Murloc Mage deck list guide - Rastakhan - Hearthstone (December 2018)

Murloc Mage is a Hearthstone deck that seeks to blend together many minions from the Murloc tribe in order to build a devastating board presence that can slam a surprising amount of damage into the opponent's face.

There are, of course, many synergistic Murloc cards at play in this deck, but the Mage brings a few tricks of its own. First is Stargazer Luna, who draws you an extra card whenever you play the card in your hand that's furthest to the right. Given all the cheap Murlocs at your disposal, you can get quite the card-draw train rolling in this way.

Then there's Aluneth which prevents you from running out of fuel too fast if you lose the board, and Book of Specters which provides even more minion power. Finally, there's a pair of Fireballs for when you just need to really push a match over the finishing line.

Truth be told this isn't exactly the first deck that pops into your mind when you think about breaking the meta, but it's enjoying a fair bit of popularity at this stage of the expansion! In this guide you'll find the best Murloc Mage deck list, Mulligan advice for starting each match off properly, and a breakdown of the combos so you know how the whole package comes together.

UPDATE - NOVEMBER #1

We only very recently put together the first edition of our Murloc Mage deck guide, but for the sake of getting everything up to speed for the start of November we've given the deck list a looking over. We're keeping things the same for now, but will likely have another update for you later in the month, and once the deck has been experimented with and refined further.

Murloc Mage deck list and strategy

This is the best deck list for Murloc Mage that we're aware of in the current meta. If the deck continues to be popular then we'll continue revising this one over time.

Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game.

Deck Import ID: AAECAf0EAqLTAu72Ag6/AbsCxQPbA/4DlgXjBdAHpwidwgKxwgKGxALO7wLeggMA

The article intro and the combo breakdown at the bottom of this page provides you with the key information you need to pilot this deck.

In very simple terms, however, you're looking to play a hard tempo game and weave together the many Murloc empowerment synergies in order to build an overwhelming board presence and push a dangerous level of damage into the opponent's health pool quickly.

With a Murloc board established, you can then pop Gentle Megesaur out to cause even more carnage, and look to Aluneth, Stargazer Luna and Book of Spectres for refuelling when your opponent inevitably wipes you out...

Those are the basics, then, but if the deck proves even more competitive over time then we'll flesh out this section of our Murloc Mage guide with a lot more insight for handling specific match-ups.

Murloc Mage Mulligan guide

Keep an eye out for these cards in particular during the Mulligan phase of the match. The combo section just a little further down the page explains how these cards - and others - can be weaved together to create an immensely powerful board.

• 1. Murloc Tidecaller - This little guy grows stronger for each Murloc you summon subsequently, and you are likely to get a fair few of them into play early on. A great base to build on.
• 2. Rockpool Hunter - This character has particular synergy with the first card in this section, giving it extra power, both from the Hunter's flavour text and its membership of the Murloc tribe.
• 3. Murloc Raider - A rather unimpressive one drop but it feeds the Murloc Tidecaller, keeps the board pressure up on the opponent, and can be empowered out of ping range with Rockpool Hunter.
• 4. Murloc Tidehunter - Two Murlocs for the price of one, giving more early-game presence and potentially having a big impact on Murloc Tidecaller.

Murloc Mage tips, card combos and synergies

It's likely you've not played a deck like this before, so here's a breakdown of all the most important combos that exist in Murloc Mage:

- Murloc Tidecaller gains an extra point of Attack power every time a fellow Murloc is summoned onto the board afterwards.

- Rockpool Hunter can be used to give a friendly Murloc another +1 / +1 of stats.

- All other Murlocs on the board gain an extra point of Attack for as long as Grimscale Oracle remains on the board alongside them. Likewise, Murloc Warleader grants an extra two points of Attack strength.

- Once dropped on the board, Coldlight Seer grants all other friendly Murlocs an extra two points of Health. This effect is permanent, so even if the Seer is taken out the extra Health on his buddies remains.

- If Stargazer Luna is out in play, you'll draw an extra card whenever you play the right-most card in your hand. You've lots of cheap minions in this deck, so you should be able to get good value out of this character.

- With Aluneth in your hand, you'll draw an extra three cards whenever you hit End Turn. Just make sure you don't accidentally over-draw if you still have a generously sized hand.

- Although you don't have many spells in this deck, keep in mind that Book of Specters will burn Fireball and Frostbolt if they're drawn into.

- Gentle Megasaur puts all of your active Murloc minions through the Adapt process. That means you get to choose from one of three buffs selected at random from the following pool: