I wanted to state my opinnion for quite some time now, but i was waiting for the expansion to be released, so we could see more new decks etc. I really like Mage as a class, but i think Sorcerer’s Apprentice is becoming a huge issue (esp. in Wild). Being able to complete your quest (either the new or the old one) in a single turn and then get a bunch of random spells with Mana Cyclone, even as soon as like turn 4-5 is really strong and the fact that you are up against a hand full of random cards makes it even more frustrating. I know people have stated the issue before, but I was just thinking if Sorcerer’s Apprentice got the Reckless Experimentor treatment (and Summoning portal if that matters) and reads: “Your spells cost 1 less, but no less than 1”. I believe it would still let you tempo things like arcane intellect etc, but without being broken with all those really strong 1 mana mage spells and even allow the printing of more of them. Also prevents the Antonidas OTK etc.
P.S. : I am just stating my opinion, in what would make for healthier decks. Not trying to bring any salt and negativity.
1 Like
I see your point and it would definatly help again the scenarios where we have infinite fireball mage and i do agree it should get that treatment however the problem there is a lot of the community that are vocal will yell to the heavens to stop the change and also the fact that its the equivalent of rouges preperation, majority of the class is built around it and nerfing it could cause mage to lose their edge. As ive said i agree that a change could be made but id be very hesitant to change it right now for balance
1 Like
You know what, if warlock can fill a board with buffed 9 mana demons on 6 I demand my apprentice remains broken too
I’m sick of aggro and combo decks being bashed all day while midramge and control decks are treated like prime minister children
1 Like
Oh i agree with that, i do not play aggro decks in general (maybe some shaman 
if i get a quest), but i have no issue against them. Still i find it frustrating being able to cheat out so many cards in one turn and yes i hate Darkest Hour aswell.
I meant void caller-voidlord+skull-Mal’Ganis-cube and so on
There is big priest we all know about, there is odd paladin which is basically cheating, odd warrior that has too much armor gain+the synergies and this is just the tip of the ice berg
I just don’t want my most useful card in my favorite class being made useless, that’d just ruin hearthstone for me all together, I can’t stress this enough, I was already afraid that Flame Walker would get a nerf when Aggro Quest mage was still tier 1 and I’m glad it fell so quickly, it shows the deck isn’t broken and that it can be countered, in wild I don’t believe this could ever be the most urgent problem, I get where you’re comming from, I totally understand and there’s no reason for our difference of opinion here to affect us in any negative way actually, I need to know tho, did I make you feel like this card isn’t as problematic after all?
One thing people always seem to forget about the current state of mage (and I’m including early use of conjurers calling on a giant in this as well) is that, to pull off these kind of ‘cheat’ combos mage has to horde cards. If you want to get a decent amount of spells out of the apprentice/cyclone combo you likely have to throw out 5…6…7 cards in one go and to be in a position to do that you not only need the right draw, but you need to basically do nothing for 3-4 turns too and you’re not guaranteed to get anything that you might need. In the current meta, handing your opponent 3-4 free turns is dangerous, especially if they have an answer in place for what you’re about to try and pull off.
I’ve done it to mages myself. Turn 4 apprentice comes down and gets taken out by Snipe. Turn 5 Giant comes down ready to be CC’d next turn only to be destroyed by deadly shot. All of a sudden mage has not only given you several free turns, but now their plan has been scuppered. They are high risk high reward early combo’s. If they come off you’re in a good position, if they don’t you could have just cost yourself the game and because it’s high risk I don’t believe it requires nerfing
But remember dude Mage is my favorite class and i can assure you…nerf sorcerer’s apprentice and Mage will be literally unplayable in Standard…now i get that in Wild its a huge problem for others but you can’t nerf a card just for wild…it is wild after all…anything goes…Also Mage’s gonna get obliterated in this expansion cuz secret mage can’t compete with top decks…also the quest is a bit trash…and don’t get me started on the new Reno xD Right now the only thing that’s holding mage together is Giants and/or Cyclone+SA without those two combos Mage will have a 40% WR/Standard in the future lol
While I don’t know what’s the impact of Sorcerer’s Apprentice in Standard, I feel that in Wild she is least of our concerns. It’s a good card that allows for some shenanigans in some decks, but that is pretty much it. I wouldn’t even consider putting her on a list of problematic cards to be honest.
I think it’s important to establish that truly broken cards, the ones that skew metas severely, fall in some specific groups:
- high variance neutral cards (Barnes)
- aura like advantage neutral cards (Genn and Baku)
- class specific low prep combos (Dopple + Grumble + Shudder)
- class specific high value in context (Muster for Battle)
All of these have a very low cost, very low risk and a very high reward and all of them need very specific counters. You can add and play any of those cards at any point and just profit. Sorcerer’s Apprentice is strong but it is also light years away from the profile of the examples I provided.