Saviors of Uldum includes a lot of support for spell-casting Mage decks, first and foremost for Big Spell Mage. This is one of the archetypes I’m most excited about, because it is largely uncharted territory. Will it summon minions? Will it Pyroblast face? Will it turn out to be just a couple of cards different than Conjurer Mage and just summon Mountain Giants and cast Conjurer's Calling on them? All options are still wide open, although I’m a little afraid that Mountain Giants are just too powerful and will play a key role in the deck after all is said and done.
That said, here’s what I imagine a Big Spell Mage without Mountain Giants could look like:
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There are lots of synergy cards to talk about, but none are as exciting as the Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron. I had a chance to play with the card at a pre-release Fireside Gathering, so not with decks built from all the cards like in the streamer event, but that makes little difference when evaluating the card itself, as once you push the button it will go, whether the rest of your deck is random cards or full synergies. I was impressed by the card. It cleared boards. It generated additional resources. Multiple times it summoned something for me, and those minions were the only ones left standing after the fireworks. Sure, it also failed sometimes, but overall it feels close to a pre-nerf Yogg-Saron, Hope's End. Does Mage really need it? Maybe not, but the card is not a pure meme, it can definitely deliver – and occasionally fail in a spectacular fashion.
Saviors of Uldum also provides some tools for you to cast Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron early. Naga Sand Witch can discount it to mere five mana, so that you can attempt to wipe the board with it already on turn six. Tortollan Pilgrim can cast a copy of it for you for eight mana, together with a 5/5 body. The survival of the attached body is unlikely, but hey, there is a price to pay for using volatile magic.
Finally, Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron makes for some great fodder for King Phaoris, summoning a ten-drop while in hand when playing the King.
All of the above synergies also work well with Power of Creation: discounting it to five mana is great – also in order to cast it early together with Khadgar – and getting some eight-drops from King Phaoris is awesome as well.
The above synergy package is the central appeal of Big Spell Mage, and they do not require you to play only big spells! Conjurer's Calling is probably too good to skip from a Mage deck, and both Tortollan Pilgrim and King Phaoris are great targets for it: Tortollan Pilgrim on an empty board can even cast it on itself and generate two random eight-drops and an extra copy of Conjurer's Calling to your hand!
Whether this full package is optimal is a different matter. There are many paths you can choose. Perhaps Naga Sand Witch and Pyroblast can get the job done in a more Burn Mage style deck? Perhaps you want to include Luna's Pocket Galaxy to get some cheap minions going, in which case you’d probably also want Mountain Giants and Stargazer Luna, and the deck would move a lot closer to Conjurer Mage. Perhaps King Phaoris is not strong enough in the end, as it requires you to have some expensive spells in hand, and you might not always have enough fuel for it. This is why I’m so excited about this archetype: there is a lot of deck-building to do with it!
I have great expectations for Arcane Keysmith in Saviors of Uldum. Its secret pool has received a major upgrade with Flame Ward: Arcane Keysmith was already run in slow Mage decks as an anti-aggro tool, and gaining access to an actual board clear with it is great news. There are now seven Mage Secrets in the Standard format, so the probability to pick up a Flame Ward from Arcane Keysmith is 42.9%. I think those are reasonable odds.
With more emphasis on big spells, perhaps Sunreaver Warmage can finally find a home. It has always felt like a strong card, but it has not found a good deck. A Murloc Shaman here, a Freeze Mage there, a bit of Handlock, but nothing definite. Big Spell Mage will be the most consistent activator there has been for the Warmage: it is time for the card to deliver, if it truly can.
Another card I really want to see in action is Khartut Defender. The card seems somewhat understatted, but if it is not silenced, it heals you for six before it goes, and that can be important for a slow Mage deck. Ever since Frost Lich Jaina rotated out of Standard format, Mage has struggled to heal up. As a consequence, Mage evolved more aggressive strategies that involve big Giants followed by more big Giants to beat the opposition to pulp before healing ever becomes an issue. I don’t expect too much from Khartut Defender, but the classes that need more healing the most in order to pull off slow strategies – Mage and Warlock – will hopefully find some solace from it.
Some random spells, some big boards, some pure Hearthstone RNG. Big Spell Mage is ready to deliver it all.
Old Guardian
Ville "Old Guardian" Kilkku is a writer and video creator focused on analytic, educational Hearthstone, and building innovative Standard format decks. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OldGuardian Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/old_guardian
Violet Spellsword will definitely work in kind of deck.
Not enough spells to make the card worthwhile (it’s not considered worthwhile in Cyclone mage, which has spells galore), and the deck doesn’t require a solid 4 drop. If it did, it’d play Twilight Drake.
Violet Spellsword would need some kind of Taunt / extra effect to be viable. You rarely have more than 3 spells in your hand on curve, and the card’s value diminishes as the game goes by (because overstatted minions are most powerful on curve).
Well, believe or not, I got my ass handed to me by that very card. And in a Quest Mage deck. Took me by total surprise. The deck also featured the Sunweaver War Mage. Both cards took me to the cleaners. I was playing a lackey pirate rogue deck. In case anyone wants to know.
I don’t like the Freeze Package here. You’re not looking for a burst damage finish with Fireballs like Freeze Mage, this looks more like a Control deck than a Combo deck and so seeing Frost Nova + Blizzard but no Flamestrike looks like an odd decision to me.
Also, why do you pick Voodoo Dolls over Polymorph? Is it due to Naga Sandwich and Tortollan Pilgrim anti-synergy? I kinda like Polymorph, especially in a set with new Deathrattle support and a ton of Reborn cards.
Luna’s Pocket Galaxy would probably be a good fit here, too.
You freeze the board so that your minions can hit face more. That’s how current freeze mage works too, it rarely shoots spells anymore.
Yes, Voodoo Doll is to avoid some non-synergistic spells.
Luna’s is borderline viable here, I’m not sure if there are enough minions for it. It is an option, of course.
Fair enough. Also, I can’t help but read your posts in the voice of Warcraft 3’s Mannoroth XD
What happens if you play Pharios with a hand full of Sandwitched spells?
If you have a Coin and a Pyroblast, and their mana costs are changed to 5 by Naga Sandwich, then King Phaoris’ battlecry will summon a random 5-mana minion for each of those two spells.
I love the term “Sandwitched” 😀 But you just get a bunch of 5 mana minions then. Which is still not bad.
The current cost of spells is what counts, so those would summon you a number of 5-cost minions.