[Archived] Hearthstone Low Budget Mage Aggro Deck

[Damien 1,514]

This thread is for comments about our Low Budget Mage Aggro Deck.

[Guest Xiepher]

This deck is god aweful, it is entirely to slow and just about every deck out there beats this deck by turn 6. Please delete this deck

[Poyo 41]

This deck is god aweful, it is entirely to slow and just about every deck out there beats this deck by turn 6. Please delete this deck

Hey, Xiepher

Could you please be a bit more specific about the meta game. What decks are causing you problems?

I've lost my first game with similar low budget mage at rank/lvl 15. Later on at 7 I decided to swap to a different deck as there were a lot of druids in the meta game with heals (Earth Ring Farseer, Healing Touch) maindeck. 

The version of this deck that I've played didn't have Frost Elementals or Ice Lances, I used 2x Azure Drake and 2x Argent Commander instead. 

You might find some helpful information in these guides:

https://www.icy-veins.com/why-am-i-losing-in-hearthstone

https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone-adapting-to-the-meta-game

https://www.icy-veins.com/hearthstone-how-to-build-a-deck

Best of luck

 

[Guest Angry dude]

this deck is absolute shit

[Stoove 347]

this deck is absolute shit

 

The deck will not improve unless you can elaborate on why this is so.

[Guest Guest]

Hello,

 

Here are my experiences with this deck so far: 

I have lost 6 games in a row after I specifically crafted and assembled this deck to the letter. I have lost by just a few hairs most of the time. Usually the other player is down to ~8. 

 

Some issues that I notice are a lack of control, removal and board clears. I tend to get overwhelmed by minions because I cannot afford to waste powerful spells for removal or I will deplete them and be left with weak minions that would fail to finish off the player. Most of the minions are pure sacrifices for card draws or distraction. They come in and leave in a turn.

 

I was defeated by 2 hunters very quickly with beast heavy decks as well as a Murloc deck where I got the priest down to ~8 before he burst me down with a board full of murlocs, some buffed up to 6/3. I was relying on my Fireblast to wipe out the 1 healthers. I was thinking how useful Flamestrike would have been in that case. Priests, also in general are pretty difficult to beat for their buffs.

 

Polymorph may have come in handy for a tank heavy deck I played against where my minions were completely blocked from supplementing damage.

 

Ice Block is tremendously useful, but by the time I use it, I have one or two cards left that are not good enough for my last turn. Even when I had Pyroblast, the player had, on two occasions, 11 and 12 health on my turn.

 

It does also seem slow. Burst is there, but it happens far apart and gives the other player plenty of time to set up their board.

 

I may be playing it wrong, and I have only played a few games with it, being a relatively new player. If you have any more specific tips on how to play this deck, please let me know. Thank you.

[Guest Guest]

Here's an example of this feedback:

[Guest Guest]

Another after two ice blocks: 

[Guest Guest]

Another. Again, very close every time. Just never enough.

[Guest Remriel]

[Guest Remriel]

Never on point.

[Vlad 411]

Hello,

 

Here are my experiences with this deck so far: 

I have lost 6 games in a row after I specifically crafted and assembled this deck to the letter. I have lost by just a few hairs most of the time. Usually the other player is down to ~8. 

 

Some issues that I notice are a lack of control, removal and board clears. I tend to get overwhelmed by minions because I cannot afford to waste powerful spells for removal or I will deplete them and be left with weak minions that would fail to finish off the player. Most of the minions are pure sacrifices for card draws or distraction. They come in and leave in a turn.

 

I was defeated by 2 hunters very quickly with beast heavy decks as well as a Murloc deck where I got the priest down to ~8 before he burst me down with a board full of murlocs, some buffed up to 6/3. I was relying on my Fireblast to wipe out the 1 healthers. I was thinking how useful Flamestrike would have been in that case. Priests, also in general are pretty difficult to beat for their buffs.

 

Polymorph may have come in handy for a tank heavy deck I played against where my minions were completely blocked from supplementing damage.

 

Ice Block is tremendously useful, but by the time I use it, I have one or two cards left that are not good enough for my last turn. Even when I had Pyroblast, the player had, on two occasions, 11 and 12 health on my turn.

 

It does also seem slow. Burst is there, but it happens far apart and gives the other player plenty of time to set up their board.

 

I may be playing it wrong, and I have only played a few games with it, being a relatively new player. If you have any more specific tips on how to play this deck, please let me know. Thank you.

 

Hello!

 

I have just played 10 games with this deck, and won 9 of them. The game I lost, I lost because of my own errors.

 

I did this in Ranked mode, at ranks 14-13, mind you. If you're playing it at better ranks, perhaps the results will be worse. Also, if you're playing it in Casual mode it's impossible to tell much about it, since people there use totally non-standard decks.

 

So, about the deck itself. I agree that it does lack board clearing spells. In some instances, having a Flamestrike would certainly have been nice, although I didn't feel that it was needed. You can include one (at the expense of an Iceblock, I'd say, since the chances of using both Iceblocks in a game are pretty low), if you want to try it out.

 

You have a ton of removal, in the form of your direct damage spells. I habitually use Frostbolt, Fireball, and even Pyroblast to take out an enemy minion that I know will cause a lot of problems down the line. If you keep their board clear, then you are going to see far fewer buffed minions. I beat 3 Priests, and I found it quite easy. Faerie Dragons destroy Priests, especially if you buff them with Shattered Sun Clerics in anticipation for Holy Nova on turn 5 (so it doesn't kill the dragons).

 

Your general priority should be to keep your minions alive. This means that you use your spells to take out enemy minions, so that your minions can thrive. The only exceptions are when you a) can't use spells or b) anticipate a board-clear is coming up, in which case it's better to trade off your minions.

 

It's true that it's a bit tricky, and requires a bit of experience, to know exactly when to switch from keeping the board under control to going for your opponent. If you have a Frostbolt, an Ice Lance, a Fireball, and a Leper Gnome in hand (which I often found myself having), then that's 15 damage right there, all of which is practically unavoidable.

 

Also, the Water Elementals are important. Protecting them as much as possible is key. Minions like the Leper Gnomes, the Loot Hoarders, the Novice Engineers, etc. are expendable. Use them to bait your opponent into taking them out, or use them in conjunction with your Hero Power to take out threats.

 

Also, I'd like to make three additional points that might help you out.

 

If, on a turn, you know for sure you're going to play Arcane Intellect or Novice Engineer, do it first, before you play your other cards that turn. This way, you get to draw your cards first, which might actually give you a better solution for the rest of the turn.

 

Never use Arcane Missiles when the opponent has no minions on the board (unless you're going to kill him with it). I see a lot of people using Arcane Missiles on turn 1, or using it randomly just to buff the Mana Wyrm. Arcane Missiles is great because it helps you deal with pesky minions with 1 health, or it helps bring other minions down in range of your Fireblast.

 

Finally, I personally prefer not to use my direct-damage spells on my opponent until later on in the game. The surprise factor is important, because your opponent will play more relaxed, and perhaps more carelessly when they're sitting at 25 health than when they're sitting at 8. And also, by keeping your spells in hand (spells like Fireball, Frostbolt + Ice Lance combos), you also have them available if the opponent plays some big problematic minions.

 

I hope this helps in some way.

 

Also, regarding the image you posted, I really cannot tell very much at all from it, since it's impossible to tell what had happened previously in the game. Now, if you could record your game(s), I'd be happy to look at that footage and tell you what I think.

 

Good luck!

[Guest Remriel]

Thank you! Your advice helped tremendously. I just played a few games with your tips in mind and I effectively destroyed my opponents by a large margin. I also swapped in Ethereal Arcanist and that's been a huge help when I play Ice Block early on. 

[Vlad 411]

Thank you! Your advice helped tremendously. I just played a few games with your tips in mind and I effectively destroyed my opponents by a large margin. I also swapped in Ethereal Arcanist and that's been a huge help when I play Ice Block early on. 

I'm very glad to hear that.

 

I'd also like to give you an additional tip for Arcane Missiles.

 

I'll give you a scenario, but this type of thing comes up pretty often.

 

Your opponent has 2 minions on the board, let's say a 3/2 Shattered Sun Cleric and a 4/3 Azure Drake. You have a Water Elemental on the board (3/6). Your plan is to play Arcane Missiles this turn, either to try to kill the 3/2 Cleric, or at least to bring it to 1 health so you can Fireblast it. You also want to kill the Azure Drake with your Water Elemental.

 

In this situation, you should always make the Water Elemental attack first. This is because any damage Arcane Missiles would do to the 4/3 Drake would be totally wasted, since the Elemental can kill it anyway. Attacking with your Elemental first will increase the chances of getting the desired result out of Arcane Missiles.

[Guest Dartias]

I've just gotten finished playing 20 games with this deck (with the only exception being that I swapped out one Iceblock for one Flamestrike) and I love it! 85% win rate. The only players I had any trouble with were the ones that could get a ton of minions on the board and overwhelmed my ability to control them.

 

Thanks for all the tips!

[Guest ShadowMurloc]

hey,

very nice guide, i also changed one iceblock to a flamestrike.

i just got antonidas as a new card, what do you guys think does it make sense to add him to the deck?

[Poyo 41]

hey,

very nice guide, i also changed one iceblock to a flamestrike.

i just got antonidas as a new card, what do you guys think does it make sense to add him to the deck?

Taking out Ice Block(s) works, however Antonidas is a rather slow finisher and since you are playing an extremely aggressive deck, it might not fit in with your tempo.

[Guest Reverb]

I have tried to use this deck for around 10 games now and I've only managed to win once. I really do not understand how to win with a deck that has little means of keeping board control. Even when I swapped in a flamestrike for an iceblock I still end up losing most games because my opponent can easily grab board control.

[Subtext 1]

I've been testing the budget decks listed on the site, and so far my personal experience leads me to believe that the trouble people may be having with this deck is that it is by far the most suicidal aggro deck. Well, I'm not sure that's how the creator of the deck list intended it to be, but it has been for me.

 

Assuming that low-budget decks aren't meant for higher level gameplay, I've done okay with the deck with a 70-75% win ratio on play mode. Granted, play mode isn't that competitive, but I'm by no means an amazing player either with only a week and a half of experience so far. Not to mention, the majority of my losses came while I was learning to play the deck. Today for example, I've won 5 games and lost 1.

 

Now, to illustrate what I mean by suicidal:

 

Sometimes it works as a straight-up early beatdown. You pull out cheap mobs, the supposedly control-oriented opponent gets a bad draw and can't clear fast enough or put down enough big taunters. Occasionally rogues and warriors shoot themselves in the foot by clearing Leper Gnomes with their faces. (4 damage for 1 mana is a great deal) Sometime after the mid-game you zerg him down with all the mobs you have.

 

This is how I usually play aggro decks, and that's the problem. Unfortunately, this scenario almost never seems to happen with this deck.

 

Rather, in many of my games I won just barely using a combination of Pyroblast/Fireball and Iceblock: ready to drop dead next turn if he so much as sneezes on me. To illustrate, here is how one of my wins went:

 

Late Game vs Hunter

 

I have 9 health+Iceblock, two 3/2s and one 2/1 minion.

He has 26 health+secret, at least 3 minions with +4 attack, and a couple smaller minions.

 

1. I Pyroblast him.

2. He brings me down to 3 health, Iceblock pops, he kills my minions instead.

3. I Fireball him and use another Iceblock.

4. He attacks me again, Iceblock pops. He says "Well Played".

5. I Pyroblast him again, and win with 3 health

 

At first, I'd assumed it was a lucky win, given I had the exact cards necessary. (I had to hold on to two Pyroblasts since turn 3, and was holding on to one Fireball before things got out of hand) Keep in mind, this was a game where I mulliganed two pyroblasts and an Iceblock only to get a Fireball, Arcane Intellectx2, and a Pyroblast draw on my first turn.

 

Up to that point, I had been losing unless I could zerg my opponent down with minions. Which made me assume that my lack of success was due to a combination of weaknesses in the deck and personal skill.

 

Yet, after that win, I went on a 3-win streak in which I won each game in similar ways.

 

1. I use Fireball, and then Iceblock with 8 health. I have no minions while the opponent controls the board with 4 huge minions, and brings me down to 1 health. I Pyroblast next turn and win with 1 health.

2. I have 15 health and Iceblock, and two 3/2 minions. My opponent has 10 health and a couple 4/4ish creatures. He brings me down to 4 health and finishes off one of my 3/2s. I ping him, attack him with my remaining 3/2, and use Fireball. I win with 4 health.

 

You get the picture. I've had as good a win ratio with this deck as with any of the low budget decks on this site. You really need to adopt the mindset that "only the last hit point counts". If you pay 29 life to score 30 damage on your opponent's face, you still win.

 

So:

 

If you want your opponent to throw a tantrum after you win, play this deck.

If you don't like heart attacks, definitely do not play this deck.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited March 9, 2014 by Subtext

[Vlad 411]

I have tried to use this deck for around 10 games now and I've only managed to win once. I really do not understand how to win with a deck that has little means of keeping board control. Even when I swapped in a flamestrike for an iceblock I still end up losing most games because my opponent can easily grab board control.

 

Please read my post(s) above which, I believe, provide a great deal of useful information. If you have more specific questions, feel free to ask them.

 

I've been testing the budget decks listed on the site, and so far my personal experience leads me to believe that the trouble people may be having with this deck is that it is by far the most suicidal aggro deck. Well, I'm not sure that's how the creator of the deck list intended it to be, but it has been for me.

 

Assuming that low-budget decks aren't meant for higher level gameplay, I've done okay with the deck with a 70-75% win ratio on play mode. Granted, play mode isn't that competitive, but I'm by no means an amazing player either with only a week and a half of experience so far. Not to mention, the majority of my losses came while I was learning to play the deck. Today for example, I've won 5 games and lost 1.

 

Now, to illustrate what I mean by suicidal:

 

Sometimes it works as a straight-up early beatdown. You pull out cheap mobs, the supposedly control-oriented opponent gets a bad draw and can't clear fast enough or put down enough big taunters. Occasionally rogues and warriors shoot themselves in the foot by clearing Leper Gnomes with their faces. (4 damage for 1 mana is a great deal) Sometime after the mid-game you zerg him down with all the mobs you have.

 

This is how I usually play aggro decks, and that's the problem. Unfortunately, this scenario almost never seems to happen with this deck.

 

Rather, in many of my games I won just barely using a combination of Pyroblast/Fireball and Iceblock: ready to drop dead next turn if he so much as sneezes on me. To illustrate, here is how one of my wins went:

 

Late Game vs Hunter

 

I have 9 health+Iceblock, two 3/2s and one 2/1 minion.

He has 26 health+secret, at least 3 minions with +4 attack, and a couple smaller minions.

 

1. I Pyroblast him.

2. He brings me down to 3 health, Iceblock pops, he kills my minions instead.

3. I Fireball him and use another Iceblock.

4. He attacks me again, Iceblock pops. He says "Well Played".

5. I Pyroblast him again, and win with 3 health

 

At first, I'd assumed it was a lucky win, given I had the exact cards necessary. (I had to hold on to two Pyroblasts since turn 3, and was holding on to one Fireball before things got out of hand) Keep in mind, this was a game where I mulliganed two pyroblasts and an Iceblock only to get a Fireball, Arcane Intellectx2, and a Pyroblast draw on my first turn.

 

Up to that point, I had been losing unless I could zerg my opponent down with minions. Which made me assume that my lack of success was due to a combination of weaknesses in the deck and personal skill.

 

Yet, after that win, I went on a 3-win streak in which I won each game in similar ways.

 

1. I use Fireball, and then Iceblock with 8 health. I have no minions while the opponent controls the board with 4 huge minions, and brings me down to 1 health. I Pyroblast next turn and win with 1 health.

2. I have 15 health and Iceblock, and two 3/2 minions. My opponent has 10 health and a couple 4/4ish creatures. He brings me down to 4 health and finishes off one of my 3/2s. I ping him, attack him with my remaining 3/2, and use Fireball. I win with 4 health.

 

You get the picture. I've had as good a win ratio with this deck as with any of the low budget decks on this site. You really need to adopt the mindset that "only the last hit point counts". If you pay 29 life to score 30 damage on your opponent's face, you still win.

 

So:

 

If you want your opponent to throw a tantrum after you win, play this deck.

If you don't like heart attacks, definitely do not play this deck.

 

Hope this helps.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned two things in your post, namely that this deck is not meant to attain a high win-rate against top-tier (no budget) decks, and that you've been playing the game for less than two weeks.

 

Now, in Hearthstone, anything can happen, and you can beat a "best in slot" deck with a Basic-only deck, sometimes. So upsets do happen. But statistically, it's very rare. Up to a point, and with exceptions, the more freedom you have for building your deck (in terms of budget/card restrictions), the stronger your deck will be. In this sense, a deck that only has 1,000 (or 4,000) Arcane Dust to work with will certainly be at a disadvantage against a deck that has no limits.

 

So, I would say that a low budget deck is probably good for bringing you up to something like rank 13 with a win-rate that doesn't mean you need to grind too many games. A mid-budget deck can bring you to rank 6 or so, while you need a budgetless deck for attaining ranks 1-2 or Legend rank. This is just the nature of the game.

 

The second thing is that these decks' (and any decks'!) win rates rely greatly on the player's ability to play them well. These decks are created by us (myself to a lesser extent, mostly by Poyo). Poyo is a veteran card game player and an exceptional high level Hearthstone player. So, from their very conception, these decks were designed with a certain experienced playstyle in mind.

 

I suspect that right now, and for some time to come, Hearthstone players will, in the majority, be very new to the game. This means that most people who use our decks will do so while still not having a deep understanding of the game mechanics. I started playing Hearthstone as soon as the Beta came out in August, and it took me a good many months to really get a good grasp on the game, even with reading anything and everything I could get my hands on.

 

If you've only been playing for two weeks, I literally have an overload of ideas of things I could tell you about to try to teach you how to be a better Hearthstone player. Unless you're some genius, there are literally dozens of concepts that you aren't familiar with, and tons upon tons of situations that you are handling sub-optimally.

 

You'll learn in time, and our other guides here on Icy Veins offer a lot of complementary information, but it's not an instant process.

 

I know I'm kind of ranting, but what I wanted to really say is that I appreciate the good-natured post you made. Thank you.

[Guest Forger]

Great deck,

Sadly I do not have pyro blast or the other epic card but I replaced them with two legendary cards and I have great success! 

Thank you!

[Akaitsuki 10]

Boy am i glad i read all this very interesting, the comments are almost as useful as the deck info