I used to be a HUGE tempo mage player and was looking forward to trying tempo mage in this new meta, with cards like Faceless Summoner and Cult Sorcerer, even without C'Thun, leading the charge. However, it seems with the loss of Mad Scientist, I can't compete with any deck on the ladder right now in the slightest. I was wondering if anyone had any tempo mage decks that are working, I don't want to just throw in the towel, craft Twin Emperor, and play C'Thun decks for the next 4 months before the next set drops. I find them boring.
Tempo Mage is still very much alive, though I play a deck without Yogg and instead Ragnaros. Yogg Saron is fun, but he's not a trustworthy card IMO. Here's what I run.
Tempo Mage is actually in a great spot now. Both C'thun tempo Mage and regular tempo Mage can hold their own but I believe that C'thun tempo Mage is just a little stronger.
Tempo mage is still pretty good, you wont regret playing it. Ofc you dont use secrets any more but whatever, you still have enough board control to be very competitive.
You could go full las vegas and add yogg-saron and spellslinger, or you could go a more consistent route with summoner and other high value cards.
Tempo mage is very strong in standard, especially if you hybrid it with value cards (cabal / eth conjurer / summoner).
Mana wyrm is arguably the best 1-drop in the game right now, trogg is good too, but overload comes with a price in the early rounds.
The 3/2 +1 spellpower is definitely worth running even without c'thun btw, it's a beast with arcane blast, and so is sorc apprentice - together they are incredible.
Flamewaker needs no introduction.
Basically, the early game in tempo mage is really really strong, and value cards will keep you going into the lategame with ease.
I played tempo mage up to rank 3 last month, which is my personal best. I think the deck is actually stronger now than before the expansion. Forbidden Flame turns out to be a great utility card for dealing with minions bc it is so flexible, and worst case is a 0 mana, trigger Flamewaker. Cabalist's Tome really keeps your hand full and provides huge synergy with Flamewaker and Yogg-Saron, Hope's End if you run him.
Yogg is kind of for fun, kind of for desperation, kind of for hoping to deal with huge boards when I don't have other options, and for finding a way to hopefully finish against decks like Control Warrior or Control Priest where it is easy to run out of steam. 20+ spell Yoggs can be really fun too.
Played a little with C'Thun tempo mage too, and I think it actually works best running C'Thun, Vek'lor, and 2x Cult Sorcerer, maybe with Thaurissan to ensure you can get off enough spells with the Cult Sorcerers.
IMO Mage isn't a good class to ladder with right now, it's more a gimmick-one. All its decks are a lot weaker, especially Tempo Mage: it losts the best 2nd turn tempo play (mad scientist into mirror entity), secrets arent playable in the faster-normal version, and also lost 2 strong always-included spells (unstable portal and flame cannon) so less sinergy with mana wyrm, less "ammo" for flamewaker, less board control, less spells for antonidas (not playable right now), and less win conditions (unstable portal could win the game alone lol)
I hope to be wrong
You are 100% correct. They ruined one of my favorite decks with this cock-sucker Standard mode. Actually, Standard sucks soooooo bad that its unplayable. 3 bull shit hand-vomit decks are all you can win with. Whatever. Great job, Blizzard. Game sucks now.
Working well for me at the moment, although as someone who hasn't played tempo mage on ladder until this season, I needed a couple days of messing around to find a reliable build. Cult Sorcerer, Faceless Summoner, and Tome are all quite useful tools from the new set.
tempo mage is a very good deck in standard but i believe people need to start including rhonin in their lists. cult sorcerer into arcane blast is OP. also people need to drop mirror image its a garbage card now. i think tempo mage is quite strong but the people i encounter play it the wrong way. you actually have to think now what to play and when its not as brainless as it was in the old meta. if the game goes into late game the arcane missiles from rhonin + antonidas seal the game. i think that the tempo mage players were quite spoiled in the old meta. drop mad scientist get a free mirror entitiy and continue dropping threats removing and deal damage with flamewaker. tempo mage lost many strong cards but its still a strong standard deck. no one has posted a refined list yet thats why you dont see it often on ladder (we all know most just netdeck) and yeah actually it requires thinking now of what you play and when. the only deck from mage that its dead 100% is freeze mage. this deck is garbage now
This video might help you. This isn't a Tempo deck exactly, it's more of a Control/Tempo hybrid, but it might come close to what you're looking for. I've been using this deck myself and I can tell you it's quite good, and fun. Which is a combination you don't see very often.
Never ever seen this C'thun variety you speak of, but sounds decent.
The big problem I see with Mage right now is that they run almost exclusively few and small minions, which means they get run over by charge minions and weapons that can get efficient trades. Many games come down to lucky Yogg outcomes in order to have a chance of winning.
The slightly more Midrange variety that can transition into control with Flamestrike, Polymorph, etc, seems to work a little better.
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I used to be a HUGE tempo mage player and was looking forward to trying tempo mage in this new meta, with cards like Faceless Summoner and Cult Sorcerer, even without C'Thun, leading the charge. However, it seems with the loss of Mad Scientist, I can't compete with any deck on the ladder right now in the slightest. I was wondering if anyone had any tempo mage decks that are working, I don't want to just throw in the towel, craft Twin Emperor, and play C'Thun decks for the next 4 months before the next set drops. I find them boring.
Playing a tempo yogg mage without any secrets. It's doing pretty well and fun. But I get screwed if I have a bad starting hand.
Tempo Mage is still very much alive, though I play a deck without Yogg and instead Ragnaros. Yogg Saron is fun, but he's not a trustworthy card IMO. Here's what I run.
Tempo Mage is definitely still alive and well.
far from it
Tempo Mage is actually in a great spot now. Both C'thun tempo Mage and regular tempo Mage can hold their own but I believe that C'thun tempo Mage is just a little stronger.
I play a Yogg one and got form rank 8 to 4 with ease today. So still pretty viable and yet so different to play.
Tempo mage is still pretty good, you wont regret playing it. Ofc you dont use secrets any more but whatever, you still have enough board control to be very competitive.
You could go full las vegas and add yogg-saron and spellslinger, or you could go a more consistent route with summoner and other high value cards.
Tempo mage is very strong in standard, especially if you hybrid it with value cards (cabal / eth conjurer / summoner).
Mana wyrm is arguably the best 1-drop in the game right now, trogg is good too, but overload comes with a price in the early rounds.
The 3/2 +1 spellpower is definitely worth running even without c'thun btw, it's a beast with arcane blast, and so is sorc apprentice - together they are incredible.
Flamewaker needs no introduction.
Basically, the early game in tempo mage is really really strong, and value cards will keep you going into the lategame with ease.
I played tempo mage up to rank 3 last month, which is my personal best. I think the deck is actually stronger now than before the expansion. Forbidden Flame turns out to be a great utility card for dealing with minions bc it is so flexible, and worst case is a 0 mana, trigger Flamewaker. Cabalist's Tome really keeps your hand full and provides huge synergy with Flamewaker and Yogg-Saron, Hope's End if you run him.
My most successful version had a 69-48 record running up to level 3, and it cut Archmage Antonidas, Rhonin and both Water Elemental, which I thought I would never do. Running 1x Polymorph, 2x Flamestrike, 2x Spellslinger, also 1x Mind Control Tech, also for dealing with aggro. 1x Arcane Intellect, 1x Azure Drake, 2x Cabalist's Tome, 2x Ethereal Conjurer, 1x Forbidden Flame, 2x Arcane Blast, 2x Arcane Missiles, 1x Mirror Image, no secrets and no Forgotten Torch, but frequently get them from Ethereal Conjurer or Cabalist's Tome. Almost conceivable to cut both Intellects b/c of the draw from Tome, Conjurer, the 1x Azure Drake, and 1x Bloodmage Thalnos.
Yogg is kind of for fun, kind of for desperation, kind of for hoping to deal with huge boards when I don't have other options, and for finding a way to hopefully finish against decks like Control Warrior or Control Priest where it is easy to run out of steam. 20+ spell Yoggs can be really fun too.
Played a little with C'Thun tempo mage too, and I think it actually works best running C'Thun, Vek'lor, and 2x Cult Sorcerer, maybe with Thaurissan to ensure you can get off enough spells with the Cult Sorcerers.
I made it to Legend with this list last season, and am still having a good deal of success with it.
I win due to skill and lose due to bad RNG. :D
Tempo mage is alive, but once Blackrock - and therefore Flamewaker - will be out then yes, il will be dead.
Custom cards :
CLASSES : Alchemist (CCC#5 | Phase V) | Chef (CCC#4)
EXPANSIONS : Year of the Scorpion (Year Comp)
Working well for me at the moment, although as someone who hasn't played tempo mage on ladder until this season, I needed a couple days of messing around to find a reliable build. Cult Sorcerer, Faceless Summoner, and Tome are all quite useful tools from the new set.
tempo mage is a very good deck in standard but i believe people need to start including rhonin in their lists. cult sorcerer into arcane blast is OP. also people need to drop mirror image its a garbage card now. i think tempo mage is quite strong but the people i encounter play it the wrong way. you actually have to think now what to play and when its not as brainless as it was in the old meta. if the game goes into late game the arcane missiles from rhonin + antonidas seal the game. i think that the tempo mage players were quite spoiled in the old meta. drop mad scientist get a free mirror entitiy and continue dropping threats removing and deal damage with flamewaker. tempo mage lost many strong cards but its still a strong standard deck. no one has posted a refined list yet thats why you dont see it often on ladder (we all know most just netdeck) and yeah actually it requires thinking now of what you play and when. the only deck from mage that its dead 100% is freeze mage. this deck is garbage now
How did Tempo mage change for Wild though?
Any worthwhile additions or nothing is really needed from WotOG?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jeLYIoSVfc
This video might help you. This isn't a Tempo deck exactly, it's more of a Control/Tempo hybrid, but it might come close to what you're looking for. I've been using this deck myself and I can tell you it's quite good, and fun. Which is a combination you don't see very often.
Never ever seen this C'thun variety you speak of, but sounds decent.
The big problem I see with Mage right now is that they run almost exclusively few and small minions, which means they get run over by charge minions and weapons that can get efficient trades. Many games come down to lucky Yogg outcomes in order to have a chance of winning.
The slightly more Midrange variety that can transition into control with Flamestrike, Polymorph, etc, seems to work a little better.