[DoD] Highlander Dragon Mage
- Last updated Jan 17, 2020 (Second DoD Nerfs)
- Edit
- |
Wild
- 19 Minions
- 11 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Reno Mage
- Crafting Cost: 18860
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 12/10/2019 (Shaman Nerfs)
- ShinkHero
- Registered User
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- 6
- 21
- 54
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Battle Tag:
N/A
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Region:
EU
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Total Deck Rating
325
FULL GUIDE
INTRODUCTION
This is a control mage, kind of, more oriented on tempo plays through dragon's sinergies and mana cheating (Luna's Pocket Galaxy, Dragoncaster, Tortollan Pilgrim and Kalecgos).
"Pure control" mage could be viable too in this meta, but without an endless value engine for the late game (like Frost Lich Jaina was) it can struggle against endless pressure decks.
With this build, instead, we have the control tools, the dragon army and our mana cheating package, we can just overwhelm every opponent if we play it out correctly.
MULLIGAN
The mulligan strategy depends a lot on who you are facing more than who has the coin.
YOU ALWAYS KEEP
Arcane Intellect and, if your hand is already decent, you can consider keeping Dragoncaster as well cause it's probably the best standalone card of this deck.
AGAINST AGGRO/TEMPO DECKS
Arcane Breath, Rolling Fireball, Reno the Relicologist, Doomsayer and if your hand is bad you can also keep Zephrys the Great.
AGAINST SLOW DECKS
Dragoncaster, Mountain Giant, Twilight Drake and, if you already have Dragoncaster, you can also consider keeping Luna's Pocket Galaxy or Power of Creation (expecially with the coin).
GAMEPLAN
EARLY GAME
If your opponent is an aggro/tempo deck you should focus on controlling the board in the early and mid game. Otherwise, if you're against a slow deck, start building your board with minions like Twilight Drake and Mountain Giant.
MID GAME
If they are aggro, after turn 5 you should freeze and whipe their board each turn without being too greedy. If you're against a more midrangy deck (like Galakrond Shaman or Warrior) try to freeze their board while developing your threats, like Dragoncaster + Power of Creation. Against slow decks, instead, you should try to play Luna's Pocket Galaxy ASAP, even if it's a tempo loss, or maybe through Dragoncaster or Tortollan Pilgrim.. if you do so, the Galaxy will very likely win you the game.
LATE GAME
Vs aggro you should have already won or lost. If not, just try to lock the game with cards like Khartut Defender, Zilliax or Power of Creation.
Vs midrange try to set a swing turn with Kalecgos + Blizzard (for example), to maybe play Siamat, or even better Dragonqueen Alexstrasza + Frost Nova (if Kalec survived) on the following turn and just win by going face (maybe with the help of Alexstrasza from hand).
Vs slow decks, late game strategy is pretty much the same of the midrange one, exept for the easier accomplishment of the plan. Usually you win a lot of those games by just setting lethal with Alexstrasza or overwhelming the opponent thanks to Luna's Pocket Galaxy disgusting value.
MATCHUPS
VS DRUID
- Against quest druid we can develop a threatening board with our mana cheating tools (Frizz Kindleroost, Luna's Pocket Galaxy, Dragoncaster, Tortollan Pilgrim and Kalecgos) and we can win by pressuring them while freezing or whiping their board. Galaxy is probably the most important card in this m.u.
- Other druids like the dragon/embiggen one can be very aggressive in the midgame, so be sure to use carefully your removals. They don't run single target removals so if you manage to set a good "Doomsayer + Freeze" turn, you should be able to win the board in the late game and punching them to death. Token druid could be tricky but similar to the zoo matchup (exept for the savage roar part).
- The treant/token druid matchup is all about using your removals wisely; keep always count of their potential burst with Savage Roar and try to develop some minion on the field while freezing/whiping to get some trade beside your removals; cards like Doomsayer, Malygos, Aspect of Magic and Rolling Fireball are key to win this m.u.
VS HUNTER
- Face Hunter is by far our worst matchup, so if you face a lot of them don't play mage cause it's almost impossible to win (despite the recent inclusion of more survival tools). To win this you have to hard mulligan for Zilliax and Rotten Applebaum, if you have one of these 2 you should keep also Khartut Defender (too slow by its own without one of the previous 2, but if you mange to get healing out of it, you should be in a really good spot). Also Dragoncaster + Power of Creation into Khartut Defender could close the game. This is the only viable plan, unfortunately we are not able to pressure them before they kill us.
- If it's highlander, is an even m.u. if played correctly. Don't let them connect to face too much with their minions cause you can just lose to their hero power in the late game. Their secrets don't scare us too much cause we don't want to win the board in the early game anyway (but still play around things like Rat Trap). In the late game of these matchups you will often need Alexstrasza (to heal yourself most of the time, unless it gives you a one turn lethal setup). Always try to play for tempo, don't be greedy (so cards like Galaxy are almost unplayable against hunter, unless you cast it via Tortollan Pilgrim or via Dragoncaster, but usually you will have to cast a removal with those two).
VS MAGE
- Vs highlander mage let them "win" the early board if it's the case, just to hard mulligan for our mana cheating engines. Try to keep track of their freeze spells and make a good use out of your own (this game is usually win by who manage to setup a huge board while freezing, maybe with an Alex in hand). Cards like Polymorph should be sit in hand until a huge threat comes down (a Siamat or a Kalecgos for ex.)
- Cyclone mage should be fine too, they usally go off with their Mana Cyclone and Mana Giant around turn 5/6, so setting up a good clear like a "Doomsayer + freeze effect" should give use the sprint to take the board for good. They don't do early pressure so we just have to use our removals efficiently and let them run out of gas.
VS PALADIN
- Paladin could be OTK, in that case it's quite unfavourable m.u. cause we usually cannot build enough pressure in the early and mid game. Due to its combo nature we are meant to lose to it, as a control deck, and there's very little we can do. Maybe our only outs are discovering from Kalecgos or Arcane Breath some good spell like Counterspell or Research Project (to burn their win condition).
- Other paladins like the Highlander one should be fine matchups, probably just even. Highlander Pally is a midrange so it could pressure us in the early game or playing single threats on curve in the mid game. We have to outlast their resources and hope they don't draw perfectly when they are on topdeck. Like in the highlander hunter m.u. we cannot afford losing tempo by playing card like Galaxy, instead single target removals like Polymorph could be really good to hit something like Tirion.
VS PRIEST
- Priest could be Combo, wich is a favourable m.u. (unless they run out of control in the early game and we draw poorly). They run silence so don't rely too much on a Doomsayer to proc (play it early even without freezing) but our board clears should do just fine.
- If it's a slow priest, like a Galakrond or a Quest/Resurrect one, we should try to pressure them but at the same time without committing too much into the tempo plan. If this plan fails, just try to develop few big threats at a time, do not go all in or they will just Plague of Death you. You should try to set a sneaky lethal with Alex. Otherwise let them run out of single target removal by playing 1 threat per turn (even going all in with Dragonqueen Alexstasza playing her 0 mana dragons on the spot could be just a waste).
VS ROGUE
- Tempo rogue could be annoying if it starts pressuring via VanCleef in the early game. Ray of frost and Polymorph could win you the game if played right. If they go wide instead, our board clears should do just fine. Always keep track of their burst potential with Leeroy, Shadowstep and Eviscerate (also with Zephrys if they are highlander).
- If it's deathrattle we may need a Polymorph at some point, but if you manage to freeze their big boys and pressure with you threats, you can become the aggressor. The worst scenario is an early Necrium Apothecary pulling out Anubisath Warbringer, in that case the op could build a huge board and set up lethal in a couple turn if we don't have removals.
VS SHAMAN
- So, shaman is basically just Galakrond and from what I experienced this Reno Mage does pretty good against them. I'm not saying that's an easy m.u., just that's very winnable. Their gameplan will not focus on pressuring us in the arly game, so even hero powering for us is just fine. The mid game is a different story, cause they will build a wide board of tokens and 5/6 taunts. If you have a Doomsayer in hand don't try to just freeze and throw it anytime but wait until they fill their board (so they cannot use rush minion to trade into it). Otherwise you should use carefully your board clears and keep track of their Galakrond invoking and play around its rush elementals. The key to win this m.u. is trying to cheat out at some point of the game your Luna's Pocket Galaxy, cause it will definitely win you the game (the perfect spot would be on t6 with Dragoncaster or t5 with the coin). Otherwise you have a backup plan, the freeze+SMOrc one: use minions like Dragoncaster, Tortollan Pilgrim and Kalecgos to set huge freeze turn with Frost Nova or Blizzard and build huge threats with Dragonqueen Alexstrasza, Siamat or whatever big boy you can play (also going wide with Conjurer's Calling). If you play it correctly it won't matter how many 8/8s they have on the field (expecially with Alexstrasza in hand).
VS WARLOCK
- Warlock is more likely to be an Handlock wich can be hard if they get Mountain Giant on the board early. Good thing is that we will win the long run eventually, so we have to survive and try to tempo them out in the mid game. Galaxy is the way I guess.
- Zoolock instead should be fine, unless they start crazy good.
VS WARRIOR
- If it's a Tempo Galakrond with an aggressive start, it could be an issue. Otherwise we can get back the board control usually around turn 6 (with Reno for example). Our life total is very important to protect in this m.u., cause with their invoking mechanic they will SMORC a lot (they also have the Leeroy+Bloodswarm Mercenary 16dmg combo.
- Against pirate warrior we may struggle a lot in the early game. It's not the old days pirate deck, but still a very aggressive archetype. Keep in mind the mulligan strategy and try to save every hp. It's hard to survive the first couple turns if they draw too well, but if we manage to play a Khartut Defender or Zilliax the game should be over.
- If Control Warrior will be a thing again I think it won't be causing any problem to this list. The only late game decks we have to fear are the OTK ones.
REPLACEMENTS
If you miss some card (considering the high cost of the deck) or if you want to improve some matchup, you could try to replace them with one of these (sorted by individual strength):
Good against aggro:
Frostbolt, Shooting Star, Depth Charge, Scalerider, Acidic Swamp Ooze.
Just good cards for this deck:
Frizz Kindleroost, Arcane Keysmith, Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron, Crowd Roaster.
EDITS:
*1st EDIT:
- - 1 Barista Lynchen + 1 Alexstrasza (Barista decent but too greedy)
- -1 Scalerider + 1 Pyroblast (we already have the early tools against aggro)
*2nd EDIT:
- - 1 Arcane Keysmith + 1 Messenger Raven (random mage minions > random mage secrets)
- -1 Pyroblast + 1 Mountain Giant (turn 4-5 giant > turn 10+ 10dmg)
- -1 Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron + 1 Tortollan Pilgrim (Tortollan is more consistent then a bunch of random spells)
*3rd EDIT:
*4th EDIT:
- - 1 Evasive Wyrm + 1 Bone Wraith (A taunt with reborn is always useful vs aggro and wyrm is too slow despite its dragon synergy)
- - 1 Frizz Kindleroost + 1 Stargazer Luna (With Frizz we can make huge tempo swings but Luna is just insane if it sticks or after casting Galaxy.. also better on curve agains aggro decks)
- - 1 Messenger Raven + 1 Firetree Witchdoctor (Better on curve and for the dragon synergies.. also random mage spells win you games, despite raven being an amazing value engine)
KDK made a showcase of this deck, check it out:
You can follow me on Twitter for daily updates on my deck testing:
https://twitter.com/ShinkHero_HS
If you want to check out all my DoD decks:
https://www.hearthpwn.com/members/ShinkHero/decks
This deck is absolutely garbage why so many upvotes
It is now, with all the Face Hunters out there, but it was one of the best decks when DoD came out.
Wait till they HoF Leeroy and you will beat them with decks like this, maybe some small adjustments here and there but thats normal.
Thanks for the deck. Just beat 4 shamans in a row!
Ok, for real though... how exactly does this beat Galakrond shaman (any variant)?
Don't get me wrong, I tried this deck before I saw it here, but after I reached rank 6 in no time, there was a plague of Shamans afterwards that dropped me to 8 which I'm stuck at.
Two turns where they summon either 2 or 4 8/8s plus a weapon is just too much... This deck has no hard removal unless we count a lucky roll on Malygos upgraded flamestrike, box or Zephrys (that's not luck, Ik, but the most consistent removal is probably Twisting Nether, which still leaves the board empty). You clearly can't push for tempo, that easily, the only play I'd see is either Alex into 2 powerful 0-cost dragons or early Giant into Calling. But shamans STILL can answer that.
My point is: what's your strat vs shamans? I did run a version with pyroblast and it was actually the most effective, since they lack healing. But you removed pyroblast...
Anyways, I'm not a hater, since I love this deck, it's just too tough to push through in current meta.
Cheers~
Maybe there's a reason why shaman needs to be nerfed dude.. I never said this is a natural shaman counter or an EZ win, I just said that this version of reno mage with dragons has more chances against shaman than a more control one. I said that answering to people complaining about this deck being too slow against early aggro decks like pirate warrior (that I never face at rank 2-3 where I'm at). My answer to those people was that against aggro they shold go for some subs to be more consistent in the early game but I also warned them that such a switch would drop dramatically the winrate against shaman cause they don't pressure you in the early game.
Btw if you are looking for a deck with high wr against shaman you should just go on HS Replay and ceck some stats... But if you wanna save some time searching this deck I can already tell you that it doesn't exist :)
I mean, my post wasn't meant as an attack at your deck. I like it, as I said, this was my first deck to build in new expansion.
But I kinda gave it up after facing like 80% shamans. And since I couldn't beat them in any combination, I was curious how did it work out for you. I know shaman is a problem, cause whatever I put in this deck, it's still not enough. And I want to play it, cause I like playing Mage and I like the dragon synergy.
If you have even moderate success vs shaman, can you share some tips? Cause I believe my WR vs shamans is around 10% now.
EDIT
The only decks that beat shaman now are face hunter (barely) and Holy Wrath Paladin and I'm not interested in playing any of these tbf.
I know it wasn't an attack to this deck man, I'm sorry if I seemed angry but I wasn't. I think these shamans are really decreasing people's will to play this game and I don't have the answer to this problem other than waiting for nerfs. My thoughts on the shaman m.u. are all in the guide up here and if they aren't enough I don't know, maybe I'm just lucky, cause I have a 64% wr against them and I'm not even good with mage. It's an hard m.u. for sure, but if they don't draw the nuts on curve you can lock their board by saving you freeze effect for the right spots. In these last 3 days I'm testing also other decks I uploaded on hearthpwn to keep everyone updated on them as well, so I don't know if shamans start running new cards to counter mage, but I doubt it.
OFF TOPIC: Btw of those decks I'm testing these days, the best against shaman is quest hunter. It loses to face hunter unless you draw Zilliax in time and it isn't easy to pilot, but if you have the cards maybe give it a try (it also has a full guide if you are not familiar with the archetype).
https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1323902-dod-quest-hunter
I'm not that helpful I know, but I'm trying, let me know if this works out for you.
You need to watch apxvoid to learn how to play the deck. To beat shamans you need to have plans to go through their original galakron and shudderwock so save your hard removal and find other stuff. This usually beats them. Also dragoncaster into pocket galaxy is the best combo to beat shaman. I suggest running apxvoid's version as I find it better against agro and everything else
https://twitter.com/Apxvoid/status/1206500944747225088
Code
So I just got to 5 with my own version of Highlander Mage.
Tip 1:
If you are playing against a Shaman, save the Zephyr specifically for hard removal (twisting nether) for the first Galakron.
Tip 2:
Grab all the frost nova/blizzards you can discover for. Shamans lack any removal that isn't rush, so when they play Shudderwock, just keep freezing their entire board with frost novas while you stack up your board and push for face. Shudder means that they get a board full of rush minions, both 8/8 and 2/1, so they run out of space to contest your side of the board. Personally I run Stargazer Luna for the combo with Galaxy to flood the board, and push for face with Alex.
Ok, so I started to actually win vs Shamans (so far 3-0 post nerf, cause I didn't play a lot).
All the tips posted here are useful, pretty much you need to control the board and be prepared for their big swings, one after Galakrond, one after Shudder.
I'd recommend Acidic Swamp Ooze since it takes off 5 damage dealt to you which comes crucial, not to mention all those pirate Warriors or Face Hunters on ladder.
I started to think of this deck more like a tempo deck than control. Also I don't think I had a game when I ended over 15 health, I finished 3 or 4 games with literaly 1 health remaining, so this deck is for sure fun to play :)
I'm glad you're finally doing great against shamans man!
Yeah, it's not an actual control mage, the definition of tempo deck you gave is more appropiate for sure.
Not sure about the ooze inclusion though, face hunter and pirate warrior are by far our worst matchups and I don't know if an ooze can change that. But I will change some cards for sure, cause shamans after nerfs are a bit less popular and aggros are too oppressive, so I will test ooze instead of messenger raven and more defensive tools such as Rotten Applebaum instead of a Big Ol Whelp maybe.
Thank you so much for the feedback :)
Glad to hear that you still try to make this deck better and test new cards.
After playing few more games I can for sure recommend Ooze, also if you are facing a lot of aggro, I'd add shooting star (pretty sick combo with Azure Explorer) or Firetree Witchdoctor. I run both and they are helping a lot.
From my experience Big Ol Whelp is pretty slow and there are so many dragons in the deck, but maybe you have different experience with him.
Good luck and have fun! :)
Big Ol' Whelp and Evasive Wyrm are both in this list just cause the dragon synergy, to squeeze more value out of Frizz Kindleroost but this heavy dragon package used to make the differece mainly against shaman so, since shaman's popularity is decreased a little bit, maybe it's time to switch to a more controllish version. I'm already testing the cards you mentioned and they are very good against aggro (exept maybe for Firetree Witchdoctor, which is a worse Arcane Breath imo) and I'm close to come up with a final version. I'm also testing Bone Wraith and Stargazer Luna. The only issue with cutting those dragon's synergies for more early/control tools is that you lose a bit of pressure potential against midrange or slow decks, but I think that's an overall good decision in this "face hunter's meta".
Thank you so much for the helpful feedback man and good luck on ladder :)
Although I don't have all of the cards listed, I've got the majority and still couldn't get into rank 15. That's because there's no early game in this deck and plenty of aggro on the ladder. So I used the deck below to finally make it to rank 15 today. Let's see how it goes in this bracket.
### Cheaper Dragon Mage
# Class: Mage
# Format: Standard
# Year of the Dragon
#
# 1x (1) Arcane Breath
# 1x (1) Depth Charge
# 1x (1) Learn Draconic
# 1x (1) Ray of Frost
# 1x (2) Zephrys the Great
# 1x (3) Brightwing
# 1x (3) Cinderstorm
# 1x (3) Flame Ward
# 1x (3) Frost Nova
# 1x (3) Ice Barrier
# 1x (3) Messenger Raven
# 1x (4) Azure Explorer
# 1x (4) Bone Wraith
# 1x (4) Polymorph
# 1x (4) Twilight Drake
# 1x (5) Big Ol' Whelp
# 1x (5) Dragonmaw Scorcher
# 1x (5) Faceless Corruptor
# 1x (5) Malygos, Aspect of Magic
# 1x (5) Rotten Applebaum
# 1x (5) Rusty Recycler
# 1x (6) Blizzard
# 1x (6) Dragoncaster
# 1x (6) Gyrocopter
# 1x (6) Khartut Defender
# 1x (6) Reno the Relicologist
# 1x (7) Flamestrike
# 1x (7) Luna's Pocket Galaxy
# 1x (7) Siamat
# 1x (9) Dragonqueen Alexstrasza
#
AAECAY0WHk3JA8sE7QTsB40I++wCxfMCkPYCxvgC7IkD55UDn5sDoaED/KMDkqQDv6QD8qUDhKcDt6wD9awD+qwD8K8D8a8D57AD7rADgrEDhLEDkbED4bYDAAA=
#
# To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and create a new deck in Hearthstone
Yeah buddy, if you're having trouble with aggro decks you should change the list for sure. I'm not facing agrro decks at all (around rank 3-2 EU) so I'm good with this, but if you need some defensive boost just check the section "Replacments" in the Guide up here, there are some anti-aggro tips for replacements. Otherwise just go for a good list like the "Apxvoid" one (if you scroll down in the coments you should find it) cause this list you posted is pretty bad I think, I don'r know where you get it but there are some terrible inclusions. It's your call man, but I'm here to help you if I can.
Good luck on ladder :)
I can't get out of rank 15 with this deck to save my life and I did play over 30 times. I do think it's a very good deck, just way too many high cost cards that kind of screws you against decks that have 1,2,3 cost minions that just truck you. Some instances, I do have to say that this deck has came through when I thought I wasn't going to win. I think the deck needs some work, but I don't know if it's just my shitty RNG luck but the numbers don't lie. I give this deck 4/10 - sorry dude.
If you face a lot of aggro decks you should try replacing Evasive Wyrm, Messenger Raven and Mountain Giant with Frostbolt, Shooting Star and Bone Wraith. Let me know if it works for you, I'm facing 80% shamans so I will stay with this more dragon heavy version.
Thank you so much for the feedback though :)
This deck is hard and you need to play a lot of games with it before you can master it and like shink said you might tech a few card vs aggro. One thing I noticed is that I tried to play it as control and kept losing but its not control deck its tempo deck, I even play Zephyr for tempo these days and get the Wild Growth card, works like charm.
That's right man, this ain't a control deck. It has control tools but it wins via minion aggression in the mid/late game. Mage is probably one of my least played classes but with some practice I managed to win consistently with this list. Of course if you are facing just aggro decks like pirate warriors and face hunter it maybe needs some tech choice or to be switched with another deck. But I think a deck cannot be evalueted just by its performance in a temporary meta (temporary cause nerfs are coming and meta will change again for a week at least). If it was the case, then every deck would be good for someone and bad for others, depending on the server and the rank. If the player that pilots a deck is awared of how this game works, he should recognize wich deck is better for a certain rank and so on... Decks that are always broken no matter what and no matter where, are usually decks that get nerfed or get countered by the meta itself (like shaman for example).