Highlander Mage in a new Meta
Table of Contents
A short introduction
Thanks to the recent nerfs, the meta is about to change drastically. With Demon Hunter and Druid getting slower, greedier decks will be rising during the next days, and Highlander Mage being the greediest will be on top of them. Moreover, albatross being nerfed also means a huge Zephrys the Great and Dragonqueen Alexstraza buff.
Highlander Mage is an archetype based on the «no duplicates» mechanic, to perfect avail of Zephrys, Reno the Relicologist, and Dragonqueen Alexstraza. It includes a lot of control stuff to survive and a dragon synergy to create massive value to finish the game. The basic gameplan is to reach mid-game and to abuse of insane tempo swings brought early to the table by Dragoncaster, Escaped Manasaber, and sometimes Wild Growth given by Zephrys. Until then, the idea is to control the board and avoid aggression using the secret package, taunts, and removal spells. One tempo swing bringing the other one, you will be wanting to snowball as much as possible and to not let your opponents breathe by any means while playing around the opponents’ aoe if they run some. If possible, save your freezes to use it when you already have a huge board to set up lethal. If there isn’t any more hope, Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron and The Amazing Reno can bring the comeback and solo win some games.
Key Cards
» Zephrys the Great
Most powerful card of the deck. Zephrys is the most flexible card in the set. You won’t be using it the same way depending on the matchup. Most of the time, you will be wanting to pick Wild Growth or Tirion against control and an AOE against aggro.
» Zephrys the Great
Most powerful card of the deck. Zephrys is the most flexible card in the set. You won’t be using it the same way depending on the matchup. Most of the time, you will be wanting to pick Wild Growth or Tirion against control and an AOE against aggro.
» Dragonqueen Alexstrasza
2 dragons costing 0 mana are rarely disappointing. Don’t all in every single time with them, keeping some in hand can be powerful sometimes. Just evaluate the probability of your dragons being destroyed by your opponent and play around it.
» Dragonqueen Alexstrasza
2 dragons costing 0 mana are rarely disappointing. Don’t all in every single time with them, keeping some in hand can be powerful sometimes. Just evaluate the probability of your dragons being destroyed by your opponent and play around it.
» Reno the Relicologist
Playing Reno on turn 6 or before is always the start of the snowball. Great tempo turn when it appears, you can also play it later followed by Conjurer’s Calling for example.
» Reno the Relicologist
Playing Reno on turn 6 or before is always the start of the snowball. Great tempo turn when it appears, you can also play it later followed by Conjurer’s Calling for example.
Tech Options
» Acidic Swamp Ooze
Best weapon breaker in the game right now. Destroying Warglaives of Azzinoth and Ancharr as early as possible is important in the current meta. It can also remove Galakrond’s Claw.
» Acidic Swamp Ooze
Best weapon breaker in the game right now. Destroying Warglaives of Azzinoth and Ancharr as early as possible is important in the current meta. It can also remove Galakrond’s Claw.
» Water Elemental
Great stats on turn 4. 6 health isn’t quite easy to get rid of this early and his ability to freeze the opponent’s face can be much annoying for Demon Hunter and Warrior.
» Water Elemental
Great stats on turn 4. 6 health isn’t quite easy to get rid of this early and his ability to freeze the opponent’s face can be much annoying for Demon Hunter and Warrior.
» Rolling Fireball
Rarely disappointing AOE which can also one-shot a Priestess of Fury. Great anti-aggro tool thanks to its flexibility without costing too much mana.
» Rolling Fireball
Rarely disappointing AOE which can also one-shot a Priestess of Fury. Great anti-aggro tool thanks to its flexibility without costing too much mana.
Advantages
Being a highlander deck means it is the most flexible to build and can be changed easily to counter matchups. Also, it allows playing Zephrys which is a game-breaker card.
This deck is the best against control match-ups thanks to its insane value while still being viable against aggressive decks.
Disadvantages
It still lacks some healing with Zilliax being wild now, and can’t do much against burst from a buffed kor’kron for example. Being a highlander deck also means to run only one iteration of key cards in certain matchups, and not drawing them can be a problem.
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Thanks for Reading!
This writeup is a an article by ‘FCG Nexplys’ Nathan. Make sure to follow him on Twitter.
