Aggro Odd Mage Deck List Guide – Rastakhan’s Rumble – March 2019

Find more versions of this deck type on our Aggro Odd Mage archetype page!

Key Cards:

• Daring Fire-Eater: With a cost of just 1 mana, this creature’s Battlecry lets you deal 4 damage with a single hero power, provided you use it during the same turn. It’s a great tool to remove some of the opponent’s bigger threats, while also serving as a burst for the opponent’s health. 
• Secretkeeper: Although the deck cannot play a secret until turn 3 (or turn 2 with The Coin), this minion’s power is on display against Hunter decks that seek to play a lot of secrets. The 2 health points give it a bit of an edge against most 1-drops, since you can use your hero power to trade up.
• Black Cat: A solid 3-drop, this minion lets you draw a card when you play it, while also giving you an extra damage on your spells, Arcane Missiles, Cinderstorm and Explosive Runes.
• Pyromaniac: A new addition to the Mage class, this rare minion lets you draw a card whenever your hero power kills a minion. Its 3/4 statline just amplifies the card’s power, since it’s pretty difficult to remove on curve.
• Stargazer Luna: A uniquely-designed card, this legendary lets you draw a card whenever you play the right-most card from your hand. With the deck being somewhat early-focused, this means that you can really get ahead in cards and dig for your answers, while its 4 health makes it especially hard to remove on curve.
• Clockwork Automaton: A lot of decks really played around with this card, but the addition of Daring Fire-Eater to the class means you can deal 8 damage with a single hero power, since their effects stack (additive effect of Daring Fire-Eater is calculated first, with the multiplication of Clockwork Automaton second)
• Leeroy Jenkins: No aggressive deck is complete without this iconic charger. 6 damage for 5 mana is a pretty good deal! 
• Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk: Ragnaros the Firelord is back, again! This time it’s the Mage class that gets to resurrect this old friend, but rather than giving up a defensive ability, you don’t really give up anything, since the card just requires you to deal 8 total damage with your hero power (4 normal ones with Baku the Mooneater). The fact you get a 4/4 with your Ragnaros the Firelord is also a plus, but, contrary to the Warrior effect, this one can be dealt with.
• Baku the Mooneater: This is the deck’s defining card, as the deck does not work without it.

Odd Secret Mage Mulligan and Matchups Guide

Against Aggro

There are not a lot of aggressive decks that can kill you fast enough with this deck. Odd Paladin is your worst matchup, but other than that, you only need a small amount of damage from your early-game minions and your hero power can do the rest. Explosive Runes can really take a toll on your opponent, since most aggressive decks tend to play minions with low health, which lets you push more damage to the face, while also removing their threat.

Mulligan:

Secretkeeper, Kirin Tor Mage, Explosive Runes, Dire Mole, Arcane Missiles, Cinderstorm, Fire Fly

Against Control/Combo

This is where the hero power really shines. With cards like Daring Fire-Eater and Clockwork Automaton, you only need a couple of hits from your first few minions and you can start pressuring the opponent every single turn. It should be noted again, that those two effects stack, so if you play Daring Fire-Eater with a Clockwork Automaton on the board, your hero power will deal 8(!) damage. In these matchups, most of the time, you’re going to use Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk or Leeroy Jenkins as a finisher, provided there are no taunts in the way for the latter.

Mulligan:

Kirin Tor Mage, Explosive Runes, Counterspell (if on The Coin), Jan'alai, the Dragonhawk, Stargazer Luna

Tips and things to consider

• There is a fine line between the time you need to be looking to control the board and the time you should be pushing everything to face. Learning the burst potential of the deck and deciding on the best time to go all-in can make all the difference in the world. 
• As people are still adjusting to the meta, a good amount of them will not be familiar with the deck’s damage. Holding on to certain combos, like Daring Fire-Eater + Clockwork Automaton, can catch them off guard, if they are greedy and don’t heal soon enough.
• Timing your Counterspell well can prove crucial, since most removal is pretty expensive, such as Psychic Scream, and can cost your opponent an entire turn.
• Arcane Missiles and Cinderstorm are especially good against Odd Paladin, wiping their early board, giving you a few extra turns of face damage with your minions and forcing them to play defensive.

Card replacements or tech choices

• – Stargazer Luna + 1x Arcane Intellect
  • While Stargazer Luna‘s effect is pretty strong, if you can’t make her stick to the board long enough for it to matter, you should consider the immediate draw effect of Arcane Intellect, so you can dig through your deck quicker. 
• – 1x Nightblade + 1x Counterspell
  • If you run into too many slow decks or other, similar Odd Mage lists, cutting the damage of one Nightblade for an extra copy of Counterspell can go a long way to help you in those matchups.
• – 2x Nightblade – 1x Fungalmancer – Leeroy Jenkins – Stargazer Luna + 2x Cobalt Scalebane + 2x Argent Squire + Mirror Entity
  • If aggressive decks are what is slowing your climb, these changes will make your deck a lot more early and minion-focused (and more affordable), while preserving a good amount of burst. This way your first couple of turns will be a lot more consistent, allowing you to keep pace on the board, until you can hero power them to death.

Closing

With the hit to the Hunter decks, through the nerf of Lesser Emerald Spellstone, Mage has quickly gone from defensive to aggressive. Learning to tread the line between using the hero power to protect your minions and starting to pressure the opponent’s health is what can make the difference in your climb, but with only Odd Paladin being fast enough to outrace it, this deck is quickly becoming a favorite to take the top spot of the meta, due to the versatility of its hero power.