It would seem to me that having at least one in your book would be worth it.  It's one more mana than a grunt, and the attack isn't that much worse.  If you are spamming grunts, he'll do almost as well.  Further, if you are boosting  your grunts, your boosts will help him as well.   To me, he's worth the inclusion for those rare times you might need him.  If you've got excess mana, or if you don't want/or can't  venture your mage to an area of the board, he can go and cast those caltrops, walls, or garrisons.  If you don't need him for, he's a card that stays in your spellbook or gets used in a pinch if you need more weenies.  1 extra mana for a cast and 1 less dice on attack seem worth his potential utility.  

would I include more than one... doubtful.  As others have said, multiple builders only seem good for their healing ability, which isn't that good.

Great discussion guys.  Thanks, and keep it up if you want!

A couple things:

I've seen quicksand on offer, and while I like that card, it does not work against flying.  That is my understanding, unless I am wrong.

I've thought about binding teleport to a wand, which seems really good b/c it costs so much to go in the deck.  The issue seems to me though that your opponent can simply dissolve the wand, and the teleport is gone.  I can't see carrying two of those for 18 points, so isn't it better to keep teleport in your book?  You only get one use, but at least you have it when that one use is really necessary.

I need to do some more thinking about the bow vs. the staff.  I'm shocked the warhammer is two handed WITHOUT reach.  

I want to give some more thoughts to the knights of westlock.  I've been mulling them over.  THey are pricey but sure do have a lot more beef than the gobbos.

How do  you deal with Flying Nasty's (big angels and Demons) without the boulder?  I played the Warlock the other day, and the Boulder's where my only chance once he got that big dawg demon on the table.

I would think boulders would be crucial just for that.

thanks guys!

Also,

if you are both pulling from the same pool of cards, then it will make it fair as well.  My brother and I are very competative, especially with each other.  With each of us building different mages, it wasn't an issue.  The few cards we both wanted, we simply split up and since we both had the same limits placed on us, it worked out just fine.

I think the issue with the Warlock is when you compare him to the three mages at the same time, he seems inferior.  Everyone does something he does better, or at least more effeciently.  As you've said, his spell list of dark and fire is really good, but not as good as the Wizard who can take Fire and Arcane, or Lightning and Arcane (if you believe that is better).  He can buff a pet, but not as well as the Beastmaster, who can buff and get pets out faster.  He has a high starting life and some ability to do damage for heal, but nowhere near as effeciently as the priestess can heal.  These are all true, and certainly make him feel a little under loved at first blush.  However, if you compare him to each mage individually, in my mind you start to see where he shines.

For example, the beastmaster does some really nice stuff with his creatures, but the Warlock can buff a creature too, just not as well.  On the other hand, his ability to take fire spells for 1/3 of the cost of a beastmaster is huge, and goes a long way towards dealing with the beastmasters weenie rush as well.  Against the mage, Arcane may be more useful than Dark, but I would suggest he get's more use out of arcane spells too.  I'd rather teleport my 9 dice rolling Warlock into combat with your mage than my slow hydra who cost me a full cast and 16 mana, at that point paying 4 to put it in my deck holds a value at least equal to the mages deck cost of 2.  Same could be said for a spell like nullify that can protect the Lash of Hellfire, which to me is way more valuable than any Wizard equipment i put out, even the elemental wand.  Further, volteric shield and +1 mana channel are really nice, but I really enjoy +1 innate melee die as well and think it is on par with the shield when you consider the wizard is trying to move around and not get hit and the warlock is usually trying to get in people's faces.  Plus, the shield is 3 mana and can be avoided, or even under utilized if he's plinked by a small attack.  It's great, but I don't think it's leagues above the innate _+1 melee dice.  Versus the priestess, the warlock has mulitiple ways to shut down her healing, which can negate one of her best assets.  She has no way to reciprecate and shut down his primary asset of damage dealt, other than to cast healing, which as I've said, can be shut down.  He has the extra life (equal to a minor heal +) so he can shut down healing early and win an attrition battle, or heal right before shutting heals off for the game as a late game move.  Could a priestess also shut off healing, yes, would that be stupid on her part, unless it was the extreme end game, yes.  

So from my limited perspective, what i see is this.  the Warlock when compared to the rest of the game seems to be second fiddle to other mages, however, I would suggest he is the second best at what the other mages are best at.  Therefore, while his innate abilities might be lacking when you look at certain aspects across the whole game, when you compare mages one to one, he is very strong becuase he's good at that mages strength, but also better than them at those other areas to.  Also, I would suggest this is true without having to change his build up much.  

on a quick aside, I love the imagery of lighting, and I think your point to the effects is a good one.  however, I would point out it's a lot easier to get  a burn effect to go off than it is stun, and in my mind the effects would rank thus  daze < Burn 1 < burn 2 < Stun.  So for me, that balances out, but if you put daze above burn 1, then fair enough.

You guys are right.

My brother and I played a second "Full" game last night and it clocked in at 90 minutes, and that was with totally reworked decks that we were somewhat unfamiliar with.  Man, what a great game you guys have produced.  Sorry for gushing, but It really is a blast to play.