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Wild Tempo Mage deck list guide - Un'Goro

How to play the latest Wild version of Tempo Mage.

The Wild version of Tempo Mage plays pretty much identically to the Standard version, although it takes additional advantage of some of the most powerful cards from Hearthstone's history. The aim with both versions is to simply get an early presence on the board, hold back the opponent's own growing forces, and in doing so snowball a threat that they should find extremely difficult to deal with.

As you'll see from the deck list further on in this article, some old friends - banned from the Standard format - are very much back in action here. Flamecannon aids with board removal, for example, and this simply wouldn't be a Wild deck without the return of Dr. Boom and Piloted Shredder. Mad Scientist also shows his face to boost the overall tempo of the deck.

In our Wild Tempo Mage guide, we begin with a breakdown of what appears to be the most consistently powerful version of the deck in circulation right now. That's followed up with a quick overview of how to actually play the archetype, assuming you've little or no experience with the traditional version. Finally, we've got a list of all the most important card combos that actually fuel the archetype - familiarising yourself with these should help you gain a deeper understanding of the deck nice and quickly.

Editor's note - Un'Goro update: There's not a single card from the new set in our preferred version of Wild Tempo Mage, which is great news if you've not been able to buy too many packs this time around. There are other deck lists, of course, but we think this is your best starting point for the Un'Goro metagame.

BREAKING NEWS! - Don't miss our Journey to Un'Goro guide, which contains everything we know about the next expansion for Hearthstone!

Wild Tempo Mage deck list and strategy - Un'Goro

In the current metagame, we believe this is the top Wild Tempo Mage deck that you can use. Let us know how you get on with it in the comments!

MageSetNeutralSet
1 x Arcane BlastTGT2 x Mad ScientistNAX
2 x Arcane Missiles2 x Piloted ShredderGVG
2 x Mana Wyrm2 x Azure Drake
2 x FlamecannonGVG1 x Dr. BoomGVG
2 x Frostbolt
2 x Sorcerer's Apprentice
2 x Unstable PortalGVG
1 x Arcane Intellect
1 x Counterspell
2 x FlamewakerBRM
1 x Mirror Entity
2 x Fireball
2 x Faceless SummonerTOG
1 x Archmage Antonidas

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

Deck Import ID:

AAEBAc2xAgZxwwGrBLgInhCMFAy7ApUDtATmBJYFuQb3DYcPiQ+QEOMRxa4CAA==

Getting an early start with Tempo Mage is absolutely crucial. If you can get on the board with Mana Wyrm, then boost it up with cards like Unstable Portal - or The Coin if you have it - you'll be off to a fast start indeed. If you can get Mad Scientist on the board, and he pops a Mirror Entity when he dies, your opponent is going to find it extremely difficult to catch up without penalising themselves in the process.

Beyond these ideal-world early turns, you have the likes of Sorcerer's Apprentice, Flamewaker and a host of cheap spells to create no end of problems for your opponent to try and deal with. The ping damage of Flamewaker can be enough to stop an aggro deck dead in its tracks if luck is on your side. The additional mid-game strength of Piloted Shredder should be pretty self-explanatory, we think.

In the late-game you have everyone's favourite minion Dr. Boom, but Archmage Antonidas is another key part of this deck. If you can field this character onto the board, and then play a cheap spell or two afterwards, you'll soon stuff your hand with Fireballs and bring the finishing line that little bit closer.

Knowing when to stop controlling the board and start focusing on the opponent's health pool is vital when it comes to playing Wild Tempo Mage correctly. If you're building a hand of heavy damage, then you should start focusing hard on ending the match quickly. If things are slower and you're holding lots of card draw though, then it might be better to slow down a little and look to build up your arsenal further while continuing to control the board.

(For general strategy advice, take a look at our comprehensive Tempo Mage deck list guide for the Standard format.)

Wild Tempo Mage Mulligan guide - Un'Goro

Your priority keeps as a Wild Tempo Mage player are Mad Scientist, Mana Wyrm and Sorcerer's Apprentice. It's worth discarding the lot to get at the first two in particular, but Unstable Portal is also a fine keep alongside the Wyrm.

Against very aggressive opponents, you should also value a Flamewaker highly - particularly if you can feed it with very cheap spells and get that free ping damage in. If you're up against a slower opponent, minions are typically more valuable than spells, as you should have a certain window to develop a board presence without being troubled too much.

More popular guides:

Wild Tempo Mage tips, combos and synergies - Un'Goro

Here's a quick rundown of all the most imporant card combos available in this Wild Tempo Mage deck. You want to reach a point where all of the following are second nature, so you can focus on using them to their greatest potential against any given opponent.

- Every spell in this deck that's cast while Archmage Antonidas is out on the board will cause a Fireball to be added to your hand. The Archmage is a prime removal target, so try to play him when you can also get at least one spell out on the same turn.

- You should let the Deathrattle effect of Mad Scientist enable your Secret plays whenever possible. It's an important way of gaining a tempo lead over every opponent.

- Each spell cast while Mana Wyrm is out on the board will increase the Attack value of the creature by a single point.

- If Flamewaker is out in play, he'll spit out two randomly-assigned points of damage for each spell that you cast.

- Azure Drake increases the impact of each damage spell by a single point, with one exception: Arcane Blast gains two points of damage.

- Your spells will all cost one Mana Crystal less as long as Sorcerer's Apprentice is out on the board. This effect stacks if you're lucky enough to get both minions in play at the same time.

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John Bedford avatar

John Bedford

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John is Metabomb's Editor in Chief and looks after the day to day running of the site when he's not writing about Hearthstone.
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