Mage Nerf Post-Mortem

The first class I played in Hearthstone was the mage. This was mostly due to the fact that this is what I learned in the tutorial and I didn’t wish to stray too far from what I knew in order to learn how the game actually worked. Over time, I developed countless variations of decks for the mage: Spell Damage, Minionless, Aggro, and good-old Freeze Control. I was a big fan of the class and despite all the gripes the community had, I would still lose at a normal rate and win at a normal rate for master’s level ranking.

The Mage class caught a lot of heat in November last year, and the community started to cry out angrily. Their concerns were quite valid, though. Freeze effects are difficult to overcome. Heck, I utilized them because of that fact. It was my way of keeping the ball in my court until I was ready to play. It helped clear swaths of low level minions too. That is, if I was lucky enough to have the right spells in my hand. They were right, though. I had no fear doing this. I did play other classes, but mage was the class I’d relax and play because the cards were either in my favor or they weren’t.

December last year, Blizzard decided the community was correct. They realized that the freeze dynamic is just too frustrating to every other class and that it hurt build diversity. They were correct, too. How did those changes affect the mage class, though? Did Blizzard go too far, or not far enough?

The Changes

A large number of people who are currently playing the game came in after the changes due to the open beta. I’m sure most of those readers are curious to hear what those changes were, so here they are:

Frost Nova

Frost Nova’s mana cost was increased from 2 to 3.

Frost Nova was a wonderful way to hold off damage for a while so you can draw another card or gain another mana crystal for your next turn. Its entire intent is to keep you alive just that much longer, stopping your opponent from steamrolling you. For that, it did its job. However, Blizzard felt the cost of Frost Nova in November was too low. It allowed for a player to both Frost Nova and Pyroblast in the same turn, at that time.

Cone of Cold

Cone of Cold’s mana cost was increased from 3 to 4

Cone of Cold was an excellent situational spell. When there are three minions on the board, it freezes the entire board down. However, it also pings minions for 1 damage. This allowed the Mage to clear away groups of enemies that were almost dead. If mana sufficed, the mage could even drop a Kobold Geomancer or a Bloodmage Thalnos prior to the Cone of Cold and increase the potency, making it a possible clear spell. The downside to this spell, though, is that it only affects three adjacent minions. Nonetheless, the damage component along with the freeze locked down damage enough that Blizzard felt it was harming the game.

Blizzard

Blizzard’s mana cost was increased from 5 to 6

Blizzard is a nasty spell to play around. Not only does it freeze every minion, but it also damages them for 2 damage. For a mid-game board clear, this was more than enough to cause frustration amongst players as there was no way to stop it. Afterall, the only counter to mage spells is a mage spell called Counterspell. Blizzard felt that the spell Blizzard was too easy to cast so soon and left plenty of mana left over for the late game.

Pyroblast

Pyroblast had its mana cost increased from 8 to 10

Pyroblast is the least mana-efficient spell in the mage’s arsenal. For 8 mana it hit for 10 damage. That’s a 1.25 damage to mana ratio. Frostbolt and Fireball both have a 1.5 mana ratio, and if you have two fireballs in your hand, you used to be able to cast both and do more damage than a single pyroblast. But the problem people see with Pyroblast, even today, is that it forces the opponent to stay above 10 health by turn 8. Many play styles are ruled out because of this. Factor in the fact that Ice Block can allow a low-health mage to cast Pyroblast without fear of recourse next turn, and that two Ice Blocks and a Frost Nova meant that you could also cast two Pyroblast without fear, and I could see how it’s a mite frustrating. Blizzard did, too, and now Pyroblast has an even worse ratio and cannot even be cast until turn 10.

The “Mage Meta”

So what brought about all of this change? To understand that, you have to understand the history of the meta game during closed beta. For a very long time, aggro decks were pretty much the only way to go. This was because of a lot of factors. People didn’t have so many cards, for one. Mind Control was 8 mana, rendering most legendaries rather risky, anyway. Also, players could buff their cards pretty nastily with low cost cards like Shattered Sun Cleric and Dark Iron Dwarf. These cards really drove the metagame towards aggro decks.

The problem with an unbalanced meta is that it just winds up screwing everyone. If everyone is aggro, then there’s really not a big difference between the decks is there? Your aggro deck may be able to stomp any control deck, but what good is it against another aggro deck? At that point, you’re really looking at a coin-flip scenario for most players. And that, my friends, is not fun.

So along comes the mage, full of spells with low cost, that freeze and eventually wipe out entire swaths of low level minions, with little to no fear of recourse on their part. Well shucks, it sounds like a winner! So the freeze mage became the new meta. For every person who moaned about them on the forums, there was many more players actually playing a mage for the sole purpose of beating those who were whining about them.

Like I said, though, the problem with any unbalanced meta is that it just winds up hurting everyone. Mage versus mage battles were common, and often a toss up. Legendaries were still useless because everyone played a mage so they’d freeze them or save their silence minions to silence them if need be. Their spells go past taunts, meaning they didn’t even have to worry about that mechanic. Both standard control decks and standard aggro decks were left dead in the water most of the time, and that’s just not fun. Something needed to be done about the mage class.

Balanced or Underpowered?

With any nerf, you really have to look at what it’s done for the game first. I have not seen so many decks and play styles during closed beta as I do now during open beta. It’s not just because there’s new players, either. Top players are experimenting and changing what they do. The game itself is really well balanced. Sure there’s a bit too many of this deck or another for now, but that’s more of a trend than an unbalanced meta.

This is the healthiest the game has been since I started playing… except… where are all the mages? A class that I used to not go 4 games without seeing one, I now go 20 games and am shocked to see one. And when I do, I’m not really as worried as I am with Hunters, Druids, or Warriors… or Warlocks, or Paladins, or Rogues, or Priests. I see a mage and I just wonder what he’s going to do, hoping it’ll be some new innovative deck I hadn’t seen or thought of yet. It never is. And that’s not exactly a good thing.

So why is this happening? Well there’s a few reasons I think mages are disappearing from the landscape…

Lack of Minion Synergy

Blizzard has made it abundantly clear that they want people to play minions more than anything. They want the management of the board to be the game. I can see why, too; it’s a lot of fun. But mages are really weak in this department. They have no ability to buff mobs at all. In a game surrounding the value of minions, this seems kinda important. Sure you can freeze those Molten Giants that now have Defender of Argus buff on them, but that’s only for one turn and it’s not really going to control them for long. Sure that’s an extreme example, but I’m trying to point out how freeze is a rather temporary solution to big problems. Minions force clearing, especially taunt minions. Freeze does not. And even if it did, this leaves the mage in a very weak place in the early stage of the game because Frost Nova now takes an entire turn-three’s worth of mana just to cast it. That’s rough.

On Minion Strength

Mage minions can seem rather lackluster except for the Mana Wyrm, which is still a great opening play with The Coin. They tend to be very situational or do not survive very long on their own. The Kirin Tor Mage gives the mage a mana-free secret and he’s reasonably strong on his own, but you can’t really wait until you get a secret in your hand to drop a minion like that on the board sometimes. If you have no secrets, well you’re just getting a 4/3 for 3 mana. Is that a bad thing? No, it’s the drawback of the card. Sorcerer’s Apprentice is fantastic… so long as it’s alive. Nothing says “kill me first” more than something which makes a spell-driven class’s spells cost less. Ethereal Arcanist is amazing when you can pull it off for two turns and especially if you’re sitting on an Ice Block. That’s why he almost never survives. And the Water Elemental is situationally extremely useful, especially against heroes with weapons and when given taunt. Plus 3/6 for 4 is pretty good.

I don’t want you to think that I’m saying mage minions are bad, but for the most part they’re spell-oriented. Which makes sense… except that they don’t survive very well without the mage’s support. If the mage is using spells to support his minions which do not stand strong to attack, but those minions are mostly there to synergize with his spells, then we have an ouroboros of a problem.

Side note: What strikes me most is that for a class which loves damaging spells so much, why don’t mages have any minions which give a bonus to spell damage? Hmmm…

Pyroblast

Honestly, this spell is still useful… but instead of keeping two in my decks, I now only keep one around. Maybe that’s how it should be. Either way, I have to have a really compelling reason to cast it, because that ratio is awful and that bang isn’t quite big enough to make me feel like it’s worth wasting an entire turn and leaving myself wide open. That’s just me, though…

What’s Still Wrong

A lot of the benefits to a mage have been severely lessened. If you look at their presence at the highest ranks, they’re just not anywhere to be seen. It’s rare to find a mage past rank 15 these days and people are fleeing from the class in droves. Sure, they’re still pretty tough in the lower ranks, mostly because those ranks lack the cards and decklists to handle mages well, but it goes downhill fast. All of this can be fixed.

Here’s some things that really turn me off about mages at this point:

• Mages have a single card for draw, Arcane Intellect, and that only nets a draw of one card and costs three mana. While it does cycle the deck faster, that’s not sufficient draw.
• They seem to lack board presence by design.
• Spells are often used for removal now, which is a really inefficient use of mana.
• Mages are really only efficient with +spell damage or Sorcerer’s Apprentice, neither of which they can keep on the board long enough to make a difference.
• Mage secrets cost three mana and take up a card spot. Yes, you can make a secrets deck, but you’ll be struggling for mana, card draw, and damage output. This makes most secrets decks feel inconsistent.

Alright, Now What?

So the nerfs are in, what’s the result? I can’t back this up with data, but I feel like they’re not being played as much as other classes. Part of this could be a major adjustment period, and part of it could be that the class might be a bit on the risky side considering the cost of their control spells. Either way, mages aren’t what they used to be. They’re still viable, though. Here’s some build ideas you could consider giving a whirl.

Spell Mage - Redux

So spell mages are mages which cast spells almost entirely. The problem now is that it is not exactly the easiest thing to do since the freeze spells have all been rebalanced. It’s still possible, though. Remember, your hardest part in this build will be before turn 6, so just plan around that.

Standard Aggro

Why not go back to old-fashioned aggro decks? I mean, the meta has changed, so it’s more fun now. You might want to drop your expensive stuff and focus on all the cheap things mages can do early in the game. Mirror Image, Frost Bolt->Ice Lance combos, Arcane Missles, and loads of tiny creatures to fill up that board. Sure you can’t buff these little guys, but maybe you can buy them some time to do a lot of damage.

Standard Control

They nerfed freeze, so maybe you should just drop a taunt like everyone else. Stack up those high value cards and really delay until you can lay a whopper of a legendary and clobber your opponent with some wicked spells. Just keep your health up enough to make a difference.

Giants Deck

The mage giants deck is still viable pretty high. It requires that you stick two Molten Giants and two Mountain Giants, maybe a Ragnaros and Archmage Antonidas for good measure. Now just keep yourself alive until you can drop these low cost, high value giants on the dance floor and serve your opponent. Totally works, and it’s pretty fun, though it depends on you getting those giants in your hand early. Just make sure you load up on loads of card draw.

So … How is the Mage, Really?

Honestly, the mage might need a little more work. It’s not a terrible class, by any means. I just am not convinced it’s where it needs to be for competitive play. Again, it’s not that the nerfs should be undone, but something should be done to help mages work better with this new paradigm of minion-driven battles. If that’s the direction Blizzard wants to force all classes to go, then mages feel like they lack something in that department. Nonetheless, it’s still fun to drop a Malygos and nuke the opponent into oblivion. Try it sometime!