In Hearthstone , the Mage class has always been slow, but dependable. Your goal isn’t to slap your opponent's face with hordes of Charge minions or build up slow tempo Jades. Playing Jaina right involves staying on tempo with your opponent, gathering combo cards in your hand and then striking like a scorpion in a sand pit when everything comes together. There’s been Freeze, Reno and even Exodia, but now there’s a new Mage deck sweeping the ladder.
Control Mage
Players love to slap “Control” on the front of a hero class to make a new archetype, even though it just means “slow.” Control Paladin uses healing cards to outlive your opponent’s attention span, Control Warrior has you stacking up infinite amounts of armor so that fatigue doesn’t kill you and Control Mage uses its spells to keep minions at bay until you draw the right cards. I’ve always preferred to play aggressive decks like Face Hunter and Jade Shaman, so control decks have become the bane of my existence. If I don’t win by turn five or six in these matchups, I just press concede and move on to the next one.
Control Mage doesn’t have as simple a win condition as other Mage decks. Emperor Thaurissan is no longer allowed in Standard, so lowering all the mana costs of the cards in your hand so that you can play them for a free win is no longer possible. A Mage player has to use their wits and problem solving abilities to win a game, which to an Aggro deck lover like me seems really hard. Still, I’m a versatile player and managed to play enough games to consider myself a passable Mage.
In a best case scenario, you’d have an Alexstrasza, Ice Block, Pyroblast and a couple of other forms of chip damage ready in your hand. If you are up against a Mage or Paladin, be careful of Eater Of Secrets , otherwise play your Ice Block as soon as you can. You play the big lady dragon, a Fireball or two and when the game.
Unfortunately, games rarely go as well as you them to, Hearthstone RNG is a cruel mistress. If you don’t get the ideal hand later in the game, remember to trade your low-value spells and minions with your opponent, making sure they don’t build up their own board. A good Control Mage doesn’t waste a single resource, choosing to use the right cards at the exact right time.
You’ll only figure out those combos by playing, so don’t be discouraged if you end up losing a bunch when you first start.
Mulligans: Mana Wyrm, Arcanoligist, Primordial Glyph and Arcane Intellect are all good cards in your opening hand. If you're up against a Warrior, Paladin or other early-aggressive decks, Volcanic Potion and Frostbolt are useful to have. Remember, that the goal isn’t to chip away at your enemy little by little, it’s to gather as much damage in your hand as possible and unleash the beast when the time comes.
Deck list:
Babbling Book × 2
Mana Wyrm × 2
Arcanologist × 2
Frostbolt × 2
Bloodmage Thalnos × 1
Medivh's Valet × 2
Primordial Glyph × 2
Arcane Intellect × 2
Ice Barrier × 1
Ice Block × 2
Kabal Courier × 2
Fireball × 2
Eater Of Secrets × 1
Blizzard × 1
Firelands Portal × 2
Flamestrike × 1
Medivh, the Guardian × 1
Alexstrasza × 1
Pyroblast × 1
