Dispel Defense

[Douglas_Anders]

I recently beat the force forcemaster simply because I had enough dispels to disrupt his enchantments. Since I normally  play with the beastmaster [and therefore run a lot of enchantments] I think that an opponent might just use dispel to destroy all of my buffs. Is there a way to defend against this or should I just stop depending on my enchantments so much?

[sIKE]

Jinx/Reverse Magic can soften the blow. I am not a big fan of Jinx, though I do find it very frustrating when one is played against me. The max (dispel) any one player can have is six, so in theory 7 enchantments will overcome the dispels (you should quickly dissolve a Wand with Dispel Bound to it or Dispel Wand). What I have found with several of my heavy enchantment builds, is that you make it tough to decide what to "dispel" then with lots of play sorta when I can except the opposing mage to cast that spell and make them pay for making that choice. In a heavy enchantment build what you need to be real careful for (mainly Wizards) is Purge Magic, which can be quite brutal as it is a single action that can wipe out several of your actions in one swoop.

When playing I try to place my facedown enchantments in random order such that a Seeking Dispel can be foiled via a Decoy. Meaning that after I have placed my first Enchantment facedown, if I were to play another I might slide that under or over the first one in a (at least to me) random fashion.

[IndyPendant]

Jinx doesn't lose them the Dispel, so only delays the inevitable really; probably why you're not a fan of it. ; )  Reverse Magic wouldn't work, because it protects the mage and Dispel targets the enchantment.  Decoy is really only good for trying to attract a Seeking Dispel or Nullify (or pretending to be a Block or Reverse Attack for example); it wouldn't work against a Dispel at all.  You also can't put your enchantments down in a random order:

Rulebook, p.18:
Important: Players are notpermitted to “shuffle” or mix up their enchantments. Your opponent may want to keep an eye on which enchantment was cast at a particular time by you. Always place newly cast enchantments on top of old ones.

About the only way to protect enchantments against Dispel is with Enchanter's Wardstone.  That, coupled with an Enchanter's Ring, means your opponent is paying three more mana to disenchant every spell on your own creatures.  (Four more, if something like your Arcane Ring or Ring of Asyra also applied for the enchantment.)

Reverse Magic and Nullify protect against Purge Magic, but that's about it (in relation to enchantments, anyway).

[DeckBuilder]

Expanding on what Indy correctly said, revealing an Enchantment Transfusion on that creature can save an enchantment from a Dispel.

The current FAQ (last update March, soon to be updated, hopefully with a reference number for version control) states on page 3:

"A spell fails and is cancelled if ... the following occur before the Resolve Spell Step: ... target of spell moves ... even if the move was to a location where the spell was still in range"

I queried this about a month ago (see last page of a Rules thread titled "House Rules and some clarifications") and got stonewalled.

I loved Contract Law (clear cut rules of the game) and hated Criminal Law (open to interpretation). They are hurting themselves by not clarifying all the rules of the game and making players play their own interpretation variants.

Just to make it clear: I think they did an excellent job with the codex and the rules (the game is very intuitive so some people get tripped up because they skim read and guessed rules - e.g. duplicate conjurations in 1 zone). But the nature of a "cards break rules" game is that with new cards, there needs to be a Living FAQ that clarifies issues as and when it happens (from queries on this forum), not as a huge single batch job now.

I really want this game to be a HUGE success because I love it. And that is why sometimes criticism must be given.

[jacksmack]

When playing I try to place my facedown enchantments in random order such that a Seeking Dispel can be foiled via a Decoy. Meaning that after I have placed my first Enchantment facedown, if I were to play another I might slide that under or over the first one in a (at least to me) random fashion.

You are not allowed to do this.

It must be clear for the opponent in what order 2 Facedown enchantements on the same target has been played.

[sIKE]

You are not allowed to do this.

It must be clear for the opponent in what order 2 Facedown enchantements on the same target has been played.

I see that now and that is a particular placement that is required. I find this mechanic all non-sense, half the time when I have cards stacked up (hidden enchantments) when I move the object the cards don't move/slide that well and I end up just moving them over without paying any attention. I will be much more careful going forward and make sure that the enchantments stay in the proper order.

Almost a year playing now, and I am finding little details that have been missed

[Aylin]

I recently beat the force forcemaster simply because I had enough dispels to disrupt his enchantments. Since I normally  play with the beastmaster [and therefore run a lot of enchantments] I think that an opponent might just use dispel to destroy all of my buffs. Is there a way to defend against this or should I just stop depending on my enchantments so much?

I use a lot of enchantments as well. Recently I've been putting down 2x Enchanter's Wardstone quickly. You still lose some enchantments (so include duplicates of your important stuff) but it really helps a lot (especially if you're putting a lot of pressure on them; make sure their choice is between getting rid of your enchantment and defending themselves against you that turn).

[Douglas_Anders]

Thanks for the answers. My 11-year-old son wrote that question, after neatly handing me my Forcemaster's head in a FM vs. BM matchup.

He's hoping to enter a tournament next year, so he's very concerned about playing by the rules.

Your help is appreciated.

[HomelessJoe]

That's awesome! I too hope to play with my kids when they get older. I imagine having my kids beat me in Mage Wars would bring a tear of joy to my eye.

[Douglas_Anders]

I imagine having my kids beat me in Mage Wars would bring a tear of joy to my eye.

It does, the first time. Maybe even the fourth, but after nine or ten straight defeats, it gets kinda old.

(Turns out, I'm a really bad player)

[Fentum]

That's awesome! I too hope to play with my kids when they get older. I imagine having my kids beat me in Mage Wars would bring a tear of joy to my eye.

I have maybe 50 games in now on OCTGN, with around 75% win, but my 11 year old son still beats me handsomely.