If you have spent any time playing ladder in the past month or so, you know that Mech Mage is the deck to beat. With its combination of small but powerful mechs, the powerful effect of Mech Warper and a strong late game with cards like Dr Boom, the deck seems to have everything.
With so many people playing Mech Mage, how can you ensure that you have an advantage if you decide to do the same? If you and your opponent are running very similar lists, the game can come down to the coin flip of who draws what.
Tempo Storm founder and captain Andrey “Reynad” Yanyuk doesn’t want you to leave it up to chance.
Since the release of Goblins vs Gnomes, Mage has enjoyed a huge resurgence. With Freeze Mage dominating in tournaments and just about everyone running Mech Mage on ladder, the game’s starter class has become arguably its most popular.
We spoke to Yanyuk about his Blingtron variant of the popular deck, which he used with great success in the Battle of the Best, where he won his first ever tournament title. (Tempo Storm, by the way, runs its own weekly deck power rankings, which is worth reading if you want to see what’s currently working on the ladder.)
Obviously this is a variant of the popular mech mage, why did you decide to make the changes you did?
“Water elemental is a higher power level card than the Piloted Shredder, and well positioned against the weapon classes. Blingtron naturally fit in the deck once I had Water Elemental & Snowchugger.”
Do you think this variant is viable on ladder?
“Yes it is. I’ve been playing it to good effect. Any consistent proactive strategy is going to perform well on ladder, and Mech Mage definitely fits that bill.”
What role does Blingtron play in the deck?
“If you play Blingtron the turn that you freeze your opponent with Water Elemental or Snowchugger, its effect is no longer symmetrical and it becomes almost impossible to lose. It’s a massive tempo swing that almost always sets up lethal the following turn.”
Water Elemental is out of favour in a lot of Mage decks. What made you include that over something like Piloted Shredders?
“I’m just a huge fan of Water Elemental as a card. It matches up well against opposing shredders which have been popular lately. The first time my stream got over 100 viewers was in December 2013 when I got legendary with old Aggro Mage. The unique thing about the list back then was that I was the only player to put Water Elemental and Ice Block into the deck as well.”
In general, where do you think Mech Mage ranks right now compared to other powerful decks?
“Mech Mage is probably the number one deck in the game right now.”
Published: Feb 6, 2015 10:39 am