Mage Highrolls way too hard right now - Salt Thread

Multiplayer Discussion
1

First Game; Turn 4: Giant, coin, Sorc Apprentice, Mirror Image. Ray of Frost, Ray of Frost, Elemental Evocation, Mana Cyclone. (Turn 2 ping, Turn 3 Arcane Intellect).

Turn 4: 8/8, 3/2, 2/2, 2 0/2 taunts, Freeze Opponents board, add 5 random spells to your hand.

Next Game. Turn 1: Coin, Sorc Apprentice, Mirror Image, Mirror Image, Elemental Evocation, Mana Cyclone.

Turn 1: 3/2, 2/2, 4 0/2 taunts, add 3 random spells to your hand.
After I miraculously recover from the 2nd game (he also has turn 6 Mountain Giant Conjurers because the turn 1 higroll wasn’t enough), make a 15/8 hyena with lethal setup - Polymorph “Created by Mana Cyclone”

I finally draw Zul’jin and think I can turn the game around, he conjurer’s calling twice Rabble Bouncer into 2 Antonidas & Exotic Mountseller & Blastmaster Boom, but that was just the salt on the wound.

Maybe I’m focusing on the 10% of games too much, but right now, it feels like mage has completely insane early game turns with no drawback. I don’t mind all-in decks, but mage gets to dump their hand and add 3-5 cards back into their hand. Combine this with Conjurer’s calling value late in the game, and it just feels impossible to out-tempo or out-value them.

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2

TBF, it’s fun to play and usually doesn’t have straightforward plays/mulligan.

The RNG and highrolls though, yuck. If rogue and warrior get nerfs, then conjurer mage should have 1 too.

3

Seeing as you are playing a broken card like Zul’jin (did you know mage doesn’t have a hero card atm right?) I cannot sympathize with you.

Mage at best on a really good day is roughly the either the 5th or 6th class being played after hunter (#1 class being played on most days), warrior and druid.

Mages highly unfavored against hunter, specially due to how easy and common is to buff a hyena to broken attack so early in a match.

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4

This is a perfect time to play Explosive Trap. BTW, hunters have similar unstoppable highrolls so you aren’t exactly in position to complain about it.

5

What can Hunter do that even remotely resembles that start? Explosive Trap would tickle the Mountain Giant before he doubles himself.

6

Deadly Shot works quite well against mountain giants.

7

A hunter’s mark and explosive trap would negate most of that 7 card combo if they didn’t also have conjurer’s calling.

Explosive trap also handles the second game’s 6 card combo.

The average value of a random mage spell is fairly low right now because of all of the low cost spells they gained in this expansion. Sure, they can sometimes be really powerful, and are definitely going to be something you’ll have to deal with, but keep in mind that those spammable low cost spells can also clutter up their hand and can be dead draws if you ever get ahead.

Most classes have high roll crazy draws, Mage’s isn’t even that oppressive right now considering that by turn 4, most classes can take down a giant.

The turn 1 combo is a little tougher just because of the bodies behind taunts, but hunter has access to a great counter to it.

8

Deadly shot is good vs a single mountain giant, but not a mountain giant with multiple mirror images, mana cyclone, and apprentice on board.

I’m not even saying the matchup is unfavored for hunter. I’m just saying that mage highrolls are insane. Mage has innervate that draws cards if you have mana cyclone, combined with the potential for multiple zero mana spells as early as turn 1 on the coin.

It’s like pre-nerf aggro druid with innervate (except mage adds cards back to their hand LUL). It’s just not fun to feel like you lost on turn 1.

9

It isn’t so insane if it still can’t even reliably win the mage those games.

10

Hyena, 2 Lynxes, Animal Companion

Or just play this mage and watch how all hunters will do you.

11

I guess given how barnes is harassing wild years later this card probably won’t be changed but its an absolute braindead combo that ruins the game.

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12

i just had to face this, even as a rogue, it’s impossible to win, you just lose too much dmg and tempo to their taunts and freezes
no wonder why there’re so many mages in the high ranks

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13

I go against the popular builds to increase the challenge. I have never played mountain giant or swamp giant. Remember that these cards must be drawn, and anyone can add them to a deck. These cards are not something new and scary. The reason people freak about them now is not the copy potential. Other classes have copy potential. I think that main danger of the giants is that mage has a pop in tempo near 10. One of the cards that makes that possible is the one that summon two cost 6. It is the threat of constant doubling that makes mage dangerous now.