Scalise’s Sessions: Freeze Mage

Introduction

Is it cold in here or is it just me? Last week we looked at a new player on the scene in Control Priest, and this week we do that again with Freeze Mage. While the icy combo deck is nothing new (in fact it’s one of the oldest decks in the game) it had not seen serious play in Un’goro up until the past week or two. As with many of the off-meta decks we’ve been looking at, the new versions of Freeze Mage aren’t setting the world on fire. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t interesting. It is always good to see what you can learn from the builds of the past, and this week we are going to do exactly that. Hope you brought a coat.

The Deck

There are a couple successful routes you can take with Freeze. Some rely on the “all-stall” plan, some depend on proactive plays, and others are back-loaded with burn. The version I want to break down in this guide is a list that CLPayton took to rank 1 legend. Every week I talk about how Hearthstone’s power level has dropped, and that is on clear display here. This list is a Freeze Mage deck, but it is lacking many of the classic tools that most Freeze decks had. For example, there’s no Flamestrike and only one Blizzard. Why? Because it is so much easier to stay alive than it once was. All you need is a couple early plays and a little bit of stall and you’re fine. The deck recognizes that and relies on a couple of strong plays backed up with a density of finishers. Instead of front-loading, the deck gives you multiple paths to victory, which works when trying to combat a wide range of different meta decks. In that way, it is a perfect example of not being chained to an idea. Yes, this is freeze. However, that does not mean you need to jam pack it with stall spells. Sometimes subtlety is a good route to take.

Early Game

Once upon a time the beginning turns for freeze mage were largely inconsequential. Maybe you had removal, maybe you didn’t. Whatever, you’d bounce back. Now times have changed and you want to get some control going early. This will help you fight off damage and give you a way to make sure you can get to your end game. Both Doomsayer and Arcanologist are great ways to lock out the early board and help you advance your late plan. Your goal here is to take as little damage as possible. As we have covered, there are a lot of decks that build from their early cards. You want to cut those trains off as fast as you can in order to shut down any potential early burst. Work hard at this and do not be afraid to liberally use removal. Killing one early drop can be the difference between keeping or losing an Ice Block in the middle of the game.

Middle Game

This is where the bulk of your game happens. As with Control Priest (covered last week), you end the game during the later stages, but you really win it here. You are a combo deck, but what makes Freeze particularly strong when compared to other combo decks is the fact that nothing outside of a lot (a lot) of healing can beat you. In most of your games you just need to get through this stage. Do what you can to use Freeze to shut down boards and always take the safest route. Do not get greedy here. If you have a chance to limit a large push (even if it means Frostbolting a big threat) you should.

Your whole game plan should revolve around keeping Ice Block intact. Losing the secret against more aggressive decks (especially Mage) can lead to massive problems. You have to fight off your opponent’s push while also setting up your end-game damage. These turns are going to be reactive, which typically means clearing. However, you also want to work hard to calculate your card draw and plan for your burn. Don’t get caught up in just staying alive, it is important to make sure you can kill your opponent as well.

Late Game

The end of the game is all about burn and setting up Alexstrasza. The dragon is your main finisher, and you need to work hard to put her down in a way where your opponent cannot immediately threaten to kill you or pop an Ice Block. Doomsayer on turn eight is the best way to make this happen, but being careful with your health works as well. You just need a window. If it is turn nine and you can’t die or lose a block next turn, pull the trigger.

The trickiest part of putting together a win is properly calculating your burn. Lethal (with or without Alexstrasza) commonly happens over two, three, or four turns. To make sure you get your opponent dead you have to know how to use your spells. Count your damage against your blocks and do your best to see into the future. One wrong calculation can be disastrous.

Matchups

A breakdown of the different decks I see while gringing up the ladder.

Discover Mage

Ice Block. This whole matchup comes down to Ice Block. The three mana spell completely shuts down both your and your opponent’s burn for a turn, and you have to be the one to pop first. For that reason, you want to treat this like a mirror match. Though Discover has a few early cards and quick minions, almost all of those are going to die to your early threats and cheap removal. From there, the game is going to move through the middle turns without much happening besides card draw. That style of play can be good, but it can also be bad. You want to work hard to get priority. Do not shy away from using some of your burn early on just to force cards out of your opponent or to get them on the back foot.

Nearly all of this matchup is going to happen during the later turns. Most of this is going to be a firefight and you want to start thinking about burn/lethal/popping Ice Block around turn six or seven. Should you just start chucking spells to roll into a turn ten Pyroblast? Maybe you want to wait until you run out Alexstrasza? These decisions are extremely important and will help you figure out the best way to race. If you think your opponent has ways to get your block down, or if they start showing their hand by casting spells at your face, you need to be worried. A final tip is to try to get your opponent to attack into Ice Barrier if possible. This can be a good reason to let a small minion live because that extra seven or six life can go a long way.

Pirate Warrior

Pirate Warrior is a tough matchup, but it is winnable. This game is going to be a back-and-forth affair that hyper focuses on the early turns of the game. You have to force Pirate Warrior back during turns two and three or you simply will get overrun before any of your stall cards matter. The progression you want here is a two drop to force them back, a secret on three, and then removal/freeze to protect your life and grind them low on cards until you get a chance to Alexstrasza. Going up to fifteen when Pirate has used all of their resources to put you down to ten or less life should really push you out of range. She’s even better after your opponent has popped an Ice Block. Focus all of your burn/removal onto the board and trust in your end game plan. Don’t worry about having enough late damage, just make sure you don’t die.

You want to play this matchup like a control deck much more than a combo list. You have a good amount of healing, and it should all be used to slow your opponent down. Pirate is not a deck you need to worry about killing. Rather, you just need to get them into top deck mode. Once your opponent is top decking (often a dead minion) a turn they won’t have any way to get enough damage to fight through things like Ice Block or Ice Barrier. Alexstrasza is going to be your main win condition, but you do not need the dragon. Most Pirate lists focus on the board, and there are a lot of minions they don’t want to draw late. Pushing them back into a corner can cause them to become weapon logged as well.

Note: Using Frostbolt on your opponent’s face can be a great way to keep them off a topdecked weapon when you’re at low health.

Token Shaman

Token Shaman is going to be one of your best matchups. The reason is because Thrall does not have a lot of out-of-hand burst these days. Rather, the class needs to have minions out in order to do damage. They can quickly swarm the board, but if they have no minions they cannot properly leverage things like Bloodlust or Flametongue Totem. That puts you in an incredible position because your whole deck is built around not taking minion damage. Not only do you have two strong tech cards against aggro (Cone of Cold, Volcanic Potion) but your freeze and secrets can hold off Shaman’s damage. You just want to stall as much as you possibly can, clear all of your opponent’s threats, and move up your curve. Using Doomsayer on an empty board is a great move in this match as a way to buy more time.

This match is going to be played similar to Pirate, with the exception that you do want to build towards your damage. Even with a few clears, Shaman will likely be able to get a board at some point in the game. The plan here is to not run them completely out of minions. Rather, it is to keep them off of you long enough to kill them with burn. Token Shaman has no healing outside of random Stonehill Defender pulls, and that can leave them vulnerable. Do not be afraid to show your hand in this one. If you have a few freezes and a good amount of burn it is ok to just start eating at your opponent’s life. It is easy to get caught up in clearing your opponent’s threats, but your ultimate goal is to win the game. Constantly plan and think about your damage potential.

Midrange Paladin

Paladin has dropped significantly over the past few weeks, but they still are hanging around for the time being. Things have been shifting a lot (and will continue to do so with the coming nerf) but Paladin has remained a real player. This is an interesting matchup that you need to fight as if you were a midrange deck. Basically, this comes down to how well you can answer murlocs. Uther is in an odd spot where they can be aggressive and pour on damage as long as things go according to plan. However, once that gets broken they can take a long time to put together a push. For that reason you should work hard to interrupt your opponent’s early plan and then stick to your own for the middle turns. While they may be able to stack a few threats, your end game punch should win the day.

Once you make it past the early game you want to put everything into your burn. Paladin’s only source of healing is Ragnaros, Lightlord. The 8/8 can be annoying, but there are ways around it. To make sure the legendary does not hit you too hard is to put your opponent into a position where you have used minimal burn before it comes down. The main way to win this game is clearing out (typically with Doomsayer/freeze) on turn eight in order to play a lone Alexstrasza on turn nine. This is great because if your opponent plays Rag to get health back you can instantly negate it with the attack from alex. If your opponent doesn’t have healing, drown them in spells.

Aggro Druid

This game is going to be a lot like Token Shaman, which means you have a clear advantage. Almost all aggro decks these days rely on getting damage from things that are already on the board (as opposed to charge or burn). That plan works well against other board-centric decks, but it is not great against you. Treat this game as you would any aggro deck. Clear as much as possible, liberally use your removal, and never get lazy. Druid has an amazing ability to turn one or two minions into big threats, and they also can build boards out of nowhere. Running out a Doomsayer against one small minion may not seem like a big deal, but it can make all the difference by giving you the board. On that note, it is also important to try and play your own bodies whenever you can. Remember that you want to work hard to not take damage, and anytime your opponent is running their bodies into yours, you aren’t taking those hits. Like Pirate Warrior, this is a game where outlasting your opponent is going to matter more than burn.

Tip and Tricks

Be aware of when your opponent can and cannot kill Doomsayer. Using the 0/7 with freeze happens a lot, but there are going to be many times where you just play it on its own. Using it on a weak or empty board is a great way to buy time or set up some of your later plays.

You want to get value out of Medivh’s Valet. That’s easy to use with Ice Block, but things get trickier with Ice Barrier (which will usually pop right away). If you have barrier as your only secret you almost always want to wait until turn five to play it with the 2/3 to get instant value.

Do not just take burn with Primordial Glyph. That is often going to be the right choice, but there are many uses for the two mana spell. More freeze can go a long way, as can extra secrets and AOE. The card gives you a lot of versatility and helps you stretch out your deck in ways you normally wouldn’t be able to you.

Understand both uses of Frost Nova‘s uses. It is great with Doomsayer, but it also is just good at getting you turns. The ability to stall is an underappreciated part of

Acolyte of Pain is a fantastic tempo play, but it also works well on turn five with a ping. The way you choose between these modes is by looking at your hand. If you have a weak one or need more cards you should try to get as many draws as possible. If you have a good opening, just run the 1/3 out as soon as possible.

You only need Archmage Antonidas to get you one Fireball. If he can get your more that’s great, but you don’t need to work too hard to get value from the old wizard since he is going to force your opponent’s next turn.

Mulligan Guide

You mulligan with Freeze Mage in the same way you would any other combo deck. You need to get your early minions and removal spells out, and then back that up with card draw. There is a smattering of different early choices in this list, but the general rule should be to never try to keep anything that costs more than three. Combo decks are strong when everything comes together, but extremely fragile when they can’t make the pieces fit. You do not want to leave yourself vulnerable to bad hands or weak top decks by keeping mid-game plays when you do not need to.

Must Keeps:

Arcanologist Frostbolt Doomsayer Loot Hoarder

Situational Keeps:

Bloodmage Thalnos is a good keep when you’re against a slower deck and you have an awkward hand. It can also be good with Frostbolt when facing aggro.

If you have a secret and the coin, Medivh’s Valet can be a good option to have against board-centric or aggro lists.

Primordial Glyph should be kept alongside any early minion.

Acolyte of Pain and Arcane Intellect are both strong with the coin or a good curve.

Frost Nova can be kept against both aggro and midrange alongside Doomsayer.

Volcanic Potion should always be kept against aggro.

Replacements

As with any deck that has this many tech choices and flex spots, there is a lot of room for replacements. This deck is largely a reaction to the weaker meta, but you can re-position it to fit whatever you see the most. For example, if you face a ton of aggro it is best to front-load your early removal options and back off of the finishers. In contrast, if you’re seeing only control or slow midrange decks you should ramp up the burn. The core is necessary, but everything else around it is not.

Loot Hoarder and Acolyte of Pain are two cards that can be switched around. Some lists like one acolyte and two hoarders, while many people choose to play Novice Engineer because of the immediate draw. You need to have two of those three options, but which ones you choose and how many you play is entirely up to you.

Volcanic Potion is a tech choice that is used against all of the token decks running around the ladder. If those are not at your rank or you see a lot of slower decks it is probably right to go with more freeze options over the AOE.

In addition, Cone of Cold or Volcanic Potion could be cut in favor of a second Blizzard. This is not a necessary change, but if you find that you just don’t have enough freeze or if you want more ways to get a strong Doomsayer this is a good route to go. Those two cards are good at stopping early boards, but if you aren’t facing quick pushes they become largely unnecessary.

While you have to run Alexstrasza, you could tweak the end-game package. Your finishers are great, but they are both not needed. This deck hedges the bets by running both Pyroblast and Archmage Antonidas. However, you could cut the legendary in favor of a second blast if you wanted. A small tweak, but one that makes a large amount of difference.

Conclusion

I do never tire of freezing things. I am not sure when I first played Freeze Mage, but there is no doubt it is one of my favorite decks of all time. There is a lot you can learn from combo decks. You have to properly order cards, count damage, and plan many turns ahead. For those reasons, it is important to play decks that make you think about future turns. Hearthstone is largely a game of here and now. Lists that force you to break that mold are always going to be interesting. Freeze is one of the best examples of this, and the more you play it the better you will get at that skill. Until next time, may you always put your opponent’s minions on ice.

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