Really digging the Wall of Poison Gas and Gloves of Skill. Those are nice. Bloddthirsty Strike is also cool.

There's a Banish spell that removes a creature for a few turns I think. Kinda expensive to cast though.

Looking at the card and I don't see the Unliving Trait on her. So if she's alive she'd be susceptible to poisons but also able to be targeted with buffs that require living creatures correct?

Those Force Hammers are a good idea. Can't wait to see how further testing goes.

Setting stuff on fire is fun in every game. Aren't Thourghtspores flying? I've been blasting them with fireballs.

Welcome to the game Alex!

Playing against the same folks can be a double edged sword. If you get a large local community it's awesome cause hey plenty of folks to play with. The more people you can play with then the better you can get to a point. However if it's just the same ole gang every week you can start to get in routines, and routines are a bad idea in competitive games. Other than Mage Wars I've been playing Hero Clix for eleven years now. I have found it's vital to keep trying to bring in new blood to that scene just to keep my edge and keep me on my toes.

My advice for breaking out of the walls of group mind is to find a local gaming store if you got one and start teaching random people who come in Mage Wars(it helps if the store has copies in stock they can buy if they like it.) Get some easier to learn mages (Priestess and Beast Master I'm looking at you), and walk folks through some quick games(use the beginner mage rules.) You get more players who will in turn have new ideas for breaking your local crowd out of their comfort zones.