Necromancer: How To Survive?

[Kohlz]

Hi, everybody.

I'm here to ask for some help. First off, I must explain that me and my friends play duo with the basic suggested spellbooks (as only one of us have the game), but we agreed to have permission to choose up to 6 points of extra cards, custominzing our spellbooks a little bit.

Last weekend, we had an unusual match, where I played the Necromancer and my mate played the Forcemaster (FM), whereas our friends played the Wizard (WZ) and Warlock (WK). The keep-summoning strategy didn't work for the Necro this time, as the WK was at my face by round 3 dissolving my Cloack of Shadows so that he could throw Fireballs one after the other.

As a Necromancer, I just didn't have time to even start summoning my creatures, so me and the FM decided not to conjure the Graveyard nor the Libro Mortuos, just focus on one big creature like the Skeletal Knight (13 mana) and the Death Ring with the quick action to have the discount, meaning that I spent 17 mana total this round. Meanwhile, the FM tried to keep the WZ away from me.

As soon as the WK destroyed my Cloack of Shadows with his Explode, I had already prepared a Dragonscale Hauberk as an extra card (which cost me 2 point as it is a different school from mine). Of course it helped me, but I had already been damaged from the Explode and its burns and the WK wouldn't stop throwing his Fireballs.

I just had no chance against him. In the end, the FM obviously managed to survive quite well for some rounds, but me, by round 4, was already dead. So I would like some suggestions to keep up with the WK strategy. I'm sure you guys could have some!

[sdougla2]

I've only played 1 game with the Necromancer, but so far I like the idea of a Battleforge opening for him. It slows down his swarm slightly, but it offers a great deal of flexibility. If your opponent builds econ early, you can use it to play Moonglow Amulet, Death Ring, and Libro Mortuos, allowing you to match most strong econ openings if paired with a few Mana Crystals. If they rush you, you can use it to play Dragonscale Hauberk, Elemental Cloak, Leather Gloves, Leather Boots, and Regrowth Belt or Veteran's Belt.

Generally speaking, early nukes before having a strong, consistent source of damage is weak, and can be held off with some creatures (to put pressure back on your opponent and/or guard against melee attacks) and armor (so you don't die). Dragonscale Hauberk drastically reduces the efficiency of Fireballs. If you survive for the first 6 turns, your opponent is in very rough shape. That's in a duel. I haven't played enough in team games to know how well that could work, but I suspect that the much higher burst damage potential makes it far more viable. You should be able to hold off a Warlock trying to alpha strike you with attack spells by himself though. If you find it to be a problem, run Geyser to put out the Burns.

[sIKE]

@Kohlz,

More games under your belt will help a lot. If you mage was dead by the forth round, some horrible must of happened with your opening. Reverse Magic works real well against hyper-aggressive mages. Suit up and hit back. Explode his armor and/or Weapon....

[Kohlz]

I really like the idea of using a Battle Forge (2 points to get it) and I was thinking something different to try next time we play. Maybe I'm out of my mind, but madness sometimes works

Basically, I would build up walls of bones around me as soon as the Warlock got close to me, by round 2. At first, I believe he would try to put the walls down to get me, but I would keep reconstructing it with my Reassembles, while I keep bring creatures and the Forcemaster keep the Wizard busy (and away from my dungeon of bones).

The strategy is to gain time and keep bringing as many creatures as I can before the walls come down, so when that happens, I'll deal massive damage to hurt whoever is close enough (it is important to summon fast creatures). The Acolytes and Mort are brought into play to keep reconstructing the wall and the Skeletons afterwards. At some point, the enemy Warlock would just realize that he is wasting his time chasing me, as the walls won't be destroyed that easily. As soon as he goes after the Forcemaster, I will break my creatures free from the walls and put them to chase and beat him. Check it out:

Round 1 (20 mana)
Acolyte (5 mana)
Death Ring (5 mana)

Round 2 (20 mana)
Wall of Bones Extended (11 mana)
Reassemble (4 mana)

Round 3 (15 mana)
Acolyte (5 mana)
Reassemble (5 mana)

Round 4 (20 mana)
Mort (15 mana with discount)
Reassemble (5 mana)

Round 5 (10 mana)
Acolyte (5 mana)

Round 6 (15 mana)
Skeletal Knight (12 with discount)

Round 7 (13 mana)
Skeletal Knight
(12 with discount)

Round 8 (11 mana)
Deathfang (7 mana with discount)

Round 9 (14 mana)
Deathfang (7 mana with discount)

If I manage to come this far with the wall strategy, I believe my chances to cause him a massive damage would be considerable, even if he keeps throwing his Fireballs at me (maybe I could use a Teleport as soon as the walls are destroyed, leaving him close to my creatures). As he fights them, I could go somewhere else and heal myself if damaged (using the Healing Wand) and bringing some more creatures. 

I would love to hear your opinions about it

[aquestrion]

Drop a wall to stop his advance.. walls are great!

[sIKE]

Walls are great if you can corner them and drop a Poison Gas Cloud in the corner with your Action and then Wall them in with you Quick Cast....

[MrSaucy]

Welcome to the forum Kohlz!

Some answers to your question:
1. Poison Gas Cloud / Malcoda in your zone: the idea is to discourage enemies from moving into your zone (takes advantage of Necromancer's Plague Master ability)
2. Pestilence: doesn't do anything to Necromancer, so killing the mage faster can be considered a method of survival.
3. Cloak of Shadows: makes it difficult for ranged opponents to get the best of you, forcing them to come closer to you and thus closer to your creatures.
4. Death Link
5. Drain Life and/or Drain Soul
6. Regrowth Belt
7. Enfeeble on Melee creatures (including Melee focused mages!): enfeeble + fleeing for your life (cowardly but who cares) might help, definitely not as useful against FM though (due to her innate force pull).
8. Walls / Teleport / Force Push / Force Wave
9. Casting Vampirism on your mage (and possibly boosting his melee attack too)

As far as overall advice, be sure to run "mandatory" spells in your spellbook. Some examples of "mandatory" spells may include the following: nullify, block, seeking dispel, dispel, dissolve/explode, minor heal/heal, teleport, force push, elemental cloak, bear strength, hawkeye.

[The Dude]

Hmm. Without the ability to customize a lot, your options with the necro are very limited. I have never been a big fan of the starter lists that come in the rules. Not because they are bad strategies, per say, but because in a game like mage wars, every single card you include must have a purpose. This is a crucial component to the game that really only clicks when you are able to build your own books. While each card may have a purpose in the designer's mind, I don't think it always translates well to readers and players. It is for this reason that I would really highly recommend buying your own core, along with DvN, to really begin to dive deeper under the surface. Christmas is right around the corner!! But it is by no means necessary to enjoy the game, and if you enjoy just playing right out of the box, please don't let me stop you!

But, to continue on with your post, it seems like you lost so quickly because you failed to create a resilient opening that can withstand several rounds of beating. In playtesting, playing a cloak of shadows early simply meant that my opponent was going to run for my face as quickly as possible. I mean think about it. You play a card that forces the opponent to move closer to you to be able to actually win the game. It's a bait that if played wrong, will put you in a rough spot. If you did decide to go with the battle forge strategy, I would highly recommend either waiting to cloak of shadows yourself until you sufficiently equipped, or not play Cloak at all. This is because Cloak of Shadows directly interferes with the range the Battle forged equipment can cast from, which is two. If you decide to battle forge early, followed by a Cloak of shadows, a well cast teleport and tanglevine can really, really hurt your plans. Playing a Cloak of Shadows early is also unnecessary, because it will take your opponent at least 2 rounds to reach you, just to be able to cast things. I would save cloak for those moments when you are facing down a hunting bow, or a attack spell heavy wizard/warlock, but only when they begin casting those things would I worry about putting on the cloak. It is a fantastic card, but it is situational, and is a card that can really backfire if played incorrectly.

If you are playing against a hyperaggressive Warlock, I believe one of your greatest assets are the wall of bones. Having the ability to be reassembled is something no other conjuration of late has the ability to do on it's own. It's one of those combos that you can really use to your advantage to force your opponent to spend more actions getting around the wall, allowing you to either suit up more, or finish your opening. It also has the added ability of blocking LoS, which is all important against those pesky fireballs.

Another absolutely fantastic card to use against an aggressive warlock is Gorgon Archer. Normally, the reason for this would be that stacking weak conditions on him will only make it harder for him to melee you. The other reason is that you as the Necro have the ability to damage the Warlock, or any creature for that matter, as long as they have a poison condition on them, which Weak just happens to be. Couple that with an Idol of Pestilence, and a Ghoul Rot, you are doing approx. a million damage around. In fact, the curse based necro with Zombie Brute/skeleton backup has by far been the strongest version of the Necromancer I have seen thus far.

Those fireballs get burnt out easily by things like Elemental Cloak and Dragonscale Hauberk which are must includes if you know you are going up against the Necro. I would even say the Elemental cloak is still better than the Cloak of Shadows for the Necromancer, as both Dark Mages so far are much stronger at close range.

So, if I was going into a match that I knew the Warlock was going to be the aggressor, these are the inclusions that I might add:

1. Gorgon Archer
2. Ghoul Rot
3. Elemental Cloak
4. Dragonscale Hauberk
5. Magebane
6. Death Link/Regrowth Belt (the former against a mage with creature support, the latter against a solo mage)

I hope this helps you a bit!

Dude.

[baronzaltor]

Another absolutely fantastic card to use against an aggressive warlock is Gorgon Archer. Normally, the reason for this would be that stacking weak conditions on him will only make it harder for him to melee you. The other reason is that you as the Necro have the ability to damage the Warlock, or any creature for that matter, as long as they have a poison condition on them, which Weak just happens to be. Couple that with an Idol of Pestilence, and a Ghoul Rot, you are doing approx. a million damage around. In fact, the curse based necro with Zombie Brute/skeleton backup has by far been the strongest version of the Necromancer I have seen thus far.

Id recommend Grey Wraith over Gorgon Archer for the Necromancer. 
Still gets Weak Tokens on the board, but much easier on the spell points, cheaper to cast and can be summoned from your spawn points.
Also, his Weakening attack is a quick melee rather than a full ranged, so its harder for the opponent to outmaneuver him up close.

[The Dude]

I do agree with the points you make here as they are strong ones. The reason I don't care for the grey wraith is because of how quickly it dies with ethereal attacks. As well, the upkeep can be a hamper on your day if you are trying to go creature aggressive. Gorgon stays around for a long time, and although she is slow, the ability to ranged and weak on a 4+, as well as the ability to double weak is just too strong to ignore. But it really depends on the playstyle of the mage, I guess. Great comments though!

[MrSaucy]

Can we just all agree Gorgon Archer is a bonus to any spellbook? 

[Kohlz]

Very good ideas, indeed. I loved the Grey Wraith thing, as the WK and WZ couldn't get rid of the weak conditions easily, so that they would have to rely on their spell attacks (and at some point they will run out of it). But yes, I'll stick with the wall of bones strategy to gain some time while summoning creatures. Not sure how it's gonna work, but I'll give it a go. Please, leave some more suggestions! Merci beacoup! ;-)

[DrMark]

A gorgon in the necro deck is expensive but definitely worth it. Not only is she fantastic for getting weakness counters out onto the board, but it also gives the deck some much-needed anti-air capabilities. And the Gorgon can be reanimated back into the arena for only 8 mana (after which she begins regenerating her reanimate damage)

[ringkichard]

Isn't she non-living when she comes back? Regen is healing, so I'm not sure that works. (Haven't gotten much time with DvN, yet.)

[Laddinfance]

Rise Again and Animate Dead both make you nonliving. So unfortunately the Gorgon won't regen. It's still a solid play.