Quick question, why isn't Ethereal Arcanist included in many of the typical Secret Mage decks?
It's great on curve after Kirin Tor Mage and it keeps getting better as your turns goes on (especially if you have an Ice Block up. If you play it with a secret up, your opponent has to either immediately kill/silence it or try to proc your secret and stop it from growing. Otherwise it goes to a 7/7 and then a 9/9. It seems like the kind of snowball-y effect that ought to be an auto include.
Second quick question, do you think it will become more popular after Kabal Crystal Runner rotates out?
I haven't faced a single mage that didn't run this card. It was in every secret mage deck.
I don't know what rank you are playing at, but it is not even close to being in every secret mage deck. I haven't seen it in weeks, and I climb to rank 5 every season in both wild and ranked.
Quick question, why isn't Ethereal Arcanist included in many of the typical Secret Mage decks?
It's great on curve after Kirin Tor Mage and it keeps getting better as your turns goes on (especially if you have an Ice Block up. If you play it with a secret up, your opponent has to either immediately kill/silence it or try to proc your secret and stop it from growing. Otherwise it goes to a 7/7 and then a 9/9. It seems like the kind of snowball-y effect that ought to be an auto include.
Second quick question, do you think it will become more popular after Kabal Crystal Runner rotates out?
No. I think Secret Mage loses a lot of its power because not only is Ice Block rotating to Wild/HOF, but Kabal Lackey is rotating as well. That's one of Secret Mage's highest value cards. Mana Wyrm Coin Kabal Lackey and Explosive Runes is a nightmare to play around.
Oddly enough, I've never played against a secret mage who does run one of those (in recent memory anyways haha). It does seem strange, actually. I guess the Crystal Runner is just better value maybe, since you're trying to win extra fast. It will definitely become more popular after it rotates out.
Also, this just goes to show people will just copy/paste the "popular" deck without any thought lol. I'm sure there's room for at least one in there.
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Twitch name: Anatak15 NA Legend Season 48, 49, 52, 53, 54, 74
Secret mage isn't a board focused deck. It's an aggressive burn deck.
It's very similar to face hunter. It uses early game board pressure to win through damage later. You don't want to use value cards unless they lead to more burn damage in late game. That's why the deck runs Aluneth and not things like Cabalist tome.
Think about the minions they do play. The only one that's above 3 mana is the one you play for free. Leeroy would be a better fit in the deck than Ethereal.
Just because it has secret synergy doesn't mean it's a good fit for the deck. It would be a good fit for a deck that runs secrets and tries to outvalue your opponent with them. Before Kobolds secret mage builds would run Ethereal because they didn't have as smooth of a transition to full on burn. Aluneth changed that.
Outside of all of that, secret mage right now doesn't try to play secrets that don't trigger. Meaning the only way you would get a buff with Ethereal is through ice block or a very expensive mana turn which is better spent on other things.
I haven't faced a single mage that didn't run this card. It was in every secret mage deck.
I don't know what rank you are playing at, but it is not even close to being in every secret mage deck. I haven't seen it in weeks, and I climb to rank 5 every season in both wild and ranked.
I only play around 10 Wild, I'm not playing Hearthstone that much anymore, but these Arcanists were everywhere.
I haven't faced a single mage that didn't run this card. It was in every secret mage deck.
I don't know what rank you are playing at, but it is not even close to being in every secret mage deck. I haven't seen it in weeks, and I climb to rank 5 every season in both wild and ranked.
I only play around 10 Wild, I'm not playing Hearthstone that much anymore, but these Arcanists were everywhere.
Fair enough, I don't doubt that you are telling the truth. It's a decent card replacement if you have space to spare in the deck, but the deck is probably quite optimised by now. I don't really play secret mage though, so I wouldn't really know.
I haven't faced a single mage that didn't run this card. It was in every secret mage deck.
I don't know what rank you are playing at, but it is not even close to being in every secret mage deck. I haven't seen it in weeks, and I climb to rank 5 every season in both wild and ranked.
I only play around 10 Wild, I'm not playing Hearthstone that much anymore, but these Arcanists were everywhere.
Fair enough, I don't doubt that you are telling the truth. It's a decent card replacement if you have space to spare in the deck, but the deck is probably quite optimised by now. I don't really play secret mage though, so I wouldn't really know.
And so don't I, but I'd probably play this card, though the only deck similar to this one which I have played was Tempo Mage like 1-year ago and there were 4(?) total secrets I believe (2 Ice Blocks and 2 Ice Barriers). But from what I've already seen, Ethereal Arcanist seems like a really decent card for this kind of deck so I'm not surprised to see this card that often.
Thats because the card is too inconsistent. Explosive rune and counter spell usually dont stay long on the field, they are often triggered the turn after you play it so there is no secret to buff it every time. Ice block is not a card you want early on so I wouldnt count much on it as a trigger for Ethereal Arcanist. So most of the time this card is just a 4 mana 3/3 or a dead card in your hand (because you are waiting for a secret since you really dont want to play a 4 mana 3/3 in any aggro or tempo deck).
This.
Looking at the numbers at HSReplays, the card only has a 3% play-rate in Mage, while Secret Mage itself has a play-rate of almost 70% in the class - so less than 5% of Secret Mage decks are running the card. Ethereal Arcanist has a "win-rate when played" of -7%, and is pretty uniformly the worst card in the decks which choose to run it.
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Quick question, why isn't Ethereal Arcanist included in many of the typical Secret Mage decks?
It's great on curve after Kirin Tor Mage and it keeps getting better as your turns goes on (especially if you have an Ice Block up. If you play it with a secret up, your opponent has to either immediately kill/silence it or try to proc your secret and stop it from growing. Otherwise it goes to a 7/7 and then a 9/9. It seems like the kind of snowball-y effect that ought to be an auto include.
Second quick question, do you think it will become more popular after Kabal Crystal Runner rotates out?
I haven't faced a single mage that didn't run this card. It was in every secret mage deck.
I don't know what rank you are playing at, but it is not even close to being in every secret mage deck. I haven't seen it in weeks, and I climb to rank 5 every season in both wild and ranked.
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Oddly enough, I've never played against a secret mage who does run one of those (in recent memory anyways haha). It does seem strange, actually. I guess the Crystal Runner is just better value maybe, since you're trying to win extra fast. It will definitely become more popular after it rotates out.
Also, this just goes to show people will just copy/paste the "popular" deck without any thought lol. I'm sure there's room for at least one in there.
Twitch name: Anatak15
NA Legend Season 48, 49, 52, 53, 54, 74
Secret mage isn't a board focused deck. It's an aggressive burn deck.
It's very similar to face hunter. It uses early game board pressure to win through damage later. You don't want to use value cards unless they lead to more burn damage in late game. That's why the deck runs Aluneth and not things like Cabalist tome.
Think about the minions they do play. The only one that's above 3 mana is the one you play for free. Leeroy would be a better fit in the deck than Ethereal.
Just because it has secret synergy doesn't mean it's a good fit for the deck. It would be a good fit for a deck that runs secrets and tries to outvalue your opponent with them. Before Kobolds secret mage builds would run Ethereal because they didn't have as smooth of a transition to full on burn. Aluneth changed that.
Outside of all of that, secret mage right now doesn't try to play secrets that don't trigger. Meaning the only way you would get a buff with Ethereal is through ice block or a very expensive mana turn which is better spent on other things.