Honestly, it does not matter what expansion you get, they are all fun and open up new possibilities.  Get one.  Play it to death with all your mages, then get another one.  Of course if you can play in some organised play, all the better.

Following what people have said on this thread, I have the following comments,

1. Dice,  the dice are a lot less of a factor that games with a d6 or d8.  results can be changed or mitigated with veterans belts, akiros favors and other cards.  Also there should be some randomness in the game.

2.  There is definately no one best mage.   Mistakes, wrong strategies,  misguessing spells and being overwhelmed can happen to any mage, even a priestess with a guardian angel

3. Length,  this is not a short game, unless it is with a time limit and you go hell for leather from the start.  If you have time, true you can build up,  IF your opponent lets you.  Even if you do.  a turn of cast enchantment and battle forge on both sides  can take 20 seconds.  move on.  If you want a 5 minute game play love letter, not mage wars

4.  Arcane Wonders has missed the boat in Europe.   The euphoria and hype has definately left here.   Although the german market has some stands promoting at Essen and there are some game communities here, it never achieved critical mass and people have moved on.  Mage Wars is perceived as an American game with all efforts focused on America.  Our gaming group of 16 mage wars players died when our local game store went bust.  Present amount of players,  2.  Interested people, zero. 

5. Mage Wars is not going away.  It is no longer the new game but has carved a niche, (mainly in America).  What battlegrounds will do, we shall see but it is an improvement, not a new game.  Cannot make a second first impression.

6.  There are still players out there who will love mage wars who have not tried or seen it yet.   But the hype is over.  Now it is time for us to find the players.

So who won the prizes from the survey?

Well come on over.  Plenty of room and a lot of americans and Canadians here as well

So, how many people have completed the survey now then?

Would love to be there but a bit far from the netherlands

For any Belgians, Dutch, Germans or anyone else in Europe who would like to come along, there is the game fair this coming weekend, 8 and 9 November in Eindhoven.  Although there is no official Mage Wars event or stand, we can meet up to chat, play, discuss or plan.   

http://spellenspektakel.nl/