18
« on: September 18, 2013, 05:20:30 PM »
The Oneness.
Being one with your mage. Is this really so simple? I don’t think it is. Often, I have heard people describing a favorite mage of theirs to play. But why is it so much fun for them to play? Often, we as players, have a certain style of play we inherently try to commit to for each game we play. Maybe you like to go super aggressive. Or maybe you are the kind of guy that likes to sit back, destroy any threat that be posed to you, and then, when the path is reasonably clear, you march in and claim your win. Maybe you prefer a toolbox to work with, using your resources for versatile threats and answers to take down your opponent. Or maybe, maybe you just don’t know. Have you tried to play a build before that just didn’t feel “right” with you? Warlock feels that way with me. And no, it’s not because he summons demons and he breathes Hell, and stomps fire where he walks. It’s just that he doesn’t feel right for me to play. I feel like there is only one really good way to play with him, and his “toolbox” of curses just don’t grab me like they do some players. He is a strong mage, there is no doubt about that, but he just isn’t fun for me to play with. And because I don’t find him fun to play with, I will have a MUCH harder time winning with him than any other mage. I’m sure you feel the same way about a mage in the game. Maybe you don’t like the forcemaster, with her high chance deflect and tendency towards high cost enchantments and general “solo” style of play. Or maybe you just don’t like the beastmaster, for fear that his “rush” strategy is simply too weak to be viable. Maybe you don’t care for the Priestess, whose ability can be completely useless in some matchups. Whatever your reason, it’s completely normal. This article today is not about trying to make what you don’t like win. Mage Wars is game that is so versatile that you can make absolutely any build work if you work hard enough at it. But you have to enjoy what you are playing in order to really want to work at it. So, today, we are going to pick a mage that we know we will have fun with. I am going to outline all the strengths and weaknesses of each we have available, and then I want you to decide, if you haven’t already, which mage you will have the best connection with. Remember, simply picking a mage because you think he has the best chance of winning will not make you win. You have to know your mage, you have to have fun with your mage, in order to have the best chance of success. The builds I have done the best with are not the ones I saw online and built because they did well. The builds I have done the best with are the ones I have poured time into, tweaking, playtesting, losing, and learning with. They are the builds I have played the most and know like the back of my hand. They are the mages that I know the best. So, without further ado, let’s meet the mages we all know and love!
Core Set Mages
The Wizard
Here we have the Great and Fantastic Mr. Wizard! He specializes in the extremely diverse school of Arcane, in which most of the critical spells you will need for your deck will come from. Examples include Teleport, Dispel, and Darkfenne Hydra. He also has a very special second school he can be trained in. This is very special because no other mage in the game has this option. He can choose one of the 4 elemental schools to specialize in. These can be from Fire, Water, Earth, or Wind. So, what are the stats on the Wizard? He does have a rather low starting life total, of 32. He has the obligatory 0 armor, as well as having 10 channeling.
Choosing a fire Wizard is an interesting option, as it opens you up to great birth of Attack spells such as fireball, fireblast, and Ring of Fire. These spells are great not only because they have decent damage output (meaning they roll a good amount of dice for the mana you spend), but they have a fantastic effect roll of burn, which can stay on the enemy the entire game if the rolls are in your favor! But chances are they won’t be, so your best option with a Fire Wizard would be to have a consistent amount of burns on the opponent, usually 1-2. As well, there is another mage who does fire a lot better than the Fire Wizard, so it may be hard to match what they can do. You also have Battle Forge to work with, which is fantastic spawn point that lets you gain equipment as a free action, and nets you mana! You’ll want to include about eight pieces of equipment in your spellbook to take full advantage of Battle forge, but that’s not really a bad thing. There is another incredible weakness to the Fire Wizard, and that is that most builds today run one of Both Dragonscale Hauberk, and Elemental cloak, which, when combined, make it next to impossible to burn or even damage the mage, so you will need those dissolves if you hope to stand a chance in the competitive meta!
Next, we have the Earth Wizard! Instead of relying on Burns to do the job, Earth Wizards use brute force attack spells to get the job done. Please do note that you must have the Forcemaster vs. Warlord expansion in order to build the Earth Wizard, but I tell you it is worth it. Using spells like Hurl Boulder and Iron Golem, the Earth Wizard seeks to get you to about half life, and then finish the game quickly with a flurry of high attack spells. This is both a strength and a weakness, however. Poor rolls can cost you the game if you try to kill them before you have enough resources to recuperate. If you do decide to build the Earth Wizard, you will want to include a few high damage output creatures, as these will help you to up your chances of killing them when they get to that all important half life. Another inherent weakness of the Earth Wizard is it’s low ability to get past High armor creatures and Mages. Be sure to either have piercing or a plethora of Dissolves and dispels to get past the opponents armor. Or, have the ability to end the game quickly. Whichever you think you can do best!
Third, we have the Air Wizard. This Wizard also has some fantastic attack spells to choose from, such as Lightning bolt, or Chain lightning. But the difference between the Air Wizard and the other Wizards to build is the ability to Daze/stun. Whereas the other Wizard’s rely on damage to really control the game, the Air Wizard relies on stopping you from performing actions, by stunning you and to stop you from attacking by dazing you. This can be extremely powerful, but it is also dependent on the luck of the d12. You can mitigate that luck somewhat by sticking to attack spells with a higher chance to stun and daze, but the luck will always be there. This is also a far more controlling mage to play, as you don’t have many great ways of doing a lot of damage for a small amount of mana. You will need to have the patience to isolate and target threats throughout the game, waiting until the opponent is out of juice before you can strike. Again, you will want to be quick about it, as it takes a lot less time to stand back up than you think, but an elemental wand with Thunderbolt will do a great job of ending the game for you when the time comes. You also have access to Poison Gas Cloud, which can do insane amounts of damage when used properly. If you manage to stun the opponent in a zone with a Cloud, chances are they will be taking 2 points of direct damage! Using cards like Force Hold, Force Crush, and Tanglevine would be great ways of sticking your opponent in a zone and keeping him there. If you play the Air Wizard, you will be in for the long game, but if you can make there, your chances of winning skyrocket. Be wary of Elemental Cloak though, as it can ruin your day. Stormdrake Hide is a far less used piece of armor that can be brutal if played, but something you generally will not have to watch for.
Finally, we have the Water Wizard. Creating this kind of build will be tricky, as you are not really using water spells to get the job done. Mainly your water spells would be Surging Wave, and Dissolve. This build is for those of you that can really sit back and wait until the opponent runs out of options. You will be using a lot of the Arcane creatures, as they are extremely varied, and have great use in almost all cases. Such as Blue Gremlin with it’s fantastic fast/teleport ability will allow you to reach hard to get places to take out problem creatures before they strike, as well they have a defense, so they will be a little harder to kill than you think. For this reason, you may benefit from Gate to Voltari far more than any of the other mages, as you plan to make the game so extremely long, and you will be casting a fair amount of high casting cost creatures. These creatures may have the slow trait, but you have teleport, and most likely, a Mage Wand to go with it. There aren’t as many weaknesses to the Water Wizard, as their spellbook is not cluttered with out of school creatures or Attack spells, but they do suffer from hyper aggressive buddy build decks. For this reason, you are going to also want to pack Heals, as they will be all important in turning the game around for you. Please do note that this is not an easy book to build or play. If this play style is one you really want to try, I would suggest therapy. Only kidding! But I would seriously sit down and plan a book that has a heavy focus on mitigating damage and abusing the Gate to Voltari. And then practice. A lot. And then some more. And then more.
What are the abilities of the Wizard? Well, the first, and the most important, is his Voltaric shield. Remember how I said he only has 32 starting life? Well, he also has an inherent way to protect it, with the shield. For a mere 2 mana, he can prevent up to three damage on the first attack made on the mage. Only three damage, you say. What could possibly be so good about that? Well, it isn’t. Unless you include about 4 armor. Now, let’s say an attack is made on the Wizard with Volt shield on and 4 armor. You roll 4 normal damage, and 3 critical. The way the shield works and is worded, the 3 critical damage would be eaten by the shield! Leaving 4 normal damage to bounce off your armor. The reason this works is because it specifically says that the first damage that this mage would receive, which would be the critical damage that gets through the armor! The mage wouldn’t be damaged by the normal damage, as it is already eaten by the armor. This is a powerful ability that should not be over looked, and because of it, you will want at least 5-7 points of armor in your spellbook to really abuse this ability. This has the added benefit of giving you armor to block the next attacks made against you in the round, allowing you to take little to no damage on any given turn. That 32 life might as well be a million if you can’t damage it! This also makes first damage really strong and worth noting. Burns and poison damage would be a great way to get through to the wizard.
The Second ability the Wizard has is Arcane Zap. For one mana, you can cast a quick attack for 3 dice at a 0-1 range. It is also Ethereal. Yes, it can be boosted by Hawkeye. Why is this so good? Normally, each other mage cannot use his quickcast marker to make a melee attack. The Wizard can, for one mana. Pesky flyers? Zap. Those incorporeal creatures getting the best of you? Not with Arcane Zap. Notice that block just sitting there? Zap. It is a powerful ability that again, should not be taken for granted.
Now, before we move onto the next mage, I want to talk about a hugely important strategy the Wizard can possess. That strategy is mana denial. With cards like Essence Drain, Suppression Cloak, and Mordok’s Obelisk, you make it incredibly hard for the opponent to hit you… with anything! This, in addition to the Volt shield, will make it almost impossible for the opponent to hit you. It is incredibly weak to the solo mage, though, so I wouldn’t recommend an entire spellbook dedicated to mana denial, as it’s usually great as a package you can bring in if you really need it. This strategy, again, is not an easy one to play, so be prepared to really practice it if you hope to win with it.
The Priestess
Welcome to the first and only woman of the base set, the devastating Priestess. Her base stats are the same as the Wizard with a lower 32 life, 10 channel, and 0 armor. As one might guess, she specializes in Holy school, with an opposite to Dark magic. This isn’t to say she can’t use cards from the dark school, only that they cost triple, and this should be remembered. Due to her trained school, she will also be using a more controlling strategy, focusing on using hard hitting knights, soldiers, and Angels to do damage while she sits back and heals herself, and her allies. But, we will talk more about that when we get to her abilities.
Her first ability is a powerful one, but it is hard to use properly. The first time each round when she casts a holy incantation or reveals a holy enchantment, she gains one life. This is similar to the volt shield in that she has an inherent way to protect herself, but unlike the volt shield, you will need to include a mass of Holy incantations and enchantments to really make good effect of this ability. It is a strong ability, but works poorly against decks that hope to spike a lot of damage quickly. Be prepared to have a heal on hand almost all the time, preferably on a mage wand, to make full use of this Divine Reward.
Her second ability is a little more universal, and it’s: For a quick action, she may remove a condition marker by paying it’s removal cost from a friendly creature, or for a full action, may remove as many condition markers as she wants, by paying their removal cost. This, again, is a strong, but hard to use ability, and is really best used when she casts creatures that are going to stay on the battlefield for a long time, so she can use her mana for her abilities rather than relying on damage output.
This mage, above all others, is perfect as a turtling play style. She has a lot stronger ways to stun and daze the opponent, but the attack spells she uses for this ability are rather weak, only rolling two dice. This does not mean they are bad, only that are utility attack spells, rather than damage ones. She also has some great temples to work with, in Temple of Light, and Hand of Bim Shalla. She can also use Temple of the Dawnbreaker, if you want to put things like Force Orb, or Reflex boots on her. With this mage, more than almost any other, you will want to increase her channeling, so that you are able to make full use of her abilities during the game. As well, her angels are a whopping 21 mana a piece, so you will have to have a good base channeling in order to hope to cast an angel and not be totally wiped clean of a mana supply.
There is a second build you can try with the Priestess, and it is a lot more reliant on a combination of two cards: Divine intervention and Necropian Vampiress. The way the combo works is, turn one, you will cast the Vampiress for 16 mana, and then quickcast Divine Intervention for 2 on the Vampiress you just cast. Turn 2, you will reveal Divine intervention for 10, and teleport her to the same zone as the mage. If you do decide to do this, you should want to either fully support your 26 mana decision, or ignore it completely. There are upsides to both. If you go with the former, cards like sleep, and a daze/stun lock will be harder to use on the Vampiress, because you have the ability to remove condition markers as a quickcast. You can also make use of your heals and Holy enchantments to up your life while keeping your vampires alive. The latter, however, allows you to set up a long game strategy while your opponent is tied up in Vampiress-ness? This is beneficial to you because it allows you to leg up on the building of your temples and creatures, while your opponent must spend time and resources to take out your Vampiress. But, if they are able to take her out quickly, or turn her to stone, or force hold, you are in a world of trouble, so do not take this method lightly, you have to be prepared to help your Vampiress if she absolutely needs it.