Curse of Naxxramas Mage Class Challenge Guide

Last updated on Jul 30, 2014 at 14:56 by Damien 19 comments

Table of Contents

The Mage Challenge that was introduced in the Curse of Naxxramas adventure has you use a fixed deck (provided by the game) to defeat the Normal mode of the Heigan the Unclean encounter.

To begin with, you should check out our video to get an idea of the fight: we show you how we completed the challenge and how to manage your deck's cards. Then, you can read about the deck you are provided with and the deck of your opponent, before learning a few tips that will help ensure your victory.

1.

Video

2.

Decks

Heigan Mage
3.

Tips and Tricks

Heigan's Hero Power (Eruption) deals 2 damage to your left-most minion. It only costs 1 mana, so you can expect it to be cast almost on every turn. This makes the first few turns difficult, because your low-health minions are instantly removed from the board. You do not really have a good first turn move, as Secretkeeper and Undertaker will not survive Eruption. On the second turn, your best move is to play Nerubian Egg. You can also play Mad Scientist, Bloodmage Thalnos, or Loot Hoarder, whose deaths are not too problematic. On the third turn, a good combo is Undertaker + any of your 2-mana minions (they all have a Deathrattle). In this case, Undertaker should be the left-most minion, unless the 2-mana minion is Nerubian Egg.

After the first few turns, you will need to rely on the synergies between your cards. There are two important synergies in the deck you are provided with.

  • The deck is full of Secrets, cards that help you play Secrets (Mad Scientist and Kirin Tor Mage), and cards that benefit from Secrets (Ethereal Arcanist and Secretkeeper. One way to win the game is to try and always have Secrets up, all the while having one or both Ethereal Arcanists on the board.
  • The deck is also full of Deathrattle minions and you have two minions which have incredible synergy with Deathrattle effects: Undertaker and Baron Rivendare. You need to exploit these synergies. A particularly great combo involves Baron Rivendare and consists in having Rivendare and Sludge Belcher on the board, and Duplicate up. Sludge Belcher is a taunt, so it protects your Rivendare. If it dies, then you get 2 1/2 Slimes with Taunt from the Deathrattle effect (due to Rivendare's special power), and Duplicate will refund you 2 more Sludge Belchers, which you can then play to keep protecting Rivendare.