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Author Topic: Earth Wizard With Gate of Voltari  (Read 7683 times)

nitrodavid

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Earth Wizard With Gate of Voltari
« on: May 24, 2013, 09:50:33 AM »
Hello, i haven't played any mage wars games at any league level before (not many leagues in Sydney, Australia). As i have only played a hand full of games i have not been able to test many mages, but i build this earth wizard build which is a creature heavy build as far as the wizard goes. Could you please give me any advice if there is anything obviously missing from this deck. see below for the deck build and play info.

QTY   Card Type   Card Name   
   Equipment      
1      Arcane Ring    
2      Elemental Wand    
1      Mage Wand    
1      Regrowth Belt    
1      Deflection Bracers    
   Incantation      
2      Dispel    
2      Dissolve    
1      Earthquake   
2      Knockdown    
3      Perfect Strike    
3      Power Strike   
2      Battle Fury    
2      Charge    
2      Seeking Dispel    
1      Shift Enchantment    
1      Steal Enchantment    
2      Teleport    
1      Whirling Strike   
   Conjuration      
1      Gate to Voltari    
1      Mana Crystal    
4      Quicksand   
2      Wall of Stone    
   Attack      
2      Hurl Boulder   
2      Hail of Stones   
   Creature      
1      Blue Gremlin    
1      Darkfenne Hydra    
1      Earth Elemental   
1      Gorgon Archer    
1      Huginn, Raven Familiar    
1      Iron Golem   
2      Stonegaze Basilisk    
   Enchantment      
1      Eagle Wings    
1      Force Orb    
2      Harmonize    
2      Nullify    
2      Reverse Magic    
1      Teleport Trap    
1      Essence Drain    


I had heard that the Gate to Voltari is one of the best spawn points in the game so i tried to get a wizard build based around it and these new powerful earth creatures. the main idea for this deck is to get the gate early and let it summon all my arcane creatures. i also included these cards to try and get these combo's in the game

"Guardian Angle of Voltari"
Gorgon + Wings + Force Orb: i will use her to stop single powerful monsters while keeping her safer from melee and ranged attacks

"Ground and Pound"
Stonegaze Basilisk + Earth elemental: the weakness of the earth creatures is there inability to hit flying, so the basilisk would first cripple flying creeps so the Earth elemental can Slam or just damage them.

"6 feet high to 6 feet below"
Hurl bolder/Knockdown + Quicksand: Again this takes care of flying creatures by slamming them to the ground and then placing them in quicksand while they don't have Flying trait. this also combo's with Ground and Pound because i may not have the mana to play a slam move so ill use cripple instead, and adding extra slam stuns from Earth Elemental also helps.


Unsolved problems

I think i should cast the gate of Voltari on the first turn to get the most out of it's mana generation and i know mid game i want to get the Hydra/Iron/EarthEle onto the field while Huginn places Perfect or power strike on them, and late game i would want all my creatures on the field ideally.

the problem is i don't know how to get from the first turn to a to getting one of my big creatures on the field without having 1-2 turns using no mana on wizard, who does not have any Mana free turns to do damage.

« Last Edit: May 24, 2013, 09:56:10 AM by nitrodavid »
Being Aussie we place all our cards face down, apart from enchantments which are face up

sdougla2

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Re: Earth Wizard With Gate of Voltari
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2013, 11:51:51 PM »
Running multiple earth creatures and the Gate seems inefficient. If you're going to base your play on the Gate, I think you should have a few more creatures to summon out of it, and avoid creatures that you can't summon out of it.

Many of your creatures are slow, and you only run 2 Teleports. I would run 4.

Do you need so many Perfect Strikes and Power Strikes?

I would drop an Elemental Wand for another Hurl Boulder.

I would also try to find room for some armor.

You lack control cards to neutralize big creatures. You have Quicksand, but that's pretty much it. I would diversify with maybe a Banish or a Turn to Stone, and I would probably include a Force Hold. The Force Hold can be used on the enemy mage or on a big creature, and it can let you force engagements with your slow creatures.

I would drop the 2nd Harmonize. Harmonize is efficient on spawnpoints and familiars, but putting one on Huginn makes killing him too efficient for your opponent. If you want to improve your mage's channeling, Moonglow Amulet is a better option.

Overall, you seem to lack defensive options. You don't have any Blocks, Reverse Attacks, or Agonies, which is in addition to your lack of armor and control options for big creatures.
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nitrodavid

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Re: Earth Wizard With Gate of Voltari
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2013, 09:39:24 PM »
Thanks for the advice

I dropped
2 stone walls 4 (i had no idea where i would use these anyway)
1 Blue gremlin 2
1 enchant steal 3
2 harmonize

and added
1 ele cloak 1
2 teleport traps 2
1 drakfenne hydra 4
2 mana crystals 2
1 teleport

the main reason for piercing and power strike is they are extremely efficient incantations for my familiar to cast on my creatures, 1 book and 2 mana for 1 extra dice or unavoidable. unless you can suggest another skill i can get the bird to spam

I found my starting strategy for first 3 turns at least
Turn 1 channel = 10; mana = 20,
FC: move 1,2, gate of voltari square 2,2 mana 14
QC: mana crystal 1,1 mana 5

Turn 2 channel = 11; Mana = 2+11=13 ; gate mana (assume worst case 1 mana)
FC: move 2,2, mana crystal 1,2 mana 5
QC: mana crystal 2,1 mana 5

Turn 3 channel = 13; Mana = 3+13= 26; Gate mana = 4
Voltaril: Hydra mana 16
FC: elemental wand (hurl bolder) mana 5
QC: Arcane ring mana 2

Turn 4 channel = 13; mana = 7+13 = 20 gate mana = 3
here i can choose to summon hydra's again, or go for a gorgon archer.
Being Aussie we place all our cards face down, apart from enchantments which are face up

Paleblue

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Re: Earth Wizard With Gate of Voltari
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2013, 09:29:16 PM »
Hello, i haven't played any mage wars games at any league level before (not many leagues in Sydney, Australia). As i have only played a hand full of games i have not been able to test many mages, but i build this earth wizard build which is a creature heavy build as far as the wizard goes. Could you please give me any advice if there is anything obviously missing from this deck. see below for the deck build and play info.

Hi Nitrodavid. Slightly off topic, but have you see the Mage Wars guild for Sydney over on the BGG forum? Its quite early days but we are getting regular games going around the place. Take a look here;

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/guild/1583

Apologies if your already aware of it, you might have a different name on BGG.

nitrodavid

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Re: Earth Wizard With Gate of Voltari
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2013, 09:53:37 PM »
thanks for the link, currently I pre pairing for the sunday fortnightly league at good games Burwood. once they make it official I'll post the details on bbg. I joined the guild now
Being Aussie we place all our cards face down, apart from enchantments which are face up