Reno Highlander Mage Deck

Reno Highlander Mage Deck Mulligan Guide

Reno Mage includes a few key build-around cards with a much higher power level than the rest of the deck. These will be your main Mulligan targets in most matchups.

• General Mulligan (keep regardless of what your opponent is playing) — Reno the Relicologist, Zephrys the Great.
• Mulligan against Aggro (also keep if you think you are playing against an aggressive deck) — Frostbolt, Doomsayer, Ancient Mysteries, Arcane Breath.
• Mulligan against Control (also keep if you think you are playing against a slow deck) — Arcane Intellect, Twilight Drake, Escaped Manasaber.

Reno Highlander Mage Deck Strategy

Reno Mage is a control deck with a powerful late game based on summoning multiple large minions. Cards like Deep Freeze and Power of Creation allow you to generate several waves of threats and heavily pressure your opponent.

You will find yourself taking a variety of different routes to get to this stage thanks to the nature of the deck's highlander style. As a general rule, though, you will be playing passively during the early game and seeking to recover with a powerful swing turn. This could take the form of one of your major board clears, such as Reno the Relicologist, or of a massive board development.

Zephrys the Great is a very difficult card to use well, and rewards players with a comprehensive knowledge of the Basic and Classic sets. Its Battlecry discovers the "perfect card": a card from the Classic or Basic set from any class that Zephrys believes will be useful based on the current game state. This high level of flexibility makes it hard to identify exactly when Zephrys will be most impactful. One strategy you can use for valuing it is to evaluate your hand and consider what is missing; if you are lacking a threat, a major removal or a board clear, and think you may need one, hold Zephrys until a turn on which it can serve that purpose. Do not be afraid to play it on turn 2 if your hand demands it; Wild Growth can be an exceptionally strong option in this deck due to its heavy curve.

Try to set up your turns in such a way that it will be obvious to Zephrys which card you are looking for. Setting your opponent's Health to 6 before playing Zephrys, for example, is much more likely to result in the offer of a lethal Fireball than playing Zephrys at the beginning of your turn. Additionally, be on the lookout for situations where a highly niche card can swing the game; Hungry Crab is frequently offered as an answer to opposing Murlocs, for example.

Against Aggro, it is important to limit the amount of damage you take, as the deck runs only a small amount of life-gain. Use freeze effects liberally, and err towards playing high-value minions like Malygos, Aspect of Magic for tempo rather than holding onto them for maximum value. This will help you drag games out long enough for your superior lategame to seal the win.

Against Control, try to stagger your threats in order to put some strain on their removal options. Overextending into board clear spells like Brawl can be costly, but equally it is important to make your opponent use them; forcing out a board clear with a medium-sized board can clear the way for big plays to win the game.

Reno Highlander Mage Deck Card Swaps

• Against Control — Add 1x Archmage Antonidas for 1x Combustion.
• Against Aggro — 1x Khartut Defender for 1x Keymaster Alabaster.

Changelog