The ladder climber: Tempo mage June 2016

This isn’t an original deck, it’s one that is known to anyone that plays hearthstone but there are a few personal tweaks that I’d like to go over regarding why I think this deck has been so successful for me this season.  Now when I say successful, I’m only rank 11 currently.  However this deck pulled me up the ladder rapidly when i got stuck at 15, at one point I was 16-4 with it.  I pulled the ever popular Ethereal Conjurer out of the deck in favor of a Cabalist's Tome because the body on conjurer was far to easy to remove and five mana for one spell was rarely enough against the flood of agro I’ve been facing.  (By the way, shaman players, I’m salty)  I wanted to remove the Spellslinger but after trying several replacements I realized the body on that fit the curve too well.  

This being my first posted deck and seeing as I’ve already discredited myself by claiming my low rank, I’ll keep this simple:  You mulligan for Mana Wyrm .  If you can’t get that, hope for at least a Cult Sorcerer or a Sorcerer's Apprentice.  If you hit your drops starting by at least turn 2, it’s very tempo, much win.  Ideally you want to play your creatures on curve to start, until you control the board well enough to start removing things with spells and go for face.  

My idea of a perfect draw would play out like this, Mana Wyrm ->  Cult Sorcerer -> Flamewaker…  If you manage to get Flamewaker and either of your first two drops to stick, there’s a REALLY good chance you’ve already won.  If your opponent can’t remove Flamewaker there is almost nothing that your opponent can play that you can’t instantly remove.  If Mana Wyrm happens to stick around for a few turns, make sure he gets to spend some time on your opponent’s forehead, but play your spells first of course.  Archmage Antonidas is a nice win-con, but don’t hold him like he’s google stock, circa 1998.  If you don’t have a guaranteed plan for him based on what’s in your hand (i.e.  turn 8 Archmage > Mirror Image), don’t be afraid to throw him out there on curve just to pull some removal.  This deck has a lot of tempo cards, and honestly I’ve won more games with the Faceless Summoners and Water Elementals combined with an on-time Fireball draw than I have with any overwhelming Archmage action.

If you’re up against an agro shaman or warlock and you don’t get your 1 or 2 drop after the mulligan, I recommend conceding to save time.  If you realize you’re against a control warrior, well played, on to the next game.  This deck can beat just about everything, but we all know u just get those games where u mulligan all your 4 and 5 drops, only to pick up your 6 and 7 drops.  It happens, no deck is perfect.    

**Edit #342545 (first time doing this)**:  If you’re winning the tempo game but your opponent suddenly drops some atrocity that you can’t remove, or would have to sacrifice half your board to remove, take stock of what you have at that moment and start doing maths.  9/10 times you can just ignore the Flamewreathed….. erm… the big drop and win by going for face with what you have.  Fireball and Frostbolt are more than just removal, especially when you have some spell damage on the board.

I hope this deck helps some of my fellow lowbies climb the ladder this season or next!  I’ve got my sights on Legend, feel free to come cheer me on during my live streams at twitch.tv/Fryilluh.