OTK Ignite Mage

For the OTK to work, this deck must start with only three spells: “Sorcerer’s Gambit,” “Ignite,” and “Potion of Illusion.” However, there are fourteen minion cards that either discover or add spells to your hand. While other quest decks are primarily if not entirely composed of spells, the minions in this deck give you a more substantial board presence for added survivability and chip damage. Also, the ability to create the type of spells you need when you need them should make it easier to complete the quest—although the quest is just a perk and not necessary for you to win. 

Important additions are the six minions that tutor spells into your hand. Since the quest spell always starts in your opening hand, after the Potion of Illusion is drawn, each spell tutor is guaranteed to draw Ignite. Due to the unlimited Ignite supply, this process does not thin your deck, but you do not need to draw your entire deck for the combo to work. Also, Arcane Intellect and Cram Session spells are discoverable through your minions, giving you more draw to collect the combo pieces faster. The combo spells will be easy to gather, and you have until turn 9 to find the two minions for the combination (the deck contains two copies of each minion).

On turn 9, summon Sanctum Chandler and use Potion of Illusion to add a 1-mana 1/1 Sanctum Chandler to your hand.

On turn 10, summon Arcane Luminary to make your Ignite spell cost 1 mana, then if your opponent has killed off the first Sanctum Chandler, summon the 1/1 version. Now cast Ignite on the opponent’s face six times. Each time you cast, the Sanctum Chandler will add the upgraded Ignite to your hand, so the damage output will be 3 + 4 + 5 + 6  + 7 + 8 = 33 damage. An Ignite that has been upgraded more than once or is enhanced by spell damage will do 6 damage more per additional point of starting damage. The Aegwynn and Arcanist Dawngrasp effects combined would add an additional 30 damage, enough to overcome classes with armor.

Other Notes:

Five legendary minions occupy the last slots in this deck. One is from the core set; the others are nice to have, but are expendable if you do not have them in your collection. Even the legendary quest and the two Entrapped Sorceress minions who rely on it may be omitted if you are building a budget version of this deck. Suitable substitutions include minions that draw cards, and tradable tech minions that silence others or destroy weapons. Spice Bread Baker may even be a good inclusion, since all the discovered cards may give you a large hand. Anyway, here are the legendries and why they were included:

• Aegwynn, the Guardian — in a deck with 26 other minions, at least 14 discoverable spells and unlimited Ignites, it is hard to imagine how Aegwynn’s value could get any greater. She’s almost as good as the questline itself, but without the hassle. Thank goodness she’s a core card.

• Ras Frostwhisperer — Ras is a great way to leverage the completed questline and Aegwynn effect by turning the spell damage into board clears and face damage for your opponent every turn he remains on the board.

• Grand Magus Antonidas — the Arch mage returns! His battlecry is another win condition if you’ve pre-cleared the enemy minions off the board and have chipped your opponent’s health down to 18. You should be able to discover the activation fire spells, or just use Ignite on turns 5-7 with the spell tutor minions.

• Taelan Fordring — He is here to tutor Antonidas to your hand, and the only taunt in your deck.

• Varden Dawngrasp — He fits in nicely with the questline theme, and his enemy board freeze can easily become an enemy board clear if you happen to discover a Shattering Blast.

There are a few things to keep in mind when discovering spells besides the spell school requirements of the questline and the affordability of the spell. For example, Incanter’s Flow has very limited value. It can reduce Potion of Illusion if that’s still in your deck, meaning your OTK combo could go off on turn 9 instead of 10. If you really need an arcane spell for your questline and that’s the cheapest option, then fine. Otherwise, the discount only affects a single cast of Ignite, and it does not make Ignite zero-cost, like a mana biscuit or Hot streak would. Those two spell-discounters are essentially a free ignite cast, and are well-worth it.

Do not discover Ignite unless the one that came in the deck gets countered, Oh My Yogged, stolen or milled. You don’t want to split your Ignite upgrades between two spells.