Mage decks

The Mage has long been one of our favourite heroes to play in Hearthstone, and every expansion seems to provide at least one or two surprise additions to this character's roster of competitive decks. If you're not one for change though, then rest assured there's familiarity to the Mage as well - some of her evergreen decks enjoy continuous but gentle refinement and relevance as each fresh new influx of cards disrupts the metagame.

As Hearthstone goes from strength to strength in 2016, we're beginning to see more and more viable decks for every Hero in the game, and this can - frankly - make it a little tricky for us to stay on top of every single deck that's competitive or just plain interesting. For this reason, we're in the process of putting together hub pages for each hero in the game, from which you'll be able to find all of the relevant deck lists, guides and play inspiration that you might need.

First up is our round-up of all of the Mage decks you might want to play in Hearthstone. We'll be posting lists for the latest, breaking decks quickly in here, and while we might not be able to produce one of our massive deck guides immediately, you will at least be able to get a snapshot of how the latest deck archetypes should be structured. Expect these primitive articles to be expanded into full guides over time, and as new decks prove their worth in the long run!

We'd love to hear what you think of this new approach in the comments. In the meantime, get stuck in to the best of everything the Mage has to offer!

Top Mage decks (Standard)

The following decks are all currently viable in Hearthstone's Standard format. For an idea of which ones are currently top-tier, don't forget to take a look at our deck tier list as well.

Control Mage

Those who are familiar with Freeze Mage - see below - should feel pretty much at home with this Karazhan-fuelled Control Mage deck. You'll find it very tough to substitute any of the cards from the latest Adventure here, so it's one for those who've wrapped up every wing really.

Freeze Mage

Timing's crucial when it comes to playing Freeze Mage, and those with a deeper understanding of the current metagame will find it much easier to choose the correct moment to either stall or strike. Not a deck for beginners, then, but very satisfying for those with plenty of Hearthstone experience under their belts.

Reno Mage

Reno Mage draws on the devastating power of everyone's favourite get-out-of-jail-free card, Reno Jackson. Probably not the best recommendation for newcomers to the game (not leat because of the card requirements) but a very satisfying change of arcane pace for more seasoned players.

Secret Mage

There's a hint of Tempo to this Gadgetzan deck, but really it's all about the Secrets here. We'll be expanding our guide to this deck in due course, as it's a tricky deck to pilot in what is currently an extremely uncertain metagame!

Tempo Mage

Another of the Mage's evergreen decks is the Tempo archetype, and it's a format that always seems to be updated just the right amount of new cards to help it flow along with the latest expansion's metagame. Good for those who like snowballing a threat on the board and frustrating their opponents.

More popular Hearthstone guides:

• The best Standard Hearthstone decks - December 2016
• The best Wild Hearthstone decks - December 2016
• Hearthstone: Deck Tier List - November 2016
• Hearthstone: Druid decks
• Hearthstone: Hunter decks
• Hearthstone: Mage decks
• Hearthstone: Paladin decks
• Hearthstone: Warlock decks

Top Mage decks (Wild)

If you've a somewhat broader collection of Hearthstone cards, stretching far back and beyond the current crop of expansions, give some of these Wild decks a go.

Budget and free Mage decks

Playing Hearthstone on a shoestring budget, or just completely new to the game? Never fear, as these Mage decks provide an oustanding starting point for anyone new to the game.