Just finished making my climb for the month (from rank 9) and this is the third season I've managed to hit rank 5 with my homebrew Reno Big Spells Mage. Although a version of Reno Mage shows up on the VS wild report, I have yet to see any other Reno Mages in my entire climb, and definitely none using the big spells package. Is anyone here using Reno Mage in wild? Here are some of the pros so far I've found:
1. Reno: A full heal from Reno means a world of difference against a number of decks. Drawing Reno often wins the secret mage matchup and can be instrumental in beating paladin.
2. Kazakus: Super flexible! Against warlock and maly druid you can take the full board transform, while against paladin you can take the 2 damage AOE.
3. Tons of AOE: Between Dragon's Fury, Kazakus's AOEs, Flamestrike, Blizzard, Explosive Sheep, Twilight Flamecaller, Meteor and Volcanic Potion, you can clear boards over and over and over whether it's little wheenies from paladin or big demon boards from warlock.
4. Ice Block: This card is one of the biggest lifesavers in this game. If you add something to draw it out (Arcanologist/Mad Scientist), you can get it fairly consistently. Ice Block is the only reason we are able to beat Malygos Druid as we can regularly follow up their big burn turn with the transform Kazakus potion or some other form of clear. Having Ice Block also means we can sit back and not worry about making plays that could give our opponent lethal, instead making plays that are best for us.
5. Frost Lich value: This card can single-handedly allow you to outvalue your opponent if you play it right. It's super skill-intensive and a win condition on its own while keeping you topped off.
6. Tech Room: Due to constraints on using high cost spells and only single copies, there's tons of room for teching. Skulking Geist has been essential against all types of druid. Ooze has often been the game changer against paladin. Deathlord is amazing for anti-aggro, while Dirty Rat is similar while helping against combo decks too.
7. Absolute blast to play: I've had so many nail-biting matchups where I had to think carefully through every play. Aside from the regular culprits of cubelock, big priest and aggro pally, I've come up against control warlocks, giants, exodia paladins, face shamans, spell hunters and maly druids. In almost every matchup, I've always felt like I had the opportunity to win if I drew right and played right. There's a decent amount of RNG involved in playing this deck but enough skillful options and mana management to ensure you can outplay your opponents.
Here's my decklist. I'd love to see feedback and hear if any of you have been using different lists!
Interesting, I gave Reno mage a shot at one of the rank floors, but in general I had better luck with Renolock. However, you have a slightly different deck list than I. Maybe I’ll give it another go again.
Is there a replacement for Solia and Alanna? only cards i'm missing
Yeah! I really like Inkmaster for the 10 mana Kazakus potion and just tempo in general but it's definitely not necessary. I would just throw in a tech card of some sort or perhaps a spell generator like Babbling Book or defensive card like Plated Beetle. Alanna is a huge board filler for late game so maybe something else that provides big pressure? I had Sindragosa in initially for extra value so that could be a possibility if you have it. Otherwise, just run more pally counter cards as that's the majority of the meta as far as I've seen. Alanna gets played in at most 1 out of 3 matchups for me (mostly the warlock matchups) so it's not a critical card.
EDIT: Lich King is also another good option for late game value. Sometimes you can get cool cards out of Kabal Courier as well.
I play Big Spell Mage in Standard every once in a while, but I haven't played a Wild Reno variant yet. It looks fun though.
I like Explosive Sheep as a non-spell Volcanic Potion. I see that you're also running the potion though; is that required to survive vs aggro? Or would something like Unstable Ghoul be sufficient?
Regarding legendary replacements, Alexstrasza is an option. It's a good card to play when you want to start getting aggressive. And sometimes it can be useful to keep yourself alive a bit longer. Another option is Baron Geddon, which is a very effective heal in Frost Lich mode, but can also be used as a board clear against aggressive decks.
I play Big Spell Mage in Standard every once in a while, but I haven't played a Wild Reno variant yet. It looks fun though.
I like Explosive Sheep as a non-spell Volcanic Potion. I see that you're also running the potion though; is that required to survive vs aggro? Or would something like Unstable Ghoul be sufficient?
Regarding legendary replacements, Alexstrasza is an option. It's a good card to play when you want to start getting aggressive. And sometimes it can be useful to keep yourself alive a bit longer. Another option is Baron Geddon, which is a very effective heal in Frost Lich mode, but can also be used as a board clear against aggressive decks.
Excellent points! When I first made the deck I didn't have Volcanic Potion in there but the number of pallies in wild has been overwhelming. I have too many 3 drops as it is so that's why I chose Acidic over Gluttonous. Unstable Ghoul might be a better choice but I hate letting my opponent choose when something triggers which is why I rarely play sheep without pinging it. I might have to play around with Geddon a bit too.
Just finished making my climb for the month (from rank 9) and this is the third season I've managed to hit rank 5 with my homebrew Reno Big Spells Mage. Although a version of Reno Mage shows up on the VS wild report, I have yet to see any other Reno Mages in my entire climb, and definitely none using the big spells package. Is anyone here using Reno Mage in wild? Here are some of the pros so far I've found:
1. Reno: A full heal from Reno means a world of difference against a number of decks. Drawing Reno often wins the secret mage matchup and can be instrumental in beating paladin.
2. Kazakus: Super flexible! Against warlock and maly druid you can take the full board transform, while against paladin you can take the 2 damage AOE.
3. Tons of AOE: Between Dragon's Fury, Kazakus's AOEs, Flamestrike, Blizzard, Explosive Sheep, Twilight Flamecaller, Meteor and Volcanic Potion, you can clear boards over and over and over whether it's little wheenies from paladin or big demon boards from warlock.
4. Ice Block: This card is one of the biggest lifesavers in this game. If you add something to draw it out (Arcanologist/Mad Scientist), you can get it fairly consistently. Ice Block is the only reason we are able to beat Malygos Druid as we can regularly follow up their big burn turn with the transform Kazakus potion or some other form of clear. Having Ice Block also means we can sit back and not worry about making plays that could give our opponent lethal, instead making plays that are best for us.
5. Frost Lich value: This card can single-handedly allow you to outvalue your opponent if you play it right. It's super skill-intensive and a win condition on its own while keeping you topped off.
6. Tech Room: Due to constraints on using high cost spells and only single copies, there's tons of room for teching. Skulking Geist has been essential against all types of druid. Ooze has often been the game changer against paladin. Deathlord is amazing for anti-aggro, while Dirty Rat is similar while helping against combo decks too.
7. Absolute blast to play: I've had so many nail-biting matchups where I had to think carefully through every play. Aside from the regular culprits of cubelock, big priest and aggro pally, I've come up against control warlocks, giants, exodia paladins, face shamans, spell hunters and maly druids. In almost every matchup, I've always felt like I had the opportunity to win if I drew right and played right. There's a decent amount of RNG involved in playing this deck but enough skillful options and mana management to ensure you can outplay your opponents.
Here's my decklist. I'd love to see feedback and hear if any of you have been using different lists!
Interesting, I gave Reno mage a shot at one of the rank floors, but in general I had better luck with Renolock. However, you have a slightly different deck list than I. Maybe I’ll give it another go again.
Is there a replacement for Solia and Alanna? only cards i'm missing
I love zola in reno/kazakus lists, i played alot with twighlight flamecaller in wild and dont love it even against dude pally it was kind of meh
I play Big Spell Mage in Standard every once in a while, but I haven't played a Wild Reno variant yet. It looks fun though.
I like Explosive Sheep as a non-spell Volcanic Potion. I see that you're also running the potion though; is that required to survive vs aggro? Or would something like Unstable Ghoul be sufficient?
Any reason for picking Acidic Swamp Ooze over Gluttonous Ooze?
Regarding legendary replacements, Alexstrasza is an option. It's a good card to play when you want to start getting aggressive. And sometimes it can be useful to keep yourself alive a bit longer. Another option is Baron Geddon, which is a very effective heal in Frost Lich mode, but can also be used as a board clear against aggressive decks.