Budget (Cheap) Aggro Freeze Mage Deck List Guide – Mean Streets of Gadgetzan

Aggro Freeze Mage is one of the most unique decks in this game. It combines the qualities of an Aggro deck (after all, you have some early game drops, a lot of burn and you want to rush down your opponent) with those of a Freeze Mage, which clearly is a Control deck. This Aggro-Control mix is pretty interesting.

If you’re not familiar with the deck, the play style will probably be nothing like you’ve ever seen before. In the early game, you want to go all-in on your minions – try to sneak up as much damage as possible. You DON’T control the board unless it’s absolutely necessary, each point of damage is crucial when playing this deck. Then around turn 3-4, you start to cycle – you want to go through a big part of your deck as quick as possible.

After the cycle, you start burning your opponent down. Play Torch or Fireball on his face, ping him as much as possible (while not ruining your curve) etc. You stall the game with Ice Block and Frost Nova, since you cycle through a solid part of your deck, those should buy you 2-3 extra turns each game. And hopefully, you win the game before your opponent kills you or heals out of range.

P.S. In order to get Forgotten Torch, you need to buy (at least) the first wing of League of Explorers. But the card is pretty important in the deck, so I didn’t want to leave it out.

Budget Aggro Freeze Mage Card Replacements

High Priority Replacements

1x Leper Gnome => Bloodmage Thalnos – It gives you more cycle if necessary and extra damage on your final turn when you combo it with 3-4 spells.

Low Priority Replacements

1x Leper Gnome => 1x Doomsayer – Another stall tool, since Silence is pretty uncommon, it might actually clear the whole board in mid game when combined with Frost Nova.

2x Arcane Missiles => 2x Medivh's Valet – Missiles are great in the early game, but they get quite useless later, when your opponent has multiple minions on the board. Medivh’s Valet is a much more consistent 3 points of damage for 2 mana, because you should have Ice Block up pretty often.

After those replacements, the deck will become viable even in higher ranks. If you’re looking for an alternative, you should try Tempo Mage.

Budget Aggro Freeze Mage Mulligan Tips

High priority (Always Keep)

• Mana Wyrm – Best 1-drop, can push for a lot of damage early if it’s uncontested.
• Leper Gnome – It was much better when it was a 2/1, but it’s still worth to run it for the Deathrattle. Plus it might get extra 1 or 2 damage punching your opponent early.
• Loot Hoarder – It’s a minion and you want early minions. Maybe it deals 2 damage, and if not, it still cycles.
• Sorcerer's Apprentice – Another strong early drop, 3/2 body is okay and the effect is great – especially if you had turn 1 Mana Wyrm. Turn 2 Apprentice + Mirror Image can buy you some time.

Low Priority (Situationally Keep)

• Arcane Missiles, Mirror Image and Frostbolt – With Mana Wyrm or Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Great with Wyrm, because they buff it. Good with Apprentice, because they’re free/cheap tempo (+Images protect the 3/2 body)

Budget Aggro Freeze Mage Strategy Tips

• Punch face early, as much as possible. If opponent’s minions might trade with yours next turn, you can clear them with spells to protect your minions.
• It’s probably the only deck where turn 1 Arcane Missiles into face is a good play. Yes, if you have no other early drops to combo missiles with, you can play them like that. I wouldn’t do that against Aggro, because killing the early drops is actually solid there – but in slower matchups, that’s 3 damage for 1 mana. Later the minions will be in the way of doing the same thing.
• This is one of those decks where planning ahead is crucial. Try to curve out perfectly, use every point of mana. Mana management is important, because you have A LOT of burn to throw into the face and only a limited amount of turns.
• Try to hold to your Frostbolts. You can use one if you have two already, but using both is usually a bad idea, because your first Ice Lance gets useless.
• If you’re desperate, you can use Ice Lance to stall the game by freezing a big minion (or face to not allow the weapon hit).
• Try to use your Forgotten Torch as early as possible, because you want to shuffle the Roaring Torch before you start cycling through your deck.
• If you can choose between pinging the face or pinging your own Acolyte of Pain, you should ping Acolyte, because drawing an extra card should give you more damage on average.
• Wait with your Frost Novas until you really need them. Stalling the 5 damage on the board is pointless. Try to use them when you’re staring at lethal.