Update: Brian Kibler's Grand Tournament Dragon Mage

64 Comments

1. Yuiboss August 4, 2015

   I see no fireball, maybe alexs better replace with ysera ?

   1. SirEddie64 August 4, 2015

      This is a grinder-style control mage, and a lot of them don't run fireballs because the goal of the game is to out-value your opponent and win fatigue with duplicate. Alex's effect is really strong and not really replaceable but Ysera would be the best candidate IMO

      1. Bombtrap August 6, 2015

         or Ragnaros maybe

2. Big game spitter August 5, 2015

   It works much like a control deck where Alex is pretty irreplaceable, Ysera tho could be swapped on and out with Nefarian depending on the BGH's around!!

   1. xbreqs August 16, 2015

      swapping out one of your three 8 attack minions because you're scared of bgh is a bit backwards.

3. Jhonatan August 6, 2015

   finisher like dr. Boom or athonidas?

   1. Calisis August 31, 2015

      The finishers of this deck are the high cost dragons, this deck is designed to sustain until fatigue or very close to fatigue

4. Brotein August 7, 2015

   I have been playing this deck exclusively for about 2 days now, and it is a very solid deck. It takes a lot of getting used to, and you should play it much like a grinder mage. The only issues I have encountered so far are azure drakes seeming relatively weak (because of the lack of spells), and I myself have taken out 1 Illuminator in favor of BGH. Other than that I would not change a thing, very solid deck. Props to Kibler.

5. kilominata August 8, 2015

   As long as I see this deck is amazing! funny and good control mage, but as long as I played, zoolock is the worst match up, can't win any :/

6. Deepthroat85 August 9, 2015

   I ve replaced rend for a fireball for more board ctrl but a BGH could fit well too. I ve replaced nefarian for ysera due to the presence of BGH in the meta. Ans with that this deck is really solid , you can come back from anywhere !!!

7. Abel August 15, 2015

   Awesome deck! really good job!

8. Lightbird August 16, 2015

   replaced 1 Illuminator for Big Game Hunter and Alexstrasza for Ysera (don't have the Cards) also i replaced Rend for Dr. Boom. Testing it now :).

9. Mike August 17, 2015

   This deck is NOT good against aggro. I don't care what you say will help (Sludge belcher is not a an aggro stopping card). I've played 5 aggro decks in a row and lost to all on turn 6 because this deck doesn't have **** for aggro counter.

   1. Evident August 17, 2015

      Frost Bolt and Explosive Sheep are the cards that get you to turn 5, and then Sludge Belcher carries you the rest of the way. You recover with Antique Healbot and Illuminator after that.

      1. Azaloth August 18, 2015

         You have a draw like that maybe in 1 out of 5 times!?
         And even then it's not enough sometimes.
         This deck is too slow!!

         1. Evident August 18, 2015

            That's just one example. Kibler has gotten to Rank 3 with this deck, so while it is probably not the BEST against aggro, it can still win games against it.

            Edit: I'm also not claiming this is a top tier deck. It's a quality deck, that can be likely played to legend.

   2. Nashdiesel August 19, 2015

      - 1 Polymorph
      - 1 Echo of Medivh

      + 2 Zombie Chow

   3. Rank 25 Guy August 21, 2015

      Play illuminators when you have duplicate, it will force opponent to kill the illuminaotors, and then you get even more. Plus healbots also help. Also, belchers do help, its pretty much two taunts, and a 3/5 will kill any aggro minion that attacks it

   4. DragonTooth August 31, 2015

      If you are having troubles against the Aggro Decks, try do following: Take out 1 illuminator for another explosive sheep. try get Frostbolts and explosive sheeps on your start hand if you are against aggro decks like face hunter or Zoo paladin/warlocks.

      Rend Blackhand?? Just take out that card for a BGH. BGH = low cost, most used legendaries are boom, rag, alexstraza, all are 7 attack+. Rend costs you 7 vs BGH's 3. 9 out of 10 times they have same effect ;) = BGH wins that battle. IF that wont help your aggro problem you are playing it wrong, thats for sure :)

10. chris August 19, 2015

    Illuminater is being accepted now?
    Well, healing cards are all the rage right now.

11. Thomas August 20, 2015

    Didn't he replace Echo of Medivh later on in his stream?

    1. Evident August 21, 2015

       Yeah, he replaced it with Fireball. I updated the list, thanks.

12. Zzz August 20, 2015

    Can you do an update for this list after tgt comes out?

    1. Evident August 20, 2015

       Will do!

13. Los August 21, 2015

    Are there any replacements for echo only card i dont have?

    1. Evident August 21, 2015

       Yes, he recently took out Echo of Medivh for one Fireball.

14. Dis August 21, 2015

    This deck is horribly week for a regular Arena climb. Too slow.

15. Pietro August 23, 2015

    can't beat priest. he just take control over my alex or nefarian.

    1. SEED August 31, 2015

       true

16. Roza August 23, 2015

    any replacements for alex, only card i don't have

    1. Evident August 23, 2015

       Second Antique Healbot, or Chromaggus to fill the big Dragon spot.

17. Nick August 25, 2015

    Okay so, I have all the cards for this deck and I'm keen to try it out.

    The problem is I'm terrible at this game, does anyone have any tips on playing this deck and what sort of cards I'm trying to get at the start of the game?

    1. pheno August 26, 2015

       It is a Control Deck which means your primary goal is to keep the opponent's board as clear as possible while building towards the late game where your big ass minions shine. Use the various sources of healing this deck provides (like Healbot, Illuminator etc.) to delay any kind of face pressure and use your secrets (as long as they did not pop out randomly because of Scientist) to your advantage - like duplicate for taunt minions against aggressive decks for example.

18. Dark Prince August 25, 2015

    Great deck !!!
    I swapped Nefarian for Ysera, for me works a lot better.

19. Flood August 27, 2015

    We can replace chillnaw by What ?

20. Farts August 28, 2015

    Why no Zombie Chow?

21. eh September 2, 2015

    i just built this deck and tried it out. lost 4/5 games, and im trying to figure out the whole strategy here. it feels so slow, and i've read the comments trying to discern a good starting hand from a bad one. having the majority of cards being high cost, i never seem to be able to pull out the lower cost cards, and sit with big numbers for a few turns. when i finally get something playable, it would be for example, a duplicate or efigy and a minion i probably do not want it wasted on. i'm not too knowledgeable on high tier matches, but i spend more time with my field being cleared rather than my opponents.

    1. Hemot September 4, 2015

       Running this deck without Alex and I have only lost to a warrior because I play on my smartphone and I accidently frost bolted my hero on turn 2 instead of the minion.

       Other than that this deck is funning great and is SO fun to control people with. I feel like I can feel their frustration coming through the screen. Might want to consider what you are throwing away in your opener in conjunction to what class you are playing against. Don't focus on what you can play this turn, I found it easier to allow the deck to provide me with answers to their plays and I stall out until I hit an emperor or something dumb. Last game it hit and emperor with a duplicate and lets just say the best things in life are free. :D

    2. nicklaus September 20, 2015

       i tried both dragon mage and the other one with ysera, alex , sludge is a lot better

22. norullezzz September 16, 2015

    is it possible to replace chillmaw?

23. Cantikun September 16, 2015

    My only suggestion would be remove 1 polymorph for a fireball. And try and fit ysera into the list bc chromaggus followed up by ysera is gg in most cases if not dealt with.

24. nicklaus September 20, 2015

    change effigy with ice block and ice barrier

25. Drew11232 September 21, 2015

    Been playing this deck for past couple days and climbed from rank 10 to 6 with it. It's damn good, really hard to get used to so don't give up if you keep losing!

26. Cleanliness September 23, 2015

    Anyone having trouble with aggro should know the only thing I have lost to was 1 aggro paladin and ctrl warriors. Replace 1 explosive sheep and fireball with Zombie Chow and Sunfury Protector. These simple changes made a huge difference. I haven't lost to a single mech mage yet and faced about 5 tonight. Brian was running this deck in an earlier stream and was killing it. Hope this helps you guys.

27. Tysknaden September 23, 2015

    Good against Patron Warrior.

28. StuF September 23, 2015

    I play the variation with 1 exp. sheep , lost fireball, chillmaw and bgh, added 1 sunfury, rend and the dragon that makes you use your hp as many times as mana permits

    I mulligan out all secrets, keep frostbolt, mad scientist and often a 4m dragon

    Game 1: LOSS turn 6 vs an aggro flamewalker mage. Draw gave me 2 frostbolts and an explosive sheep, but too many minions and dmg to slow down enough.

    Game 2: LOSS early end game vs midrange control mage, ' cause I couldnt answer his own effigies played on his shredders and copying my minions, not even with 2 healbots dragging me into the lategame

    Game 3: LOSS against a handlock with more heavy taunts than I have sheep. I could clear the board finally with buffed flamestrike, but had 1 life left... could clear the board a second time and bring my own taunts, but he obviously threw mal'ganis and next turn dr boom. he did run out of cards, getting closer...

    Game 4: WIN vs aggro warlock ' caus his implosions sucked and I had rend just in time followed by chromaggus that survived for three turns. very lucky victory.

    Game 5: LOSS to aggro pally caus I he could get 5 minions in play before i could put anything on the board. Could throw chillmaw at turn 7 with 1 health left and lost turn 8

    Game 6: LOSS to face hunter bringing the hounds to have full board at turn 5. I ignored his minions and went for his face until he took down mine. both below 10 health, he finished it with HP and a 4/2 boar.

    Fed up with dropping rank and switched back to main

29. JAckTR September 24, 2015

    It's just amazing to see a Mech mage mirror entities my explosive sheep

30. Bokor September 28, 2015

    I keep getting stuck between ranks 15-13. Always try to obtain frost bolts first hand but other than that It's very hit or miss.

31. Babuym October 7, 2015

    Not for the meta,weak against aggro weak against patron

    1. Drizzt October 14, 2015

       I agree, its weak against aggro, couldn't get pass rank 15

32. Paravoid October 14, 2015

    Only change I made on this deck was to take oıt Chromaggus and replace it with Dr. Balanced. It seemed like it worked pretty well because Chromaggus doesn't always live for the next round anyways, you opponent always kills it which makes the card really bad. It just becomes 8 mana 6/8 creature which is pretty bad compared to its mana. Beause of Dr. Boom always gives you the control for the bord, I would rather run him than Chromaggus.

33. Vinestyhp October 25, 2015

    This is the worst deck I've played with yet. The only thing happening is you laddering down

34. Jayson October 28, 2015

    This deck is amazing. Just went from unranked (after a long lay off) to rank 11 in a couple hours. I hadn't played ranked (or even HS) for a long time, and was just curious what a good control deck would be for the current meta, so I gave this a shot and love it.

    If you're doing bad against aggro, you probably just don't have enough experience with control decks. This deck deals amazingly with aggro if you pilot it correctly. I even removed one of the explosive sheep because I simply don't use them alot. I usually sit on the sheep for most of the game, because you have so many other ways to deal with aggro with this deck.

    The only changes I made to the current list were replace Nefarian with Ysera. and replace explosive sheep with another duplicate. Getting an early duplicate on your 4 mana dragon with taunt will completely destroy any aggro deck out there. A late game druid deck is pretty mean though, but that's the only tough match up I have with this deck (so far).

35. Clapp924 October 29, 2015

    I love this deck, i just replaced nefarian with Ysera and Chillmaw simply because i dont have it for another dupe. If you understand control decks this deck is extremely powerful, The only thing that seems to pull me down in ranked is a malygos type shaman. If you manage to get a duplicate the twilight guardian it will set you up for a easy game with the amount of damage you can pull off.

36. Johnny November 15, 2015

    I don't see how this has any chance against control warrior, its slow and then the dragons get executed.
    might be okay vs mid range or aggro, but is it worth the instant lose to C warrior?

    1. Evident November 15, 2015

       Freeze Mage doesn't have a chance against Control Warrior either, but it still gets played. It just matters how frequently you are queuing into it.

37. Balesz December 7, 2015

    If I dont have Chillmaw, can it be replaced by Rend Blackhand?

    1. Evident December 7, 2015

       I think that could work, but you might miss having the extra Dragon.

38. Balesz December 7, 2015

    And if I want to add a 6 drop, what should it be? I'm thinking about cards like Sylvanas, Emperor, or maybe another dragon.

    1. Evident December 7, 2015

       Sylvanas could work here.

39. KB9 January 6, 2016

    CAN CHILLMAW BE REPLACE WITH ALEXSTRAZAS?!

    1. Evident January 6, 2016

       It's worth a shot!

40. Mach17 January 18, 2016

    What about Rend for Chillmaw just to take out Tirion or weaker legendaries

    1. Evident January 18, 2016

       I could see that working.

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