Hearthstone
Highlander Mill Mage (Saviors of Uldum edition)
- Mill Mage
- Wild
- Ranked
Changelog
Edit: 2nd December 2019. After halting play for November 2019 on the original combo-only version of this deck and instead trying a Highlander build which has been (anecdotally) much more successful on the Wild ladder, I have moved the original combo-only version across to a new deck now called Freeze Mill Mage. I will keep both updated each expansion, but FYI this version of the deck is much less susceptible to aggressive decks than the combo-only version.
Edit: 21st October 2019. I cut Zola the Gorgon and Novice Engineer for Cone of Cold and Skulking Geist.
Edit: 14th September 2019. We (almost) reached 25 upvotes but I had some spare (haha) time so I added basic play tips as promised! Next stop, 50 upvotes for more advanced play tips.
Edit: 1st September 2019. Luna's Pocket Galaxy is out. 7 Mana do nothing isn't great for this deck. I'm running a second Blizzard at the moment until I revisit the deck build.
Edit: 25th July 2019. Thanks to everyone for the awesome support on this deck.
Rewards for supporting this deck
Support reward tiers are now as follows:
- 25 upvotes: Basic play tips.
- 50 upvotes: More advanced play tips.
- 75 upvotes: I craft the entire deck golden.
- 100 upvotes: Basic video play guide.
- 500 upvotes: A comprehensive video guide, with wins on the NA Wild ladder (minimum rank 10) versus all 9 classes.
Let's give Mill Mage the love it deserves <3
What is Highlander Mill Mage?
This deck is super fun and finally helped me realise my dream of the best archetype in Hearthstone - Mill Mage. That's right, Mill Mage.
We play a Highlander deck that contains Reno Jackson, Reno the Relicologist, Kazakus, and new MVP Zephrys the Great - who also happens to be an Elemental which is what the rest of the deck is built around!
Here we go!
Complete Open the Waygate using:
- Lesser Ruby Spellstone
- Primordial Glyph
- Shimmering Tempest
- Zephrys the Great
- Kabal Courier
- Vulpera Scoundrel
- Banana Buffoon
- Steam Surger
- Kazakus
Neutralise your opponent's threats with:
While staying alive with:
Finally, when you have Open the Waygate ready to go you can play the combo:
Turn 1: Play Archmage Vargoth followed by Time Warp. Do not play any other spells. End your turn.
Turn 2: Play Molten Reflection on Archmage Vargoth and use your hero power on your opponent's face. Archmage Vargoth must be the only minion on your side of the board when you end your turn. Do not play any other spells. End your turn.
Turn 3: Play Violet Illusionist and Drakkari Enchanter. Use your hero power on your opponent's face. Play Research Project. Do not play any other spells. End your turn.
You win! Enjoy! :)
Basic play tips v2.0 (last updated 2nd December 2019)
- If you suspect your opponent is aggro at the start of the game you can choose not to keep Open the Waygate in your opening hand. Being a Highlander deck we can just out-value aggro if we live long enough.
- Always keep Ancient Mysteries. Ice Block is the only secret in the deck, and we want to draw it ASAP.
- Don't (ever) keep Archmage Vargoth, Molten Reflection, Violet Illusionist, or Drakkari Enchanter in your opening hand.
- Polymorph is for Ragnaros the Firelord or Mal'Ganis. Don't let your opponent bait you into playing it on some other minion.
- If your opponent is clearly being greedy with drawing cards, try to keep your hand as empty as possible. Once they have 8 cards in hand it's time to play Coldlight Oracles. This deck isn't called Mill Mage for nothing. We can Mill them during the game as well as at the end!
- If your opponent is at 30 health, you can play the combo and win when they have 8 cards left in their deck.
- If your opponent has no Taunts in the way, you may be able to play the combo when they have as many as 10 cards (or more) in their deck. You will be able to hit them in the face for at least 8 Damage with your 4 x Archmage Vargoths thanks to Molten Reflection.
Advanced play tips
- Unlocked at 50 upvotes
Basic video play guide
- Unlocked at 100 upvotes
Vote On This Deck!
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35- 00
- 01
- 02
- 03
- 04
- 05
- 06
- 07+
- 1 Open the Waygate x 1
- 2 Ancient Mysteries x 1
- 2 Kabal Courier x 1
- 2 Lesser Ruby Spellstone x 1
- 2 Primordial Glyph x 1
- 2 Research Project x 1
- 2 Shimmering Tempest x 1
- 3 Arcane Intellect x 1
- 3 Ice Block x 1
- 3 Volcanic Potion x 1
- 4 Kazakus x 1
- 4 Molten Reflection x 1
- 4 Polymorph x 1
- 4 Steam Surger x 1
- 4 Water Elemental x 1
- 5 Bonfire Elemental x 1
- 6 Arcanosaur x 1
- 6 Reno the Relicologist x 1
- 9 Frost Lich Jaina x 1
- 2 Questing Explorer x 1
- 2 Zephrys the Great x 1
- 3 Banana Buffoon x 1
- 3 Coldlight Oracle x 1
- 3 Drakkari Enchanter x 1
- 3 Tar Creeper x 1
- 3 Violet Illusionist x 1
- 3 Vulpera Scoundrel x 1
- 4 Archmage Vargoth x 1
- 6 Reno Jackson x 1
- 6 Skulking Geist x 1
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Comments
The new legendary spell Evocation seems like a good fit for this deck - one could do with 1-2 less random spell generators, and/or be less reliant on the elemental synergies with Lesser Ruby Spellstone.
any replace for zola?
Youthful Brewmaster?
thanks
I haven't had this much fun since I discovered Mimiron Mage
Thanks for the great deck mate!
thank you for the words of encouragement! really glad to hear you're having fun with it!
I'm still trying to get the hang of it, but my last match against an aggressive Quest Druid was quite satisfying and surprising - I didn't think I could survive that long without triggering Ice Block. Using Zola to duplicate Coldlight Oracle is great. It's also rather neat that the combo includes a card that you can also use to find the rest of the combo ie. Research Project. Lastly, I love that an opponent's Ice Block cannot save them from this combo :)
Thanks for the great feedback, it sounds like you're loving Mill Mage as much as me! Aggro is definitely a struggle but if you get a decent draw it is doable. Research Project is such a great spell. Really hoping we get another card to support this archetype next expansion.
I sometimes also have hard times to draw the combo entirely. I decided to swap out Novice Engineer and i added Cinderstorm instead. It is quite helpful if you do not draw (or you loose somehow) one of your combo pieces (except for Archmage Vargoth).
If you loose/do not draw Molten Reflection, use Zola the Gorgon on Archmage Vargoth instead.
If you want to make this deck really competitive, I'd say add the Apprentices back in and lose Poly/Galaxy. They're just so powerful in combination with Magic Trick, Ray of Frost, Bananas, Glyph, etc.
Will definitely consider that for future versions - I'm quite excited to see what support Saviors of Uldum brings. Thanks for the feedback!
I've also been toying around with Deathlord. It helps with aggro nicely and obviously helps thin your opponent's deck. I think you can easily climb to rank 5 with this version of exodia.
Awesome. I was actually thinking about a deathrattle build last night. Let me know how you go with it :)
Okay so I've tried all sorts of changes. Deathlords, Dancing Swords and even Nat the Darkfisher, but none of them really worked that well. The latest change I made though has performed well and that is to include Mana Cyclones/Evocations, and no Blizzards. Essentially, just draw and complete the quest as fast as possible. Here's a really fun game I played earlier... I managed to put the Druid to -186!
https://hsreplay.net/replay/qrGEzzFhSQqXmahfPA5suk
Very interesting. What made you cut Mad Scientist for Arcanologist? Is Sorcerer's Apprentice not worth having 2 of?
With the addition of Cyclones and extra spells aggro is less of a problem, so thinning the deck with Arcanologist vs. waiting for Mad Scientist to die (or get silenced, ignored, etc.) can be preferable. Sorcerer's Apprentice could certainly be a 2-of but I was having trouble finding cards to ditch (which is why there aren't even any Blizzards).
Makes sense. I think Ancient Mysteries may be better than both Mad Scientist and Arcanologist, thought.
I've pulled the combo off a few times, it's really hard to get all needed cards in hand though. Still fun.
Sort of. Obviously against aggro this deck will struggle, as all combo decks do. However, I have played a ton of Exodia Mage and the play style for this deck is really similar. It does take some practice.
Amazing deck! I feel bad for my oponents, those final animations must be painfull..
I don‘t own the pocket galaxy and replaced it with more draw at first but that‘s definitly not needed. A doomsayer fits perfectly though! Helps in allmost every game and i‘m even thinking about a second one. It would replace Magic trick, since it’s probably one of the weaker cards. he quest completion is never a limitating factor.