Exodia Quest Mage Deck List Guide – February 2018

Our Exodia Mage deck list guide will teach you how to navigate through the challenging turns of this skill-intensive deck! This guide features mulligan, play, and card replacement strategies!

Introduction to Exodia Mage

Exodia Mage is a deck that borrows its name from a Yu-Gi-Oh, in which assembling the pieces of a combo results in immediate victory.

In Hearthstone, Exodia Mage has a very similar game plan. By gathering 2x Sorcerer's Apprentices, 2x Molten Reflections, and Archmage Antonidas, the deck is capable of hurling an infinite number of Fireballs at the opponent’s face.

In order to reach the Exodia turn, the deck must be able to survive the onslaught of damage coming its way. As a result, several survivability tools, such as board Freezes, Doomsayers, and defensive Secrets, are included.

The Exodia combo actually requires two turns worth of mana to pull off. To account for this, the deck takes advantage of the extra turn granted by completion of Open the Waygate. Completing the quest requires you to play six spells that did not start in your deck, so the deck runs a handful of Spell Generation cards in addition to the combo pieces and Defensive Tools.

New Frozen Throne Card Additions

With the Knights of the Frozen Throne release, [card_linkname=”Simulacrum”] offers the ability to more consistently assemble the combo by copying a Sorcerer's Apprentice that could otherwise be hiding in the bottom few cards.

Ghastly Conjurer provides another spell generation tool that also provides additional survivability. The card doesn’t quite make the cut in this list, however, due to the mana cost associated with it and the full board it can generate against decks that don’t rely on minion damage.

Update – Exodia Quest Mage – February 2018

Kobolds and Catacombs did not help this deck very much. You can consider running an Arcane Artificer in the list, but other than that there’s no big upgrades for this archetype. This deck should only really be played if you enjoy the concept, otherwise it’s going to be very difficult unless you are particularly skilled with it.

Exodia Mage Card Choices

Exodia Combo

• Open the Waygate – Despite the spell-cost reducing effects of Sorcerer's Apprentice, infinite Fireballs isn’t achievable without the extra turn the Mage quest provides. As a result, Time Warp is a necessary component to the combo.
• Sorcerer's Apprentice – To go infinite, you need four Apprentices in play at a time in order to reduce the cost of Fireball to zero.
• Molten Reflection – Unfortunately, you can’t run four copies of Sorcerer's Apprentices in your deck. Two Molten Reflections lets you clone the minion twice, effectively creating the third and fourth copies.
• Simulacrum – What’s better than four copies of Sorcerer's Apprentice? That’s right, five. Simulacrum allows for preemptive copying and the ability to play both Cabalist's Tome and Time Warp for free to finish the quest as you combo out.
• Archmage Antonidas – Uncle Tony is the source of your firepower and the last piece to the Exodia Combo.

Card Cycle

• Novice Engineer – Minion Damage is largely irrelevant in Exodia Mage, so the immediate draw from Engineer makes it superior to Loot Hoarder.
• Arcanologist – Controlled draw is insanely powerful. Arcanologists means more consistent drawing of Secrets without having to keep them in your opener.
• Arcane Intellect – An efficient draw spell for three mana. This card gets you deeper into your deck and closer to your combo.
• Coldlight Oracle – While giving your opponent cards should give you hesitation, the immediate nature of a Battlecry gives Coldlight the nod over the slower Acolyte of Pain.

Defensive Tools

• Doomsayer – At worst, Doomsayer heals for seven or wastes an opponent’s turn on removal. When you can trigger the effect, it cleans the board and sets up your card cycle turns.
• Frost Nova – Board freezes can buy you time against decks that rely on minion damage. In some cases, it can set up a Doomsayer or provide you with an extra turn to survive.
• Ice Block – With few options for interacting with the board, you’re likely going to die. Good news! Ice Block will give you an extra life or two (or three). This means another turn closer to comboing.
• Ice Barrier – For three mana, gaining eight life is pretty good. What makes it better, is being able to fetch it from Arcanologist making the card draw engine more consistent.
• Blizzard – More expensive than Frost Nova, but effectively serves the same purpose. If you can consistently Freeze opposing minions, it doesn’t matter if they survive the two damage.

Spell Generators

• Babbling Book – A turn one play that’s better in many matches than just dropping the quest. The variance of the spell generating can be rough, but frequently serves a good purpose in this deck.
• Primordial Glyph – The flexibility of this card makes it an auto include in nearly every Mage deck. In Exodia Mage, however, it also helps enable the quest.
• Cabalist's Tome – One card that grants three extra spells. If you have the time/mana to play them, you’re halfway done with the quest.

Exodia Mage Mulligan Strategy & Guide

The mulligan section into two parts – against fast decks and against slow decks. Fast decks are generally the Aggro decks (e.g. Pirate Warrior) or high tempo Midrange decks (e.g. Midrange Hunter). Slow decks are slower Midrange and Control decks.

In any matchup, you want to avoid starting the game with combo pieces. While putting together the combo is key to victory, the card you want are those that either generate spells, draw cards, or keep you alive. The deck has more than enough cycle to put the combo together by the time you have enough mana to play it.

VS FAST DECKS

Higher Priority (keep every time):

• Open the Waygate – Even against aggro decks, you still need to win the game. You won’t necessarily play this on turn one, but you should always keep it. 
• Babbling Book – Book is a better turn one play than the quest and generates a spell to get you closer to completion.
• Arcanologist – Early Arcanologists are important not only because of the body they provide, but the fact that they fetch Secrets from your deck. Secrets are important defensive tools, but you don’t want to be top decking them as the game goes on.
• Doomsayer – This card can clear a full board with Frost Nova or just halt your opponent’s development in early turns.
• Primordial Glyph– Glyph generates spells but can also find additional defensive tools. Prioritize spells that buy you time such as Frost Nova and Ice Block.
• Frost Nova – Against board-centric decks, freezing all minions can effectively buy you an extra turn, keeping you alive long enough to reach your combo turns.

Lower Priority (keep only if certain conditions are met):

• Novice Engineer – Card draw is critical to assembling the combo, but the weak body doesn’t do much against fast decks. You can keep Engineer with other defensive tools, but you’d rather have Arcanologists.
• Arcane Intellect – Similarly, Arcane Intellect doesn’t help you much against Aggro, but when facing decks that take a bit more time to develop the board, drawing cards on turn 3 is a fine play.
• Coldlight Oracle – Against hyper-aggressive decks, you really don’t want to give your opponent cards. However, with enough defensive tools, your deck can sometimes benefit from the extra cards a little more.

VS SLOW DECKS

Higher Priority (keep every time):

• Open the Waygate – Not much to say here. The quest should always be kept.
• Babbling Book – Even against slow decks, Babbling Book gives you something to do on turn one and generates a spell.
• Arcanologist – Drawing a Secret from your deck on turn two means you won’t draw it later in the game.
• Novice Engineer – While Arcanologist on turn two is still preferred, if you’re not expecting much pressure Novice is a good option.
• Primordial Glyph – Glyph is always a reasonable keep because it gets you closer to quest completion and find answers.
• Arcane Intellect – Slower decks give you more time in the early game to draw cards, so AI should be kept in these matches as a viable turn 3 play.

Lower Priority (keep only if certain conditions are met):

• Doomsayer – Against decks reliant on minion damage, Doomsayer can still be valuable but less so than in aggro matches.
• Frost Nova – Likewise, Frost Nova can halt a board full of large minions, but you don’t want it as early against slower decks.
• Coldlight Oracle – Coldlight Oracle tend to be a better keep in slower matches but giving any deck cards in the early game is never ideal.

Exodia Mage Play Strategy

Vs Aggro

Aggressive decks can lead to stressful games for an Exodia Mage player. Here, the goal is to survive as long as possible. This means that defensive tools are prioritized in the mulligan.

A Doomsayer on turn two can be an effective stall tactic. Don’t feel obligated to pair it with Frost Nova if you can find a spot to get it to trigger early. Sometimes, even healing for seven with the card is worth it.

Arcanologist can challenge early game minions and fetch an Ice Block or Ice Barrier to buy you an extra turn. The fetched Secret doesn’t need to be played on turn three, but it does give you the option to do so.

With Primordial Glyph Discovers, you want to prioritize defensive tools over card cycle. Low-cost burn spells, such as Frostbolt, can be huge finds. A third Ice Block is never a bad choice and a one mana Frost Nova gives you some flexibility in your Freeze turns.

The timing of Frost Nova is often critical. Ideally, it will be paired with a Doomsayer, but even without wiping the board, the card should buy you at least one additional turn.

In aggro matchups, you may run out of turns and have to go for the combo before you have it full assembled. This may mean relying on playable spells with Cabalist's Tome.

Vs Control

Control matchups tend to be where Exodia Mage shines. If the opponent isn’t putting out much pressure, there is more time to cycle and make progress on the quest.

Here, you want to draw cards early to dig through your deck and begin piecing together the combo. Arcanologist on turn two is still preferred because it improves your draws later on, but Novice Engineer and Arcane Intellect are helpful in these matches.

With Primordial Glyph Discovers, you want to prioritize finding more card cycling options or single-target removal. Another Arcane Intellect is great, but a Meteor or Polymorph may be more necessary.

Drawing too many cards can eventually become a liability, however. Make sure that you’re planning ahead for card cycle and Cabalist's Tome turns to avoid overdrawing and/or burning the quest reward. Alternate between adding cards to your hand and dumping them into play when you can. In matchups where board Freezing isn’t necessary, you can toss away Frost Novas to make room in your hand.

Frost Nova can still be an important card against certain decks, but you can often be more patient with it and use it in conjunction with Doomsayer. Against Jade or Token decks, you may not actually want to wipe the board if you can keep a full board of small minions frozen for multiple turns.

Exodia Mage General Tips

Below are some General Tips for piloting this deck.

• Unlike most quests, you don’t need to play Open the Waygate on turn one. Curving out with Babbling Book, into Arcanologist and Arcane Intellect is perfectly reasonable. 
• The Coin counts towards your quest completion. Make sure the quest is in play before using The Coin.
• Remember that a playable spell must be saved to generate Fireballs from Archmage Antonidas.
• The deck wants to cycle cards as quickly as possible, but hand size often becomes an issue. Keep an eye on how many cards are currently in your hand and will be in hand after a draw. Take turns to empty your hand when necessary.
• If you’re close to the combo or have it ready, don’t be afraid to let your Ice Block get popped. Especially true in situations where you run out of stall mechanics and just need a one or two more cards.
• Always know what cards are remaining in your deck. Frequently, you are guaranteed to draw into a lethal combo when there are few cards remaining.
• Remember that you draw an additional card on your Extra Turn. This can be both a benefit and a disaster. Often, it means you’re certain to finish your combo. Other times, it could mean you take Fatigue damage and lose the game.
• Do NOT play Simulacrum with Babbling Book, Novice Engineer, or Doomsayer in hand. You want to guarantee the copy on Apprentice.
• Sorcerer's Apprentices are able to attack in during the extra turn. If you don’t have the full infinite combo (i.e, short a Molten Reflection), calculate the minion damage to check for lethal.
• If you get a read your opponent may be playing Dirty Rat in their deck, hold at least one minion to protect your combo pieces.

Exodia Mage Combos

Even with the combo fully assembled, the correct sequencing is important. The section below will help you navigate through challenging combo turns.

This baseline Exodia Mage combo requires 9 mana and the quest to be completed before going in. The sequence is:

2x Sorcerer's Apprentice (4) + 1x Molten Reflection (2) + Time Warp (2) = 8 mana
END TURN
Archmage Antonidas (7) + 1x Molten Reflection (1) + ∞ Fireballs (0) = 8 mana

With a playable spell of six mana or less in hand, the quest can be completed requiring only 8 mana. The sequence here is:

2x Sorcerer's Apprentice (4) + 2x Molten Reflection (3) + Time Warp (1) = 8 mana
END TURN
Archmage Antonidas (7) + 1x Playable Spell (X) + ∞ Fireballs (0) = 7 + X mana

In situations where you’re out of turns to stall, Simulacrum enables the opportunity to complete the quest as you’re going in on the combo in a last ditch effort of sorts.

If you’ve copied a Sorcerer's Apprentice earlier in the game, the sequence is:

3x Sorcerer's Apprentice (6) + 2x Molten Reflection (1) + 1x Cabalist's Tome (0) + Generated Spells (< 3 mana TOTAL) + Time Warp (0) = 10 mana
END TURN
Archmage Antonidas (7) + 1x Playable Spell (X) + ∞ Fireballs (0) = 7 + X mana

If you haven’t copied a Sorcerer's Apprentice, the sequence would be:

1x Sorcerer's Apprentice (2) + 1x Simulacrum (2) + 2x Sorcerer's Apprentice (4) + 2x Molten Reflection (1) + 1x Cabalist's Tome (0) + Generated Spells (< 1 mana TOTAL) + Time Warp (0) = 10 mana
END TURN
Archmage Antonidas (7) + 1x Playable Spell (X) + ∞ Fireballs (0) =  7 + X mana

Exodia Mage Card Substitutions

Unfortunately, there aren’t many compromises this deck can make for the sake of budget. Both Legendaries (Open the Waygate and Archmage Antonidas) are required for the deck’s win condition. Likewise, Ice Block and Cabalist's Tome are critical to the deck’s game plan.

• If you have the quest but are lacking Archmage Antonidas, you may be able to put together the Giants Variant of the deck, which plays a little differently and may also be able to benefit from the addition of Simulacrum from Knights of the Frozen Throne.
• Simulacrum accelerates the combo and increases the consistency of the Exodia combo. While it makes the deck stronger, it can be replaced with either Ghastly Conjurer or a second Ice Barrier.
• It might be possible to get by with one Cabalist's Tome. The missing copy can be replaced with Ghastly Conjurer to help with quest completion.