At the moment Mage is widely considered the best class in arena, with a slightly higher win rate than Paladin and Rogue. But what makes them so dominant? We’ve discussed some of the nuances in the past, but this week we’re going to look at what their best cards truly are. Which cards give them the biggest advantage over the other classes?
While it’s true that their hero power is quite strong, it’s not much better than Paladin’s, and it is considered much worse than Rogue’s. This means that the ranking must come down to the cards themselves. Let’s take a look.
Five: Water Elemental
Back to the basics, Water Elemental is the original four drop. Back before the first expansions launched, Water Elemental was the strongest four drop in the game. That title has since been taken by Shredder, but Water Elemental is still a close second. This guy has such a large body that he is able to take out two, sometimes three enemies, especially when he’s played early on. He’s also quite resistant to removal because of his large health pool. The cheapest common removal to kill him is Fireball, which is also four mana, an even trade. His freeze can also be very relevant at key times. For example, keeping a Paladin or Warrior from attacking can be game changing. Or if your opponent plays a massive minion, Water Elemental can be sacrificed to freeze it for a turn.
Water Elemental is a very strong card that should be played in any Mage deck. He suits both aggressive and defensive styles. Making use of his high health pool and freezing ability can easily sway the game in your favour, or keep it snowballing.
Four: Fireball
In arena, direct damage can be very difficult to find. I’m sure everyone has been in the situation where your opponent has five health and you just can’t find that last little bit to finish him? Well Fireball is the answer. Fireball is premium removal, killing almost every minion for only four mana. Cards like Pit Fighter, which are very common in arena, directly lose to Fireball, a cheaper removal. And if you are ahead, throwing Fireballs at your opponent is always a pleasant way to end the game!
Fireball is also a common card, so having two is fairly likely. This means that you can easily finish off an opponent from twelve life. The utility of Fireball is matched by very few cards, giving it a solid spot on our list.
Three: Ethereal Conjurer
Ethereal Conjurer is a newer card, and one that raised quite a fuss for its rarity. You may have noticed that every card we’ve mentioned so far is a common. That isn’t because we aren’t including other rarities, it’s because the best Mage cards for arena all happen to be commons. Ethereal Conjurer kept this rolling, assuring that Mages would have good cards in their decks. Ethereal Conjurer is an insane card in all aspects. It is a very strong tempo play, while also providing a ton of value. Not only do you get a card from it, you get to choose from three, meaning you can take exactly what you need for the situation. Because it only chooses from Mage spells, getting what you want is common. Also Mage spells are universally fairly strong.
Ethereal Conjurer is the reason Tempo Mage now stands a chance against Control decks in late game. And that’s referring to constructed play. If the card has that much potential in constructed, imagine its strength in arena. Once again because of its rarity, you can easily get duplicates as well. With Ethereal Conjurer you always have the spell you need, and a body to boot.
Two: Flamestrike
Flamestrike is the bane of arena players everywhere. Everyone knows at this point that you can’t play minions on your turn six against Mage. Flamestrike can easily turn a game with three, four, or even five for one value. If you are able to get a second Flamestrike, even better as they won’t predict it. Flamestrike is difficult to play around, because you can’t bait it without losing everything you bait it with. Flamestrike is particularly strong at the moment, as many people are going for faster decks. This means fewer minions with high health, so Flamestrike will clear them all.
The only downside to Flamestrike is its cost, which is quite high. However, the value is more than worth it, and any Mage deck will want Flamestrike for sure. In fact, it almost won our number one spot, but lost on a technicality.
One: Faceless Summoner
As I said, Flamestrike only lost the number one spot on a technicality. Faceless Summoner would be our number two card, but it is from the most recent expansion. Blizzard weights the most recent expansion higher in arena, meaning you will be offered them far more often. This means you will see Faceless Summoner twice as often as Flamestrike. This is why it won first place, because it has a stronger weighting on the class at the moment.
All that said, Faceless Summoner is incredibly strong. While Ethereal Conjurer provides some value, Faceless Summoner provides insane tempo. The average three drop is a 3/3, meaning you get on average 8/8 of stats for six mana. Not only that, but it’s split up, making it difficult to clear. Silver Hand Knight is regarded as very strong in arena. It is a 6/6 for five mana, split up. Faceless Summoner is better in almost every way, blowing past its competition. Ethereal Conjurer had people upset over its rarity, but Faceless Summoner had people angry. Making this a common has single handedly ushered in an era of Mage supremacy in arena.