The weaknesses of the non-living

[BoomFrog]

There are many advantages to nonliving but what are the advantages of the living? If you have a book like Johktari beastmaster with an innate advantage against the bloodfilled what can you throw in as a plan B against the unnaturally animate?

Obviously the unvitaled cannot be healed so life tree and renewing rain are useful. Also if the game can be turned into hit and run tactics the healable should have an advantage, especially considering most living challenged are also mobility challenged.  This makes me want to consider more movement based attacks such as thornpushing.  A few walls of steel may be worthwhile if they make a squad of zombies take three turns to travel around. Especially when i could climb back over on turn 2. Steel is not so great against our jelly friends however and the ever-present threat of teleport makes walls unsound.

The one subtle thing that really struck me though is that the unbreathing ones completely lack flying and only skeletal archer has a ranged attack. This makes me think flying is really the crux of anti-nonliving tactics. Eaglewings, falcons, and maybe grey angels seem the best suited. More expensive flyers don't seem to gain enough defense for their cost and are too efficiently brought down by maim wings.  Although falcons can be disturbingly efficiently brought down by jet stream slamming their little heads against the arena wall.

This is too much theory with not enough experience. What would you add to a book as specific hate against the gutless?

[DeckBuilder]

Boom, I found the synonyms you used for "Nonliving" hilarious.
Even your description on the effect breezes have on falcons. Bravo!

You are absolutely right, take to the skies.
Jokhtari already plays Raptors so Eagle Wings works well on them and Galador (beware you Golems!).
Remember to reveal after their Lumbering entry or Wand Teleport on it and before their Declare Attack.
Problem is Wizard Nonliving (Earth/Air) trades 2 SPs Wings for 1 SP Dispel (with Ring discounts cost equal).
Whilst staying in Nature school, there is also Etherian Lifetree and Renewing Rain that only helps the Living

I also like tempo as many Nonliving are "motionally handicapped" (copying your writing style).
So Force Wave on 4 Jellies or 4 Brutes can delay (even if it is the inevitable demise of our brave Jedi)
Unfortunately not Golems, which like Incorporeal don't even burn baby burn, normally a cure for most problems...

In the end, just separate Nonsentient Monkeys from the Organ Grinder - then beat up the Organ Grinder.
(I personally would have loved a rule that Nonliving needed Line of Sight to mage to perform any actions)
So having a No Entry Wall is usually a great enabler to do this (seen Zombies claw at a Steel Wall?)

Eaglewings + Bear Strength + Cervere was my Beastmaster trick for picking on the Organ Donor
Mongoose Agility + Bear Strength + Lord of Fire for poor Warlock (also crippled facing Nonliving)
As one of the advantages of Nonliving being popular is the meta has moved against control spells like Sleep
As for the Forcemaster who now avoids Psychic, she is the most tempo mage and best at isolating the enemy

Holy Mages have cheap access to Samandriel and Temple of Light and Staff of Asrya.
Does anyone play Light attacks?
Holy also can win using Healing attrition assuming Deathlock is removed
That's if your opponent hasn't fallen asleep before your Priestess with Minor Heal Wand reaches 100 Life...

The "sanguinely challenged" (getting the hang of this) also can't be buffed with Falcon Precision
They also don't have Ranged (beyond those Archers)
Maybe Bracers of Deflection and Force Sword could be useful (Force Orb is already in the meta)
Also Feral Bobcats are good duckin' and divin' between their ponderous strikes - here kitty, kitty.
Maybe Block delays and Reverse Attack will hurt (they can Evade) though this seems a waste hurting them
Nor have they access to Holy Might so maybe Incorporeal is a solution? (But not against Air Wizard)
Though that's just trumping their defensiveness with better Unhealing creatures so may be called cheating...

I'm sure there are many other slight weaknesses in being desanguinated.
But if it wasn't for Golems and Spirits not appearing from Voltari, Wizards would just play Nonliving synergies.

As for Jokhtari, Forcemaster and Warlock (aka poor man's Necro), facing creatures with a "hole for a soul" is GG in most cases.

[BoomFrog]

Its true the enemy mage is always alive. Which means a bloodthirsty strategy must always be designed to include mage assassination as an option.  Sleep and mind control are still subpar but thats okay since they are so far above par against the living.

A complete lack of accuracy amongst the nonliving is interesting. (aside from the ever present exception of a sniper shot skeletal archer). I think ill have to try my Susruko+temple of the dawnbreaker "ferret of terror" build.

I will also have to add zombie grimson to my necromancer. 

[Alexander West]

One weird metagame effect of the nonliving is to make the living better.  People keep saying things like "I took out Sleep because there were too many Nonliving books". 

Pretty much every nonliving creature either has a ton of armor (resilient, incorporeal, or just a golem) or a ton of HP (skeletons) or both (whirling spirit).  Given this, I think it's pretty important to choose creatures and attacks that roll a large raw number of dice, rather than have fancy powers like Piercing.  Likewise, Fire works on some of them and ignores all that armor, so BURN BABY BURN.  (Which is nice, since we also want to burn down all of those plants overgrowing the arena these days.)

I guess Samandriel, Pillar of Light, Blinding Flash, and Staff of Asyra are all obvious answers, but yo, they do the job.  In particular Pillar of Light goes from being kind of terrible to frighteningly effective.

[silverclawgrizzly]

As a self appointed representative for both as you put it "the unvitaled" and the Etheria Falcon Preservation Society I find you initial post both offensive and alarming! First the correct term for a body that no longer needs oxygen is the "Reanimated Autonomous Dead" or RAD! Racial discrimination is something the RAD have faced ever since 1st Edition Dungeons and Dragons and it's a horrible crime that the continue to see it even in Mage Wars! I have a dream that someday Plague Zombies and Gray Angels may sit at the same table and partake in delicious tasty Thoughtspores together!

Also your statement concerning beating the skulls of endangered falcons against the harsh walls of the arena is also highly suspect! Arena Wall Maintenance work long hard hours every day to keep the floors spotless(though the occasional scorched corpse may remain as a decorative flavor) and it takes no less than three of them to scrape flacon brains off walls as the ladder funding department is still sadly lacking(though note the ceiling budget is still on par.) Falcon brain matter is extremely sticky and resilient to even the strongest scourging spells you know and it's not like maintenance has received a raise in the past hundred years!

To these insensitive and hurtful comments I say: Good day!