But it’s not just Flamewalker - in fact, in my experience, Flamewalker isn’t even the main problem.
It’s Mozaki, Exodia Mage, and every other bulls*** OTK deck Mage has. All of them rely on 0 mana spells and all of them have the ability to prevent you from killing them, then turn around and kill you in one turn with zero set up. There is literally nothing you can do to stop it.
I’ve literally had five Mal’Ganis up, 30 health + some armour, and in one turn my opponent can go from having zero board presence to having two Sorcerer’s Apprentices and Mozaki, then kill my entire board and then deal 30+ face damage. Or summon two to three Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Antonidus, and then generate endless 0 mana Fireballs and kill me in one turn. It is absolutely absurd.
Ice Block, Frost Nova, etc. delay whatever window you have to kill them. This isn’t an engaging game experience, it’s broken solitaire and it’s precisely why everyone who doesn’t play mage absolutely detests being matched against them. 90% of my usual ladder (D5 - legend) every month is this garbage.