My current thoughts below (that seem to change almost weekly at the min!). I've not played much with the two new mages yet so ratings might change after more games and for info 6th, 5th place doesn't mean I hate them like others, in fact I think all the mages have merits and a place in the game but I digress and currently.... laydees and gemman.... we have *drumroll* :
6th place - Warlord
I feel dead guilty about this as I think he's a fun mage and my good friend (Sausageman on here) has shown me the theoretical power of a ranged Barracks/Deadeye/Horn opener followed by 2-3 turns of defensive fort-building but I've yet to see or think of more than 2-3 *good* books with him so very limited IMO. He also has some big-ass holes in his defence if you ask me and aside from very generic defence strategies, is weak to fast beatdown and has that grim triple-cost Arcane weakness. Not my style. I like Arcane spells.
5th place - Forcemaster
I don't love/hate this lady as much as many other seem to but do have some comments. I think some of her cards and in general her main 1-2 books are both very obvious and not much of a challenge or fun to build. I also think that she has really shaken up the game and perhaps that the VERY easy combo of Forcefield, Galvitar and her innate abilities *is* too powerful as things stand currently. I can't think of any other cheap,durable and effective combo that attacks, defends and nullifies so many staple strategies in the game at the moment. As I said, I think her powerful books (tbh the only ones I'm interested in B) ) map themselves out for you, so bookbuilding-wise she presents almost zero challenge. That doesn't appeal. All that said I do think she has a place in the game and that she isn't quite as broken as some people think.
4th place... just outside of the medals we have - Priestess
Again, pains me to put this chick in 4th but I like getting nifty ideas and then exploiting them and her 'best' books build themselves; sadly I don't think she has much versatility. Saying that, her Temple module IS strong like bull, I really rate most of her mid-range creatures and she has massive control options with daze/stun as others have mentioned. Lack of extra 'actions' in a Familiar, a crap 'Lair' and other ways to cast is also a real issue for me and while I am sometimes a 60/40 defensive player, the challenge of getting Priestess to win regularly with the saaaaame book could get old.
3rd place, with the Bronze medal it's - Beastmaster
After getting to a new stage of bookbuilding in the last month or so, I have renewed respect for the old BM and think he has a lot more potential than just MW - easy and lite mode. Shockingly efficient and fast with a swarm, a number of effective strategies and tactics to muck about with and exploit he rates highly for me. Your opponent better be prepared for a swarm and lots incoming or they are gunna be on their backs and not in a good way! Pick your flavour of (admittedly limited at the moment) creatures and Lair up, build a beatdown module or go hands off and buff your buddies and you have a fun-to-play book that if played well, is hard to beat and not a drag to play.
In the runner up position we have - Mr Warlock! Yay!
1st and 2nd were a real struggle for me. The fact that the Warlock has a fair number of poor cards nudges him down to 2nd though. That said, I do love the speed and potential for beatdown, curse and mild defence he has and like the fact that he has easy access to a lot of things that are in the mid-high level of 'things that have to be dealt with or I am going to dieTM'. As has been well documented for sometime, a big creature, a strong curse or two and mage melee coming at you is not very funny. At all. That lot added to the fact that being evil is cool kids! and the Warlock encouraging you to play an offensive and proactive game and he's a solid #2 for me... hopefully a future title holder with new spells and better abilities please - not a fan of his existing ones much at all. Compare to Forcemaster... wtf?
Aaaaaannnd the gold goes to ... of course, the Wizard
From day one my favourite and remains so. He's versatile, fun, mobile, tactical and strong, all words I like a lot and would associate with the Wizard. His balanced abilities and access to great options all through the game, coupled with solid counters to most strategies and common books make me smile. Options in bookbuilding are a joy; Slow creatures a weakness? Use Wand/Port. Worried about offence? Use your Shield and layer armour, regen and a defence on him and feel a lot safer. I've also always enjoyed disrupting the tempo, tactics and flow of others' games as a tactic of my own and this mage makes it hard not to do that well with full access to the duffle bag of Arcane tricks. The Wizard also has some great creatures that are there to plug specific gaps in defence and a mean, counterstriking, triple-headed bodyguard if you want to build that in.
No one has really talked about the mind games that happen in a game of MW either and this gent helps you with that side of things too IMO. Getting a small, competitive edge in a tourney could be as simple as disrupting enemy's flow with a Jinx and stopping/melting his spells with Nullifies and Dispels, the Wizard has the space and versatility to try those things in quite high numbers, not just 1-2 cards here and there.
If anything, I'd say the only glaring weakness he has for me is that it can be tempting to put all his tools in and forget to keep your eye on the prize; you only win by killing the opposing mage after all. Keep that in mind and make your wizard book as offensive as possible and you'll have options, fun and a good chance of winning.
