The history of Mage

This will be an overview of important archetypes throughout the history of hearthstone. Updates are coming!

Beta:

Freeze mage

Frozen giants

Release:

Minion based mage

Secret mage

Nax

Deathrattle

GvG

Mechmage

BRM:

Flamewaker Tempo (machinegun)

Later:

No-quest Exodia, Quest Exodia, Giant Quest, Mill/Fatigue, Reno, Elemental, Aggro Freeze, Murloc, Odd, Odd Secret, C'thun, , Big Spell, Control

Some are probably missing but I find it interresting that mage has had every archetype represented, from the fastest aggro to grindy control and otk combo decks. The class has historically been weak at proactive midrange and controldecks, partly because the class had been relying on neutral minions from the midgame onwards. More reactive tempo playstyle decks have been viable several times, however, mainly because of strong secrets synergies and flexible burn spells like fireball and frost bolt.

Some archetypes have gone through big changes through expansions and nerfs, this will be explored more!