Tommy J’s Cheap Heroic Giantfin Mage

Tommy J generously allowed us to host his decks and guides using (mostly) Basic cards to take down The League of Explorers Heroic bosses. Be sure to check out his YouTube Channel.

To me this felt like fighting an old school Zoolock but on steroids. It constantly had a full board, but it was actually pretty fun coming up with a deck that could take it down. One interesting thing that I noticed while testing a different deck on this boss is that if you have a Murloc that dies, it will be rezzed by his “Mrgl Mrgl Nyah Nyah (Heroic)” card, so playing your own Murlocs early can help to build his army.

The strategy is essentially do your best to maintain control – getting the most out of your early minions by trading well, then using spells to either control or kill off the Murlocs while you go for face with minions. Obviously getting a Summoning Stone down on turn 5 will help with this immensely, however don’t fall into the trap of playing one if you have better options.

Mulligan

Ideally you want cards that can be played in your first few turns – any of them will do. Holding a Summoning Stone mightn’t be the worst idea either if you have some earlier plays in hand too, as it can really turn the tide of battle later on.

Card Additions

The best cards to add would be things that either counter Murlocs, or help you maintain control. For example, Hungry Crab is a brilliant card in this encounter, giving you that 3/4 on turn 2 (or even 2 if you’re lucky since they only cost 1 to play!). Similarly, playing your own Murloc Tidecaller early can help you get Giantfin’s HP down, however remember that if it dies he will be able to rez it on his side of the board. As far as clearing goes, cards like Cone of Cold, Blizzard, or Unstable Ghoul will really help your cause. Also, strong turn 1 plays, as this deck doesn’t really have anything you’d want to play on turn 1 (for example, Zombie Chow).

Cards to Remove

While I love the card, Gurubashi Berserker would come into play too late to be of any real use on this fight. Similarly, I would remove either Fireball or Polymorph if you have some sort of AoE clear you can replace it with (it might be worth leaving 1 or 2 cards in though to deal with potential Old Murk-Eye). Huge Toad is another that isn’t amazing for this fight, as it can be taken out by fairly weak minions such as the Murloc Tidehunter, and unless you get lucky wouldn’t even trade evenly with that card.