How do YOU stop the early rush?

[DaveW]

While I tend to quick cast Teleport Trap in my zone on turn two to give myself some extra time, I also sometimes cast a reasonable "defensive" creature on the first turn where I think that my opponent or his likely turn one creature might try to get to my Mage early. The creatures that I usually choose are: Devouring Jelly with Wizard (hard to kill and hard to ignore), Bobcat pet with Beastmaster (defense plus the extra hit points both help), and Skeletal Knight Eternal Servant with Necromancer.

This isn't the way I typically like to start a game with these Mages, but you need to have more than one opening plan, since you have to be able to handle all kinds of openings from your opponents... aggressive or otherwise.

The Mages that I see as potentially aggressive include: Forcemaster, Warlock, and Holy mages in general (due to Divine Intervention).

Also... if you don't have a Teleport Trap, quick casting a Decoy in your zone can have the effect of warding off the use of Divine Intervention in particular. The theory is that your opponent will presume that you have a Teleport Trap in the zone, and not want to "waste" the 10 mana to reveal the spell on his Necro Vampiress (or whatever).

[sdougla2]

In my experience, Divine Intervention is much stronger defensively than offensively, particularly early in the game. I've never been impressed by the offensive opportunities afforded by Divine Intervention rushes. If my opponent wants to spend 12 mana and an incredibly strong Epic spell to attack me in a way that they could have accomplished with a Teleport anyway (unless they wanted to make a full attack with the creature), they're welcome to.

Any mage can be aggressive, but I expect it more from the Warlock, Forcemaster, and Straywood Beastmaster.

[Laddinfance]

Divine Intervention does too many things for me to spend it on harassment. You absolutely can use it to get something in your opponent's grill on turn two. It's not a bad play, but it is one dimensional. You're going all in from turn two on, with limited mana and options for following turns. If your opponent has a "solution" to your harasser then you're left in a very bad spot, and all it takes is a few spellpoints to have an "answer" to a rush like this.

In my experience, many of these builds relied on dropping out many Hand of Bim-Shalla's and a Temple of Light. They were able to put out this infrastructure even with the mana demands of Divine Intervention. However, Hand of Bim-Shalla became unique and that puts a serious roadblock in this style of play.

At the end of the day, Divine Intervention is one of those cards that does something no other card does (similar to Enchantment Transfusion). You're better off trying to take advantage of those things than using it as a "super teleport".

To me the key to any rush strategy is sustained pressure. There are several mages who can provide that, and those are what I would go to for a "rush" spellbook.

[blackirishguilt]

My favorite "rush" opening right now (I only have the Core Set) is with the Beastmaster.

T1 - Move 2 up and towards center, QC [mwcard=MW1C37]Thunderift Falcon[/mwcard] and pay 2 for Pet.  (-8 = 11 mana remaining)

T2 - Move 1 and cast [mwcard=MW1Q30]Staff of Beasts[/mwcard]. (-7 = 13 mana remaining)

With very little investment I have the potential of a 7 attack die Fast/Flying combatant on turn 2 with Mana and flexibility to build from there.  If my opponent is playing defensively I can cast a Mana generator and fall back on a Lair to control center with a spawnpoint to go for a swarm set up or if I want to pour on the aggro I can follow up by casting [mwcard=MW1Q19]Mage Wand[/mwcard] and binding something like [mwcard=MW1I02]Battle Fury[/mwcard], activate both wands and roll 14 attack dice with my Falcon. 


As far as countering goes, I hate playing re-actively so I would try to think of something long term that would continue to be an answer for future problems...something like binding [mwcard=MW1A06]Flameblast[/mwcard] or [mwcard=MW1A02]Chain Lightning[/mwcard] early to try and eliminate their threats while I build my own.

[Laddinfance]

Thunderift Falcon pet is one of the best harassment tools in the game. It's cheap, and you can play it as your final quick cast on a turn you do not have the initiative. He demands an immediate answer. Otherwise your opponent will have to deal with at least 4 dice each turn. He's a favorite play. There is a reason he ended up on my list of favorite pets.

[sdougla2]

@ Blackirishguilt

You won't roll 14 dice with your Falcon, you'll roll 10. The first attack will be 3 dice + 4 dice from Melee +X traits. The attack from Battle Fury will not benefit from the Melee +X traits, and will only be 3 dice. You're actually much better off attacking with your mage and your Falcon, as you would get a 7 dice and a 4 dice attack, and it wouldn't cost you mana or require the setup of a wand.

[blackirishguilt]

@ Blackirishguilt

You won't roll 14 dice with your Falcon, you'll roll 10. The first attack will be 3 dice + 4 dice from Melee +X traits. The attack from Battle Fury will not benefit from the Melee +X traits, and will only be 3 dice. You're actually much better off attacking with your mage and your Falcon, as you would get a 7 dice and a 4 dice attack, and it wouldn't cost you mana or require the setup of a wand.

Good call sdoug...as I said I'm still learning.   

I was all ready to fight you on it but then I saw the relevant ruling in the Codex under Melee +X.  Quick feedback: it would probably be helpful if that was somewhere on the attack modifier page of the rulebook as well.

Back on topic: What's the general consensus on Walls at hindering early aggression or "shaping" the battlefield?  I've been experimenting with a T1 Move up 1, cast [mwcard=MW1J10]Lair[/mwcard] NC, QC [mwcard=MW1Q25]Ring of Beasts [/mwcard], T2 double [mwcard=MW1W04]Wall of Thorns[/mwcard] to fence myself in and start building an army on T3 with a [mwcard=MW1J13]Mana Flower[/mwcard] effectively Channeling +4 for animal spells.  I realize I'm weak to flame attacks here but if they are taking actions either attacking or moving around my walls I'm okay with that.  In sample openings I can have a pet [mwcard=MW1C37]Thunderift Falcon[/mwcard] and an [mwcard=MW1C12]Emerald Tegu[/mwcard] out by T4 pretty easily along with another [mwcard=MW1J13]Mana Flower[/mwcard] to generate towards larger creatures.

[Archwizard07]

I have been a fan of walls as a form of battlefield control since the beginning, which makes me very excited for the new dwarf who can add armor or reconstruct walls!!

Most of my spell books involve a spawn point on T1 and then preperation for an extended wall on T2 or 3.

This usually gives me an extra turn or two for getting my mana and spells in order.

[sdougla2]

I rarely make much use of walls, and I've been meaning to try including them more in my play.

[MageHorst]

Just yesterday I tried the Pet Falcon rush mentioned above. Good stuff!
My opponent (turtling Priestess) had initiative on turn two and played a Bloodspine Wall (which didn't stop the Falcon, of course, but it stopped my Mage from running over and punch the Priestess). The Falcon did some decent damage and my opponent panicked so actually played Banish on it! 14 mana and 6 spellbook points on a creature worth 8 mana and 1 spellbook point. 
Since he was still without armour, I Force Pushed him through a Wall of Thorns twice and that was pretty much it.

After the game, he said he should've equipped some armour/defense instead of the wall, and I think I agree. Banish was a good idea, I think (although it was so expensive), but he didn't use the time to set up some defense.

In any case, early rushes can be extremely frightening if you go for a long-term strategy - and this is when people make mistakes.

[sIKE]

Just go on guard...the counter strike will kill it real quick. A bit of armor and a Bear Strength = Rotisserie Chicken....

[DaveW]

Instead of (or along with) guarding, a damage barrier would be good. You keep the ability to use your actions if you wish and still do damage to the offending falcon.