Hearthpwn

Hi Friends!

It's Budget Deck Series time again! The first class we'll be taking a look at is Mage;

(Games start at 7:44)

Tempo Mage was one of the first decks to be 'figured out' in Boomsday thanks to champions like Apxvoid. Before we dive into our budget list, lets take a look at our criteria for the series;

Criteria:

• No set dust limit.
  We don't want to set an arbitrary number to go by, but still be conscious of how much we are spending and provide downgrade/sidegrade options when available. We also want to generally steer clear of Epics and Legendaries.
  
  
• Focus on the CORE of a deck.
  Let's define the absolute necessities of the deck. Identify what the strongest cards are and build around that.
  
  
• Have a reasonable upgrade path.
  Using budget versions of existing archetypes provides players with the ability to spend more dust to have a 'complete' deck. This way, if someone enjoys the deck or has more resources, they get more bang for their buck!
  
  
• Prioritize cards that aren't rotating.
  A new season is almost upon us and it's a smart idea to avoid crafting those year of the kraken cards. We want our dust to go long AND strong!

With that in mind, let's take a look at the core of Tempo Mage!

The Core:

2 Arcane Missiles
2 Mana Wyrm
2 Shooting Star
2 Arcanologist
2 Frostbolt
2 Sorcerer's Apprentice
2 Arcane Intellect
2 Cinderstorm
2 Counterspell
2 Explosive Runes
2 Kirin Tor Mage
2 Cosmic Anomaly
2 Fireball

Fortunately for us, a lot of the bread and butter cards for Tempo Mage are classic or common! Be sure to check out the attached video for more in depth discussion on card choices.

Filling things out:

2 Amani Berserker
1 Reckless Rocketeer

Amani Berserker gives us another fantastic proactive two-drop that overperforms in some matchups, but can be swapped out for Spellshifter, Mana Addict or whatever you prefer. Reckless Rocketeer gives us some extra reach, something we are lacking without Primordial Glyph, and a second one isn't the worst inclusion!

The flex:

2 Spellbreaker

Struggling against a certain match-up? Use these slots for tech cards like silences, weapon removal, etc.

Upgrades:

The main upgrades for the deck are Luna, Primordial Glyph, and Aluneth (in that order). While Luna is the least impactful of the three, it's the only one that doesn't rotate out of standard next year.

Feedback:

Think this deck is too far out of your budget? Got some card suggestions? Had some good/ terrible luck with the list? Let me know! This project will be ongoing and I'm always looking for ways to improve.

I'm also looking for suggestions on the next deck for the series! You can hit me up here on Hearthpwn,Twitch or Twitter.