Power Mage (Season 4 Legend)
- Last updated Jul 11, 2014 (Live Patch 5506)
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Wild
- 18 Minions
- 12 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Unknown
- Crafting Cost: 2440
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 7/2/2014 (Live Patch 5506)
- hawkjohnson
- Registered User
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- 3
- 11
- 25
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Battle Tag:
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Region:
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Total Deck Rating
139
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An In-depth Guide to
AGGRO MAGE
Hey, everyone! My name is HawkJohnson (or just Hawk in game). I have been playing Hearthstone since the 2nd test season, and have always been drawn to Mage for her awesome hero ability. I reached Legend rank with this list, and I love this deck. Not only is it fun but it is powerful and has potential to beat every deck out there.
The actual list is quite similar to many others' lists. There are about 4 to 5 slots that can be subbed I believe. The rest is core, and there should be good reason to change.
The Cards:
Ice Lance: This will be one of your main finishers. Almost never double Ice Lance unless it's for the victory. Also, in a pinch you may need to freeze an enemy to set up a possible lethal situation.
Arcane Missiles: Great against Zoo or other aggro decks. Mostly used to pump Mana Wyrm. Warning! Control Warrior laughs at this card.
Leper Gnome: What more can I say about this card in an aggro deck? I usually get at least 4 damage out of this guy. Pinged him with hero ability for the win plenty of times.
Mana Wyrm: Best 1 drop minion in the game if you ask me. Throw him out there, and if he sticks you are golden!
Mirror Image: Combo with Knife Juggler, protect your minions, or aggravate Miracle Rogue. Only play when you get true value out of it. One of the harder cards in the deck to play correctly.
Frost Bolt: Use with Ice Lance for maximum damage. Only use for removal on large threats or taunts and when facing Zoo.
Amani Berserker: Mage unlocks this card better than anyone. The 3 health really comes in handy with trades and against a lot of removal.
Bloodmage Thalnos: Ahh, the only legendary you will ever need. Well, unless you run Antonidas (but we'll save that for another section). I usually save him for spell power combos. Only cycle him if you really need the draw.
Faerie Dragon: Great against Rogue and Druid. This guy can be a MVP against Miracle.
Knife Juggler: One of my personal favorite cards ( the flavor of the card is great). Combo with Mirror Image or any of your low cost creatures. Beware against Control Warrior!
Loot Hoarder: Throw this guy out there. He'll get you some damage and, barring silence, a card. Card draw mechanic is necessary of course!
Sorcerer's Apprentice: She allows you to get off your combos super early, and sets up a 2 mana for 2 cards in Arcane Intellect. People usually remove Knife Juggler over her, but in a lot of cases that is foolish. Don't sleep on her!
Arcane Intellect: Your main source of draw. As mentioned, great when cast with Sorcerer's Apprentice on board. Use when mana efficient or when you have nothing else to play, but generally you want to play a creature before this. Sometimes when I expect a board wipe I will play this instead of my minions.
Wolf Rider: Amazing turn 3 play. Get him out there before taunts. Against aggro use him as removal as needed.
Fireball: One of your finishers. Against druid you want this to take out their taunts (ie. Druid of the Claw).
Water Elemental: I would take one of these over a Yeti any day. It procs your Ice Lance, and will draw a lot of attention away from your other minions. Rogues loathe this guy.
Azure Drake: So much value. Gives you draw, and generally if he sticks you are doing a lot of damage from spells the next turn. If you have board control, dropping him on turn 5 gives you crazy tempo.
Combos:
Frostbolt + Ice Lance = 7 damage for 3 mana
Frostbolt + Ice Lance + Ice Lance = 11 damage for 4 mana (same as 1 Fireball!)
Thalnos + Frostbolt + Ice Lance + Ice Lance = 14 damage for 6 mana
Knife Juggler + Mirror Image = Maybe more fun than awesome, but still great!
Crazy Combo:
Sorcerer's Apprentice + Thalnos + Frostbolt + Ice Lance + Ice Lance + Fireball = 21 damage for 8 mana
For the sake of time and space I will let you imagine all the other combos you could come up with!
Mulligans:
For a lot of match ups you want to see the same cards in your opening hand. There are some exceptions, however. The top tier list of cards to mulligan for are:
Mana Wyrm
Leper Gnome
Knife Juggler
Sorcerer's Apprentice
As a rule of thumb, always mulligan away 3 drops or higher unless it's Arcane Intellect and you already have a turn 1/2 play.
Against Zoo: A Frostbolt can be nice to keep if you already have minions. Arcane Missiles becomes a lot better here as long as they don't have an Amani Berserker out. Turn 1 minions become a lot more important.
Against Druid: Keep a Fireball. Trust me.
Against Miracle Rogue: Keep a Faerie Dragon. Plain and simple.
Against the rest: You know the drill. 1 drops and 2 drops are wonderful pieces of happiness you can share with your opponent!
Match-ups:
Zoo: A pretty even match-up. Trade and retain tempo with minions and spells instead of going for the face. Always count the damage in your hand, and prepare to strike when you are ready.
Handlock: Easiest match-up for the Aggro Mage. If you have a decent start it's usually game over for them. Don't be afraid to Fireball their taunts, and beware of Hellfire. Before their turn 4 drop deathrattle minions or use an Arcane Intellect. Don't waste your value minions.
Druid: I used to hate facing Druid, but then I realized that Fireball is your best friend. instead of holding them, fling them at their Druid of the Claw, and don't give them an easy Swipe.
Miracle Rogue: They are favored because of all the removal. Faerie Dragon really helps here. You win by your spells so don't waste them, but if you see an Auctioneer lying around kill it.
Control Warrior: Your hardest match-up by a mile. Their armor and removal is crazy! If they lay down an Armorsmith you need to efficiently remove it or the game will get out of hand. Mirror Image is great to counter their axes, and Water Elementel can save your life. I have beaten them plenty of times to know that you should NOT insta-concede!
Shaman: Difficult, but more than doable. They usually don't pack heals, so every bit of damage impacts them more. Get them on the defensive, and when they lay down the dogs blast them with your spells. An early Wolf Rider is a good Wolf Rider.
Priest: Like most Priest match-ups you are the favorite. However, beware their late game when they can explode with heals and take the game away from you. Kinda sucks if they are packing Tazdingo.
Freeze Mage: A hard match, but remember your spells don't proc their Ice Barrier! If you suspect the Ice Barrier use your spells only until you need to attack.
Mirror Match: Just like the Zoo match-up use your minions and spells to trade effectively. I would hesitate to use your Fireball on a Water Elemental.
Hunter: Easy match-up. Hooray! This deck was actually designed to beat Hunter 2 seasons ago when they were at their prime. Face Hunter is a lot easier because you outrace them, and aren't dependent on minions to win. Kolento's Hunter is harder but still in your favor. Try not to let a Beast stick for Houndmaster. Also, don't give them Unleash the Hounds ammo!!!
Paladin: A pretty even match. Hard for me to tell because I almost never see them. Against aggro lists, Arcane Missiles, Knife Juggler, and Water Elemental are awesome. Beware the Consecration. Treat it like how I said to treat Hellfire.
While this deck stomps the **** out of Paladins and Handlocks, I must disagree on Priest. I'm negative against them due to Auchenai Shadow Priest combos then healing spam - if the game carries over to turn 8 you are pretty much done. As for Control Warrior, just concede whenever you see them and it makes ranked climbing faster I guess. Hopefully the new cards will make Control Legendary Throwing less frustrating to play against :\
Huge fan of the deck, Awesome job!
I found that with the coin the game can be over by turn 2! One game, I mana wyrmed, coined, mana wyrm. Hunter used his hero ability. Then played sorcerers apprentice, mirror image for free. Thats a 3-3, 2-3, 3-2, and 2 0-2 taunts on turn 2! I won by turn 5.
Mana wyrm, coin, mirror image is also a more modest but still effective alternative.
I also think this deck is awesome for ladder, because either win or lose, the game is generally over around turn 7. Thanks Hawk!
Hawk, I also found your guide incredibly helpful, as this is my first complete aggro deck. Great job.
Well, I am a newbie in this game and also new for this site. I have no idea about deck list of aggro mage a few month ago or some thing like that. I believe what a newbie like me want is just a great deck list which has been tested or used in actual ladder climbing. This kind of deck could teach us, newbie player, about what the legendary or high rank player really play so it will be much faster for us to improve. Personally, I also love this kind of deck that only need a few dust to complete it. Unlike a deck like control warrior that even I want to try, I cannot.
So from a little newbie player, thank you so much for the deck list. :D
Deck works well -- the main problem is that it lacks draw.
If you are down on cards, it's pretty much game over.
I've made the following adjustments:
Swap 1 Water Elemental for 1 Coldlight Oracle and it has already saved me many times.
Water Elemental is a very slow card but it does combo with ice lance.
Also considering either 2x amani or 2x faierie dragon
Didn't have thanos so had to run Kolbold Geomancer. I can see where the burst in spell damage will win.
So far the strategy is:
1. get cheap minions out and hopefully get a mirror image to soak damage and race your opponent to under 20 health
2. Go for draw + spell boost and burst the rest of the damage
If you can get your opponent to near 15 before he taunts up then you should win unless you have poor draws.
Fireball x 2 = 12 damage, 14 with Kobold (8 mana cost)
Frost bolt + icelance x 2 = 11 damage, 14 with Kobold (5 mana cost)
With a sor apprentice, you can get those combos off even earlier. That being said, you can lose the game really fast if you draw your spells before your minions. It pretty much reverses what you need.
After playing a bunch more, I had to get rid of the cold light oracle cause it can be too damaging. I used a loot hoarder instead and now that's fine.
After testing this deck out I feel that it needs alextraza
nope, it doesn't need alex at all. If you need alex to reduce your opponent's health down to 15, then you played wrong and should lose.
This deck is too reliant on luck. Yes it has plenty of burst damage but you aren't guaranteed to draw into all of it. Please enlighten me on how to consistently beat warrior and druid without alex since you are obviously rngesus
this is literally the exact same as the other mage aggro decks that were posted a few months back when aggro mage had a big appearance. maybe 1 or 2 cards are different but i dont feel like the differences are big enough to call it a new deck more of a preference modification
that and a few others, there were like 4 variants of the aggro mage a while back each with like 2-4 cards different, and yes i do like the explanation vs the other classes.
I *feel* that 1 or 2 cards does warrant calling it a new deck.
but the 1 or 2 cards does not change the play style or counter anything. its not adding anything to the deck besides some new 2 drops in place of a loot hoarder and an elven archer. adding say a wild pyro to a warrior control deck is a large difference for 1 card as it counters aggro. or choosing to put in black knight or harrison because that can change how you can deal with a situation. what does adding 1 amani and 1 faerie dragon really do to the deck? i would say its a very minor modification.
This is just the old aggro mage with 1 minor difference.
this deck does well but only if you play certain decks or get off to a crazy fast start. otherwise it's just mediocre. i haven't won a single game against zoo. without any AOE spells it just becomes impossible with them constantly drawing and pumping out creatures. most druids will dominate this deck as well due to heals and taunts.
some games i'd sell my soul for a flamestrike :/
Looks exactly like Razoir's deck. Only difference is the loot hoarder instead of coldlight oracle.
Nonetheless, good job! Solid deck overall
Awesome job reaching legend with this! I'm not even at 5 yet. It's nice to see other people doing well with mage.
Any thoughts on using 1 Arcane Golem in place of a Wolfrider? It seems like you might want to increase the speed with which you go for face.
I simply can't win with this deck, and I'm pretty sure I'm not playing it wrong. Been up against a lot of anti-aggro control, maybe it's because of that
Coldlight might be better against control but its awful against other aggro decks, and they are actually some of you harder matchups. Also it can randomly blow you out feeding a control player the cards they need to win, can be super dangerous against control warrior or druid.
Yeah im not to sure about this deck... I cant seem to win with it :(. Should I be attacking the face a lot or play conservative and clear the board.
On times where I am aggressive I get them down really low but cant finish the job as I ignore minions on the board.
Any tips on how to play it well?