Questing For Spells! (Cheap Spell Mage ft. Archmage Antonidas)

So many fun cheap spells this expansion! And Twinspells give you twice as many spells! This makes for a surprisingly fast Mage. This deck relies pretty heavily on board control during the early game, so you'll need to be comfortable with removing enemy minions almost immediately. Magic Dart Frog is a master of reliable minion removal. So, those should help with that.

Mulligan

(5/2/19) I'm still experimenting with this! You always want 1-2 minions in your starting hand! So far, the most reliable starting card has been Magic Dart Frog. Goodness, I cannot overstate how helpful this Frogger-looking fella has been. If you can start with one, give him at least one 1-cost or 2-cost spell to help him keep your opponent's side of the board clean. Cheaper is better. Ideal spells here would be Mirror Image, Shooting Star, Magic Trick, or Arcane Missiles (if you have faith in RNGesus). My favorite picks are usually Mirror Image or Magic Trick (especially if I has Coin). I like the former because of the protection it provides the frog. I like the latter because it gives you more cheap spells early on. Heck, if I have coin and I'm up against a fast deck, I'll coin into frog on my first turn just so I have options to get rid of enemy minions early. (Good idea? Bad idea? Not completely sure.)

If Yogg has not blessed you with the glorious Magic Dart Frog in your starting hand, you still have quite a few minions to choose from. The other minions I recommend are:

• Mana Addict. Almost always a solid pick. Keeping her alive will allow you to quickly chip away at your opponent's health during the early game or swing for a lot of damage later on. I've won games against Armor Warrior by turn four by trusting in her.
• Mana Cyclone. A newcomer! Definitely relies on spell combos, so only choose to start with this card if you have another cheap minion and a 1-cost spell.
• Sorcerer's Apprentice. An era-defining card. She's a great pick if you can keep her alive. Since most of this deck's spells cost 1 mana, she'll let you play a bunch of spells free of charge. Unfortunately, her utility makes a target. With only 2 health, try to help her out with a Mirror Image. She'll drop the cost of the card to 0, so it's an easy combo. Maybe give her some Bananas.
• Banana Buffoon. Ah, delicious Bananas. This minion will generate two of those 1-cost spells for you. He's a 3-cost minion, so he's actually a relatively slow starting minion for this deck. His fruits are nothing to scoff at, though. These cheap spells can quickly turn a Mana Addict or Questing Adventurer in a serious threat. You could also give your Mirror Image taunts some bite and instantly increase their value/board presence.

General Strategy

Basically, you want to work on converting small spells into pure value. Some of the best ways to do this include:

• Swapping them out for random spells via Mana Cyclone. Pray for some good, damaging spells to throw at your opponent.
• Smacking face with Mana Addict. You can quickly find yourself swinging for 14 damage with this card.
• Trading em for Fireballs with Archmage Antonidas. He really, really helps you close out the match. That last stretch can be difficult if your opponent has big-bodied taunt minions on the field. Having 4 Fireballs in hand changes that.
• Pay Vex Crow with spells to fill your board with cheap minions. Get Crow out there and play Mirror Image. Keep casting spells and reap the rewards.
  
• Playing like a Rogue and feeding Questing Adventurer. This is definitely my favorite option. I love Adventurer so much that I named this deck after him. I love how quickly you can make him thicc using cheap spells. Buff him, take a deep breath, swing. Rinse and repeat.

Shortcomings and Struggles

This deck's minions have next to no health, so the hardest and most important part of the early game is establishing board control. Make use of Magic Dart Frog and cheap multi-target spells like Shooting Star and Arcane Missiles to keep enemy minions at bay. To help with this goal, I added an Arcane Explosion to the deck because of the abundance of Token decks I keep running into. Even so, an enemy fond of board-clearing spells could easily stomp this deck.

Taunt decks are another struggle. They are truly the bane of my existence. If you see a Warlock play Voidcaller, you better PRAY that they don't have a Voidlord in their hand. If you don't have Fireballs in hand by that point, you might be in real danger.

If you find yourself running out of options, maybe consider choosing to keep Stargazer Luna during the mulligan phase. Typically, Arcane Intellect and Mana Cyclone should be enough to keep your hand full of fresh spells and/or cards that will give you spells. But sometimes, you just need more draw early on. Luna can help with that.

This deck has been a lot of fun for me to play! It definitely needs some work, but it's fun. I might make a Wild variant at a later point in time. I'll edit these notes as I make adjustments.