strategy necromancer

[Tim]

Hi there,

I finally got my hands on the druid vs necromancer expansion. I already played 3 games with necromancer against the druid both with custom spellbooks. I will explain the overall strategy off the 3 games I played:
1) the deck was focused on zombies with both spawnpoints and meditation amulet. The main goal was to summon zombie crawlers and eat them with zora. I had 4 growth markers on him in the end so that was nice. But this strategy is so slow and I am in mana-troubles early on. Okay, I have 2 spawpoints to summon creatures but 1 of them gets obliterated for zora, so it doesn't really feel like a swarm + starved on mana from beginning. The good thing is that zora is a immense treat! But 1 huge monsters can be played around and handled.

2) I made a few changes. I only played 1 spawnpoint (libro) and I didn't use zora. I also focused on pimping the mage for battle so that I can save mana + place rot and do damage. The plan was to move attack and then summon a zombie with libro in the zone. I find that the libro quickly hits a dissolve. Okay, you can pay 3 life to put it in spellbook but it isn't worth casting it. It is 10 mana and I always feel mana-starved with the necromancer (not so much as first game). The melee works nicely. The problem is when libro is gone, I have to summon creatures by myself as a full action, which I cant miss because I am melee-ing and spreading rot. When libro was gone, I only summoned 1 creature: flaming hellion! A very useful creature against a druid. It costs me 13 mana and a full action but I can burn the mage with a quick or ranged attack + I get 2 dice from flame +2. I also used ravenous ghoul but I find it to slow for him to gain growth markers and for 13 mana, he isn't that strong if he doesn't have a growth marker on it. to gain a growth marker he must use a quick action and that sucks .

3) I casted graveyard instead of libro. I find this better: no easy dissolve to counter it but 14mana is a investment. I also focused on melee-ing with mage and this one I prefer the most over the 3 games I played. But I am not satisfied: I am missing a little speed do to the spawnpoint investment. The graveyard has 1 channeling and can gain mana if a creature is destroyed. That's fine, but my main focus is destroying the mage and the creatures it conjures.

I was thinking about using sacrificial altar. I think it can be very good in a necromancers build but I cant find a way to abuse it. I can destroy a zombie, to gain melee and use ravenous ghoul to gain a growth marker and gain mana equal to the level of the destroyed monster. This is very good but is also a slow setup and I want to keep the mage under pressure. So I must think of a good strategy to combine sacrificial altar and the necromancer. So I need more play testing .

The main problem was the lacking of speed due to the use of spawnpoints (spawnpoint are really great in a mid-longer game), I often felt mana starved so I need to think about that.

The next time I play, I wanna try not using the spawnpoints and summon zombies myself or maybe summon a malacoda or lord of fire! But I think the malacoda is to slow but of course the lord of fire is expensive to include in spellbook + to summon. I must think about the strengths of the necromancer and use them as much as possible.
I need to be cautions that it is more a warlock build, because then I would be cheaper in spellbookpoints to play a warlock.

What are your opinions/ideas/strategy?



 

[MrSaucy]

As a Necromancer lover, I can easily say including both spawnpoints is a mistake. Libro Mortuos with Harmonize is enough and gets the job done. Killing of too many of your Zombie Crawlers with Shaggoth can be a mistake. I only opt for that when my Crawlers are almost dead. I would exchange 3 life for Libro Mortuos in a heartbeat, but maybe that is just me.

I haven't lost a game as Necromancer yet. I posted a Necromancer Zombie Swarm spellbook so maybe check that out.

Conjurations: Wall of Bones is occasionally helpful, Ziggurat is awesome in a pure Zombie build, which definitely seems like the best Necromancer build thus far. Due to poison immunity, the Necromancer can put Poison Gas Cloud in his zone to act like a "damage barrier" in a sense.

Equipment: Definitely need Death Ring, Deathshroud Staff, Libro Mortuos, Cloak of Shadows, Elemental Cloak, and Demonhide Armor. I always cast Death Ring + Libro first turn, second turn Harmonize Libro and bring out Deathshroud Staff.

Creatures: I include, and only include, Zombie Crawlers, Zombie Minions, Unstable Zombie, Zombie Brutes, and one Shaggoth-Zora. I only just realized how well Plague Zombies combo with Shaggoth-Zora. Shaggoth-Zora obliterates a Plague Zombie in his zone, not only getting the benefit of the growth marker but triggering the rot explosion! Haven't tried it out yet but it sounds awesome. Necromancer works best when you stick to only non-living, undead creatures. You can try other creatures but it won't work as well.

Enchantments: Curses and Rise Again are where it is at and really all you need.

Incantations: You don't need Animate Dead if you are running all Zombies + Ziggurat. Zombie Frenzy is AMAZING, especially with ALL zombies. Then you just need your bread and butter incantations (seeking dispel, dispel, dissolve, teleport, heal).

Attacks: no attack spells.

As far as tactics go, don't take too long to set up, and focus summoning at least 1 creature every turn after (and starting at) Turn 3. Libro Mortuos helps achieve this goal. Also be sure to spam Deathshroud Staff and Zombie Frenzy. Don't throw out Ziggurat immediately. Wait until you think it will be useful. Otherwise, your opponent will adapt by not summoning as many creatures/summoning only strong creatures.

[Kharhaz]

Creatures: I include, and only include, Zombie Crawlers, Zombie Minions, Unstable Zombie, Zombie Brutes, and one Shaggoth-Zora. I only just realized how well Plague Zombies combo with Shaggoth-Zora. Shaggoth-Zora obliterates a Plague Zombie in his zone, not only getting the benefit of the growth marker but triggering the rot explosion! Haven't tried it out yet but it sounds awesome. Necromancer works best when you stick to only non-living, undead creatures. You can try other creatures but it won't work as well.

Negative,

Obliterating the plague zombie cancels its explosion effect, as per obliterate trait:

"Any ability or effect printed on that object, or attached to it, which triggers on destruction, on canceled."

[Kharhaz]

I was thinking about using sacrificial altar. I think it can be very good in a necromancers build but I cant find a way to abuse it.

Eternal Servant is an amazing ability to abuse the altar with!

Eternal Servant a plague zombie, have it attack, sacrifice it (giving it's bonus to Malacoda / triggering its ability), and then raise it again next turn. Repeat as necessary.


To recap, Eternal Servant and sacrificial altar is an easy 1 - 2 combo that you can abuse with just about any undead creature

[Zuberi]

I don't have the expansion yet (it is on my holiday wish list) but just by looking at it, here is my opinion. I understand you weren't impressed with your initial strategy, but I think you went about fixing it the wrong way. Using spawnpoints without meditation amulet is a mistake in my opinion. They are no different than spawnpoints that came out previous to this expansion, and pretty much everyone agreed those weren't worth the investment. It requires a meditation amulet to make back your investment.

Thus, I have 3 suggestions for you to consider:
1) Forget about spawnpoints all together, like you mentioned. Instead, go for a more traditional rushing strategy. I think this method would be better left to the Warlocks myself, as their Battle Skill and training in the Fire school greatly assist with it, but it is an option.

2) Cast a single spawnpoint and a meditation amulet. This option is not about action advantage as much as it is about mana advantage. You can occassionally use it for action advantage by ignoring the amulet for the round, but that's not the primary focus. Instead, you are giving up 14 to 18 mana which could have been used on a big creature to gain an extra 4 mana per round. This is a huge improvement over casting 2 mana crystals, which requires the same number of actions. You begin to see a profit on your investment after 4 rounds, while the mana crystals don't until after 5. You also are profiting 4 mana per round, while the crystals would only give you 2.

3) Revisit your first strategy. It is a 28 mana investment to gain both an extra action per round and an extra 5 mana per round simultaneously. Mana wise, it pays for itself in 6 rounds, but since you are getting the extra action as well I would say it becomes profitable even quicker than that. Perhaps you could eliminate shaggie from the equation and just focus on the swarm. You could also try using a death ring to improve your mana pool.  See if you can fix the problems you had with this strategy rather than abandoning it after a single game.

[DeckBuilder]

Over here in the UK, I jealously read the experiences of those lucky to have the expansion already. Tim, your methodical approach towards refining a Necromancer strategy is very impressive. Your notes on what worked and what didn't with each variation reads like a scientist's journal. Bravo. Thank you for a very informative read.

My suspicion (and this is just theory craft) is nothing has really changed. All those utility spells are still needed. And Necromancer cannot play slow/lumbering horde as that dies to Obelisk/Orb control. There is a reason why the Beastmaster's staple horde creatures (Falcons and Foxes) are Fast: because they can focus on and destroy any such epic control conjurations. I appreciate Crawlers (a slow weenie!) are pure sacrifice fodder for Shaggoth Zora but it seems ultra-combotastic and puts too many eggs in one Legendary lumbering Zombie basket which can then be contained by control books.

Whilst we might like to show off our latest clever combo, the sad fact is efficiency is not showy by definition. Efficiency should be simple to execute so as to minimise human play errors and have few "outs" to defeat its strategy. Efficiency cares not a jot for style because at the end of the game, there are no "points for style", just for winning the game. Now I realise this will sound a horribly competitive approach for the casual gamers out there and I applaud those who play in a less cut-throat fashion where opponents are given time and space to get card interactions set up (e.g. skeleton fortress leading to an active altar of skulls). But this is like playing those fun casual decks in Magic which when they do win, they win in style but sadly they are incredibly inconsistent and will never get you far in a tournament. If your local meta is all about ambitious long shot strategies which only work against similar ambitious long shot strategies, then by all means play those strategies. (Hey, I'm still on that vain quest for the Warlord spellbook holy grail). But the extremely impressive analytical approach of your testing makes me think you are in search of a consistently winning Necromancer strategy. By my analysis, that's a pretty hard goal.

In crafting a consistent Necromancer strategy, you have to find answers to the many silver bullets you will face:
(1) Mana Denial (Wizard/Forcemaster) - to beat this strategy (Orb, Obelisk, Siphon), you need a cadre of Elites
(2) Kralathor (all 3 Nature Mages) - you need to have Fire and non-Undead (so not from your Spawnpoints)
(3) Staff of Asrya, Temple of Light, Samadriel (both Holy Mages) - thankfully other Light attacks are too weak
(4) Sniper + Watchtower + Wall (Warlord, borrowed by many) - walls delay lumbering
(5) Flyers - a dearth of anti-flyer tech leaves you only a few options
(6) Fire (Warlock, Wizard's Tower) - zombies have less life with resilient yet burn bypasses resilient
(7) Incorporeal (Air Wizard mainly) - thankfully niche, Gray Wraith compares unfavourably with Whirling Spirit

Lord of Fire and Vampiress is a solution to many of these problems. So my (theoretical) strategising has led me to something like...

4 Zombie Brutes (this is your main strategy, see quote below)
1 Shaggoth Zora (because he is cheap and spikes a mirror match Crawler strategy if you cast him first round 1)
2 Plague Zombie (your eternal servant for sacrificial altar + 1 back-up if devoured)
1 Adramelech, Lord of Fire (flyer, fire, flame immunity, not undead)
1 Necropian Vampiress (flyer, not undead)

Other spells to include could be...

Cloak of Shadows (great against Teleport assassination, Pop-Up Sniper, Temple of Light, Wizard's Tower etc.)
Mage Wand + Zombie Frenzy / Teleport / Drain Soul
Elemental Wand + Fireball / Surging Wave (push extinguish) / Jet Stream (push flyers/ethereal)
Mage Staff (flyers/ethereal)

Maim Wings
Tanglevine
Force Push
Force Wave (move those 4 Brutes en mass?)
Enfeeble
Agony
Bear Strength (for Vampiress, Lord of Fire)
Vampirism (for Lord of Fire)
Death Link
Poisoned Blood
Marked for Death

Idol of Pestilence (but only once enemy mage is cornered, no wounded distractions for your Brutes)
Sacrificial Altar (for eternal Plague Zombie abuse)
Mana Crystals

I prefer a "Kill The King" assassination strategy, ignoring other creatures (important to not trigger Bloodthirsty) unless there is no other choice. This involves combining the most mana-efficient threat (Brutes) with position spells (Teleport, Force Push, Enfeeble, Tanglevine). These positional spells isolate the enemy mage from his guards while compensating for the Brutes' lumbering (but hindering) mobility. As only denying healing to the opponent mage is important, I currently prefer Poisoned Blood to universal Deathlock (doesn't synergise with vampiric or Drain Soul as poison placement), especially as Poisoned Blood can be timely revealed to waste a healing action whilst overloading on enchantments strains the opponent's limited number of Dispels.

As for how this strategy would open, it would be something like...

C10: (20) Crystal (15) start corner, double move Near Centre
C11: (26) Brute (15), Crystal (10) back edge next to start corner
C12: (22) Brute (11), Crystal (6) side edge next to start corner
C13: (19) Brute [8], Crystal (3) own zone Near Centre
C14: (17) Brute (6), Teleport/Force Wave/Tanglevine

This is against the dream of no-disruption (which never happens). Once you have enemy mage wounded with 4 Brutes, time to cast the Frenzies. Just focus on the mage.

It goes without saying that against a Druid, turn 2's first summon will be Lord of Fire and a relevant enchantment dependent on situation. In fact, with Krathalor available, this may be the play against any Nature mage.

I currently believe the Necromancer's 10 Channelling (and a minor leveraging of his other abilities via Idol, Plague Zombie, Drain Soul) is superior to the Warlock's better spell points efficiency (but I may be wrong here). After all, as every Forcemaster will tell you, it isn't the size of your book that's important, it's how you use it...

[MrSaucy]

I currently believe the Necromancer's 10 Channelling (and a minor leveraging of his other abilities via Idol, Plague Zombie, Drain Soul) is superior to the Warlock's better spell points efficiency (but I may be wrong here). After all, as every Forcemaster will tell you, it isn't the size of your book that's important, it's how you use it...

I played two Necromancer vs. Warlock games today. I played both sides. No matter who was playing what spellbook (we didn't change the spellbooks between matches), the Warlock wins if he gets in the Necromancer's face too early. The only way to bring down a Necromancer is to put pressure on him early and get in his face. If you wait too long, the Necromancer will develop a swarm that is impossible to ignore. This also explains why I have seen Necromancer beat Druid every single time the Druid adapts a turtle strategy. Turtling is just what the Necromancer wants the opponent to do! Necromancer appears to have an advantage against the Priestess and Druid but a disadvantage against the Warlock and Warlord (because of sweeping and efficient creatures.)

[DeckBuilder]

I can well believe your observation about Warlock aggression winning in such a match-up. The Warlock and Forcemaster are designed to be uber-aggressive. I assume your test plays were with a standard Necromancer's spawnpoint swarm build? It has long been known that aggro-tempo trumps spawnpoints (it's why we play so few of them, only in specialist books, and why we were more hoping for more than Meditation Amulet unchanged to get them back to viable). Still, it's good to have some more experimental/anecdotal evidence to back this "aggression beats spawnpoints" premise.

However, my comment about the Warlock was in response to the OP's end comments below.

The next time I play, I wanna try not using the spawnpoints and summon zombies myself or maybe summon a malacoda or lord of fire! But I think the malacoda is to slow but of course the lord of fire is expensive to include in spellbook + to summon. I must think about the strengths of the necromancer and use them as much as possible.
I need to be cautions that it is more a warlock build, because then I would be cheaper in spellbookpoints to play a warlock.

What are your opinions/ideas/strategy?

My reply (rambling as is my wont at 3am UK time) was simply answering the "no spawnpoints" solution that he requested.

My end comments were pre-empting the undead elephant in the room: why not play this with Warlock? As there are no Necromancer Only spells (no Spawnpoint means no Death Ring) and some fire spell points efficiency as well as plentiful curses for recursion (all it needs is a Flaming Hellion and a Dark Pact Slayer as bespoke reapers instead of Plague Zombies).

My current thinking (I admit I may be wrong here) is 10 Channeling is better than the few more spells in your book. As for recursion, this is no benefit when all your attacks are on the enemy mage (your toolbox 1 Maim Wings is to Tanglevine a hovering threat in a damage race). Your strategy is ignore his creatures (including flyers) and Kill His King with a very cost-to-threat/mobility/resilience efficient package that are Zombie Brutes whilst delaying the opponent from killing your king (using persistent positional spells like Enfeeble and Tanglevine to gain tempo advantage in a damage race). You plan to be 2 away from the enemy mage, harassed by your elites while you debilitate his position, preventing his escape.

Does that sound familiar? It's somaddict's "Forcemaster + 2 Grizzlies" build which (slightly unpolished perhaps) deserves respect as it beat Charmyna's Watergate build. The concept is to take a 10 Channeling mage and build around Elites that he summons as his victory path (many believe that 10 Channeling is better than +1 Melee for an aggressive mage). It's the reason why I ended up contemplating...

So far the most interesting Zombie build I've devised is "Forcemaster Brute Squad", opening sprint to NC then 4 Zombie Brutes turns 2-5 and possibly 14 Channel by turn 5 (as per my post in Zuberi's Zombie Horde thread), using Forcemaster's unrivalled ability to manipulate board position (Force Pull, Stumble, Force Hold, Force Push, Force Wave) to allow your Brute Squad to solely focus on enemy mage only (moving a guard away or a mage from multiple guards) while Forcemaster utilises her own defences against any counter-aggro.

The above is a "fun casual deck" concept but the principle is the same: 14 Channeling by turn 5 and 4 Brutes emerging from near centre feels pretty tasty to me.

It's a hard decision whether to build the aggressive No Spawnpoint build in Necromancer or Warlock but I truly hope Necromancer works better else he may end up like a certain confused Orc warrior-general. The No Spawnpoint build (as requested by the OP) simply tries to address as many of the weaknesses and silver bullets out there. I fervently hope Necromancer is better for this strategy over Warlock and I was wrong when I predicted...

I really hope I’m wrong about the Necromancer but secretly I suspect it’s Warlock for the win.

[Tim]

Yesterday I played 2 games with necromancer vs druid.
The first game I used a combo with sacrificial altar, let my graveyard summon zombie crawlers, I sacrifice them with altar to gain melee and piercing +1 on my zora (who is in combat range with 1 growth marker)+ 1mana on graveyard, use ravenous ghoul to discard zombie crawler to gain growth markers. You can even make them eternal servants then they just reanimate. The synergies are quite nice. But I find it takes to long for ravenous ghoul to gain growth markers because it must use a quick action to do so. I didn't even have to use my pimped ravenous ghoul (3 growth markers) because I had enough to keep the pressure on the opponent mage (zora with 1 growth, 1 tainted zombie, and a few curses). the finishing move was: summon brute with graveyard, offer with altar to gain 3melee and 3 piercing (very nice), gain 3 mana on graveyard, attack with zora to finish it of (fatality). Then I still had my back-up plan ravenous ghoul with 3 growth markers (even 4 if i discard brute) to come in the fight + with a graveyard who has 5 mana next turn (harmonize + 3mana from brute). It was a very nice game for me at least . The combo with brute is amazing: sacrifice brute (which is eternal servant) with altar, gain 3 mana on graveyard, +3melee and piercing and then reanimate the brute in the same zone with the eternal servant to make it 6dice attack next turn = NICE! The down-side of this combo is the time to setup + mana investment if you want to reanimate the brute but with a harmonized graveyard and a death ring it costs 8 mana to summon from graveyard + 11 to reanimate which is 19 mana in total you need to do this in 1 turn. It is a lot i know but you can cut it down with rise again which cost you half to reanimate + meditation amulet. The next turn you start with 5 mana on graveyard, an active zombie brute (but has slow) + your other creatures. I can tell you it is quite nice if you can pull it of , but again it takes time and mana to setup (but against a druid it isn't a problem).

The second game i used a more aggressive, swarn style (also with harmonized graveyard). I didn't use meditation amulet and used the full action to damage mage or to summon an extra creature. For the quick cast I use curses en staples (like dispel, seeking dispel, dissolve, ...). I also liked this a lot. It is much faster to setup and you can hit the mage early in the face. I included 2 copies of zombie frenzy but didn't need to use them do to a clever use of utility spells (teleport, force push, ...). Zombie frenzy is great but it is not so great to use against a druid because the vine-markers hinder your zombies (that's why i didn't used it).

Overall great experience. I'm slowly getting to understand the mechanics of the necromancer. If you have other ideas let me know .
Btw i never lost a game with necromancer, but where still in testing phase as well my opponent as I.

[MrSaucy]

 If you have other ideas let me know .

I like using Poison Gas Cloud as the Necromancer. You can put it in your Necromancer's zone / enemy mage's zone. The Necromancer doesn't have to worry about taking damage because of his poison immunity, and if you run all non-living creatures your creatures aren't affected either. At the very least Poison Gas Cloud is annoying for your opponent. But if your opponent only has living creatures it can seriously cause them trouble.

I have a question for other people who play Necromancer. Do you stay 2 zones away from the enemy mage or 1 zone away? Or do you try to get in their zone? I tend to stay 2 zones away as long as possible to take advantage of Cloak of Shadows but eventually move in closer if I have multiple zombies in the enemy mage's zone.

I ask this because Necromancer has a lot of problems with Warlock rush. If he stays in the Warlock's zone he is getting a beating. But then again he wants to stay close to his zombies to beef them up. Any thoughts for a Necromancer opening against an extremely aggressive opponent (Warlock/Forcemaster)?

[sIKE]

I like using Poison Gas Cloud as the Necromancer. You can put it in your Necromancer's zone / enemy mage's zone. The Necromancer doesn't have to worry about taking damage because of his poison immunity, and if you run all non-living creatures your creatures aren't affected either. At the very least Poison Gas Cloud is annoying for your opponent. But if your opponent only has living creatures it can seriously cause them trouble.

No one has teleported your mage out of the zone with the Poison Gas Cloud and proceeded to beat you up?

[MrSaucy]

I like using Poison Gas Cloud as the Necromancer. You can put it in your Necromancer's zone / enemy mage's zone. The Necromancer doesn't have to worry about taking damage because of his poison immunity, and if you run all non-living creatures your creatures aren't affected either. At the very least Poison Gas Cloud is annoying for your opponent. But if your opponent only has living creatures it can seriously cause them trouble.

No one has teleported your mage out of the zone with the Poison Gas Cloud and proceeded to beat you up?

Actually they have. It isn't like there is nothing the opponent can do about Poison Gas Cloud. Some spellbooks can't afford to run a lot of Teleport (especially Warlord ones) or don't run 4 Teleport. Putting a Nullify on your Necromancer can buy you some time. I wouldn't not use Poison Gas Cloud just because somebody can get out of it though. And sure, the opponent could always move their creatures out of the zone with Poison Gas Cloud, but this is causing them to waste time and moves.

I wish the Necromancer had a damage barrier enchantment/equipment that had a chance of giving rot. Something like a "Belt of Pestilence." In the meantime Poison Gas Cloud is the best I can come up with.

[vlad3theimpaler]

I have a question for other people who play Necromancer. Do you stay 2 zones away from the enemy mage or 1 zone away? Or do you try to get in their zone? I tend to stay 2 zones away as long as possible to take advantage of Cloak of Shadows but eventually move in closer if I have multiple zombies in the enemy mage's zone.

I ask this because Necromancer has a lot of problems with Warlock rush. If he stays in the Warlock's zone he is getting a beating. But then again he wants to stay close to his zombies to beef them up. Any thoughts for a Necromancer opening against an extremely aggressive opponent (Warlock/Forcemaster)?

I've only got to play one game with the Necromancer so far, and I stayed in the back row the whole time, which didn't seem to be a problem.  Minions are expendable; the mage is not.

[MrSaucy]

I have a question for other people who play Necromancer. Do you stay 2 zones away from the enemy mage or 1 zone away? Or do you try to get in their zone? I tend to stay 2 zones away as long as possible to take advantage of Cloak of Shadows but eventually move in closer if I have multiple zombies in the enemy mage's zone.

I ask this because Necromancer has a lot of problems with Warlock rush. If he stays in the Warlock's zone he is getting a beating. But then again he wants to stay close to his zombies to beef them up. Any thoughts for a Necromancer opening against an extremely aggressive opponent (Warlock/Forcemaster)?

I've only got to play one game with the Necromancer so far, and I stayed in the back row the whole time, which didn't seem to be a problem.  Minions are expendable; the mage is not.

Cards that benefit being close to the enemy mage: Deathshroud Staff, Libro Mortuos, Rise Again, Animate Dead.
Cards where it doesn't matter how close you are: Zombie Frenzy.

Long story short, I like to be close... unless playing against Warlock/Forcemaster.

Anyone ever have trouble deciding what to do with your Zombie Walkers? I am always torn between keeping them alive, sacrificing them via Sacrificial Altar, or feeding them to Shaggoth-Zora. Oh the joys of being a Necromancer with disposable creatures 

Also, who has played Necromancer against Forcemaster? One would think Necromancer would have an edge with his creature having psychic immunity, but then again the Necromancer does not do well when the enemy mage is right up in his face.

[vlad3theimpaler]

I have a question for other people who play Necromancer. Do you stay 2 zones away from the enemy mage or 1 zone away? Or do you try to get in their zone? I tend to stay 2 zones away as long as possible to take advantage of Cloak of Shadows but eventually move in closer if I have multiple zombies in the enemy mage's zone.

I ask this because Necromancer has a lot of problems with Warlock rush. If he stays in the Warlock's zone he is getting a beating. But then again he wants to stay close to his zombies to beef them up. Any thoughts for a Necromancer opening against an extremely aggressive opponent (Warlock/Forcemaster)?

I've only got to play one game with the Necromancer so far, and I stayed in the back row the whole time, which didn't seem to be a problem.  Minions are expendable; the mage is not.

Cards that benefit being close to the enemy mage: Deathshroud Staff, Libro Mortuos, Rise Again, Animate Dead.
Cards where it doesn't matter how close you are: Zombie Frenzy.

Long story short, I like to be close... unless playing against Warlock/Forcemaster.

Anyone ever have trouble deciding what to do with your Zombie Walkers? I am always torn between keeping them alive, sacrificing them via Sacrificial Altar, or feeding them to Shaggoth-Zora. Oh the joys of being a Necromancer with disposable creatures 

Also, who has played Necromancer against Forcemaster? One would think Necromancer would have an edge with his creature having psychic immunity, but then again the Necromancer does not do well when the enemy mage is right up in his face.

Altar of Skulls doesn't care how close I am to the enemy mage.