Hearthpwn

Mages are underdogs and assholes at the same time. We don't get any of those OP combos with Devilsaur recruits or Cubing into double Doomguards, but we always do one thing great: shit tons of damage. I killed a guy at turn 3 once, it was disgusting. 

Vex is a 4 mana card, in the context of a tempo curve VERY expensive... it only slows you down and 80% of the time you get useless 1/1-1/2s out of it effect. The other 10% you get things that are actively terrible: Lorewalker Cho, Doomsayer, Arugal (leads to overdraws if you have Aluneth)... the 10% that you get a free Apprentice or something else situationally useful are simply not worth it, and definitely not for the cost of losing Fireball.

And Molten Reflection on Arcanist is a finisher ;)

Nice deck. I've found Vex Crow to be rather useless tho, the deck performs better with 2 Fireballs

You are correct that Secrets are the key for mages to have any chance in the current meta... but it's not as simple as substituting ER for MI.

First of all: 2x Secretkeeper. They are not as potent as Mana Wyrms but their utility is far beyond their damage. With one of them in your opening hand for example, Spell Hunters are in deep trouble, especially if you also have a Counterspell to keep them alive for a few rounds.

Second: 2x Arcane Keysmiths. You can't load your deck with secrets... I have 2xER and 2xCounterspell on mine and it already feels too much. But you need all of them, either to survive or to win.

Spellbender: +2/+2 from shaman, Pala blessings, rogue Cold Blood, there's a lot of good stuff you can steal, either denying them lethal or giving you some extra tempo. But more than that, it's an excellent bluffing secret. The opponent will test it out with a spell, then assume it's ER/MI, wasting mana to play around it.

Frozen Clone: A lot of people use Lifedrinkers to counteract ER... so much better than MI situationally, especially since people usually throw very meaty minions to soak ER damage. Also, after you've driven Spell Hunter into their DK power, the best way to stave them off long enough to kill them is with their own minions.

Mana Bind: Sure, Counterspell works, but there are a lot of great spells out there and getting a copy for free is nothing to sneeze at. From getting a coin in early game, to a Defile, or Tracking, or Divine Favor later on. Also, most times people will assume it's a Counterspell anyway, so you achieve your goal of keeping large spells from being played anyway. And if they are, even better ^^ 

it's bad enough you have to give up frostbolts to make Keleseth work, giving up Fireballs removes your ability to finish the game fast and past walls of minions. 

Arcane Keysmith is tricky in this deck. You have to juggle them both so it doesn't disturb your elemental chain-play, and play them at the correct turn depending on the enemy. 

Secrets have utility beyond their card effect. It's a mind-game, forcing the opponent to play more conservatively, or simply give up once they see you have read them correctly...

In the current meta EVERYONE expects just either Exploding Runes or Counterspell, so they check with Coin or a small spell and if it goes through they throw a minion that can soak up/negate the damage, so you can throw a curveball with Frozen Clone or Mirror Image. You usually end up with Lifedrinkers or Armored Beatles, but I have tricked people 3-4 times already into giving me Lich Kings or Cubes loaded with Voidlords ^^

Zero utility. Beyond Rank 5 they'll eat you alive.

Sounds good! My preference for the Fledgling is because 1. It has the chance to facilitate a crazy aggressive early game the same way Mana Wyrm would in other decks (victory by turn 5-6) 2. I'm very dust-poor :)

This deck is a great idea. I'm a mage-only player, currently at Rank 4 after being stuck on 5 for the past week or so, the meta was literally killing me.

A few changes I made:

2x Arcane Keysmiths instead of including Exploding Rune and Counterspell, much more situational utility, and you free up 1 deck space.

1 extra Tar Creeper on that space.

2x Steam Surgers and 1xWater Elemental, that 2dmg spell comes in handy a lot more than a single target freeze

No Cauldron Elemental, instead 1xIronbeak Owl, You won't run out of damage, and you need the utility.

No Mana Wyrms, not nearly enough spells to make them worth it, they just take up space. Instead:

1x Flamestrike. You won't always need it but god it's good to have when you do.

1x Vicious Fledgling. Personal favourite. Will either win you the game, or force the opponent to spend single target removal on it.