I know it sounds like something cheesy and unprofessional straight out of shows like yugioh, but I have a theory that announcing your moves and their effects as they happen is actually a good practice because
1. It helps the spectators better follow the admittedly complex gameplay, freeing up the actual commentators to discuss other things besides how the game works. This is especially useful when there are more games than commentators. This may also singlehandedly make Mage Wars spectatorship accessible to non-Mage Wars players
2. Because it sounds friggin cool and would make games of Mage Wars much more entertaining to watch.
There are some difficulties with calling your moves and their effects, though.
1. If you haven't already made calling your moves and their effects into a habit, then it will take extra concentration to do so until you have learned to do it habitually
2. Some moves and effects can be rather complicated, too complicated to completely explain in the middle of a game!
The solution to 1 seems to be just practicing announcing your moves and their effects as they happen until they've become a habit.
The solution to 2 seems to be to just explain the effects of your moves when they become relevant, no sooner, no later.
Examples:
"I summon Darkfenne Hydra." but you don't explain Triplestrike trait until you have the hydra attack with Triple Bite. And when you explain it you just say something like "Triple Bite has Triplestrike, so it can be used to attack your creature *three* times." Likewise you don't explain the Hydra's regenerate 2 trait until the upkeep phase in which it occurs. Even if you have more than one creature with regenerate 2, it still might be a good idea to remind the spectators once or twice.
If you make a move that directly and explicitly gives regenerate 2 to another creature or conjuration, then you would announce that they gained regenerate 2, but you would not explain it until it is used.
"I reveal an enchantment on myself--regrowth. This gives me regenerate 2."
Then as soon as it's the upkeep phase you say something like: "Since I have regenerate 2, I heal 2 damage during the upkeep phase."
If you summon a hydra for the first time in the game, you don't explain its regenerate trait until it uses the trait to heal, regardless of whether you've already explained the trait on another creature or not. You do not need to explain the regenerate trait the moment the hydra is summoned.
This might seem complicated but it's really not. Most of this is just having the sense to know what needs to be said and what doesn't, and any good Mage Wars player will probably have a pretty good idea of what's actually relevant to mention in the present moment and what's not.
So really the main obstacle is just getting more people to practice doing this and make it a habit so it doesn't take any effort.
Thoughts?
PS I also suspect that this is the true reason shows like yugioh have characters call their attacks and effects: because it makes it easier for viewers to follow it and it looks friggin cool.
