Its weaker then mad scientist but it's still very nice. It's much better then loot hoarder/novice engineer ofc so this is tempo mage love, also good in freeze but freeze is probably dead in standart and mad scientist does it better for freeze in wild.
Also good for wild reno, that's a good 2 drop that can fetch your duplicate or ice block. Mage needs 2 drops with effects and its much better then pyros
If finja has taught us anything, specific fetch is good. Just requires secrets to be worth playing in the current meta.
it's not specific fetch what makes it powerful it's the part where it puts the cards on the board for free, like Mad Scientist and Patches, the pirate
Incorrect, the value is the thinning. Mage secrets are defensive, and usually turn into dead draws in the late game. Guaranteeing you don't draw secrets at this phase makes it better.
sorry i meant putting cards from your deck into the board for free without losing hand or mana advantage nor spending visible resources, the deck thinning being powerful is already implied to anyone that knows ccg/tcg basics.
As of today easily the strongest card revealed so far, borderline broken and just like Small-Time Buccaneer people don't even see that because they are too occupied to stare at big cards like Swamp King Dred that will likely never see play.
Very good freeze mage card, in wild you can now triple your chances of drawing ice block/barrier with 2 of these and 2 mad scientists, means less chance for a bad draw so you can get to your burn quicker. I'm interested to see what other applications this card has.
Although this is the least flashy of the announced cards so far, I actually think of everything announced so far this will see the most play. This will be in every highlander mage deck in standard and will be a key part of secret mage, making it easily fit into at least two different archetypes. It's a standard replacement for mad scientist, which is one of the most played mage cards in wild. Although not exactly meta-defining on its own, this is a solid body with a huge benefit, since it is denying you a dead draw later on and helping focus your deck. This guy is going to be a staple of mage decks for years.
I played an aggressive secret mage at the start of MSoG. It did fairly well, since most folks were playing slow jade druid at the time, and Pirates hadn't quite caught on yet. It wasn't terrible against the pirates I played, either. It could race fairly well, with Fireball/Frostbolt burst and Iceblock to throw off their clock. It did run into a bit of a problem that it wasn't particularly consistent. When you're playing free secrets, even if mage secrets aren't amazing, it can add a lot of tempo. But it could easily run out of gas.
This card seems like it'll be an improvement to the deck, with both a good body and a card draw. I'm looking forward to it.
To everyone commenting on it being weaker than Mad Scientist...
2 Mana 2/3 Battlecry: Draw a card that you can choose whether or not to play. Played on turn 2, it provides you a card to play on turn 3 if you have no other options.
2 Mana 2/2 Deathrattle: Play a specific type of card in your deck.
If you have only one Secret in your deck, say, Ice Block, then Mad Scientist is consistent, but it gives you a card that won't help you on tempo usually, though since it's free, why not play it...
Mad Scientist is, usually, going to be better, and for what it did in its meta versus what Arcanologist will do in its meta, it's immensely better, but...
What everyone seems to be forgetting is that Mad Scientist is an imbalanced card. It'd be imbalanced even if it was a shit tempo play, having only 1/1 stats, as even then it gets you a Secret for one less mana and comes with a token too. It's simply too strong. You shouldn't compare cards against imbalanced cards. It'd actually be better if this minion was 2 Mana 1/1: Discover a Secret, and Mad Scientist was 2 Mana 1/1: Deathrattle: Draw a Secret from your deck. Of course, that would be if one assumed the Secret Mage archetype was of equal viability to other archetypes...
I'd say that, in the current meta, where Secret Mage is at where it's at, this is a good card. In a future meta, if Secret Mage becomes as poorly balanced as Jade Druid, Pirate Warrior, Reno-Kazakus-'lock, Dragon Priest, and Pirate-Jade Shaman have been in this expansion, then this card would be too strong for its price, and as an Armchair Game Balancer I'd suggest raising the cost to 3 at that point. But, until then, if Blizzard wants to make Secret Mage a thing, the new cards to make Secret Mage a thing without having fantastic tempo secrets have to be over-budget.
So with the current state of things, I'd give this a 7/10 since Secret Mage isn't a thing currently. 10/10 if it becomes enough of a thing that I'm not sure when facing a Mage whether it'll be a Secret Mage or some other type. 2/10 if it becomes too much of a thing and there's nothing but Secret Mage when facing a mage. Pretty sure it won't warrant a 1/10 as I can't quite see Secret Mage becoming the BS that was Jade Druid, Renolock, and Pirates in general in MSoG.
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2 mana 2/3 draw an Ice Block. Sure.
Secret mage is already annoying as hell if they get going. Now they have the engine to get the Counterspell>Potion of Polymorph train going
Its weaker then mad scientist but it's still very nice. It's much better then loot hoarder/novice engineer ofc so this is tempo mage love, also good in freeze but freeze is probably dead in standart and mad scientist does it better for freeze in wild.
Also good for wild reno, that's a good 2 drop that can fetch your duplicate or ice block. Mage needs 2 drops with effects and its much better then pyros
Borderline broken in Freeze Mage. I already hate it.
The Mage quest will be "Play 6 secrets". The reward will be a spell that summons "7 secrets".
Mage "None of your business"
Secret mage is not a thing tho this card is just average.
I will definitely build a deck around following this up with a turn 3 Kabal Lackey into Medivh's Valet.
I think those kind of plays were their intention, but in reality it will just be used to help Freeze Mage find Ice Block.
As of today easily the strongest card revealed so far, borderline broken and just like Small-Time Buccaneer people don't even see that because they are too occupied to stare at big cards like Swamp King Dred that will likely never see play.
Very good freeze mage card, in wild you can now triple your chances of drawing ice block/barrier with 2 of these and 2 mad scientists, means less chance for a bad draw so you can get to your burn quicker. I'm interested to see what other applications this card has.
/fills in 'arena god tier mage common' spot on Un'goro Bingo card.
Well, that didn't take long....
Although this is the least flashy of the announced cards so far, I actually think of everything announced so far this will see the most play. This will be in every highlander mage deck in standard and will be a key part of secret mage, making it easily fit into at least two different archetypes. It's a standard replacement for mad scientist, which is one of the most played mage cards in wild. Although not exactly meta-defining on its own, this is a solid body with a huge benefit, since it is denying you a dead draw later on and helping focus your deck. This guy is going to be a staple of mage decks for years.
Probably the strongest card revealed so far pseudo-tutors/cards thatt make your deck smaller are always strong.
secret mage is the new meta
This on turn 2, next turn Kabal Lackey Mediv's Valet and gg
Maybe secret mage will be a thing. Personally I'm hoping for some sweet elemental synergy to make the new legendary playable.
I played an aggressive secret mage at the start of MSoG. It did fairly well, since most folks were playing slow jade druid at the time, and Pirates hadn't quite caught on yet. It wasn't terrible against the pirates I played, either. It could race fairly well, with Fireball/Frostbolt burst and Iceblock to throw off their clock. It did run into a bit of a problem that it wasn't particularly consistent. When you're playing free secrets, even if mage secrets aren't amazing, it can add a lot of tempo. But it could easily run out of gas.
This card seems like it'll be an improvement to the deck, with both a good body and a card draw. I'm looking forward to it.
2/3 2 drop tutor? I'm sold and I don't even like mage secrets.
To everyone commenting on it being weaker than Mad Scientist...
2 Mana 2/3 Battlecry: Draw a card that you can choose whether or not to play. Played on turn 2, it provides you a card to play on turn 3 if you have no other options.
2 Mana 2/2 Deathrattle: Play a specific type of card in your deck.
If you have only one Secret in your deck, say, Ice Block, then Mad Scientist is consistent, but it gives you a card that won't help you on tempo usually, though since it's free, why not play it...
Mad Scientist is, usually, going to be better, and for what it did in its meta versus what Arcanologist will do in its meta, it's immensely better, but...
What everyone seems to be forgetting is that Mad Scientist is an imbalanced card. It'd be imbalanced even if it was a shit tempo play, having only 1/1 stats, as even then it gets you a Secret for one less mana and comes with a token too. It's simply too strong. You shouldn't compare cards against imbalanced cards. It'd actually be better if this minion was 2 Mana 1/1: Discover a Secret, and Mad Scientist was 2 Mana 1/1: Deathrattle: Draw a Secret from your deck. Of course, that would be if one assumed the Secret Mage archetype was of equal viability to other archetypes...
I'd say that, in the current meta, where Secret Mage is at where it's at, this is a good card. In a future meta, if Secret Mage becomes as poorly balanced as Jade Druid, Pirate Warrior, Reno-Kazakus-'lock, Dragon Priest, and Pirate-Jade Shaman have been in this expansion, then this card would be too strong for its price, and as an Armchair Game Balancer I'd suggest raising the cost to 3 at that point. But, until then, if Blizzard wants to make Secret Mage a thing, the new cards to make Secret Mage a thing without having fantastic tempo secrets have to be over-budget.
So with the current state of things, I'd give this a 7/10 since Secret Mage isn't a thing currently. 10/10 if it becomes enough of a thing that I'm not sure when facing a Mage whether it'll be a Secret Mage or some other type. 2/10 if it becomes too much of a thing and there's nothing but Secret Mage when facing a mage. Pretty sure it won't warrant a 1/10 as I can't quite see Secret Mage becoming the BS that was Jade Druid, Renolock, and Pirates in general in MSoG.