Hearthpwn

So I've been getting a bit bored running aggro decks and decided to try and make a Control Mage. Problem is I don't have a lot of the cards that you'd normally include in a control deck like Antonidas, Ragnaros, Ice Block etc

This is the deck I've built so far and was hoping for some pointers. Without the other legendaries I'm having trouble thinking of a good win condition:

Looks decent for a low budget control mage I think. It's an uncommon decktype and that makes it interesting :) it also means it's tough to evaluate it properly for the lack of experience playing with or against similar mage decks

A few pointers:

• Frost Nova  / Doomsayer is not a very reliable combo when you only run 1 of each. Even with the Blizzard alternative. Blizzard is good without a Doomsayer, but Frost Nova is not. Neither is Doomsayer any good without the freeze effect.
• When you run so few minions your opponents will probably be sitting with removal in their hands. Making card like Mana Wyrm or Sorcerer's Apprentice fairly easy to dispose of. I'd consider cutting them, after playtesting. Or maybe adding Acolyte of Pain for an extra body (and good card draw!) or Antique Healbot.
• Ice Barrier is nice to stall, but doen'st do anything else. If you choose to try the healbot instead you can also use your Mad Scientist more efficiently to search for specific high impact secrets. I would probably add Counterspell instead.
• Unstable Portal is a super good mage card and a lot of fun to play, but it doesn't have much synergy in a control mage.
• Mirror Image is just some cheap stall. It's pretty good at that but other than that only synergizes with Mana Wyrm
• Difficult to say without testing the deck, especially since control mage is not very common, but you may have too much removal for small stuff. Flamecannon, Frostbolt, Blizzard and Flamestrike are all aiming to clean aggressive boards. You do still have some early board presence yourself to compete with your opponent.

I think you are better off keeping the Mana wyrms and SAs since most people will not use removal spells on the little guys and by the time they realize you dont have a ton of minios anyway they have done their work.  I personally never do great with such a spell heavy deck and I am more comfortable with a full board.  That being said I could see it working and anytime you are not running the same decks as everyone else, it can be nice to surprise a few people.

Thanks for the tips guys. I don't have Counterspell at the moment otherwise I would have used that. 

The Frost Nova/Doomsayer combo was added last minute because I couldn't think of anything else but after some playtesting I think I'll probably swap both out for maybe a Piloted Sky Golem and a Spellbreaker just for some extra bodies and to smooth the curve out a little bit. 

I also thought about switching out the Mirror Entity for Duplicate. At least then I could look at setting up Sky Golem/Sylvannas duplicates as part of my win conditions.

meh is meh... 

SIGNED!

Quote from SmokePlayer jump

meh is meh... 

SIGNED!

Cheers for those inspiring words of confidence. 

If you are trying to mirror a Freeze Mage, you could add Explosive Sheep, Acolyte of Pain, and Healbot.

If you want more of a Grinder Mage feel, you could add Water Elemental and Sludge Belcher. In that case, I would suggest putting in those Duplicates you mentioned, and maybe even an Echo of Medivh if you have it. If you do go through with adding Spellbreaker and Piloted Sky Golem, those would be good compliments to that strategy.

In either case, I'd suggest removing the Mirror Images and Flamecannons for the suggested additions.

Quote from SovereignState jump

If you are trying to mirror a Freeze Mage, you could add Explosive Sheep, Acolyte of Pain, and Healbot.

If you want more of a Grinder Mage feel, you could add Water Elemental and Sludge Belcher. In that case, I would suggest putting in those Duplicates you mentioned, and maybe even an Echo of Medivh if you have it. If you do go through with adding Spellbreaker and Piloted Sky Golem, those would be good compliments to that strategy.

In either case, I'd suggest removing the Mirror Images and Flamecannons for the suggested additions.

Thanks. I can't remember if I have Echo or not, I'll have to check tonight. I did consider the Water Elemental's and Sludge Belcher. I think I'll have a play around with a few different setups tonight and see how I go. 

Here's hoping next pack of cards nets me Archmage Antonidas! :p

I would start angling towards more of a fatigue mage archetype if you can get the cards.  As far as pure control decks go it's insanely powerful.  Staples are x2 Duplicate, x2 Echo, x2 Deathlord.  You don't need huge legendaries, just let your opponent chew through 10-12 Deathlords and AOE them as needed.

Haha that's a great idea. Drown them under Deathlords. I don't think I have the Echo's to pull that off at the moment though. Still I might experiment with some different combinations of Duplicate.  

Okay so I've made some changes based on the above advice. Just started play testing and going okay so far. Just utterly destroyed a Face Hunter and Control Priest. 

Yeah I'm cutting Kirin Tor Mage. It's already clear that he's useless except for a free counter spell. Spellbreaker has been working really well so I'll probably keep him. I rarely use him to silence a legendary, just to get through taunts or creatures with annoying abilities. I've got a bunch of other removal that works on legeneds. Adding the Acolyte is an interesting idea.