Welcome to my Midrange Secret Mage deck guide.

This guide features a powerful Mage build that excels at tempo play while maintaining card advantage; there are very few classes capable of doing both in the same deck. While the crafting cost of 5640 may seem daunting to newer players; there are several effective card swaps included to bring the cost down for those of you looking to complete quests, or add a new class to your lineup.

Strategy

This deck has the full range of threats: from early game plays, to midrange value, and lategame finishers. You are capable of standing toe to toe with any deck at any point in the game. The Mage secrets are an exceptionally strong compliment to the efficient minions and powerful spells that you will be using.

You have the ability to build early board control against a slow or unprepared opponent with the following cards:

Undertaker : A great turn 1 opener; many opponents will use valuable removal spells on an Undertaker. Unlike most other builds that run him, you are not reliant on your Undertaker to carry the entire game as there are many more powerful cards to play in the next few turns. Regardless, an unanswered Undertaker has great potential to snowball the game with the help of the seven deathrattle minions in the deck.

Mana Wyrm : Often under appreciated since the release of Naxx and the Undertaker, Mana Wyrm can quickly become a large threat, and will almost always Trade Up with enemy minions, paving the way for your transition in to the mid game. Mana Wyrm has great synergy with the coin, and other early game spells such as Frostbolt. If you are able to quickly increase his attack damage you have the potential to snowball the game, or bait powerful enemy removal spells for a mere 1 mana.

Mad Scientist : Universally recognized as a powerful card in any deck with secrets; he is arguably strongest in a Mage deck as Mage secrets cost the most mana. Mad Scientist helps to create and maintain board advantage by trading for an enemey minion and leaving a secret behind.

Once you have secured control of the board, look to push your advantage and maintain your board using your midrange minions, secrets, and spells:

, and that some decks have creatures to trigger Mirror Entity painlessly (ironbeak owl, defender of argus, ect.). If you have a Kirin Tor Mage in your hand with no secrets, try to hold on to her until you draw in to one, but don't be afraid to play her without using the ability if you do not have other plays to make. Kirin Tor Mage : The raw stats on this minion are respectable in their own right, but the ability to play a secret for 0 mana secures her a spot as one of the best tempo plays in the midgame. Aim to play the secret you feel will be most punishing to the opponent, keeping in mind that the coin will trigger a Counterspell

early undertaker, and will deal with larger minions such as Dark Cultist or Unbound Elemental in conjunction with your hero power. Frostbolt also allows you to race an opponent in the late game by freezing a minion, or finishing them off directly; keeping in mind that freeze is removed by silence, allowing the target to attack. Frostbolt : This is the benchmark of high utility removal spells, Frostbolt does a respectable 3 damage for 2 mana. It is very versatile due to the freeze that it applies to its target, allowing you to kill a minion over 2 turns, or prevent an attack from a large minion or hero. Frostbolt is a great answer to an

the minions that your opponent is likely to play later in the game, and whether or not they are likely to hide behind taunts to stave off burst (handlock). Fireball is most valuable if you have already developed a board, and your opponent plays a single large minion that threatens to trade well, it also allows you to race your opponent and surprise them with a great deal more burst than they are expecting if they stop trading and race you back. Fireball : Fireball is both a powerful removal spell and a win condition. There are very few minions that a Fireball cannot kill, and there are very few decks that can play around its potential to end the game regardless of taunts. For these reasons it is important to use your Fireball spells sparingly; considervaluable

strong in any matchup, as most other minions at this stage of the game will not trade favourably against you. His freeze ability has similar versatility to a Frostbolt; you can run him in to a large threatening minion such as Grommash or a Molten Giant to protect your life total and other minions. Water Elemental : One of the most important cards in a match against a weapon wielding opponent such as a Warrior, Rogue, Hunter or Paladin. If your opponent plays a weapon, you can continually lock it down by attacking directly with a Water Elemental. His 3/6 stat spread makes him incredibly

depending on how the match has played out. Sludge Belcher is also one of the best targets for duplicate; and since he has Taunt your opponent will often have no choice but to give you two more copies. Sludge Belcher : A multi-purpose card in this deck; Sludge Belcher is capable of protecting your other minions during a powerful early game push, or stalling for a late game play

Ending the Game:

Ragnaros the Firelord : An unanswered Ragnaros is one of the quickest ways to finish a game, especially if your opponent is low on cards. Try to eliminate smaller minions with your other attacks to increase the chance of Ragnaros hitting a high value target.

The Black Knight : A great card to push through a desperation taunt from your opponent, or to bring yourself back in to the game if your opponent has pulled ahead. The Black Knight will not always close the game out on his own, but the swing from playing this card on a good target can often turn the tide in your favour.

Polymorph : Although it only costs 4 mana, this card should be saved until the late stages of the game in most situations. Polymorph will completely destroy even the largest and most threatening minions that your opponent will play; leaving behind a cute and fluffy 1/1 sheep in their place. Polymorph is most effective when cast on targets with special abilities such as Divine Shield or Deathrattle, as the sheep will not retain any of these powers. You can also use this card to effectively ignore a Taunt during a race, or to create Lethal.

Flamestrike : One of the most feared AOE spell in the game, Flamestrike will remove all but the most durable minions from your opponent's board. This is often a win condition against decks that like to play numerous small units such as Zoo Warlock, Deathrattle Priest, Shaman, and any tempo decks. Try not to telegraph that you have a Flamestrike by ignoring units while Pinging or trading the turn prior, as this will often cause your opponent to play around your removal.

Spell Burst

Saving spells to burst down your opponent is often the best way to beat control decks that excel at stabilizing the board with low health; such as Handlock or Priest. Try to set up Bloodmage Thalnos a turn in advance to increase your spell damage output if possible. Here are some examples of possible spell damage output in a single turn:

Frostbolt + Frostbolt = 6 dmg for 4 mana (8 dmg with Spellpower)

Frostbolt + Fireball = 9 dmg for 6 mana (11 dmg with Spellpower)

Fireball + Fireball = 12 dmg for 8 mana (14 dmg with Spellpower)

Frostbolt + Frostbolt + Fireball = 12 dmg for 8 mana (15 dmg with Spellpower)

Frostbolt + Fireball + Fireball = 15 dmg for 10 mana (18 dmg with Spellpower)

If you do not have enough damage to finish your opponent in a single turn consider prioritizing your hero power over spell usage, as you will not get another chance to use that turn's hero power in the future but the spell will remain in your hand. Be mindful of Alexstrasza and other sources of healing when attempting to finish your opponent over multiple turns.

Mulligan Choices

You should be looking for Mana Wyrm, Frostbolt, Undertaker, and Mad Scientist as your primary early game choices. If you already have an Undertaker try to look for more deathrattle minions to play on turn 2-3. Do not keep any Secrets unless you also have a Kirin Tor Mage. If you are playing against a weapon user keep Acidic Swamp Ooze. Against a Warlock consider keeping Big Game Hunter, but only if you know they are using Giants.

Without the Coin: Turn 1 Mana Wyrm, turn 2 Frostbolt is very powerful if your opponent plays early game minions such as Flame Imp, Undertaker, Zombie Chow, or Northshire Cleric. Turn 1 Undertaker Turn 2 Mad Scientist, Loot Hoarder or Bloodmage Thalnos is also a very powerful opening.

With the Coin: The most powerful opener in this deck (possibly the entire game) is Turn 1 Mana Wyrm Coin Undertaker. This provides two scaling threats on turn 1, and the versatility to play either a removal spell or a deathrattle minion on turn 2 to further advance your position. Coining a Mad Scientist or Loot Hoarder on turn 1 is also a respectable opener, as is coining a Frostbolt to remove an enemy Undertaker.

Card Swaps

The Legendary minions in this deck add to the end game presence, and are very strong against control decks. It is still viable to play a midrange Mage deck without any legendaries. Consider the following cards to replace anything that you are missing, to suit your playstyle, or to fit the metagame.

Archmage Antonidas : A very powerful minion against control decks, he can generate a significant amount of damage if you are able to cast a couple spells the turn you play him. If he survives past the first turn you will almost always win the game. This deck plays fewer cheap spells than most builds that include him, so consider playing the following cards if you would like to get the most usage from his ability.

Arcane Missiles : Cheap but unreliable damage for early game removal. Pairs well with Spellpower, and to activate Archmage Antonidas.

Mirror Image : Useful for protecting fragile early game units from trades, or to buy time in a late game race. Great for activating Archmage Antonidas and protecting him from your opponent on the following turn.

Sorcerer's Apprentice : Setting her up in advance of an Archmage Antonidas turn can allow the use of several cheap spells, creating enough fireball cards to end the game quickly. Also effective at increasing your spell burst potential.

Ice Lance : A cheap combo card, useful for stalling an attacker to protect your board or life total, dealing damage to a target frozen via Water Elemental, Frostbolt, or a second Ice Lance. Also an excellent Archmage Antonidas trigger when played to freeze your opponent's most threatening minion.

Azure Drake : Has a great level of synergy with the playstyle of this deck and the spells in it. Azure Drake's card draw helps to maintain card advantage in the mid-game; and the *Spell Damage* bonus has strong synergy with the burst combos or to help remove a sturdy unit with a single spell.

Harvest Golem : A great value midrange minion to fill any gaps in your decklist. It's hard to go wrong playing a Harvest Golem on curve in a tempo deck.

Spellbreaker/ Ironbeak Owl : If you are finding yourself in need of more silences consider these cards. In the right metagame an extra silence can make all the difference on the ladder.