Rank 5 to Legend Antonidas Secret Mage 72%W
- Last updated May 28, 2017 (Un'Goro Launch)
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Wild
- 15 Minions
- 15 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Secret Mage
- Crafting Cost: 5100
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 5/21/2017 (Un'Goro Launch)
- user-12135576
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Total Deck Rating
118
Hey Guys,
With a lot(!) of testing and refining. Also talking to some more experienced Secret Mage / Mage Players in general I came up with a Decklist, that consists of the Secret Package with the common advantages of taking board control easily, destroying win conditions with Counterspell / Potion of Polymorph and combining those with the two powerhouses of Burgly Bully together with Archmage Antonidas. I often felt that in the current Meta where Medivh lacks consistency due to a lot of weapon removals or the need the play cheap spells in order to stay in the game a swap over to Anto did the trick for me and brought this Deck from a high Tier2 to the Tier1 it deserves..
With enough attention / upvotes I am going to write a detailed Overall Strategy Guide.
Mulligans are common Secret Mage ones, such as: Lackey, Mana Wyrm and Arcanologist. Frostbolt against Classes with gamebreaking early threats (Aggro Druid for example)
Question: Why no Babbling Book?? (is by far the most common question I get when playing this Deck)
Answer: Its way worse than any other Drop you could get in your starting hand. Sure it is a One Drop that does "SOMETHING" but still there are chances you are going to get spells that you are never gonna use anyways. Sure getting a third counterspell or smth like that feels amazing but imo it is a wasted slot way better taken by Antonidas + Iceblock or some other lategame options.
Common Matchups:
Jade Druid: Make sure to not counterspell a Coin... Try to go agressive for board and rush him down before he gets huge taunters up. You lose if the Jade Ramp is too fast.
Aggro Druid: KEEP FROSTBOLT IN YOUR OPENING HAND! Try to get value out of your spellbender. Play for board and know when to go face. Most common turning point usually is Living Mana - As soon as they drop it most of the time it is a good idea to not trade, maybe drop a counterspell against their buffs. Usually you should be a in a good spot if you removed earily threats efficiently with the Pyro+Iceblock combo. If you face a lot of Aggro Druids maybe tech for a Volcanic Potion.
Hunter: Battle for board. Play smartly around Unleash + Hyena. Even matchup depending on the start of the game. Always keep in mind that turn 5+6 powerplay of Rhino + Highmane
Silence Priest: Iceblock saves your ass against the OTK. Go face whenever possible while still removing value cards like Northshire Cleric and Radiant Elemental
Quest Rogue: Only trade when you risk losing the board control. Try to fake a counterspell and maybe get a gamewinner on a vanish or even a crystal core (happened more than I want to admit..)
Taunt Warrior: Hardest matchup IMO. Prey for them not running Armorsmith. Always calculate using a face spell on a taunt minion because he might just clear the board again and you will end up with no board and lost damage to face.
Miracle Rogue: Dont overvalue counterspell. Razorpetals.. Backstabs.. Just hope for the best. Maybe they outplay themselves and play an Auctioneer into Potion of Polymorph. Capitalize on their slow starts and deal sticky damage to the face. Burgly Bully works wonders in this matchup.
Pirate Warrior: Fire War Axe is OP. If they get a buff on that you are in a bad spot. If not - Just keep and eye on a potential Frothing Berserker or Southsea Captain. Face damage is not as important as keeping board control. Try to minimize their pirate synergy as much as possible.
Mirror: Prey for the coin. Always play for board. Burgly Bully should give you the upper hand in this. Iceblock might save ur ass aswell. All in all the combo of Antonidas + Bully works very well against all types of mages.
If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask in the comments. I am constantly keeping an eye on them :) GL playing!
I seem to have trouble with slow draw in this deck... Am I doing something terribly wrong, or have I just been unlucky?
can i change Spellbender with any cards like Mana Bind or any other secrets ? or card like Bloodmage Thalnos ?
thanks for the respond, i enjoyed the deck. Thx anyway bro :)
I was running Secret Mage successfully on ladder long before this arrived (or it became commonplace in the meta). I'm sure you played my deck about a month ago when nobody (literally never saw another one on ladder) was running Secret Mage.
I have preferred this instead. More consistent results:
http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/812429-tempo-secret-mage
Sure! It can be clunky for sure, but at worst it forces your opponent to waste a powerful removal spell, which then can't be used against your other minions (including Antonidas, Bully, Kabal Crystal Runner, or another Ethereal Arcanist). It also is a good bait for a Counterspell, as the opponent always panics upon seeing a minion that continues to grow and tries to remove it immediately. The combo of Ethereal Arcanist and Counterspell allows you to have at least one turn with a 7/7, which can do wonders. If you've used the deck correctly up to this point, you will have board control and therefore they NEED to use a spell in order to remove it.
For me, that's how I've tried to use it effectively.
Agreed! That's the great thing about Hearthstone. If you could replace only one Ethereal Arcanist with one of the cards you've chosen, which would it be? I'm curious about that.
I also ran Ethereal Arcanist pre-JTU but to assume that it guarantees a 7/7 is a massive logical leap. Many decks will have a better board than you and will be able to just trade into the 5/5 Arcanist. Those that don't can burn smaller spells on the CS or use tools like Vilespine Slayer or weapons to wipe it out. Counterspell rarely lasts longer than the turn after you play it so your Ethereal would stop growing unless you threw down another secret. It's also difficult to time Arcanist as you have to spend the mana for the secret (with or without a Lackey or Kirin Tor) as well as the Arcanist, making it often a fairly expensive play in a deck that wants to rush to control the board.
All of this makes sense, but with a decent start, a good secret mage should keep board control, especially through the early and mid game. The Secret Mage I run acts as an aggro/tempo and therefore by the time you drop Ethereal Arcanist, you should have board control. That's the goal. A 7/7 doesn't always pan out, but it can happen if you've played correctly and don't have bad luck. And a 5/5 isn't horrible anyway, which you are guaranteed to get.
Of course, given all the various tweaks to Secret Mage decks, a different card may be preferable depending on your build. If any card would be traded out, it would most likely be Ethereal Arcanist.
Been playing around with your deck and all in all it's decent. One thing I've been looking at teching, though, is the sorcerers apprentice. It doesn't get enough value most of the time and I feel like putting a mana bind (for anto proc) and maybe a polymorph or two for the assloads of control pally at rank 5+, which this deck does not do well against.
Proof?
Hi, I have a question
What would you swap Archmage Antonidas out for?
(if any thing)
new mage player here. i was wondering about the ice block and pyro blast, other mage secret decks i have seen do not run those. why are they in this list?
Hello! :D
I like this deck, sometimes does reeeaally well but I'm struggling between rank 5 and 4.
Not with only this but every deck I have (mid hunters, secret mages, burn mages).
With all of those I have 50% win-rate. :/ I don't know what am I doing wrong, last season I was legend and I would like to reach that again if that's possible.
Can't do anything to climb higher and I can't afford another deck since I'm quiet new and f2p :/
Any help or advice? :)
Anyway, this deck is performing well for me around rank 5.
I love it! :)
Worst matchups with this deck are definietly priests for me.
Also maybe fast decks like mid/face hunters and pirate warriors.
Thank you very much! :D
With what can i swap [card]Medivh's Valet[/card]