The new meta is in progress and, predictably, it's been pretty Warlock-heavy so far. For anybody else playing big spell mage, I'm wondering how you guys are handling this matchup. It's looks like an awful matchup statistically, but (anecdotally) I've found it to be less extreme than the 30-35% winrate reported by some sites.
I guess the first part is figuring out which variation of the deck you're up against: the slower, Voidlord and grind-it-out deck (sometimes with Rin, the First Disciple included), or somebody looking to push out some quick damage by cubing a Doomguard. I've been told the Doomguard version is likely to fade away now that Razakus is gone, but I'm not entirely convinced. And personally, I find this version more problematic. The damage push at that stage in the game is serious, and if they hit the DK on curve to resurrect them it's usually lethal. It's also tough to deal with multiple 7 health minions; I don't like to gamble to that extent with Dragon's Fury.
So on that note, are there any early indications that will tip you to which deck you're facing, or do you just have to wait to see what pops out of the Possessed Lackey?
Backtracking a bit, there's the mulligan to consider: I typically hard mulligan for Polymorph (and I wish I had about six copies for this matchup) and I'll keep a Skulking Geist if it's in hand. That part's crucial, I think; an on-curve Geist means you'll always be able to react to a Cube. I do run an ooze, but I don't personally find that quite as crucial given all of the removal. Would you guys keep that in an opening hand to deal with Skull of the Man'ari?
Getting on to the actual game, where I'm a little bit uncertain is how liberal I can be with my Polymorph usage. Would you use it on a Doomguard to take it out of the DK resurrect pool, or do you reserve them for Cubes? Do you feel like you have to reserve one in case Rin comes out, or will you take your chances pulling out Azari with Dirty Rat? Do you even bother on a cubed Voidlord, or are you content to just soak up that damage?
Anywho, I've found this to be a very compelling matchup so far and one that really tests my skill as a player. I hope some of you out there are having success and I'd love to hear your takes on how to swing it in our favor.
I don t play Big Spell Mage, but I played kazakus mage last year (don t judge me it was extremely funny and powerful) and burn mage a lot of time ago, when it was tier 1. Now i m playing tempo mage. So I know a bit of mage's gameplan. You tipically want to polymorph his demons (voidlord or doomguard). Rin isn t really a problem, also if your plans are to fatigue him. Just don t kill rin, so he can t play the seals. DON T POLYMORPH THE POSSESSED LACKEY, cause you want delete the demons from his decks. NEVER PLAY DIRTY RAT A PART FROM AZARI. Rat is ok, but not in this matchup. You could deal with a 3/9 demon taunt deathrattle summon three demons 1/3 with taunt on turn two. For mulligan, i suggest you keeping the polymorphs, jaina, geist and raven familiar (hoping that s not zoolock)
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"The flow of time is always cruel... its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it... A thing that does not change with time is a memory of younger days..."
I've played big spell mage alot this expansion, and control/cubelock are terrible matchups. To get better winrate vs them, I teched in two potion of polymorphs and an ooze. Most of the time you will have it by turn 5 since you also run arcanologists, and it normally hits either a Mountain Giant or a Possessed Lackey. Another tech card that would help is Coldlight Oracle.
The polymorphs you should prioritize to use on Doomguards and Rin, but if you can't answer a Mountain Giant then you should probably poly it before the opponent gets cubevalue..
Another thing thats important to remember, is that you shouldn't draw to many cards. If you managed to answer all of his threats, then you need to also make sure you have more cards in the deck. The Guldan heropower does 6 points in a way (3 damage, 3 heal), while yours only deal 1 damage. Getting a Skulking Geist out early can help you burn some cards in his deck.
Hey folks,
The new meta is in progress and, predictably, it's been pretty Warlock-heavy so far. For anybody else playing big spell mage, I'm wondering how you guys are handling this matchup. It's looks like an awful matchup statistically, but (anecdotally) I've found it to be less extreme than the 30-35% winrate reported by some sites.
I guess the first part is figuring out which variation of the deck you're up against: the slower, Voidlord and grind-it-out deck (sometimes with Rin, the First Disciple included), or somebody looking to push out some quick damage by cubing a Doomguard. I've been told the Doomguard version is likely to fade away now that Razakus is gone, but I'm not entirely convinced. And personally, I find this version more problematic. The damage push at that stage in the game is serious, and if they hit the DK on curve to resurrect them it's usually lethal. It's also tough to deal with multiple 7 health minions; I don't like to gamble to that extent with Dragon's Fury.
So on that note, are there any early indications that will tip you to which deck you're facing, or do you just have to wait to see what pops out of the Possessed Lackey?
Backtracking a bit, there's the mulligan to consider: I typically hard mulligan for Polymorph (and I wish I had about six copies for this matchup) and I'll keep a Skulking Geist if it's in hand. That part's crucial, I think; an on-curve Geist means you'll always be able to react to a Cube. I do run an ooze, but I don't personally find that quite as crucial given all of the removal. Would you guys keep that in an opening hand to deal with Skull of the Man'ari?
Getting on to the actual game, where I'm a little bit uncertain is how liberal I can be with my Polymorph usage. Would you use it on a Doomguard to take it out of the DK resurrect pool, or do you reserve them for Cubes? Do you feel like you have to reserve one in case Rin comes out, or will you take your chances pulling out Azari with Dirty Rat? Do you even bother on a cubed Voidlord, or are you content to just soak up that damage?
Anywho, I've found this to be a very compelling matchup so far and one that really tests my skill as a player. I hope some of you out there are having success and I'd love to hear your takes on how to swing it in our favor.
I don t play Big Spell Mage, but I played kazakus mage last year (don t judge me it was extremely funny and powerful) and burn mage a lot of time ago, when it was tier 1. Now i m playing tempo mage. So I know a bit of mage's gameplan. You tipically want to polymorph his demons (voidlord or doomguard). Rin isn t really a problem, also if your plans are to fatigue him. Just don t kill rin, so he can t play the seals. DON T POLYMORPH THE POSSESSED LACKEY, cause you want delete the demons from his decks. NEVER PLAY DIRTY RAT A PART FROM AZARI. Rat is ok, but not in this matchup. You could deal with a 3/9 demon taunt deathrattle summon three demons 1/3 with taunt on turn two. For mulligan, i suggest you keeping the polymorphs, jaina, geist and raven familiar (hoping that s not zoolock)
"The flow of time is always cruel... its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it... A thing that does not change with time is a memory of younger days..."
Hi,
I've played big spell mage alot this expansion, and control/cubelock are terrible matchups. To get better winrate vs them, I teched in two potion of polymorphs and an ooze. Most of the time you will have it by turn 5 since you also run arcanologists, and it normally hits either a Mountain Giant or a Possessed Lackey. Another tech card that would help is Coldlight Oracle.
The polymorphs you should prioritize to use on Doomguards and Rin, but if you can't answer a Mountain Giant then you should probably poly it before the opponent gets cubevalue..
Another thing thats important to remember, is that you shouldn't draw to many cards. If you managed to answer all of his threats, then you need to also make sure you have more cards in the deck. The Guldan heropower does 6 points in a way (3 damage, 3 heal), while yours only deal 1 damage. Getting a Skulking Geist out early can help you burn some cards in his deck.
Hope some of this helps :)