Warlord deck

[varagghoul]

Hi guys,
I am rather new in mage wars. This is my warlord deck so I would appreciate any help you could give me....t a second copy of Helm of Command in there though....I wonder if I should fiSo this is it...

Warlord

Equipment
Elemental Cloack
Dragonscale Hauberk
Gauntlets of Strength
Helm of Command
Horn of Gothos
Leather Boots
Ring of Command
Regrowth Belt
Mage Staff

Conjurations
Archer's Watchtower X 2
Barracks
Akiro's Hammer
Quicksand
Mangler Caltrops
Wall of Stone X 2
Wall of Pikes X 2

Enchantments
Decoy
Standard Bearer
Fortified Position X 2
Vampirism
Harmonize
Bear Strength
Hawkeye
Rhino Hide
Cobra Reflexes

Incantations
Dissolve X 2
Force Push X 2
Dispel X 2
Shift Enchantement
Knockdown
Charge X 2
Perfect Strike X 2
Piercing Strike
Sniper Shot X 2
Battle Fury X 2
Power Strike X 2

Creatures
Grimson Deadeye, Sniper
Ludwig Boltstorm
Thorg, Chief Bodyguard
Sir Corazin, Blademaster
Iron Golem
Dwarf Kriegsbiel
Orc Butcher X 2
Goblin Slinger X 2
Goblin Builder
Goblin Grunt X 4

I appreciate all your comments...I would like to have a Rouse of the Beast to use it for my sniper but I could not find space....Thanks for your time

[dexmark]

In all my battles using the Warlord, the warlords deck is weak against sleep, mass sleep and mind control spells. I see in your deck a few characters I want to mind control

First thing who gets mind control is your sniper or gets puts to sleep.

The charge ability is really good with Warlord, normally used with Iron Golem put that with your helm of command.
For the cost of the Iron Golem, I normally swap him with a Knight of Westlock due to the slow ability really hurts the Iron Golem. He is very strong but normally he is teleported away. Now if you do charge + Knights of Westlock then you are hitting big. Also the Knights of Westlock are soldiers who benefits from your command spells.

MY Warlord spell book comes with  light soldiers (2 Knights of Westlock) + the legendary knight (3 piercing). I have more successes with the 3 knights combo above and I try to fit the others as long as I can afford the 3 knights above. Need to have counter spells to mind control and sleep.

[varagghoul]

If I am facing a dangerous opponent regarding Mind Control (like the Forcemaster) I will usually open with Thorg and Iron Golem since those 2 creatures cannot be Mind Control....Knight of Westlock and Brogan are too expensive regarding the spellbook construction (the 2 Knights and Brogan cost 20 spellbook points!!!!)...i would rather use these points for other important stuff like equipment and more creatures....against mind control mages i prefer  using uncontrollable creatures and swarming.....after all, forcemaster is vulnerable against swarming and all other mages have to pay 12 spellbook points to include a single mind control in their decks

[sdougla2]

Actually, Mind Control is Mind Mage only, so the Forcemaster is the only mage allowed to use MC so far.

I agree that 2 Knights of Westlock and Brogan are quite expensive to include. I'd probably include 1 Knight of Westlock, but I wouldn't run the Barracks and swarm option, so I'd have more room for other stuff anyway.

[varagghoul]

You are right about Mind Control...I don'tknow how I forgot it...I usually remember these stuf...why don't you like Barracks? I thought Warlord's best strategy is to play a control game at the early rounds and then swarm the field with creatures....

[sdougla2]

The Barracks is slow to get going and not as efficient on it's own as the Lair. You can get the Barracks up to 4 channeling with Harmonize and 2 other outposts, but that takes 4 actions and 24 mana. Outposts are quite vulnerable to attacks, particularly fire attacks. The games I've been in that involved a Barracks have all resulted in the Warlord either getting overwhelmed before the Barracks paid off, or the Barracks being destroyed. It only takes 3-4 decent strength attacks to kill it or 2-3 if they're fire attacks. The Warlock and Beastmaster can both tear down the Barracks pretty fast. Poison Gas Cloud in the zone with the Barracks also drastically reduces it's utility.

Overall I've been moving away from using creature spawnpoints because they're so slow to get going, but even compared to the other creature spawnpoints, I don't like the Barracks. The other issue with it is that you can't clump the outposts in order to setup a nice defensible position. The BM can swarm effectively without his spawnpoint due to Quick Summoning, but the Warlord doesn't have an equivalent ability to make his swarm option more flexible and stronger.

The other issue is that the Warlord isn't very good at supporting a swarm compared to the Beastmaster. His innate shouts generally don't seem worth the action cost to use them. Otherwise he can buff his swarm with Marked for Death (which a BM can use too), with Fortified Position and Sacred Ground (which only helps if the fighting is in that area and the BM can also use), and Standard Bearer. Standard Bearer is nice, but I prefer Tooth and Nail, Rajan's Fury, and Redclaw.

That's not to say that Barracks based play can't work, I just don't think it will fit my play style.

What I'm thinking about doing is running a Warlord with ~6 level 3-4 creatures, and drop a bunch of big creatures. It would take a while to get many down, but I can drop 2 pretty quickly, and use them for defense against aggressive opponents or aggression against defensive opponents. I figure Iron Golem and Thorg against an aggressive Forcemaster, Iron Golem and Knight of Westlock against the Warlock, and Knight of Westlock and Bridge Troll against everyone else would be a pretty good start. I'd also like to try the Sniper rush. Of course, that's all untested so far, but that's the thought.

[varagghoul]

Scott I think I like your thoughts a lot....since I don't have Bridge Troll yet, I will have to find another option...Warlord has some good cards to support his swerm but since he is slower in swarming than Beastmaster, maybe he is not as good at it...I will try to use more big creatures too and cut some smaller ones, as well as the barracks and some walls....I already haqve 4 in my deck and I would like to drop down to 2-3...i am still considering what else to use....Fortified position, standard bearer and sacred ground seem really nice and along with the sniper maybe Warlord can have a chance against the faster decks...i still need to playtest his swarming option too....if i get too disappointed i will switch to the few big strategy i guess

[MrSaucy]

Equipment:

Too much of it. In a game you rarely have time to suit yourself up with 5-6 pieces of equipment. Ring of Command isn't very good in my opinion. Also, Mage Staff doesn't fit the Warlord's playstyle at all, so I would take that out.

Conjurations:

Akiro's Hammer is situational and very slow, keep that in mind. Quicksand is amazing. I started with 1 in my spellbook but quickly amped that number up to 4. Don't use the Barracks; it is a heft price to pay and takes a while to break even mana wise. Mangler Catrops are close to useless in my opinion.

Enchantmets:

I personally rely heavily on Fortified Position, Retaliate, and Block when I play. Your set-up is fun though. You gotta figure this stuff out by playing. Playing your spellbook right is half the battle.

Incantations:

Don't use arcane incantations other than seeking dispel and dispel. Instead of using dissolve, save yourself points by including Explode instead. Don't use holy incantations other than healing ones. War incantations (obviously) work best for Warlord. Battle Fury is beast. (Helm of Command + Battle Fury = Win).

Creatures:

up to you, but don't use goblin builders or goblin bombers. I find Ludwig to be very underwhelming since he is only good from 1 zone away. I like Earth Elemental because he is hard to kill and is very resistant to elements, but I understand if you can't find room for him.

Attack:

Hurl Boulder is very powerful!!! Please look into it!!! Great way to deal with flyers!!!

Overall advice:

Making a good spellbook is half of the battle; you also need to play your spellbook the way it is meant to be played. Don't just grab a bunch of cards that are good alone. Have a gameplan. Search for cool combos. When you play a spellbook, you will ALWAYS find ways to improve it for next time. My warlord spellbook is always evolving.

Best of luck!

[sdougla2]

Dissolve is water, not arcane. It's much more expensive to include Explode than Dissolve.

You can suit up with 5+ pieces of equipment if you use Battleforge, but otherwise it's hard to gear up that much.

There aren't any holy incantations in the list...

I'm not sure about the Goblin Builders, but I agree, I don't like Goblin Bomber. The chance they'll blow up in your face is too high.

I agree about Hurl Boulder being awesome.

[dexmark]

Actually, Mind Control is Mind Mage only, so the Forcemaster is the only mage allowed to use MC so far.

I agree that 2 Knights of Westlock and Brogan are quite expensive to include. I'd probably include 1 Knight of Westlock, but I wouldn't run the Barracks and swarm option, so I'd have more room for other stuff anyway.

My win rate with Knights of Westlock for the Warlord is higher than without them with the current Warlord + Forcemaster + core set cards.

I can't wait til the promo of the light solider (mana cost of comes out to improve my Warlord spellbook.
The troll will also be good because of all the defensive enchantment of the warlord.

[MrSaucy]

My mistake. Dissolve is cheaper than Explode. For some reason I thought Dissolve was an Arcane spell (my bad).

@varagghoul, here are some cards that I think EVERY spellbook should have no matter WHAT:

Nullify (enchantment, arcane) for magic protection
Block (enchantment, mind) for protection from attacks
Elemental Cloak (equipment, arcane) for protection from fire and lightning
Seeking Dispel (incantation, arcane) to get rid of pesky hidden enchantments
Dispel (incantation, arcane) to get rid of enchantments in general
Dissolve (incantation, water) OR Explode (incantation, fire) to destroy equipment, especially pesky enemy wands
Minor Heal / Heal (incantation, holy) to heal UNLESS you are playing as the Warlock

[sdougla2]

Having a method of healing is useful, but I don't think Heal/Minor Heal is necessary in every build by any means. I rarely use direct healing spells, and I don't run them in any of my current builds.

Seeking Dispel can be nice, but it's also not completely essential. It helps to have Decoy and unavoidable attacks if you don't run it, so that you can trigger Nullify, Reverse Magic, Block, and Reverse Attack efficiently. Still, if there are multiple face down enchantments, you want to have those effects anyway so that you don't target the wrong card with Seeking Dispel.

I agree that every build should include Dispel and Dissolve or Explode, and that Elemental Cloak is good in every list.

I'm not sure about Nullify and Block. They seem like good cards, but I can see playing without them. I tend to prefer Reverse Attack to Block for aggressive builds.

[varagghoul]

First of all, thanks all of you guys for your valuable advice...the great thing about mage wars is that it is played by so many clever and competent players who are not competitve in the bad sense of the word...after a few games, i decided to take a different route with the Warlord since his swarming option did not fare as well as expected...So, i decide to listen to one of Scott's ideas and use tghe few big strategy....a few level 3-4 creatures with a lot of command incantations and some attack spells for the Warlord...so take a look at my new build and i would be happy and grateful to listen to your comments....

Warlord

Equipment
Elemental Cloack
Mage Staff
Gauntlets of Strength
Helm of Command
Leather Boots

Conjurations
Mangler Caltrops
Quicksand X 3
Hand of Bim-Shalla
Wall of Stone X 2

Attacks
Arc Lightning
Chain Lightning
Hurl Boulder X 2

Enchantments
Fortified Position
Standard Bearer
Agony
Poisoned Blood
Cobra Reflexes
Hawkeye
Vampirism
Bear Strength
Mongoose Agility

Incantations
Rouse the Beast X 2
Dissolve X 2
Force Push X 2
Dispel X 2
Knockdown
Teleport
Charge X 2
Perfect Strike X 2
Battle Fury
Piercing Strike
Sniper Shot X 2
Power Strike
Evade
Whirling Strike
Seeking Dispel

Creatures
Thorg, Chief Bodyguard
Sir Corazin, Blademaster
Grimson Deadeye, Sniper
Knight of Westlock
Iron Golem
 

[sIKE]

You appear to only have one thing to hold. Is there any reason that wouldn't be a War Sledge? It is two handed and a lot of people don't like it for that reason, but typically are the same people who say you can only get out 3-5 pieces of equipment. Any how it is a hard hitter especially if you need to melee
and you buff yourself with a Bear Strength.

I love the sniper, get him up and going quickly and get him protected. Once that is done, buff him with a Hawkeye. Have fun blasting away! Keep you mage under is watch and it is hard to go wrong.

[MrSaucy]

One card I forgot to mention: Akiro's Hammer. Granted, it is expensive and slow, but it absolutely wrecks conjurations. Great at destroying enemy spawnpoints, nasty enemy conjurations that have global effects, and a Priestess that wants to turtle in one zone. Trust me. It is worth just the 3 spell points to include it in your spellbook as an option.