Casual to Competitive - Change Up! by Ben Isgur

This article series will be pushing those two cards . . . to the limit. Push it to the limit, walk along a razor’s edge, don't look back—just keep your cool or you'll be finished!

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80 Horde Priest - Tichondrius
80 Alliance Rogue - Icecrown

Hehe I'm glad I'm not the only crazy one.

I played a deck based around Illusonary Rod + Bimble draw engine a while back for fun and not only was it quite fun but not bad at all either. It's a lot better than most other 'jank' comboes out there, and it's slight jankiness is outbalanced to an extent by its amazing constant draw power.

On that, I found plenty of success with Orders from Lady Vashj (and Akama's Promise but you're Traitor...). May seem like overkill but it sure is amusing =P

One note, the Warlock route gives you the awesome jankness of Ripped from the Portal, which conveniently suits The Missing Diplomat.

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Haha, that's pretty cute -> removing Bimble for 1, then chaining Orders to the draw 2.

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First off if this deck is about card advantage and draw power, I would want to run some Defias Brother Hoods since you are running Rescue the Surviors and the fact Weldon can complete it on his own. Not sure where to fit that in yet but I would prolly take out the Ciphers. (Even though I love this quest and it can be huge, however it could cost you card advantage as well.)

I am not sure why you are wanting to run Anchorite Kilandra.. since in order for your Bimble combo you need to be able to ready both your hero and the Illusionary Rod and for the Battle Mage's Baton you are likely only wanting/able to destroy one card a turn.

That brings the deck down to 15 over.

Next I would Side Deck The Bringer of Deaths. To me it seems like have have a pretty hardcore lockdown and this card is only going to work for you in huge control battles.

12 over.

Next I would -1 on Weldon, Ossus, and Archbishop, +1 each in side deck since you have so many ways of finding the ally you want with your portals and Missing Diplomat.

9 over.

I like Blue Suede Shoes.. especially if you get your non-combat damage lockdown.. still debating if there needs to be all 4 though. Also, the one thing I have been thinking of is Belt of Blasting.. it seems like it will reach a quicker victory than Illidan.. but maybe some how you could fit in both.

Well thats my 2 cents for now.. bounce your ideas off me and lets see how to continue the improvement. 

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WoW TCG - Level 1 Judge

Between Rescue the Survivors, Battle Mage's Baton, and the Rod, I'd say the deck is a bit heavy on items that rely on you exhausting your hero. Furthermore, with all your lockdown on preventing combat damage, your ability to grab allies from the deck and play them, etc. I'm not sure it's necessary to keep the Battle Mage's Baton. I'd say that's an easy -3 from the main deck. I may not even side it...I might remove it altogether.

That being said, I also like the idea of playing Defias brotherhood instead of Rescue. It's far more resource efficient, and doesn't rely on two separate turns of exhausting your hero just to draw one extra card each turn (unless you're using Kilandra's power to ready your hero?)

With Blizzard coming from Varanis and Finishing Shout from Orgrimmar, I don't think Benedictus will stay in play long enough to do much good. -4 for him.

The Spirit Towers is just one more slap in the face for the opponent, but with all the control elements you have (and with the option to rip the Greench), I wonder if it's necessary. After all, it's getting placed as a resource instead of one more quest that could be providing you draw power. A potential -2 on it.

As a final thought: I've been pretty happy with the way "Quickhands" plays against Orgrimmar. How does one get around a bunch of allies who resist damage? Just take their life away instead. Normally the trade-off on card loss makes Quickhands' cost pretty steep, but with a deck designed around draw power, maybe it would be worth it here.

Finally, if the concept is draw power to keep your hand full, you are, after all a mage. There's likely no need for it, but after playtesting, you may find it nice to keep invocation in your side deck. If anything happens to your Rods, after all, your whole plan is more or less demolished.

That's my two cents. I'm always a huge fan of the refinement process, and look forward to the playtesting process of this deck!

*EDIT* I love the idea of running Orders x4. With that much draw power, you could be using your Spirit Towers every turn to frustrate the heck out of his draw power.

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Tournaments:
Orange County Realm Qualifiers: dropped out early
North America Continental Championships: didn't go
Darkmoon Faire Boston: read about it online

General thoughts:

I agree that belt of blastings could be a good win condition, particularly with so many guys that stop you from attacking.

Along the same lines, you might consider Exarch Onaala instead of Ishanah.

Why pappy as a 'finisher'?

Cipher seems it will have a bad miss chance.  I would replace those with something else, such as A question of gluttony.


Additional cards:

Short john mithril could be used to get your rod or belt of blasting if you go with that for a win condition.

Another card that you might consider is Quickhands Spigotgulp.  With your extra draw power, it seems like she could work alright.


As far as cards to cut:

I would cut anchorite since she doesn't do much for this deck.

You currently have 17 locations/quests which is a bit high considering you have your draw engine as the focus of the deck.  I would cut the missing diplomats since you have portal.  I would also cut or reduce the sunken treasures since you have so few targets for it.

Battle mage batons seem bad since the rod and rescue the survivors requires you exhaust as well.  I might consider replacing rescue as well for similar reasons.

1173993:

Casual to Competitive - Change Up! by Ben Isgur

This article series will be pushing those two cards . . . to the limit. Push it to the limit, walk along a razor’s edge, don't look back—just keep your cool or you'll be finished!

Im missing how the deck wins... Especially with an Ossus in play. Where is the non-combat damage coming from aside Razak? Card advantage only does so much if all the cards you draw does nothing but stall the game.

That being said I think the Arch Bishops are unnessesary. As are The Bringers of Death.
- 7

The Mystic Denials are out of place in deck. Fizzles and Fractures are fine. Id even switch the Fractures with Taste of Arcana.
-2

The Missing Diplomat is not needed. You have insane draw power and 4 portals you will have no problems finding allies. This brings yoru quest count to 15 a good number for this kind of deck. Also the Ciphers need to be switched with The Defias Brotherhood.
-2

Your only answer to equipment aside from the two Metal Morphs arent until, at the earliest, turn 7. Drop the spell supressions in the main, throw two in the side and add atleast one more Metal Morph.
-2

With an Illidan deck you have the ability to play fatties from your side deck, enabling you to take some out of your main. Id let go Ish and Razak.
-2

Ossus and Blue Suede Shoes dont need to be 4-ofs. Minus one each and they would still cover their need. Id also bring Battle Mage Baton down to 2-of
-3

This bring the deck to an even count of 60 but I still feel the deck needs more win conditions such as Belt of Blasting.

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Man is capable of as much atrocity as he has imagination.

I have to disagree about Anchorite: for all your quest exhaustion for draw power, hero tapping, etc., Kilandra's a staple for readying them all to do it again on the opponent's turn. I say absolutely keep her. She'll play like crazy.

I thought of Belt of Blasting too, but with Illidan, I just don't think it's necessary.

I have to agree with the comment on Cipher. I'd pull them for Orders.

Short John is an interesting idea. I happen to be a huge fan of allies, as they can create board presence and swing back too. If you haven't pulled Rod by turn 3, your deck design is already in a bit of pain, but John might be a nice add nonetheless.

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Tournaments:
Orange County Realm Qualifiers: dropped out early
North America Continental Championships: didn't go
Darkmoon Faire Boston: read about it online

2437922:

1173993:

Casual to Competitive - Change Up! by Ben Isgur

This article series will be pushing those two cards . . . to the limit. Push it to the limit, walk along a razor’s edge, don't look back—just keep your cool or you'll be finished!

Im missing how the deck wins... Especially with an Ossus in play. Where is the non-combat damage coming from aside Razak? Card advantage only does so much if all the cards you draw does nothing but stall the game.

That being said I think the Arch Bishops are unnessesary. As are The Bringers of Death.
- 7

The Mystic Denials are out of place in deck. Fizzles and Fractures are fine. Id even switch the Fractures with Taste of Arcana.
-2

The Missing Diplomat is not needed. You have insane draw power and 4 portals you will have no problems finding allies. This brings yoru quest count to 15 a good number for this kind of deck. Also the Ciphers need to be switched with The Defias Brotherhood.
-2

Your only answer to equipment aside from the two Metal Morphs arent until, at the earliest, turn 7. Drop the spell supressions in the main, throw two in the side and add atleast one more Metal Morph.
-2

With an Illidan deck you have the ability to play fatties from your side deck, enabling you to take some out of your main. Id let go Ish and Razak.
-2

Ossus and Blue Suede Shoes dont need to be 4-ofs. Minus one each and they would still cover their need. Id also bring Battle Mage Baton down to 2-of
-3

This bring the deck to an even count of 60 but I still feel the deck needs more win conditions such as Belt of Blasting.

I find it funny that people question where the win condition is when there's an Illidan in play. To put it simply: that's what the Bringer of Death is for. Destroy your own Ossus. That, or just Spell Suppress your own guy. Let Ossus start to swing back himself. The Bringers should stay.

Maybe it's just me, but I really, really like my Mystic Denials. I'd play test with and without, but ultimately I'd probably keep them in on principle alone. I know that's not a good reason, but I'm stubborn like that.

The only weakness I'm currently seeing is what to do about an early game rush. There aren't many cheap cards in this deck, especially that would respond to cheap allies. Tidal bursts become a pretty big deal early on in this case. I might consider a couple of More/Scariers in the side, too.

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Tournaments:
Orange County Realm Qualifiers: dropped out early
North America Continental Championships: didn't go
Darkmoon Faire Boston: read about it online

2425206:

I have to disagree about Anchorite: for all your quest exhaustion for draw power, hero tapping, etc., Kilandra's a staple for readying them all to do it again on the opponent's turn. I say absolutely keep her. She'll play like crazy.

You can't use Kilandra's ability for the Illusionary rod, since it requires the rod to exhaust too.  So that means you are really only using it for the Battlemage's Baton and Rescuing the Survivors.  As far as the survivors go, why not just replace it with another quest, rather than having to run a 1 drop to use your quest effectively? 

My point is that I would rather replace the cards that require exhausting rather than put in a 1 drop to allow you to play them.

2425206:

I thought of Belt of Blasting too, but with Illidan, I just don't think it's necessary.

Illidan works as always, but the belt can also function for ally removal as well.  It is also a bit faster when other control decks are working towards Illidan.  If the deck is really holding back a bunch of guys behind Ossus, the archbishop, or weldon, we really want to work that to our advantage asap before they get an answer.

Belt also has a bit of synergy with other cards in the deck, like sunken treasure or short john if you play him.

Good catch on Kilandra / illusionary rod - my fault for not reading it carefully enough.

In an airport ATM, I'll have a pretty long post ready on my return.

-Ben

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Isgee is, by definition, a snob.

Ben, check your PMs.

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Just keep adding syllables. I'll tell you when to stop.

1322471:

2425206:

I have to disagree about Anchorite: for all your quest exhaustion for draw power, hero tapping, etc., Kilandra's a staple for readying them all to do it again on the opponent's turn. I say absolutely keep her. She'll play like crazy.

You can't use Kilandra's ability for the Illusionary rod, since it requires the rod to exhaust too.  So that means you are really only using it for the Battlemage's Baton and Rescuing the Survivors.  As far as the survivors go, why not just replace it with another quest, rather than having to run a 1 drop to use your quest effectively? 

My point is that I would rather replace the cards that require exhausting rather than put in a 1 drop to allow you to play them.

2425206:

I thought of Belt of Blasting too, but with Illidan, I just don't think it's necessary.

Illidan works as always, but the belt can also function for ally removal as well.  It is also a bit faster when other control decks are working towards Illidan.  If the deck is really holding back a bunch of guys behind Ossus, the archbishop, or weldon, we really want to work that to our advantage asap before they get an answer.

Belt also has a bit of synergy with other cards in the deck, like sunken treasure or short john if you play him.

Good points all. You'd need multiple copies of Kilandra in play to make her truly worth her readying capabilities. I've already mentioned I don't think the Baton belongs in the deck, and there doesn't seem to be quite enough need to ready cards without it. You convinced me. Get rid of Kilandra in favor of more cards to respond to rushy threats.

I still can't justify the Belt, though...too many high drops as it is, I think. The deck is already pretty cluttered with late-game play, not to mention the two or three copies of Bimble that will never leave the user's hand to maximize on the Rod resurgence. You're essentially playing with a 5-card hand, over half of which (not including quests) are currently 5-drops or more expensive. If you wanted to one-of the Belt and expect to use Sunken on it, that's a possibility, but I still don't think I'd make it a main playing point. I'm more concerned about how he's going to respond to early threats at this point.

Not to mention, I don't think we really need one more card that requires a hero exhaust. If the Belt DID make it in the deck, I'd say it's a good argument to bring Kilandra back into play.

I'd still fight for some More/Scariers for early game threat reduction, combined with a couple of Cinnamon Rolls for stabilization.

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Tournaments:
Orange County Realm Qualifiers: dropped out early
North America Continental Championships: didn't go
Darkmoon Faire Boston: read about it online

There has been plenty of posts on what to take out of this deck.  Some posts has suggested quests or other win conditions.  my problem with the deck is its inability to survive the early game.  There are a lot of fast decks out right now.  some of these are Kil'zin, Lionar, witch doctor koo'zar, Daspien...  theres a ton of them.

my thoughts are trying to make the deck survive longer to get to turns 5-6 with plenty of health intact.  Something i have seen passed up so far is Conjured Cinnamon Roll.  when you land your barov or Ossus, you won't be taking much damage, but plenty of decks can deal damage outside of combat.  a buffed daspien can sinister strike for quite a bit, kil'zin has storm shock, and Koo'zar has shadow word: death.  plenty of ways to kill you if you make some stall happen a little too late.  i think if you played some Cinnamon Rolls after you drop ossus or weldon, you will reduce the chance or being defeated by those burn spells.

I'm curious to hear from Ben on how this deck has been running for him. I've been running a Warlock version of this deck built around discarding, and it has been working really well for me thus far. You could consider it a version of the Koln lock deck (http://wow.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?ID=4150&gr_i_ni), except that I'm running Marlowe instead of Plague, and the Rod and Bimble are making up for all the Horde quests the Koln deck runs.

Ben, have you still been playing the Mage version? How has it been working for you?

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Tournaments:
Orange County Realm Qualifiers: dropped out early
North America Continental Championships: didn't go
Darkmoon Faire Boston: read about it online