Mages are driving players of Hearthstone crazy. The culprit is a nasty combo that allows them to play the match almost alone.
Hearthstone has a long tradition of decks that slowly but surely drive opponents mad. This hasn’t changed with the extension “Scholomance Academy”. The newest deck of this type brings back an old archetype of mages. A Frost Mage that constantly controls its opponents and makes attacks impossible.
What kind of deck is this? It is about the so-called “Turtle Mage”. This deck is capable of raising mages back to a state they had when Hearthstone was launched. The mage player can constantly flood the board with Frost effects. This, in turn, ensures that the opponent’s minions can never attack and are doomed to simply endure the whole game.
How does the deck work? The deck fundamentally relies on the combination of two cards.
- Tortollan Pilgrim
- Potion of Illusion
- Sphere of Insight
The gameplay is based on not drawing a copy of Potion of Illusion. The Sphere of Insight repeatedly shuffles the card deeper into the deck, should one draw it. Instead, starting from turn 8, the Tortollan Pilgrim is played. This can cast the copy of a spell from the deck without using up the spell.
The Tortollan Pilgrim now casts the Potion of Illusion. This ensures that the mage player receives another Tortollan in hand that only costs 1 Mana. The mage can repeat this almost infinitely. Each time, he gets multiple copies of the Tortollan and can cast several spells for 1 Mana.
However, not only Potions of Illusion are used, but also annoying Frost effects like Blizzard or Frostnova. This ensures that the opponent’s minions simply can’t do anything turn after turn. The interaction of the opposing player is completely lost. This also means that many players now immediately concede when they see a mage with this playstyle – because saving time is generally a good idea.
This playstyle of permanent freezing is not desired by Blizzard. Years ago, there was even a major nerf to mages that weakened all Frost effects a bit to make this type of deck harder to play. Thanks to the Potion of Illusion and the Tortollan Pilgrim, this playstyle is now possible again.
How does the mage kill then? The round is usually finished by cheap copies of minions that deal direct damage upon playing. These are cards like the Sunstrider Mage or the Nightblade. Since they are also copied through the Potion of Illusion, the mage can deal extremely cheap damage to the opposing hero until he is defeated.
The deck does not always win, by the way. If the mage is unlucky with drawing cards and has the Potion of Illusion too early in hand, then the combo does not work because the Tortollan Pilgrim cannot access it. In that case, the mage struggles to win the round – but it is certainly possible.
It seems only a matter of time until the developers of Hearthstone bring some nerfs to take the power out of this deck. Because even if the deck is not necessarily a guarantee for victory, the playstyle is simply exhausting and boring for the opponent. Interaction is completely lost. Luckily, there are currently also interesting story contents with Jaina …
Do you wish for a nerf for this type of deck? Or is it good that such decks exist?
