The Road to Legend: Legend Mage Guide Part 2

Introduction

Preview

This season started off pretty nicely with the much-needed Undertaker balance (nerf) and immediate surge of lesser-used classes such as Paladin, Rogue, Druid, and Shaman. This coupled with the constantly changing meta-game made it much harder to use the “a single deck to rule them all” philosophy that has existed throughout most of Hearthstone’s history. Nevertheless, I will share with you today a deck that actually has positive match-ups against many of the decks you may face.

This Mage deck-list is that of the Hearthstone player Sqlut. I personally piloted the deck to Rank 2 last season and Legend Rank this season (11) in about 80 games. In this guide, I seek to provide in-depth analysis so newer and even experienced players may pick the deck up and immediately maximize their probability of winning.

Why Should I Play Mech Mage

Currently, the many variants of the Mech Mage represent one of the strongest decks a player can pilot. The excellent curve, synergy, damage output, and overall tempo is almost unmatched, especially in the current meta-game where closing a game out as fast as possible is more valuable. The amazing card synergies utilizes the deck’s strong curve pull off most of its combos. All the while, it is still capable of countering the tougher weapon classes currently popular on ladder. Moreover, this deck is unique in that it uses Blingtron-3000 + Harrison-jones combo for additional damage and card draw. Moreover, this unorthodox combo hinders your opponent’s planned plays, a game-winning effect all on its own. Even more, Blingtron-3000’s liability/drawback is often mitigated due to the Freeze mechanic. This synergy was best illustrated a week ago when Reynad’s Blingtron Mech-Mage destroyed the competition at the Battle of the Best Tournament.”

How to Play This Deck

The deck’s priority is to obtain and maintain board control within the first 4 turns of any match-up. When playing the deck, people sometimes fail to maximize their success-rate trying to rush down their opponent instead of maintaining board control. Without the inclusion of Flamestrike or Blizzard in the deck, it becomes difficult for to come back when you fall behind since the removal arsenal is limited to frostbolt and goblin-blastmage‘s battle cry effect (which requires 1 Mech on board). In the current meta-game, your opponent is bound to have some effective way of clearing your board. However, this is usually not a problem when the opposing board is also empty when they play their sweeper spell. Spending mana on removal and sweeper effects usually precludes them from gaining tempo since they’re likely to have exhausted all of their mana for the turn. Therefore, you’re free to flood the board once again next turn. The beauty of Mech Mage comes from the fact that maintaining board control early essentially equates winning the match. Even if your opponent has lots of healing or a plethora of early Taunts minions, you can still punch [burst] damage through with fireball, frostbolt, and Blingtron 3000. Additionally, many of you realize how ridiculously overpowered Unstable-portal can be. The standard Mech Mage may have almost no way of coming from behind but Unstable Portal allows miracles to happen (more often than you might think). Below is a list of optimal hands for this deck:

mana-wyrm + unstable-portal

mechwarper + clockwork-gnome

2 mechwarper

cogmaster + annoy-o-tron (or any other 2 mana Mech)

These four combinations usually ensure a very strong start. These strong starts in conjunction with well thought-out mid-game plays allow you to minimize the effect of your opponent’s removal spells. For example, a turn 4 piloted shredder is very difficult for your opponent to remove cleanly. Also, remember not to overextend straight into a devastating sweeper if there is no reason to. This section serves as a small introduction to the mechanics in this deck. Before we get into the deck-list details and how to destroy your opponents, let’s talk about the strengths and weaknesses of this deck.

Deck Strengths

Very strong against weapon classes due to blingtron-3000, harrison-jones, and the Freeze mechanic.

Very aggressive play-style, which means you’ll be able to play shorter games.

Very easy mulligan choices enable you to frequently have a good to extremely good starting hand in most match-ups.

Very efficient mana curve that usually allows you to optimally play something turns 1-5 (sometimes even 6)

Massive synergy of the cards results in a snowballing effect that wins you the game if your opponent presents no immediate answers.

Unstable Portal coupled with Mana Wyrm makes for turn 1-2-3 plays straight from the depths of hell (for your opponent that is). The videos show just how strong Unstable Portal can be. THIS DECK IS CRAZY!

Unstable Portal possibly allows you to come back if you’re behind (unlike standard Mech Mage).

Very deadly late-game that is efficient against control and mid-range match-ups.

Gives your opponents cancer (theoretically of course).

Very consistent deck.

Deck Weaknesses

This deck has no weaknesses. OK guys, I’m just kidding. ^.^ It just so happens to have a few.

Weak vs. decks with massive healing. If the game goes long and they throw out something like antique-healbot, it can get exceedingly tough to win without a good Archmage Antonidas combo.

This deck heavily relies on having a decent turn 1 and/or 2 play. Not having something to play during those two turns can set you pretty far behind.

It can be very tough to fight through multiple Taunt minions. More specifically, one or two sludge-belchers is no problem but against decks like Ramp-Druid running two ancient-of-war and 3-4 other Taunt minions, it can be extremely tough to win if you did not have a good start.

This deck may look relatively easy to play but don’t be fooled. It is much harder to play than your average Mech Mage deck. Thought must be put into every play as there is little room for misplays (demonstrated in the various videos accompanying this guide).

The Deck

2 clockwork-gnome

Clockwork Gnome is a staple in every Mech Mage deck. Its value as a 1-drop that can be played on turn 2 for 0 mana off a Mechwarper is unmatched. No other Mech card provides such early game synergy while still serving as a legitimate threat. Moreover, its Deathrattle effect adds a random Spare Part to your hand to fuel Archmage-Antonidas in the late-game. In addition to being Antonidas food, the Spare Parts also often provide nice utility during the course of the game. For example, let’s say you are facing a Hunter and he’s outracing you with charge minions. A rusty horn can prevent some of that damage to your face, allowing you to stabilize earlier. For this reason, I’ve included an entire section dedicated to Spare Parts. Finally, Clockwork Gnome serves as a cheap 1 mana activator for goblin-blastmage when you’re behind on board.

2 cogmaster

Cogmaster is an essential player in this deck. He may not provide a Spare Part like Clockwork Gnome but he sure packs a punch when you have a Mech on the field. Moreover, having two health makes it a bit more resilient to early removal spells such as 1-damage wrath, the Mage hero power, and mortal-coil. Cogmaster also presents your opponent with a tough decision. They have to strongly consider whether they want to play their 2-drop as Cogmaster can easily trade against Knife Juggler, Mechwarper, Snowchugger, etc.

2 mana-wyrm

Mana Wyrm is a little guy that causes big problems early on for your opponent. The combination of a turn 1 Mana Wyrm followed by a turn 2 frostbolt or unstable-portal is very powerful. This combo usually sets the tempo for the rest of the game while prompting your opponent to his removal spell. Moreover, with a health of 3, Mana Wyrm is very resilient, only susceptible to hard removal. Mana Wyrm also synergizes well with Spare Parts. I personally often use Spare Parts to maximize damage output early in the game.

2 frostbolt

I bring Freeze to you!!! *Alexstrasza voice*. Oh how I wish I could explain how valuable this card is! Here’s a quick list of all of its utility!

Your go-to removal card for threats you cannot ignore: zombie-chow, knife-juggler, huffer, etc.

Freezing a weapon. Playing Frostbolt in combination with Blingtron 3000 on turn 7 is an excellent play. Unless your opponent gets a sword-of-justice, this play prevents your opponent from benefiting from Blingtron 3000. Moreover, this also sets up the Harrison Jones play next turn.

Freezing a minion so they’re unable to attack next turn. This enables one minion of yours to potentialy push through even more damage. What do you when your opponent plays Dr-Boom while you have 3-4 decent minions on board with a Frostbolt in hand? FREEZE THAT SUCKA and go all in on his face. The reason why I point this out is if it’s turn 7 and you have a board, your opponent is mostly likely already within lethal range.

Finishing your opponent. If the game has gone long and your enemy is within lethal range, by all means conserve your Frostbolt to finish him off. Frostbolt + fireball is 9 glorious damage to your opponent, enough to usually finish most people off.

2 unstable-portal

This card…This card…THIS CARD (I SWEAR!) is the Jesus of Hearthstone, the miracle worker, the savior, the… you get the point by now. This GIF usually sums up both you and your opponent’s reaction each time the randomly-generated minion is played. I’ll usually keep one if I have a mana-wyrm in hand as an early Unstable Portal can win you the game on the spot (as seen in my video). ;D In most cases however, I’ll mulligan it away as the tempo loss can severely set you back. Use at your own discretion.

2 Annoy-o-tron

Annoy-o-tron is such a great card. Divine Shield + Taunt on a 1/2 body for 2 mana is borderline ridiculous. This card serves as a buffer to prevent your board from being cleared via minion trades since they’d have to get through Annoy-o-tron first.

Nice Deathwing Bro.

Being a Mech, mechwarper can power it out for only one mana. This tandem can easily snowball the match out of hand as Annoy-o-Tron is protecting Mechwarper.

2 mechwarper

Deck MVP coming through. Mechwarper is an auto-include in any Mech-based deck since it allows you to apply heavy board pressure. It’s a borderline overpowered card since you gain so much tempo from dropping Mechs such as piloted-shredder a turn earlier. Moreover, Mechwarper into double 0 cost Clockwork Gnomes is a very scary start only rivaled by this unfortunate occurrence.

Then again that’s Druid for you…

2 snowchugger

Snowchugger is a resilient 2-drop that Freezes anything it damages. It mainly functions as a Weapon class’s worst nightmare. Moreover, this deck has Blingtron 3000 to complement it. Make sure to mulligan for it against Hunters, Warriors, and Paladins. Similar to Frostbolt, you run this into a larger minion to stall the minion’s attack for another turn. This play is sometimes the difference between winning and losing a tight match.

2 spider-tank

This card is sometimes overlooked in many decks as many may argue that tinkertown-technician or harvest-golem are better. I beg to differ. In my experience, I have found it to be an extremely resilient choice against most possible early game removal spells. Having a Mech on board at all times is critical for being able to play goblin-blastmage on curve. Failing to do so is a recipe for losing.

2 fireball

Recognizing when to play Fireball is an inexact science. You just don’t know when your opponent is going to heal themselves out of lethal range or play a second sludge-belcher after you’ve Fireballed the first one. You can view my videos to gain some insight into my play-style. If I have a massive board, I’ll generally use Fireball to maintain tempo. However if my opponent is close to lethal, I’ll definitely conserve and use it for direct face damage.

2 Goblin-blastmage

Goblin Blastmage needs no introduction as it is one of the strongest cards in this deck. A 5/4 for 4 mana is already decent. However with a Mech on board, you get a Spell-powered Arcane Missiles tacked on for free! This makes the card rival Fire Elemental in terms of efficiency. Against token and other decks with low health, this card is absolutely devastating.

1 Kezan-Mystic

This card’s value in the deck is questionable but it makes some of your worser match-ups (i.e. Face Hunter and Mech Mirror Mage) much easier to deal with. Since many players are playing standard Mech Mage and Face-Hunter, this card serves as a great meta-game call. Stealing your opponents’ mirror-entity or explosive-trap is generally game-ending. Also, due to the increased popularity of Freeze Mage recently, stealing a back-breaking ice-block often prompts a concession from your opponent.

2 mechanical-yeti

This card is being run over tinkertown-technician since it is much more resilient while requiring less set-up. Having 5 health (as opposed to 4) makes it very difficult to remove efficiently. Even when killed, he’ll still provide you (and your opponent unfortunately) with a Spare Part. However, this deck will generally be able to take better advantage of Spare Parts than opposing decks (archmage-antonidas anyone?).

2 piloted-shredder

Piloted Shredder is probably the 2nd most famous GvG card next to dr-boom, changing how Hearthstone players all around the world look at 4-drops. When it comes to a value 4-drop, this card is what it’s all about. Summoning a random 2-drop after death allows you to maintain board presence. Most of the time it won’t even matter what the 2-drop is really (unless it summons a doomsayer while you’re ahead!). Not much more to add here.

1 Blingtron-3000

Ah, the weapon overlord of GvG and one of my favorite cards of all time. I think this guy can work in any deck but he shines brightest in Mage decks due to the Freeze mechanic. Listed below are some potential uses/benefits:

Since you get to use your weapon first, you can quickly gain tempo by trading into whichever enemy minion you want.

He can interrupt your opponent’s planned weapon use. Scenario: Let’s say a Rogue plays Deadly Poison or an assassins-blade. You can play Blingtron 3000 to remove that weapon in hopes of him getting a sub-par one. This is shown in one of my corresponding videos.

The average weapon damage from a Blingtron 3000 play is 4. Therefore, playing this when your opponent is low on health could be game-ending.

When combined with Harrison Jones, this combo should drown your opponent in card advantage and win you the game.

1 Harrison-jones

That belongs in a museum, my museum that is. The synergy with Blingtron 3000 is definitely insane but Harrison Jones is generally a decent card on its own with Rogue, Hunter, Paladin, and Warrior decks running around. Even better, it solves one of the weaknesses of the deck: card draw. Additionally, there are some pretty neat combos that will be covered in the Spare Parts section of this guide.

1 archmage-antonidas

Our amazing late-game reach. I actually considered switching him out for Dr.Boom as Dr.Boom provides immediate value and two damage bombs on board. After much consideration, I’ve decided to keep him in the deck for the following reasons:

Too many decks play big-game-hunter, cutting dr-boom‘s value in half.

If you manage to get the finicky-cloackfield Spare Part with Archmage Antonidas, you pretty much win the game.

Archmage Antonidas lets you bypass Taunt minions with Fireball in the late-game.

Spare Parts

Spare Parts, the unsung heroes of Mech Mage! I added this section because I feel many players don’t understand the true potential of Spare Parts and therefore underestimate their importance. Let’s take a quick look at all 7 right now.

armor-plating – Though not exciting, it can keep mana-wyrm alive a few extra turns for additional damage.

emergency-coolant – Similar to Snowchugger, Emergency Coolant can stall an enemy minion from attacking next turn. This allows you to win the race in the aggro mirror match.

finicky-cloakfield – This is Archmage Antonidas’ best friend 99.9999% of the time. Playing this alongside Antonidas on turn 8 almost always guarantees a win.

reversing-switch – Once again, this card allows mana-wyrm to deal more damage over the course of the game keeping it alive longer. In addition, you can play it on friendly and opposing minions to further maximize damage throughput.

rusty-horn – This card is most valuable against opposing Hunter players. It prevents an attack from their Charge minions, which could be the difference between a win and loss. Additionally, it can be very useful against weapon classes (Taunt a Snowchugger and hit the “I’m sorry emote”)! 😀

time-rewinder – Time Rewinder is often the second best possible Spare Part you can get. It can recall battlecry cards such as Goblin Blastmage, Harrison Jones, and Blingtron 3000 for maximum value. With extra mana available, you can also return a damaged minion and replay it fully healed.

whirling-blades – Though not very exciting, this card can sometimes allow you to clear an enemy minion you otherwise couldn’t (1 damage short).

Woot! the deck overview is done. Now for the exciting parts! ;D

Deck Techs

For varying meta-games, I have two possible replacements you might be interested in.

kezan-mystic for spellbreaker. Why? Silence allows you to get past large Taunt minions like ancient-of-war from Druid.

One spider-tank for a tinkertown-technician. Unlike standard Mech Mage decks, having two or more Spare Parts in hand at a time rarely happens. The somewhat limits the finishing power of Archmage Antonidas. Therefore, adding a tinkertown-technician slightly alleviates this concern.

I don’t think any of the other cards in this deck should be replaced but free to experiment!

Deck stats

As seen from the above statistics, no class is significantly favored against you. This means you should have a good shot at winning any game provided you play carefully.

Mulligans by Class

Warrior

Against this class, aim to have an explosive start because the match-up becomes increasingly difficult with each passing turn. In general, you’ll want to negate most of their weapon utility. Mulligan for:

Snowchugger

Mechwarper

Frostbolt

Harrison Jones

Rogue

Rogue is very similar to Warrior. The only thing you’ll have to be wary of is Deadly Poison + blade-flurry so don’t flood the board with 3 health minions. Try to bait out backstab early (as shown in the videos) to limit their combo enablers. Once again, mulligan aggressively for a strong start. Doing so should put in in good shape as I find this match-up relatively easy. Mulligan for:

Snowchugger

Mechwarper

Frostbolt

Harrison Jones

Priest

Priest is also an easy match-up since they usually have no direct answers for your early game pressure. This usually allows you to bring them below 15 health by turn 4. Be wary of their potential sweepers however (i.e. holy-nova and auchenai-soulpriest + circle-of-healing combo). Mulligan for:

Mechwarper

Frostbolt

Mana Wyrm

Clockwork Gnome

Cogmaster

Hunter

These guys can be annoying sometimes. Despite their ridiculous burst potential however, you should be fine with kezan-mystic and harrison-jones in your deck. Kezan Mystic is specifically included in the deck to counter Freezing Trap and Explosive Trap. In addition, you have the ability to flood the board much more quickly than current Hunter builds. As a result, you should be able to outrace them when those scenarios occur. Mulligan for:

Mechwarper

Frostbolt

Snowchugger

Cogmaster

Annoy-o-Tron

Spider Tank

Kezan Mystic

Druid

You will usually win vs. Combo Druid but should have a more difficult time against Taunt-heavy Ramp Druid decks running kel-thuzad. As usual, you’ll want to have an explosive start. However, make sure to keep at least one annoy-o-tron and/or a frostbolt ready just in case. Frostbolt is good for dealing with the occasional Zombie Chow. You’ll want to as much early damage as possible since innervate and wild-growth allows them to quickly ramp up. Be wary of wrath and swipe as both can be a nightmare for your board. A spellbreaker can be handy for silencing their Taunt minions. This allows you to push through late in the game. Mulligan for:

Cogmaster

Annoy-o-Tron

Mechwarper

Frostbolt

Mana Wyrm

Unstable Portal

Snowchugger

Mages

Since this deck is pretty much Anti-Mage, you should be able to win these matches with ease (displayed in the videos). Mulligan for:

1-2 drops

Kezan Mystic

Shaman

Mech Shamans can be annoying so make sure to play around their lightning-storm and clear their board whenever possible. With Shamans, you need to ensure that they have no totems or minions on the board to work with. Since they rely heavily on buffing their minions, they can’t do much without a board. Mulligan for:

Cogmaster

Mechwarper

Snowchugger

Harrison Jones

Clockwork Gnome

Mana Wyrm

Unstable Portal

Warlock

Facing Zoos is the equivalent of easy mode as you have better synergy. Just make sure to trade effectively and don’t let them overwhelm you with imp-losion. Hand-lock, Control-lock, and Demon-lock can all be tricky. Taunt, healing, and shadowflame makes life very difficult for you. As usual, make sure not to bring Hand-lock below 15 health, building up your board for the finishing blow. Harrison-jones also plays a key role in this match-up. Removing the weapon from lord-jaraxxus essentially equates to winning the game most of the time. As for Demon-lock, you’ll want to burst them down as fast as possible. Similar to playing against Warrior, the game gets more difficult to win as it progresses. The blingtron-3000 + Harrison Jones combo shines here as it effectively draws you into burst cards like Fireball and Frostbolt. Mulligan for:

1-2 drops

Paladin

This is a very easy match-up. Get rid of their silver-hand-recruits ang aim for face more often than not. Their only AoE is consecration on turn 4, which is too late! Blingtron 3000 and Harrison Jones also messes up their Truesilver-champion plays. This deck is very Anti-Paladin so you should have no trouble countering anything they present you. Be wary of lay-on-hands on turn 8 as it heals them for 8. This could be the difference between lethal and them staying alive long enough to play tirion-fordring. Even then, using Harrison Jones on Ashbringer is game-ending. Mulligan for:

Snowchugger

Mechwarper

Frostbolt

Harrison Jones

Mana Wyrm

Unstable Portal

Match-up Videos Against Other Classes

I have listed match-up videos of this deck against some other classes. You can watch these to see, learn, and evaluate the power of this deck for yourself. Some videos are shorter than others due to my opponent conceding. ;D Enjoy Guys.

VS DRUID youtu.be/pyOsX6iVirM

VS CONTROL-WARRIOR HZRfL5C4ZJU&feature=youtu.be

VS MECH MAGE rTLMBI4FTTk&feature=youtu.be

VS ZOO ROGUE pyOsX6iVirM&feature=youtu.be

VS FACE WARRIOR http://youtu.be/YMRfU9dQE74

VS ZOO pyOsX6iVirM&feature=youtu.be

Conclusion

Alas my friends, you have reached the end of another one of my Mage articles. I have now supplied you with the tools and knowledge necessary for ladder ownage. Go forth and leave only Spare Parts in your wake! But before you go out into the battlefield, be sure to leave feedback on the article and of course hit the like button if you enjoyed reading and watching. I am open to suggestions on additional sections you would like added in future deck guides. I can also give personalized tips for those interested in further instructions. I think I have covered most aspects of the deck so you should be ready to go! 😀 Thanks for reading guys and see you on the ladder!

Woops! Wrong ladder. xD

My Ign-> Genox1s#1387 on NA and EU servers. I’m mostly on NA though.

Twitch http->//www.twitch.tv/genox1

Twitter-> https://twitter.com/Genox1s

YouTube channel ->https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCInNzbkRN7zBCSaSX_1s-fQ

Just to add, I will be streaming and uploading YouTube videos of my Hearthstone ladder journeys on a more consistent basis in the coming weeks so be sure to look out for that! Cheers!