Forcemaster Build

[sshroom]

Hello. I've got about 5 IRL games of Mage Wars under my belt. I think this is a game I could really get into. I've been looking at some of the books people have posted and coming up with ideas of my own. Here's a Forcemaster build. In mtg my favorite color is blue and Forcemaster seemed well suited to a very controlish style of playing. Invisible Stalker roams around and destroys conjurations. Once the enemy is down in the 0-9 mana range per turn, finish him with the force blade. I wanted to put mana leeches in here to really seal the "no mana for you" deal but I couldn't figure what to lose. I think it would do well against many Wizard builds. I don't have DvN but something tells me the Necromancer would be tough for this deck to beat. Would appreciate any tips/criticism. Cheers, happy warrin'.

Attack
Force Hammer
Invisible Fist

Conjurations
2 Enchanter's Wardstone
Mana Crystal
Mana Siphon
Mordock's Obelisk

Creatures
Invisible Stalker
Thoughtspore

Enchantments
Bear Strength
2 Charm
2 Decoy
2 Essence Drain
2 Forcefield
3 Mind Control
2 Nullify
Poisoned Blood

Equipment
Galvitar
Guantlets of Strength
Mage Wand
Moonglow Amulet
Psi Orb

Invocations
3 Dispel
3 Dissolve
2 Drain Power
2 Force Push
Heal
Steasl Equipment

[Lord0fWinter]

Hello sshroom, welcome to the forums. I have built a Forcemaster deck myself and used it quite frequently until I bought the DvN expansion.

The spellbook is here: http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=13123.0

Your spellbook looks pretty good, but I would recommend including a seeking dispel or 2 and also a teleport or 2. You never know when you might need teleport, and seeking dispel is a great card.

I don't know if you need so many mind controls. Three just seems like one too many. You could free up some spellbook points by taking one out.

Also, Thoughtspores are notorious for dying quickly. I originally had them in my deck but took them out cause I simply could not keep them alive long enough for them to be useful.


Cheers, hope this helps.

[Aylin]

Oh my...

First:
Drop the Mind Controls, all of them. Yes, I know about Mind Control + Mordok's Obelisk, but it isn't worth it. Why? Things it doesn't work against:
1. Golem Pit builds (very popular at the moment, even without DvN)
2. Any Necromancer build (also very popular at the moment if the forums are anything to go by)
3. Any weenie swarm build
4. Any solo-mage build

You're spending 18 of your points for a weapon that will only work some of the time (even against huge living creatures it will fail to Mind Shield...a level 1 enchantment with a reveal cost of 0, unless you Purge Magic/Seeking Dispel the correct enchantment first). It's way too expensive for such little benefit.

Second:
No Teleport? Only 1 Bear Strength? No Cheetah Speed? No Mongoose Agility (needed because of Charm)? No Battle Fury? No Vampirism?
You're missing a lot of staple spells

Third:
Mana denial doesn't work unless you go all the way. Most of the mana denial spells are in the arcane school, which is why you're more likely to see mana denial wizards than any other type of mage. Perhaps look into that mage if that is the strategy you want to use? The most common Forcemaster builds are variations on 2 big creatures (normally grizzlies or vampires), solo, or with just thoughtspore support.

[MrSaucy]

Third:
Mana denial doesn't work unless you go all the way.

I don't entirely agree with this. Even a little bit of mana denial can be very frustrating. I can't think of how many times I have wished I had just 1 more mana.

@sshroom you might consider including Suppression Orb. It combos well with FM because she can push creatures away, forcing them to move and thus waste  mana. It is like her "Suppression Cloak" in a way, even though Suppression Cloak definitely does a better job of sucking mana away from your opponent.

What Aylin might be get ting at is that if your goal is to drain your opponents' mana, Wizard wins hand down. And you definitely have included more mana-drain than other FM spellbooks I have seen. Perhaps tone down the mana drain factor a bit. For example, get rid of the Drain Power.

[Aylin]

Third:
Mana denial doesn't work unless you go all the way.

I don't entirely agree with this. Even a little bit of mana denial can be very frustrating. I can't think of how many times I have wished I had just 1 more mana.

@sshroom you might consider including Suppression Orb. It combos well with FM because she can push creatures away, forcing them to move and thus waste  mana. It is like her "Suppression Cloak" in a way, even though Suppression Cloak definitely does a better job of sucking mana away from your opponent.

What Aylin might be get ting at is that if your goal is to drain your opponents' mana, Wizard wins hand down. And you definitely have included more mana-drain than other FM spellbooks I have seen. Perhaps tone down the mana drain factor a bit. For example, get rid of the Drain Power.

I'm not saying mana drain doesn't work at all, or as an annoyance. But if the desired win condition is mana denial you need as much as possible. Having a little (Obelisk or Orb for example) is perfectly reasonable though and highly annoying to opponents.

[aquestrion]

Where is the wall of thorns? Haha just such a great combo I can't believe your not playing it.

The card block works well on a thought spore and its in the forcemasters school

[Zuberi]

Oh my...

First:
Drop the Mind Controls, all of them. Yes, I know about Mind Control + Mordok's Obelisk, but it isn't worth it. Why? Things it doesn't work against:
1. Golem Pit builds (very popular at the moment, even without DvN)
2. Any Necromancer build (also very popular at the moment if the forums are anything to go by)
3. Any weenie swarm build
4. Any solo-mage build

You're spending 18 of your points for a weapon that will only work some of the time (even against huge living creatures it will fail to Mind Shield...a level 1 enchantment with a reveal cost of 0, unless you Purge Magic/Seeking Dispel the correct enchantment first). It's way too expensive for such little benefit.

Second:
No Teleport? Only 1 Bear Strength? No Cheetah Speed? No Mongoose Agility (needed because of Charm)? No Battle Fury? No Vampirism?
You're missing a lot of staple spells

Third:
Mana denial doesn't work unless you go all the way. Most of the mana denial spells are in the arcane school, which is why you're more likely to see mana denial wizards than any other type of mage. Perhaps look into that mage if that is the strategy you want to use? The most common Forcemaster builds are variations on 2 big creatures (normally grizzlies or vampires), solo, or with just thoughtspore support.

I whole heartedly agree with this. You might keep 1 Mind Control for when the situation does crop up that it is useful, but you have definitely invested too much into it as is.

[baronzaltor]

Im very anti-invisible stalker in Forcemaster builds.   I just don't find him to be worth 5 spell points and +1 upkeep cost.  Id rather pay triple for a creature who carries his weight better than 5 for one who has an etherial glass jaw.

Also, Im very very pro-dancing scimitar.  Its one of my favorite cards in the whole set, I run it in most spell books.

Dancing Scimitar lets you:
-attack charmed creature without breaking charm
-help cut tangle vines off of you
-finish of creatures
-gives you the option for a second defense
-lets you remove a Reverse Attack from a creature without getting hit by it.
-loses its upkeep with Psy Orb
-increases your overall offense output.  you can sweep and scimitar to hit 3 creatures in a zone, you can double strike and scimitar tap.
-avoid damage barriers/counterstrikes
-against druid it lets you hack vine markers out of your zone without taking up one of your main actions.


Like I said, I run it in tons of spell books, even non force master ones.  Its effectively a free unbuffed basic melee attack every round, or an optional defense.

[sshroom]

Thanks everyone for the tips!

Here's a modified version. Yes the book is heavy on the mana denial but that's the main plan. I want to aggressively attack my opponent's mana supply. Once he's empty and only channeling 7 or 8 a turn I'll be in a strong position. Yes the Wizard can do this all cheaper, but I think Forcefield is the best defense in the game (esp. when it costs 18 mana to get rid of it)and her ability to always have Galvitar is great as well. Drain Power is key to making this happen, so need to keep those. I'm considering swapping the Invis Stalker for a Mana Leech just to keep up mana pressure in every way possible. No Cheetah Speed because I don't really have to move fast. I don't mind spending a couple of turns putting out Conjurations. The Stalker is there to run around and beat up conjurations esp. mana crystals/flowers.

Thanks for the read. Cheers

Attack
Force Hammer (2)
Invisible Fist (1)

Conjuration
3 Enchanter's Wardstone (6)
Mana Siphon (6)
Mordok's Obelisk (4)
Supression Orb (2)

Creatures
Invisible Stalker (5)

Enchantments
2 Bear Strength (4)
2 Charm (4)
2 Decoy (2)
2 Essence Drain (
2 Forcefield (
Harmonize (2)
Mind Control (6)
2 Nullify (4)
Poisoned Blood (2)

Equipment
Dancing Scimitar (2)
Galvitar (3)
Mage Wand (4)
Psi Orb (2)

Invocation
2 Battle Fury (4)
3 Dispel (6)
2 Dissolve (4)
2 Drain Power (12)
Force Bash (2)
2 Force Push (2)
Seeking Dispel (2)
Steal Equipment (3)
2 Teleport (