Super interesting that quest mage isn't on the top 1% - I wonder if that means it'll avoid the balance changes. Aggro Hunter sitting at 57% seems oppressive
Speaking as someone who mainlines Mage (in standard), I can see the calls for nerfs to Incanter's Flow, but, to be honest, dropping it early doesn't win as many games as you might think. Its real payoff is in the late game when you can draw a helluva lot of cards off of Cram Session. Nerf it to 3 mana, or even 4, and it'll still pay those late game dividends, and might even fit nicely with mid-game Arcane spell curve. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see it nerfed because this is the first time in forever I've felt like mage was competitive.
The only times that Incanter's Flow seems to make or break the game is in the mirror match. But in that case it's also who can drop a Primordial Studies followed by Brain Freeze fastest.
Hadbuff seems to really take off around D7 and up. On my grind up (as quest mage) I basically faced none that were a problem until then, at which point it was all Cult Neophyte, Robes of Protection, and Battleground Battlemaster combo wombos
If you're running into a lot of problems with mage, run Robes of Protection. Hard mulligan for it, if necessary. I've had a dozen games as mage get completely shut out by a single one of those, as quest mage (at least the no spell version) has exactly zero counters for it.
Yeah, Hot Streak is hot garbage. I've found that I'm most consistently getting frost spells off of the various discover options. Fire Sale seems to help quite a bit by being tradeable.
So, just opened my 125 United in Stormwind packs, and, I gotta say, I'm hella disappointed. Stat dump below:
Packs: 125
Total Cards: 625
Rarity Breakdown
Common: 453
Rare: 139
Epic: 29
Legendary: 4
Total dust value: 11030
Average Dust / Pack: 88.24
Average Dust / Card: 17.65
Compare and Contrast with Forged in the Barrens:
Packs: 127
Total Cards: 635
Rarity Breakdown
Common: 453
Rare: 145
Epic: 30
Legendary: 7
Total dust value: 12530
Average Dust / Pack: 98.66
Average Dust / Card: 19.73
I'm sure this all falls within statistical norms, but lowrolling Legendaries sucks (one was literally the 40th pack after the previous one). A ~10% decrease on average dust value is a bummer. Plus only one legendary (Raid the Docks) was on my wishlist.
I'm going to get the rewards track packs and use gold on new ones until I hit my next legendary (it's been 30 packs since the last, so it'll be quickish) and then start saving up for the next expansion.
Finished at level 228 w/Tavern Pass. I'm debating whether or not to get this one. I don't care about the cosmetics this time round, but I do like getting a fair bit more gold for packs.
I've got 3 packs from Ranked rewards and 12200 gold burning a hole in my pocket... 125 packs at launch here I come! (My previous all-time high for total packs during an expansion was 127 with Forged, so I'm pretty pleased with this total)
Now to make sure my Pity Tracker excel spreadsheet is ready...
Omg! Thanks for the shout out! I guess my time as a textbook editor (almost) paid off! Gotta study the winner for tips, and maybe 'll get my first mega bundle next time...
Tying the giveaway to deckbuilding/theorycrafting gets a big 10/10 from me. It prompted me to make my first theorycraft deck, write my first deck guide, and participate way more than liking/commenting on every card. Plus, having a combination of random draw (for those who want to just do the basics) and a curated/judged winner (for those who really want to go all out) seems really cool to me.
Good work, and good luck everyone! (Though I want to take some of your luck for myself)
Well, hopefully you do, too. I love playing Mage, and this deck is here to get you a complete quest by the midgame so that you've got plenty of time to go face with +3 Spell Damage. Check it out, and good luck to all!
Having not really played Warcraft since Warcraft 2, I found the stories mostly baffling.
"When I was a kid, Azeroth was the name of a kingdom and Orcs were always green. What's a dragonflight? What are you doing on my lawn?!"
very glad that my quest mage isn't the Autioneer version
Super interesting that quest mage isn't on the top 1% - I wonder if that means it'll avoid the balance changes. Aggro Hunter sitting at 57% seems oppressive
Speaking as someone who mainlines Mage (in standard), I can see the calls for nerfs to Incanter's Flow, but, to be honest, dropping it early doesn't win as many games as you might think. Its real payoff is in the late game when you can draw a helluva lot of cards off of Cram Session. Nerf it to 3 mana, or even 4, and it'll still pay those late game dividends, and might even fit nicely with mid-game Arcane spell curve. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see it nerfed because this is the first time in forever I've felt like mage was competitive.
The only times that Incanter's Flow seems to make or break the game is in the mirror match. But in that case it's also who can drop a Primordial Studies followed by Brain Freeze fastest.
Hadbuff seems to really take off around D7 and up. On my grind up (as quest mage) I basically faced none that were a problem until then, at which point it was all Cult Neophyte, Robes of Protection, and Battleground Battlemaster combo wombos
If you're running into a lot of problems with mage, run Robes of Protection. Hard mulligan for it, if necessary. I've had a dozen games as mage get completely shut out by a single one of those, as quest mage (at least the no spell version) has exactly zero counters for it.
Rough! I got Final Showdown from the RT, too...
Thanks for the feedback!
Yeah, Hot Streak is hot garbage. I've found that I'm most consistently getting frost spells off of the various discover options. Fire Sale seems to help quite a bit by being tradeable.
I was counting on winning the deck building to get the preorder bundle. Last time I bought cards was Karazhan.
Dang! That's... improbable. Nice one.
So, just opened my 125 United in Stormwind packs, and, I gotta say, I'm hella disappointed. Stat dump below:
Compare and Contrast with Forged in the Barrens:
I'm sure this all falls within statistical norms, but lowrolling Legendaries sucks (one was literally the 40th pack after the previous one). A ~10% decrease on average dust value is a bummer. Plus only one legendary (Raid the Docks) was on my wishlist.
I'm going to get the rewards track packs and use gold on new ones until I hit my next legendary (it's been 30 packs since the last, so it'll be quickish) and then start saving up for the next expansion.
Rant over. Thanks for listening.
Finished at level 228 w/Tavern Pass. I'm debating whether or not to get this one. I don't care about the cosmetics this time round, but I do like getting a fair bit more gold for packs.
I've got 3 packs from Ranked rewards and 12200 gold burning a hole in my pocket... 125 packs at launch here I come! (My previous all-time high for total packs during an expansion was 127 with Forged, so I'm pretty pleased with this total)
Now to make sure my Pity Tracker excel spreadsheet is ready...
Better catch up then, I've already theorycrafted for keywords that blizzard hasn't even thought up yet.
The gameplan vs control is gold
Right?
Now we have to battle for top mage guide
Omg! Thanks for the shout out! I guess my time as a textbook editor (almost) paid off! Gotta study the winner for tips, and maybe 'll get my first mega bundle next time...
Seriously, super fun competition. 10/10
Congrats to the winners!
If you're looking to cut Flurry (Rank 1) it might be worth dropping in Arcanologist to tutor for the Ice Barriers. Between Runed Orb, Venomous Scorpid, and completing Step 2 of the quest you've got 5 chances to discover another frost spell.
Tying the giveaway to deckbuilding/theorycrafting gets a big 10/10 from me. It prompted me to make my first theorycraft deck, write my first deck guide, and participate way more than liking/commenting on every card. Plus, having a combination of random draw (for those who want to just do the basics) and a curated/judged winner (for those who really want to go all out) seems really cool to me.
Good work, and good luck everyone! (Though I want to take some of your luck for myself)
Who wants some Spell/Quest Mage? Me!
Well, hopefully you do, too. I love playing Mage, and this deck is here to get you a complete quest by the midgame so that you've got plenty of time to go face with +3 Spell Damage. Check it out, and good luck to all!