Hearthpwn

Hey everyone, 

Some of you might've played against me at high ranks these past few seasons. For those of you who haven't, probably the majority of you guys, I'm a freeze mage main. I started Hearthstone around Season 2 and mained Mage; by that, I meant a control mage deck similar to Trump's F2P deck. I started playing freeze mage when Naxx came out and thought the deck was trash because of the hunter infestation. But I quickly came to my senses and realized that hunter is just a cancerous class and takes no skill to win. Since GvG, I have probably played 1000+ freeze mage games, either with friends, on ladder, or on casually testing deck variations. One of the biggest issues faced by freeze mage is the general trend in increasing card quality. For example, pre-Naxx, a good 4-drop would have around 4/3-attack; from a freeze mage's point of view, 4-attack for 4 mana is decently strong. But with Piloted Shredder, it's not just 4 attack; it has a deathrattle that summons a 2/3 attack minion. Another good example would be Shielded Minibot. Then you have the cards that just straight up makes a freeze mage's life difficult, Loatheb, Antique Healbot, and the old Undertaker. 

Of course, with better card quality comes better cards for Freeze Mage, but the other decks benefitted more. So now, on ladder, when I Alexstrasza someone, I must plan for a 2-turn kill, whereas before, I didn't need to worry about Antique Healbot. I also found that the ice blocks will always get popped the turn you Alexstrasza; however, before, your ice block only gets popped around 40% of the time the turn you Alexstrasza. Midrange decks are, in general, a pain in the ass. 

I came up with this deck as a solution. OTK to avoid Antique Healbot. And leave more room for card draw and heals. And you might find it weird how many of the staples of freeze mage isn't in this deck, it's because this deck has a different playstyle. 

 

The Combo:

34-Dmg Combo:

Turn 9 (or whenever you have the combo in hand): Emperor Thaurissan

Turn 10: Malygos + 2x Frostbolt + 2x Ice Lance

19-Dmg Combo (when your against greedy warlocks):

Turn 10: Bloodmage Thalnos + 2x Frostbolt + 2x Ice Lance + Hero ability

 

How To Play:

Play like a normal freeze mage. However, hesitate to use Frostbolt to clear. If you do use Frostbolt, know that your burn will only do 26-dmg and you DON'T have Alexstrasza. DO NOT WASTE Emperor Thaurissan.

 

Pros/Cons vs Freeze Mage:

Pros:

• Less clunky big cards. i.e. Alexstrasza and Archmage Antonidas
• No need to worry about Antique Healbot and healing in general
• No clunkiness from Fireball
• More freeze mechanics and more card draw

Cons:

• Not extensively tested
• More reliant on certain cards

 

Why certain cards are excluded:

Alexstrasza: Maybe included in the future. Main reasons why I excluded it was because it wasn't necessary. Without Fireball, there is no point in having it there; with it, this would just be freeze mage. Without it, you would get rid of a lot of the clunkiness in the deck and save room for more card draw and freeze. If your going to OTK, you don't need to lower the health. It would help against Warriors though. 

Archmage Antonidas: OTK doesn't need to generate Fireballs.

Pyroblast: Not apart of the OTK. Would rather include Fireballs. Extremely mana inefficient as well. Remember, all you need is the OTK combo as burn.

Fireball: This card has potential as a removal and not as burn. Maybe put 1 in the deck, but I prefer more freeze cards, i.e. Cone of Cold.

Explosive Sheep: Probably will put 1 copy in depending on the meta. But not now.

Polymorph: Great removal but takes too much mana.

Coldlight Seer: Ok, I can go on and on about why this card isn't that great for freeze mage. Generally it's fine for your opponents to draw and it is certainly better than playing minions, but giving them 2 free cards is just bad. They can draw into answers like Loathebs, silences for Doomsayers or just generally cards for board pressure. Acolyte of Pain is just a better card and generally draws 2-3 cards. Trust me, I tried Coldlight Seers a lot of times before.

Nat Pagle: Draws at the START of your turn. 50% as well. Haven't tested it, but you can probably switch out a Novice Engineer or a Loot Hoarder.

Mirror Image: Not bad, I'm not really sure. Depends on the meta I guess. 1-mana is really nice. If there's a lot of big cards, then it's actually really good and soaks in a lot of damage. I'll definitely think about this card and try it in the future.

Big Game Hunter: Now that I'm thinking about it. It might not be bad. Especially since Demonlocks are quite common now. You can take care of Dr. Boom Mal'Ganis and other big cards. I don't know what to replace though.

Dragon's Breath: I hate it when people ask about this card in freeze mage. Absolutely useless. Even if you get a full board clear with Frost Nova Doomsayer or Flamestrike, it's still only 4-damage. Absolutely useless. 

 

Match-up and mulligans:

Mech Mage: Frost Nova Doomsayer is ESSENTIAL. Otherwise, Mad Scientist, Loot Hoarder, and Acolyte of Pain. Even Cone of Cold is pretty good. By the way, Loot Hoarder > Novice Engineer; that 2-damage is insane. When you see a secret, know that it is 99% Mirror Entity and your Doomsayer will be godly.

Freeze Mage: You can't win. 95% lose ratio. Early game minions are great: Mad Scientist, Loot Hoarder, and Acolyte of Pain. Put in a Fireball and your win rate will go up a lot. But you don't see freeze mage that often so I think its fine.

Control Warrior: Don't even try. Insta-concede please.

Hunter: As much early game minions as you can. Frost Nova Doomsayer isn't that great in this matchup by the way because you can probably hero ability the charge minions. Don't be afraid to use Frostbolt in this matchup.

Druid: Early game minions. Frost Nova Doomsayer and Arcane Intellect if you don't have an Acolyte of Pain in your starting hand. Freezes are really important in this matchup. Don't expect your Doomsayer to proc. 

Paladin: Explosive Sheep might come in handy. Otherwise, Frost Nova Doomsayer can replace Explosive Sheep. Just know that paladins have literally 0 burst. 

Priest: Frost Nova Doomsayer is pretty important but you don't need it in your starting hand; half of the combo should be fine. And card draw in general. Don't worry too much about this matchup, your an OTK, heals don't matter.

Mech Shaman: Mad Scientists are really good. Otherwise, just use the Mech Mage list. And heal ASAP, don't get greedy.

Regular Shaman: A bit harder than priest, but same mulligan as Priest. Same playstyle as well.

Oil Rogue: Early game minions. Save your Frost Nova Doomsayer until he has like 3 good minions on the board, i.e. Azure Drake Violet Teacher Piloted Shredder

Zoo: Early minions. Frost Nova Doomsayer is really really good. Less emphasis on Arcane Intellect I think.

Handlock/Demonlock: You would not believe how good early minions are. Just go to the face with them. Lower the warlock's health until like 20ish, then don't attack anymore. You want to bait them to not use the healing and then sneak in the 19-damage combo. Frost Nova Doomsayer is not as good. Rely on freeze effect to stall game. Be careful of Demonlock's burst.