Well written articles.  I haven't played Academy, but it's pretty clear from this that a Wizard control strategy would be pretty frustrating to play against for the Beastmaster.

My attempts to get new players into Mage Wars have generally failed because of:
1) NPE, such as Mass Sleep-like moments followed by walking away from the table
2) Too many spell choices/decisions for beginner players
3) Making their own deck in their own time being too time consuming for casual players, or requiring them to buy multiple boxed sets for serious players

Sounds like getting them into Academy isn't likely to be any more successful. Bummer! 
I have had more success gaining players with deck building games that draft the deck as you play, such as the DC Heroes Deck Building game.  Any thought of making a version of Mage Wars like that, keeping the board, rules and game play but drafting the cards as you go? 

As a newbie just throwing in my two cents to agree with sshroom:  in our group's very first game of playing Mage Wars together (and before reading any forums)  it was clear to us that playing the Wizard along with the Gate to Voltari and Wizard Tower cards was "easy mode".  It almost didn't matter what else you threw in your spellbook, because it was obvious that Gate played early gave you more creatures and Tower gave you more attacks than other mages.   Although we didn't ban Wizards from play,  we still look at playing a Wizard spell book as "easy mode" to winning.  I don't think it's a stretch that anybody just opening a box of Arena, knowing nothing about the game except the basic rules, and making their own decks (like we did) would see the Gate and Tower cards as overpowered and grab the Wizard as their first choice, leaving the other players feeling a little left out trying to figure out how to get around the obvious advantage those cards give the Wizard.

As a person trying to get some new players I can tell you what NOT to do from experience:

Do not have new players start with 120 point decks, there are too many choices but more importantly too many strategies that new players aren't prepared for. 

One new guy immediately quit playing the game in frustration because he didn't realize that there Attack spells affecting entire zones so the swarm he'd spent an hour figuring out how to summon got wiped out in one action.  I had a similar experience in my first game against Mass Sleep where I simply called it quits for the day after that.

Don't surprise them with rules they didn't know about if you can avoid it.  Use the Apprentice decks or at least decks with 60 points or less, and before they play let them look over ALL the spell books to get an idea of what the cards and strategies are and answer any questions they have.  In a competitive environment you want to surprise opponents with things they haven't seen, but you don't want new players to get screwed by stuff they didn't know about.  Another example was one new guy didn't understand Intercept and was frustrated his elaborate strategy failed because he didn't know he couldn't finish off his opponent with a ranged attack.

As you said, ensure that they have at least a couple copies of Dispel and Dissolve, and Teleport if you're using walls and Tanglevine.  No one likes to have no chance to deal with an annoying situation.

With my own limited experience with the Forcemaster, I strongly second Puddnhead comments about adding the Mongoose Agility, Dragonscale Hauberk and Dissolves.  Also second his comments about a more aggressive opening on Turn 1 such as running forward two spaces and dropping your Forge so you can threaten to attack or Force Hammer on Turn 2 if desired and force your opponent to react quickly, and also more easily keep your Forge in range.

This is the current version of the build.  I am thinking I would like to add a couple Tanglevine, but can't figure out what to take out.  I tried Deathlock, but oddly it was scary not being able to heal even though I really only do it through Vampirism.  The early game is pretty easy, but getting past turn 10 figuring out what are the best cards is tougher.  Any thoughts?

A typical opening:

1)   Blood Demon or Dark Pact (12/13) + Mana Crystal (5)
2)   Cheetah Speed or Mongoose and Bear Strength on demon, Move 1
3)   Force Push or Nullify FD on demon (3/2) + Move 1 + Battle Forge (
4)   D chest (6)+ Enchantment Transfusion FD on demon (2) + Move 1 + Ring of Curses (2)      
5)   D Sectarus (9) + Transfer enchantments to mage (2/3)  + Move 2 + Attack
6)   D Fireshaper Ring (2) + Flameblast (5) + Attack + curse from Sectarus (~5)   


[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname][/spellbookname]
[mage]Warlock[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1a04]3 x  Fireball[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a06]2 x  Flameblast[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a12]2 x  Ring of Fire[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1j04]1 x  Battle Forge[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j12]1 x  Mana Crystal[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ01]1 x  Enchanter's Wardstone[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1c03]1 x  Dark Pact Slayer[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFC02]1 x  Blood Demon[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE07]2 x  Rust[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e36]2 x  Rhino Hide[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e31]2 x  Poisoned Blood[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e29]2 x  Nullify[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE01]1 x  Armor Ward[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE04]1 x  Enchantment Transfusion[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e14]1 x  Enfeeble[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e01]2 x  Bear Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE04]2 x  Brace Yourself[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e28]1 x  Mongoose Agility[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE03]1 x  Arcane Corruption[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e24]1 x  Magebane[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e40]1 x  Vampirism[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e09]2 x  Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e27]1 x  Marked for Death[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e05]1 x  Cheetah Speed[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e19]2 x  Ghoul Rot[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e08]1 x  Death Link[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e25]1 x  Maim Wings[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e04]1 x  Chains of Agony[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=FWQ09]2 x  Sectarus, Dark Rune Sword[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q07]1 x  Elemental Cloak[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q06]1 x  Dragonscale Hauberk[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ01]1 x  Dancing Scimitar[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q11]1 x  Gauntlets of Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ10]1 x  Storm Drake Hide[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q21]1 x  Moloch's Torment[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q15]1 x  Leather Boots[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q10]1 x  Fireshaper Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ09]1 x  Wand of Healing[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q28]1 x  Ring of Curses[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q23]1 x  Regrowth Belt[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1i12]2 x  Force Push[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]3 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]3 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i28]1 x  Teleport[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]

Yes, I had the same question about the Battle Forge when I read about your opening. Throwing your Forge out first in the middle of the board makes it the obvious target for any early attackers summoned by your opponent turns 1-2 (e.g. Raptor Vine or Cervere, or the Forcemaster).  I have the same concern with my warlock's Forge as it's a huge beacon for attackers/Force Hammer if I'm the aggressor, since you can't use it effectively if it's hidden in your back row.  I plan to cast it only after I've got my demon out to serve as a guard or threat.

Ah, thank you for clarifying.  Bummer I won't get that extra damage, but it does seem to be consistent with making all Command cards less useful than just casting a Hurl Rock.  For the relevant Forcemaster discussion then clearly there are more useful cards for the Thoughtspore, such as Force Push, Sleep....or Hurl Rock

 For my Warlock I guess I'll be swapping out Mage Wand + Battle Fury to Elemental Wand + Flameblast.

I ended up dropping Sersiryx, a Vampirism, and the Acid Balls and replacing them with Rust (more curses = good for warlock) and a couple Force Push. I didn't have the mana to use Seriryx for spells while buffing my warlock with enchantments/equipment, casting a lot of Battle Fury, and cursing with Sectarus.  Five actions a turn is great, but I'm lucky if I had mana for two or three. 

While admittedly my favorite opening is to simply charge in with Sectarus and start the damage race on turn 2, my new more wise opening is starting with a buffed Blood or Pact Demon (while foe's defense is still setting up) while gearing up my mage through the Forge, and then use Transfusion to pull the enchantments back to my mage when the Demon is about to die to commence Sectarus's cursed beatdown.