New Mage Spell - Flame Ward

Holy moly... Now that's a secret

ok secret/tempo mage is definitely a thing now.  

Don't know if this secret is going to see play in Standard immediately after the release of this new expansion (for many reasons), but it's definitely a very good card.

I mean, even the threat of the secret slows down aggro against mage.... if they flood the board, the secret kills them. If they don't flood the board the mage has more time to stabilise. Win win for mage. Tech in the card if there are a bunch of board flood decks. Solid.

This secret seems strong enough to see play in almost every mage deck until it goes out of standard. It pretty much fixes all the problems that keep explosive trap from seeing play. Most of the best minions are 3 health so explosive doesn't finish them off and you're mage so you have a hero power to clean anything up that didn't die. It also can't get activated by a weapon while there are no minions on board. Only downside is it doesn't go face but that would be broken with the amount of burn mage has.

Oh yeah that is so good, that will see lots of play for sure. Freeze mage type deck will love this, among others.

Secret/Tempo Mage is coming!!

Wow.  An incredibly good Secret.  And as it's a Common you'll be seeing this one a lot in Arena.

What? 0 mana?

Quote From CrDave

What? 0 mana?

I'm surprised no one is talking about this. This card should not cost 0 mana.

Regardless, Explosive Trap on steroids. Will give Aluneth mage in wild a good fighting chance against board-centric decks, which are its biggest weakness right now. 

Quote From FrostyFeet

My mistake, the cost dropped off when I updated the art. Fixed now.

All good. Glad the mistake wasn't on Blizzard's end because a 0 mana mage secret would've been broken.

Not sure Wild Mage can find room for this, but this Secret might fix the Mage vulnerability against Aggro.

If that proves to be true, Wild Secret Mage will be stable at t1 for the time being.

I suspect burn mages in wild would drop Potion of Polymorph in favour for Flame Ward against the mech hunters, murloc shamans and odd paladins. The potion is good against slower decks (taunts) and Big Priest, but since the latter deck plays their big threats on turn 7+, I think that countering aggressive decks would prove to be better.

https://www.vicioussyndicate.com/wild-drr/wild-matchup-winrates/

As far as standard goes - I don't see a reason why mage wouldn't want to run this in their decks. 3 is a magical number, because it can kill many 1-, 2-, 3- and sometimes even 4-drops and those are what we see from our beloved aggro decks.

Wow. I was kinda expecting a new secret for mage because of all the other sercret support, but this? This is just bonkers. Of course, when playing a tempo mage you are more concerned about your minions than your hero life at turn 3, but even then it is some good insurance. Its just the perfect answer when some opponent goes wide, making a galaxy spell turn for instance much more safe. I am very happy with this one.

It's good in the early game, but rather like Explosive Trap it's a dead draw after Turn 6 or so. Even against decks like Murloc Shaman, which tend to flood the board early, if they drop a Coldlight Seer then your 3 damage to all Minions is suddenly not a full clear.

 Don't get me wrong. It's good. Great in the right circumstances. Just not as nutso as some people are saying. 

Will this actually help Secret Mage counter Odd Paladin in Wild?

I'm a bit anxious about what the format will look like after this expac drops. 

Get your Kezan Mystic at the ready guys and gals...

Quote From Arcsun

Will this actually help Secret Mage counter Odd Paladin in Wild?

I'm a bit anxious about what the format will look like after this expac drops. 

Get your Kezan Mystic at the ready guys and gals...

Ikr? Aluneth Mage is one of my most hated decks (even when it was still in standard) and if this archtype gains a lot of popularity in wild, I might take a break from that format for a while.

Btw I would personally run either Eater of Secrets or Chief Inspector, in order to counter 3+ secrets at once.

Quote From Kovachut

Quote From Arcsun

Will this actually help Secret Mage counter Odd Paladin in Wild?

I'm a bit anxious about what the format will look like after this expac drops. 

Get your Kezan Mystic at the ready guys and gals...

Ikr? Aluneth Mage is one of my most hated decks (even when it was still in standard) and if this archtype gains a lot of popularity in wild, I might take a break from that format for a while.

Btw I would personally run either Eater of Secrets or Chief Inspector, in order to counter 3+ secrets at once.

Yeah, Secret Mage is one of those decks that treads a fine line between feeling strong and downright oppressive to play against...

Regarding Eater of Secrets etc. vs. Kezan Mystic... i think it depends on how Secret Mages play out in the new meta. In other words, will they be more strategic (one secret at a time) or just spam "?"'s everywhere lol.

Also worth noting that odd pally has access to Chief Inspector but i doubt it'll be worth it for consistency reasons

Quote From Arcsun

Also worth noting that odd pally has access to Chief Inspector but i doubt it'll be worth it for consistency reasons

Yup, I agree. If mage plays Arcane Flakmage and either a Kirin Tor Mage into a secret or just a secret, the paladin would lose its board and tempo advantage. Chief Inspector wouldn't help that much, not when Tempo Mage can spam cheap AoEs whenever it pleases.

Quote From No Author Specified

Regarding Eater of Secrets etc. vs. Kezan Mystic… i think it depends on how Secret Mages play out in the new meta. In other words, will they be more strategic (one secret at a time) or just spam "?"'s everywhere lol.

Good question, but as a control player I would prefer the prior tech just because burn mages normally spam "?"s left and right and I would be more comfortable in dealing with them at once.

Quote From Kovachut

Quote From Arcsun

Regarding Eater of Secrets etc. vs. Kezan Mystic… i think it depends on how Secret Mages play out in the new meta. In other words, will they be more strategic (one secret at a time) or just spam "?"'s everywhere lol.

 

Good question, but as a control player I would prefer the prior tech just because burn mages normally spam "?"s left and right and I would be more comfortable in dealing with them at once.

Yeah, fair point. I guess you'd use Kezan if your deck is more tempo-oriented than control.

Makes me wonder if the best way to play burn mage is to spam fewer secrets....probably?

Quote From Arcsun

Yeah, fair point. I guess you'd use Kezan if your deck is more tempo-oriented than control.

Makes me wonder if the best way to play burn mage is to spam fewer secrets....probably?

I'm not an expert, but I think against control it would be much better to spam the secrets, so that you would overwhelm the opponent in the early game and win with your threatening board and/or burn spells later on. Explosive Runes denies the opponent from summoning a taunt, Counterspell denies them from casting an AoE, Ice Block keeps your Medivh's Valets always active and the more secrets you cast, the cheaper Kabal Crystal Runner becomes.

In the next meta I suspect Burn Mage players would hold onto their secrets when facing aggro, in order to proc Arcane Flakmage's effect a bunch of times. If secret techs become very popular, mage players would play their secrets more frugally like you suspect.

Quote From Kovachut

Quote From Arcsun

Yeah, fair point. I guess you'd use Kezan if your deck is more tempo-oriented than control.

Makes me wonder if the best way to play burn mage is to spam fewer secrets....probably?

I'm not an expert, but I think against control it would be much better to spam the secrets, so that you would overwhelm the opponent in the early game and win with your threatening board and/or burn spells later on. Explosive Runes denies the opponent from summoning a taunt, Counterspell denies them from casting an AoE, Ice Block keeps your Medivh's Valets always active and the more secrets you cast, the cheaper Kabal Crystal Runner becomes.

In the next meta I suspect Burn Mage players would hold onto their secrets when facing aggro, in order to proc Arcane Flakmage's effect a bunch of times. If secret techs become very popular, mage players would play their secrets more frugally like you suspect.

Interesting analysis - I pretty much agree! I'm unsure about whether Arcane Flakmage will make the cut...perhaps as a one-of...but I imagine it will come in and out of decklists depending on the meta (I expect the same will be true of Flame Ward)

Quote From Arcsun

but I imagine it will come in and out of decklists depending on the meta (I expect the same will be true of Flame Ward)

For the time being I suspect burn mages would run both copies of this card, in order to counter odd paladin and other aggro decks (which are somewhat popular).

https://www.vicioussyndicate.com/wild-drr/wild-power-rankings/

Check the frequency score of some of the high tier decks. But you are right to think, that the 3/2 would come in and out depending on the meta. Flame Ward though, as long as there are swarm decks on the ladder, would always stay. Even as a one-of, but it would stay. The 3-damage AoE is just too good, because, like I said earlier, it can clear most 1-, 2-, 3- and even 4-drops.

Quote From Kovachut

For the time being I suspect burn mages would run both copies of this card, in order to counter odd paladin and other aggro decks (which are somewhat popular).

https://www.vicioussyndicate.com/wild-drr/wild-power-rankings/

Check the frequency score of some of the high tier decks. But you are right to think, that the 3/2 would come in and out depending on the meta. Flame Ward though, as long as there are swarm decks on the ladder, would always stay. Even as a one-of, but it would stay. The 3-damage AoE is just too good, because, like I said earlier, it can clear most 1-, 2-, 3- and even 4-drops.

Yes good point. I suppose the question remains as to whether including Arcane Flakmage and Flame Ward will add enough percentages onto the flood deck MU without harming the already favoured MU against control decks.

EDIT - what i do know is that I'm gonna hate playing against Aluneth Mage even more

Mage's Strength: Board clear

Which piece of shit gave Mage this card instead of Plague of Death

And although 3 damage is not a guaranteed clear that would be too OP for 3 mana. But with this secret in your deck it becomes much more appealing to also add the cheap aoe spells like Arcane Explosion and Shooting Star. Btw: does it stack with spell damage in the same way Explosive Runes did?

I am already afraid that 30 slots is not enough for all the aweseome cards I want to put in my deck...

Quote From Zwane

And although 3 damage is not a guaranteed clear that would be too OP for 3 mana. But with this secret in your deck it becomes much more appealing to also add the cheap aoe spells like Arcane Explosion and Shooting Star. Btw: does it stack with spell damage in the same way Explosive Runes did?

Probably yes because Explosive Trap gets + damage from spell damage. I've experienced it with Azure Drake and Bloodmage Thalnos.

I like that mage is getting cheap board clears but I hate that it's a secret. Not a big fan of secretmage in general, but at least it used to be weak against wide boards.

Well we can forget about that with Flame Ward and that new mage minion.

Good but pretty easily played around.  As always, the strength of any individual secret will depend on A) the collective strength with other secrets (how hard it is to play around, how much value is generated, etc), and B) the raw value on its own.  

Doubtful that you want to run this in a Tempo Mage list, but would be very detrimental to Aggro decks if you played it at the right moment.  

I do not think it is so easy to play around. You wait until the opponent has gone wide before you play the secret. Then opponent has to either wait with attacking face until he can buff his minions to >3, or sacrifice some. It can severely limit your options, and you will have to check for it and after the check it can still be either this one or Ice Barrier. Only weapons can check for it I think.

I am also thinking of the interaction with Knife Juggler if that random attack hits face, will the secret pop? That would be hilarious.

Quote From Zwane

I am also thinking of the interaction with Knife Juggler if that random attack hits face, will the secret pop? That would be hilarious.

That won't proc Flame Ward

But agreed, it would be funny

Quote From Zwane

I am also thinking of the interaction with Knife Juggler if that random attack hits face, will the secret pop? That would be hilarious.

Knife juggles don't count as attacks, if that's what you mean.

Yes that's what I meant. So I leave that as a feature request for Blizzard then :)

As far as secrets go, this one is playable. But I think Mage will still need more secrets if that deck wants to be a thing.