Hearthpwn

How do you feel about Arcane Explosion in this deck? Its another cheap spell that could be useful against early aggro and Muster for Battle.

Why don't you use Spellbender? It seems to me that it would be even better for this deck than Counterspell, as you don't run enough minions for AoE to be a significant threat and Spell Bender can give tempo of it's own against most early removal. If they target with Earthshock, Hunter's Mark, Execute, Hex etc you both protect Flamewaker and gain a minion. If not at least it isn't vulnerable to bait tactics using cheap spells. Spellbender is also another 0 cost minion for Echo trolling.

Also, what about Duplicate? Just one maybe, to copy Flamewaker some more. That way anything that can get past Spellbender(eg Brawl, which you mentioned) would give you 2 Flamewaker's for even more power, rather than a loss.

Lastly, I find it surprising that you don't use Antonidas. I know you don't want to make space for late game at the expense of early game pressure, but Antonidas can singlehandedly give your deck staying power on the basis of the same synergy you're focusing the rest of the game.

Yeah I completely forgot about that when I was writing the comment. Would be nice if it didn't trigger for tokens.

Even so, it's an interesting possiblity. It might actually be worth forgoing the tokens completely just to spam Flamewaker like there's no tomorrow.

Anyway, you're right in them being incompatible; go with one or the other.

Cool. Could even just go with 2 Spellbender, but having 3 different secrets might help keep them guessing. Not as likely to fool them twice.

Sorry, I meant 2 Spellbender instead of including Vaporize, which I agree is sucky; too easy to play around. You'd therefore have 2 Spellbender, which very rarely loses value, and 1 Mirror Entity for some nice potential minion copies. Both of them synergise with Echo and Mirror Entity will often work well with the pressure Flamewaker provides as playing a weak minon as bait becomes a lot less appealing when it's likely to get efficiently burned next turn.

I have to agreee with you on the basis Thalnos > Loot Hoarder. I don't think I'd bother with Loot Hoarder at all, though I guess it gives a weird sort of card advantage with Echo.

In regards to Flamecannon I have to disagree there. Mirror Entity gets more powerful as the game progresses; having two would be bad for mulligan and Mad Scientist as you would increase the likelihood of copying cheap minions. Flamecannon costing one less does make a difference and early removal suits tempo to a key. In fact I'd err for a second Flamecannon over the first Mirror Entity, as Scientist has a 50/50 chance of grabbing it and you are therefore forced into having it early.

Wow!  I just want to say this deck is strong, fun and hilarious to play serious love this deck!  Had a great time beating a face hunter and a rng - priest in this gameplay video and I hope you guys enjoy the games like I did :P !  The priest one at the end was one of the best games I ever played HAHA!!!

Can someone add me and coach me for some games? :) stuck in rank10 atm Jonte1234#2594

Been playing this deck pretty much non-stop the last two days, and a few basic strategies have helped me. Most of it's outlined above, but when it comes to mulligans ALWAYS keep Loot Hoarder, Mana Wyrm, Mad Scientist, and Sorcerer's Apprentice.  You can drop Loot Hoarder and Mad Scientist aggressively, but should be a little more careful with Mana Wyrm and Sorcerer's Apprentice. 

Another good rule of thumb is to never keep Flamewaker in your openings hand, unless you have the coin. If you have to coin keep him, if you don't, ditch him. I also won't keep multiple Flamewakers in my opening hand.

There are a few mulligan strategies I've employed when it comes to certain match-ups, too. Always keep Frostbolt to deal with weapons against Warriors, and usually against Hunters, too. Always keep Arcane Missiles against Hunters and Paladins to deal with hounds and recruits. Try to keep Polymorph against Warlock, if you suspect Handlock, and against Druid to deal with their big defenders. 

The Mirror Image and Echo of Medivh combo will save you against aggro almost every time, and it's a pretty decent strategy to keep your Flamewaker safe if you feel like you need to take a gamble in order to edge out a win, or some extra tempo.

This deck requires a lot of math, if you ask me. I constantly find myself counting damage and trying to predict where my RNG pings will go in an effort to set up optimal turns. With that being said, always assume your Arcane Missiles and Flamewaker pings will go the wrong direction, because banking on a killing a creature with RNG and having it miss can cost you the game.

Board presence is the crux of your game. Most times, if you have the choice between dropping a Mirror Entity or another spell and you're even a little behind on the board, always choose the Mirror Entity, which is why I run two.

Laslty, try to avoid playing the deck too "combo-y." I've lost games thinking that if I stockpile spells in favor of drawing into a Flamewaker and having a huge turn, because for as much tempo as this deck generates, it can be hard to come back with if you're behind.

Hopefully, that helps!?

First game with this deck I faced a Hunter, and we battled for board control. I cast Unstable Portal with a Flamewaker on the board which kills his Huffer and puts a Mal'Ganis in my hand. I stabilize on ten life with Mul'Ganis hiding behind Mirror Images, and there's nothing he can do.

I immediately re-enter the queue, and face a Mech-Mage. Turn eight(-ish) I have two Flamewaker down, cast Echo of Medivh, which wipes his board. Next turn I play both Flamewaker, and the four of those followed by an Arcane Missiles and a Frostbolt is enough to burn him out.

Since those two games, I'm 5-1 with this deck losing only to a control warrior. This deck does insane things, and is surprisingly resilient, especially given the lack of Flamestrike. I love that I get to dust off the golden Arcane Missiles and Mirror Image because they haven't had this much value since Knife Juggler.

I only made one change, dropping the Counterspell for a second Mirror Entity because countering a spare part is the most frustrating, and the meta is crawling with mech decks. If anything, I'd run a Spellbender over the Counterspell, but I think two Mirror Entity is the better option.

Moving forward, I'll play around with dropping one Echo of Medivh, maybe for another secret. Dropping an Azure Drake for a Loatheb or a Bloodmage Thalnos feels like it has merit, and I'd love to find a way to squeeze Dragon's Breath into a list like this, given the capabilities it has to clear the board, and deal damage to the face in the same turn.

I think it's safe to say I'll be playing some variation of this deck for the rest of the season. I love everything about it.

Below in the comments the creator suggested dropping an echo for a teacher, which I have. thoughts?

What about antonidas in this deck to add more consistent late game?

great deck, only have x1 echo so I replaced the other one with kezan (so many mages/hunters on ladder, and I can potentially steal back my secrets) and x1 azure with another mirror entity.

I agree with the other commenter. Most of the games I've on without relying on the Flamewalker. If you play it like a combo deck you'll have a bad time.

Should I be greedy with flamewaker as it is a key card of this deck? Is it good to play it on turn 3 as a 2-4 body?

You can consider playing it on turn 3 as a 2/4 body; HOWEVER, it's not worth it because 3-mana for a 2/4 is not that strong. Since 3-mana cards usually have 3 health, youll have issues dealing with their 3-drop. Also, if they silence it, youll be screwed.

Also, being greedy with this deck is not recommended because your flamewaker ONLY gains value through spells. It can potentially dish out 5-6 extra damage in one turn. However, the choice is in your hands, if you have a terrible hand, maybe being greedy is the way to go.

As being greedy I meant keeping flamewaker in ur hand before u can get value from it. Or not playing it when it can be potentialy killed. I think this deck should not be considered as "tempo" just because such cards as arcane intellect and echo medivh don't provide tempo. And sometimes u should play slowly to have bigger combo turns later. That is the question. What if I don't get flamewaker in early game? Should I save spells even if it worth playing them?

Nice deck, but i have a few issues with it.
My main problem with it atm it fails to tempo more often then id like it to - for example if you don't draw in to Mad Scientists , but you do in to your secrets , which happens fairly often. Flamewaker + [card]Arcane Missiles[/card] sometimes fail to hit the single 1 health minion as well , which spells ocasional incosistency..

Was thinking about replacing the Flamecannon with either another Mirror Entity, or with a Duplicate...

Firstly, if it fails to hit a single 1 health minion, you can aim to win through hitting face and burst.

Secondly, you can consider replacing it; however, youll need early board control to ensure that Flamecannon does not is not required. Flamecannon ensures that you can take out almost any early aggression from the opponent.

Thirdly, if you are going to replace the Flamecannon, ensure that it's not with a Duplicate because that only ruins your tempo.

I tried playing agressively, but since the meta is so agressive overall - all decks have a lot of early board and\or removal, which leaves me with both empty hand and empty board. I usually play this kind of decks through board control , but the deck often fails in that due to issues i mentioned above and maybe even some others. I'm currently at 62% winrate, so its not bad at all, but something feels off.