New Mage Minion - Balinda Stonehearth

Alright, now we're getting into something. Sure, this is slow...very slow even and it discourages you from running small spells, which is...less than ideal considering how Mage doesn't have very good minions (yet), but the fact that you can now build a dedicated Big Spell deck is already enough in my opinion.

If you draw the Tower you're gonna have a good time for the next 3 turns. Deep Freeze only targets enemies and is therefore great for tempo. Mask of C'Thun is also great. I'm assuming we're getting at least one more big spell to really have this all come together, + the potential of the Hero card, as well as potentially useful minions.

On the other hand this makes me question if Big Spell Mage (in this form) is a good idea. It's not going to be a control deck like in the past and it'll heavily rely on getting a big swing fast before it inevitably loses the board (like Hero Power Mage does).

If this can slow down Mages' build and favor bigger spells, I wouldn't be mad - like at all

If you can reasonably build a Mage deck that only has 7+ cost spells, this is insane. I'm lukewarm on the archetype for this expansion, but hoping to be surprised.

Quite the interesting effect that I'm sure will see lots of experimentation, especially the possibilities with Potion of Illusion. Obviously meant for a big spell mage where you want to reduce the spells to 5 and increase the minion stats to 6+. Least we know the maximum this legendary's stats can be are 10/10. 

Only down side is running a bunch of 5 cost spells, which big mage would need to do, so this would effectively just draw 2 spells, which isn't terrible either. 

Another Big Spell activator card. It's good, since many of the big spell activator cards require you to have them in hand, but I feel like we need more great big spells for it to really come together. If it does, this will definitely be in the deck though.

Alright for Big Spell Mage, but seems incredibly slow. This does tutor spells, but Mage already has that with Deepwater Evoker. This might fit in if the deck still has an open spot, but might not make the cut.

OK, I'm ready to see the new big spells now. Tower doesn't count.

Big Spell support, and it's pretty good. I feel like there still aren't enough Big Spells in Standard to make a really good deck (in fact, it feels like there are more cards that care about Big Spells than there are Big Spells), but drawing two spells is a good deal especially if you're only running Big'uns (for to make her stats bigger). I assume if she draws double Hot Streak she dies?

Arena: 6 mana draw 2 with a body can be good. With some luck the body doesn't even suck. What would be worse than a terrible body is having your cheaper spells costing 5 mana all of a sudden.

Constructed: Balinda Stonehearth alongside Magister Dawngrasp, Iceblood Tower and Rune of the Archmage is a deck builders galore for Big Spell Mage! Please, let it be viable!

This is so far my personal favorite underdog card. I'm dying to see this one work. What works against it is a complete reliance on early game minions or some very less-occuring spell that you are ok taking a stat loss with. But oh my, oh my, Wouldnt it be fun to cast a 5 mana Iceblood Tower and see the fireworks go off.... That's the dream and if the meta is slow enough it might be real. In Arena avoid at all cost- it means your picks get worse by one card you aren't even sure to pull. (No thank you to 6 mana 1/3 draw 2, make those cards bad...)

This will be a deck people play just for the fun factor which is awesome.

So it draws 2 spells, Naga Sand Witches those 2 spells AND turns their original costs into stats?!? Thats GREAT... if the board matters again. But still Balinda Stonehearth is a core card in Big Spell mage. Without her the archetype becomes a lot less reliable. if you want to play big spell mage, you MUST have Balinda Stonehearth in order to make the deck more reliable.

Big Mage support, which is kinda scary given that you could take a 6+ mana cost spell and bring it down to 5 is pretty cool

Obvious support for big spell Mage, since it would suck if you drew anything that costs 5 or less. Would still kinda suck if the spell cost less than 7. I assume 1 spell's cost is swapped with the attack and the other is swapped with the health.

It'll be a big girl and you'll draw two spells, which allows you to curve out of this later.

Is there really a doubt if theres a big spell deck, this will be in it? The only downside is that you can't play small spells, which Im counting as a plus, because I dont really want to ever see quest mage ever again.

A good start. But more is needed if big spell mage is to make center stage.

6 mana 10/10 draw 2 cards and cheat out 10 mana over the next 2 turns. Amazing.

Stonehearth.  Hearthstone?  Belinda is illuminati confirmed! :D But seriously great big spell support.

I wish for her to be at least ok (even though I used to kill her thousands of times in actual AV) - on paper Big Spell Mage looks more than ok but in practice, we'll need to find out. 

Draw two 5 cost spells and leave a 7/7 (at least, but maybe better) body. Very powerful imho

I really like this one. It makes the possibility of at least one very impactful minion play before you start with big spells. Also, she helps make it so that you have some of those big spells to play. Presuming you start at the 7 mana slot for your spells she will be 6 mana 7/7 at worst and often have 8's or 9's in those spots instead.

Maybe a followup Celestial Ink Set into one of the now 5 and 0 Cost spells might be the swing turn that actually makes Big Spell Mage work, but I'm not too hopeful overall.

Does Mage have the minions to run only big spells? I'm not completely convinced, but this is the kind of card that makes me want to try it out.

This goes into the new Big Spells Mage deck of course. Hopefully it will be good enough to draw Mage players away from playing (boring) Ignite decks in Wild.

Not sure how reliable this will be, or if big spell Mage will be any good, but it's certainly an interesting card design.