After watching level 1's get eaten like candy, I've played him this way. It's kinda based on the shock of there suddenly being two grizzlies rolling 7-9 dice each on you with a possible battle fury giving that nine dice caster a double hit. I've won a couple and lost a couple. Before I tweak it again I thought I'd post here, and start the missing beastmaster thread.

Equip: 12 pts
Ring of beasts
Mage wand
Elemental cloak
Regrowth belt
Enchanter's ring
Leather boots
Ivarium longbow

Conjur's: 15 pts
Tanglevine x2
Mana flower x2
Wall of thorns
Hand of Bim Shalla x2
Animal kinship
Rajan's fury
Tooth & nail

Creatures: 31 pts
Emerald tegu x2
Thunderift falcon
Tarik
Steelclaw grizz x2
Galador
Redclaw
Timber wolf x3

Enchants: 20 pts
Bear strength x2
Bull endurance x2
Cheetah speed
Eagle wings
Regrowth
Rhino hide
Mongoose agility
Vampirism
Retaliate
Nullify x2

Incant's: 32 pts
Battle fury x2
Call of the wild
Perfect strike
Dissolve
Heal
Group heal
Minor heal
Purify
Charge
Force push
Dispel x2
Teleport

Attacks: 10pts
geyser x2
Jet stream
Lightning bolt

Now that it's laid out like this, I'm thinking I'm too heavy on incantations.

What do you guys think about it? Give me your worst.  Or, share your builds, too.

Have there been games where one or two cards have turned the tide for one Mage? What cards? I think this could be helpful info for those of us (probably everyone) who haven't settled on a specific build for our mages yet.

Here's my example from a recent game. My buddy's priestess survived my warlock's main onslaught and prolonged the game until I was out of usable cards in my spell book. It was by far the longest game I've played: over 4 hrs.

I had a well-equipped Mage and a beefy Adramelech with bearstrength, vampirism, mongoose, and rhino hide. Fairly early into the game she had taken high twenties of damage and I was around 8-9, and Adramelech was at 2. The cards that turned it around were: the circle of lightning because the stun knocked Adramelech out of the sky and allowed her to attack them (I brought a second in after losing the first), and he bound minor heal to a Mage wand--whenever she healed she also gained a life from her special ability. At the end of the game when I was out of creatures I couldn't get my 7 dice melee roll past her dodge/temple of the dawnbringer combo (I forgot the name of the equip that gives the dodge). I learned that I need more dissolves. And I shouldn't have ignored he circle of lightning with my dispels. I should probably have more creatures then Adramelech and an army of bats, too.