Ring of Beasts   equipment   1   1
 Battle Forge   conjuration   1   5
 Harmonize   enchantment   1   2
 Dancing Scimitar   equipment   1   4
 Hunting Bow   equipment   2   3
 Dragonscale Hauberk   equipment   1   3
 Elemental Cloak   equipment   1   2
 Leather Boots   equipment   1   1
 Leather Gloves   equipment   1   1
 Moonglow Amulet   equipment   1   2
 Regrowth Belt   equipment   1   1
 Hawkeye   enchantment   2   1
 Tanglevine   conjuration   2   1
 Mana Flower   conjuration   2   1
 Dire Wolf   creature   2   3
 Steelclaw Grizzly   creature   2   4
 Timber Wolf   creature   2   2
 Rouse the Beast   incantation   2   1
 Cheetah Speed   enchantment   1   1
 Bear Strength   enchantment   1   1
 Eagle Wings   enchantment   1   2
 Falcon Precision   enchantment   2   1
 Rhino Hide   enchantment   2   1
 Jinx   enchantment   2   2
 Nullify   enchantment   2   2
 Chain Lightning   attack   1   6
 Hurl Boulder   attack   2   4
 Teleport   incantation   1   4
 Spiked Pit   enchantment   2   4
 Force Push   incantation   2   2
 Wall of Thorns   conjuration   1   1
 Knockdown   incantation   1   2
 Dispel   incantation   3   2
 Dissolve   incantation   2   2
 Defense Ring   equipment   1   2
 Cobra Reflexes   enchantment   2   2
 Enchanter's Ring   equipment   1   1


Alright, so I'm testing a new book out, what do you all think? It's mainly a ranged creature beater that relies on a buffed Forge for equip advantage, focusing on mana generation followed by larger creature strikes. The main opening goes like:

Run to near center, cast battle forge and harmonize behind you, bringing you to 7 mana. The next round you are casting amulet off of forge followed by double mana flower to bring you all the way down to 2 mana. Next turn, cast ring of beasts off of forge, and then start an onslaught of roused creatures. I would start with a timber wolf for 8. Next round you are at 16 casting enchanter's ring on yourself. Rousing a second timber here isn't bad for 10 mana total. Now I would use few rounds to cast small things on yourself, making sure you at least cast a hawkeye FD on yourself. Depending on how the game goes, you may want to buff your wolves, which you can do at your discretion.

A small note on the construction in this book. It was built with a defensive mindset. Instead of going balls out, I'm not afraid aggro which has worked for me in the past, I wanted to try something a little more gutsy. This is what happened. Cards like the Dancing Sword and Defense Ring are in their because the best way an opponent likes to deal with the hunting bow is getting out of range and then sending creatures in to harm me. Defenses prevent that. A great oh shit button to hit is Chain lightning. It does eat a lot of points and mana, but it really is worth buying a round or two, as the way this book handles, it really can add up the damage. The main damage pieces though are Grizzly and Bow, so use them to your advantage, and try not to use the bow until after you have attacked.

On a side note, I may try this book out with a fellela engine...

The Oneness.

Being one with your mage. Is this really so simple? I don’t think it is. Often, I have heard people describing a favorite mage of theirs to play. But why is it so much fun for them to play? Often, we as players, have a certain style of play we inherently try to commit to for each game we play. Maybe you like to go super aggressive. Or maybe you are the kind of guy that likes to sit back, destroy any threat that be posed to you, and then, when the path is reasonably clear, you march in and claim your win. Maybe you prefer a toolbox to work with, using your resources for versatile threats and answers to take down your opponent. Or maybe, maybe you just don’t know. Have you tried to play a build before that just didn’t feel “right” with you? Warlock feels that way with me. And no, it’s not because he summons demons and he breathes Hell, and stomps fire where he walks. It’s just that he doesn’t feel right for me to play. I feel like there is only one really good way to play with him, and his “toolbox” of curses just don’t grab me like they do some players. He is a strong mage, there is no doubt about that, but he just isn’t fun for me to play with. And because I don’t find him fun to play with, I will have a MUCH harder time winning with him than any other mage. I’m sure you feel the same way about a mage in the game. Maybe you don’t like the forcemaster, with her high chance deflect and tendency towards high cost enchantments and general “solo” style of play. Or maybe you just don’t like the beastmaster, for fear that his “rush” strategy is simply too weak to be viable. Maybe you don’t care for the Priestess, whose ability can be completely useless in some matchups. Whatever your reason, it’s completely normal. This article today is not about trying to make what you don’t like win. Mage Wars is game that is so versatile that you can make absolutely any build work if you work hard enough at it. But you have to enjoy what you are playing in order to really want to work at it. So, today, we are going to pick a mage that we know we will have fun with. I am going to outline all the strengths and weaknesses of each we have available, and then I want you to decide, if you haven’t already, which mage you will have the best connection with. Remember, simply picking a mage because you think he has the best chance of winning will not make you win. You have to know your mage, you have to have fun with your mage, in order to have the best chance of success. The builds I have done the best with are not the ones I saw online and built because they did well. The builds I have done the best with are the ones I have poured time into, tweaking, playtesting, losing, and learning with. They are the builds I have played the most and know like the back of my hand. They are the mages that I know the best. So, without further ado, let’s meet the mages we all know and love!

Core Set Mages

The Wizard

Here we have the Great and Fantastic Mr. Wizard! He specializes in the extremely diverse school of Arcane, in which most of the critical spells you will need for your deck will come from. Examples include Teleport, Dispel, and Darkfenne Hydra. He also has a very special second school he can be trained in. This is very special because no other mage in the game has this option. He can choose one of the 4 elemental schools to specialize in. These can be from Fire, Water, Earth, or Wind. So, what are the stats on the Wizard? He does have a rather low starting life total, of 32. He has the obligatory 0 armor, as well as having 10 channeling.

Choosing a fire Wizard is an interesting option, as it opens you up to great birth of Attack spells such as fireball, fireblast, and Ring of Fire. These spells are great not only because they have decent damage output (meaning they roll a good amount of dice for the mana you spend), but they have a fantastic effect roll of burn, which can stay on the enemy the entire game if the rolls are in your favor! But chances are they won’t be, so your best option with a Fire Wizard would be to have a consistent amount of burns on the opponent, usually 1-2. As well, there is another mage who does fire a lot better than the Fire Wizard, so it may be hard to match what they can do. You also have Battle Forge to work with, which is fantastic spawn point that lets you gain equipment as a free action, and nets you mana! You’ll want to include about eight pieces of equipment in your spellbook to take full advantage of Battle forge, but that’s not really a bad thing. There is another incredible weakness to the Fire Wizard, and that is that most builds today run one of Both Dragonscale Hauberk, and Elemental cloak, which, when combined, make it next to impossible to burn or even damage the mage, so you will need those dissolves if you hope to stand a chance in the competitive meta!

Next, we have the Earth Wizard! Instead of relying on Burns to do the job, Earth Wizards use brute force attack spells to get the job done. Please do note that you must have the Forcemaster vs. Warlord expansion in order to build the Earth Wizard, but I tell you it is worth it. Using spells like Hurl Boulder and Iron Golem, the Earth Wizard seeks to get you to about half life, and then finish the game quickly with a flurry of high attack spells. This is both a strength and a weakness, however. Poor rolls can cost you the game if you try to kill them before you have enough resources to recuperate. If you do decide to build the Earth Wizard, you will want to include a few high damage output creatures, as these will help you to up your chances of killing them when they get to that all important half life. Another inherent weakness of the Earth Wizard is it’s low ability to get past High armor creatures and Mages. Be sure to either have piercing or a plethora of Dissolves and dispels to get past the opponents armor. Or, have the ability to end the game quickly. Whichever you think you can do best!

Third, we have the Air Wizard. This Wizard also has some fantastic attack spells to choose from, such as Lightning bolt, or Chain lightning. But the difference between the Air Wizard and the other Wizards to build is the ability to Daze/stun. Whereas the other Wizard’s rely on damage to really control the game, the Air Wizard relies on stopping you from performing actions, by stunning you and to stop you from attacking by dazing you. This can be extremely powerful, but it is also dependent on the luck of the d12. You can mitigate that luck somewhat by sticking to attack spells with a higher chance to stun and daze, but the luck will always be there. This is also a far more controlling mage to play, as you don’t have many great ways of doing a lot of damage for a small amount of mana. You will need to have the patience to isolate and target threats throughout the game, waiting until the opponent is out of juice before you can strike. Again, you will want to be quick about it, as it takes a lot less time to stand back up than you think, but an elemental wand with Thunderbolt will do a great job of ending the game for you when the time comes. You also have access to Poison Gas Cloud, which can do insane amounts of damage when used properly. If you manage to stun the opponent in a zone with a Cloud, chances are they will be taking 2 points of direct damage! Using cards like Force Hold, Force Crush, and Tanglevine would be great ways of sticking your opponent in a zone and keeping him there. If you play the Air Wizard, you will be in for the long game, but if you can make there, your chances of winning skyrocket. Be wary of Elemental Cloak though, as it can ruin your day. Stormdrake Hide is a far less used piece of armor that can be brutal if played, but something you generally will not have to watch for.

Finally, we have the Water Wizard. Creating this kind of build will be tricky, as you are not really using water spells to get the job done. Mainly your water spells would be Surging Wave, and Dissolve. This build is for those of you that can really sit back and wait until the opponent runs out of options. You will be using a lot of the Arcane creatures, as they are extremely varied, and have great use in almost all cases. Such as Blue Gremlin with it’s fantastic fast/teleport ability will allow you to reach hard to get places to take out problem creatures before they strike, as well they have a defense, so they will be a little harder to kill than you think. For this reason, you may benefit from Gate to Voltari far more than any of the other mages, as you plan to make the game so extremely long, and you will be casting a fair amount of high casting cost creatures. These creatures may have the slow trait, but you have teleport, and most likely, a Mage Wand to go with it. There aren’t as many weaknesses to the Water Wizard, as their spellbook is not cluttered with out of school creatures or Attack spells, but they do suffer from hyper aggressive buddy build decks. For this reason, you are going to also want to pack Heals, as they will be all important in turning the game around for you. Please do note that this is not an easy book to build or play. If this play style is one you really want to try, I would suggest therapy. Only kidding! But I would seriously sit down and plan a book that has a heavy focus on mitigating damage and abusing the Gate to Voltari. And then practice. A lot. And then some more. And then more.

What are the abilities of the Wizard? Well, the first, and the most important, is his Voltaric shield. Remember how I said he only has 32 starting life? Well, he also has an inherent way to protect it, with the shield. For a mere 2 mana, he can prevent up to three damage on the first attack made on the mage. Only three damage, you say. What could possibly be so good about that? Well, it isn’t. Unless you include about 4 armor. Now, let’s say an attack is made on the Wizard with Volt shield on and 4 armor. You roll 4 normal damage, and 3 critical. The way the shield works and is worded, the 3 critical damage would be eaten by the shield! Leaving 4 normal damage to bounce off your armor. The reason this works is because it specifically says that the first damage that this mage would receive, which would be the critical damage that gets through the armor! The mage wouldn’t be damaged by the normal damage, as it is already eaten by the armor. This is a powerful ability that should not be over looked, and because of it, you will want at least 5-7 points of armor in your spellbook to really abuse this ability. This has the added benefit of giving you armor to block the next attacks made against you in the round, allowing you to take little to no damage on any given turn. That 32 life might as well be a million if you can’t damage it! This also makes first damage really strong and worth noting. Burns and poison damage would be a great way to get through to the wizard.

The Second ability the Wizard has is Arcane Zap. For one mana, you can cast a quick attack for 3 dice at a 0-1 range. It is also Ethereal. Yes, it can be boosted by Hawkeye.  Why is this so good? Normally, each other mage cannot use his quickcast marker to make a melee attack. The Wizard can, for one mana. Pesky flyers? Zap. Those incorporeal creatures getting the best of you? Not with Arcane Zap. Notice that block just sitting there? Zap. It is a powerful ability that again, should not be taken for granted.

Now, before we move onto the next mage, I want to talk about a hugely important strategy the Wizard can possess. That strategy is mana denial. With cards like Essence Drain, Suppression Cloak, and Mordok’s Obelisk, you make it incredibly hard for the opponent to hit you… with anything! This, in addition to the Volt shield, will make it almost impossible for the opponent to hit you. It is incredibly weak to the solo mage, though, so I wouldn’t recommend an entire spellbook dedicated to mana denial, as it’s usually great as a package you can bring in if you really need it. This strategy, again, is not an easy one to play, so be prepared to really practice it if you hope to win with it.

The Priestess

Welcome to the first and only woman of the base set, the devastating Priestess. Her base stats are the same as the Wizard with a lower 32 life, 10 channel, and 0 armor. As one might guess, she specializes in Holy school, with an opposite to Dark magic. This isn’t to say she can’t use cards from the dark school, only that they cost triple, and this should be remembered. Due to her trained school, she will also be using a more controlling strategy, focusing on using hard hitting knights, soldiers, and Angels to do damage while she sits back and heals herself, and her allies. But, we will talk more about that when we get to her abilities.

Her first ability is a powerful one, but it is hard to use properly. The first time each round when she casts a holy incantation or reveals a holy enchantment, she gains one life. This is similar to the volt shield in that she has an inherent way to protect herself, but unlike the volt shield, you will need to include a mass of Holy incantations and enchantments to really make good effect of this ability. It is a strong ability, but works poorly against decks that hope to spike a lot of damage quickly. Be prepared to have a heal on hand almost all the time, preferably on a mage wand, to make full use of this Divine Reward.

Her second ability is a little more universal, and it’s: For a quick action, she may remove a condition marker by paying it’s removal cost from a friendly creature, or for a full action, may remove as many condition markers as she wants, by paying their removal cost. This, again, is a strong, but hard to use ability, and is really best used when she casts creatures that are going to stay on the battlefield for a long time, so she can use her mana for her abilities rather than relying on damage output.

This mage, above all others, is perfect as a turtling play style. She has a lot stronger ways to stun and daze the opponent, but the attack spells she uses for this ability are rather weak, only rolling two dice. This does not mean they are bad, only that are utility attack spells, rather than damage ones. She also has some great temples to work with, in Temple of Light, and Hand of Bim Shalla. She can also use Temple of the Dawnbreaker, if you want to put things like Force Orb, or Reflex boots on her. With this mage, more than almost any other, you will want to increase her channeling, so that you are able to make full use of her abilities during the game. As well, her angels are a whopping 21 mana a piece, so you will have to have a good base channeling in order to hope to cast an angel and not be totally wiped clean of a mana supply.

There is a second build you can try with the Priestess, and it is a lot more reliant on a combination of two cards: Divine intervention and Necropian Vampiress. The way the combo works is, turn one, you will cast the Vampiress for 16 mana, and then quickcast Divine Intervention for 2 on the Vampiress you just cast. Turn 2, you will reveal Divine intervention for 10, and teleport her to the same zone as the mage. If you do decide to do this, you should want to either fully support your 26 mana decision, or ignore it completely. There are upsides to both. If you go with the former, cards like sleep, and a daze/stun lock will be harder to use on the Vampiress, because you have the ability to remove condition markers as a quickcast. You can also make use of your heals and Holy enchantments to up your life while keeping your vampires alive. The latter, however, allows you to set up a long game strategy while your opponent is tied up in Vampiress-ness?  This is beneficial to you because it allows you to leg up on the building of your temples and creatures, while your opponent must spend time and resources to take out your Vampiress.  But, if they are able to take her out quickly, or turn her to stone, or force hold, you are in a world of trouble, so do not take this method lightly, you have to be prepared to help your Vampiress if she absolutely needs it.

The Highly Calibrated Wizard

When I first started playing Mage Wars, I instantly gravitated to the Wizard. Why? Not because I had heard it was the best, not because of the abilities. I went with the wizard because I had heard that it was the hardest to play. That’s the only reason. I love a thought provoking challenge, and the Wizard happened to be it. So, I tried out the pre-constructed books. And he was difficult, but not terribly so. As well, I didn’t much care for the mana denial aspect that was thrown in. So, I built my own book. And how did it do?

Terrible. This book was just bad. Why? Because I tried to play aggressive solo Fire Wizard. I thought that not having to cast creatures and just kiting was enough to win the game. It was not. Turns out creatures are kind of a good thing… I was finally able to make him work, but it was when I included creatures that the book became halfway decent. And then Forcemaster vs. Warlord came out and dropped a huge boulder on everyone’s head.

I didn’t even bother with the Forcemaster, or the Warlord. I just wanted to build a Stone Wizard. I had seen these awesome attack spells and I figured that they would go great in the wizard. As well, you have these awesome Iron golems that can just do so much work and are nigh impossible to kill. So the book started out much more controlling. It won, and it did a great job at winning, but it lost to more aggressive decks. How could I fix that? Well, I didn’t, for a long time. And then I came across a “Pop sniper” strategy, which was basically to drop an Archer’s Watchtower followed by a Grimson Deadeye, Sniper and smash faces. Many faces. This actually is the shell of the book, and what makes it work so well. So, without further ado, I’m going to list the book and then go through the different strategies this book can provide.

4 Hurl Boulder (
1 Hail of Stone (2)
1 Arc Lightning (2)
2 Iron Golem (6)
1 Grimson Deadeye, Sniper (
1 Steelclaw Grizzly (
1 Sunfire Amulet (4)
1 Elemental Cloak (1)
1 Mage Wand (2)
1 Dragonscale Hauberk (2)
1 Regrowth Belt (2)
1 Leather Boots (1)
1 Leather Gloves (1)
1 Battle Forge (4)
1 Wall of Steel (2)
1 Wizard’s Tower (2)
2 Mana Crystal (2)
1 Wall of Thorns (1)
1 Archer’s Watchtower (2)
3 Tanglevine (6)
1 Block (2)
2 Jinx (2)
1 Teleport Trap (1)
2 Nullify (2)
1 Turn to Stone (3)
1 Hawkeye (2)
1 Eagle Wings (4)
1 Magebane (2)
1 Ghoul Rot (4)
1 Rouse the Beast (2)
2 Sniper Shot (2)
2 Dissolve (4)
1 Purge Magic (3)
2 Dispel (2)
2 Charge (4)
2 Seeking Dispel (2)
1 Force Push (2)
2 Battle Fury (4)
4 Teleport (

This is all for a total of 120 points. Now, how does the book work? It may seem like just a bunch of random spells thrown together with little to no thought behind them, but in reality, there is a very subtle cohesiveness that can only be found once we dig deeper than the surface. Let’s start with the beginning, shall we?

The Opener:
Every single game, under almost every single circumstance, your first two rounds are going to be the same. You are going to sprint to the near center with your full action, and then quickcast Archer’s Watchtower for 4 mana. For those of you who may not know what “Near center” means, look at a Mage Wars board. Look at where your starting corner is. Now, go up one zone. After that, go to the left one zone. Congrats! You’ve made it to the Near Center. It’s called this because there is no exact “center” of the board, only two that go “near” the center.

In any case, during the second round, you are going to cast Grimson Deadeye followed by a rouse the Beast for 19 mana. This means you can shoot this round. But what does this do? There are many builds today that like to “turtle”, that is, to stay in their corner and build up their resources until a point in which they can unleash a larger attack without having to worry about resource depletion. A lot of wizard builds these days depend on this turtling method. By starting aggressive during the second round, you are forcing them to react. To either come out of their shell, or die. Because with Watchtower, you are rolling 5 dice in their starting corner.

Now, as soon as this round is over, one of two things is going to happen:

1.   They are going to try and control/destroy your Sniper.

2.   They are going to go hyper aggressive on you.

If one happens, there’s a few different things you can do, depending on where they are attacking from. If they try to attack you from the other side of the Near center, Wall of Steel. Due to the Watchtower giving the Sniper the “Indirect” ability, you can now smash face with a wall up. If they start attacking from the side instead of the near center, I tanglevine em. I might save the vine for when you have initiative next turn, in order to Jinx them, but that is up to you. If they ever happen to get in the same zone as you, you are in a fantastic position to Force Push Wall of thorns them, which then lets you shoot with the sniper. Oh the synergies!

If they go hyper aggressive on me, then I like to start to put them on the back foot by using the next turn to drop a mana crystal and a hawkeye on myself. This is to bluff that I’m on the back foot myself and that I have turned to reacting (poorly, I might add, like reacting with a mana crystal is a good move!). The next turn I can then double hurl boulder for 16 dice of damage, followed by a Grimson shot for either 5/6/7 damage. If I do this for two turns in a row followed by a force push, wall of thorns, they are dead, as that’s an average of 52 damage. Over the span of three rounds.

So what are the other cards for then? Well, there will be times when your opponent does something more aggressive than you. I know, I know. Or they will kill your sniper in one shot with a boulder. Or some other craziness. When that happens, I incorporate the Battle forge Iron Bear control strategy. You can also use this as your opener if you want. Dropping a battle forge in the adjacent zone to your sniper, and then dropping a crystal. Next turn, I cast Sunfire with the forge, turning on my shield, and casting a second crystal. This sets you up in a monster control position, and from then on it’s only a matter of casting and using your golems with charge and tele to smash face. You also have Grizzly to work with, who is an effective, and crazy damage dealer. If you find that they can’t deal with flying very well, grizzly+wings is the way to go.

I guess I want to end by saying that this book over its various iterations has won over 40 games against skilled, experienced, and apt opponents. The book punishes the opponent for making mistakes, but be warned, as can also be unforgiving in your doings as well. This book, more than any other I have seen, commands that you think a few rounds ahead, and to really think about what your opponent is doing. I highly encourage you to try this book out and see what it can do!



Dude

Chapter 1, Lesson 1:

We all play a lot of games, and we may even win a lot of games, but why? Coming from a gamer’s standpoint, often I will pick up a difficult game and INSTANTLY start to lose. I understand the rules, the mechanics, and I even know some of the basic strategies, but what I don’t know is how to play those strategies to success. In game design, these are called the dynamics of game play, which is to say knowing when and how to implement the strategies you have seen so many other players successfully tackle. It wasn’t until I read a fascinating book The Art of War, that I started to understand the philosophies behind deeper strategies and tactics. Now, you may be asking yourself  “What does a book written by a guy named after a flaming ball of gas from centuries ago have to do with gaming, and more specifically, Mage Wars?” And that is a valid question.

The answer, like so many other answers books have to offer us, is between the lines.  He talks a lot about the strategies and tactics most successful in war.  It’s when we understand that war, simply defined, is direct conflict, that we start to realize why so many successful businessmen have used Sun Tzu’s seminal work not for violence, but for victory. And it’s applying these strategies to Mage Wars that we can really begin to see just how deep a game can go. It’s not simply about why we make a move, or why we plan a card, but it’s about why this move is better than any other move that you could make, or why picking this set of cards is better than any other set of cards in your spell book.

In this series of articles, I am going to go through Sun Tzu’s book, from cover to cover, and explain the theory as it applies to Mage Wars. This will be a journey for your eyes and my hands as we work to understand just how to be the most dominating mage in the game. So, with out further ado, let’s tackle our first lesson together.

The Five Factors of the Arena:

 Sun Tzu starts off by discussing the difference between a victorious general, and a defeated general. He explains that there are five factors every general must understand and follow if he hopes to effectively determine the conditions obtaining the battlefield. These five factors are:

Moral Law- Causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.
Heaven- Signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.
Earth- Comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.
Commander- Stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness.
Method and Discipline- are to be understood by the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officer, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.
Now, don’t go running off yet! This may seem like a mass jumble of words that could not possibly be connected with any gaming , much less Mage Wars. But, in fact, these five factors are something we already subconsciously do every time we play! For example, do you look at the opponent’s health and mana totals? Do you look for the nearest path of least resistance to the opponent’s mage? These are all important realizations that the five factors try and get us to think about in game. Let us delve deeper into what these factors mean as it pertains to Mage Warring.

The Moral Law

Creatures seem like a huge investment. I mean, you have to waste a turn, pay a lot of mana, and they don’t even get to attack when you cast them! But why are they so useful?  The moral law simply means that you need creatures, and they will die. It is through their death that you will win the game. We need our creatures to die. I mean, think about it. On a basic level, every attack that the opponent is using on a creature is one less attack you have to deal with. It is life you are not losing. Every time a creature attacks the opposing mage, it is one less attack that you have to waste an action on. Every enchantment and incantation they cast on this creature, every trick they employ is something not happening to you, the mage. It is through this brutal beat down of your creatures that you will live. This is the Moral Law.

So how do get our opponent to attack our creatures? The answer is simple. Never cast a creature you cannot make an immediate threat against the opponent with. This is why with swarm strategies I will often cast a fatty first in order to give the opponent something to deal with while I cast smaller creatures. I always want to make my opponent choose between getting extremely hurt in order to attack me, or to try and take out the creature. This decision will end in my creatures downfall, but that is okay, because it is through that death that I have gained enough tempo to swing the game in my favor.

The reverse side of this is not to support your creatures too much. You want to support them just enough to make them a threat, but not too much that you are losing sight of the main goal, which is killing the mage. Let your creatures die. I promise you it will be worth it.

Heaven

 When I first started playing Mage Wars, one of the most hated parts for me was the opening few moves of the game. I never knew what my opponent was going to do, and I always felt like my opening moves were just worse compared to his. But, as I learned the game, it’s cards, and it’s inherent opening strategies, I began to build reactively to what the opponent was doing. Heaven is simply what overall strategy the opponent is building to, as well as what obstacles he creates in order to for you to stop his strategy. For example, Temple of Light is an obstacle to defend against the opponent’s creatures and attacks.

This is where study and play of the game will help the most. Knowing what the opponent is going to open with, as well as the strategy he is going to implement is vital to the success of your own. If you can play around his strategy, you can more efficiently put your strategy into action. So study! The opponent sprints to Near Center of the board, what is his strategy? The opponent casts Mana Crystal and Battleforge, what is his strategy? Know what you are going up against. Think of the opponent’s strategy like rain on the battlefield. You have to know what to do when it rains, because if you don’t and your army suffers because of  it, you have lost before have even begun.


Earth

 I can’t tell you the number of times I have tried to cast dissolve and realized I was too far away.  Or when someone has tried to attack me with a flameblast, only to realize that they were too far away. Or even when the opponent has forgotten that hindered does not care if you are fast. Earth is the realization that you are within a close proximity to the mage. You need to know how close you need to get, how fast you need to get there, and the most efficient way to get there without your opponent getting to you first.

This is important for any style of play, be it control, swarm, or aggro, as you always need to know your clearest line to and from the enemy. Know the range of your spells so that you not to get closer than needed, and so you can also not lose tempo by incorrectly casting a spell that would otherwise completely change the game. It is incredibly important for you to know your best lines of attack and your best  paths to kite, as it gives you the ability to plan much further in advance of the opponent. If I know that I am going to be here next round, and that my opponent will most likely be doing (Heaven), then I will know exactly what I have to do in order to keep damaging the mage while keeping tempo.

Commander

 You are the mage. It is you, alone, that will decide your fate in the arena. Commander is this realization. You have to do whatever it takes to win the game. No, I don’t mean cheating, or some other nefarious method of getting ahead. What I am talking about is that when it comes down to it, your creatures will die. Your conjurations will fall. You need to know that it is you that will win the battle for you. You can’t depend on lucky die rolls or enchantments. You will have to outthink your opponent with your wits alone.  As well, you should always realize how much life you and the opponent has left. This is an important resource that you can expend to get ahead.

But how does this relate to the factors in any way? Well, the factors are an examination of the Battlefield. Are you not apart of the battlefield? You and your opponent both are the largest contributors to the battlefield, in fact. You need to know your spellbook inside and out. You need to be able to know what to any situation you are put it. Know that it is you that will win you the game, but it is also you that will lose it.

The other commander, the opponent, needs to be assessed as well. What mage is he playing? Is he a strong opponent? As you play, you will notice certain ticks the opponent makes, such as always placing a facedown enchantment under himself when he knows he’s about to be attacked, or attacking every creature he comes across. He may try to kite every single attack you try and make. Understand his thought process. If you do this, you can make logical assumptions as to what he is going to do next. Be one with the opponent. It is your only chance at true victory.

Method and discipline

Alas, we come to the final factor. This one is rather simple, actually. Know how much mana you have. That’s it. But it’s not that simple. You need to also know how much mana you will spend on any given turn. Your mana is not unlimited. Don’t use it for unnecessary reasons. It is for this reason that you need to plan out well in advance what you are going to cast in any given turn. You never want to be in a position in which you cannot pay the nullify cost, or you can’t teleport as far as you need to, or cast that game ending spell, or summon a threat to the board. Once you have figured out what you are going to do, stick to that plan as much as you can. Sure, you may have to adjust for what the opponent is doing, but have an outline. As well, I always try and save my mana in order to build to something, such as a Drain Soul. It’s expensive cost will give me a structure, so that I am not spending my mana needlessly, as well, it gives me something to end the game with.

Your opponent should always be afraid of something you can do. Always make sure you have enough mana to threaten what your opponent may think you have. Often, I will hold off casting a spell in order to have five mana in the pool to bait my opponent into thinking I have a Reverse Attack on me. By giving structure to your mana supply, you can more effectively and efficiently save mana, while playing yet more mind games with the opponent.

These five factors? They are only the first page of the Art of War. These five factors as so important to winning this game, I cannot stress enough. So, let’s try an exercise. The next game of Mage Wars you play, I want to you to make a small list of these factors. During the first round of the game, after the Action Stage, apply these factors to your current board state. Repeat after the second round. This may lead to a longer game, but I think it will be interesting for both you and I to learn all we can about these five factors, as this is the foundation the Art of War builds on. Feel free to email me at Padawanofthegames@gmail.com with your findings. Next week, we are going to cover seven considerations you can use to divine victory or defeat at any time. Enjoy my friends, and welcome to the Art of Mage Wars.

Dude.

Hello my fellow Mage Warring Friends. Today, I bring you a man who brings Hell from his fingertips in the name of Asyra. A man who eats, sleeps, and breathes the name of his Lord and savior so much so that he even has an angel willing to die for him. I bring you... The Solo Priest. Because killing in the name of the lord is O.K.

This is a semi serious deck, one that I can run in casual games with intermediate level players.

1 Wall of Fire (4)
3 Hand of Sim Balla (3)
1 Temple of Light (2)

total: 9

This is not a very big temple package, but this is only a distraction/added damage, on top of the Priest's attacks. Dazing is fun, too. But it is too easily beaten to rely fully upon. The Wall of fire? Because I'm stackin burns, son! Force push you into the fray for 5d, potential burn, AND whiny music. Doesn't get better than that. If those you out there don't know who the Fray is, just be glad. Very, very, glad.

1 Highland Unicorn (3)
1 Guardian Angel (3)

Total: 15

Yes, I only have two creatures in the deck. Unicorn+hands is most all the support I will need for the match up, and Angel will guard for me, because, you know, the Priest Pimps Angels (alliteration intended, blasphemy not intended). I also don't want to have to trouble myself too much in getting out of the way of big attacks, so I can just use the angel to throw her in the way. This Priest is getting less, and less priesty as time goes on. Holy Avenger is for the unicorn, to keep him alive as long as possible.

3 Flameblast (6)
3 Fireball (12)

Total: 33

I am stacking burns, am I not? Getting an absolute burn on top of maybe two more burns is just too good to pass up. This is also a good end game condition.

1 Mongoose Agility (2)
2 Nullify (4)
1 Reverse attack (4)
1 Vampirism (6)
1 Circle of Fire (4)
2 Bear Strength (4)
1 Jinx (2)
1 Block (2)
1 Hawkeye (2)
1 Cheetah Speed (2)

total: 64

These are the obligatory enchantments that are go tos in most builds. Depending on how it plays out, Wardstone might find a place in here...

2 Battle Fury (4)
2 Dispel (4)
1 Sleep (4)
1 Teleport (4)
1 Explode (4)
2 Force Push (4)
1 Heal (2)
1 Purify (1)
2 Charge (4)
1 Dissolve (2)
1 Purge Magic (6)

Total: 103

This is the area I am probably going to change the most. Already there are not enough Seekings to warrent play. Two charge may be one too many, who knows. Testing is invaluable here.

1 Dragonscale Hauberk (2)
1 Staff of Asyra (2)
1 Gauntlets of Strength (2)
1 Leather Boots (1)
1 Fireshaper Ring (2)
1 Regrowth Belt (2)
1 Elemental Cloak (2)
1 Dawnbreaker Ring (1)
1 Sunfire Amulet (3)

Total: 120

Standard equip package. Note the Synergy with Priest with the ring. He doesn't have to have the Staff to be able to get the bonus. As well, Priest get's the natural chance to stun? The reason I took pillars of light out of this build is because THEY ARE FREE WITH THE PRIEST!

Anyways, that's my late night build. Thoughts, comments? Feel free to use and abuse at your own risk. Remember, Asyra is watching. Always watching.

 

So, The Crow has to be one of my favorite watches of this year. I know, I'm two decades later, but at least I got to see it now c: Watching the movie, I kept thinking about one card... Huginn. And the thought of building a deck around her seemed like an amazing prospect.

If any of you have seen the movie, you will know that the Crow kind of acts like Draven's eyes and ears, which is what this build is, well, built to do. This is a fresh idea with cards just thrown together, but I want to keep this as thematic as possible, so any help is greatly appreciated!

1 Nercopian Vampiress: this card will not see play until later on in the game, but she stands for Eric's fiance, who comes back from the dead the very end of the movie to "reunite" with him. Well, in Mage Wars, we are reuniting a little earlier. For VENGANCE. And better spelling lessons. But mostly VENGANCE.

1 Gorgon Archer: This was the closest I could get to the black cop in the movie, as she supports with shots. It was either that, or Stonegaze basilisk, which cripples, or freezes the opponents, which is what Albrecht is supposed to say to Draven halfway when they first meet.

1 Huginn: This is the crow. Keep her around two zones away from you at all times. Enough to support her, but far enough to see just what the opponent is up to!

1 Wall of Fire: Draven seems to enjoy fire in The Crow, as well as being support, this is the "flames" of his VENGANCE.

1 Battle Forge: This is the Pawn shop he blew up near the beginning. He stole basically his "equipment" for the rest of the movie, including a ring, so I figured this would be a perfect fit. Note that loving BF has NOTHING to do with this addition or it's abstract explanation into theme. NONE.

2 Mana Crystal: Hey, the undead need power, too.

1 Mage Staff: As there are no guitars in the game, this was a good replacement, allowing me to deal with flyers AND rock out (kind of).

1 Mage Wand: For spamming vampiric strike. Why? Because as we can't just press "auto heal" like Draven does, we want to kick ass WHILE taking names AND healing. That's why.

1 Elemental Wand: This is the "lighter" ignition that he takes from T-bird to blow him to hell and high water.

1 Elemental Cloak: Leather Jackets are needed. This will do.

1 Moonglow amulet: Man, you don't even understand how much power it takes to make the undead live. Don't even.

1 Leather Boots: You notice those LEATHER goth boots he wears? These are those, and those are these.

1 Gauntlets of Strength: Draven is a pretty strong guy. Our wizard is not:/ This helps fix that.

1 Enchanter's Ring & 1 Fireshaper Ring: These represent the engagement ring Draven gave to Shelly. In the beginning of the movie, it's meant to kind build the character while fueling the fire. Enchant ring does that nicely. Near the end of the movie, he gives this ring to a little girl, and said girl promptly gets kidnapped. The Fireshaper's Ring represents that love he has for the girl, and gives him just enough power to kick a lot more ass and take a few more names. Of course they are at the same time.

1 Purify: Draven has the power to "heal" people of poisons, as seen in the little girl's complete turn around from an addiction to morphine. Purify takes the poisons away.

1 Sniper shot: When he kills Tin-Tin, the first victim, he wins when he throws a knife at Tin-tin that pins him to a wall, a perfect shot. I wanted to mimic this moment.

2 Drain Power: These will let you get on the upper hand. Thematically, they are when he "Throws" thirty hours of pain at once onto Top Dollar.

3 Force Push: Position control, so that you may "sneak up" on the opponents. Draven did this a LOT.

1 Steal Enchantment: Nothing is better than using the opponent against himself, and Draven does this throughout the movie.

1 Purge Magic: Draven effectively turns off everyone's offense because of his "I'm dead wait no i'm not i'll kill you dude" approach. Incredibly sophisticated, I know.

2 Dispel: See above.

2 Explode: He blows up the shop by shooting rings out of a shot gun. Exploding them out, one could even say.

2 Vampiric Strike: A thematic way to heal c:

2 Seeking Dispel: huginn does have a second ability!

1 Dissolve: Cheaper than explode, and you see dispel above ^.^

2 Hellfire Trap: The pawnshop owner has to jump out of his store in order to stop it from killing him. Welcome to Hellfire trap. Or don't come in, on second thought. Unless you dig the whole "dying" thing.

1 Circle of fire: Swarm control, and is what gives the wizard the Aura of VENGANCE that Draven creates for himself.

1 Jinx: Don't attack me, it won't do anything!

1 Regrowth: A slightly more thematic approach to healing Draven style, but slower.

2 Block: these are here to show just how invincible Draven is. Also, getting slammed for damage is never fun.

1 Vampirism: See thematic Healing.

1 Agony: 30 hours of pain in a single second. 30 hours. That's Agony, if I may.

1 Hawkeye: Draven doesn't really miss, like, ever.

2 Nullify: Stop what you are doing, now.

1 Reverse: Did I stutter? I don't think so. SMACK.

1 Mongoose Agility: Draven is so sneaky. Too sneaky...

1 Ghoul Rot: Here, go be dead over there, and tell me how fun it is. -Eric (on being undead).

1 Decoy: LOOK OVER THERE A DISTRACTION! This card should be called "Neck". Draven does this so much during the movie it's not funny. No really, it's a very serious movie.

3 Flameblast, 3 Fireball, 1 Firestorm, 1 Ring of Fire: This is that spectacular explosion of car Near the end of the movie that results in the ultimate VENGANCE for Draven, and had to be included in spades in here. Also, kill the mage. But that's so 5 threads ago guys, which, on this forum, is about 3 months. Jk c:

So, what do you guys think? Thematic or not? And, less importantly, winning or not?

Okay, so I lied. It's pseudo aggro, but still! This is an entire deck based around the oh so naughty Intervention/Vampiress combo that has inspired hate into all of our hearts. But, I do feel it is the opening line that will win the priestess the most games, Especially if she helps in the destruction! Why do I call this Build Frank Lucas? Because this deck aims to be a ruthless attack. That's it. Kill the enemy. Or die trying.

So, here is the build!

1 Staff of Asyra- This is what the Priestess will be attacking with as soon as those hands drop. It's an incredibly broken card to add to our incredibly broken list of things for the Priestess to do.
1 Leather Gloves- These Handy dandy things are what we call "cheap protection", and that's all we could really ask for.
1 Elemental Cloak- because it's always good to preemptively build for the other menace, that devil welding warlock.
1 Dawnbreaker Ring- This combos with just about everything we want the Priestess to be doing, AND it's 3 mana.
1 Dancing Scimitar- because S will hit the F, and free attacks are the best. The best.
1 Leather Boots- Oh man, these will look so stylish with our gloves, and discounted at 2 mana? Count me in.
1 Regrowth belt- The greatest health recovery card in the game, as it's not as random as rolling attack dice. It's static, and it keeps the Fluffy priestess alive.

1 Necropian Vampiress- Yes, it's 12 points. Yes, it's worth it. I mean, she's got Frost -2!!! And she's basically immortal with a five dice vampiric attack. But that's nothing compared to Frost -2. And 2 armor and fifteen life? Yes. Just Yes.
3 Grey Angel- This is another opening the deck can have, it's not as fast, but these creatures are your support. Because you are the Vampiress's support, and you need to stay alive. For the Vampire.

1 Cobra Reflexes- This is fun to put on the Priestess to watch them frolic in happiness as they just miss you. Defense rings may come in at some point..
1 Bear Strength- For Vampire. Do I need to say anymore?
2 Block- for the rare cases that your opponent can attack you, you can always just scream nope as you windmill this. Or you could not do that. The latter is preferred.
1 Nullify- this is for the Vampiress before she makes her rather long journey to the opponent's side of the board, so that they don't try and act crazy and put her to sleep.
1 Divine Intervention- The other piece to our combo and how we get the Vampire to journey to exactly where the opponent waits. When you flip this face up, make sure you say "Intervene this!". The blank look in your opponent's face afterwards is almost guaranteed. Almost.
2 Divine protection- These go the Gray Angels in most cases, but if you want to throw them on yourself and feel all protected, by all means.
1 Regrowth- I love static healing effects. Can't you tell?
1 Rhino Hide- for the Priestess if there gets to be a mid game... i say "if" sarcastically.
1 Circle of Lightning- because why don't we stun them even more?!
1 Force Orb- We are building our defenses, aren't we now?

1 Heal- Okay, we can't go out there completely unprotected.
1 Charge- If they try to teleport away from the Vampiress, just play this silently, in respect for the piece of their soul that just died.
1 Minor Heal- This is my dirty little secret, okay? Healing the Vampiress (if she needs it), while getting us a little high on life is never a bad return investment!
2 Seeking dispel- Can I tell the number of times people have tried to cast Block in response to a ten dice attack? 2.
2 Teleport- I don't want to be caught outside the house with out at least one, and two assures me that the opponent will not be getting away from me anytime soon.
2 Dispel- I laughed at that Turn to Stone, because Dispel.
1 Resurrection- if they ever kill your Vampiress, first of all this should NEVER happen, but on the off chance it does, this will give you a second shot. Don't waste this one. Seriously, dude. Don't.
1 Purge Magic- I hate when people try to bog my vampire down with a bunch of curses. It's not only rude, but it's attempted murder. Purge magic fixes all that nonsense.
1 Explode- this is the greatest one-of in the history of the past five minutes. When they cast any sort of armor.... make them explode. Now they are on fire AND they are dying. Fun times. The reason I first thought of calling this deck Frank lucas was because I pictured in my head the Vampiress standing over a burning mage, and it was just like the beginning of American Gangster. I thought it fit nicely!
1 Battle Fury- You know those hands of Bim shalla? You know that Quick attack that the Vampiress has? Double that. Mind blown? I think so.
2 Dissolves- because they are going to try to get a Mage Wand with teleport or minor heal on it at some point. Not.
1 Sleep- The only controlling card in the deck, it is a counter to if the opponent tries to throw a big threat at use while they deal with ours. But no. Not today.

1 Temple of the Dawnbreaker- Because Quicksand is a card, and this is the best defense against it, sadly. Or a loaded d12..... Hmm.
4 Hand of Bimshalla- Yes, there are four. No, we probably don't need that many. But you never know.
2 Temple of light- This just seals the deal against the opponent. And on the off chance that they can some how destroy it? We have another stocked up in the back, just waiting.

2 Pillar of Light- Stunning is so much fun.
1 Blinding Flash- another counter to any kind of swarm strategy that may ensue. But it really just buys me time so that I can get out a harder counter to the swarm option.

So, that's it!What do you guys think?

I'm thinking you guys like the Forcemaster. I mean, she is pretty sweet. I wanted to have her be kind of like the piousfleas LoF build, but I didn't want to pay for LoF. So, I had another idea... Steelclaw grizzly. This guy works wonders in this deck, but without further ado, here it is:

3 thoughtspore
1Invisible Stalker (fuzzy on this, may swap for tangle vines/something else)
1 steelclaw Grizzly

1 Wall of Thorns
1 Wall of fire
1 Wall of Pikes
1 Tangle vine
1 Battle Forge

2 Dancing Scimitar
2 Defense Ring
1 Gauntlets of Strength
1 dragonscale Hauberk
1 Regrowth Belt
1 Galvitar, Force Blade
1 Elemental Cloak
1 Leather Boots
1 Moonglow amulet

1 Jet Sream
1 Pillar of Light
1Invisible Fist
1 Force Hammer

1 Vampirism
3 Block
2 Reverse Attack
1 Hellfire Trap
1 ForceField
1 Cheetah Speed
1 Decoy
1 Teleport Trap
1 Mongoose Agility
2 Bear Strength

2 Dissolve
1 Dispel
1 Seeking Dispel
1 Mass sleep
1 Power Strike
1 Battle Fury
3 Force Push
1 Force Wave
1 Sleep
1 Perfect Strike


So, what is the strategy? Well, the is mostly a solo build. Thoughtspores can help keep cards at bay, which the reason for the plethora of level 1 attack spells. Grizzly for when you start to stall the opponent. He is what will win you the game, as they will have to deal with him to get to you. You work with the grizzly, and he works for you. Why the number of different walls? Well, I'm testing out the different walls to see which ones are best w/force push. Wall of Thorns if they get too cocky and put on no armor, Wall of Fire near the mid game to stall them a bit, and Wall of pikes to help stop a creature rush with force wave. This is deck is undefeated so far, so I would like to hear your thoughts on what I can do to better this build.

I am thinking about taking out the Mass Sleep and the Invisible Stalker and one block for a more direct approach of +1 Battle fury, +1 Dispel, +1 Tanglevine, +1 Eagle Wings (Bear). Thoughts?