[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
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
I definetly recommend this deck if you can afford it, it's super fun and its actually good. The only weakness i've noticed so far is aggro decks with like super lucky opening hands but otherwise it's really good
edit: Continuing from that. I was a rank 7 player 2 months ago but i took a break from hearthstone for those 2 months meaning that i got put back in rank 20 but i've managed to climb to rank 15 in about 2 hours already so yeah, if you want to climb the ranks quickly and have the dust/money, get this deck
I'm glad your doing good man :)
Thank you so much for the feedback and the kind words!
This deck— although extremely expensive... like ridiculously expensive..
This deck has been the absolute most fun I’ve had playing this game, hands down no contest.
Zoolander Lock was enjoyable but this is at a different level of fun.
Thank you very much Mr.Theorycrafter of this deck, you’ve invigorated my love for this game!
Glad you enjoy this list man! Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate :)
I tried this deck but in the early game it lacks way too much. Apxvoid recently posted a 69% winrate at high legend with a package that is much more suited for early game and against death rattles .My winrate has shot up against pirate warriors, rogues and others as a result.
Here is the deck
https://twitter.com/Apxvoid/status/1206500944747225088
Code AAECAf0EHooByQOrBMUEywTyBYoH7AeNCL7sAu72Asb4Arn/AqCAA+iJA4OWA5+bA6CbA4qeA8KhA/yjA4ukA5KkA/KlA/WsA/qsA+yvA/CvA5GxA+G2AwAA
Yeah I already tried this list and you're right, is more focused on the early game and it's pretty good against aggro decks. If you lose too much to aggro you should definitely switch to that man. I'm maybe the only one who found 80% shamans on ladder and against them I've way better results with my list. i know Apxvoid, he's a mage expert and a great player, his list maybe works just good against every class, but I feel this dragon heavy version is more fun than a simple control mage and can tempo out even Galakrond shaman... I don't think his list can do it as well. Of course if you are a mage pro like him you can maximize your chances in every game, but for the common players like me, having a solid winrate just cause the matchup is favourable on the paper is a different story I guess. So, in conclusion, if you're facing too many aggro decks (Galakrond shaman is not, it's a tempo/midrange) just go for Apx list, otherwise you may wanna try wrecking shamans with tis one.
The only 2 cards from this list I'm testing too and that will maybe make the cut are Stargazer Luna and Bone Wraith.
not that good vs new secret hunter
ok its bad vs. anything that can play cards before turn 6 since oyu just sitting there with nothing on the board that is usable
this version is much better against agro and pirate warrior
Credits ApxVoid
https://twitter.com/Apxvoid/status/1206500944747225088
A nice deck man. Miss a couple of cards so which one should I craft next. Luna's or Frizz?
The way I see it, is that Luna's Galaxy If by some miracle you can play it at turn 7 or 6 with Dragoncaster it can win you the game. But with all the spam of minions that happens in this meta I dont see how you can do that without losing the board or even losing the game. On the other hand Frizz allows you to play for tempo and board but also gives you some really powerful minions early. So.. not sure which one?
Also is there any room for Box of Yogg Saron saw some variations with it but not sure which card I need to cut? Maybe alex?
Thanks, gj. :)
Yeah you should go for Frizz cause Galaxy is also rotating on April. You can replace Galaxy with Puzzle Box to keep sinergies with spell discounters like Kalecgos, Dragoncaster and Tortollan Pilgrim. Other replacements you can try are (if you have issues against aggro decks): Stargazer Luna, Frostbolt, Firetree Witchdoctor, Arcane Keysmith.
Luna’s Pocket Galaxy doesn’t force you to play as many dragons and can be found via Tortollan Pilgrim. I crafted it a few days ago even though it’s rotating because it’s going to be the better card in Wild.
Plus there are many ways to gain value from playing a spell in Mage such as the new side quest. Therefore I would advise crafting the better card even though it wouldn’t provide as much use in Standard long term.
Yeah, in this list Galaxy is more powerful for sure man, actually in a reno mage that's the one you shouldn't miss, while Frizz can be replaced... but if you replace him you have to switch to a different list, with less dragons for sure. That would be another deck, not this one... so the correct answer was maybe try another decklist at all, I don't know. What I know is that for who's tight on dust crafting Frizz instead of Galaxy is way more wise, not just for the rotation but also for the chance to play it in other classes. But yeah, going back to the reno mage issue, Galaxy is better you're right, but I don't know if WillFireblade can afford throwing dust on what's better for just this deck (considering that he will have to switch to another list with other missing cards maybe). It's up to him.
Thanks guys for the advice I see now that ill probably need a different list if i am gonna use galaxy and cut frizz so i am just gonna craft frizz for all the reasons you mentioned and ditch galaxy for now.
Hey, everyone! I just released a new deck that currently has 86% wr, also good Vs shaman.
For those of you who are looking for something spicy.
https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1323902-dod-quest-hunter
I use a cheaper list but I slowly want to get all Cards from this list. I only have a few legendarys missing and I can make one more.
Which one should I get?: Malygos, Aspect of Magic , Luna's Pocket Galaxy , Kalecgos, Frizz Kindleroost or Dragonqueen Alexstrasza
You miss quite a lot of the good stuff man.. you can try to replace them all, but I don't know man, exept for Malygos maybe, all of those are legendaries that can win you the game by their own if played in the right spot. It's your call man, maybe it's to soon to craft things, the meta is still unstable and nerfs are coming next week as well, so.. For this list the 2 strongest card are Dragonqueen Alexstrasza and Kalecgos. But without the Frizz+Galaxy package you lose a lot of sinergies like the dragon one for example.
For now I can suggest you these cards to replace those missing legendaries: Stargazer Luna, Frostbolt, Firetree Witchdoctor, Arcane Keysmith, Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron, Crowd Roaster Shooting Star, Rotten Applebaum.
Im rank 10 with my cheaper version and didnt loose much. I won all but 1 shaman matchups with it so its not a big problem that I miss some cards cause Im not playing for legend I just play for fun. I think im gonna craft the new alex cause I also can use her in other decks
Yeah, I know, if you have fun playing a deck it's always the right choice