Tribal Trials - 2
/Tribal Trials
Episode 2 - Mage
Awaken, Forsaken
Mage has always been a top tier class in eternal formats where their cheap universal interaction can outshine opposing strategies while often being more efficient on mana cost. This coupled with powerful card draw and interrupts leads to Mage always being a threat at the top tables.
The deck I’m proposing chooses to forgo some of the “good stuff” mage cards in favor of class tribal synergy and some graveyard value options. These ally synergies are probably a lower overall power level than some of Mage’s other established options, but we’re still playing a Mage, so it’s got a chance to outplay opponents on a few different angles, should the cards and decisions line up correctly.
Velindra’s Gameplan
Outvalue your opponent and defeat their hero with whatever’s left on the board (or graveyard)
Control the board with Broderick Langforth, Baxtan, Arcane Barrage, and Spell Suppression
Disrupt key attacks from your opponent with a (usually) 0 cost Lesson of the Arcane
Aggressively trade resources with your opponent, leaning on Platinum Disks of Swiftness and Fizzle to gain tempo
Amass card advantage with Pythisss, Forgotten Secrets, and The Darkspear Rebellion
Enable the graveyard value plan using The Ring of Blood: The Warmaul Champion, A Donation of Wool, Grazzle Grubhook, Rhonin, and Bradford the Frozen
The race is on when you’re packing burn, aggressive allies, and a repeatable healing engine that you fuel yourself.
//play-1
//deck-1
2 Undercity
4 Bros Before Hozen
3 The Darkspear Rebellion
4 The Ring of Blood: The Warmaul Champion
3 A Donation of Wool
1 Rituals of Power
4 Platinum Disks of Swiftness
2 Forgotten Secrets
4 Arcane Barrage
4 Spell Suppression
4 Lesson of the Arcane
2 Fizzle
2 Mystic Denial
4 Pythisss, Herald of Frost
4 Baxtan, Herald of the Flame
3 Vuz'din
1 Rhonin
1 Bradford the Frozen
4 Grazzle Grubhook
4 Broderick Langforth
//sideboard-10
2 Miniature Voodoo Mask
4 Brittilize
1 Smoldering Blast
2 Fizzle
1 Vuz'din
We’re really just a greedy midrange deck with lots of value past turn 4.So if you like attacking for only 2-3 per ally, while drawing lots of cards, then this might be the list for you. Forgotten Secrets is particularly enticing with 0 or 1 cost cards, encouraging future exploration in a basic speed shell.
What’s really missing here is a big tempo recovery tool like Engulfing Blaze, Monstrous Frostbolt Volley, or the recently buffed -> Mana Bomb.
Smoldering Blast, Flame Lance, or Arcane Blast are all worth considering for cheap tempo options that allow you to make it to the late game value plan. The issue is that none of them are mages that get cheaper with Platinum Disks of Swiftness. We’ve got to stay on-theme people, otherwise this will just be the “trials” series.
Alternatives in Horde
There are a lot of potential builds of tribal mage, so I wanted to leave a few options behind should the reader choose to walk a different path. Bros also finds us allies with the same race as our hero, allowing us to venture off path a bit should we choose to reward our deckbuilding synergy with the correct hero.
Alliance has plenty of options worth exploring another time, but here’s a quick teaser of some toys worth testing!
That wraps it up for this episode of Tribal Trials. Let me hear your “gotcha” stories when your opponent just isn’t expecting the Lesson of the Arcane from an innocent looking Vuz'din!
Until we meet again, traveler.