Firestorm 3.0 (Top 100 LEGEND)
- Last updated Oct 24, 2016 (Yogg Nerf)
- Edit
- |
Wild
- 15 Minions
- 15 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Unknown
- Crafting Cost: 3500
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 6/15/2015 (Blackrock Launch)
- Zion7
- Registered User
-
- 13
- 26
- 120
-
Battle Tag:
Zion7
-
Region:
US
-
Total Deck Rating
1335
About - Greetings, Zion7 here (formerly known as MarineKingHS) to share an interesting Tempo Mage deck which has been working very well this season. I specialize in high level play on NA server and have obtained #200+ Legend Rank legend many times. I have roughly 5000+ wins in constructed ladder and like to help others improve their game.
This deck is called "Firestorm 3.0" because it is based upon the wildly popular Mage decks Firestorm and Firestorm 2.0 made by BrooklynHS. They were wonderful, fun decks for their time but BrooklynHS had retired (now un-retired) from HearthStone and Firestorm 2.0 was his last work so I will be taking over future development of Firestorm. The credit for the original idea behind this deck goes to him.
Deck Explanation - This deck is designed to win by establishing tempo early to mid-game through the use of high value synergies and unpredictable secret plays. This deck is highly difficult to anticipate and has a wide variety of well rounded tools. This is one of the few Mage decks that features both hard removal and anti-spam AOE. Fireballs and Polymorph can be used to deal with big threats, while the dual Flamestrikes deal with annoyingly large boards. This deck is a very good counter to many of the currently popular strong meta decks like Patron Warrior, Zoo/Demonlock, Mech Mage, Hybrid Hunter and many more.
Screenshots of Legend Rank (Season 15)
Update: New videos have been added for Season 18. This is a special "never lucky mulligan" ongoing instructional series (this was provided for all the people who say Firestorm 3.0 can only work if you get great opening mulligans) and more vids are coming soon, enjoy.
Firestorm 3.0 - S18 - Instructional Part 01 (vs Secret Paladin) [Never Lucky series]
Firestorm 3.0 - S18 - Instructional Part 02 (vs Shaman) [Never Lucky series]
Firestorm 3.0 - S18 - Instructional Part 03 (vs Shaman) [Never Lucky series]
Firestorm 3.0 - S18 - Instructional Part 04 (vs Ramp Druid) [Never Lucky series]
Firestorm 3.0 - S18 - Instructional Part 05 (vs Token Paladin) [Never Lucky series]
Firestorm 3.0 - S18 - Instructional Part 06 (vs Midrange Hunter) [Never Lucky series]
---
Season 17 - Firestorm 3.0 - FULL PLAYLIST
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 01 (vs Midrange Hunter)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 02 (vs Aggro Hunter)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 03 (vs Fatigue Mage)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 04 (vs Midrange Hunter)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 05 (vs Patron Warrior)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 06 (vs Mech Mage)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 07 (vs Aggro Hunter)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 08 (vs Malylock)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 09 (vs Combo Druid)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 10 (vs Combo Druid)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 11 (vs Handlock)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 12 (vs Combo Druid)
Firestorm 3.0 - S17 - Instructional Part 13 (vs Patron Warrior)
<-- Below is a Season 15 Instructional series of Firestorm 3.0 -->
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 - Instructional part 01 (vs Demonlock)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 - Instructional part 02 (vs Waker Mage)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 - Instructional part 03 (vs Combo Druid)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 - Instructional part 04 (vs Control Dragon Warrior)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 - Instructional part 05 (vs Ramp Druid)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 - Instructional part 06 (vs Patron Warrior)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 - Instructional part 07 (vs Shockadin)
<-- Below are Season 15 demos of Firestorm 3.0 played at Legend ranks-->
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 vs Mid Range Hunter (Legend)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 vs Handlock (Legend)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 vs Freeze Mage (Legend)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 vs Combo Druid (Legend)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 vs Ramp Druid (Legend)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 vs Wallet Warrior 01 (Legend)
Season 15 - Firestorm 3.0 vs Wallet Warrior 02 (Legend)
<-- Below is a video of Firestorm 3.0 submitted by Khristophesaurus -->
Some card choices explained
Most cards should be fairly obvious, so I'm only going over a couple of cards choices that might seem strange.
Duplicate - This secret hasn't been popular for a long time but it really works nicely in this deck precisely because we run so many different secret. Duplicate gets excellent value from so many cards in the deck including Flamewaker, Shredder, Water Elemental, Blecher and more. But it's also very useful even if it duplicates Kirin Tor Mage, Mad Scientist and Mana Wyrm. In most Mage decks you wouldn't want to duplicate a Mad Scientist or Tor Mage because those decks ran very few secret cards and thus couldn't get value, that is not the issue in this deck though because we run 4 different type of secrets.
Vaporize - This is a RARELY run secret card that has been widely overlooked and ignored. Nobody expects it, which is exactly why it's highly effective in this deck. When you have it in play, just focus on removing any small threats with your spells or hero power and let the enemy kill their big minion or burst minion. Buffing up for one big burst dmg charge has become very popular and this secret practically wins the game if they run into it.
Flamestrike - It's not unusual to see 1 copy of Flamestrike, but few Mage decks run 2x copy of it. This reason we run 2 copies is because this deck is less of an aggro deck and more of a partially "stall" deck. What I mean by that is, this deck already has answers to single large minions, it's only real weakpoint is vs spammy boards. Flamestike is our MVP tools for dealing with that and slowing down the game. Once you draw into your Pyroblast, you can begin setting up lethal. Pyro lethal is easy to do if you can stall the game out long enough to chip away the enemies hp down to 10. Flamestrike helps greatly with that.
Pyroblast - This is another card that used to see play but hasn't been popular in a while. This card really gives you that "reach" to finish the game once the enemy has dropped below about 15hp. Basically you want to control the board early and once you draw Pyro, start preparing to nuke the enemy on turn 10. It's pretty easy to set up once you get the hang of knowing what to do with your fireballs and icebolts, depending on the situation. Also, don't be afraid to use Pyroblast even if the enemy lives. This is because you know that you also run 2 Frostbolts and 2 Fireballs, so chances are you will draw into one of them very soon after if you hadn't already.
Mulligans
You typically want to mulligan for 2x Mana Wyrm, 1x Forstbolt, 2x Mad Scientist, 1x Kirin Tor Mage, 1x Unstable Portal and 1x Flamewaker in that order. The reason we want the Tor Mage is because chances are VERY high that one of our 4 secrets will be drawn soon and playing a free secret is a huge tempo gain.
In addition, here are some mulligans you'll want vs each class:
• Against Hunters, you'll want to keep the Arcane Blast.
• Against Paladin you'll want to keep 2x Flamewaker. This is the only matchup where you would purposely keep 2 Flamewakers in your mulligan hand.
•Against confirmed Handlock, keep the Polymorph: Boar.
Strong and Weak Matchups
Firestorm 3.0 is particularly strong against Patron Warrior, Freeze Mage, Zoolock, Demonlock, Tempo Mage, Tempo Shaman, Handlock, Mech Shaman, Mech Mage and Hybrid Hunter (in that order).
Firestorm 3.0 is a little weaker against Dragon Pally, Control Priest and Wallet Warrior.
Card Replacements
This is a carefully designed deck so I would not recommend changing too many things around, but here are a few things you can do:
Vaporize can be replaced with Big Game Hunter or Mirror Entity.
1x Azure Drake can be replaced with Loatheb.
Dr.Boom can be replaced with Archmage Antonidas, Ragnaros the Firelord and Chromaggus (in that order).
Pyroblast can be replaced with Ragnaros the Firelord, Archmage Antonidas, Ravenholdt Assassin and Deathwing (in that order). The purpose of this card slot is for that extra "reach" to finish out the game when then the enemy starts running low on hp. They actually don't even need to be that low for you to begin chipping them down with minion dmg to face, hero power, fireballs and frostbolts etc. Try to think 2 or 3 turns ahead. Even Ravenholdt Assassin can get the job done efficiently if you use a little forethought.
Updates
August 17, 2015 - Season 17 Instructional vids have been added. Harrison Jones replaces Mystic Kezan because weapons and weapon classes are far more common than secrets right now.
August 27, 2015 (Post GT Expansion) - Harrison Jones has been cut because at the moment weapons have become a less less prevalent. In his place we run a simple Arcane Blast because it combines very well with Flamewaker and provides the 1mana spot removal we need now that everyone is playing more low cost early game minions. Polymorph was switched to Polymorph: Boar because it provides us an extra burst option while still giving us a way to deal with super threats and it's 1mana cheaper anyway.
If you have questions about this deck, reach upwards of Rank5 with this deck, or just wanna share thoughts about this deck, please leave a comment. I'll try to stay active within the comments, work schedule permitting.
Good luck, godspeed and happy rank storming!
Very cool deck and interesting videos! I'll be posting some videos of this deck myself. For now I have only replaced the 1 Arcane Blast for 1 Arcane Missiles simply because I do not own the former...! Thanks again for the deck!
Here's the gameplay of three matches with this deck. Have mercy :) And again, thanks very much to marineking for the decklist and the very educational videos!
First off I'd like to say thank you for this amazing deck.
I just started playing hearthstone recently and have been looking for a deck to climb the ladder with for over a week now and this is the best one I've found. Not only is it cheap but it's very good. Couldn't be happier I went from rank 17 to 4 within a few days having multiple win streaks easily. The only class I've had an issue with is Hunter. Been able to beat Drag priest, pat warriors, secret pallys, zoolocks, etc. With practice this deck can beat it all.
I must be very bad at this deck. Any advice on how to play it. Went 2-8 with it. Just died to absolutely everything, handlock, secret pally, midrange hunter, lots of positive feedback, so I must be misplaying it somehow.
I seem to run out of steam very often, and I apparently need to learn how to draw my flamestrikes...
The deck creator has some youtube videos of gameplay. You should check them out, super helpful, even though he is 'terrible' at mulligans for good cards.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5fbxn-JJuHQc2TvZJzf_Mw
This deck is utter bullshit, it's not working the slightest bit. I went 2-6 now and am sick of it. Lost against a Control Hunter, Face Hunter, Tempo Mage, Patron Warrior, a fucking Shaman and against a Secret Pally. Only won against a noob/mech/freeze mage and against a Zoo deck.
I've never played a worse deck.. Even Fatigue Mage had better win rates -.-"
I also have no win with this deck. Spells are scarce in this deck, the flamewaker does not have much synergy with the rest. Not to mention that many of those are situational, for example 2 kirin tor mages with only 4 secrets. I always end up with pure kirin tor mages and I have to play it for a board.
Mana wyrm is usually going to be huge if you have all the spells come turn after turn. As I mentioned, not much spells in this deck.
Hi! Is there any replacement for the flamewakers? Even though i think it is one of the essential pieces for this deck but i am not able to reach the 4th wing of BRM any time soon!
You might want to stay away from tempo mage without flame wakers. Mech Mage is effective if you can't get the flamewakers.
Hey, thanks for posting this deck. It's relatively cheap and I seem to have most of the cards except for the 2 epics here.
I've swapped out Arcane Blast for Arcane Missiles.
Swapped Pyroblast for Nefarian (I don't have any of the legendaries listed as replacements and I just wanna have some fun with Nefarian. Ravenholdt doesn't seem as fun.)
Swapped Poly Boar with Polymorph
Swapped Duplicate for Effigy
Been doing very well with my alteration of this deck. Roughly 80% winrate climbing to Rank 5 with nearly 100% against anything Control or Combo based. Swapped Second KT Mage for Rhonin.
I have not played much mage lately since I have never really like mech mage and couldn't run a tempo mage smoothly. But now I have been rolling with this deck I only made two replacements since I was missing those cards Arcane missles for Arcane Blast andEffigy forVaporize
I may put in a BGH for Vaporize after reading your comments but so far only a few games in which I have really missed it.
Thanks for the deck!
Loving this deck. I replaced duplicate with efergy, so great on a shredder etc. I also don't have pyro so using rag for now.
I tried this for my 3 win Mage-quest, 1 loss 3 wins, so for that miniscule amount of testing it worked well, denying your opponent so much with the secrets :P
How do we deal with Secret-paladin ? Ive lost every game cuz all them secrets... Kezan fits in anywhere ?
www.twitch.tv/darkburrow - For anyone who wanna see me suck with this ;)
Best deck I've ever played. Awesome. And not really expensive!
Hi Lowrider, yes this deck is absolutely legend viable post-TGT. If you have the ability to the play the deck well and the time required, sky's the limit.
Hey Ravnican, I'm glad to hear you're having some success with the deck. It's fine to be without Dr Boom, Archmage Antonidas, Ragnaros the Firelord and Chromaggus are all viable replacements. Boom is simply a luxury, but far from a game breaking requirement in this deck : )
Thank you! The main idea of the deck is to brain your opp with the secret. Once he understand that it's lose, but like you said it's hard to predict your play. It gives me fun when playing vs my friend, but he understand the deck the 2nd time i use it ^^
Hah that's a good story. It's true that this deck is big on confusing your enemy, but I've also had some success beating the same person multiple times with it. Although it's never as shocking as that first time facing it!
Just wanted to let you know I really like the deck! I went from rank 15 to 6 in two days. The only change I made is switch the Boar for the "normal" Polymorph.