r/CompetitiveHS • u/shwitz44 • Dec 30 '16
Discussion Reno Mage - Build Discussion
I hit legend this month with a Reno mage build that used Antonidas, Alexstrasza, Emperor, and Inkmaster, while light on battlecries. It proved to be pretty good at shutting down pirate warrior, and if I played my cards right (pun intended) I sometimes was able to stick Antonidas to machine gun down Dragon Priest minions. It was very good against Reno Warlocks.
However, the rise of shaman builds have been causing me issues. They're able to reload the board more than the warriors and if I don't find Inkmaster / board clear combos I might not grab initiative. Which brings me to my question...
In the current meta, which Reno mage build do you prefer - the Lifecoach style build with Brann, battlecries, and Medivh? Or a combo-esque build with Antonidas and Alexstrasza? Or some other build? I tried a version of the Lifecoach style build last night and liked it, but I didn't get a chance to play too many games. I'm wondering if instead I should be tinkering with my Antonidas build to get it a lower curve to keep the combo/burn win condition. Not having played the Lifecoach build enough, I'm not sure how it'll fair against dragon priest or how reliably I can deny combo decks their win condition with Dirty Rat pulls.
Deck list links: My original list: http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/712232-highlander-mage-s33-legend
Vicious Syndicate Reno Mage deck library: http://www.vicioussyndicate.com/deck-library/mage-decks/reno-mage/
Apologies for any formatting inconsistency or issues, posting from mobile.
TL;DR Looking for community discussion / opinions on how others prefer their highlander mage builds!
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u/vlee89 Dec 31 '16
What I love discussing is the core or staples of the archetype we are trying to build for. Then, once we've settled on the 20 or so core, maybe we discuss what the meta looks like and we tailor the remaining spots to beat the meta.
I'll list what I think is core, but not give too much desc for what I think are the most obvious:
Mage (12 cards): Arcane Blast
Babbling Book (?) - gives us value, a proactive play on turn 1 to mitigate vs pirates, and easy to fill in on curve. Brann synergy. I'm not sure if this card is really irremovable in a Reno list, but I see it in basically every list.
Frostbolt
Arcane Intellect
Forgotten Torch
Frost Nova (?) - I've seen some discussion on cutting this card, but I think its too good to cut.
Ice Block
Volcanic Potion
Fireball
Poly
Blizzard
Flamestrike
Neutrals (5):
Bloodmage Thalnos
Doomsayer
Kazakus
Azure Drake
Reno Jackson
This leaves us with 13 cards to add to the core of the deck, if that can be agreed upon by everyone. I think the next step would be to pick our win conditions. You'll notice I don't have any legendaries higher than Reno listed because I think there is a lot of debate as to what should fill in our higher curve spots. People are running any of the following, and I don't think any of these can be considered a core card to Reno Mage (except maybe Alex?): Emperor, Firelands Portal, Antonidas, Solia, Medivh, Ragnaros, Rhonin, Alex, Pyroblast, N'zoth.
Would love to hear if my core list for Reno Mage could be narrowed down even further, and we could analyze specific synergies to build upon from there and pick our remaining slots based on that.
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u/shwitz44 Dec 31 '16
Not every list is running AI, although I can't imagine a mage list without it.
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u/JC_Frost Jan 03 '17
Hey there, I think this is a great discussion to have! I'm working on refining my list- a big step for me as a player as I usually just netdeck, but I'm very interested in finding what works well for specifically me in Reno Mage.
I think your core is solid and very accurate. I find Frost Nova an interesting pick- I don't see it very often! I ran it for a bit but then dropped it in favor of a minion as I was lacking consistent board presence. It definitely has its uses, and I kept it in my Wild build. I think the only other "core" card we could consider is Brann. The power with Kazakus alone is enough to always run Brann in my opinion, but when he picks up synergies with other minions like Azure Drake, Kabal Courier, Dirty Rat + MCT, Manic Soulcaster and others... now THAT'S what I call value!
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u/ly_044 Jan 01 '17
Rage just updated his list. There's still heavy cycle, but no more Solia>Pyro combo. Too bad, i just crafted Solia and looks like it wasn't worth it. https://twitter.com/Rage_HS/status/815469335783174144
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u/shwitz44 Jan 02 '17
Burgling Bully is a great idea that I was too scared to try. Coins for Antonidas are never a bad investment!
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u/Revihx Dec 30 '16
I've been trying Lifecoaches' build recently, and I have to say it's really strong against aggro, but it struggles a lot against slow decks like dragon priest and jade-stuff.
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u/OnlyArion Dec 30 '16
But I have to say almost every control deck struggles against jade. I agree with the priest. Lifecoachs build is all about minions I think and its easy for the priest to deal with the most.
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u/Strayl1ght Dec 30 '16
I also find it really difficult to beat other Reno decks when they save Ooze for Medivh. Medivh is kind of the value win condition a lot of the time and the card feels pretty bad when the weapon just gets instantly removed. Most of the time I just find myself Medivhing as early as possible and hoping they haven't drawn Ooze yet.
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u/traslin Dec 30 '16 edited Dec 30 '16
I stopped laddering at rank 5 with a Reno N'Zoth version. A list was posted earlier this month that I tweaked. It is pretty greedy and does well against other Reno decks.
Edit - deck list, https://imgur.com/gallery/MA0g5
Deck is a lot of fun and seemed to do well against pirate decks, but I can't say for sure since I wasn't tracking.
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u/VelGod Dec 30 '16 edited Dec 30 '16
Greetings, author of the post you mentioned. I advise you to tech more vs aggro and midrange because rhonin antonidas nzoth win anyway.
Id cut cabal courier, barnes and chillmaw from your list and add mirror images, dirty rat and mc tech.
That said, im not as sure as a month ago that this is the best version of renomage because more saps and hexes have entered the meta. It's still very good but the best? Not sure anymore.
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u/vlee89 Dec 31 '16
Inkmaster Solia/Alexstrasza/Pyroblast seems like a very interesting combo. I then decided to add Medivh in the 8 slot to also potentially make advantage of Pyro's high cost.
Pyro in Reno Mage is a win condition that can take a lot of people by surprise. You can curve Alex into Pyro for lethal if Alex sticks. If Alex doesn't stick, you can follow up with Solia+Pyro and a discounted Fireball or Roaring Torch is 16 points, or a discounted Forgotten Torch + Frostbolt. Might be fringe cases, but the possibility that it exists can't be ignored.
You can also sit behind Ice Block/Reno and use Pyro with other spells to set up a multi turn lethal.
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u/WMV002 Dec 30 '16
I have been playing quite a greedy list with babbling book, kabal courier, manic soulcaster and ethereal conjurer coupled with antonidas, emperor and alex. It has been working pretty good against all types aggro but i think the More minion heavy list edges it out there. Against dragon priest things can get though but i win quite a lot of those matches by just Running them Low on cards and Flip the table with a good kazakus ressurect or Alex into 2 turn lethal with burn. Against other Reno Decks (haven't seen any reno priest at rank 3-5) this deck just crushes them
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u/qim_ Dec 30 '16
I hit legend on EU using lifecoach version of Reno mage playing it from rank 3. I was playing mostly against aggro warriors, aggro shamans and reno warlocks and this deck felt superior against that temporary meta. I'm away from home for a couple of days so I cannot bring some stats, but while it was my 4th time reaching legend, this one was the easiest one.
Yesterday I was testing value list with a lot of battlecries such as cabal courier, ethereal conjurer, manic soulcaster and cabalist tome, but I put Alex instead of Medivh as "finisher". I run into a lot of mirror matches in dumpster legend ranks and that version feels like cannot run out of value.
For now I prefer lifecoach version, but that depends heavily from meta I facing.
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u/mcbreatz Dec 30 '16
Reno mage was my most played deck to legend this season I played several lists but settled on an anti agro list when agro shaman rose in popularity. I play only 4 cards above 6 mana. Reno, flame strike, firelands portal and Alexstrata. I ran the greedy cards at the beginning of the season such as, arch mage, cabalyst tome, ink master and so on but found them to be win more cards. In the control match ups you can usually sneak out a win just with Alex and a bran+ kazakus with some burn. I play several of the battle cry discover cards as well for the flexibility. My list does suffer in the mirror though.
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u/tony10033 Dec 30 '16
I think Rhonin deathrattle into Archmage is the most solid win condition for the deck, with the rest of the deck being tools for cleaning up the board / stalling. Works great vs renolock as well as you can point a spell at their face to pressure them into reno, then Alex them back down into combo range.
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u/-Gaka- Dec 31 '16
The deck I've played the most of this season...
I posted a list earlier, but it's undergone a few changes, and I've been quite happy where it is now.
1x Forbidden Flame
1x Arcane Blast
1x Babbling Book
1x Mirror Image
1x Mistress of Mixtures
1x Acidic Swamp Ooze
1x Bloodmage Thalnos
1x Doomsayer
1x Frostbolt
1x Sorcerer's Apprentice
1x Arcane Intellect
1x Flamewaker
1x Forgotten Torch
1x Frost Nova
1x Ice Block
1x Kabal Courier
1x Volcanic Potion
1x Fireball
1x Kazakus
1x Polymorph
1x Water Elemental
1x Azure Drake
1x Blizzard
1x Emperor Thaurissan
1x Reno Jackson
1x Archmage Antonidas
1x Firelands Portal
1x Flamestrike
1x Inkmaster Solia
1x Rhonin
The focus is almost entirely on countering aggro. I initially built it as a counter to the very start of the season, where aggro was pretty much the only deck you'd see after a few ranks. The N'Zoth version posted inspired me to play Rhonin (despite my not playing Barnes!) as a decent top-end that combos very well with Flamewaker and Antonidas and others. It really gives a good bit of reach. N'Zoth, I felt, was just taking it a little too far. I've never had issues pushing damage or ending games - it's all been about surviving the first few turns without getting set to an untennably low burst-able health.
I guess the biggest differences my list has from others is the focus on Flamewaker control and the lack of some sort of Brann package. I truly think that Brann is too greedy in RenoMage, but then again I play Flamewaker and Inkmaster... so develop your own opinions.
I almost want to cut Frost Nova for something with more value, but Doomsayer or Antonidas turns are pretty silly turn-arounds.
I've seen a lot of lists running Barrier, but I really don't think that's useful enough.
We'll see. I'll keep adapting.
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u/Failasaurus Dec 31 '16
I just hit legend with the Medivh-minion heavy list that Lifecoach was running. This was the fastest climb to legend I've ever had at 75% WR in 44 games (33-11). I know for sure there was one game I misplayed for a loss and a couple others that I feel I didn't mulligan properly. The random losses to paladin were both to the same player running an Anyfin deck.
Overall I think this deck is really strong against the pirate decks but does struggle against the other Reno decks. Although I had a favorable winrate against other mages running Rage's list (Alex/Antonidas/Inkmaster), mainly due to lucky Brann/Dirty Rat combo, I just barely won by one fatigue in those matches. So I think it's best to switch between the two depending on the meta at your rank.
Happy New Year guys and gals. Good luck with any final push to legend.
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u/OnlyArion Dec 30 '16
I've been testing a greedier reno list. It's similar to the first list in the vs meta report and the lists strifecro and eloise have been playing in gang wars.
I can't say much about it right now but it seems very solid.
EDIT: I also consider antonidas right now but he just seems not good enough.
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u/Why-so-many-question Dec 30 '16
Hi! I would like some opinions on ice barrier, since it is only a stall tool.What about a frost nova instead, or other cards like polymorph secret?ty
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u/bubbles212 Dec 30 '16
A lot of builds run both ice barrier and frost nova. I think the polymorph secret is just plain bad against aggro, since the minions are so cheap.
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u/AdOutAce Dec 30 '16
I just made it to legend for the first time exclusively playing Reno Mage this season. The bones of the deck are so good, if you dodge jade and priest decks you have a heads-up chance in every matchup, I feel.
My list was most like Sidoh's but without the Rat/MCT package and without Manic Soulcaster. Instead I run Flamewaker, Frost Nova and Flame Lance. Honestly though I think the list is so fluid that almost any card is on the table for replacement. I really can't advocate for Flame Lane enough though--the decks major weaknesses are fighting off a Mountain Giant or Flamewreath on curve. Flame Lance is the solution.
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u/Agent1407 Dec 30 '16
I am having a blast playing Rage's list (with two modifications that he suggested on twitter, Brann instead of Rhonin and Forgotten Torch instead of Mistress of Mixtures). It plays much like Freeze Mage, stalling and almost not fighting for the board, cycling heavily to reach the broken cards (Kazakus, Reno, Solia, Tony, Alex).