The Oneness

[The Dude]

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 Dude]

The Beastmaster

And next we come to Doctor Doolittle himself, the Beastmaster! He has a higher base life at 36, with a lowered channel of 9, and of course, 0 armor. He is trained in the diverse and all powerful Nature school, with an opposition to the Fire school (which really is not that big of a deal). As a quick aside, I want to talk about the Nature school itself. A lot of folks seem to think that the Arcane school is really the only school every mage will need to pull from for almost any build they use, because of spells like Dispel, seeking dispel, and Teleport. But I think nature school is just as often used, and is just as important. A staple for many builds is Rhino Hide, and Bear Strength. Not to mention the plethora of creatures and living creature enchants the Nature School has to offer. It is a strong school to be trained in, and should not be taken lightly.

His first ability is one of the most powerful abilities in the entire game, even to rival that of the Wizard’s Volt shield. This ability is the Quick Summon. Once per round, as a quick action, the Beastmaster may cast a level 1 animal creature. Boo ya. All those full actions you would normally need to use to cast a lot of creatures is greatly reduced thanks to this ability, and allows you to cast many creatures incredibly quickly. It is for this reason that this mage in particular is great for rush strategies. These are strategies that focus one throwing so many foxes in your face you don’t know what to do, or so many Falcons you can’t see straight. This, combined with Rajan’s Fury which givens all animal creatures +1 charge, is a fantastic way to deal a lot of damage quickly. Just be wary, because the lower cost creatures such as foxes and falcons have an incredibly low life total, and no armor. You are going to want to end the game as fast as possible in order to hope to win with this strategy, because these animals are really easy to kill. But this isn’t the only way to play the Beastmaster.

His second ability is an interesting one for you pet lovers out there. It is, in fact, the ability to create a pet! When a friendly non-legendary animal creature comes into play, you can pay mana equal to that creatures level +1 in order to place your pet marker on it. This will give the creature +3 life, +1 armor, and +1 melee. That creature also receives an additional +1 melee when it’s in the same zone as the Beastmaster.  Talk about flavor! A lot of players tend to use this in the rush strategy, by giving one of their foxes or falcons the pet ability, which can work well, as it makes that creature much harder to one shot, as well as making them roll a lot more dice. What’s the downside? You are paying 2 extra mana. In a rush strategy, you want to spend as much of your mana as possible on cheap creatures. And that 2 mana you spent on a pet could just as easily be spent next turn to help cast two falcons in a turn. This pet ability, I feel, is much stronger on the second way to play the Beastmaster, which is the Buddy build. You focus on getting one big creature out (usually a cuddly Grizzly), and then smashing face with it. A lot of face. Petting a creature like this IS a big investment at 5 mana, but it is really worth it, as you are giving him additional armor instead of just 1 armor, a huge 3 life, and +2 melee if you are in the same zone. It allows you to swing for more dice while keeping your pet around much longer. It is also a much easier play style to get into, as most of it revolves around smashing face. It’s a great strategy for newer players and veterans alike. If you are just getting into Mage Wars, I would highly recommend building a buddy build. It will teach you some of the most important basics of the game, such as “When should I really use teleport?”, or “Is this dispel really worth the action and mana right now?”, while still allowing you to smash a lot of face quickly.

The Beastmaster’s final ability is a +1 Battle skill. This means that he has a melee bonus of +1 when attacking melee. This, as well, should not be underappreciated. Using cards like Animal Kinship plus a canine to give yourself +1 melee (or multiple AK’s for multiple +1s), gauntlets of Strength, and Staff of Beasts, in conjunction with a Bear Strength, you will be rolling just as many dice as your bear, maybe more! If you are going to build a Beastmaster build, make sure you take the +1 Battle skill into account, as it is one of those abilities that is easy to understand and always useful.

The Warlock

Next, we get to the Warlock, who has the highest base life in the entire game at 38, making him really hard to kill, and a 9 channel, and 0 armor. The Warlock is trained the Dark and Fire school, with an opposition to Holy school. What’s interesting is that again, we see a mage trained in two schools. This mage, and the Wizard, are considered the “strongest” mages in the game right now, and part of that reason is the ability to be trained in two schools. The Warlock does have the downside of not really having access to Holy school magic, but he has a really high life total, anyways, so he doesn’t have to rely on life gain or healing as much as one would think. The only downside to building the Warlock is that most of your builds will feel kind of “samey”. The Warlock does only a few things, but he does them incredibly well. Let’s explore them more with his first ability.

Curse weaving is the first ability that the Warlock has, and it’s an interesting one. Once per round, when a creature with one of your curses on it is destroyed, you may return one of those curses to your spellbook instead of returning it to the discard pile. Again, we have an ability that is useful, but this ability does not cost any mana, so it is a lot easier to use. The hardest decision to be made with this ability is which curse you want to return to your spellbook. This ability works really well with one of the main strategies the Warlock uses to win the game, which is to do direct damage via curses such as Magebane, Ghoul Rot, and Morloch’s Torment. You are going to want a critical mass of curse spells in your spellbook to make the most use out of this strategy, but it is well worth it.

The second ability is the reason the Warlock was given such a high starting life total: Bloodreaper. This is incredibly similar to the beastmaster’s pet ability, but instead of paying mana, you pay with your life equal to the level of that creature +1. If you do this, your creature will receive the Bloodthirsty +2 trait, as well as the ability that when that creature damages a living creature for the first time each round, you may heal 2 damage. It is a strong ability, don’t get me wrong, but I think it suffers from a few weaknesses. The first is that it takes a huge strength you have in a high starting life total, and lowering it to bear strength and heal yourself 2 each round. One could argue that the life total is worth it if you are healing two, but it seems that against a mage with high armor, or an ability to kite you, will make it harder for you to really heal. Now, it doesn’t cost mana, which a great thing. And if you can put it on a creature with piercing (Slayer), you have a more higher chance of being able to heal from a high armored target. It is also an ability you want to use as early as possible, as late game, losing life for a creature that won’t get to attack for a turn is a hard thing to do. As well, unlike the Pet ability, you will probably only want to use this ability once per game, as any more than that will most likely reduce your life total far beyond hope of winning. This is a difficult ability to use, and should not be taken lightly. It can be extremely powerful if in the right position, but you have to know when that position is.
   
And the final ability you have is a Battle skill. This is the same as the Beastmaster’s, but the Warlock has a much more interesting use for it. You see, with a Bear Strength, Fireshaper ring, and a Hellfire lash, you are rolling 8 dice of damage a turn, with a good chance to burn. This is one of the Warlock’s Strong suites, and should be thought about when building his build. The reason he is so powerful is that his two schools sync incredibly well together. The dark school focuses on Direct damage, whereas fire focuses on… direct damage via burns! This is really the build that you will be able to keep multiple burns on the opponent, and you are able to make great use of them if you also have curses and a Morloch’s Torment. You may have noticed that the Warlock needs a fair amount of equipment, and it is for this reason that a lot of players choose to include Battle Forge in their spellbooks. As well, you will have a hard time burning the opponent if they have any amount of dragonscale hauberks and Elemental Cloaks on them. So pack your dissolves, and your explodes!

[The Dude]

Forcemaster vs. Warlord

The Forcemaster

The Forcemaster is the first mage we get to experience when we delve into the first expansion for Mage Wars, and boy is she a strong one. She has a base life of 32, a channeling of 10, and an armor value of 0. She is trained in the school of Mind, with an opposition to any creatures outside of the Mind school. What does this mean? Well, basically that she is designed to be a solo mage! With almost all creatures costing a heap of points to include, most players will utilize her force weapon, Gravitar, with a Dancing schimitar, to do most of the damage she needs to win. She, again, is not an easy mage to play, but she is built on combination play. Doing long chains of attacks for average amounts of dice build up over time to be something incredibly devastating.

Her first ability is the Deflect ability. For 1 mana, once each round, she can use a defense to stop an attack. It is a 7+, which is exactly 50 percent to dodge, but you can use a defense ring to increase those chances of the deflect working. It is a luck based ability, do not forget that. A lot of players make the mistake of not properly applying armor to the Forcemaster, and instead relying on multiple defenses to do the job. This is a pipe dream, my friends. You need to prepare for the worst, and especially because she has a low starting life total, armor is necessary in a book of her style. Not to fret though, because she can use Battle forge to great effect. She needs as many full actions as possible to attack, so using the Battle forge to cast her necessary equipment is vital to her victory. As well, she has an inherent weakness to builds that use a lot of creature based attacks to get the job done, so will want to include those forcefields to really help you get to the mage as quickly as possible to end the game as fast as you can. She also has an extreme weakness to kiting builds- builds that can move around the board quickly to get away from an opponent. Tanglevines and teleports will be your friend here.

Her second ability kind of helps against the kiting opponent, though, and that ability is Force pull. For 1 mana, at a range of 1-2, she can pull the opponent one zone closer to her. This is phenomenal  in conjunction with her combination attacks, as it allows you to get that much closer to the opponent in order to get the attack off.

There is also an inherent benefit to spending most of your time melee attacking- you stockpile a lot of mana.  And by a lot, most FMs end games with somewhere between 25-40 mana in their supply. You can use this to cast powerful enchantments that stop your opponent’s creatures from attacking, or by casting a few powerful creatures of your own. One that comes to mind, and is in school, is the invisible stalker. His power to not be targeted is a fantastic one, and he rolls a fantastic amount of dice. He does have a low starting life total, though, so be weary of opponents that can easily cast ethereal spells. He is also weak to the Warlocks curses, so make sure that when he attacks, it’s the last action of the round! IF you want to go out of school, there are a number of great creatures to choose from. Personally, I love Cervere, as she is able to move around the board quickly and efficiently for cheap. As well, you can try out grizzly bear (who is great in pairs!). You want creatures that are a good cost to damage, and that can move around the board quickly with as little assistance as possible. So, Darkfenne Hydra may not be the best choice of creature for you. You also want a creature that can last. You are paying a lot of spellbook points for him, so make sure it’s a creature that will stay on the battlefield and do work for you instead of simply dying.

Spells like Charm, and Mind Control are great spells to stop your opponent’s big creatures from attacking, or even turning to your side! The huge downside of these spells is that they have a large upkeep, and cost a lot of spellbook points, so I would choose between using these spells and including creatures of your own. Including both would be extremely unwieldy, and require far more resources than you have time for. Personally, I am a bit more partial to including creatures of my own, for the simple fact that I know they will stick around longer than a Mind Control would. Mind Control and charm are more of tempo plays, as I see them. You Mind Control something, it is stunned, meaning you can’t use it that round, but neither can the opponent. Next round, they dispel it. It is stunned again. Meaning for 2 full rounds, you’ve put a huge threat out of commission. Make use of that time, and don’t just sit around. It will benefit you more in the long run, I promise.

The Warlord
   
Ah, now we come to murky depths that house the Warlord. It has been touted that this mage is the weakest mage of Any we have seen thus far, and at first, I had to agree, but now, I’m not so sure. The problem lies with… well, we will get there. For now, he has a starting life total of 36, and armor of 0, and a channel of 9. He has training in the Earth and War school, with an opposition to anything Arcane. This is thematic speak for: “He’s not the brightest mage”. And with that, we come to the first real problem of The Warlord. As we talked about before when discussing the Wizard, the school of Arcane is a MUST need school by almost every build in existence. You need spells like Dispel and Teleport in order to properly defend against the onslaught of hurt the opponent hopes to bring to you. Making Arcane spells cost triple really, really hurts. This is the most touted of reasons that the Warlord is bad, but I think that there is another reason as well: The War school is really underdeveloped. It’s not that it is bad school, it’s not at all. It’s just really hard to build a feasible winning strategy out of what is given. Now, that being said, I do think that the Warlord still has the power to win, but I think it will take much more creative talent that when building with any other mage.
   
His first ability is entitled Veterans, and says that “whenever a friendly non-mage creature melee attacks and destroys an enemy creature, place a veteran badge token on that creature (maximum one per creature). That token grants melee +1 and armor +1. At first glance, this seems like an AMAZING ability, but it has one major flaw: it is counter intuitive to the very object of the game itself, which is to kill the mage, not it’s supporting units. But I do think it can be used effectively. How? Many players think that because the Warlord has a +1 Battle Skill that he should be played aggressively, whereas his other abilities evidence something completely different. He should be turtling, and letting his soliders do all his work for him. Isolating threats and taking them out makes the Veteran skill fantastic! The only downside to a turtling strategy is his rather poorly made barracks, which can really only cast a creature every other turn, and that’s with a harmonize, which, you guessed it, is Arcane. But if you can look past that poor spawnpoint, he really does have some great options. He can stop the opponent from reaching him with a well placed Grimson, Deadeye sniper. He can use Thorg’s  taunt ability to stop any huge threats from getting through. He also has a great amount of command spells at his disposal that allow his creatures to do the work for him instead of himself. Another trap players fall into is thinking that the tiny goblins are playable. Most of them have such a fluffy life total I wouldn’t consider them period if I was building a Warlord deck. The Warlord as well has a great dwarven interceptor that can guard with the absolute best of them.
   
So, what is his second ability? Battle orders, of course! Once per round, the Warlord may pay 1 mana and as a quick action cast one of the following quick action spells which last until the end of the round and effect all friendly soldier units in his zone at the time it was cast:

1)   To battle! -  gain the charge +1 trait.
2)   Release Volley! - gain ranged +1 trait.
3)   On Guard! - Gain melee +1 and armor +1 trait while guarding.

Again, this ability hints at something more than an aggressive build. This ability rewards you for having multiple strong units in play, something an aggressive build could not support. With the Horn of Gondor (I know, but that’s what I see!), instead of only effecting the creatures in his zone, it affects the entire arena! Powerful 1 turn Rajan’s Furies, or Hawkeyes, for the cost of one mana!

The Warlord is not an easy book to build, or play. It relies on heavy turtling and heavy tactics to make work, as well as creative openings and plays to really make work.  It is an interesting puzzle that I think can be worked out now, but I think we will see more support for it in the future. If you like thinking a strategy out, and using highly creative, unorthodox ideas to get the job done, the Warlord is for you. Just be prepared to lose my friend, as it will take a lot of work, and tweaking, to perfect this mage. But if you can do, I will bow to your name and kiss your feet. I swear it.

The Conquest of Kumanjaro

The Priest
   
And now we come to the First Alternate mage ever released, the almighty Priest! With the power of Fire and Brimstone, he will Daze you with the Light of Asyra! He has a base life of 34, and a base channel of 9, with 0 starting armor. He is a lot more aggressive than the Priestess, so you must keep that in mind if you want to stand a chance fighting with this mage. He is trained exactly like the Priestess, with Holy School and an opposition to Dark.
   
His first ability is the holy avenger trait. When a friendly non legendary holy creature comes into play, you may pay mana equal to it’s level +1 in order to place the holy avenger marker on it. That creature gains +5 life. The first time this creature makes a melee attack against an enemy creature, and that enemy creature attacked and damaged a friendly creature this round (other than the Holy avenger), this creature gains melee +2 and piercing +1. It is a strong ability, but I’m so sure it’s worth the mana cost. With a base channeling of 9, the Priest will already have his hands full equipping up himself to make real use of his second ability. That being said, he will need a way to protect himself, and putting the holy avenger on a Guardian Angel is a seriously strong way to play. As well, you could place it on a Knights of Westlock, who already swings for a lot of damage. It is a way for the Priest to protect himself, as well as punishing anything that dare strike him. It’s an ability you will want to get out early in order to make full use of. And honestly, I feel the best way to play with the holy avenger is to have to two creatures in the zone with the mage. Maybe both a Knight and a guardian. Holy avenge the knight and guard with the angel, that way they have to attack the Angel, and when they do, the Knight can rock back with 7 dice. This, as well with the Priest having a staff of Asyra, dawnbreaker ring, and maybe a Bear strength, and you should be good to go!
   
His second ability is a wicked one as well. For one mana, once per round when the Priest deals light damage to an enemy creature, he may place a burn token on that creature. Auto burn?! Yes. And including some amount of burn spells along with that can only up your chances of stacking burns on the opponent. It is an incredibly strong ability that should be built around for best effect of the Priest. He also has a different kind of basic melee attack. He only attacks for 2 dice, but on a 9+, he dazes the target. This is an inherent Pillar of Light, and can also be used to great effect.
   
I feel that the Priest is one of the least explored mages at this point, but not because he is weak. Simply put, he is rather new in the field of Mage Wars, and his abilities are varied enough for players to really have to think about what they are building and how they are building it. If you really like to play with a tempo style of aggression, this mage is for you. As well, the Priest does a fantastic amount of work against the Undead, so make sure you keep that in mind!

Johktari Beastmaster

And now we come to my absolute favorite mage to play, and also one of the least played mages around. She also has a base life of 34, channel of 9, and 0 starting armor, but she plays drastically different than the Priest. She is trained just like the Beastmaster, with a training in Nature with an opposition to Fire. But she plays ENTIRELY different than the Straywood Beastmaster. And it starts with her abilities.

Let’s look at her first ability. She has the Fast trait. That’s it? Yu- WAIT WUT/?@! Does that seem powerful to you? At first glance, this ability seems overpowered as all hell. It’s not, but it is great. Having the ability to move two zones AND cast two quick spells is an ability that should not be taken lightly. She has the inherent kiting that the Wizard has to use teleports for. With elusive, there really is no stopping her. But this also leads away from super aggressive styles of play, as well, which the Straywood Beastmaster does do better. She likes to sit back in the trees and wait for the right opportunity to pounce, rather than going to the enemy.

Her second ability is called the Wounded Prey ability. Whenever a friendly creature attacks and damages an enemy non-mage creature, as a free action, you may place a wounded prey token on that creature. All subsequent attacks made on that creature gain +1 melee. If the creature is destroyed or healed completely, the marker moves back to the Johktari beastmaster. This is the “Isolate and destroy” mechanic we have seen used throughout the different controlling mages here, and I think it is done the best with this ability. The ability to destroy your opponent’s creatures without disadvantaging your own is powerful in it’s own right, but downright giving them more power to destroy a threat is a power all on it’s own. This ability is only made stronger in the third ability the Johktari Beastmaster has.

Ranged Ability. She gained +1 ranged for each nonspell attack she makes. This is good, but what makes it even better is the hunting bow she possesses, which, when coupled with the Wounded Prey ability, makes her ability to isolate threats almost unstoppable. I know with games I’ve played, I’ve one shotted a hydra after attacking with a dire wolf. I’ve taken out a grizzly the turn it was summoned. She is a highly synergist mage that has an incredible long and mid game, but her short game is kind of lacking. No, that’s not a bad thing, either, because no matter what mage we play, we should be playing for the long game, as the short game offers too many opportunities to lose out to luck.

There is one card that I think this beastmaster takes better advantage of than her male counterpart, and that card is Lair. As she hopes to play the long game, the mana advantage this card generates is staggeringly high, and can poop out really strong attacking creatures. As well, if you know you are playing against a more turtle style of mage, with her fast ability, you can place the Lair 2 zones away from the starting zone of the opponent. This is a great way to hold up the opponent while you use your remaining actions to build a critical mass of equipment and spells to take down the opponent.

Well. We have finally reached the end of our journey into the world of the Mages of Mage Wars. Did you see one you liked? One that just seemed to click with you? That mage may not be easy to play, build, or win with, but it is the mage you should try. If you have fun constructing that mage, than you have a greater chance of winning with it than any of the other mages that are touted as powerful. I encourage you to branch out, and try different strategies. Part of the reason we see a dominance of Wizards and Warlocks is because most of us stick to the tried and tested way of playing. So I encourage you to try out different strategies and Mages you know you will like. I can’t guarantee you will win, but I can guarantee that you will have fun trying. Cheers, and Bon Chance to you all!

Dude.

[DeckBuilder]

Hi Dude.

Thank you for taking the time to write this. Another very easy read. I really like the conversational style of it. It has more card specifics than your previous excellent articles. It's definitely more useful for a beginner because it is more specific, broadly detailing some of the more popular and successful strategies for each mage. Considering the huge scope of the piece, you've managed to cover quite a lot without making it at all hard to read which is quite an achievement.

But...

Perhaps because it wasn't aimed at players like me, I felt I learnt very little from it. It's more a primer for those relatively new to the game?

In contrast, your articles on Go (where during each turn one player has momentum and the other reacts though this changes), the one on mobility (formative to my own theory of opportunity windows and burst actions via transfusion or marker abuse being crucial, forerunner of Earth Wizard kill zone), damage threshold (where I had the epiphany that swarm just did not work without new mechanics like Lifetree and Corrode), they really got me thinking about the mechanics of the game, the balancing of the various resources with the time (persistence) and space (positioning) dimensions added. Whilst those articles never went into any specific card detail (and some bemoaned this), they were my education into the game and I used them as a foundation for my own Mage Wars game theory. I thank you for opening my mind.

Just when I thought you had taught me all the dimensions of the game (developing my own variants on your insights), you then surprised me with a hidden gem on the inherent bluffing or outguessing involved in the game. But that thread, insightful though it was, did not catch on because its title referred to a niche game (which I too have enjoyed hence could easily relate to and appreciate transference insights).

In a similar way, I think the title of this thread could be more provocatively challenging. "Which Mage Are You?" is a very direct title with no shred of wit but captures the tone of this piece. Something that says "must read this" when you log on and click on "new posts since last visit". I am sure you could come up with a witty title. I know it is so superficial (hey, I work in marketing where presentation is critical) but I didn't know what to expect with that title. I actually read it how Gollum would speak it: "That isess the oneness for me, nassty Bagginsses". Maybe it's just me but that title is just a tad too ... how shall I put it ... transcendental (man).

On substance rather than oh-so-shallow style, I noticed one very minor error. The Priest's Malakai's Fire ability is once per round for any light damage dealt (his basic melee, Asrya's Staff, Pillar of Light, Blinding Flash), not just his melee, though I admit melee is its main use.

Also, for some builds. you mention their bad match-ups (e.g. Mana Denial vs. Forcemaster) but perhaps because you are currently in love with the Beastmistress (who could blame you as she is by far the best mage picture - badass), you fail to mention just what a poor ability Wounded Prey is against several builds. Earth Wizard kill zone, Charging Golem Warlord, Forcemaster and soon Necromancer.

I so love the flavour of the missionaries in savage lands expansion. I even like their board control abilities although they should not leave weaknesses (e.g. Wounded Prey could be allowed on enemy Mage while he is the only living creature enemy), much like how 4th Edition D&D allowed rogues to sneak attack any creature (before powerless against undead, plants etc). My main issue with the 2 mages is that they did not give a Mage Only cantrip Hunting Bow and a cantrip Light Staff to these protagonists. Those weapons, whilst not as pivotal as Galvitar, are critical to leverage their mage ability (less so the Staff), so really need to be cantrips as Wizard control will out-Dissolve them.

Anyway, they are what they are. Maybe they will get these crucial pieces in future. Maybe there will come some global conjuration to treat all Non Living creatures as Living. But I think highlighting this weakness may save the new player some grief playing them.

Actually, re-reading it, you really did manage to cover a lot of ground in just 3 posts. I feel I have been very parsimonious with my praise. So thanks for the good read and well done (again), sensei.

[DarthDadaD20]

I think you captured the flavor,feel, and playstyle of each mage perfectly! I couldn't find a place or statement that I didn't wholeheartedly stand behind.

Nice mention of the Nature meta cards- For some reason they are not often mentioned...but we all know we have those few in every build just the same.

I also really enjoyed the opining. Some people might be completely unaware of it, but we all do tend to have these playstyles rather we realize it or not. I know I am one of those people who fells lost if they don't have a tool box of sorts for every situation. I rarely enjoy having a straight forward plan- and as a result, I am a terrible "Jonny". (someone whose deck is build around chaining off a combo- basically letting the deck do all the work)

I enjoyed it very much- Great job!

[The Dude]

Thank you for that fantastic response. To quote The Great John Steinback:

“There are as many worlds as there are kinds of days, and as an opal changes its colors and its fire to match the nature of a day, so do I.”

I love to dive deep into the rhetoric and flow of the game, of any game I play. It's a part of who I am. But in order to get to that state, players first have to find something that truly grips them. So far it seems that so many new players try to hit the ground running with Mage Wars, and it has a negative effect. They see other folk's posts about the best mage around, and they try to make that work, instead of finding their own way. It's not very good for the game, as it will eventually degenerate into what's broken here, or what's too good there. It's not because the cards are too good, it's because players are unwilling to branch out from known territory.

It's wonderful to learn from what others have done, in fact, it's much easier to do so. It is far easier for a player to read this great build someone has come up with. And then they build it, expecting to win. And when they don't, it sends Frustration, and that sense of learning is lost. This post was meant to give new players (and veterans!) a chance to try something new. It wasn't meant to teach, per say. It was more to give an interesting knock to the door of opportunity. If you read something that caught your eye, be it the Priest's ability, and what you could possibly do with it, or the strength of the Beastmistress's Sprint, or just how powerful the Warlord could be; if something as small as that has inspired you to create a new book for the world of Mage Wars to see and play, and learn from, I consider this article one worth writing.

As far as the Beastmistress and her poor match-ups, I must admit: I've only played about 10 games with her as my avatar. And even so, I know she is one of my favorite mages, by the way she just... feels. I did fail to mention her bad match-ups, but I think it was in a fit of overexcitement to finish this massive article. It is hard to win with her against solo style builds, in which Wounded prey can have absolutely no effect on the game. As well, over commiting to Lair early can lose you the game quickly if you don't have your wits about you!

To round things back to Mister Steinback, I mentioned that quote because this article wasn't aimed at the philosophical aspect this game represents, it was more meant to reach out to the player who just can't decide what to play, or to the frustrated player who can't seem to win with any build he tries. It's a new beginning each and every time we play, and I think it's about time we realize that as players, and as students.

Cheers, my good friend, and thank you for the kind words!

P.S. Is transcendental such a bad way to be? c;

[The Dude]

Dada! Thank you for the kind words my friend!

It's interesting. I love BOTH combination play and Toolbox style play. What I love so much about Mage Wars is that they can really work together to form something more than a well-tuned engine, or an easily searchable database.

Or to put in your line of thinking: Every single game of Mage Wars, to me, feels like a GW Maverick Mirror, until the game begins. c;

[Charmyna]

Great thoughts and thx for the time you invested into this!

The Oneness.
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.

For the lightning wizard its important to note that some mages dont care about being stunned that much. Sure, u cant move and cast no full spell. But in many rounds that doesnt matter - especially not if your opponent has a spawnpoint to cast creatures. Btw a daze doesnt matter much as well unless the target mage wants to melee or cast two attack spells in that round. If he wants to use one attack spell, he can do that with the QC after his round without being dazed anymore.
Taking all this into account I think the wind wizards chance to stun/daze isnt worth the damage you loose as compared to an earth/fire wizard in most competetive games. He is fun to play for sure though .

The Oneness.
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.

You know water wizard is my absolute favourite . Gate to voltari with many creatures in your build is just awesome. As are the cheap water spells. I agree alot of practice and patience is needed. Hyper aggressive builds can cause problems, but against those I find high armor more effective than heals. Sure, a regrowth and a heal once i a while help. But hyper aggressive builds tend toward playing deathlock anyway. Therefore high armor+voltaric shield often is much better than heals you cant use.

[The Dude]

I do agree with your Statements, but due to the vagueness of my OP, I think you may have misunderstood me a bit as far as Air Wizard's intent. It deceptively non aggressive, instead using cards like Arc Lightning and Lightning Bolt to stop a huge threat from attacking this turn or next. As well, despite it's lack of Popularity in recent iterations of the game, Chain Lightning is a HUGE reason to have Wind as your major elemental school, as it is one of the very few cards to grant severe quick action advantage in the form of multiple attacks. This, combined with the fact that there are many more creatures with Lightning +2 than any other elemental disadvantage, and Air Wizard becomes an slightly more intelligent meta choice than any of the other mages. I do think that Air Wizard has the greatest chance of winning the Wizard v. Wizard struggle as well. I would also like to clarify what I meant in my OP about stunning- it is far better than to stun a creature than a mage, as the majority of spells cast by the mage are Quick cast, and stuns hurt creatures quite a bit more than Mages.


The reason I didn't talk about high armor there is that I think I discussed it in depth when talking about the Volt shield itself. As for the rest- you are the master of the Water Wizard, your words of wisdom speak far more than mine could, thank you for your insight.