Each class in Hearthstone is unique, which makes taking up a new profession equally exciting and daunting. Sure, they all use similar mechanics, but how each class pushes certain mechanics over others, and how they play on the board, differ drastically. If you want spell-slingling control, you’d probably turn to the Mage.
The Mage has a long history of being pretty good. Sure, every class has had its time in the limelight at one time or another, but the Mage has always felt pretty strong thanks to its wide range of spells and tricky henchmen. Getting started with Mage, despite being the first class you unlock, isn’t easy though. That’s why we’ve rounded up some of the best cards the class has to offer right now.
There are far too many cards to list here, so we’ve picked a diverse selection of spells, effects, minions, and rarities. We’ll NOT include Volatile Skeleton in this list purely because Volatile Skeleton appears on so many other cards. It’s a great minion, but we wanted to avoid too much redundancy.
10/10 mysterious intellect
Arcane Intellect is one of the first cards a Mage will gain access to, and it’s one of the best. It’s a classic card that’s been around since the beginning of the game and doesn’t really show any signs of slowing down. It’s just such a must-take these days, but the power to draw cards at a low price is always worth considering. This card can also gain value simply by being a spell, which many Mage cards naturally combine with.
9/10 Night Robe Sanctum
Locations are fairly new to Hearthstone and come with a ton of unique effects and interactions that change the game nicely. Not all locations are worth taking, but the Mage certainly got the right end of the bargain. The Nightcloak Sanctum brings everything you want in a reusable, indestructible card. You get CC and build presence on the board. Oh well, not only that, the minion you summon is decent in its own right then of the highest level.
8/10 mass polymorph
Sometimes you just need to reset the board and try again. Things go wrong in Hearthstone all the time, and having a tool that turns everything into a sheep (even your minions) can literally be a lifesaver. You remove powerful effects and fat statlines, while also having the ability to regain control. The fact that sheep are 1/1 minions also plays to your advantage as Mages have many ways to deal with low health enemies en masse.
7/10 Deepwater Evoker
Drawing cards is one of the most powerful effects in Hearthstone – and it always has been. The ability to play a card and then replace that card in hand to keep the pace in later turns is way too good to pass up. The point is that card draws are random. Deepwater Evoker removes any randomness by only drawing spell cards. Since you’ve built up your deck, you know what spell cards to draw, so you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Not only that, but the secondary effect is a lot of fun to stay alive.
6/10 Frostweave Dungeoneer
Like Deepwater Evoker, Frostweave Dungeoneer has a similar effect. If you draw a card, it will always be a spell. The value here can’t be overstated, even if you don’t activate the second effect – which is really good for the record. Frostweave Dungeoneer has the potential to put a lot of tricky-to-handle bodies on the board, cycle themselves, and be a pretty solid presence by virtue of their existence. Great early game card.
5/10 snow storm
Another fantastic classic card that has been played for most of the Mage’s existence. Blizzard is a very simple card that basically slows down your opponent. You roll it, you do a piece of AOE damage and in most cases your opponent can do nothing for a whole turn due to the Freeze effect. If you have two Blizzards in your deck, this delay doubles. We rarely leave the house without this staple card.
4/10 Reinforced snow flurry
Amplified Snowflurry is a value incarnate. There is very little reason not to take this card in every deck. It’s cheap to cast on one 2 Mana, and it has a decent statline. The value comes from the ability to let your Hero Power use it for FREE that turn and freeze it. This map is incredible. Bearing in mind that the non-expanded Hero Power costs the same as Amplified Snowflurry, you get a minion, a buff, and a Hero Power all at once.
3/10 stillborn
Deathborne is always good, but often gets unbelievable. It’s an expensive card (similar to Blizzard) and deals decent AOE damage. The downside is that it hurts your followers. The advantage? Fleeting skeletons. Deathborne can be a real equaliser, as you can clear the board (or part of it) and then brush up on your side with powerful minions. Of course, Volatile Skeleton doesn’t have the best stats, but his Deathrattle is a lot of fun. It’s especially good as a sequel to something like Mass Polymorph.
You can also use Deathborne and in some cases combine with another Deathborne to summon fugitive skeletons, kill them all, activate all their Deathrattles and then recall them all.
2/10 Cold Case
Cold Case is another card that excels for its incredible value. Fleeting Skeleton often ends up in card games as a standalone card. This is because it is quite good for its cost. Well, for 2x the cost of a volatile skeleton you can summon two volatile skeletons and get armor. There’s nothing special about this card, it’s just good.
1/10 Master Dawngrasp
Character cards have been around since Hearthstone’s inception, but they were often a bit slow and quite expensive. Magister Dawngrasp is not one of them. In fact, Magister Dawngrasp is one of the best cards the Mage can access. In summon, you cast a random selection of spells from schools you’ve used in this game, and then you get a new Hero Power.
Basically this Hero Power is 2x stronger than your standard Hero Power. That’s already a great value. Where it excels, however, is the ability to get stronger when you kill minions. This scales indefinitely and turns your Hero Power into a power of nature if you are allowed to buff yourself. You can even kill your own minions to gain the advantage, which isn’t a bad idea if you’ve got a bunch of volatile skeletons lying around (which isn’t unlikely in a Mage deck).
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