Tempo Mage may be one of the most iconic Hearthstone deck archetypes ever.
Card-slinging cheap spells that control the board while being able to finish off your opponent with effective damage cards made Tempo Mage a very popular list for both casual and competitive players. But ever since the rotation of Flamewaker, the archetype slowly transformed into a very different list called Secret Mage and never managed to pick up the pace.
Luckily enough, the Rise of Shadows expansion will add insane support for Tempo Mage! Will the archetype make the comeback in a fresh and relatively weak meta game thanks to new spells minions?
- 0Elemental Evocation2
- 0Tempo Mage Theorycraft Deck List – Rise of Shadows – April 20191
- 0Tempo Mage Theorycraft Deck List – Rise of Shadows – April 20192
- 0Tempo Mage Theorycraft Deck List – Rise of Shadows – April 20192
- 0Tempo Mage Theorycraft Deck List – Rise of Shadows – April 20192
- 0Tempo Mage Theorycraft Deck List – Rise of Shadows – April 20192
- 1Arcane Missiles2
- 1Magic Trick2
- 1Ray of Frost2
- 2Magic Dart Frog2
- 2Mana Cyclone2
- 3Cinderstorm2
- 4Cosmic Anomaly2
- 4Sorcerer’s Apprentice2
- 7Archmage Antonidas1
First off, we should present the upcoming star of future Tempo Mage: Magic Dart Frog! It looks like Team 5 wanted to print a more balanced version of Flamewaker that still can snowball an early board lead. This minion looks to be much more flexible thanks to lower mana cost, making aggro matchups much more favorable, as those have been a weak spot of Tempo Mage in the past.
Board presence is new Tempo Mage’s name of the game, and not only Magic Dart Frog support that slogan. Ray of Frost looks to add flexibility by providing two different spell states. This enable Tempo Mage to push early minion damage, something that will be even more important compared to old iterations of the list.
That is why we see Rastakhan’s Spellzerker make an appearance in this list; the minion who behaves similar to Amani Berserker creates instant board pressure and provides high snowball potential.
Spell Damage may be the most valuable resource for Tempo Mage, just because it increases the potential of almost every single card in the deck. Cosmic Anomaly joins the Spell Damage package and already proved itself in numerous recent Tempo Mage iterations, buffing up cards like Shooting Star to become real board clears for an extremly low cost.
It also synergizes with a new card combination involving Elementals. First we have Mana Cyclone, one of the most hyped minions of the new Rise of Shadows set.
The possibility to fill up your hand with multiple random Mage spells in the early and mid game adds a ton of flexbility in basically every gameplay aspect, may it be burn damage or board clear capability.
Elemental Evocation complements the four elementals of the deck and can create insane tempo swings; it also serves as just another cheap spell, something that Tempo mage will never get enough of!
Magic Trick is a new one of these cheap spells. It’s not Primordial Glyph, but we can still add more effective cheap spells based on the matchup we’re facing, while being able to activate cards like Magic Dart Frog or Stargazer Luna.
Arcane Missiles, Frostbolt, Fireball, Cinderstorm together with Archmage Antonidas showcase the classic burn damage package of this deck.
The ability to control the board from the very start of the game let’s Tempo Mage save up on burn spells for the mid and late game, as that has always been the general game plan of Tempo Mage. Together with Mage classics like Sorcerer's Apprentice and Arcane Intellect, Tempo Mage should draw into its win conditions more regularly.
In total, Tempo Mage will shift towards a more board-centric playstyle that can turn the kill switch whenever it stays ahead on board. Depending on the meta, this archetype could make a splasing comeback in the first weeks of the Year of the Dragon!
“Minion damage” could mean damage dealt by minions, or it could refer to damage dealt to other minions. Mana Wyrm is an example of the former, and was typically used to “go face” early and often. Magic Dart Frog is strictly an example of the latter, with a special power that can only damage enemy minions. If you are a fan of “going face” then Magic Dart Frog is bound to disappoint you.
Taznak, you might prefer to substitute the Magic Dart Frogs with Banana Buffoons If you play a Sorceror’s Apprentice on turn 2, followed by a Banana Buffoon on turn 3, you get to go face with a 5/4 apprentice on turn 3.
“This enable Tempo Mage to push early minion damage, something that will be even more important compared to old iterations of the list.”
I agree with this assessment; tempo mage needs early minion damage, and Mana Wyrm played a powerhouse role here before its nerf.
Now, however… what kind of early game minion damage are you pushing? This list has no 1-mana minions, nor are there any good ones to include. Then for 2-drops, are you pushing early damage with… the 1/3 Dart Frog? The 2/2 Mana Cyclone? Spellzerker and Sorcerer’s Apprentice have good bodies, but hardly what I’d call worthy of an early game beatdown. None of this is meant as criticism of your list; I’m more concerned with whether the archetype is viable.
Since you need strong bodies on the board, I’d try to build this with more spell damage and spell damage synergy. Minions like Arcane Watcher and Spellbook Binder are very powerful with spell damage. To enable them, Thalnos is great in this archetype anyway, and maybe I’d add Spellshifter too.
I agree Taznak. I only see mage realistically gaining the tempo around turn 4-5, by utilizing spell power synergy & shooting star/arcane missiles.
I want to include more spell power but besides Thalnos, I’m not sure that there are enough solid spell power minions to justify arcane watcher. Spellshifter can be terrible if you’re forced into the 4/1 version against aggro.
One thing I’m certainly going to try is a frost nova build up. Maybe the archetype can thrive by focusing on early game stall/card draw, followed by mid game clear with Cosmic Anomaly & burn damage. Either way should be a very fun first few days of testing
Thalnos always has been a great tech card, and it’s even more in Tempo Mage depending on the meta.
However, I generally disagree to add more Spell Damage synergy. As Dmic006 said, Spellshifter isn’t reliable whatsoever as a minion itself.
Both Arcane Watcher and Spellbook Binder need WAY more Spell Damage to work, because the main problem as of now would be that you really can’t play them on curve to make their tempo advantage work (no SD 1-drops for Spellbook Binder, and only Thalnos as 2-drop for follow-up Arcane Watcher).
I can’t count the times playing Tempo Mage where Apprentice hit for 6-9 damage per game, the same goes for Amani Berserker. Yes, Mana Wyrm is gone, and we don’t run Amani Berserker in this list, but you have to count for the fact that loads of board removal card won’t survive the rotation as well; therefore we will be able to deal more minion damage even with weaker minions.
I think Spellbook Binder is good like Underbelly Fence is good in Thief Rogue. On curve, they’re just good bodies you can put on the board. Unlike other 2-drops, however, you’re still happy if you draw Spellbook Binder or Underbelly Fence on turn 4 or 5, because their additional power makes up for the awkwardness of playing 2-mana cards in later turns.
In the case of Arcane Watcher, it’s better to play a spell damage minion on the turn after you play the Watcher, otherwise your opponent gets two turns to kill your Spell Damage minion before you get a chance to attack with the Watcher.
I hesitate to play minions with “just good bodies” in a tempo-based deck. Almost every card in this deck should be able to build up tempo; in a vacuum, Underbelly Fence would be a perfect example for that. If Spellbook Binder would read” If you have Spell Damage, gain +1/+1″ I would instantly play it in every iteration of Tempo Mage.
But in the end, card draw doesn’t equal tempo. A great exception to the rule was Aluneth, because you only needed one card slot for infinite card draw, and that made Secret Tempo Mage an absurdly broken deck.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t try those cards out, please do! This list is a theorycraft after all, and so are you comments about it 🙂
This deck also needs Vargoth 🙂