We continue our in-depth look at various classes in the Boomsday meta with Mage. Unlike Priest and Paladin that we have explored before, Mage is not at the very bottom in popularity. There is the big four of Druid, Warlock, Rogue, and Hunter at the top, and the sad quartet of Priest, Paladin, Warrior, and Shaman at the bottom, and Mage sits in a lone position between these two groups in the middle. It is on the verge of being cool, but it is too one-dimensional to be very popular at the top.
The popularity of Mage relies heavily on a single archetype: Tempo Mage or Aluneth Mage, however you prefer to call it. When opponents try to block your way with minions that cheat and you receive these cryptic messages about having to target a minion with some kind of strange power instead of targeting face, Tempo Mage is here to rescue you. Spells go face and overcome the inconvenience of these “Taunt” beings. Tempo Mage is powerful, it is popular, and it has all but stifled innovation in other Mage archetypes.
That’s where this article comes in. We have combed the far reaches of the internet for viable Mage builds, and while Tempo Mage is the most powerful archetype, there are other ways to cast spells too. Nonetheless, it is with Tempo Mage that any Mage journey must begin, so let’s start by looking at what is going on with that archetype before delving into the deep places of the Earth in search of contenders.
Tempo Mage
Tempo Mage has by no means remained static in the Boomsday meta. Sure, it still goes along with its old game plan: chip in some minion damage at the start, disrupt the opponent and gain tempo with free secrets, and finish the game with direct damage spells boosted with Cosmic Anomaly (which can also sometimes be used with Shooting Star to be able to hit face a little bit more with minions). That’s a good plan.
However, some details can be different as shown by these two recent top-legend builds:
5,220
The secret package has been under some scrutiny in Boomsday. Whereas for a long time it was settled that running two copies of Explosive Runes and two copies of Counterspell was the way to go, that is not necessarily the case any longer. Some lists have cut a Counterspell and go with only three secrets, and in this list, Xilinhung has opted to go with one Counterspell and one Mirror Entity. Variations in the secret package make the archetype stronger, as the opponent has to more carefully consider the potential consequences of different secrets.
Another area of experimentation is the early-game minion package. This build features two copies of Amani Berserker, which saw a bunch of play during The Witchwood as well, but has not always made the cut recently. There have also been builds that use Mana Addict, further diversifying the archetype.
These variations may seem minor, but choosing exactly the right secrets and minions for the meta you are facing is crucial in order to achieve the best possible results.
Here’s another take, this time from Sonagi. This build opts to cut the neutral early-game minions and runs a small package of only three secrets, but it has a trick up its sleeve: Archmage Antonidas. If you can’t finish off a heavily armoring control deck, a bunch of extra Fireballs might be just the thing you need to have enough burn.
Even for an archetype seemingly as simple as Tempo Mage, changing a few cards can tweak the speed and burn of the deck towards fast starts, for better matchups against other aggressive decks, or for overwhelming control opponents more reliably. Remember, changing just three cards from a deck is already 10% of the deck.
For full details on how to play this archetype, check out our Tempo Mage Deck List Guide.
Big Spell Control Mage
Big Spell Mage is the most common alternative to Tempo Mage, but the archetype has had a rough time in Boomsday. Early in the meta, combo decks were all over the place, and it turns out that a combo deck can beat a fatigue-style control deck almost every time. More recently, the rise of Token Druid has hurt the archetype, as Big Spell Mage is really bad at dealing with a full Deathrattle board from Wispering Woods and Soul of the Forest. This is ironic, considering that Big Spell Mage runs more board clears than any other deck, but those board clears just do not line up well to clear the board twice on the same turn.
However, Big Spell Mage has adapted, and the current top builds can face the meta with confidence. Here’s a recent example:
- 1Arcane Artificer2
- 4Polymorph2
- 5Dragon’s Fury2
- 6Blizzard2
- 6Meteor2
- 7Astromancer2
- 7Flamestrike1
- 8Sindragosa1
- 9Frost Lich Jaina1
In response to Boomsday, Big Spell Mage became more aggressive and less of a fatigue deck. Prince Keleseth builds have proven to be superior to Doomsayer builds in this expansion as the deck is forced to pack more punch.
Beyond Keleseth, the means to pack more punch vary. Chunchunner’s build runs two copies of Astromancer alongside The Lich King, Sindragosa, and Alexstrasza. Other common options include Arcane Tyrants for some earlier tempo threats, and big-ticket items such as Baron Geddon and Dragoncaller Alanna. The more you can fit in, the merrier!
Big Spell Mage still has a spot in the meta. Countless board clears and Frost Lich Jaina remain potent against many aggro decks, and the big threats now included in the deck threaten to crush combo decks before they can get their act together. Of course, big threats take away some of the consistency of Big Spell Mage’s defensive game plan and still do not provide a sure way to win against combo, but the archetype has an above-50% win rate and is able to climb the ladder.
If you have a good grasp of your meta pocket, there are also tech options available. For example, Abomination can help against Token Druid and Arcane Keysmith can provide you with some Explosive Runes to deal with Mecha’thun Priest. Pressured by both aggro and combo, the archetype just needs to find the right compromises for the meta, and it can still be very successful at its best.
For full details on how to play this archetype, check out our Big Spell Control Mage Deck List Guide.
Odd Control Mage
Odd Mage has never really found its place. So are we entering meme land now? Not quite, as Boomsday added some nice little treats for odd mana cost: Stargazer Luna and Luna's Pocket Galaxy.
While tracking down successful Mage decks, I came across this beauty on a statistics site. Unfortunately, I have not been able to track down the original creator, although similar decks have been piloted by many top streamers such as Savjz and Kibler. Most stream clips I found included Malygos and Archmage Antonidas though for a slightly different approach.
After some playtesting, I can conclude that this deck is essentially a slightly less consistent version of Big Spell Mage that is absolutely hilarious when it hits the right cards. It does Big Spell Mage things: it clears boards with area-of-effect damage spells, it plays big threats, and it runs Frost Lich Jaina. All good, all good. Because it’s Odd, it has had to give up some of the good stuff, such as Polymorph, Meteor, Sindragosa, and The Lich King, and the lost consistency from those omissions hurts the deck by some percentage – an ugly loss to Taunt Druid comes to mind as an example.
However, all of that is forgiven when you play Luna's Pocket Galaxy followed up by Stargazer Luna and a boardful of one-cost minions the following turn. The deck is also actually slightly better than Big Spell Mage on the very first turns of the game, where the two-damage Hero Power can kill annoying Flame Imps or Lightwardens long before board clears become available – and if you then find your Dragon's Fury, there are some games that this deck wins where Big Spell Mage would lose.
Granted, Big Spell Mage is simply a better deck. They do the same thing, and it has a small edge over Odd Control. That said, this deck is not bad, so if you have the new Mage Legendaries lying around, by all means give it a try.
I was unable to find successful tempo-based Odd Mage decks, although those may also exist somewhere. As most direct damage spells are even-cost, going odd for tempo seems a bit difficult.
Spiteful Mage
If Druids and Priests can be successful with Spiteful Summoner, why shouldn’t Mages be able to do the same? Unfortunately, it is not that simple. We have now entered the 50% win rate bracket of Mage decks, and while Spiteful Mage can be successful, it faces an uphill battle.
Druids have Ultimate Infestation, the ultimate ten-mana spell. Priest’s Mind Control is not bad, but more crucially Priests have the whole Dragon package with Duskbreaker and Scaleworm to help them survive through the early game.
Mage without spells compares poorly to these tools, and there is really only one spell you want to run in Spiteful Mage: Pyroblast. The swing from a ten-mana spell is so much better than from a seven-mana spell such as Flamestrike, you just cannot afford the weaker spells. The weakness of the seven-mana slot was a major factor in why Warrior with Lesser Mithril Spellstone was never able to come up with a viable Spiteful deck.
As an interesting sidenote, Boomsday really buffed the ten-mana minion slot with Mulchmuncher: getting an 8/8 Rush minion from Spiteful Summoner can be a big deal when fighting for board control. Just be careful not to click the End Turn button before you check the result of your summon! (Yes, I’ve done that too)
Therefore, the standard Spiteful Mage build turns out to be something like this:
Prince Keleseth makes an appearance once again, buffing all the rest of the minions. Mind Control Techs, Blood Knights, Spellbreakers, and various Taunt minions can hopefully keep you afloat long enough to get to those Spiteful Summoner swing turns, and Frost Lich Jaina provides an alternative win condition in the late game. If you manage to keep minions on the board in the mid-game, Fungalmancer can also help you swing things around from turn five.
Even with all that, defending can often be difficult, and if you draw your Pyroblasts before the Spiteful Summoners, you lose most of your pressure win condition.
One more note on Coldwraith and Glacial Shard: While you can sometimes draw a card with the combo, it is often correct to play the two separately for tempo. Especially the 3/4 stat line of Coldwraith can be a major asset for three mana.
Spiteful Mage is the archetype I spent the most time playtesting for this article. It just felt like something that could work, but for one reason or another, it kept getting pushed down towards that 50% win rate. Anyway, here is what was ultimately my most successful build, although it lacks the sample size to really prove that it works:
What the build can hopefully demonstrate is that there can be multiple approaches to Spiteful Mage. Just because the most common build runs Giggling Inventor and Fungalmancer, those are not the only way.
I chose to go with a Dragon build to get access to Scaleworm for some early swing turns. The dragon package provides the deck with more punch at the expense of not going as wide, and includes Sindragosa for some late game refill and Jaina synergy. Not using so many small minions also makes Mossy Horror an easier tech choice. The threats from dragons give you enough fuel to keep going against control decks, but the lack of Giggling Inventor may hurt against aggressive decks. As always, it’s a meta call.
Exodia Mage
OTK Combo Mage decks are not having a good time right now. It is almost impossible to win half of your games with one, although sometimes you may hit a meta pocket where slow control is common enough for a combo Mage to succeed.
That said, if you were to go for a combo Mage build, the Leyline Manipulator build is by far the more common choice at the moment over Open the Waygate build. With the Leyline build, you know what your resources are, much like with a Freeze Mage of old. With a Waygate build, you want to hit some suitable random spells to get you to your goal and it also costs you mana to create those spells, making the build less consistent, although with some highroll potential.
Here’s a recent Leyline list:
This is an OTK deck. You set up your combo and when you go for it you kill the opponent with infinite free Fireballs.
First, there is the combo setup. For this, you need to Simulacrum either two copies of Sorcerer's Apprentice or one copy of Sorcerer's Apprentice and the Archmage Antonidas (which can be difficult to hit with Simulacrum, of course). Then, you need to discount these copies with Leyline Manipulator.
For the combo turn itself, you need the original Sorcerer's Apprentice (or two if you have a discounted Antonidas), the Simulacrum copies, Archmage Antonidas, and Molten Reflection. Then you play the Antonidas (7 mana) + Apprentice (2 mana) + two discounted copies (0 mana) + Molten Reflection (1 mana) to create the fourth Apprentice and your first Fireball. Fireballs are now free and a new copy is created every time you cast one, so proceed to shoot at the opponent and win the game. Total mana spent for infinite damage: 10. Total board space needed: 5 spots. (Note that if you have useless minions that you cannot get rid of, they can prevent you from pulling off the combo.)
Every other card in the deck focuses either on survival or card draw. There’s freezes for stall, there’s Taunt minions, there’s armor generation. The main problem is that the deck has a hard time surviving long enough to pull off the combo, as it requires some non-trivial setup. Two copies of Simulacrum and Leyline Manipulator cost a total of ten mana, and Simulacrum needs to hit the right target. This can take multiple turns to set up, and piloting the deck requires a deep understanding of what your opponent is doing and how you can counter it and stay alive long enough to complete the setup and pull off the combo. Furthermore, even if you know what you’re doing, the resources to make it happen just might not be there.
Elemental Mage
When Mountain Giant became an Elemental, many people had a dream. A dream of Jaina with a hand full of cards and glorious Lifestealing Giants roaming the board. This dream seems unlikely to become a reality in the long term.
Even with all the good stuff put together – Book of Specters for cheap draw and Meteorologist and Astromancer to make the most out of cards in hand – Elemental Hand Mage is not a very stable archetype. It’s no Handlock, there’s no on-demand card draw available. This is an archetype that struggles to win half of its games.
Be that as it may, here’s a version Brian Kibler played on his stream recently:
The deck resembles Spiteful Mage in that it generally lacks spells and needs to compensate with minions, and it does not have a very strong early game but can slam big threats on the board one after another in the right circumstances. With early Giants followed by Astromancers, the upswing of the deck is huge, it can really get some pressure going much faster than Spiteful Mage. On the other hand, it generally has less threats, and it has to build up a good hand in order make use of the threats it has. Finally, there is no big burst finisher comparable to Pyroblast. Spiteful Mage is simply a more consistent deck with a similar game plan.
Laddering with Mage
In conclusion, Mage has two proven, successful archetypes for ladder: Tempo Mage and Big Spell Control Mage. Tempo Mage has a better track record, but Big Spell Control Mage also works for climbing the ladder.
Behind these two, there are some archetypes that may succeed. Odd Mage actually has some solid slightly above 50% win rate results, and Spiteful Mage is so-and-so when trying to climb. Exodia Mage and Elemental Hand Mage struggle more and require a favorable meta to have a chance. However, all of these archetypes still have a lot of room for innovation, as most testing has focused on the two most common archetypes!
What about you? Have you found success on the ladder with Mage builds other than Tempo and Big Spells? Let me know about your successes and even failed attempts in the comments!
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
Thanks for the articles, interesting. Small note, the work “alas” means ‘disappointingly’ or “unfortunately”…. so not right in context.
Looking forward to the next class.
True, that was a poor choice of words, I amended the article.
I can actually craft exodia mage? Anyone suggests it?
Molossus obviously played the build in this article to Legend, so it can be done. Personally, I still don’t understand how, but hitting some good matchups and being skilled with the deck are probably two main factors. He wrote that Token Druid and Zoo were the best matchups and Tempo Mage was an auto-loss. Perhaps that helps you compare to what you are facing now.
Ok! Appreciate the reply!
I have played BSM eversince Boomsday launched and I do not doubt the BSM mentioned above is a good deck but to me it wasn’t fun enough compared to the older versions that run more big minions (which I really loved). Interestingly, somehow the Arcane Keysmith completely vanished. Personally, I experienced that this card helps a lot against all sorts of decks as well. Give it a try if you’re looking for substitutions, it’s just a very fun card!
I play with Arcane Keysmith myself and I love the card. As you said, it seems to have vanished from the popular builds, so I just sneaked in a mention of it as a tech card, because there is no good data of its recent performance with a large sample size.