Hello from Italy - Core Priestess Opening

[Gizzu]

Hi Guys, my name is Gigi and i'm from Italy. I started play Mage Wars some weeks ago, and i'm trying to build a 4-6 player base, waiting that the game will be translated in late 2014.

I've done many matches in Apprentice Mode, in order to teach other people the game, but very very few ones with the 'core' lists found in the handbook, with few tweakings. While i really have clear plans regarding Beastmaster and Wizard, i have some questions regarding priestess opening (remember, i have only 1 base box).

First, let's assume that i'm starting in the lower-right corner, called D1 as in chessboards.
So, my idea of opening with her is (never playtested... i hope to use her wednesday):

T1 : (20) - No Move - Temple of Asyra and Harmonize
Comments: i think it's an acceptable opening; if i plan to play a creature during T2, i'll move in C1 in order to have it near the Near-Center.

T2 : (16+2) - Deploy Cleric (2+3) QC Mana Flower in D2 - Move in C1 and another Mana Flower in B1.
Comments: do i really need a 2nd turn creature as Archer or Angel or can i continue turtling???
In first case, i'd end the turn with only 1 mana... btw let's assume i play 2 Flowers. I need mana!

T3 : (15+2) - Bim Shalla in B1 and Temple of Light in C2 (NC) and shoot (-3 Mana)
Comment: after errata, it's still useful to play Temple-combo? I tend to like it for the stun/daze chance...

T4 : (13+5) - Deploy Cleric (0+5).... that leaves me with 13 mana, 10 if i wish to shoot with ToL; so what can i do now? The problem is i have no offensive creatures in play and with 10 manas there's nothing good!
I could do nothing else in order to drop angel on T5... too late???

Could you give me some advices pls? Thx you so much!
Gigi

P.S.: @Nihil: greets from an old Warlord player!

[Zuberi]

Your opening is currently really slow and would be very vulnerable to a hyper-aggressive opponent (like a lot of Warlocks). I would recommend making a much smaller investment and allow yourself room to switch gears if faced with an opponent rushing at you.

For starters, I'm not a big fan of the Temple of Asyra. I would personally take that out of my opening all together. Even if you do want to include it though, I don't think you need the Clerics. They're just over kill.

I would also go with Mana Crystals instead of Mana Flowers. The armor makes them more resilient than the regeneration (assuming you can spare some Crystals from your other books). When you prepare your Mana Crystals (or Flowers) I would never prepare two at the same time. Your other spell should either be a creature or a piece of equipment. You might not want to actually cast both spells then, but you do then have options depending on what your opponent does. If you just have two Mana Crystals and your opponent is rushing at you, it's going to feel an awful lot like a wasted round and a lot of lost tempo when he gets in your face.

Regarding the other two temples, Hand of Bimshalla is still a fantastic spell to include. Temple of Light is a lot more situational than it used to be, but can still be a very good spell if you want to use it.

Those are my thoughts, for what they're worth. Welcome to the Forums Gigi!!! (I <3 Italy)

[sdougla2]

Turn 1 (20): Temple of Asyra -> Harmonize (6)   Reasonable, although I'm not a big fan of the Temple of Asyra.

Turn 2 (16) [2]: Cleric -> Mana Crystal -> Mana Crystal (3)   may work if your opponent is not rushing you, but you should not do it if your opponent is playing aggressively. I'm also not a big fan of using clerics to channel for the Temple of Asyra.

Turn 3 (15) [2]: Bim-Shalla -> Temple of Light -> shoot (0)   This seems bad. Temple of Light is potentially worth playing still, but it no longer makes sense to drop this before getting creatures down due to the continual mana cost of attacking. You would be better off playing a Knight of Westlock, Leather Boots, and Leather Gloves. I also don't get the same mana distribution you used. Bim-Shalla + Temple of Light cost 14, which only leaves you with 1 mana for the shot, and leaves you with no mana at the end of the turn if you take that shot.

Turn 4 (12) [5]: Cleric -> something. Again, not a fan of clerics, particularly as your only creatures by this point in the game.

If I wanted to build around Temple of Asyra with just cards from the core set, I would probably do something like:

Turn 1 (20): Temple of Asyra -> Harmonize (6)

econ
Turn 2 (16) [2]: Mana Crystal -> Mana Crystal (6) [2]
Turn 3 (18) [4]: Knight of Westlock -> Enchanter's Ring -> Bear Strength (3)

defense
Turn 2 (16) [2]: Knight of Westlock -> Leather Boots -> Leather Gloves (1)
Turn 3 (11) [2]: Staff of Asyra -> attack (2) [2]

And choose which opening to follow based on my opponent's actions on the first turn.

[Gizzu]

Thx u so much guys!

I really appreciate your advices; tomorrow i'll try it and will report! 

CYA
Gigi

P.S.: having access to ALL cards by now, which is the most used opening for her??? Thx

[Aylin]

I normally open with a Crystal and a Battleforge

[Gizzu]

Thx Aylin!

I've played today, and i started with Archer and Crystal/Flower...

CYA
Gigi

[Alexander West]

T1 (20): 
I disagree with the crowd:  I really like Spawnpoints, assuming you want to summon creatures frequently.  (I think you do.)  Essentially for 5 points you are getting 1 channeling on something harder to kill than a Crystal/Flower, and for 5 points you are freeing up your Priestess' standard action.

Harmonizing the Temple seems good, though it is fragile enough that you'd want to be careful about making it too high value a target without enough protection.  I particularly like that this gives you enough mana to summon every turn, without having to deal with a fragile Cleric.
Temple + Harmonize (-14)

T2 (16)/Temple(2):
This turn you really need to react to your opponent.  If they are powering up mana, I might like to keep building up your own mana either with Battleforge + Harmonize, or a Meditation Amulet + meditate.  If they're coming and getting in your face, the time for infrastructure is over and it's time to get read to turn back the invaders.

In most cases with the Priestess my basic game plan is to summon a level 3 creature most turns with the Temple, and then use other spells to support them when they need it.  Knight of Westlock is my favorite.  Since you're making 12 mana a turn, you can probably summon one (or whatever is most useful) per turn.

It's hard to plan exactly past turn 2, since so much depends on what your opponent is doing!

[BoomFrog]

Let's assume your opponent is coming towards you since priestess is the best at long games, most opponents will come to you.  I'm assuming your general plan is to summon high level creatures, and use your quick spell to support your creatures with heals and enchantments.  Your priestess is either spending full actions summoning or meditating most of the time and will only move out of the corner to get close enough to heal a frontline creature.  If your opponent doesn't come towards you and is also turtling than summon priests and mana flowers or battle forge while meditating.  Although if you suspect you opponent will play an idol of pestilence or a Murdock's obelisk than you need a more aggressive plan.

Plan A:   Temple+harmonize T1 (6 mana left), start T2 with 16 mana and 2 on temple, deploy Westlock knight and summon meditation amulet and meditate.  T3+ continue summoning and meditating.  You have 19 mana and are generating 15 mana a turn and have one action for summoning and your normal quick cast.

Plan B:  Start summoning right away and skip the temple and amulet.  T1: Knight and harmonize yourself, T2 Archer+ maybe enchant.  T3: continue supporting your creatures.  You will run out of mana to summon and will have turns where you either melee with your priestess of need to summon a meditation amulet later.  You are generating only 10 mana a turn.  However, you have a knight out swinging for damage on T3.  That's 5 dice of damage which is probably gaining you the benefits of a 4 or 5 mana attack spell every turn.  And he is hindering your opponents creatures giving your Archers more targets to shoot and causing the enemy to lose a turn if the want to move towards your mage.  You want the frontline knight positioned 2 spaces from your mage and archers.  Since you are a holy mage you would love to make the fight about your knight, because you are specialized in supporting creatures.

Again, if your opponent is going for a creature-less strategy (or a necromancer going for an anti-living strategy) than both of these plans are bad and you need a more aggressive plan.  But for turtling against an aggressive opponent I like plan B the most.