How to ladder with the red-hot new deck.
As the name of the deck suggests, this new take on the classic Tempo Mage archetype focuses on the new Flamewaker minion introduced with Blackrock Mountain. Plenty of players took this deck to Legendary status before the end of the last season, and you can expect many more to try and do likewise in the weeks ahead.
Here’s our guide to understanding how this deck works, regardless of whether you’re wielding it or playing against it.
Flamewaker Mage strategy guide
The idea of this tempo-based Mage is to get minions out on the board from the very first turn (if you can), clear the opponent’s side of the board with your minions as they’re buffed up, and in the process build up a fighting force that lives to fight a number of turns, and generally frustrate your opponent’s board development.
One of the toughest parts of playing out this deck successfully is knowing when to stop trading minions and instead focus on hitting the enemy and ending the game fast. You have no way of refuelling your hand beyond the single card you receive automatically at the start of each turn, and you must avoid losing your snowballed threat to a total board clear. Only experience will teach you when that critical moment is at hand.
Flamewaker Mage Mulligan guide
There’s nothing too challenging about making your Mulligan choices when playing the Flamewaker Mage. It’s nice to get that new minion in your starting hand, but you can just as easily get a powerful start by combining Mana Wyrms with cheap spells – particularly if you happen to have The Coin as well.
It’s more a question of blending a solid synergy between the cards you have, rather than making hard and fast decisions about what to play against whom. Build a solid curve that compliments all of the cards you have at the time and you’ll be well on your way to building an escalating threat on the board.
Flamewaker Mage card combinations
To get the most out of the Flamewaker Mage deck, it’s critical that you understand how to maximise your threat on the board by cleverly combining cards together. Here are the most important synergies you need to be aware of as the match plays out.
– Mana Wyrm is a great card to get in your opening hand, as it can be boosted up by any of the spells in your deck. Having this card along with The Coin puts you in charge of the match straight away.
– Mad Scientist should be used to bring all of your Secrets into play, as the bonus Deathrattle effect is ridiculously Mana-efficient.
– Sorcerer’s Apprentice makes all of your spells cheaper, but just be aware that Warriors and other Mages in particular can make quick work of removing this minion if you play her out on Turn 1.
– As you’ve probably guessed already, Flamewaker is a really important card for securing tempo in the early to mid-game. Just make sure yuo pop those spells before making any other minion trades, so you maximise the use of your fighting forces and preserve every creature you can.
– Don’t forget that Azure Drake can be used to boost up the damage potential of all of your spells. Don’t expect it to live long once it’s put out on the board, however.
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