Value Battlecry Mage

Summary

This deck is for people that like balanced decks that need skills and thinking. It is based on tempo and outvaluing your opponent.

Advantages:

It's a "I always have a chance" deck. The discover cards makes you adapt to your opponent and still keep cards into your hand, Brann Barbe-de-Bronze improve values of discoving cards, heals, Mind Control Tech and Big Late Game cards. You can mind game your opponent by playing your dircovered cards like secrets (Vaporisation...), cards not run in any decks. You also can get high values cards like AOE, drawing spells...

• Very cheap
• No very bad match ups
• Surprise : who expect this type of deck ?
• Strong tempo
• Great value potential
• Great surviving potential (heal ; Savant fou + Bloc de glace)
• Each card has strong potential whatever the matchup
• You can gets powerful spells from
• The dream : Scarabée orné de joyaux => Effigie => Géant des montagnes T5 !
• Mage with Géant des montagnes seriously !

Drawbacks :

• Long time games
• May not resists ultra aggro
• No weapon hard counter
• Against Mill, loosing or not getting Géant des montagnes in early make you loose
• Many ways to counter aggro, but you only have 2 drawing cards to get them
• No face burst, you win by outvaluing or get back the board
• The way you use Brann Barbe-de-Bronze often makes you win or loose
• Each card has strong potential whatever the matchup, everything is your choice
• Almost no cost reduce, all is value
• No taunt at all, contrary to the "Echo Giant Mage"
• Bad luck makes you loose every matchup

Key cards:

As said earlier, every single card has a power against some types of decks, so it's the way you play them and your choices... Choices effectiveness depends on your mindgame. Scarabée orné de joyaux is the main key card cause it determine your nexts moves. It is strong cause Mage du Kirin Tor will allow you to play 2 cards on T3 (except if you choose to keep them for Géant des montagnes).

Of course the other main card is Géant des montagnes, because

• it is in no other mage deck
• it's your ultra late game win condition
• it's cause of most thinking : "Should I play this card now or keep it for the Géant des montagnes ?"

How to play this deck ?

Muligan:

Try to get mountain giant against control or middle or late decks, instead, try to get at least jewelered scarabet and a early spell (Canon lance-flammes, Éclair de givre or Torche oubliée)... Croq'zombie as it's your only T1 to counter aggro... for mage it depends if you want to keep it to counter Mirror Entity. Never keep Savant fou, cause its only role is to quickly get the Bloc de glace if needed.

The most powerful(till now) combo you can is getting Effigie from Scarabée orné de joyaux and then Géant des montagnes on turn 5 (that is really surprise any opponent).

General strategy:

Almost all games are : controlling the board of your opponent from turn 1 till turn 5. Then on turn 5 you usually got a lot of cards, so you will try to get back the board. At this point, an opponent playing mid begins to get mainly T1, T3, T4 that are less valuable than your cards, that's when tempo cards are importants. You may force your opponent to trade your battlecries (so effect and value are done) or commit face and adapt your plays to it. If getting back the board is not done around turn 7-12, it depends on the opponent type of deck (that you now know ;) ) but it's NOT a winning condition for yet. That's when you start playing your 4 late games cards freely that you can begin to push for damages with your board. You can commit whenever you want with remaining bursts, but always keep balanced your survive/make value/draw/push plays to ensure the victory, except with specials combo decks that will run out of control and allow you to push before them.

In game:

Keep in mind that your choices for the discovering are in a way improving on side of your deck (tempo, value, board or burst) so if the game run pretty balanced, these are the cards that will define your way of winning, when the other cards define your way of not loosing. Trade is not always the solution, always remember that the most valued or tempo play is the best. Don't be affraid to play your cards against aggro, neither to use Métamorphose for balanced tempo/value play. For example : Métamorphose on Déchiqueteur piloté or Empereur Thaurissan may be good, but less on no aggressives cards.

Sometimes, doing nothing is the better play cause you are not hurry, a card in your hand is potential value, even when the opponent has the board, even if it is blast, even if you have drawing cards. Importants things are :

• Am I going to die ?
• Will I overdraw, if the opponent playing mill
• Will I reach fatigue before my opponent

Commentary

What can I remplace ?

• Favori de la foule => Déchiqueteur piloté
• Mage du Kirin Tor => Déchiqueteur piloté
• Mage du Kirin Tor => Prophète du Cercle terrestre
• Dr Boum => Archimage Antonidas
• Dr Boum => Baron Geddon (Untested)
• Nefarian => Any Big Guy You Want YEAH !
• Nefarian => Alexstrasza (Untested)

• Portail instable => It's good but no onboard early combo with playing spell effect, so early spells are control ones... but it's a another card in your hand. This randomness can unbalance the deck.
• Jette-sorts => As before : no onboard early with playing spell effect, outvaluing your opponent by giving him solutions ?
• Écho de Medivh => You almost never have a board, even get a single Géant des montagnes
works 1 time in 100... it's just not good, you can get it or better (Dupliquer) from the 4 discover cards. I never played Nefarian yet, and its impact is random... so I am for disgust about it running in the deck ;)
• Chasseur de gros gibier => it is a battlecry that do not combo with Brann Barbe-de-Bronze, it is often usefull cause you can play it against aggro to get/trade the board, but you need late high control cards in your hand to lower your Géant des montagnes cost. Moreover your do have potential 3 Boule de feu and 2 Métamorphose that control big late game card, but are more polyvalent and can carry middle game.
• Statue sinistre => Not bad but may replace more valuable card
• Araignée des tombes => It's a fun discover/battlecry deck, but not at this point
• Rhonin => Not any spell power, so no
• Chromaggus => I think it is truelly worth, but in some cases you may overdraw important cards ; and because your late game cards are there to make you win, and not to improve value, moreover if you play it, you may have already won by tempo, or be so late that it effect will not even occured... try it and tell me ;)
• Champion du Nexus Saraad => I don't have it... try it and tell me ;)
• Frissegueule => try it and tell me ;)
• Ragnaros, seigneur du feu => that's a big guy ;)
• Ysera => This card always place another card in your hand, so yeah OP