At the risk of sounding a bit snarky...don't.  Use Straywood instead.

At least the Straywood BM's abilities synergize well, and don't actively hinder each other.  And the Straywood BM isn't instantly crippled as soon as the Forcemaster (usually solo-ish) or Necromancer (nothing living) hit the table.

Fact is, Johktari is just a bad design, unfortunately.  Oddly enough, I think both BMs would have been better if Straywood had been given the +1 Ranged, and Johktari the +1 Melee.  That and removing the "living" requirement from Wounded Prey would have solved *all* of the Johktari's issues, imo.

I am very used to Hawkeye on a Wizard using Arcane Zap. Making it a 4 dice 2 zone ranged attack. Combined with a small 0-1 ranged attack can deal out some good damage.

I've enjoyed reading this topic because Straywood is one of my favourite mages, and I've been trying to get swarms to work since I started playing.  Haven't posted yet because I haven't had much to say except a bunch of "Me too"s here and there.

But no one else seemed to catch this, so I thought I'd better point it out: Hawkeye only gives Ranged +1, or +1 dice rolled for ranged attacks.  It does not add a zone to the distance the ranged attack can reach.  Arcane Zap would still be range 0-1 with Hawkeye.

Actually, it's a recent policy change on AW's part.  All(?) Epic Mage-Only cards used to have only one included in any particular set.  But apparently players either complained, or (in a poll AW conducted back in early 2013) they indicated a distinct preference for having two of them.  So, once the results of the complaints and/or polls were tallied, AW now includes two of pretty much everything in every subsequent set.  Sets that came out prior to DvN were not changed however, for obvious reasons.

Upside: going forward at least, we can expect two of every spawnpoint (and other Epic/Unique/etc cards) in every new set.

The problem here is that the Samara Tree brings *one* thing to the table that the Vine Tree doesn't: Seedling Pods become Cantrips.  The Vine Tree can cast Seedling Pods as well, so if you're thinking of using a Pod build, just pack six of them and use them with the Vine Tree instead.  Six total Pods should be plenty for most games; you can only have six out at a time anyway, even with the Samara's Cantrip ability.

Now, I could see playing with both trees working in some builds, but this is more about making the Samara Tree viable on its own.  (And personally, if I were going two spawnpoints, it would be Vine Tree + Battleforge anyway.  Much better combo, well worth the +4 Spellbook points.)

The Samara Tree just doesn't compare.  It's a crap card, at best used as a lesser partner to an already-played Vine Tree.

To be explicit, since there's a lot of comments passing around here: so far as I know, the only card that allows you to cast the same spell twice in a round is the Vinewhip Staff, with putting out Vine tokens.

However, that's because there's rules explicitly stating you can't, either with Spellbind or on the cards themselves.  Presumably, if another card came out that did not have that limitation, you would be able to do so.  A slightly modified version of this can be found on the Dispel Wand, which allows you to use each ability on the card once per turn, but not either ability twice in one turn.

Cards with attack bars are not limited to once per round though; if you can gain a way to make another attack in the same round (i.e., Defend, Retaliate) you can use the same weapon multiple times.

A mage can't have two of the same item equipped.  This is includes Mage Wands, even if they're in different slots.  I mention it just in case you meant he had one with Dispel and one with Dissolve at the same time.

Now, to the suggestions:
--Dispel his enchantments.  Remove Regrowth and Death Link; no regen.  Pack up to four Dispels and a Dispel Wand.

--Limit his mobility.  Tanglevine him once the creatures are dead, or curse him with Enfeeble, and keep out of range of his Drain Life.  Let your creatures whittle him down.

--Get rid of key equipment.  Focus your Dissolves on the items that matter: Wands and Belts.  Pack more Dissolves.

--Pack some Acid Balls to reduce his armour. 

--Use Nullifies to keep him from enchanting himself.  Might even be worth packing a Steal Enchantment or Purge Magic, in this situation.

--Add some Falcon Precision enchantments of your own, to deal with the Knights' Defense rolls.

--Once his Knights are dead (and you have a few creatures on the board) play a Deathlock.  He can't gain life, he can't regenerate.

--Put Walls in between your mages, but not in between him and your creatures.

--Ignore his Knights entirely: if they're Guarding, use Tanglevine, Pushes, and Teleports to isolate his mage from his creatures.

That's just off the top of my head; I'm sure others can come up with more ideas.

Quote from: pete2 on May 21, 2014, 01:18:46 PM

doesn't a piece of equipment go back to your spellbook when you try to equip two of the same ?

quote from the rulebook :

"if you cast an equipment spell for a location that is already full( such as a second weapon), the original equipment is returned to the owner's spellbook (not discarded"

doesn't this apply here ?

Yes, casting the second Life Ring on your mage when you already have a Life Ring equipped would return the original Life Ring to your book. You can't have 2 equipped at the same time.
<snip>

Point of rule however: like Bull Endurance, once Elfric's Life Ring is removed, the +4 Life is lost.  Then the new Elfric's Life Ring applies, and the +4 is regained.

You don't get to keep stacking the +4 Life for each casting of the ring, which is what pete2 seemed to be implying by his question.  The ring is actually a terrible card.