Spell Damage Mage deck list guide – Boomsday – Hearthstone

The release of Mana Cyclone in Rise of Shadows gave this deck its identity. Also known as ‘Casino Mage’ due to the way you gamble with spells and the like, Cyclone Mage has been found to be a high-performing albeit difficult to pilot deck.

We’ve put together a Mana Cyclone deck with all the snazzy new toys the archetype has received in Descent of Dragons, so give it a go if you fancy.

Cyclone Mage deck list and strategy

Here is the top version of Cyclone Mage that is being played on the Hearthstone ranked ladder. The win rate is harsh on the deck in our opinion – playing this deck correctly is a challenge but when it’s done right, Cyclone Mage is a frightening force.

Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game.

Deck Import ID: AAECAf0EBO72AqCAA/isA+G2Aw2rBOYElgWNCMiHA5+bA+KbA/+dA/WsA/qsA/usA/2sA4GxAwA=

More great Mage guides:

• 1. Best Budget Decks – Hearthstone: Best Budget Decks for Ashes of Outland
• 2. Tier List – Hearthstone deck tier list (Ashes of Outland)
• 3. No Minion Spell Mage – No Minion Spell Mage deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
• 4. Highlander Mage – Highlander Mage deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
• 5. Dragon Mage – Dragon Mage deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)
• 6. Cyclone Mage – Cyclone Mage deck list guide (Ashes of Outland)

General strategy

Your goal with Cyclone Mage is to play a bunch of cheap spells, refill your hand using Mana Cyclone, and destroy your opponent early with a huge board of massive minions.

With the launch of Descent of Dragons, we’re seeing Cyclone Mage boosted enormously, adding powerful Legendaries like Chenvaala and Malygos, Aspect of Magic. We’re also getting Mana Giant to benefit from all those extra spells you’ll be casting from Mana Cyclone, Violet Spellwing, Malygos, Aspect of Magic and more.

Early game: Often, you’ll be passing early turns until your big Mana Cyclone turn. Sorcerer’s Apprentice can help with this, discounting 1 mana spells to 0 mana which allows you to play as many as you possibly can. Ray of Frost freezes enemy minions, barring them from making trades, and Mirror Image protects your face and minions, stalling damage in a pinch. Even so, you should try to wait it out with these low-cost spells if you can get away with it – the payoff later is so much better. Minions like Stargazer Luna, Violet Spellwing and Twilight Drake can be a small amount of board contesting while you wait for more powerful plays later in the game.

Mid game: Hopefully you’ll be surviving through the mid-game and looking to stabilise. Arcane Intellect’s card draw is important to keep this deck ticking over. With a Sorcerer’s apprentice, many of your spells will be discounted to 0 or 1 mana, allowing you to gear up for a big turn with Mana Cyclone.

Start blasting your enemy with cheap spells before reloading with a Mana Cyclone. Ideally, you’ve played Chenvaala too, which will summon a 5/5 Dragon for every three spells you cast. This can stack up if you’ve drawn a nice bunch of low-cost spells, and a lot of your cards grab you extra spells as well. These generated spells go towards discounting your Mana Giant too, so keep an eye out for a turn where you’ve got enough spare mana to play a big 8/8.

Late game:Ideally, you’ve overwhelmed your opponent with enormous pressure from your Mana Cyclone spells. However, Malygos, Aspect of Magic can help you finish things off. The Legendary minion has a number of powerful spells which might be just what you need to end things for good.

Aggro opponents

Here are some important tips to help you best aggro decks:

• 1. You might want to keep hold of cards like Frostbolt and Ray of Frost. Freezing a Scavenging Hyena for a few turns can give you the time needed to find an answer.
• 2. Arcane Breath can take a minion out whilst letting you Discover another spell, and ideally you’ll get more cheap removal.
• 3. It’s not worth going for a combo finisher. Your focus against aggro should be staying alive until they run out of stuff, at which point you’ll likely have the value to finish them off with Mana Cyclone, Mana Giant, Chenvaala and the like.

Control opponents

These tips will see you to victory against other control decks:

• 1. There’s not a great deal of hard removal in the deck. Instead, Freeze effects will have to suffice, with the opportunity to gain even more through Mana Cyclone‘s card generation.
• 2. Get as much value from Mana Cyclone as possible. You’ll need the extra cards if the game goes long against control.
• 3. Malygos, Aspect of Magic can offer the extra damage needed to finish a game against a control deck. Depending on the state of the game your upgraded spell can be vital. Malygos’s Fireball can give you 8 damage to face, whilst Malygos’s Intellect helps you reload your hand if you’re out of resources.

Cyclone Mage Mulligan guide

These are the cards you want to see in your opening hand to get off to the best start:

• 1. Mana Cyclone: The entire point of playing this deck. You’ll need it for many of your early game plans.
• 2. Magic Trick: A way to generate some more early game spells that can often be played for free if you have Sorcerer’s Apprentice down.
• 3. Sorcerer’s Apprentice: A solid two-drop that can contest the board early and offer a nice discount on your cheap spells to give you a tempo edge.

Cyclone Mage tips, combos and synergies

Having some insight into the combos available to Cyclone Mage will help you get the most value out of every card you use:

– Elemental Evocation reduces the cost of the next Elemental card you play by two mana, and so works brilliantly alongside Mana Cyclone, as well as counting as a spell played to magnify the minion’s Battlecry.

– You can use Magic Trick to find yourself an extra spell for your deck. The spell costs 3 mana or less, so it’s likely you’ll be able to play your choice immediately if needed.

– Any already Frozen minions will take two damage if you cast Ray of Frost of them. As it’s a Twinspell, you can also cast Ray of Frost twice in a single turn – first to Freeze a minion and then a second time to deal the damage.

– As long as Sorcerer’s Apprentice is on the board, all of your spells will cost one Mana less. This effect stacks with multiple copies of the minion.

– Stargazer Luna will draw you an extra card every time you spend the card that’s currently furthest to the right in your hand. Drawing lots of cheap spells this way can be a great way to cycle through the deck.

– Frost Nova acts as an emergency saviour for your Hero. Play it if you’re close to triumph and just need that one more turn of survivability.

Card choices and substitutions

There are a handful of important cards to Cyclone Mage so we’ve listed all the key ones in the deck below:

• Magic Trick: A way for you to generate an extra spell for your deck and gives you room to adapt to many situations.
• Arcane Intellect: Drawing 2 cards is decent value. You have more ways to cheat out card draw in this deck, but it’s good to have old reliable Arcane Intellect at your side if needed.
• Mana Cyclone: An excellent way to generate some additional spells in the late game, but it is a bit of a gamble as to what you’ll receive.
• Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Allows you to cast multiple extra spells on the same turn by reducing their cost by one and also serves as a decent minion.
• Conjurer’s Calling is another reason this deck thrives. For just 3 mana (meaning you can even discover it from Magic Trick), you can consistently double your Giants.
• Stargazer Luna: Some much-needed card draw for the deck now that Aluneth is off in Wild. The positional requirement can be awkward to play with but it can work wonders with the right cards.