FoO Review-Mage

Today, I'll look at the next class in line in Fires of Outland. Mages have had a habit of being all hype and no substance. Well, the hype is back with both Talents expecting to see a lot of play and other cards also promising to finally bring Mages to the top tables. Or will we see them flame out like they have so often thus far.

Amplify Magic

This card's just not very good. It does nothing by itself and seems very out of place to me in the Mage class which isn't exactly known for its healing capabilities. Maybe it's good in 2-Headed Ogre where you can team up with a healing class, but it's not going to make it into any other constructed decks any time soon.

In limited, it's far too situational to see any play.

Arcane Blast

If there's one thing Mages do well, it's sling direct damage. This one's not bad, and a lot of classes would be happy with it, but Mage generally has better options than this even with the reduction in cost of each extra Blast.

In limited, it's a good removal ability and you really shouldn't argue against good removal. Since FoO will be the last pack in drafts, how highly you take this card will depend on your needs, but it's certainly playable. If you find yourself in a FoO only booster draft, these probably go up in value because there's a much higher likelihood of getting multiples.

Dragon's Breath

I've already talked about this card when it was previewed. Seeing the rest of the set, I still think that Shaman will be the best class for Blue Man Beatdown, but Fire Mages will certainly get a look from some people who are tired of Phadalus.

In limited, this card is equally amazing. Pick it high if you're playing Mage.

Fizzle

I'm generally one of the first to jump on how bad interrupting generally is in this game. But this card has a very intriguing effect. This and Counterspell are really the only two interrupts that you don't have to overpay for since they don't tack on any damage. If Fire Mages become popular, this has the nice litte bonus of stopping Shaman Totems. One of the biggest drawbacks to interrupts is the inability to stop allies. But when you consider that Shamans are likely to be packing anywhere from 6-12 Totems post-FoO and could be relying on as many as 8 in a deck to produce ally tokens, suddenly Fizzle can counter a 2/2 protector or a 2/1 Ferocity dude. Just something to keep in mind when checking out this card.

In limited, it's too narrow to see play I think.

Frost Funnel

A nice little targeted Frost Nova. I've got it in my early build of Exaura, but I'm not sure how effective it's going to be yet. I would like it a lot better if I had to the option of doubling up on a single ally.

In limited, it can be very effective board control simply by stopping two attacks. Also, in draft aggressive strategies are more popular than in sealed, so it is a very good card against the aggro draft decks since they won't have a full compliment of Merrys and Jeleanes.

Mana Jade

For anyone who doesn't know how I feel about abilities designed to draw cards, I really don't like them in this game. It's easy enough to draw cards other ways that I don't really like taking up precious ability slots with card drawing when I have plenty of quest slots that can do the same thing. Before I'll play a card drawing ability, it better be REALLY good. Evocation and Innervate are on the short list of card drawing abilities I will play. Right now, I don't think Mana Jade makes the cut, but it's a close decision. It has more to do with the fact that Mages can already play Evocation, which I think is ridiculous.

In limited, I think this card is a pretty easy inclusion. You don't always get a high quality quest selection, so card drawing is a little more of a premium. Just be careful because I have seen a lot of games in limited (more sealed than draft) end with one person running out of cards.

Megamorph

Umm....yeah. I have nothing left to say about this one.

Molten Armor

I personally think this card is probably right behind Dragon's Breath as Mage's best ability in the set. It obviously requires you to build your deck with it in mind, but recycling all of your abilities for at least one extra damage is a very good investment. It's much better vs. the Horde and their non-Untargetable allies, but it's still very solid against Alliance players as well.

In limited, it at first glance doesn't seem like you will play enough abilities to make great use of Molten Armor, but even 1 or 2 extra damage out of it can make a big difference.

Slow

Ill admit, I was originally fooled by this card. I thought it was going to come out and well Slow down Phadalus. We have already started playing with FoO decks, and I can tell you this card just isn't very good. Sure, it's nice against Phadalus, but there are just too many matchups where it's a huge waste of a card. I think this will end up being a sideboard card vs. Alliance rush decks and Horde sac all your resources for free stuff decks if they're actually any good. I think it's just too limited in scope to be worth a slot in the main deck.

It's not terrible against aggressive draft decks, but other than that, it just doesn't have a very big effect on a game in limited.

Overall, I think the Mage got some pretty solid cards, but I'm just not sure it's got enough punch to get up there with the Shamans and Warlocks of the world. We'll find out soon enough though.