Quest Mage (with minions)

Introduction

Hey everyone! This is my theorycraft for a Spell Damage Mage with the new quest. Sorcerer's Gambit seems a little difficult to complete (frost spells are kinda underwhelming right now) and it will probably work better on a Spell only list. However, Mage has some really good minions and some of them were designed as direct support for the Spell Damage archetype. I have been playing with it for some time and the minions are always impactful.

This is a midrange deck that has burn/minion damage as a win condition. My intention with this deck is to test the consistency in completing the quest on a non-spell focused deck and to verify the possibility of the Spell Damage archetype getting rid of some of its slowest cards (like Imprisoned Phoenix) for more anti-aggro options. The quest itself demands quite a lot of spells so we can't really focus too much on minions or the quest will become too difficult to complete. So, we have to go for a quality over quantity approach. I'll talk about the role of each minion in the deck.

Minion and spell choices

We have a few value generators and discover effects that will help us complete our quest and provide removal/burn/disruption. Wand Thief is always helpful and has a lot of impact due to her low cost. We are also running Keywarden Ivory. She has a small possibility of discovering Brain Freeze for our quest but she will mostly provide a variety of different spells that can fill holes in our defense or disrupt the opponent. She almost always provides something helpful. She is also one of the cards that can corrupt Ring Toss which is one of our main survival tools. Flurry (Rank 1) has a good synergy with both cards.

Flurry also works really well with Firebrand which is one of our most important anti-aggro cards. The 4 damage from the spellburst can deal with most early game minions. Primordial Studies helps with the quest but also provides another source of spell damage for the deck. Astromancer Solarian is a good body early on and provides a win condition for longer games. We are also running Starscryer for her draw effect but the body is also a decent distraction. I decided to go for Arcane Intellect over Cram Session because of its consistency. Cram Session is usually stronger but it becomes really bad when you don't find any spell damage early on.

For our mid to late game, we have Aegwynn, the Guardian which is a good source of spell damage but her deathrattle becomes really impactful when it lands on a cheaper minion (like Wand Thief). Ras Frostwhisper is great for stopping aggro completely and it also provides direct damage that scales with spell damage. It is the most important minion for this archetype. Jandice is Jandice. Okay, Jandice Barov got nerfed (she deserved it) but getting two 5-cost minions for just 6 mana is still great and she helps fill our curve.

These are all the minions (or minion source in the case of Primordial Studies) that we can run. The rest of the deck is composed of spells to progress the quest (4 frost, 6 arcane, 4 fire). There are 4 neutral spells (not counting quest, obviously) in the deck and these are flex spots. The only other card from the new expansion that i decided to use was Fire Sale because it's a good early board clear that has the tradeable keyword which allows us to pay 1 mana to draw a different card in slower matchups.

Regarding the neutral spells, i'll give my reasons for choosing them. Mask of C'Thun is a great finisher that help clear the board in a pinch (though this isn't ideal) and Ring Toss can stall the game by providing disruption or some health (Ice Barrier). These cards are strong but they can be replaced. Fireball is also a great option for removal/burn/quest progression. Another good option for the deck is the neutral minion Venomous Scorpid which is another way of discovering spells and contesting the board early on. If i decide to cut Ring Toss then i'll probably cut Keywarden Ivory (i love this card so it's tough to do it) and Awegwynn and replace them with Fireballs and Scorpions.

Conclusion

This a pretty simple deck that has a fair way of winning games so i don't expect it to perform spectacurlaly but i have hopes that the quest will be completed consistently and it will provide enough power to the deck to burn through the competition. I do believe it will be a fun deck, at least. I really like the Spell Damage archetype. It works better in Mage than Shaman because Mage has better cards, overall (the prime, in particular, can't be compared). Shaman can have a harder time because of overload and slightly weaker cards but it is also fun to play with. It just feels good to burst the opponent with a lot of powerful spells. Good luck to everyone when opening packs and enjoy the new expansion! Thanks for reading!