Legend Control Mage

[zemanjaski]

It's no secret that I like unnecessarily complicated control strategies in all games. Now that I'm in my Hearthstone comfort zone, I've been playing this beauty (credit to Strifecro for the original idea) ~

[deck]Grinder Mage v2[/deck]
Class (14)
1 Flamecannon
2 Frostbolt
1 Arcane Intellect
2 Duplicate
2 Frost Barrier
2 Polymorph
2 Water Elemental
2 Flamestrike

Neutral (16)
1 Zombie Chow
1 Ironbeak Owl
2 Loothoarder
2 Mad Scientist
1 Big Game Hunter
2 Antique Healbot
2 Sludge Belcher
1 Emperor Thaurissan
1 Sylvanas Windrunner
1 Dr. Boom
1 Ragnaros the Firelord
1 Ysera
[/deck]

Cards
1 Flamecannon / 2 Frostbolt: two two mana removal isn't quite enough to stave off early pressure; you need to be able to more reliably mull to early interaction because your swing turns are big creatures (Boom) or spells (Flamestrike) which don't actually put you in a solid defensive posture, so you can't let yourself fall too far behind.

1 Arcane Intellect / 2 Duplicate / 1 Ysera: I don't think you can afford to run two Intellect in a control Mage deck this slow ~ you flirt with fatigue in each and every victory. You're also already very slow and can't draw too many cards early that don't impact the board.

Because I'm running more of an early game focus, Ysera is preferred to any other big dragon (Alex or Nefarion) as she can bury an opponent by herself once you've exhausted their resources.

2 Frost Barrier / 2 Antique Healbot / 2 Sludge Belcher: this much lifegain makes duress you up against Rogue and Hunter. Playing 2+ Sludge Belcher every game is nice.

1 Big Game Hunter / 2 Polymorph / Ironbeak Owl: classically two BGH was the norm but the three main ladder decks (Patron / Midrange Hunter / Demon Zoo) have 0-1 targets. Polymorph lets you answer problem cards Sylvanas Windrunner and Tirion Fordring. Ironbeak Owl is just a strong card and every deck has attractive targets.

1 Zombie Chow / 2 Loothoarder / 2 Mad Scientist: HS is a game of board control. Minions are the most efficient answer to other minions early, and those are all cheap 2-for-1s, giving you time to develop your mana and win with more powerful spells. Loothoarder is preferred to other options as it's quite good against weapon-classes and control decks too.

On legends: you can run the classic package with Toshley / Archmage Antonidas over Emperor / Ysera; it's a bit more proactive, but that list was more endgame focused (less early removal, two BGH, no Loothoarders) which is a bad place to be vs Hunter. The problem with Archmage is that control strategies can't leverage Fireball efficiently as removal and you don't need them as a finisher. It's not like Archmage is a strong defensive play on seven. I chose to focus more on early game, which necessitates Emperor to mobilise your hand and Ysera can singlehandedly beat Handlock and Control Warrior, without fatiguing you. Just know that there are options here though.

Flex: you can cut some amount of early game (Flamecannon, Loothoarders, Ironbeak Owl) for tech like: Explosive Sheep, Acidic Swamp Ooze (never Harrison), second BGH, Kezan Mystic or Sen'jin Shieldmasta.

Strategy and mulligans: you always just want early plays. Mad Scientist is always a keeper and Frostbolt / Flamecannon are almost always too. Water Elemental is the most expensive creature I'm comfortable keeping. Arcane Intellect and Duplicate can be kept sometimes, never Frost Barrier.

You want to trade resources from the earliest opportunity possible and efficiency isn't a huge concern; just get them off the board. Familiarise yourself with secrets; Duplicate has a bit if a learning curve. Sometimes you need to kill your own weak creature with the hero power so that they can't kill it on their turn and give you two weak creatures in hand; your main duplicate targets are Antique Healbot, Sludge Belcher and Sylvanas.

You want to hold your Polymorphs and BGH for specific cards in each matchup. For mostly everything else just trade off with creatures, even your own legends. You're just never in a rush to win because you'll always win fatigue battles, even vs control warrior - duplicate and Ysera are good like that.

Good luck!

[zemanjaski]

Been really trying out a heap of new ideas, have a few more to try yet! Sunfury really overperformed for me.

[deck]Control Mage[/deck]

[zemanjaski]

After a day of testing, the deck has been refined to the list below, and I have managed to get back over 60% winrate.

[deck]Control Mage v3[/deck]
Class (14)
2 Frostbolt
2 Arcane Intellect
1 Counterspell
2 Duplicate
1 Ice Barrier
2 Polymorph
2 Water Elemental
2 Flamestrike

Neutral (16)
1 Zombie Chow
1 Explosive Sheep
2 Mad Scientist
2 Sunfury Protector
1 Big Game Hunter
1 Defender of Argus
2 Antique Healbot
2 Sludge Belcher
1 Emperor Thaurissan
1 Sylvanas Windrunner
1 Dr. Boom
1 Ragnaros the Firelord
[/deck]

[zemanjaski]

If you're after a good ladder deck I am really strongly going to recommend this one; you've got even to good matchups vs. the most popular and best three decks. Definitely has a steep learning curve, so happy to answer questions.

[zemanjaski]

To better clarify the data:
- you're about 70% vs demon zoo, but only 25% vs. handlock. This means just assume Warlock is always zoo and mulligan appropriately, whatever you do vs. handlock won't really matter
- you're slightly favoured vs mech shaman, but midrange shaman is completely unwinnable!