Arcane Wonders Forum

Mage Wars => Strategy and Tactics => Topic started by: Mrmt on August 12, 2014, 06:12:45 PM

Title: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: Mrmt on August 12, 2014, 06:12:45 PM
When a necromancer gets down these two cards, giving everything finite life, and removing one life a turn from every living creature on the board, it's pretty much game over unless they are dealt with quick... Added to the general high bang for the buck of undead/finite life creatures, it's a nasty combo, giving the necro a huge advantage for very little cost.

Short of building up a wrecking team to take down these conjurations, what's the strategy against it? It's so dispiriting to play against.

Does any other mage have anything quite as dominant, which allows it to wreak so much havoc for so little effort?
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: echephron on August 12, 2014, 08:32:53 PM
The answers are:
Kill him (psst, he just blew ~14 mana on stuff that prevents him from healing)
Force hammer(or equivalent) something! if there is a conjuration your book may be concerned about, plan ahead.
Conquer
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: Wildhorn on August 12, 2014, 10:23:01 PM
Deathlock screw him just as much as you. Now, can you deal 1 damage per turn more than him? If yes, don't be afraid of IoP.
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: sdougla2 on August 12, 2014, 11:20:19 PM
The answer is usually to kill the Necromancer, but if that's going to take too long, and a conjuration is being a real problem, just kill it. Conquer works if you're playing a Warlord, but big attacks work fine too.
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: Mrmt on August 13, 2014, 02:19:45 AM
Deathlock screw him just as much as you. Now, can you deal 1 damage per turn more than him? If yes, don't be afraid of IoP.

But he can reconstruct all his creatures... So he can heal them while I can't heal mine. Deathlock def works to his advantage.
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: Boocheck on August 13, 2014, 03:02:08 AM
I would firstly ask, if you actually play against necromancer with this setup or this is just theory crafting :)

Secondly, i must agree with other guys, that as it may seem, reality is somewhat always different. If you are not beastmaster swarming or Warlord goblin swarming, you should be pretty fine.

What give me creeps are suppresion orb and mordok obelisk :)
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: Mrmt on August 13, 2014, 03:16:04 AM
I would firstly ask, if you actually play against necromancer with this setup or this is just theory crafting :)

Secondly, i must agree with other guys, that as it may seem, reality is somewhat always different. If you are not beastmaster swarming or Warlord goblin swarming, you should be pretty fine.

What give me creeps are suppresion orb and mordok obelisk :)

I did, last night. My big mistake was going for a wildfire imp swarm with the new warlock.

I switched when I recognised what was happening, no more imps, but by that time I had spend so much on a pentagram plus harmonise plus a couple of imps I had lost the momentum. I also made a couple of crippling mistakes, forgetting that vampirism, life drain and many of my curses had no effect on non-living creatures. I eventually got adramalech out, but it was too late, and I conceded.

I find that a big misfire early in the game leaves very little opportunity to pull back... you fight, but it's a long slow death.



Suppression orb is no problem for the imps - they teleport. The obelisk is another matter.
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: silverclawgrizzly on August 13, 2014, 03:42:55 AM
It's not even that difficult to take an Idol of Pestilence or Deathlock with a swarm. "Hey all you minions attack that thing!" works pretty good to bring whatever you want down.
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: Boocheck on August 13, 2014, 04:28:35 AM
Hmm... wildfire imps + suppresion orb... i like this!

My most played spellbook is with Sniper Dwarf and Archers Watchtower. Now with Hawkeye, Akiros Favor and +2 piercing from Warlord battle order (dont know name... is it take aim?) i dont have a problem with conjurations and most of the time, my sniper is becoming that "thing" which is need to be dealt with.
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: Mrmt on August 13, 2014, 06:01:35 AM
Hmm... wildfire imps + suppresion orb... i like this!
Actually, on further thought, since they cost a mana to teleport (to a burning object), I guess it amounts to the same thing...

They are awesome creatures once buffed up, but the combo needs to get going first.

Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: sIKE on August 13, 2014, 09:10:32 AM
Hmm... wildfire imps + suppresion orb... i like this!
Actually, on further thought, since they cost a mana to teleport (to a burning object), I guess it amounts to the same thing...

They are awesome creatures once buffed up, but the combo needs to get going first.
Close but if you can spend 1 mana to get them across the board it is still much better than a 1 mana cost per zone to move.
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: barriecritzer on August 14, 2014, 10:21:51 AM
Raptor vines tend to kill them fairly quickly but most of the time I ignore them and just focus on the Necromancer
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: Avarice on August 21, 2014, 05:33:08 AM
I have played vs idol/deathlock in my campaign as a FM. I had no problem taking a measly 1 damage per round while I ignored his creatures and went for his throat. Round 6 win. He hurts himself not being able to heal. He seems very strong mid to late game with zombies/skells. Just kill him before he gets going mid to late game.
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: Avarice on August 21, 2014, 05:35:08 AM
I'm actually playing a mirror necro vs necro this weekend in campaign. I'm brainstorming a custom book built around rush...perhaps vamps or lof... decisions. ..
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: GeorgeFalcon on August 21, 2014, 12:37:56 PM
 I have a necro deck with Otto Kronig, Master Engineer, 2x Goblin Builder, and 1 Mort. 5x wall of bones. mort can heal the walls so you just drop Idol of Pestilence, and Deathlock. and when otto or the gobs die you just Animate dead on them and keep the combo going. the mage will have the eagle claw boots and can climb over the walls after the combo is going and drop skeleton archers and nuke any offense coming his way
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: Maverick on August 22, 2014, 04:50:38 PM
I have a necro deck with Otto Kronig, Master Engineer, 2x Goblin Builder, and 1 Mort. 5x wall of bones. mort can heal the walls so you just drop Idol of Pestilence, and Deathlock. and when otto or the gobs die you just Animate dead on them and keep the combo going. the mage will have the eagle claw boots and can climb over the walls after the combo is going and drop skeleton archers and nuke any offense coming his way

Oh Really? :P

Edit: I am the guy he plays against.
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: reddawn on August 22, 2014, 08:22:41 PM
I have played vs idol/deathlock in my campaign as a FM. I had no problem taking a measly 1 damage per round while I ignored his creatures and went for his throat. Round 6 win. He hurts himself not being able to heal. He seems very strong mid to late game with zombies/skells. Just kill him before he gets going mid to late game.

Idol and Deathlock aren't cards you play for no reason.  What is that, 18 mana for 1 damage every turn and no way to protect himself?  That's pretty terrible.

I mean, Plaguemaster is fine, but I can't imagine building around it that much...

Edit: You also can't even use the damage ability in that situation.   :-\
Title: Re: Dealing with necromancer deathlock plus idol of pestilence
Post by: Sirscott13 on September 17, 2014, 10:11:36 AM
Alter of Skulls works better for the necromancer because he can defend one conjuration better than two, and if he keeps Mort with the alter, you can heal it and Life Bond +2 means the Necromancer gets to heal up to two damage while the opponent cannot heal and gets damaged 2 damage (3 with IoP). One of my favorite Necromancer strategies.

His Lifebond is better than the Druids, because Mort can reconstruct (heal) even in finite life conditions.