What's that over there? Hah, Mage ya look. Now come back here and check out our latest review!
As always, we've handpicked these reviews from a select few local reviewers. Each review goes through our rigorous testing process, to make sure that you the consumer are only getting the absolute finest product. If you find yourself disagreeing with one review, try the next one; each has its own unique style, and we've made sure there's something for everyone, at the highest quality possible. Out Of Cards - Reviews Reimagined™.
She weeps for the stars, for they are so far from each other. She's really high.
Quote From Noxious The fourth card to be added to the game that draws any spell from your deck (the other three being Storm Chaser, Spirit of the Frog and Arcane Fletcher) and interestingly enough, the only one that just gives you the spell, without any other condition.
I reckon this minion will replace Loot Hoarder is most Mage decks from now on. It has decent stats for a 2-cost with a draw effect, and it might even draw that one spell you really need to get your win condition going. All in all, a solid card. What matters here is not necessarily the stats, but the choice Mage players are given, to pick a draw card that just gives you the top card on your deck, or one that gives you a spell you might be looking for. This variety in draw effect cards makes for more interesting choices.
"Flow like a river; full of fish" - Old Tortollan Saying
Quote From Avalon If Spell Mage is going to be a thing, it is guaranteed that this card will be a 2 of in every list. Making your entire deck cheaper by (1) for just 2 mana is a really good effect, especially if we consider that Jaina has some high costed spells like Flamestrike, Power of Creation, Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron and the new Deep Freeze. Being able to play your good stuff one turn earlier can be game winning at times and I don't have to tell you how broken mana cheating mechanics are when used in the right way. It's not over: given that this spell costs 2, it can be discovered through Magic Trick (or even Evocation) for extra discounts.
Its uses are not limited to Spell Mage: even Highlander and Combo decks can welcome such a favorable effect. Like Iksar suggested, Mage's identity of being a spellslinger class is really taking shape.
We figured out how to keep the lights on this time.
Quote From ShadowsOfSense This is a delightful little spell made all the sweeter by the recent changes to Dormant mechanics, such that you won't find yourself with an unusable minion for your troubles.
Now, as much as I like this spell personally, I should be fair and say that in reality, this probably won't see too much play outside of being generated by random effects. The effect it provides doesn't really do anything to combat what the opponent is doing; summoning a minion, while good, doesn't do much about the opponent casting spells. You'd have to be leaning heavily into a Secret Mage idea before you chose this one over one of the many other very good Mage Secrets.
That's not to say the card is bad by any means, it just isn't particularly better than any other Mage Secret. The one situation you may want to choose this is in the new archetype of Oops-All-Spells Mage, where being able to get any minion on board might be helpful. The usefulness of a random 4-Cost minion varies wildly, though, so I wouldn't anticipate it making the cut myself.
You feel like Blizzard's official flavour text is gonna have a bad time.
Quote From Noxious Crystalsong Portal called, it wants its effect back! Beautiful card for Spell Mage. Why worry about putting minions in your deck when you can just get three for the generous cost of one mana? This card effect, along with Crystalsong Portal and Omega Assembly seems to show up every 2-3 expansions, and this time, it was the Mage's turn. Great value. A card I would replace my Unstable Portal with forever. With Apexis Blast also making its debut in Ashes of Outland, there is more than enough support for Spell Mage to flourish.
Watching, waiting, commiserating.
Quote From Avalon I find the "imprisoned" mechanic to be very interesting and I'm thrilled to see all the 9 designs the devs came up with. For the regards of this specific one, it is a 3 mana 4/5, so clearly overstatted in order to compensate the slowness of the effect attached to it. The reward is pretty good: half a Flamestrike that can be triggered at best at turn 5 and can help fighting against aggressive deck quite well. What I'm concerned about is the fact that, most of the times, if you feel in danger and you want to clear the board, you want to do it immediately and not in the future. Moreover (and I guess this is be a major weakness of most imprisoned minions), if your opponent knows when your timed effect will trigger and affect the board, then he could play around it and minimize the casualties. Yeah, you'll still get a well statted minion and your opponent will have to partially hold the horses, but my question is: is it really worth it? And how much? I think the actual gameplay will give us all the answers we need, but for now all I can say for sure is that it is a really cool card and mechanic overall.
An ice so nice it gets summoned twice!
Quote From Noxious And with this card, Frost Lich Jaina is back in Wild, and she's ready to rock. I am afraid of this card. It might see a bunch of play in Standard, but I think it will have spooky developments in Wild. A freeze, plus those two beefy lifesteal Water Elementals? Be prepared to see Frost Lich Jaina on your screen every third game.
Assuming for a moment Frost Lich Jaina doesn't exist, this is still a solid card. Its mana cost "pays" for the two Water Elementals, and adds a bonus freeze effect on top. The freeze effect can come in handy, it's the elementals that make the card word playing, potentially. I'm not sure just how much play this card will see; the mana cost is a bit restrictive; 7 mana would definitely make it see more play, but that could also end up being so cheap it's overpowered. I don't expect classes like Priests to have much trouble with this spell, but it could be quite debilitating against aggro decks.
What's in the back? None of your business.
Quote From Noxious Oh, Secret Mage is gonna' love this! With this card, Secrets are no longer spells you cast and then wait a while for them to pay off. They pay off now. Not only do you get a spell for casting another, you get to discover it, which is infinitely more powerful of an effect. This minion costs only 2 mana, so you can get your value out of it as soon as turn 3, or turn 5 if you wish to do it safely. But its stats are decent as well. You're not looking to deal damage with this minion - the 2 damage there is alright, but not amazing - you're looking to keep this minion alive long enough to get value out of its effect; and on turn 2, with 3 health, there's a good chance you will.
Apexis Blast Processing: Outland does what Firelands don't.
Quote From Noxious Remember Firelands Portal? If you've got a deck with no minions, then pick this instead and save up on 2 mana. Firelands Portal saw a lot of play when it first came out. It dealt 5 damage, even to heroes, and gave you a good minion as well, making sure you're left with something on the board after spending a whopping 5 mana in one turn.
Apexis Blast does exactly the same thing. The trade-off here is simple: You keep minions out of you deck, and you get to cast this for 2 less mana, giving you room to play another powerful card on the same turn. With Spell Mage seemingly trying to make a comeback based on the cards Mage is getting in Ashes of Outlands, this card would be a staple in that archetype. Even if you don't have a spell-only deck, this card is still solid. Do not weep if you generate it from another card's effect. 5 damage for 5 mana is quite decent. It's no Fireball, but there's plenty of avenues to send your damage to.
Evocation? Just say you're a Twitch streamer.
Quote From Noxious Imagine a world where you cast Evocation, but you also have a Sorcerer's Apprentice or two. If the dice rolls in your favor, the spells Evocation grants you should at least be able to fully clear the opponent's board, and deal some face damage. Make no mistake, this card is extremely volatile. There is always a chance you will cast it and get up to 9 trash spells in you hand, when you just need a Fireball or two to finish your opponent off.
That said, this card costs a single crystal of mana and you'll surely get something out of it, be it useful or merely situational. If you have it, I don't see why you wouldn't include it in your deck. It's got great synergy with Learn Draconic. It's lovely paired up with Chenvaala. It can finish your Raid the Sky Temple for you. Dune Sculptor can trade you one temporary spell for one permanent minion! This card is like a Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron, but you get to pick a few spells out of those 10 and cast them properly.
How do you find out what she's up to? Eye Spy.
Quote From Demonxz95 This is my absolute favorite of all the Prime cards revealed so far.
A 2 mana 3/2 with Spell Damage +1 by itself is already not bad at all. Cult Sorcerer used to see quite a bit of play back in the day. It's a little weaker in its base form as a Legendary, but its Prime form is what seals it for me. If it doesn't end up being good, then it's at least still AWESOME as a card.
In her Prime form, she acts as a Yogg that doesn't screw you over. That's basically what she is, because she only casts spells on enemies (which is step forward in custom card design) wherever possible. The only bad thing she can do is cast Conjurer's Calling on an enemy minion, but even if she does that, you still have another 4 spells to cast. In the average case, she'll likely deal some burn damage, some AoE, as well as maybe some cards drawn or some Secrets cast.
I'm VERY excited to see how she performs.
Comments
Netherwind Portal makes it harder to play around Counterspell, even if you don't include it in a deck.
Bad Luck Albatross (which is super popular at the moment) will kill spell only mage. I wish the mages card text was sth like if at the start of the game there were no minions in your deck
Only Apexis Blast and Font of Power lose their bonus if albatross are shuffled, and you can still play those cards, so it won't exactly be killed. Just the same as highlander decks aren't killed by albatross, just countered a bit.
"What's that over there? Hah, Mage ya look." Reeeeeeee
Thanks to Incanter's Flow, Luna's Pocket Galaxy can be played on turn 5 if you're lucky enough in Wild.
Mage cards are solid, very solid. But that only depends on whether a minionless-mage build can rise above meme level, the same way hunters did. Two very solid cards in Apexis Blast and Font of Power works best in that archetype, and are the main reasons why you would want to play this kind of deck. Unfortunately, it will likely just stay a meme.
Both cards mentioned are very good cards, but not great. And does not substitute for cards that can be used to cover some of mage's obvious weaknesses. Another problem is the absence of any sort of win condition other than that randomly generated. So half the time you can get an Archmage Antonidas out of font and the other half you'll just be having Mana Wyrms. Its just not possible to run decks that cant even be sure of itself, which was mostly why Raid the Sky Temple just didnt work out.
Outside of that, cards like Incanter's Flow is outright broken. Imagine Alexstrasza into 1 mana Frost Nova. That's all I need to say really. Evocation is next best, being a massive reload for one turn. Play Sorcerer's Apprentice and go ham. If mage has to be about randomness, then this is the best way to do it.
Solarian Prime is absolutely insane. Playing this card presents an opportunity to just kill your opponent straight up from any life total. The spell damage is a bonus, as though you needed any more reason to play this in nearly every mage deck.