The ranked ladder is full of Paladins wearing hats, Priests riding dragons, and Shamans slinging totems. It's hard navigating the new meta that The Grand Tournament has presented, but one deck that plays well against them all, without being annoyingly common, is Tempo Mage. The Unstable Effigy Mage is a variation on that classic archetype that has everything you'll need to counter the new meta game.
 | The most refined versions of Tempo Mage has been a staple in competitive play since Flamewakers hit the scene, and The Grand Tournament gave the deck a couple new weapons to make it even more dangerous. If you're looking for a quick, fun, and powerful deck to storm the ladder, you need to give this one a spin. General Strategy The Unstable Effigy Mage is all about tempo. That means you want to be gaining a mana efficiency advantage with every single turn. You should be accomplishing more at a lower mana cost, or you won't be able to overpower your opponent. If you're required to go blow-to-blow, you won't keep up with most decks. You'll be aided in your quest for mana advantage by the game's best tempo cards. Flamecannon is an absurdly efficient removal spell. Unstable Portal gives you big plays at big discounts. Mad Scientist draws you cards and plays them for free. Sorcerer's Apprentice makes all your spells cheaper. Effigy and Mirror Entity allow you to get big bodies at a low cost. Flamewaker does damage for "free" too. Those cards are your early-game bread and butter, and should what you're looking for in the mulligan phase too. If you get a handful of 2- and 3-mana cards, you'll be set to start rolling early and carry your tempo to the late-game. |
Once you get through the first few turns, you'll still have some ammunition left to finish off your opponent thanks to Emperor Thaurissan, Archmage Antonidas, and the brand new legendary Rhonin. You should always be looking to chip away at your opponent's face while building up resources for a big Antonidas turn that gives you extra burst damage for lethal.
What Stands Out
The new cards from The Grand Tournament definitely stand out the most. Effigy is a fantastic new secret that can win games all on its own. If you're able to activate it from an Archmage Antonidas or Rhonin, it's absurdly overpowered, and it's still awfully good for any of your 5-mana or higher minions. If Effigy is automatically played from Mad Scientist, it still offers a huge tempo advantage when it accidentally hits on a 2- or 3-mana minion.
Rhonin might feel a little slow to some people, but the way this deck works in the late-game is all about building up resources for one big turn, and Rhonin does that wonderfully. He requires instant removal from opponents, and therefore loads up your hand for insane synergy with Archmage Antonidas or Flamewakers. Even though Big Game Hunter might look out of place in this deck, you can't afford to leave huge threats on the board, and he's a necessary side-effect of the current meta.
How Do You Win?
How Do You Win?
Sometimes you'll win games on sheer tempo and a scary board of early-game minions that swarmed out of control. It's more likely that you'll out-tempo your opponent through the mid-game, chipping away at their face while piecing together lethal damage from burst spells in-hand. If your opponent keeps up with you, it might be necessary to swing a huge Archmage Antonidas turn to generate the extra damage you'll need to win.
Tips and Tricks
Don't be greedy! Saving cards for maximum value isn't how you gain tempo, so don't wait to play something until its optimal time. The one exception is Archmage Antonidas, which does require more finesse when it comes to timing. Unstable Portal is usually better early than late. Remember that a turn-4 Dr. Boom is more significant than a 4-mana Dr. Boom on turn 9. You have two Flamestrikes, so don't wait to use it if you feel threatened!
Matchups
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Control: Against control-style decks, you should be able to outpace them early and snowball into a sizable advantage. If they do keep you pinned down, you can still work magic with Archmage Antonidas and put together enough damage to take out anything. You'll likely get big value from Mirror Entity in these matchups, and sometimes it's necessary to help you match up against their heftier cards. - Midrange: With midrange decks, they'll typically be a step behind you and never quite able to catch up. With efficient removal like Flamecannon, Flamewaker pings, and Frostbolt, you can get ahead early and keep pressuring for the win.
- Aggro: This deck has early-game tools to handle aggro decks, but you'll need to draw well and curve out smoothly, or they'll still overwhelm you. Flamecannon is far worse against two 2-health minions than one 4-health minion, so you can see how a swarming board becomes trouble. You'll need to claw your way through the first few turns until you can stabilize behind a Sludge Belcher and a clean-up Flamestrike. You can also attempt to race them down if you get out to a blistering start.
There are a few different ways to build Tempo Mage variations, and this deck has a few swing slots as well. Fitting in a Mirror Image would make a lot of sense because if gives you a nice little taunt wall, and also synergizes with your various spellcast effects. If you're seeing more aggressive decks, dropping the Big Game Hunter for Mirror Image could be a very helpful change.
Why You Should Care
Tempo Mage is a solid deck archetype right now, and this version is a total blast to play. It's also good enough to take you quite far on the ranked ladder! If you want something fun and fast-paced that looks a little different than the tired decks everyone else is playing, give the Unstable Effigy Mage a try.