Hearthpwn

FYI, a slightly more winning version of this deck has +1 Babbling Book +1 Kabal Courier -1 Volcanic Potion -1 Eater of Secrets

https://hsreplay.net/decks/3ZOygROZwF85P57S3HU8eb/#tab=similar&sortBy=winrate&rankRange=LEGEND_THROUGH_TEN

So, pretty close to the previous version of this deck before May 25 edits.

I was running the Muzzy Discover Mage deck, but took out his 2x babbling book and added Meteor + Polymorph and removed his Kabal Couriers for an extra Volcanic Potion and Gluttonous Ooze . The only difference between my current list and yours right now is that I am -1x Ice Barrier and +1x Counterspell. Counterspell can be really great against Paladins and potential to counter Living Mana, Bloodlust or other key spell turns; sometimes even counter rogue quest. Surprised how well this deck does against Pirate Warrior.

I just picked up this deck though and it is a little new for me. I like your version better than the other high-ranked Burn Mage deck on the front page of hearthpwn. Streaked quickly to rank 16.2 a couple days ago then started losing games and falling back. Some was bad matchups (Jade Druids and some really really good pirate warrior draws), but i think i'm doing something wrong. I fell back to 18. Got beat in burn mirror twice although i beat most Secret Mages due to Eater of Secrets. I may have had the wrong mindset but i also lost to 2 hunters with those 5-damage Kill Command spells. Always seem to lose by one health and even when i was win-streaking, my wins were all nail-biters. I find myself begging for a top-deck Eater of Secrets or burn spell to finish him off before he finishes me off.

I often find that i don't have enough mana to burn face, put up a defensive Ice block, play a minion and control the other side of the board all in the same turn. Sometimes i'm holding burn in hand and just can't control the board and haven't drawn Alexstrasza or Medivh yet. By the time I get them in hand, one block is already popped and I can either throw down 2nd block (if i've drawn it) or use burn to control the board or use Medivh, but never enough mana to do everything i NEED to do to survive. Sometimes i NEED to flamestrike for 7, but need to start hitting face too.

I know that this deck can't control the board the whole time, but how do you know when to start preparing blocks and going burn? Sometimes, i'm hesitant to go face with minion damage (i choose to trade instead) because i figure i'll draw Alex soon and i don't want to chip him down to 18 health and then "waste" Alex for only 3 damage. So, i end up trading and then I never draw Alex and can't use my burn effectively. 

Do you have any general tips on pacing and trading? Do you count burn damage in hand to know when to switch to face? Do you count damage on board? I know i have like 40 dmg or something with burn spells. When do you use fireball for trading vs. face? Is it okay to use Mana Wyrm to clear a 3 health minion if it dies in the process or better to leave a minion on board and go face with Wyrm? 

Great deck. Lots of fun. I just think i'm not quite there yet. Need help! Any tips i'm grateful, i want to take this thing back out to the ladder.

Hey, I'm glad you're having fun with the deck. That's the most important thing while laddering, in my opinion anyway!

You can play the deck in two ways. You either use alexstrasza to heal your own face (generally used to win against aggro druid, pirate warrior and aggro paladin decks alike) or to hit the enemy. In both cases you simply control the board as good as possible. If you need to use mana wyrm for that, go ahead. That card is just an extra way for early removal and it can often value trade. Ofcourse if you have the choice between trading off a wyrm vs using frostbolt, you use frostbolt to ensure your wyrm has more value. Use it to bait out an unfavourable trade or a spell from your opponent.

The point on when to switch to face damage is quite easy in most situations. Unless you're having a good headstart, it's when you have lethal damage in hand whenever you play alexstrasza. For example you have alex, pyroblast and another damage spell like Fireland's portal. If your alex is far in your deck and you have a good opening for Medivh. You can try setting up lethal by casting high mana cost spells while controling the board. Another point when you can set up lethal is when you see the situation is beginning to look hopeless. If you play against hunter for example, they have so many ways to stick minions to the board from the midgame onwards. If you already have your ice block set-up in that situation, you can simply play a Medivh or Alex in order to force trades or if they ignore your threat, to rush them down.

I considered using Counter Spell over Ice Barrier once or twice aswell but I found Ice Barrier's 8 armor to be more useful than countering a less damaging spell or a secret or something. The enemy's goal is to get your hitpoints to zero and unless you're playing a similar type of mage, they're almost always going to send a weapon or minion into your face. Also, against most decks you can calculate the most damage they can output in a turn and you might just be able to survive on barrier alone, without putting up that ice block. Allowing you to play an extra minion or burn the face a turn earlier with that 3 extra mana you've saved.

Lastly: Don't be afraid to rely on your Ice Block when setting up lethal in dire situations. If the enemy runs an Eater of Secrets or a Flare, fair play. You can't win all games. However, most people don't or run one-offs that might be deep inside the deck and the situation was probably unwinnable if you didn't anyway.

Awesome and thoughtful reply. I am very appreciative. I will take this deck back out tonight and will certainly try a few games with your complete deck and put the Ice Barrier back in. Ice Barrier might actually be a good counterspell bluff so it could work well since the burn mage opening looks a lot like secret mage.

I am thinking I should be more willing to give up some board presence and just play ice block on turn 3 or 4 instead of clearing a minion so that I don't need mana to do it on turn 9. I think i'm fighting too hard for board and should sacrifice more health and save more cards in the early game. Even if i fight, i usually am losing board around turn 5/6 against hunter or pirate warrior, for example. Then, i'm playing flamestrike, fireball or volcanic potion + frostbolt on turn 6-8 instead of setting up for lethal. I think i need to already have block in place to have enough mana for turn 9 Alex and finisher burn. Trading and timing seems to be my problem.

Hopefully more practice will improve the win rate and get me climbing again and make me more aware of health as a resource! Maybe with more sample size i'll see the win rate stabilizing. I've put bout 30ish games in with this deck multiple tech card variants and seem to be at around a 45%-ish win rate. Lost a bunch 4 close ones vs. pirate warrior. As you said, i am having fun with the deck so i'll keep trying. Thanks!

Because primordial glyph doesn't offer you any immediate board presence. Ok it's fine with mana wyrm, but so is every other 2 drop in your deck. It's also more effective if you know what you need to pick, aka when your opponent has a board later on in the game.

You're welcome :)

Hey guys!

I have a different version from pro player Muzzy which works perfectly in this meta! If you are interested check the decklist here - http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/844742-muzzys-discover-gunther-slow-freeze-mage

or check a video showcase

See you and great grinding :)

That actually just looks like a copy of this decks older version

Is Glyph a must have?

Not really, it's a good card though. It's hard to find a suitable replacement for it but Babbling Book should be a good early one and Cabalist's Tome and Elise a good mid to lategame one.

Oh,okay,thank you very much.And if you dont mind me asking,do you have any advice against dragon priests?

No problem. I hope you're having fun :)

You should treat them as every other aggro deck. Control them to death and plan on killing them 1 to 3 turns after you played alexstrasza. Don't bother trying to burn them down too early, they'll just get their hp back with priest of the feast. Bait those out and then go in for the kill. Medivh is an amazing tool to do so. You can also bait out with alexstrasza and then medivh to finish but that's alot riskier since they might just shadow word or dragonfire your minions

Yo.

I've readded Polymorph. I found myself missing it aswell. Nowadays it's a game changer in about 25% of my games when drawn in a timely fashion, I find myself not needing Elise in any matchup exept for (sometimes) Jade Druid. That match-up should be finished ASAP though and if not, with Medivh.

Sadly enough there are practically no replacements that even come close to her strength. Sorry. Her dealing 15 points of hp or healing you for 14 is just too strong.

I can only craft two legendaries, which one do i leave out? Elise?

Correct. In the comments below you can find good replacements for her.

I'll make a small resume here:

Kabal Courier for early value,Cabalist's Tome for lategame value, Volcanic Potion against aggro (PS: It's a bad card vs pirate warrior).

So far only matched up against <<Jade Druids>> and <<Pirate Warriors>> with freakin' secret eaters.

Countered hard. 0% winrate in 5 matches.

Ouch that's painful. I myself haven't had trouble against pirate warriors yet, they're one of my better matchups. Jade druids are a problem sometimes, I agree, even without the secret eaters. Especially when they get all of their armor gain when needed so they can ramp their jades in peace.

Why is this labeled as "Aggro Mage"?

The predefined descriptions were either aggro or freeze, since it barely freezes and tries to burn your opponent down asap in most matchups, it seemed the most fitting description to me.

Edit: Today they added Burn Mage to the archetypes. Hurray!