A "Base" set of cards ALL Mages should have in there book

[cbalian]

I've been doing all kinds of varied deck builds, like fire themed, or air wizard, or all flyer decks or whatever weird set up depending on the mage played.  What I'm trying to do is come up with a "base" or standard spell set that I put in EVERY (or almost every) book with a set of the basics.  Like nullify, dissolve, armor sets, defenses etc etc.  The purpose of this is I could have pre built spell books already ready to go with the said spells and spend like 60-70 points for the basic "must haves" then I can spend 50-60 points on creatures/spells random mage specific stuff for various "fun" builds strategies.

I guess that was a very long way of asking for advice on what you all think are some of your "MUST HAVE's" either your favorite spells or spells you put in most of your books.  I realize it varies by Mage etc but in general what cards do you use the most?

[Texan85]

Telleport 1-3
Dispel 2-4
Dissolve 1-4
Seeking Dispel 1-3
Force Push 1-3
Regrowth Belt 1-2
Bear Strength 1-2
Cheeta Speed 0-1
Purify 1-3
Minor Heal/Heal 1-2 or Drain Soul/Drain Life: 1-2
Deflection Bracers/Something to create a Defense 0-2

Elemental Cloak (non-wizard)

[Texan85]

Any other opinions?

I couldn't think Of any other ones that were seeming universal other than certain chests or maybe: mana flower/mana crystal.

Or maybe moon-glow amulet.

[Tacullu64]

Elemental Cloak is one of the best defensive pieces of equipment in the game, and as a level 1 spell easy to splash into any spellbook.

[reddawn]

Elemental Cloak is one of the best defensive pieces of equipment in the game, and as a level 1 spell easy to splash into any spellbook.

Actually, I don't think it's the autoinclude people make it out to be.  It's more of a meta piece.  The amount of armor you get for the price tag is actually lower than usual, so unless you're part of a group that plays a lot of elemental spells, you're probably better off with Rhino Hide.

Granted, though, that I imagine most groups play some mages that use fire/lightning/etc.

[Wiz-Pig]

@reddawn: it's level 1. If there is elemental magic it helps a lot. Not sure why you wouldn't put it in your deck, you don't have to cast it. 

[Texan85]

I'm gonna have to agree with the thought that it is a good include, unless you are the wizard which has its own clock if I recall. I'd think one of every slot isn't a bad idea.

[Paleblue]

I pretty much agree with your list. Bear / Heal / Purify and Cheetah are a maybe (depends on your book), but all the rest are auto include.

The only improvement I would make is having one block and maybe nullify on the list. Again these are pretty situational but I put them as a higher priority than heal.

[reddawn]

@reddawn: it's level 1. If there is elemental magic it helps a lot. Not sure why you wouldn't put it in your deck, you don't have to cast it. 

Ok, but you could make that same argument about pretty much any level 1 card.  I'm just saying a few things here:

1. Armor is more relevant than elemental resistances.
2. Elemental Cloak does not offer adequate armor for its cost.
3. Elemental Cloak is therefore not the auto-include people make it out to be.

It's a good card, but if were are talking about cards that should be in every single book, there are others that are more important.

[Texan85]

That's not true, that's quite a poor argument. And a rule of thumb, any statement that includes absolutes: all or never is usually not true.

Furthermore, saying it is a level one is not the primary argument but a subsidiary argument. The primary argument is name a Mage that won't use elemental attacks. Maybe force master? Maybe, but you never know. when is elemental wand not included? Warlock: Fire spells, and lighting spells can be powerful. Furthermore, as a defense the cloak is positive against a Mage that wants to fight at range will likely try to use fire or lighting and this clOak would be a good fall back to mitigate that. Which then brings about the "yea that's well and good" from the naysayer that tries to argue cost.  At 2 in the book to combat a semi viable strategy (locks and wizards are popular) it would be a good include for a few different mages. Even for the forcemaster which could be ranged to death .  It seems only the wizard it is not highly viable. Maybe a ranking system is best.

Essentially it is a very low book cost, situational (but that is not bad because consensus seems to be everything is situational), but powerful when used correctly. Finally, FROST DOTH COMEITH SOON! And that could be a band wagon deal.

Maybe 1/*: Situational, but there is moderate chance of use.
2/**: useful in several situations and/or a counter to current meta strats. (TOL is common so exp would be plus conjuration attack spell.
3/***: Multiple situational uses and/or a counter to a very common meta strat.

Nothing is to say this list can't evolve. Though unlike most CCGs/TCGs few of our cards are useless.
2/**:

[Texan85]

@reddawn: it's level 1. If there is elemental magic it helps a lot. Not sure why you wouldn't put it in your deck, you don't have to cast it. 

Ok, but you could make that same argument about pretty much any level 1 card.  I'm just saying a few things here:

1. Armor is more relevant than elemental resistances.
2. Elemental Cloak does not offer adequate armor for its cost.
3. Elemental Cloak is therefore not the auto-include people make it out to be.

It's a good card, but if were are talking about cards that should be in every single book, there are others that are more important.

Adaquate armor is subjective, I'd like to hear a more objective comparison. Realistically how much armor can you load on? +2 chest, aren't the leather boots and gloves +1 each for 2 mana, but then that is it. that kind of maxs out the armor I think, but those slots are then used. And new gloves and boots are out, and so where do you get the armor from? My rule of thumb is 3 armor because someone ran the numbers, so with those new boots and gloves I'd rather have, I'd say this cloak and a chest fits a nice bill. And it's nice for the resistances.

Lastly, it could provoke a dispell, which is nice so better equip isn't lost.

[nitrodavid]

why don't you change the rank. there are currently 8 mages so there is 64 combinations.

if a card is used in 64/64 then its a must have. then base the rest on your opinion of what mage you would use it on and against what mage and how much of the item you use.

eg take elemental cloak gives 1 armour and ele resistances. so 2 attributes means I half each value see below.

i would use the armour on 7 mages (not war lord) and I would use it against 7 (force master most likely has piercing +1  so its useless) 7*7*.5= 24.5

I would use the else resist for 7 mages again but only against 2 (wizard and warlock) 7*2*.5=7

adding these means you would only use it 31.5/64 = 49% of the time

I would assume anything with a score above 90% would join the must have list. note you can adjust the values for the available mages in your meta

[Texan85]

Actually, because of the pierce you would want to use it if you dOnt have a great alternative because you will likely have a chest on for armor, and the 1 extra armor reduces the intensity of pierce on you.

So then what cloak is the cloak to use other than this one?

[nitrodavid]

adding 1 armour is countered by 1 Peirce. it only gets value when you add it to another armour item, so there will be times when it wont be of value. by definition it isn't valuable 100% of the time so it should not be an must have card.
for most mages you can get 2 armour for cheaper (with 1 ele resist) and if there are some mages who will attack you without an ele resist provided by the cloak you don't have a good card in that case.

not saying its not a very good card most of time, but there are match ups where you don't use it. so you should not have it in a must have skeleton deck build.

[Tacullu64]

adding 1 armour is countered by 1 Peirce. it only gets value when you add it to another armour item, so there will be times when it wont be of value. by definition it isn't valuable 100% of the time so it should not be an must have card.
for most mages you can get 2 armour for cheaper (with 1 ele resist) and if there are some mages who will attack you without an ele resist provided by the cloak you don't have a good card in that case.

not saying its not a very good card most of time, but there are match ups where you don't use it. so you should not have it in a must have skeleton deck build.

You are talking like every attack has piercing. Most attacks don't have piercing so the +1 armor will be useful more times than not, unless you want to posit that sometimes your opponent will roll all criticals so +1 armor wouldn't be useful then either. That argument would apply to all armor though.

There are no cards that are used in every game. However, that doesn't invalidate this list. Therefore the questions are how likely you are to use it, how much benefit do you gain from its use, and how much does it cost you to include it in your spellbook?