Episodes
Friday Jul 10, 2015
The Warrior Mech Grim Patron Deck - Episode 51
Friday Jul 10, 2015
Friday Jul 10, 2015
Hello!
- Jayme is on the show this week
- Topic: Warrior Mech Grim Patron Deck Battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Tavern Brawls
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
Defending Deck: Andrew’s Warlock Demon Zoo deck has reigned supreme for 1 month, and has beaten 1 deck before this episode.
Challenger Deck: Jayme’s Warrior Mech Grim Patron deck combines the best of mech consistency with the explosive Grim Patron combo Warrior is famous for right now.
The Deck
Creatures
- x 2x Warbot (1 mana)
- x 2x Cruel Taskmaster (2 mana)
- x 2x Mechwarper (2 mana)
- x 2x Harvest Golem (3 mana)
- x 2x Spider Tank (3 mana)
- x 2x Warsong Commander (3 mana)
- x 2x Screwjacnk Clunker (4 mana)
- x 2x Piloted Shredder (4 mana)
- x 2x Antique Healbot (5 mana)
- x 2x Grim Patron (5 mana)
- x 1x Grommash Hellscream (8 mana)
Spells
- x 2x Execute (1 mana)
- x 2x Fiery War Axe (2 mana)
- x 1x Commanding Shout (2 mana)
- x 2x Revenge (2 mana)
- x 2x Death`s Bite (4 mana)
Sideboard
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back ups and alterations you can make that keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- x Gnomish Inventor (4 mana)
- x Tinkertown Technician (3 mana)
- x Mechanical Yeti (4 mana)
- x Whirlwind (1 mana)
Post-Duel Commentary
- Who won
- Obligatory bragging session
- Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
- Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
- Best moments in the matches
- The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony(tm)
Community
- No donations
- No questions
- iTunes Reviews
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Send Josh your comments/questions for the elusive, mysterious Jayme!
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
What do you get when you merge the spontaneous chaos of a Grim Patron deck with the stability and early pressure of a mech deck? Pissed robots looking for a fight!
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Jayme. Thanks, Jayme!
Mech Patron
At its core, this is a Grim Patron Warrior combo deck that uses Warsong Commander to deploy Patrons in a quick and surprising way. However, the combo is hidden into a standard Mech deck, which has great tempo plays on the early turns to gain you some board control or just flat out win before needing the Patron combo.
Let’s get straight into the cards I used in my deck for the mighty showdown with Josh. You can find the simple Mech Patron deck list on the podcast episode. Here, I’ll provide additional commentary where I feel it’s helpful or necessary.
2x Execute
Super cheap removal that I use for large Taunt minions, or pesky Legendaries that need instant answering. Fairly easy to trigger the damaged condition with the cards in the deck.
2x Warbot
Best played on turn 1. He’s not going to do too much damage, but he’ll be great for knocking out early minions, and at 3 health, he’s resistant to enemy hero powers.
One of the best turn 2 plays, you`ll get enemy minion removal out of this card. Worthy mulligan target.
This card is something that not a lot of other Patron Warrior decks run, but I think it`s potential outweighs the risk of it becoming a dead card in your hand. You`ll almost always gain board advantage for using it and, at the very least, it draws a card to replace itself.
2x Revenge
While other Warriors may prefer the cheaper Whirlwind, I find the extra mana investment in Revenge allows us to use it as a board-clear in late game losing situations as well. Due to our lack of AOE, Revenge fills that critical role.
This guy is perfect for activating Patrons, removing 1-health enemy minions, or triggering your Grom Hellscream. He`s also decent when paired with an Acolyte of Pain or a Warbot.
The linchpin to making this deck a credible threat. Never deploy her on a board without a combo piece. She`s just too valuable and vulnerable.
2x Death`s Bite
Great turn 4 play as it can take care of any midrange threats you may be up against. Time the Deathrattle effect to take maximum advantage with Patrons, Acolytes, or Grommash.
His surprising Battlecry will almost always allow your early Mech drops to trade up and take out higher cost enemy minions. A 2/5 body is also good at two-for-one’s against early minions or removal as well.
The big finisher, when you need it. 10 damage to the face is pretty much where you want to be, with this guy. 12 damage when paired with a Taskmaster. Boom!
2x Mechwarper
The key to an accelerated opening, Mechwarper is incredible for his cost, and can let you drop your midrange minions early and often. Mulligan target.
One of the best 3-drops in the game, for similar reasons to the Piloted Shredder. Having minions stick on board after they’ve been killed gains you tempo on an opponent’s turn, and that is great value.
2x Spider Tank
Great stats for this Mech, his big body means he’s usually taking out opposing 3-drops with ease, and living to fight again. 4 health takes him out of range of Frostbolt, Quick Shot and a lot of the early removal spells that are popular.
One of the best 4-drops in the game, this guy is a credible threat with staying power as he phones in a friend when he’s kaput.
His sole job is to keep you alive long enough to combo. But at best, he Charges into battle off a Warsong for a trade.
2x Grim Patron
The secret weapon of the deck. Play him with a combo, or don`t play him at all. Simply, losing a 5-cost 3/3 to a Frostbolt is your worst nightmare.
Possible Additions
I also used these cards while testing the deck. Go ahead and try swapping some of these in there, if you have them. See if they work better for you than they did for me.
In theory, this card should totally work in this combo style deck. However, I found it’s complete randomness to be more of a pain than a boon. It combos extremely well with Commanding Shout and Grim Patrons though. And against a big solo drop, it will kill pretty much anything. This is more of a sideboard than a substitution card.
Great value with the Mech ability trigger. However, I prefer the Spider Tank as it doesn’t require the set up cost.
Swap him in for Screwjank Clanker if you don’t have them. He’s a great body for the cost, with some Spare Parts upside that makes him better than a Chillwind Yeti.
I think most standard Patron Warrior lists run this in favor of Revenge, but I opted for the latter for it’s more toolbox ability of getting me out of a jam. Swap out for Revenge if you don’t have them, though. Essential to have this sort of effect.
Final Thoughts
If you like surprising combos that result in almost unbeatable board-states, then you should consider my Mech Patron decklist. It can be vulnerable to board clears, like all minion-heavy decks. But the steady tempo backbone will build you some good early control through profitable trades, and can help survive until you can unleash your combo. I’m not even a Warrior player, as I primarily play Shaman, Priest, Druid. But this Grim Patron card came out in Blackrock Mountain expansion and I just had to make this deck. It’s super fun, very powerful and it’s really funny when the “Everyone, get in here!” chains off a bunch of times.
Friday Jun 05, 2015
The Warlock Demon Zoo Deck - Episode 49
Friday Jun 05, 2015
Friday Jun 05, 2015
Hello!
- Andrew is on the show this week
- Topic: Demon Zoo Warlock Deck Battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: New Warrior Hero Portraits
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
Defending Deck: Frid’s Mech Shaman deck has reigned supreme for 1 month, and has beaten 1 deck before this episode.
Challenger Deck: Andrew’s Demon Zoo deck combines the best of Demon and Zoo Warlock decks into a mid-range face-crusher machine.
The Deck
Creatures
- 1x Abusive Sergeant (1 mana)
- 2x Flame Imp (1)
- 2x Voidwalker (1)
- 2x Haunted Creeper (2)
- 1x Ironbeak Owl (2)
- 2x Knife Juggler (2)
- 2x Nerubian Egg (2)
- 2x Imp Gang Boss (3)
- 2x Defender of Argus (4)
- 2x Voidcaller (4)
- 2x Doomguard (5)
- 2x Volcanic Drake (6)
- 1x Dr. Boom (7)
- 1x Mal’Ganis (9)
- 1x Sea Giant (10)
Spells
- 2x Power Overwhelming (1)
- 1x Demonwrath (3)
- 2x Imp-losion (4)
Sideboard
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back ups and alterations you can make that keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- 2x Dread Infernal (6)
- 2x Floating Watcher (5)
- 1x Hellfire (4)
- 1x Stormwind Champion (7)
Post-Duel Commentary
- Who won
- Obligatory bragging session
- Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
- Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
- Best moments in the matches
- The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony(tm)
Community
- Our first donation (and a letter!)
- iTunes Reviews
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Follow Andrew on YouTube or Twitter!
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
Demonlock and Warlock Zoo decks have been dominating constructed Warlock play for awhile now. But what if there was someone mad enough to combine them into one single monstrosity?!?!
Andrew is that man. You can see how this deck performed in its deck battle against the current Happy Hearthstone deck in this week’s episode!
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Andrew. Thanks, Andrew!
The DemonZoolock Deck
While figuring out Warlock’s place after Blackrock Mountain, a very interesting hybrid came to light: Zoo plays a lot of cheap, strong minions to trade with the opponent’s board. Demonlock gets big, powerful cards onto the board for cheap through Voidcaller. Combine the two, and you’ve got a very versatile deck that can easily hang with the big boys.
Let’s get straight into the cards I used in my deck for the mighty showdown with Josh. You can find a completely plain deck list on the podcast episode. Here, I’ll provide additional commentary where I feel it’s helpful or necessary.
This little guy is versatile! He’s a combo card that can be used in a ton of different circumstances: Trading an imp into a larger minion, buffing a shadowflame, activating a Nerubian Egg, making an enemy minion a target for BGH… The list goes on. One is a must! (You could even get away with two!)
1x Ironbeak Owl
It’s always nice to have at least one silence in your deck. That’s really the only reason the owl is coming to play! Use him to get through a pesky Sludge Belcher or whatever’s in your way.
2x Nerubian Egg
These seemingly docile eggs are actually quite helpful with this deck in two ways: 1. If you have an egg on board with all your 1/1 imps, your opponent will definitely think twice about clearing your side. The 4/4 awaiting is a great comeback to make sure you don’t lose much tempo. (You might even GAIN some!) 2. With a little help from Power Overwhelming or Abusive Sergeant, you can trade into an opponent’s minion and still have your 4/4 in the end.
FINALLY the 3 drop we’ve been waiting for! This guy will do some work for you. Playing him on turn 3 is usually the ideal time. Trade if you can to get a couple imps out of him. Those little guys build up fast and can later be used with Power Overwhelming or Defender of Argus to cause some serious mischief.
It’s bad enough for your opponent that you’re dropping minions every single turn. But when you buff them with the Defender, you will audibly hear him scream at his computer (or phone) screen. Usually your opponent has been scheming for how to take out your wimpy minions. Buffing two minions with the Defender throws his plan right out the window. Ideally, you want to use him to buff a Nerubian Egg or Voidcaller to force your opponent to activate them, but he’ll be snug and cozy right between two imps, too. Activate some deathrattles and slow down your opponent? Yup. It’s as good as it sounds.
2x Voidcaller
Now THIS is where things start getting good. Voidcaller makes this deck able to survive the midgame and create some great tempo to finish fast. I’ll usually keep one in my opening hand if I get it, as it’s an easy play on turn 4. If we can coin him out on turn 3 and get Mal’Ganis on turn 4, the game’s practically over. If he gets silenced though, it’s OK to cry.
2x Doomguard
This is one of the deadliest Demons to drop from Voidcaller because he can attack immediately. That 5/7 body is second to none, too. Trade a lot, or go in for the final hit points. Oh, and if you have both Power Overwhelming’s and the Abusive Sergeant still in hand? That’s right. 15 whopping damage. Boom. Roasted.
1x Dr. Boom
Because Dr. Boom. Seriously, this guy is just a wrecking ball. Being able to get 3 strong minions on the board in a single turn can change the entire game. He’s an automatic add in just about every deck right now, and this one is no exception.
1x Mal’Ganis
The king is here at last! Mal’Ganis must be dealt with by your opponent immediately. And it’s exactly that shift of playing that is such a threat to the entire feel of the game. Anyone who knows the Demonlock deck is scared to death of your Voidcallers because they know that this guy could come raining down soon. With Imp-losion and Imp Gang Boss, we’re hoping to have several little imps on the board to get buffed by him. Those little pesks are all of a sudden significant threats. Don’t forget to tap every chance you get if you have him up!
1x Sea Giant
This card is mostly here to be a big threat and add more flavor to the Zoo mechanics of the deck. It’s rare that I’m paying more than 6 for this giant, and that’s a killer deal for an 8/8 minion. Have fun slapping this guy down as you hear your opponent gulp on the other side of your screen.
This card is just stupid. I’ve used it most with the 1/1 Demon Imps that spout out of Imp-losion and Imp Gang Boss to trade with mega minions. You’ve also got some crazy burst potential with 2 of these, especially in combo with Doomguard. Yeah. That’ll straight up win you games.
1x Demonwrath
To be honest, I just wanted to try out this new BRM card at first, but it’s actually been quite helpful overall. Zoo normally doesn’t run many spells, but we worked one of these in to further help with board control in the aggro-heavy meta Hearthstone is in right now. Demonwrath is powerful in this deck not only because it won’t affect most of your minions, but also because it will activate your Nerubian Egg. Didn’t see THAT coming, did you?!
2x Imp-losion
Wait, let me get this straight… You’re telling me I get to kill an enemy minion AND spawn lots of little guys all with 1 card. I’ll take 2 of those… This is the definition of a tempo card. Being able to clear your opponent’s board and spawn some minions for yourself can be really powerful if timed well.
Possible Additions
Good news: This deck is (practically) CHEAP AS FREE. With only 1 epic, and 2 legendaries, this deck is almost all common and rare cards. You should already have most of these cards or be able to craft them pretty quickly. Just in case you don’t have those high costed cards or Blackrock Mountain yet, here are some substitutes:
2x Dread Infernal (6)
This is a fine substitute for Mal’Ganis and Sea Giant. He has a strong battlecry that is very versatile but is a great drop from the Voidcaller as well.
2x Floating Watcher (5)
This is another very strong Demon card that just didn’t quite make it into the deck. If you haven’t gotten the Volcanic Drakes from BRM yet, I’d suggest adding a couple of these. The ability of gaining +2/+2 on your turn can add up fast, if you play on your turn in the right order. Always tap first!!
1x Hellfire (4)
I think there’s an argument that Hellfire is the correct pick over Demonwrath. And if you’re not into BRM yet, that makes the choice easy. The downside is that you want to keep your minions on the board in order to win. So this spell can be unplayable in certain situations. It can also be a life saver if your opponent is way ahead though. Use wisely!
1x Stormwind Champion (7)
If you still haven’t crafted Dr. Boom, what are you waiting for?! It’s time to start saving your dust! He’s the most versatile, strong minion in the meta right now and absolutely worth the 1600 dust to craft. But until you get there, a Stormwind Champion will buff all your other minions and be a large body as well. Because we want to get as many creatures on the field as possible, this card could catch your enemy off guard and be a great finishing blow. His biggest problem is if you don’t have anything in play, he’s pretty expensive. That’s why Boom is the better pick. He works when your board is empty and can shift the game significantly.
Final Thoughts
The unification of 2 decks is surprisingly strong in this meta, combining the aggression and control of Zoo with the bigger threats of Demonlock. Keep adding to your board, make effective trades, and then go for the kill. With Mal’Ganis on your side, you too can know what it means to be ETERNAL!
Friday Apr 17, 2015
The Mech Shaman Deck - Episode 46
Friday Apr 17, 2015
Friday Apr 17, 2015
Hello!
- Frid is on the show this week
- Topic: Mech Shaman Deck Battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Hearthstone on phones, Blackrock Mountain Adventure wings
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
Defending Deck: Dan’s Mech Mage deck has reigned supreme for 1 month, and has beaten 1 deck before this episode.
Challenger Deck: Frid’s Mech Shaman is an aggressive deck that wins through crazy burst damage that can catch even the most prepared player off guard.
The Deck
Creatures
- 2x Flametongue Totem (2 mana)
- 2x Whirling Zap-o-matic (2 mana)
- 2x Fire Elemental (6 mana)
- 2x Cogmaster (1 mana)
- 2x Annoy-o-Tron (2 mana)
- 2x Mechwarper (2 mana)
- 2x Spider Tank (3 mana)
- 1x Mechanical Yeti (4 mana)
- 2x Piloted Shredder (4 mana)
- 2x Fel Reaver (5 mana)
- 1x Loatheb (5 mana)
- 1x Dr. Boom (7 mana)
Spells
- 2x Rockbiter Weapon (1 mana)
- 2x Crackle (2 mana)
- 1x Hex (3 mana)
- 1x Lava Burst (3 mana)
Weapons
- 2x Powermace (3 mana)
- 1x Doomhammer (5 mana)
Sideboard
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back ups and alterations you can make that keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- 2x Azure Drake (5 mana)
- 2x Bomb Lobber (5 mana)
- 2x Harvest Golem (3 mana)
- 1x Tinkertown Technician (3 mana)
- 1x Earth Shock (1 mana)
- 1x Al’Akir the Windlord (8 mana)
- 1x Piloted Sky Golem (6 mana)
The Duel!
Post-Duel Commentary
- Who won
- Obligatory bragging session
- Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
- Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
- Best moments in the matches
- The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony(tm)
Community
- Jayme: Winning with a 21/21 sheep!
- iTunes Reviews
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Find Frid everywhere: Twitch, Google+, YouTube, Email, Twitch, Facebook
- Listen to Frid’s podcast where he breaks down his tournament-conquering Paladin deck or read his breakdown of it on Reddit
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
Robots, totems, and the occasional frog dish out the damage in Frid’s Mech Shaman deck. It brings the classic body-centric rush damage that defines mech decks, but adds its own flair to provide big burst potential in the mid-game.
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Frid. Thanks, Frid!
The Mecha-Man Shaman
With the popularity of the Mech Mage, some deck builders attempted to make other classes work with the mechs. Shaman got arguably one of the best class mechs in the Whirling Zap-o-matic and a weapon that synergizes with the mechs — the Powermace — so it was only natural to me to build a mech Shaman. The deck essentially takes the mech “core” from Mech Mage and adds in Shaman classics, making it a strong tempo deck that can burst opponents down quickly, with some spectacular amounts of burst damage.
There are two things that it suffers from: (1) card draw and (2) healing. Because of the balanced curve, card draw is generally not an issue. If you’re running out of cards it may be because you’re overextending the board and exposing yourself to Area of Effect (AoE) spells. As for healing, the Shaman has always suffered from this problem, but you will generally be dictating the tempo in this match and the opponents will be responding to you, so healing is not essential.
Let’s get straight into the cards I used in my deck for the mighty showdown with Josh. You can find a completely plain deck list on the podcast episode. Here, I’ll provide additional commentary where I feel it’s helpful or necessary.
A staple in most Shaman decks. This totem can help you trade up and provide the additional points of damage to finish the game. It turns your totems into weapons. It will also force you to constantly consider the positioning of your minions.
Arguably the best 2 mana mech in the GvG set. This little guy can get out of control quickly if not dealt with. He’s a great target for the Powermace +2/+2 buff and for Rockbiter Weapon for some extra damage. It will most likely eat up a removal spell or minion from your opponent.
Does this one need explanation? It is essentially an auto-include in Shaman decks. One of the strongest battlecry effects in the game and a big body that dodges Big Game Hunter and has the magic 5 health. What more can you ask for? Be careful not to overload on turn 5, so you can get him out on turn 6.
2x Cogmaster
Always keep him in your opening hand and play it on turn 1 if going first. Early board presence to trade with most 1 drops and benefits from all the mechs. If you have 2 in your opening hand and you’re going second, don’t be afraid to drop them both on turn 1, especially if you have a 2 mana mech in hand.
2x Annoy-o-Tron
His name suits him perfectly. You can make it a super Annoy-o-Tron with Powermace. Use him to protect other valuable minions.
2x Mechwarper
Play mechs at a discount? Sign me up. A staple in all mech decks, it can help you “innervate” minions out ahead of curve. Show Druids that you can also manipulate mana!
2x Spider Tank
The only neutral minion in the game with the 3/4 stats for 3 mana. Incredibly hard to remove and only gets better with Powermace.
This is one of the most iffy cards included in the deck. I was looking for an additional 4 drop and this was the only other mech that made sense to me. See sideboard for alternatives. Just like his non-mech brother the Chillwind Yeti, this guy is very hard to deal with because of the magic 4 attack and 5 health.
The Piloted Shredder has been a staple for decks from all classes since GvG was released and it is no surprise. Incredibly sticky minion that makes Harvest Golem (a classic auto-include) look inferior. Buffed to a 6/5 with Powermace, it looks like a Fire Elemental that leaves something behind when it dies.
2x Fel Reaver
Fel Reaver? Haven’t I heard this card is terrible because it has 2 fatal flaws? Well, yes, the card does have two huge drawbacks. First, it dies to Big Game Hunter and that can be devastating. Second, you lose 3 cards for every card the opponent plays. Are you crazy playing two of these? The reality is that it wins games when it can’t be removed early (especially if you can get it out turn 4 with Mechwarper) and the drawback can be inconsequential. Think of a typical game: Do you ever draw all your cards? Then you can think of the discarded cards as being at the bottom of the deck, which you wouldn’t have drawn anyway. If this card makes you queasy, then look for 5 mana alternatives in the sideboard section.
1x Loatheb
Loatheb is just an amazing 5 drop. Protects your board from board clears. Strong body that fits the curve nicely. One of the best cards in the game.
1x Dr. Boom
What deck is complete these days without the inclusion of Dr. Balanced? When he hits the board, everything changes. One of the funniest things is a buffed up 3/3 boom bot because of Powermace.
More Shaman staple cards that help you fight for the board or burst opponents down. Combo with Whirling Zap-o-matic or Doomhammer for 6 additional points of damage. Use it with a totem or your hero if you need to clear a pesky taunt.
2x Crakle
Crackle can be used for removal on the board or as the finishing blow to the face. Best used with a spell power totem on board. Beware of the overload on key turns to avoid disrupting your mana curve.
1x Hex
Quite possibly the strongest hard removal in the game. If there is a minion in your way that you don’t want to deal with, then Hex it! Erases deathrattle effects, which can provide incredible value.
1x Lava Burst
Shaman’s version of the Mage’s Fireball. Just like Crakle, but more expensive, and more reliable at flat 5 damage. Also like Crackle, beware of the overload on key turns.
2x Powermace
The Powermace was a great addition to the Shaman’s repertoire, especially with the mech synergy. You can use it to remove stuff from the board to protect your minions, or to deliver finishing blows. Make sure to time the second charge right so it hits the intended mech target.
1x Doomhammer
Doomhammer is great for board control or for damage burst. Generally, you save the Rockbiter Weapons for the Doomhammer and you don’t play it on turn 5 because of the overload.
Possible Additions
If you don’t have all of the cards listed above, these are some great backup plans!
2x Azure Drake
One of the options if you either don’t have Fel Reaver or the discard effect is something you don’t enjoy. This minion also provides much needed card draw.
2x Bomb Lobber
Another option to replace Fel Reaver. Helps with board control by taking care of opponent’s Azure Drakes and Shades of Naxxramas.
An alternative to Spider Tank that is a bit more sticky.
Could be put in place of Lava Burst to avoid overload, has a decent board presence and gets you a spare part in the process.
1x Earth Shock
An alternative to Hex that allows you to bypass taunts or deal with early game threats when your hand is otherwise slow or weak.
An alternative to Dr. Boom, avoids BGH, and synergizes well with Rockbiter weapon for extra burst, while providing some defense.
If you don’t have Dr. Boom, Loatheb, or Al’Akir, you can try a Piloted Sky Golem. Nice body, mech, with a strong deathrattle effect.
Final Thoughts
If you have tried Mech Mage and enjoy that playstyle but think it’s getting a bit stale, or if Shaman is your favorite class and you have just not been able to make it work, give this one a try! It can deliver some spectacular finishes with a lot of burst potential.
Saturday Mar 14, 2015
The Mage Mech Deck - Episode 44
Saturday Mar 14, 2015
Saturday Mar 14, 2015
Hello!
- Dan is on the show this week
- Topic: Mech Mage Deck Battle!
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Blackrock Mountain Adventure announcement, card reveals
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
Defending Deck: Dan’s Paladin Tech deck wins with slick tricks and lots of minions with special effects. His deck has reigned supreme for 1 month, and has beaten 1 deck before this episode.
Challenger Deck: Dan’s Mech Mage is an aggressive deck that wins through an immediate and punishing board presence. A strong draw can give you four or five minions on board turn 3, and your opponent racing for the Concede button.
The Deck
Creatures
- 2x Clockwork Gnome
- 2x Cogmaster
- 2x Annoy-o-Tron
- 2x Mechwarper
- 2x Snowchugger
- 1x Harvest Golem
- 2x Spider Tank
- 2x Tinkertown Technician
- 2x Goblin Blastmage
- 1x Mechanical Yeti
- 2x Piloted Shredder
- 1x Azure Drake
- 1x Loatheb
- 1x Piloted Sky Golem
- 1x The Black Knight
- 1x Archmage Antonidas
- 1x Dr. Boom
Spells
Sideboard
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards, here are some quality back ups and alterations you can make that keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- 2x Mad Scientist ()
- 2x Mirror Entity ()
- 1x Counterspell ()
- 2x Mana Wyrm ()
- 1x Flamecannon ()
- 2x Unstable Portal ()
- 1x Arcane Intellect ()
- 1x Polymorph ()
- 2x Sludge Belcher ()
- 1x Flamestrike ()
Post-Duel Commentary
- Who won
- Obligatory bragging session
- Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
- Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
- Best moments in the matches
- The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony(tm)
Community
- Max: Do you like Fel Reaver in Arena?
- iTunes Reviews
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Follow Dan on Twitch or email him to find out more about his upcoming Hearthstone podcast, One-Eyed Cheat!
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
The Mech Mage has been the bane of my existence in Hearthstone lately — rushing down my health before I can even get a stable footing with my late-game decks. That’s why I’m so happy that someone from the Happy Hearthstone community stepped up to share their own fun Mech Mage deck and took the time to walk us through his strategy of playing it.
Hopefully now, I can make the move over to the winning side of this deck, and I hope you give it a chance too! It’s one of the most exciting new decks to come out of the Goblins vs Gnomes expansion. You can see how this deck performed in its deck battle against the current Happy Hearthstone deck in this week’s episode!
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Dan. Thanks, Dan!
The Mech Mage
Mech Mage is an aggressive deck that wins through an immediate and punishing board presence. A strong draw can give you four or five minions on board turn 3, and your opponent racing for the Concede button. Let’s get into each card and how it earns its place. You can find a completely plain deck list on the podcast episode.
Clockwork Gnome is a card I’m always happy to see in my opening hand. Against some classes, it’s the first step in establishing a dominating board presence and can often protect your two drop by favorably trading. Even if your opponent has a hero power that easily removes the gnome on Turn 2, you’ve caused them to drop behind on tempo and still have a clear board to place your 2-drop. Avoid playing Clockwork Gnome on Turn 2 unless you have both to play out, or you somehow didn’t draw a 2-drop, or don’t have an attractive Fireblast target. The key to this deck is curving out (meaning using all of your mana every turn), so Clockwork Gnome is easy to curve out as part of a turn 3 play.
2x Cogmaster
Cogmaster is another card that feels great playing out on Turn 1. Considering the amount of mech minions in this deck, this should almost always have its condition met, making it effectively a 3/2 for 1 mana. The primary function of Cogmaster in this deck is to prevent your opponent from playing a minion on turn 2. If an opponent uses a removal card on your Cogmaster, that’s one less answer for the rest of the minions filling up your deck.
2x Annoy-o-Tron
Annoy-o-Tron is a minion with very little of its value distributed into stats. On the bright side, the three pieces of text on the card (Taunt, Divine Shield, Mech) are worth their weight in gold. In the early game, if you can get him out cheap or free from a Mechwarper effect, it becomes a significant roadblock before the opponent can get to your more valuable targets. Later on, you can drop it after to protect an injured minion after a trade, or stop a huge burst of combo damage.
2x Frostbolt
Without making substitutions and not counting Spare Parts, there are only 4 spells in this deck. If you’ve played a Mage before, or played against one, I shouldn’t have to tell you why these are a must! Frostbolt is fantastic for early removal, the freeze effect can be used as a tempo play against a powerful minion or an opponent with a weapon, and it’s cheap enough that it can be used in the late game the same turn you drop Archmage Antonidas. Hold this in your opening hand if you expect your opponent will play a Knife Juggler, Acolyte of Pain, Northshire Cleric, or any other early game threat.
Be careful when you Frostbolt a minion to 1 Health with the plan to ping it for the kill next turn – A good opponent will present you with a board where you’ll want to ping multiple targets. The freeze effect isn’t the best guard against a lethal strike from a late-game minion, either, as your opponent may have a silence in hand to nullify the effect.
2x Snowchugger
The Snowchugger is a must-have for your match up against Warrior, Rogue and Paladin. The most significant threat in the early game to a weapon class is being prevented from using their mana-efficient removal. If a Warrior can’t remove a coined-out turn-1 Snowchugger, he’ll grind his teeth all game while his hand fills up with cards he can’t use. If you can drop this at the same time as the Mechwarper on turn 2 or 3, the weapon classes will be presented with a difficult choice in which to remove from play. For all other classes, the Snowchugger is a well-costed minion that can sometimes set up for favorable trades against larger minions with the Freeze effect.
2x Mechwarper” target=”_blank”>
This is the star of the deck. Without Mechwarper’s ability, this type of aggro mage couldn’t be successful. First, let’s examine the stats: 2/3 for 2 mana. This is arguably the ideal stat configuration for a two drop in GvG, so no complaints there. Now the effect: Mechs cost 1 less mana to play. Considering the makeup of this deck, that makes the Mechwarper essentially a persistent “Coin” card. It lets you out-tempo your opponent every turn they leave it in play. While you won’t draw both your Mechwarpers every game, knowing when to use it and how to protect it is one of the keys to success piloting this deck. The Mechwarper also has psuedo-taunt: your opponent cannot leave it unanswered, or they will lose. Considering this deck has no healing, anything that prevents your opponent from going straight to your face is going to help you live long enough to draw into your finishers.
It may be tempting to double up on Mechwarpers on board when you draw two in your opening hand, and that isn’t necessarily the worst move, but be careful: dumping your entire hand turn 3, 4 or 5 can allow your opponent to curve into their AOE removal. Don’t get too greedy, and don’t feel bad Fireblasting the opponent’s face with your last two mana instead of over-extending against a clean board.
Harvest Golem isn’t found in a lot of Mech Mage decks, and honestly it was one of the last inclusions in this deck. I like it a lot for Mech Mage’s early game, though, because of the second mech body left behind when the Golem eats it. This keeps your Cogmasters buffed and often forces the opponent to clear your 1-drop before your 3-drop to remove attack from the board. There’s only one Harvest Golem in this deck to make room for some of the more expensive, heavy-hitting minions.
x2x Spider Tank
The Spider Tank fills a hole that was missing in Hearthstone prior to GvG release: The neutral 3/4 minion for 3 mana. Think of it as a mini-Chillwind Yeti. The Spider Tank’s job is to prevent your opponent from playing minions that would die in a free trade, and force them to trade or remove if they want to gain back board control. It trades favorably against almost any 2-drop, and it has a tendency to stick to the board. This is because of the high health, and the fact that it’s often played behind Mechwarper, Snowchugger, or Annoy-o-tron. These cards eat the opponent’s removal cards or block their reach. That stickiness in a 3-drop is essential to this deck, because Turn 4 Goblin Blastmage or Tinkertown Technician with the battlecry effect can really help pave the road to victory.
Tinkertown Technician is one of the more powerful cards in this deck when played on curve. Assuming you can always get the bonus, which shouldn’t be a problem unless you top-deck him on an empty board, his value is well above his mana cost. Often you can use the spare part he gives you to help him survive the turn you play him by freezing a minion, or buffing one of your existing creatures with attack to help trade.
In Mech Mage variants that run fewer mechs and more utility/tech cards, I would only run 1 Technician, as you’re not going to be in great shape if you play him as a 3/3. While the value of a 3/3 for 3 by itself isn’t terrible, this Mage deck is built on trying to outgun your opponent, and his vanilla stats won’t give you the unfair advantage you need mid-game.
2x Fireball
Fireball is in this deck to help you finish the game. Two Fireballs in hand makes for a 13-damage turn 10. Fireball should only be used against minions as a last resort, barring the existential threat of a Rogue dropping a Violet Teacher or a Sylvanis or Dr. Boom played against your empty board. It can also power through taunts if you weren’t lucky enough to draw your Black Knight, but the knowledge that you’ve spent your Fireball lets your opponent play more aggressively with their health and powerful minion cards.
If you have the option to trade and play minions or cast a Fireball to clear a taunt, you’ll almost always want to keep that 6 damage in hand. In the end game, be careful going out of your way to get your opponent to 13/15 health remaining at the end of the turn. This seems like a good idea initially, “Oh, I’ll still have lethal even if he wipes my board”, but that’s your opponent’s cue to heal up or play Loatheb, and use the minions you left behind on board to help stabilize.
Pro-tip: When you have a Fireball in hand and Antonidas (who summons a Fireball card into your hand every time you cast a spell), use all of your summoned Fireballs first! Your opponent can see which card you’re playing (position-wise) and knows how many Fireballs Antonidas gave you and where they were in your hand. But they will always have to guess whether or not you drew one naturally until you play it. Your deck’s Fireballs should be saved for lethal.
This is a card that was initially a 2-of in a lot of mech mages, and quickly dropped to a 1-of or none-of. I think part of that is because it doesn’t seem “unfair” enough to warrant a spot in the deck. Yes, the Yeti has phenomenal stats, but when played on-curve it doesn’t protect your vulnerable minions already on the board, and when played in late game it often doesn’t pack enough punch to threaten the opponent’s minions. I think another reason this card is unpopular is the fact that it gives your opponent a spare part card, which can (and does) backfire. Even if it’s very unlikely that 1 spare part will win the game for your opponent, the times where it plays into a loss will always stick out in your memory more than the times where they got something unplayable or useless. This perception makes Yeti an easy card to cut when players are looking to streamline the deck.
Now that I’ve given all the reasons not to run this card, I still keep 1 in the deck for a few reasons. The primary reason is Hearthstone won’t let me run 3 Piloted Shredders. But the spare part obviously has synergy with the deck, and it’s a card that has significant presence on the board, possibly over multiple turns. If you were going to remove this card because you feel it isn’t performing, I would switch it to a Sludge Belcher if you’re being swarmed by Aggro decks, a Flamestrike to help against a crowded midrange board, or possibly a Polymorph if you keep losing to control decks.
One of the few mechs introduced in GvG that is being run in competitive non-mech decks, the Piloted Shredder is a minion that really rewards the intelligent player. The body by itself is decent, but obviously not worth the 4 mana investment. The pay-off in the random 2-cost minion, however, can be game-changing.
There are a significant number of these that are either Mech minions (tying into your existing synergy) or have active beneficial effects. It’s always fun to get a Knife Juggler, Armorsmith, or Annoy-o-Tron. Amani Berserker and Sorcerer’s Apprentice have great Mage synergy. Lorewalker Cho can bind up your opponent while you play out your minions each turn. I’ve had a leftover Mana Wraith protect my minions from a Turn 6 Fire Elemental.
There are times where the dice don’t roll your way and you get a Doomsayer or an Ancient Watcher, but in pretty much any other case it’s a body that gets left behind to do work. Piloted Shredder is just a fun card to play, and at 4 mana it’s a minion you shouldn’t have trouble getting out. I often keep it in my opening hand if I have the coin and I’m not facing Aggro.
Mages have some of the best spells for controlling and clearing a board, but this deck doesn’t run any of them. There are a few reasons, one is that those spells will eat the majority of your turn and sacrifice tempo if you don’t already have a full board. Another is that the effect is often overkill – it never feels good to use a Flamestrike against a Knife Juggler and a board of hounds or Silverhand Recruits. The third reason is that Goblin Blastmage provides an alternative at a lower cost that doesn’t make you pay in tempo or overkill your opponent’s minions.
Since I run this primarily as a value board clear, let’s discuss the Battlecry effect first. Four random damage to enemy characters is pretty potent. It works best against a board with four or five 1 health minions, as the way the random damage target is determined makes it likely that you will completely wipe their board. Against a board with one larger minion, it can help you bring their health down within trading range of your mech on board, which would leave the Blastmage uncontested.
Why is an uncontested Blastmage so great? While 5/4 for 4 isn’t the ideal stat distribution, it passes the vanilla test without factoring in the Battlecry, and it’s a minion that your opponent can’t leave on the board or they will lose the race. They’ll often have to overkill the Blastmage with a spell, sacrificing tempo and removal that they’ll desperately wish they had later.
If I have the Coin card, I’ll hold it in my opening hand against Paladin and Hunter, because it can take out Muster Recruits or Hounds on curve if you manage to keep a mech on board. If I’m facing a druid, it can be a nice turn-4 response to a Shade of Naxxramas played turn 3. The Blastmage will more likely than not kill the stealthed minion for you with the Battlecry effect. In the late stages of the game, you should hopefully have board control. Against an empty board, those 4 points of damage going straight to the opponent’s face can help you get lethal one turn sooner.
Blastmage should never be played without the battlecry unless you’re top decking it into an empty hand. Even if your opponent is wiping out your board each turn, you’ll be able to find a turn where you can play out a Mech and the Blastmage at the same time. Turn-5 Clockwork Gnome + Goblin Blastmage is a low cost combo that has a significant impact on an aggro board.
1x Azure Drake
A card without any mech synergy needs to do a lot of lifting to earn a spot in this deck, and Azure Drake passes the cut. The Mech Mage always has a problem with card draw, and any mid-range or control decks you face will try to weather the storm of your initial hand and then grind you out with card advantage.
By playing the Azure Drake, you make that strategy less viable after they’ve already committed to it. The card immediately replaces itself in your hand while putting a sizable 4/4 body on board. If I’m ahead on board on turn 5, I don’t mind over-extending with the drake because I’m not losing any tempo if it’s lost in an AoE spell. If I have no minions on board, it’s essentially a 4/4 with taunt, because the opponent doesn’t want me to benefit from the persistent spell power bonus. In the late game, it can sometimes draw that one spell you need for lethal. It’s quite exhilarating to top-deck draw into a lethal 4-damage Frostbolt or 7-damage Fireball.
1x Loatheb
Loatheb is another non-mech 5-mana minion that’s included for his serious impact on the state of the game the turn he’s played, but he should be played much more situationally. Turn 5 Loatheb isn’t an especially strong play and should be avoided, unless you’re placing it as the third strong minion on board against an opponent that has none. On turn 5, the opponent likely has a hand full of minions because they’ve been too busy spending their turns on spells or using their hero power to try and clear your board. This leaves the effect of Loatheb wasted.
Ideally, you’re using Loatheb to accomplish one of two goals. If your minions on the board have at least eight points of attack between them, use Loatheb to help them survive and hit face one more turn, which will help you knock out your opponent before they have the mana or cards to stabilize their health or the board. Alternatively, Loatheb can be used in the end-game to block lethal damage from spell combo decks. He’s saved me from Druids, Hunters and other Mages, but the key to playing him effectively is knowing which spells you’re trying to block and guessing ahead of time which turn your opponent is likely to play them. Learning how to play Loatheb is a bit of trial and error. If you toss him out and the opponent curves his next turn out with minions that challenge your board control, you probably should have held onto him for a later play.
Sylvanas Windrunner is one of my favorite minions because her effect is so powerful. But she’s not in this deck because there’s no easy way to activate her, and committing 6 mana to an effect that can be played around by your opponent can throw off your entire gameplan. The Piloted Sky Golem, on the other hand, fills a similar role while working with the strengths of the deck. Sylvanas is a terrible card to play while you’re ahead on board but behind on cards, as your opponent can clear her first. Piloted Sky Golem, on the other hand, has it’s power spread over two bodies, which makes it a much better minion to extend with than Sylvanas. Unless you’re facing a serious control deck, a random 4-drop is probably better than whatever Sylvanas manages to grab from the board.
Because there’s only one of these in the deck, and I often have better value plays available on turn 6, the Golem doesn’t see nearly as much play as the Sky Shredders. As a result, it’s a little hard for me to gauge the actual value of the Deathrattle based on play experience, but it seems that the random 4-cost is much more likely to have some of that cost tied into a battlecry than a random 2-cost minion. Minions like Defender of Argus or Gnomish Inventor don’t really impact the game on turn 7 or 8, even if they’re uncontested. If you get really lucky, you’ll get a Yeti, a Shieldmasta or a Pit Lord, at which point your opponent will have some serious tempo problems.
The Black Knight is a card that isn’t included in a lot of Mech Mage variants, as Fireball and Frostbolt already provide some potent removal. That being said, I love it in this deck for a few reasons:
- I want to save my direct damage spells for face damage to finish the game, or possibly remove a Dr. Boom. A Fireball against a Sludge Belcher still sets you back on tempo from the second body left over, and playing it from your hand lets the opponent play their 6+ drops and larger without fear that you’ll immediately remove it.
- Unless you’re playing against a rush aggro deck, winning with this deck means ignoring the opponent’s minions whenever it’s possible. They should always be behind and required to trade on their turn. By playing a taunt minion, they’re trying to flip this dynamic so you need to trade and they’ll have initiative on board next turn. Black Knight knocks out the one type of minion that will force you to spend your board presence, and leaves behind a 4/5 body. Almost all decks run some sort of taunt (most typically Sludge Belcher), and neutralizing it can be a key to easy victory against Mid-Range Hunters, Druids, Warriors, Handlock and Paladins. If you’re facing a lot of Oil Rogues or Face Hunter and this card isn’t doing it for you, consider swapping in Harrison Jones instead. These are the only matchups where I feel The Black Knight holds holds back the deck.
- Opponents often play out a big taunt as a last ditch effort to block lethal and stabilize. By the time you punch through taunt and re-established board control, they’ve often healed themselves out of lethal range. The Black Knight helps you take advantage of this one-turn window to finish the game.
- More of a “bonus” than something you can actually count on being in hand and useful, the Rusty Horn spare part can be used in a combo with The Black Knight to destroy any minion. This can really turn the tides in a control match-up, where you can use it to knock out Ragnaros, Kel’Thuzad, Alexstrasza or Ysera.
Prior to GvG release, Antonidas was seen as one of the weaker class legendaries. In order to make his effect reliably useful, you would need to weaken your deck by loading up on spells you wouldn’t otherwise run in the hopes that you can use them to conjure a Fireball. Since you can only have one Antonidas in your deck, reworking the entire minion/spell ratio in the hope of drawing the one card that will give you a victory condition isn’t very practical.
But he’s become much more viable since GvG for two reasons: First, Mages got two useful 2 mana spells (Flamecannon and Unstable Portal) to help activate him. More importantly, the Spare Part cards you accrue through the game can help you get him out early (on turn 8) and keep him alive. The most obvious combo is with Finicky Cloakfield, as it’s almost impossible to clear him from the board before you can use him next turn to generate more Fireballs. The other spare parts are a little less useful, but if you can use one to set up a favorable trade and clear your opponent’s board, it’s usually a good play even if you leave Antonidas vulnerable.
If I have to use the Rusty Horn for a Fireball, I try to place it on another minion instead, as it leaves Antonidas open to a Black Knight counterplay. If you have both Dr. Boom and Antonidas in hand, play out the Dr. Boom first. It has more immediate board impact and can bait your opponent’s removal cards.
1x Dr. Boom
Dr. Boom rounds out this deck for the same reason he’s in almost every deck – He has the most value per mana spent of any neutral minion, and the RNG of the Boombot explosions prevents your opponent from having any easy answer. Since the bots need to be removed from the board before any opposing minions are safe, your opponent will often deliberately take the explosions to the face. This is especially helpful in the late game where you’re racing to lethal.
Besides the straight value, Dr. Boom helps to make your early game cards more viable in the late game. Opponents will often leave the boombots on board once they spend their turn removing the 7/7 body, and that allows for a follow-up play with Tinkertown Technician or Goblin Blastmage.
Possible Additions
The 5 cards in this deck which I would consider swappable would be Harvest Golem, The Black Knight, Mechanical Yeti, Piloted Sky Golem, and Azure Drake. If you’re stripping out some mechs for more spells, you may want to consider dropping to one Tinkertown Technician as well. Some reasons you would want to remove any of these:
- Harvest Golem: It doesn’t have a lot of flair, and has a limited window of turns you can play it where it can really impact the balance of the board. Spider Tank is the better card to play on Turn 3, which means your hand can get crowded with 3 drops early and the card spot might be better used on a tech card with utility.
- The Black Knight: In an Aggro meta, this card is a stone around your neck. If it never finds a target against the opponents you’re facing, the opportunity cost of including this in the deck is huge.
- Mechanical Yeti: It’s just a solid mid-range card. Definitely pull this before removing Piloted Shredder if you’re trying to shift to a more aggro or control deck.
- Piloted Sky Golem: A little slow for this deck, and often you’re prevented from playing it on curve because you have a better play using your hero power.
- Azure Drake: Another card you might need to swap out if you’re facing too much aggro. Because some of its mana cost is tied up in the Battlecry and Spellpower effects, it won’t be enough of a threat on the board to keep your opponent from going to face.
Here are some options of cards you can consider using in their place:
An insanely powerful card that should be an auto-include if you plan on adding secrets. The benefit in this deck is that you can play him out before your mechs, letting you save your Mechwarpers for a turn where you can get more value. Triggering his Deathrattle equates to roughly 5 mana worth of tempo, helping you front-load your minion rush. You should always keep scientists in your opening hand and throw back your secrets.
This has been the most popular secret to include in the standard Mech Mage decks. By itself it’s nothing special, but with the Mad Scientist Deathrattle, it helps block or negate the Turn 3 or Turn 4 plays an opponent needs to stabilize, or keep them from playing a taunt on Turn 5 or Turn 6.
The Mad Scientist/Mirror Entity combo is very powerful, but I eventually took them out for two reasons: Hunter is all over the meta and loves to play Ironbeak Owl or Webspinner into the Secret, and Kezan Mystic/Doomsayer can absolutely wreck a game that would have been an easy win if you didn’t bring Secrets to play with. That being said, if you’re just getting started with a Mech Mage, I would probably recommend using the Mirror Entity variant to climb ladder up until the point it starts losing you games.
1x Counterspell
Counterspell has a decent enough effect, but the real benefit here is the fact that an opponent facing a Mech Mage with a secret up will assume it’s Mirror Entity. This will often prevent them from playing an optimal turn, and there’s a good chance they’ll use their turn attempting to clear while they wait to draw into a minion that’s less painful to give you a copy of. Your opponent has now taken a sub-optimal turn, wasted a card they probably need, and the mana used to play it.
If you already have 2 Mirror Entities and 2 Mad Scientists in your deck, it may just be valuable to have one extra secret in reserve in case you draw them before your Mad Scientists pull them from your deck.
2x Mana Wyrm
Mana Wyrm can fit well in this deck if you start swapping out some minions for spells, particularly Flame Cannon and Unstable Portal. If you can cast a spell on turn 2, or coin out another 1-drop on turn 1, the Mana Wyrm can start immediately trading up. A Turn-1 Mana Wyrm can also bait out removal, paving the way for your Mechwarpers and Snowchuggers. Mana Wyrm also is a good spot to drop Spare Parts, as you can get double value with the normally sub-par stat buff cards.
1x Flamecannon
Flamecannon is a beast of a card if you’re struggling against midrange decks, and can help you get through taunts on the cheap. If you’re facing a lot of druids, Flamecannon is a great way to knock out Shade of Naxxramas. I would only recommend adding one, as there are a ton of 2-drops in this deck and 2 Frostbolts are already a must, so there’s already a bit of a glut of 2 mana cards.
Unstable Portal is a great card to include if you’re shifting toward more early game and are incorporating the Mana Wyrm. It can also be included by itself if you’re just looking for another Antonidas activator that can give utility early game. Ultimately, it’s just a fun card, and one that rewards the player that knows how to best use whatever drops into his hand.
The other cards that released alongside Unstable Portal actually make it much better than if it were introduced in Naxxramas – Blizzard added 22 Legendary cards with GvG, which definitely shifted the power range of your average random minion up. Anecdotally, I’ve gotten way too many Legendary cards to think this is pulling a true random minion, and those if you can play those card 3 turns ahead of curve, they can easily be enough to win you the game.
Arcane Intellect is kind of plain in that it draws cards with no other effects, but it fits because the goal of this deck is to play out the most powerful minions you can on curve. Spending 3-mana this turn to have much better options next turn can be a great play if you’re ahead on board. Casting this spell instead of playing a minion can prevent you from over-extending into your opponent’s board clear, and give you the cards you need to recover from it. Don’t use this card when you have a play with minions in hand, as the 3 mana spent becomes less of a tempo concern the longer the game goes on.
1x Polymorph
Polymorph is a spell that doesn’t exactly fit into the theme of this deck. You should be spending your mana to put damage on the board or cast it from your hand, not using 4-6 crystals to remove a threat. That being said, it can be an effective substitution for Black Knight if you don’t have it, or can be slotted in if you’re struggling against control because it can be such a strong tempo play late game. If you have it in hand, don’t waste the effect on a mid-range minion if you’ve got another play, you’ll need to sheep a heavy hitter to get enough value to make it worth running.
This is a particularly strong swap if you’re consistently losing to hunters. Although it’s obviously lacking the Mech syngergy this deck banks on, it’s a great on-curve play to guard the minions you already have on board. Be careful playing it out while you already have 3 minions on board, a Mind Control Tech can ruin your day if it grabs the Belcher.
1x Flamestrike
Like Polymorph, Flamestrike is a spell that doesn’t really fit into the deck, but can situationally be very useful in keeping your board intact through the late game. It’s a bit of an insurance policy against your opponent out-pacing you, but including such a heavy costed spell in your deck makes it more likely that you’ll be in a position where you need it to begin with.
Final Thoughts
Mech Mage’s strength is that it’s straightforward: Play minions, go face, remove threats, use fireblast for value. It’s weakness is that it’s largely predictable: Your opponent knows what minions you’re trying to play on curve, and can use that information to skew the board state so you only have unattractive plays. To combat this weakness, once you’ve reached the point on the ladder where it seems your Mech Mage is topping out, reasses the tech cards in your deck. Which cards are still in your hand when you lose? Which cards are your opponents playing around? There’s a lot of flexibility here to help you keep your opponent guessing.
Thursday Feb 12, 2015
The Paladin Tech Deck - Episode 42
Thursday Feb 12, 2015
Thursday Feb 12, 2015
Hello!
- Adam is on the show this week
- Topic: Paladin Brawl 2: This Time With Robots
- Reasons to be happy this week
- News: Undertaker nerfs, Hearthstone wins awards at DICE!
What is a Deck Battle?
Once a month, a guest host brings their favorite deck onto the show to battle the current reigning champion deck for control of the Happy Hearthstone Deck Battle Throne!
If the challenger wins the best-of-3 series, their deck becomes the new Reigning Champion Deck and will fight off future challengers until it loses, or until it’s earned its place in the Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame!
View the Deck Battle Archive + The Happy Hearthstone Hall of Fame
Defending Deck: Scott’s Survival Paladin deck wins by spewing cheap hard-to-kill and regenerating minions onto the battlefield. His deck has reigned supreme for 4 months, and has beaten 1 deck before this episode.
Challenger Deck: Adam’s Paladin Tech deck is a mid-game paladin deck that uses Spare Parts, lots of Legendaries, and some slick spells to apply pressure quickly and ensure he has the tools to finish the game on his terms.
The Deck
Creatures
- 2x Clockwork Gnome
- 1x Ironbeak Owl
- 2x Knife Juggler
- 2x Shielded Minibot
- 2x Aldor Peacekeeper
- 2x Piloted Shredder
- 1x Loatheb
- 2x Quartermaster
- 2x Sludge Belcher
- 1x Sylvanas Windrunner
- 1x Toshley
- 1x Troggzor the Earthinator
- 1x Tirion Fordring
Spells
- 2x Equality
- 2x Muster for Battle
- 2x Consecration
- 1x Lay on Hands
Weapons
- 1x Coghammer
- 2x Truesilver Champion
Sideboard
In case you don’t have some of the ideal cards listed above, here are some easy-to-get backups you can use that keep with the same theme and strengths of the deck.
- Lord of the Arena (Replace Sylvanas, Troggzor the Earthinator)
- Acidic Swamp Ooze or Big Game Hunter (Replace Aldor Peacekeeper or Sylvanas Windrunner)
- Guardian of Kings (Replace Tirion Fordring)
The Duel!
Josh’s Perspective
Adam’s Perspective
Post-Duel Commentary
- Who won
- Obligatory bragging session
- Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
- Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
- Best moments in the matches
- The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony(tm)
Community
- No question this week — email me a question for next show!
- iTunes Reviews
Card of the Week
Farewell
- Follow Adam on Twitter
- What you want to see in future episodes
- What hosts you want to visit the show
DECK GUIDE:
Our robot overlords have arrived, and they’re surprisingly Paladins! A community champion rose up to challenge The Happy Hearthstone Deck Champion on this week’s show. Adam also took the time to put together his full list of cards and commentary to help you play his deck too!
Find out more about this deck and watch it in action in the latest episode of Happy Hearthstone!
Note from Josh: The rest of this article was written by Adam. Thanks, Adam!
Paladin Tech
This deck is all about getting high-value minions on the board to apply pressure and keep pace. Then, around mid-game, you break out all sorts of fun tricks with spells, Spare Part cards, and utility minions to seal the deal.
Creatures
2x Clockwork Gnome
This is a decent cheap creature that can trade and help you get Spare Parts that you will use on turn 6+ to combo with other cards.
1x Ironbeak Owl
Ironbeak Owl allows you to keep tempo or shut down big threats with silence. It’s important to have at least one silence card, and this is the cheapest.
2x Knife Juggler
Like Infamous says on Twitch, “Be true knife juggler, be true!” Knife Juggler combos great with Equality, which we’re definitely including.
2x Shielded Minibot
Shielded Minibot is a must-have for this deck because it needs an early minion that can stick and remove threats from Warlock Zoo decks. This lets me get into the mid-range game to win.
2x Aldor Peacekeeper
I run 2 here because I can’t run 3 or 4. Seriously, this card can take a big threat and turn it into to a cute little kitten (“It’s so FLUFFY!”). By reducing it to 1 attack, you can shut down ugly giants in Handlock decks early or swing into that taunt creature and not lose footing.
2x Piloted Shredder
BECAUSE RNG, BABY! You will truly never find this sort of random effect in any other card game. Because I don’t want to do the math, I’m gonna say you get value out of this card at least 75% of the time and the other 25% is Doomsayer. Really bad luck happens, but typically you will get a lot of value from this card.
1x Loatheb
If you’re still playing this card on turn 5 no matter what the board state is, I’m about to blow your mind.
Look at your opponent:
- If it’s a Priest, wait until there turn 9 ends to play it. They can’t pay 15 cost for Mind Control.
- If its a Rogue, yeah play this on turn 5 or sooner with Coin. I used to say wait for Gadgetzan Auctioneer, but now it’s harder to see coming.
- If it’s a Druid, wait until their turn 9, so they can’t reset the game with Tree of Life or take the game with Force of Nature + Savage Roar.
- Hunter, play it as soon as you can.
- Mage, their turn 8. Because 2x Fireball in the face hurts a lot.
- Paladin turn 8 will stop their biggest heal in Lay on Hands. Go this route if you feel you can follow it up with a win. Even if you don’t suspect that, still play it on their turn 8 to stop the Muster for Battle + Quatermaster combo
- Shaman is really weird, like Rogue, because they have no powerful late game spells. But if they tempo you, look out for the turn 8-10 with a combo of Lava burst and Crackle. If you see a Malygos go down ever, and you can’t remove it, play this card.
- Warlock has two cards to look out for: Hellfire and Shadowflame. When you have a good board, play it to stop these cards or cost them their whole turn to use them.
- Warrior, like Warlock, uses spells for board control, like Brawl on turn 4 and later. So use the same strategy as Warlock.
2x Quartermaster
This guy is awesome! It takes all your 1/1 Silver Hand Recruits from your hero power and Muster for Battle and makes them scary 3/3s!
2x Sludge Belcher
Sludge Belcher is great at slowing down an onslaught by forcing them to attack your creatures instead.
1x Sylvanas Windrunner
Can steal their big threat. ‘Nuff said. If I had a dollar for every time I dropped this on a sad yolo Ragnaros play I would have a lot of money. In fact, I’m gonna start charging people for those plays. Also, this card is great when combined with Equality because it forces 2v1 plays to go your way. I would argue this is a must-have in all Paladin decks.
1x Toshley
I LOVE SPARE PARTS! At 5/7 for 6, he can hold his own in many good trades even able to punish a solo Belcher play.
1x Troggzor the Earthinator
Any card that punishes the opponent for doing what they want to do is good in my book. Troggzor summons a 3/5 Burly Rockjaw Trogg any time they play a spell that also gains +2 attack every time a spell is cast.
1x Tirion Fordring
If you could only understand my personal struggle with this card… I love it so much and yet loathe it at the same time, because for some reason I never feel I truly get the value out of him I want. It’s hard to explain, but it’s definitely an amazing card and it deserves every second of every minute in this deck.
Spells
2x Equality
This is a very, very valuable strategic card that allows you to set up other combos such as Consecration, Sylvanas, and Knife Juggler. Every Paladin deck should run this card.
2x Muster for Battle
If Quartermaster is the “meat” of this deck, then this is a great 3 servings of potatoes. This card combos well with the rest of the deck with little to no effort. Equality + Knife Juggler late game can be just as good as a Consecration draw.
2x Consecration
Now for the controversy: this is a great card, but with this deck I would love to drop one out. Everyone knows to expect this card by now. The only reason I didn’t take one out, is because of how common Zoo Warlock and Face-punching Hunter was last season. If you find that you’re not seeing them now, post Undertaker nerf, you could take one out.
1x Lay on Hands
A big heal that isn’t a -1 card advantage? Sign me up! Because it draws you 3 cards, you actually come out with a +2 advantage. The old Yu-Gi-Oh player in me drools over this card and its overwhelming power. That being said, it comes too late in the game and most of the time is the only card you will play in turn 7 or 8.
Weapons
1x Coghammer
I have to admit I didn’t add this card until I saw it on Magic Amy’s in the meta report. Coghammer is just another card to help stop early threats from Warlock Zoo Face-punching Hunter decks. Both are so common right now that it felt good when I added it. However, I liked it too much I tried bumping it to 2. At 2, I found I had too many weapons and was replacing weapons before they expired. Needless to say, I went back to 1 and was very happy with its result.
2x Truesilver Champion
“Wait minute let me take you there.” Okay, this card is great at 4 mana and 4 attack. Those 2 charges let you clear threats and resist damage or just heal during your onslaught. I like this card for clearing minions, because you don’t take as much damage in the long run and don’t lose minions that cause a tempo change.
Final Thoughts
Some of you might have been playing decks like this for awhile. Use your Clockwork Gnomes and Toshley to gain spare parts! If you’re really lucky, the game will bless you with a time rewinder Spare Part! This will help you double-down on Quartermaster or use them more carelessly. Other Spare Parts help enhance your game, buying you turns with freeze or giving your 1/1 recruits +1 health to stay out of a Mage’s hero power. All of them are great because they help round out your curve.
Speaking of which, play the curve and hug it as close as you can, as long as you can. This deck keeps most of its minions at 6 or less attack to really keep them with a dead Big Game Hunter card in their hand, without sacrificing quality. Good luck and have fun!