I disagree with block formats.  One of the great features of Arena is that it is universal and, as long as I do not have any Promos, I can play in any tournament from Helsinki to Tokyo.  Introducing black formats would fragment the already small population of Mage Wars players and would needless complicate tournaments.

It is really not that complicated, though I would like to have a central document for the combined rules, as things are a bit spread out.  The key thing to remember is that Mage Wars is a board game that uses cards, not a card game that uses boards, and it is nothing compared to the complexity of a tabletop game like GURPS, Pathfinder, or Shadowrun.  That being said, I think that is one of the reasons why a Mage Wars video game would be a good idea, as the video game could keep track of the complexity of the game.

I would suggest using swarm tactics (it generally works when I go up against the Forcemaster), as it is difficult for the Forcemaster to stand against 6-8 creatures.  In addition, I would suggest thinking about using Eye for an Eye on your Paladin, as it will cause a lot of problems for the Invisible Stalker and the Forcemaster.

It was that way when I lived with steelclawgrizzly, we kept getting better because we were playing each other a few times every week.  When we introduced new people to the game, they kept getting better because they played against us and each other until they could beat us.  It was always a moving experience when they got their first victory against either of our major books because they had finally reached our level.  We had a good six people, other than us, who could beat us at least 1 out of every 3 times, which forced us to get even better because we did not like losing.

I still do not know how anyone has a four hour game.  I think my longest game ever was two hours, and that was only because we were still realitively new to the game.  I generally play as if I am in a tournament and will concede the game after an hour if it looks that I am losing, as there is no need to draw things out, especially since I will rarely have anything left in my spellbook after twenty turns of play.

I was curious about something.  Let us say that I am a Priestess and I am facing a Warlord with a Mage Wand in the shield hand.  Can I cast a Wand of Healing on him to replace his Mage Wand (sending it back to his spellbook)?  If so, is it a viable mana denial and spellpoint denial strategy, as the Wand of Healing costs me only two mana while the Mage Wand costs him five mana and as the Wand of Healing costs me only one spellpoint while the Mage Wand cost him six spellpoints?  Even if he replaces it the next turn with a Mage Wand, it will go back to my spellbook unless he uses Dissolve, and I can always use cast another Wand of Healing after he replaces the Wand of Healing in order to deny him use of his Mage Wand.

Thank you.