In my experience, this build is even stronger than the Wizzly Grizard since it aims at higher channeling early game and still benefits from extra actions. Actually, some believe this build is unbeatable in the current status of the game and after many games they still do not stand corrected
(edit: they do now - I played without enough caution). Time will tell. Anyway, for sure it has an amazingly high chance to win against almost every other deck, especially non wizards:
gremlin 3
hydra 3 (edit: from the last couple of games I feel like i need one gorgon archer at least. So I advice switching a hydra for a gorgon)
huginn 1
gargoyle 1
purify 1
minor heal 1
teleport 4
force push 2
dispel 6
seek dispel 2
dissolve 6
shift enchantment 1
fireball 1
geyser 1
surging wave 1
jet stream 1
nullify 4
jinx 2
regrowth 1
bulls endurance 1
rhino hide 2
transfusion 2
harmonize 1
gate 1
fog bank 1
hand of bimshalla 1
Wizards Tower 2
mana kristall 2
renewing spring 1
arcane ring 1
elemental cloak 2
leather gloves 1
dragonscale Haube 2
Mage Wand 3
dispel wand 1
leather boots 1
regrowth belt 2
moonglow amu 1
Basic idea:
The gate to voltari saves actions and compared to other great spawnpoints (e.g. battleforge) it has +1 /+2 channeling. Unlike battleforge, your mage can move freely in each zone of the arena and still use the gate. Its also important to note that with the gate you save a full cast whereas with the BF you do save a quick cast only. Therefore, its easier to summon creatures while running away in case your opponent focuses your mage early.
The downside of the gate is that it can only summon arcane creatures. But gremlins and hydras (if supported with teleport) are really nice creatures and gargoyles/gorgon archers arent bad as well (still I dont use gorgon archers atm because in the majority of games hydras are the better way to go IMO). Hydras had a bad reputation lately because of agony, divine protection and weak. But against those, six dispels, a dispel wand and purify help alot. Therefore, you dont need to be afraid to summon hydras. Although, against gorgon archers it might be tricky with only one purify.
You might think that this build is too slow to win against someone who casts big creatures early or who rushes with strong attack spells. Its definetely not. Voltaric shield together with some early casted armor and regrowth let the wizard survive any onslaught and using the wizard to zap and guard (to protect gremlins) while spawning another creature with the gate and attacking with the wizard tower, really helps to kill small/medium creatures quickly and acquiring board control much quicker than you would think of such a slow opening. Actually, I had many games in which I casted two crystals in round two (after gate+harmonize in round 1), and still got board control quickly even though the opponent casted big creatures early. It is insane how much synergy you get from voltaric shield+zap+gate+wizard tower! Not to forget that gremlins are SO ANNOYING if not fighting on your side. Many opponents complained about them, because they live incredibly long for their low mana cost (especially if the wizard guards them) and with 3 dice+piercing they are something you dont want to ignore for too long.
The opening:
Round 1:
Wizard gate during first QC phase (I often cast it in my starting zone since I dont want the battle to start too early). Harmonize with normal action.
Round 2 and thereafter:
If the opponent uses a slow opening (i.e. two mana flowers or flower+battle forge), I cast mana crystals, moonglow amulet and wiz tower early to gain mana advantage. Otherwise I rely on the gate spawning 1-2 gremlins and cast rhino hide, leather boots/gloves and regrowth on my mage. The order of spells and how much defensive stuff I cast on my mage heavily depends on the opponents play style. But, I try to always have 1 armor at least before he attacks my wizard. Especially if the opponent has 16+ mana in one round, I try to have 2 armor on my wizard just in case he throws two fireballs/hurl boulders.
With the wizards basic attack+zap+ the attacks from the gremlin(s) you can dish out quite some nice damage and save mana to spawn a hydra next round. With 1-2 Hydras and teleport its often GG after a few more rounds.
Some thoughts about the spells:
Dispel: Six of these seem alot, but there are just too many annoying enchantments I want to get rid off, especially against a curse warlock. Cheap dispels is a noticable advantage of the wizard and I want to make use of that.
Dispel Wand: It might look as an overkill to have six dispels, three mage wands and a dispel wand. IMO its not. The nice thing about the dispel wand is that it can be used together with the mage wand, which is especially good if playing wizard since he does not need a melee weapon. Another benefit from the dispel wand is that you loose less spell points if it is dissolved as compared to a mage wand.
Mage Wand: Three mage wands are great since late game is often decided by who has more teleports/force push/dissolves/mage wands.
Dissolve: Six dissolves seems alot again, but equipment is soo great in the current status of the game, that you really dont want to run out of dissolves. Anyway, these dissolves are the main reason for being water wizard.
Huginn: Im not a big fan of him since the spells he casts are gone forever. Still, in this book there are plenty of incantations. Anyway, the main reason for playing huginn is him being my wizards life assurance in case the wizard gets teleported. Having an extra action to get through that jinx/nullify asap, is really important.
Renewing Spring: Im not too sure about this spells, especially since its level two out of school. Still, i think the healing is great and it cant be removed from the game too quickly (as compared to a mage wand with heal). It is the only way to remove corrosion markers (which will hurt this wizard alot) and it helps to remove weak tokens from the hydra after the purify is gone. Still, if you just keep removing those tokens while the opponents gorgon archer shoots on you, im not sure if that works well (although you would heal 5 each round on average, so your hydra wont die but you need to spend mana to remove the tokens). Therefore, I guess I would focus down the gorgon with gremlins/teleport into hydra/wizard tower-fireball before taking care of the weak tokens.
Some spells you might want to add:
Force hold: I know its a great spell to kill the opposing mage or to counter big creatures. But, if its dispelled, you loose four spell points while your opponent looses 0-2. Therefore, with this book I play force hold only if im sure it will put him under really really big pressure (like if used together with enchantment transfusion, jinx, nullify and 1-2 hydras). But, in most of my games, I managed to win without this trick and it really needs alot time for preparation. Anyway, a huginn with two force pushes is often as good as force hold, and having two more force pushes allows me to spend teleports/force pushes without mage wands for a longer time. Still, with a bit different playstayle, it might be worth to put in force hold or tanglevine.
Gorgon Archers: They can be great to slow down your opponent. The reason I do not play them atm is that they are too slow themself as compared to gremlin and hydra+teleport. In most cases I prefer to just kill the opponents creatures asap instead of weakening them. For example, if the opponent summons brogan during a round he has ini, its not too unlikely that I teleport him into my hydra this round for 4.5 damage. Next round I have ini for another 4.5 damage from the hydra and some damage from the wizard tower/my wizards QC. Therefore, if brogan is not healed, he often is dead before he could attack (and a QC nullify or jinx helps against the heal).
Btw against the necros nonliving creatures the gorgon archer wont do much
. (Edit: As I wrote above, I put a gorgon archer in again. Against some builds its just too important to slow down the opponent, e.g. double grizzly Forcemaster.)
Wall of thorns:
Great to be used with force push. But I prefer to teleport the opponent into hydra(s) instead, since that is still efficient against targets with high armor and it costs less spell points.
I am eager to hear your thoughts about this build and hope you have fun testing/modifying it!
Edit: Just realized I posted this in Strategy and Tactics. Wouldnt mind if someone moves it to Spellbook Design and Construction
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