Hmm, out of curiousity, how long should it take for us to hear back on an ambassador application?  I've been waiting three weeks now to hear anything back on mine; if that's normal then no worries, but I thought I should check in just in case something has gone wrong. ; )

Spellbooks are heavy.

Now that I'm carrying around all four Core starter books whenever I go gaming so that I can teach new players, if I want variety in my own mage choices, I'm often carrying 8 - 10 spellbooks with me.  After I complained, a friend of mine told me to just put my books in a binder, using UltraPro card pages.  Good idea, but I still need to take them out of the binder for a game: I realized a standard college report cover with a slider clip solves that problem.  Hmm...but...then I realized: if I'm taking pages out to create spellbooks anyway, and all of my (for example) melee-oriented mages that use a Battle Forge tend to want the same cards...wow!

Welcome to the next level of Mage Wars! : )

Ultra-Pro sells double-sided pages that can hold 18 cards (http://www.ultrapro.com/product_info.php?products_id=1313).  Put them in a standard ring binder--a 1" size can hold up to thirty pages, surprisingly--and take them out as needed.  Now I can use the same page in multiple spellbooks--my books are now modularized!  The commonly-used cards, like Teleport/Dispel/Dissolve, that I always kept running out of, I now have spares for.

To use a good example, let's take two of my spellbooks, the Beastmaster Battleforge, and the Forcemaster Grizzlies:

Beastmaster Battleforge ---  Conjuration  --- 1 Wall of Thorns 3 Tanglevine 1 Battle Forge 1 Hand of Bim-Shalla ---  Creature  --- 2 Thunderift Falcon 2 Feral Bobcat 2 Timber Wolf 1 Cervere, The Forest Shadow 2 Steelclaw Grizzly 1 Kralathor, The Devourer ---  Enchantment  --- 3 Bear Strength 3 Regrowth 3 Rhino Hide 2 Mongoose Agility 1 Agony 1 Poisoned Blood 1 Falcon Precision 2 Retaliate 2 Vampirism 1 Cheetah Speed 1 Eagle Wings 1 Enchantment Transfusion 1 Bull Endurance 1 Nullify 1 Healing Charm 1 Block 1 Akiro's Favor ---  Equipment  --- 1 Enchanter's Ring 1 Ring of Beasts 1 Eagleclaw Boots 1 Dragonscale Hauberk 1 Elemental Cloak 1 Gauntlets of Strength 1 Veterans Belt 1 Vorpal Blade 1 Wand of Healing 1 Mage Staff 1 Bearskin ---  Incantation  --- 2 Teleport 2 Force Push 1 Battle Fury 2 Dispel 2 Dissolve 2 Rouse the Beast

Forcemaster Grizzlies ---  Attack  --- 2 Force Hammer ---  Conjuration  --- 1 Hand of Bim-Shalla 1 Wall of Thorns 1 Battle Forge 1 Suppression Orb ---  Creature  --- 2 Steelclaw Grizzly ---  Enchantment  --- 2 Bear Strength 2 Rhino Hide 3 Regrowth 2 Vampirism 1 Mongoose Agility 1 Cheetah Speed 2 Force Hold 2 Retaliate 1 Nullify 1 Block 1 Healing Charm 1 Akiro's Favor ---  Equipment  --- 1 Veterans Belt 1 Dragonscale Hauberk 1 Galvitar, Force Blade 1 Force Ring 1 Enchanter's Ring 1 Dancing Scimitar 1 Eagleclaw Boots 1 Gauntlets of Strength 1 Elemental Cloak 1 Wand of Healing ---  Incantation  --- 2 Dispel 2 Dissolve 2 Teleport 3 Force Push 1 Battle Fury

These two spellbooks share a number of common cards.  And many of those cards are ones I want in other spellbooks, and are hard to get in any quantity.  Almost any Battleforge deck with a melee mage is going to want certain equipment cards, and *every* spellbook is going to want 2 each Dispel/Dissolve/ForcePush/Teleport.  Just about any book with two Grizzlies is going to want to invest in enchantments to support those Big Nasties.  So!  Both of those books now use the same two pages, the Battleforge Melee Page, and the Grizzlies Page:

Battleforge Melee Page ---  Conjuration  --- 1 Battle Forge 1 Hand of Bim-Shalla ---  Equipment  --- 1 Enchanter's Ring 1 Eagleclaw Boots 1 Gauntlets of Strength 1 Dragonscale Hauberk 1 Veterans Belt 1 Elemental Cloak 1 Wand of Healing ---  Incantation  --- 2 Dispel 2 Dissolve 2 Force Push 2 Teleport ---  Enchantment  --- 1 Akiro's Favor

Grizzlies Page ---  Creature  --- 2 Steelclaw Grizzly ---  Enchantment  --- 2 Bear Strength 2 Regrowth 2 Vampirism 1 Mongoose Agility 1 Falcon Precision 2 Rhino Hide 2 Retaliate 1 Nullify 1 Block 1 Healing Charm ---  Incantation  --- 1 Battle Fury

If I want to play my Beastmaster Battleforge book, I take out the two pages listed above, and then add the other two pages that are specific to the BM BF book.  If I play the Forcemaster Grizzlies, I add that book's page instead of the two BM BF pages.  My Druid Solo book also uses the Battleforge Melee Page.  If I ever get around to creating a Johktari BM book, it would probably use the Grizzlies Page.  I now have two Necromancer spellbooks: two pages are shared by both spellbooks, and then each book uses two more pages of their own: one book with a Zombies theme, and one with Skeletons.

Looking at these two spellbooks alone, with the modularized pages I'm now using two less each of Dispel, Dissolve, Force Push, Teleport, Steelclaw Grizzly, Bear Strength, Regrowth, Vampirism, Rhino Hide, and Retaliate.  Those are all examples of cards I'm constantly running out of.  I only have one copy of the Promo card Akiro's Favor; now I can include it in more than one spellbook.  No more need for proxies!

The binder is much lighter; with four spellbooks of pages, it weighs about 1/3 to 1/4 what four actual spellbooks weigh.  It takes less space in my backpack.  It's easier to examine my spellbook during a game to figure out what spells to choose each turn, since I only have four double-sided pages to look through.  It's easier to put the cards back after a game in their original order, since I can quickly remember what spells go where when there's only three to four pages per spellbook.

There are only a few minor down-sides I've discovered so far: it's a bit harder to design and modify spellbooks using this method for example; I use a spreadsheet to list each page per book, that also totals the spellbook point costs per page for that mage (since the page's book costs will change).  It can also be a bit awkward in smaller play areas to handle a report-sized spellbook.  The actual spellbooks do look much cooler than a simple report cover; I still use the game's spellbooks when teaching new players, for example. ; )   To me, the many benefits of my modular spellbooks far outweigh the few minor issues though.

I too hated the Meditation when it was first spoiled for DvN.  If anything, I was *more* vocal about its 'obvious suckage' at the time.  I was also eventually converted; as tarkin says, it's useful in certain situations.

What turned me around on the Meditation Amulet was a Temple/Forge build that has evolved to be very similar to tarkin's as well.  I've included mine in its current state below, just for comparison.  After looking at his, I think I might make some adjustments to mine now; replacing the Staff for a second Amulet for example, and dropping the Block since half my creatures have Defenses and Guard all the time.

I am curious about a couple things though: do you really find so many Dispels (+ Wand) and Dissolves that useful?  And why two Purifies, is that just to counter the local meta of expecting the Weak-spamming Wizard?

---  Conjuration  ---
1 Hand of Bim-Shalla
1 Temple of the Dawnbreaker
1 Temple of Asyra
1 Battle Forge
1 Altar of the Iron Guard

---  Creature  ---
1 Brogan Bloodstone
2 Gray Angel
2 Guardian Angel
3 Knight of Westlock
2 Royal Archer
2 Asyran Cleric
1 Highland Unicorn

---  Enchantment  ---
3 Divine Protection
4 Healing Charm
1 Harmonize
1 Sacred Ground
1 Regrowth
2 Nullify
1 Block
1 Armor Ward

---  Equipment  ---
1 Dragonscale Hauberk
1 Elemental Cloak
2 Mage Wand
1 Staff of Asyra
1 Leather Gloves
1 Meditation Amulet
1 Leather Boots
1 Veterans Belt
1 Crown of Protection
1 Enchanter's Ring
1 Ring of Asyra

---  Incantation  ---
2 Dispel
2 Dissolve
2 Force Push
1 Group Heal
1 Heal
2 Minor Heal
2 Teleport

Heh.  Sorry Wildhorn but I'm going to have to completely disagree about Earth Elemental.  It's a terrible guard (no Quick Attacks), isn't good at removing flyers (its melee attack does not have Reach), its AoE affects friendlies, and it's mobile at all with Slow and Unmovable.  It is also a 5 spellbook cost and 20 mana investment, which is (in my opinion) far too much to commit to an extremely niche creature that will rarely see useful play.  It does have a ton of Life though!

*jumps up to the podium again, pounds fist*

It's crap.  Not Gate to Hell crap, but still pretty bad.  The main reason why: it's not 1-3 mana for a decent Stun/Daze chance, it's a 9 mana investment + 1-2 (most people don't go 3) mana per shot for a locked-in-position mediocre Stun/Daze chance (see Pillar of Light for comparisons).  So far as I can determine, Baron is the only experienced player actually including a Temple of Light in their book.  And apparently AW's unofficial stance on the nerf is "ToL will get better when other temples are released."  I'm skeptical, but willing to wait and see. ; )

A few points:

--No Knights of Westlock?  They're like one of the Top Ten Creatures in the game.  I would have at least two, preferably three.  The Unicorn isn't really worth including more than one, either.

--Renewing Rain instead of Group Heal seems an odd choice, but I haven't used Rain enough to judge it.  However, if you're going with Rain, you should change your Mana Crystals to Mana Flowers so they can be healed.

--Fortified Position and Sacred Ground: If you're going for these enchantments, you sort of want to have ways of 'forcing' the opponent to come to you.  Maybe try to find room for an Ivarium Longbow, and/or add a second Royal Archer?  I would also recommend at least one Shift Enchantment, so you can move it to another zone if needed.

--Eight attack spells, four of them out of school, is too much imo.  I would change the four Flameblasts to two Fireballs or Lightning Bolts (or Hurl Boulders), and drop Pillar of Light to two at most.

--You really should include something besides the Unicorn to regenerate your mage, at least.  Regrowth and/or a Regrowth Belt.

--Don't don't don't plan to start your battle with a Harmonized Temple and two Clerics.  Never works unless your opponent is turtle-building as well, and even then it's not all that great.  My recommendation is to start with a Harmonized Temple, and then bring out something offensive/defensive and see how it goes from there.  Save the Clerics for turns where you don't have the 12+ mana required for like every other Holy creature so far available.

Other than that, looks pretty good.  Have fun with it!

Huh.  I haven't really been searching for these, but I just discovered another one:

Togorah's picture somehow shows his level as 7, although he's correctly listed as 6 in the DB.  Was he previewed at 7th at some point?

Edit: And the Hunting Bow picture is way off center.

Btw, thank you very much for working on this, sIke.  I find the tool incredibly useful.  Well done! ; )

Oh, it's ON now!

--Except I got beaten to the punchline.  Bah!

*sits back down, mumbling to himself*