https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/1698407/thoughts-next-expansion

Aaron Brosman Posted Sat Dec 31, 2016
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That was only 1 year ago (plus a few days), Academy was already out, and then Aaron (aka Laddinfance) disappeared from Etheria never to return... so yes, something very drastic thing happened, but it wasn't Academy.

Quote from: Karadox on January 15, 2018, 05:45:55 AM

you're right isel, I'm afraid the first thing we'll hear about the new academy extension´s will be a picture on a merchant page on the internet, like last year.

Our policy at this time is that we don't announce a new product until the files have been sent to our manufacturer. That equates to approximately 3-4 months before the retail launch.

This is due to times in the past where we said "XYZ is coming in Spring" and then Spring comes and goes.

So we can safely assume that nothing is coming in the next 3-4 months if we haven't heard anything?

Favourite aspects include:

- how well the theme is tied to the mechanics (complain all you want about the number of conditions, etc, but no other game makes as much thematic sense to me as MW in terms of what a condition ability does in game mechanics vs what it's supposed to represent)

- no luck-of-the-draw (e.g. spell books replace shuffled decks)

- no uncertain resource system (e.g. no "lands"; predictability of resources; can save mana or spend mana, but aside from some small unknowns like Mana Siphon getting dropped on you, or Essence Drain, or whatever, you can usually predict with reasonable certainty whether or not you can cast your spell this turn/next turn or by turn 7/8/9)

- Dice. In general, I'd much rather have uncertainty come up in the power of an attack or whether an effect triggers or a defense works than on luck-of-the-draw in when I get mana or a powerful threat or a needed counter to an opposing threat.

- Balance, including skill to luck ratio. A good experienced player will generally win against a weaker inexperienced player, but there is some chance that an upset can occur. Also, there are good and bad match-ups between mages, but player skill and outguessing your opponent at a key moment, or even a good/bad dice roll, can still flip the balance, and allow you to pull out a win in a bad match-up.

- The game outside the game. I enjoy building books, just like I enjoyed building MtG decks. The difference is that a MW book is much more likely to play the way I expect than the luck-of-the-draw of a MtG deck, which might work as intended 1/4 of the time (at best).

Depending on how you define upkeep costs, this version of the Necromancer might even be able to use [mwcard=MWSTX2FFC10]Sardonyx, Blight of the Living[/mwcard] without committing suicide...

Quote from: Reddicediaries on January 02, 2018, 11:59:24 AM

Also the one where they try to attack spell you and DI whisks you away, essentially wasting their action, sbp, and mana.

So just so am clear if some one was casting say hurl rock on my I reveal DI and put them away the cast retarget something else and the waste spell and action for it, so after they declare then u reveal before the roll huh, interesting

Correct. Although that would be a bit of a waste, since the enemy's Hurl Rock is definitely fewer sbp's and mana than DI.

Consider having DI on a Warlock who tries to summon [mwcard=MW1C01]Adramelech, Lord of Fire[/mwcard]. Reveal [mwcard=MW1E11]Divine Intervention[/mwcard] at the end of the "Counter spell" step after mana has been paid. The Warlock gets teleported (even if 0 zones) and loses LOS to the zone, thus the Adramelech creature spell fizzles, and the Warlock is out 24 mana / 6 sbp cards (and is unlikely to have a back-up copy of the Lord of Fire in her spell book).

Dancing Scimitar and it's not close. Every solo or buddy Mage book has at least one, and I question whether or not I should add one to every other Mage. If a book has a melee weapon, it almost always has a Scimitar too. It's that good.

Regrowth Belt would be next. It's also a top Dissolve/Explode target, often prioritized over a chest piece (unless that chest piece gives a relevant damage type -X).

As for theme or art or fun combos, I'd go with Eye of Bael. My curse Warlock has multiples to distribute via Battleforge onto the opposing Mage. Fun times!

I get that Renewing Spring works well with Falcon swarms, since (a) they're swarmy (e.g. if you're playing them, you're probably playing 6 of them), (b) they're Flying = rarely hindered, and (c) they're Fast, so they can usually travel up to 2 zones when fleeing trouble, then heal for 3 dice in the same action; then next round they fly up to 2 zones to return to battle and attack for 1 action. Combine with Charge +X bonuses from a Totem and this gets quite deadly... (and of course just move out + in to attack with Charge +X bonuses on rounds when the Falcon doesn't need to heal) which was the theme of a GenCon winner's book.

Does the Spring work well with any other swarmy creatures? Foxes are Fast but not (inherently) Elusive, so they are generally limited to 1 zone if they want to flee battle and drink from the Spring. Goblins can be Elusive through Slaknir, but they aren't (inherently) Fast, so they're still limited to 1 zone if they want to flee battle and go for a drink.

Cervere, or almost any living buddy with Mongoose/Cheetah enchantments, could flee up to 2 zones to heal for 3 dice. Combine with a Regen enchantment and it could heal for ~5 on rounds that it drinks. But you generally don't want your powerful buddy giving up its attack on a round it needs to heal, so a Mage Wand with Minor Heal, or even just a Wand of Healing (or Staff of Beasts or Emerald Elk Stave) is probably preferable to the Spring. A buddy with a powerful attack would probably benefit more from Vampirism than Renewing Spring (against living creatures at least).

Does Meredia's Blessing replace Renewing Spring in most cases? Assuming you aren't up against a more swarmy opposing mage, it lets 1 creature heal for 2, and 1 object remove a condition marker. Sure, it's 1 creature per round, so it doesn't undo a zone attack spell as quickly... but losing your attacks from every creature in a swarm for a round isn't exactly optimal either. Better to have Meredia and a couple of Mending Waves / Group Mends in your book for the times when they're needed, than to dedicate several actions to a Renewing Spring (imho).

Back to favourites... I already mentioned Idol of Pestilence (and it's big brother Altar of Skulls). I didn't mention that the Idol isn't just for Necromancers/Warlocks. I used to use it in my aggro Forcemaster builds (to speed up the match), but it also combos very nicely with any Bloodthirsty creatures - Sharks, Dire Wolves, Blood Demons, Zombies, anything with Demonic Bloodthirst... Try it in a Johktari build! Her Wounded Prey ability loves Idol, and your Dire Wolves will go bananas! You just have to make sure your own creatures aren't going to die from the Idol in the process, and there are oodles of ways you can do this (aside from / in addition to Renewing Spring).

Tanglevine is indeed awesome.

I've always been a fan of Idol of Pestilence; Altar of Skulls is actually quite good in multiplayer Domination and becomes the thing everyone else has to focus on immediately - mainly because cheap low-health living creatures are common in Domination. So those two would be my tops, aside from Tanglevine.