I've ended up at a 57% win rate (17-13) from Rank 5 to Rank 3 with a sample size of 30 games. 

THIS IS NOT AN EASY DECK TO PILOT. KEEP THAT IN MIND AND LEARN FROM YOUR LOSSES.

THE COMBO

Step 1: 2x Simulacrum on Sorcerer's Apprentice (Make sure SA is your lowest cost minion ie. no Doomsayers or Artificers in hand)

Step 2: Leyline Manipulator to reduce both extra copies to 0 (Can be played in same turn as Simulacrum's with 10 mana)

Step 3: Antonidas -> 3x SA -> Molten Reflection on SA -> INFINITE FIREBALLS

CARD EXPLANATIONS

Primordial Drake - Odd Paladin. That's all. Better than Baron Geddon since we run Sandbinders. Taunt and higher hp is important too.

Sandbinder - Thins out our deck and allows us to draw one of our combo pieces or Artificers to survive. Also decent body to deal with annoying minions. 

Frost Lich Jaina - Without it, we simply die to aggro or get out-valued by decks like Even Warlock. Jaina allows us to stall out those games and either end it right there or survive until we can draw the combo. DON'T PLAY WITHOUT THIS CARD.

Voodoo Doll and Polymorph - To deal with Tyrantus, Rin, Taunt Druids, and any other deck with annoying minions. Other versions of this deck lose so many times because when you only stall by freezing, you rarely have enough freezes or mana to get/play the combo. Oh, and Tyrantus is GG without Voodoo.

Lich King - Mainly here for survival and to help deal with minions. One cool interaction I found that won me a game was Doom Pact-ing when I only needed Antonidas for the combo.  Frostmourne also helps build a board.

Stonehill Defender - Incredible value against aggro since we can't run many minions.

Dragon's Fury - A MUST against aggro decks even though it usually only does 3 damage. That's all we need anyways.

We don't run novas or barriers because we don't need them. We can consistently clear the board like Big Spell Mage. When you include those stall cards, you get 100% reliant on the combo and it's absolutely garbage. Trust me, I tried to make it work.

WHY THIS VERSION

This deck allows us to beat aggro without the combo which is something other versions of this deck simply can't do. We aren't 100% reliant on drawing our combo to win, which ends up being extremely unreliable. We only run 1 copy of each combo piece so we don't have to sacrifice too many cards that are important in surviving match-ups the other versions get destroyed by. The main point of our combo is to give us a way to finish off the control decks that have been increasing in popularity post-nerf. We can consistently get to fatigue against greedy decks and guess what? We win everytime. Also, THE MEMES ARE FUN. Make sure you fireball EVERYTHING before killing your opponent. Enjoy the post-match friend request.

SIMPLE MATHCHUP GUIDE (FULL GUIDE COMING AT 20 UPVOTES)

Aggro - Do NOT hold onto combo pieces. You won't win with it 99 times out of 100 so don't be afraid to play those cards if you have to. Stall with Stonehill, Artificer, Doomsayer, and Dragon's Fury before sealing the deal with Drake, Lich King, And Jaina. You can also Molten your Artificer if you have another spell you can play which has helped save me from lethal many times. 

Control - BE GREEDY. You can take quite a bit of damage without having to clear the board. Decks like Even Warlock will have too many minions if you use all your AOE on 1 or 2 minions. Survive and we will kill them from infinite health.

Midrange/Spiteful - These are our hardest matchups. Be weary of cards like Fungalmancer and save your Doomsayers for late game or to keep the board clear for turns you can drop Lich King or Jaina. Trade and clear as efficiently as possible while being somewhat greedy. Use taunts and Blizzard on huge boards to help survive those few turns we may need. Efficient Artificers are essential to these matchups.