Hearthpwn

Introduction:

I'd like to introduce a mech mage deck that may or may not be pretty good, and definitely doesn't have any secrets, expansion cards, or legendary cards. Over the course of 100 games with these 30 cards, I posted a record of 65-35 for a quite nice (i think?) 65% winrate, and currently sit at rank 7 on a win streak.

The reason for the lack of expansion content and legendaries is simple: I'm playing F2P and only for approximately 3 months now. I've never hit legend, but I believe this deck could do it if I put more time into it (and mis-played just a bit less often).

UPDATE: After switching one Polymorph to a Kezan Mystic and the Harvest Golem for a Tinkertown Technician this deck has officially ended the season at Rank 5, with a 65% winrate.

Basic Strategy:

It's a tempo deck, plain and simple. Lots of low mana and mid-range minions that are sticky and efficient, with good removal for all stages of the game. Snowball your board, remove theirs, trade wisely and you'll quickly put the game out of reach against most classes. Goblin Blastmage is your swing card, and combo'd with a mech on the board it can be used for great effect to remove the small minions of paladin, hunter, and zoo warlock. It can also be used to knock down huge chunks of armor against warrior or get bigger minions into trade range with just a bit of luck.

Mulligan Guide:

There are two main openings you want to mulligan for, with or without the coin:

• Mechwarper into Annoy-o-Tron or less preferably any other 2-4 drop mechs. Coin it if you got it.
• Turn 1 Mana Wyrm into Unstable Portal, or coined into a second Mana Wyrm followed by a Mechwarper or Unstable Portal to buff them both.

There are also cards you really don't want in your opening hand:

• Always send back Acolyte of Pain except against Paladin (and even then, don't keep it if you have nothing else strong, a Mana Wyrm is still better in that matchup).
• Always send back anything bigger than a Spider Tank unless you have a smooth curve building up to it, or a Mechwarper to get it out early.
• Always send back Unstable Portal unless you have a Mana Wyrm to buff with it. If it ends up in your hand and you have no better turn 2 or 3 play, it's still solid, but it can at times result in wasted tempo.
• Always send back Ironbeak Owl because it's useless in the early game. That's your taunt-killer, Flametongue Totem-disabler, and Grim Patron crippler.

Class Specific Mulligans:

• v. Druid (55.6%, 5-4) - Build a board quickly and keep it out of swipe range with Annoy-o-Trons, Shredders, and the Harvest Golem. You want Mechwarpers early against druid, though a Mana Wyrm buffed by early removal if they ramp to something big is pretty nice. This is one of the tougher matchups for this deck, and it often feels like a struggle to keep the druid from stabilizing, so apply heavy pressure early and keep it on, and don't waste your polys and fireballs on the small stuff early, because you will see an Ancient of War and wish you still had them. Flamecannon is strong against Shade of Naxxramas and I often keep it in my opening hand if I find it, especially if I have a turn 1 Mana Wyrm.

• v. Hunter (82.4%, 14-3) - This deck basically hard-counters both face and hybrid hunter. You really want a Mana Wyrm on turn 1, or alternatively, try and get out a Snowchugger before he can get his Eaglehorn Bow out and you basically win automatically. Be careful with his traps, especially as Freezing Trap is much more common now, and if a Mad Scientist comes out, ignore it if possible and push face damage with your board. Make him waste tempo to get the secrets out and keep him from drawing his weapon, and you'll beat hunter almost every time.

• v. Mage (52.2%, 12-11) - This can be a tough matchup in the current meta because of the efficiency of tempo mage with Flamewaker but it is winnable. In general you just have to win this matchup on tempo with a strong mulligan. A Mana Wyrm on turn 1 is very strong with a Frostbolt for turn 2 removal, especially in a mirror matchup. Make sure you identify your opponent's deck early, because if you're playing against a freeze mage you have to play the aggro and beat her quickly. Against tempo you can often afford to play the longer game if you draw well. There's no real mirror matchup because the common mech mage in this meta uses secrets and Mad Scientists but you can often run them out of steam with the excessive amount of removal in this deck, just try not to waste your Fireball on removal.

• v. Paladin (88.9%, 8-1) - Just like Hunter, this deck is basically a hard-counter to both dragon and aggro paladin decks. You want a Mana Wyrm to deal with his dudes, and a Snowchugger to deal with his Truesilver Champion. Make sure to use your Flamestrike carefully, since there's only one in the deck. Make him waste his equality/consec combos on little annoying minions in the first 5 turns and he'll struggle mightily with your mid-game minions.

• v. Priest (42.9%, 3-4) - You won't see many of them, but priest is a very difficult matchup for this deck. It may be because I don't always appropriately play the aggro when I should be, but I cannot produce consistent wins against priest with this, and they often find a way to put themselves just out of range of lethal right as I push for it, then stabilize and run me out of steam. Get a Spider Tank out early to deal with any Northshire Cleric shenanigans, and you have a fair chance, but this is a tough match.

• v. Rogue (75%, 3-1) - Once again, it wasn't a common match, but against rogue the matchup often feels very easy. Just keep them frozen and they can't pull off their combos. The only match I lost was against mech rogue running Iron Sensei. Do not let that card push a Mechwarper out of early removal range, or you will lose. Otherwise, oil rogue is an easy matchup with an early Snowchugger and a board loaded with mechs.

• v. Shaman (75%, 6-2) - This is another confident matchup. Mulligan hard for Mechwarper and a Snowchugger or any other 2+ damage mech (Harvest Golem is a keep here) and you will have an easy time keeping his totems off the board. Annoy-o-Tron usually gets sent back in this matchup, but it isn't terrible if it's all you have after the mulligan. Use your Flamestrike wisely. It isn't a value play, it's a straight up "I have no other answer to this loaded board" play, and is to be used as a safety net in this matchup if things get out of hand. Also be careful not to load your own board early, as shaman has some efficient early game removal.

• v. Warlock (72.7%, 8-3) - Zoo warlock loses to the excessive removal here. Handlock can win if you accidentally play the long game against it. Murloc warlock dies to Goblin Blastmage. Try and get the Mana Wyrm opening here, and try and build huge tempo early to make it hard for the warlock to tap for cards, and you should win pretty steadily. Once he clears your early board, reload with mechs. Save your Ironbeak Owl and Polymorph for his Voidcaller.

• v. Warrior (50%, 6-6) - This is a matchup that can be tough. You win if you can coin out Snowchugger on turn 1 (even if you have a Mechwarper) if you can shut down Fiery War Axe for any amount of time. Against patron warrior, Goblin Blastmage can be weak, so you want removal in your midgame, and never drop him with Grim Patron on the board. Use your silence on them, or Flamestrike, or Flamecannon, or Frostbolt. If you can't get Snowchugger early, you probably lose. Harvest Golem is pretty strong against Fiery War Axe and is a solid keep if you have a good turn 2 play, or the coin, and don't have Snowchugger.

Upgrades/Changes:

The obvious upgrade here is a legendary card. Dr. Boom is your guy, and I would probably replace Harvest Golem with him, or a single Azure Drake.

I have been considering replacing Harvest Golem with a Kezan Mystic in the secret-heavy meta of mages and hunters, but I haven't experimented with this yet. It hurts the mana curve ever-so-slightly, but may not suck.

 

Thanks in advance to anybody who tries this and has any feedback for me, or just enjoys playing this deck as much as I do! I think it's a nice cheap deck that wins with great consistency, it's not weak against anything popular in the current meta, and hard-counters the most popular class you'll face. Hopefully this can help those of you without huge card collections to make your way up the ranked ladder a bit!