Beginner Mage deck list guide - 2017
Our starter guide to playing the best free Mage deck in Hearthstone.
Our beginner Mage deck is designed to be used in a very controlling manner, getting great minion trades from the opponent in the early-game, using spells like Frostbolt and Fireball to remove targets cleanly, and building towards a mid to late-game where you have more stubbon minion options to play around with.
It's not a complicated deck to play by any means, but we wanted to put together a quick guide that will help the new Hearthstone player get to grips with one of the most popular heroes in the game. It contains a deck list, some help with the Mulligan phase, and an overview of the combos contained within it. That should be enough to get you started!
If you've any questions about playing the deck just let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to help you out. Otherwise, check out our main Hearthstone Guide for more essential help with the game.
Beginner Mage deck list and strategy
Try this entry level basic Mage deck on for size. You'll unlock all of the cards you need just by hitting Level 10 with the hero.
| Hunter | Neutral |
|---|---|
| 2 x Arcane Missiles | 2 x Acidic Swamp Ooze |
| 2 x Frostbolt | 2 x Bloodfen Raptor |
| 2 x Arcane Intellect | 2 x Ironfur Grizzly |
| 2 x Fireball | 2 x Shattered Sun Cleric |
| 2 x Polymorph | 2 x Chillwind Yeti |
| 2 x Water Elemental | 2 x Gnomish Inventor |
| 2 x Flamestrike | 2 x Sen'jin Shieldmasta |
| 2 x Boulderfist Ogre |
Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game.
Deck Import ID: AAECAf0ED+wHlg2LA/sETbQCuwJa4ASeCasElgXYAYoHtAQA
More great beginner guides:
- 1. Beginner Druid - Beginner Rogue deck list guide
- 2. Beginner Hunter - Beginner Hunter deck list guide
- 3. Beginner Mage - Beginner Mage deck list guide
- 4. Beginner Rogue - Beginner Rogue deck list guide
- 5. Beginner Shaman - Beginner Shaman deck list guide
- 6. Beginner Warlock - Beginner Warlock deck list guide
Beginner Mage Mulligan guide
It's really important with starter decks that you have a meaningful play to make - using all of your Mana - on each of the game's first few turns. Turn 2 is more important than Turn 1 in this particular case.
You must get a 2-Mana play as a priority, so dig aggressively to find either Bloodfen Raptor, Acidic Swamp Ooze or Frostbolt in your opening hand.
If you have Turn 2 taken care of, you can then look to 3-Mana cards like Ironfur Grizzly or Shattered Sun Cleric.
Chances are you won't be able to build those two turns and get a 4-Mana drop as well, but if you do have the luxury to go digging for these bigger cards, Chillwind Yeti, Water Elemental and Sen'jin Shieldmasta are all excellent options.
Beginner Mage tips, card combos and synergies
It's really important to understand the synergies contained in simple decks such as this, as understanding how the cards come together will help you win many more matches:
- Try to play Arcane Intellect as late in the game as possible, when you have the Mana spare to cast this spell and make an immediate play.
- Polymorph is one of the best hard removal spells in the game. Don't waste it on minor minions, and instead try to extract as much value from it as you possibly can.
- If your opponent is holding a weapon, Acidic Swamp Ooze will destroy it!
- You can use Shattered Sun Cleric to increase the stats of a friendly target. This might allow you to either deal with a more expensive threat on the opponent's side of the board, or even have your target live to fight another day after a great trade.