[Legend Guide] Rastakhan Control Mage
- Last updated Dec 21, 2018 (Level Up Nerf)
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Wild
- 19 Minions
- 10 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Control Mage
- Crafting Cost: 12440
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 11/29/2018 (Boomsday)
- Hinz
- Registered User
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- 10
- 26
- 35
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Battle Tag:
AyaHinz#4542
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Region:
KR/TW
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Total Deck Rating
165
(Dec 22, 2018) Deck Update - Meta Nerf
I replaced some cards for the new meta and updated the match-up guide.(Dec 10, 2018) Deck Update - Rastakhan Meta Stable
The mata is becoming stable. I further replaced some cards for the change of meta.(Dec 07, 2018) Deck Update - Rastakhan Launch
Introduction of Rastakhan has given this deck more flexibility. I replaced some cards.
Do not forget to upvote this deck if you find this guide useful. Your kind support is my energy to try out new decks and write detailed guides.
(Dec 09, 2018) - Rastakhan Meta Stable
I replaced a Doomsayer with Zola the Gorgon as we have quite a lot of situational Battlecry cards. It could be play on the minions depending on the tempo and opponent's type to get an extra copy. (When you would like to get an extra copy of Ragnaros the Firelord, remember to play Zola the Gorgon on Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk if it is available.) The Match-Up Guide is also written.
(Dec 07, 2018) - Rastakhan Update
The meta is still very volatile with the introduction of different decks. Some notable decks are Spell Hunter, Odd Paladin (...again), Freeze Shaman and Dragon Warrior.I replaced Acolyte of Pain with Pyromaniac as it is of better value and potential to draw more cards. Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk, as expected, is introduced because Ragnaros the Firelord has recently become an Elemental, which would have insane synergy with Frost Lich Jaina. As to fulfil the condition of Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk, I further proposed to substitute The Lich King and one Voodoo Doll with two Spirit of the Dragonhawk, which is also quite useful to play against aggro decks in the early game, draw more cards with Pyromaniac and summon multiple Water Elemental (Yes, it does!!) when Frost Lich Jaina is in play.
These substitutions make the deck even more stronger than it was. I have been reading complains about the difficulties to play against aggro decks, and sometimes you might have nothing to play from your hand - these have been all solved! With the aid of Spirit of the Dragonhawk and Pyromaniac, you can now control the board against aggro opponents. The average mana cost is also reduced which means you can play more cards in early turns. In the past, if you have noting to play, you may just ping your opponent, but now you can stake your damage to fulfil the battlecry condition of Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk.
I have been having very high win rate with this deck, from R4 to Legend this season. The idea of this deck is to control the board by your early clears and hard removals to survive until late game. Once you play the key cards in the late game, you will beat your opponent in or near fatigue stage. This deck is superior in most of the match-ups as there are counters towards those top-tier decks. The cards are concisely categorized into the following functions.
Board Clear
- Doomsayer - Play early to keep safe until you can play the following spells.
- (*) Daring Fire-Eater - To kill minions in the early game or stack for Ragnaros the Firelord. You can also summon Water Elemental when Frost Lich Jaina is in play.
- Dragon's Fury - Remember to use before your other spells are drawn.
- Blizzard - Play if you have no other options, or followed by other removals next turn.
- Flamestrike - Deal 4 damages to all enemy minions.
- Baron Geddon - If you play after Frost Lich Jaina is in play. It could heavily heal your hero.
Hard Removal
- Voodoo Doll - Play when Frost Lich Jaina is in play to give you a Water Elemental.
- Polymorph - Frost Lich Jaina is in play to give you a Water Elemental and rule out the chance that your opponent resurrects it.
When you have both, you are advised to play Polymorph because Voodoo Doll can be played with less mana and on elusive minions. However, Polymorph can bypass the Deathrattle effect of minions.
Deck Filter
- Raven Familiar - To draw a spell in the early game. You can replace this card with Doomsayer and Voodoo Doll.
- (*) Pyromaniac - Card-drawing tool with 3/3/4 value (much better than 3/1/3). Value of this card can be magnified by Spirit of the Dragonhawk.
Anti-Deck
- Gluttonous Ooze - It is a very strong card to play against Druid, Rogue and Warrior. See Match-Up section below to know more about how to play this card.
- (*) Zola the Gorgon - You can play this card for an extra copy of your minion on the board, depending on the situation. You can always copy a Doomsayer or Stonehill Defender to survive against aggro decks. When you would like to get an extra copy of Ragnaros the Firelord, remember to play Zola the Gorgon on Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk if it is available.
- Stonehill Defender - Save your life in the early game. It could also be very useful if you discover some overpowered cards like The Lich King in the late game.
- (*) Arcane Keysmith - It is a very strong card to play against a lot of meta decks. See Match-Up section below to know more about how to play this card. Splitting Image is discoverable in Rastakhan.
Key Card
- Arcane Artificer - Armor up your hero into late game.
- (*) Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk - You can stake your damage by pinging your opponent in the early game. With Spirit of the Dragonhawk or Daring Fire-Eater, you can stake faster. Please note that Ragnaros the Firelord is an elemental.
- Dragoncaller Alanna - Provide stressful board for your enemy in the late game, especially during fatigue stage.
- Frost Lich Jaina - This deck would be meaningless without this card.
Match-Up (Last Updated: Dec 22, 2018)
If you play this deck for a long time, you will find that there are counters towards each top-tier deck.
- Malygos / Togwaggle / Taunt Druid
You can always use your Gluttonous Ooze for Twig of the World Tree to prolong your opponents' time for their combo. You are advised to put early board pressure to your opponent.
(1) For Malygos Druid, you can use your Arcane Keysmith to discover Explosive Runes for Flobbidinous Floop, and Counterspell for Malygos.
(2) For Togwaggle Druid, you can use your Arcane Keysmith to discover Frozen Clone, Counterspell and Mana Bind for King Togwaggle.
(3) For Taunt Druid, Polymorph and Counterspell can dilute your opponent's chance to resurrect a Hadronox by Witching Hour. Polymorphing the big taunt minions can also prevent them being summoned by Hadronox Of course, you can store your board clears in case they are lucky enough to resurrect the Hadronox. - Deathrattle Hunter
Simply control the board and Polymorph the Deathrattle cards of your opponent. - Spell Hunter
Utilize your Dragon's Fury for the Spellstone. You will usually have to survive the early game and defend your opponent until they were killed by fatigue. However, you could replace some removals with card like Astromancer, Pyros, Pyroblast or any early minions that could control the board. - Zoo / Discard / Even Warlock
(1) For Zoolock and Discard Warlock, mulligan for the early drops.
(2) For Even Warlock, do not overdraw your deck. Keep a buffer of three more cards than your opponent to survive in the fatigue stage. - Mecha'thun Decks
Do draw your deck quickly to find the card you need as follow.
(1) For Priest, you will notice that they will draw up their deck and start their OTK combo when they have 5 cards left in their hand. When your opponent has 5 cards in hand and no card in their deck, play Arcane Keysmith to discover Explosive Runes for Reckless Experimenter.
(2) For Warlock, play Arcane Keysmith to discover Counterspell for Bloodbloom when their deck is empty and both Galvanizer are played.
(3) For Warrior, play Arcane Keysmith to discover Counterspell when their deck is empty. - Resurrect Priest
Simply Polymorph Malygos and Prophet Velen and play Arcane Keysmith to discover Counterspell when you feel that your opponent's combo is ready. - Control Mage
Do not overdraw and be cautioned of the cards your opponent has not played. - Other Aggro and Mid-Range Decks
Survive in the early game by board removals and mid game by hard removals. If you reach late game, the game will be yours. Arcane Artificer would be a good companion. You can also consider replace a Voodoo Doll with Doomsayer. When you play Stonehill Defender, remember to discover the minions that are the most essential in the situation but not the strongest.
Thank you Fury for your support <3
Is there any good replacement for Geddon? I have no dust for him
I replaced him with Elise the trailblazer. Seems to work well enough
Hello Abascal,
Sorry for the late reply, I was out of town these few days so I could not reply you. I think any late game drop could replace Geddon. As Geddon is an elemental, there is no perfect substitute (in Wild, however, you can play Ragnaros or Anomalus). I would replace it by, as suggested by two buddies above, Elise, Sindragosa or the latest legendary card Hakkar.
Hope this helps you!
Hinz
Hey!
Thanks for your answer. I have been playing with Sindragosa as you say and it works fine but I am thinking in crafting Geddon, but no dust!! jaja
Your deck is great, thanks for posting it.
I like the deck very much, but I have problems against the Spell Hunters, and there are a lot of them since Zul'Jin arrived with the new expansion. Has someone any tips to deal with them?
Best regards
LJoshi
I also considered Daring Fire-Eater too but it is a one-off card (Spirit of the Dragonhawk can be used for two turns for most of the time as it is stealth for one turn), which may be slightly difficult to play against aggro. Of course, putting it both into the deck can be very useful!
I just discovered the fact that Ragnaros has been an elemental for 20 months. Time flies...
Bitte probieren Sie meine neue Version. Es ist besser als das alte. Danke für deinen Kommentar! :)
I never played Mage in constructed but used your deck (the one before today's update) in the brawl and have to say I like the playstyle.
Only got 4 games in so far. 3 wins and 1 loss (against a superfast hunter).
Kudo's for the deck. I've now copied the latest version to constructed and going to give it a try there.
Voodoo Doll while it's useful it's also kinda greedy considering that in the same spot you can put Tar Creeper which is more consistent overall. You have already enough tools to kill big minions in the control games. So I would drop x2 VD and add x2 Tar Creeper. In my opinion Voodoo was always kinda overrated in BM and it's a dead card in many aggro games, too situational, while Tar Creeper always can be useful in more scenarios.
Can't also understand why many Big Mage decks don't run Pyros which is an amazing card, 3 cards in one, and helps also with the curve. She's always welcome in any kind of control mage. Same goes for Elise the Trailblazer. For me, any serious control deck, no matter the class, it's just incomplete without her. I also run x2 Water Elemental in my wild BM. I think they are also so underestimated in this kind of decks.
P.S. So good to see Big Mage where it is now. I think it's the best and more consistent control mage deck ever, at least in wild. It's way more consistent than any Reno or Odd mage. It's the ultimate control mage. Specially thanks to Dragon's Fury. There are also other importat cards but only without Dragon's Fury, Big Mage wouldn't be the same.
I remember meeting quite a lot of Odd Paladin and Zoolock last season when I was in Rank 1 (maybe people tend to ladder faster...) and I think Voodoo Doll is quite useful when they have two or three minions on board. Usually I will play the Doll without pinging it. And that’s the position Voodoo Doll should be when against aggro decks. As for Pyros I think it is a little bit slow as it is not really useful before Jaina is in play (and 2/2/2 and 6/6/6 is quite normal, I would rather play Doomsayer, or Dirty Rat in Wild). Water Elemental can be useful, but I think Elise is again too slow (I know it is a little bit weird talking about slow in such a super slow deck...)
Anyways, thanks for your comment!
I dont think the heal is enough dude. I really get wrecked by some fast decks.
In my games with Big Spell Control, I literally feed off of aggro decks. I can't wait to see the deck by OP with the new cards.
I srsly got some issues vs some hunters and 1 or 2 tempo druids
Also many times I find myself with my hand full, but at the same time there is nothing appropriate to play. Not saying its a bad deck. I like it, but it is a little clunky maybe.
Hi Chrizrd,
I think the introduction of new cards has made this deck less clunky. Please see the card replacement as above :)
Shall do and try it. Just some recap for you if it helps. From 20 games I struggled most and found it almost unwinnable against rogue I think and a discard lock raped me. But everything else was a RNG problem more than anything. But you cant do anything about that HS has become more of a casino than a game.
I think I got better results with the previous deck. But will try it some more
Great variant of big mage! Tried it before Rumble and had alot of fun with it. Made some adjustments and trying with Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk and Blast Wave to see how that will work out. thinking of using Zola the Gorgon just for the exra Rag...