Hearthstone Budget Mage Deck Guide (2019) – Rise of Shadows

Our Hearthstone Budget Mage Deck Guide features the best list for playing Hearthstone competitively on the cheap! This deck is comprised of only cards that are of Rare quality and below. It contains no Epics or Legendaries, which should make it a lot easier for you to craft and build towards as one of your first decks when heading to the ladder.

Mage is one of the better classes to start out with due to it having some pretty quality Basic cards. Frostbolt , Fireball , and Water Elemental are all extremely useful and commonly see play in meta decks. While the class doesn't always have enough support to be the best budget option, it is usually in the conversation.

Budget Mage Deck List

We lost Elemental synergy in the Standard rotation, however, there's still a decent option with kind of a Tempo and Spell Damage hybrid deck.

Budget Mage Mulligan Guide

We're mainly looking for cheap minions early in the game, if we find these we can keep stuff that lines up with our curve like 3s and 4s.

Always Keep

• Saronite Taskmaster - Solid 1-drop that can help us contain the board. We're not worried about the 0/3 minion we'll give our opponent, we just need to keep the board manageable in the early game.
• Loot Hoarder - Not the greatest minion, but hopefully we get a trade out of it. It cycles itself, which makes the card more valuable.
• Sorcerer's Apprentice - One of the better cards in the deck, allows us to potentially play this minion and cast a spell for free. Ideally, we'll get to use the spell cost reduction, but that's not always going to happen.
• Spellzerker - Solid stats and especially good if we go first or coin it out on our first turn. We want to be the one to dictate where it deals damage, that way we can take advantage of the Spell Damage.

Situational Keeps

• Spellbook Binder - We really want to get the card draw out of this card, so we'd like to keep this with Spellzerker if possible.
• Magic Dart Frog - Better if we can pair it with a spell, so if we have a cheap spell and something like Sorcerer's Apprentice in hand already then this can be a good keep.
• Messenger Raven - If we have a 1 and 2-drop we want to keep then we can keep a 3-drop. This doesn't have great stats, but we do get to grab an additional card.

Budget Mage Strategy Guide

This deck is built on winning by controlling the board, and potentially burning out your opponent with spells. Sometimes, you won't be able to hold onto those spells, so you'll have have to win on the board. Other times, however, you can sneak a lethal in by finishing off your opponent with burst. Always be counting your damage, you never know when you might be able to take down your opponent.

In terms of minions, you really can't afford to be overly greedy. It doesn't feel good to put minions that provide additional value onto the board just for the stats. However, we need to make sure the board doesn't get too crazy, so it's usually the right play.

If you're looking to close out your opponent later in the game with spells and don't have enough damage. Remember that you can always use your hero power to damage the Spellzerker for additional Spell Damage. This is a fringe case, but it's useful to consider.

As mentioned in the beginning, we're looking to chip down our opponent in the early game and hopefully finish them off with spells at the end. We've got some powerful damage spells we can use, so if we pair those with one of our Spell Damage cards we might be able to burn them out before we run out of resources.

About Your Hero Power

It's very tempting to use your hero power to eliminate a minion on the board, but it's not always the right play. While your hero power is strong, it's almost always better to play a minion then use it. The only time I would use the hero power over the minion play is if the minion on board can take out the minion I'm about to play. We're looking to gain board presence, and while using our hero power to eliminate a minion is good, it doesn't accomplish our goal.

Budget Mage Card Replacements

These are cards you can swap out certain cards with, or that can be used in place of cards you might be missing. I wouldn't necessarily craft these for the deck, because most of Mage's meta options are quite a bit different then this deck.

• Bloodmage Thalnos - Great card for this deck. It cycles itself when it dies, and it's a cheap way to get Spell Damage on the board.
• Spellshifter - A decent Spell Damage card, that has some slight versatility in the swapping of the health and attack.
• Arcane Watcher - Works with this style of deck, and is a cheap option to throw in if you are missing other cards. You'll need to have the majority of your Spell Damage cards though.
• Archmage Vargoth - You get him for free, so you can throw him in the deck if you want. It's arguable if he belongs in the deck or not, the problem is you have to be careful with the spells you play around him because they could end up targeting you or your minions.
• Zilliax - This card can be placed in just about any deck because it's so versatile.
• Stargazer Luna - Great card for a deck that runs cheaper spells and cards. You can get a ton of draw and value out of this card, and really cycle through some of your deck wit her.
• Unexpected Results - I wouldn't craft this card, but if you happen to have one or two they can fit nicely in the deck. We've got quite a bit of Spell Damage, and this can get us an instant board.