Nobody beats the WIZ

[The Archivist]

Alright, time to finally throw this topic at the community. I tend to read a lot more than I post, so this thread comes after a lot of reading, fiddling around, and discussion with some of my local gaming crew.

The Wizard seems to receive a disproportionate amount of glory in posts and competitive play for a number of reasons, the main ones being that he is:

a) A blast to play
b) Has versatile spellbook options with few drawbacks
c) Wins. Consistently 

I've enjoyed quite a few victories as the Wizard myself, but I'm honestly hard pressed to think of strategies that slice and dice him with any consistent degree of effectiveness. It's a given that almost every spellbook is different, but that doesn't prevent us from generalizing at least somewhat about how Wizards operate and what sort of tactics may be effective. Some common spellbook characteristics:

1) Teleport shenanigans
2) Wands
3) Dispel/Nullify/Dissolve effects, often in abundance
4) Gate to Voltari/Wizard's Tower
5) Channeling buffs and conjurations
6) Hydras, gorgons, oozes, gargoyles

Obviously this list is hardly inclusive, but here's the question I want to engage:

How do your competitive spellbooks effectively challenge Wizards? Knowing that an opponent is a Wizard at the start of a game, is there a holistic strategy that you try to employ from the outset?

There are soundbites of advice scattered throughout the forum on this topic, but it'd be nice to have a refreshed strategic look centralized in a new thread. Have at it, but don't leave us hanging with a wishy-washy "it depends!" Give examples using specific mages. Any input is appreciated!

[DeckBuilder]

How to beat a Wizard? Play a Wizard.

(Apologies, This is a big topic and I will try to do it some justice soon.)

[tarkin84]

Hey Deck, we are still waiting your insight on this! I'd really love to know what some of the Mage Wars heavy hitters think on this issue.

In Madrid our meta is still learning the game, but some of the more experienced players (Shadowblade, who plays from time to time on OCTGN, and me) believe that the Wizard is the best mage by far, nowadays. My best build is a Watergate Wizard which eventually I've found to be quite similar to Charmyna's. I've tried some books against it and never found one that could beat it consistently. Maybe we are wrong, but we feel that the game is somewhat unbalanced. I'm a realistic player and I know that there will always be one or two 'best mages' but the gap between the Wizard and the other mages is, in our opinion, too wide.

Please don't let this interesting topic die!

[Aylin]

Hey Deck, we are still waiting your insight on this! I'd really love to know what some of the Mage Wars heavy hitters think on this issue.

In Madrid our meta is still learning the game, but some of the more experienced players (Shadowblade, who plays from time to time on OCTGN, and me) believe that the Wizard is the best mage by far, nowadays. My best build is a Watergate Wizard which eventually I've found to be quite similar to Charmyna's. I've tried some books against it and never found one that could beat it consistently. Maybe we are wrong, but we feel that the game is somewhat unbalanced. I'm a realistic player and I know that there will always be one or two 'best mages' but the gap between the Wizard and the other mages is, in our opinion, too wide.

Please don't let this interesting topic die!

At the moment, the game is rather unbalanced. The Wizard is unfortunately the strongest mage, partly because Dispels and Teleports are Arcane, but also because the Wizard has the third best spawnpoint in the game (Gate to Voltari), the best familiar (Wizard's Tower), and the lack of any opposing schools.

On the other side of the coin, the Warlord is the weakest mage...being worse than all other mages at almost everything.

One (sucky) option would be to not play either of those two mages until they're brought back in line with the others. The next set will obviously have the Dwarven Warlord in it, so hopefully they're using that to beef up the War school a lot, and maybe they'll put in the card that Shadow mentioned can hard-counter conjurations.

However, from the games I've played against Watergate clones, I think the best strategy involves rushing them and using Acid Ball to keep their armour low. I prefer Battleforge builds (it lowers the effectiveness of the Gate since it doesn't get 2 mana from you most turns and mages are immune to several forms of creature removal, like Banish or Sleep), but I suppose 1 or 2 Elite creature builds would also work. The key is to make sure that the Wizard can't protect her/himself with high armour + Voltaric shield (in this scenario use an Acid Ball; 55.56% chance to turn off the shield and it lowers the armour by 1-2 points). You're going to want to make sure that your book can deal ~35 damage (to account for regeneration/other healing and/or bad rolls) in the first half-dozen turns or so (perhaps ending with Double Fireball/Hurl Boulder). You'll likely need either some way of gaining Elusive (a few copies of Mongoose Agility, perhaps) or ways of separating the Wizard from Gremlins/Hydras to get past enemy guards, so keep that in mind as well.

The biggest problem will likely be the toolbox Wizard's Tower. Unfortunately there isn't really a good answer here. Killing it, even if the Wizard has another one, is still worth it in many cases since the opponent probably only has 1 of each attack spell in her/his book, and recasting it takes an action and mana. Ideally you'll want to one-shot this thing, though killing it in two attacks also works.

The two Grizzly Forcemaster book has actually beaten Charmya's version, so you could make a book off of that as well.

Alternatively, if you like fighting one OP thing with something else OP, use 4x Ballista.

[DeckBuilder]

Oh Tarkin, thank you for the kind words but I am certainly no expert.
The little Mage Wars practice I get these days is play-testing cards.
I'm so jealous when I read about your Madrid Club of mage warriors.

On the question of game balance: my personal opinion is that you're right with the current pool.
However, I can assure you I am undermining the Wizard at every opportunity behind the scenes.
I can't give any details but I assure you that this current state of affairs won't last for that long.
The problem with the design of the Wizard is that strengthening any of the elements helps him.

However, that is not to say that the Wizard is unbeatable - thankfully.
There is always the extra kudos of beating a wizard with another mage.
I see it much like playing a higher difficulty level in a game, a handicap.

Ok, so how do you beat a Wizard with a non-Wizard?
A difficult question when Wizards can be so different!
I'll assume I am playing against a Watergate variant.

http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=13037.msg22962#msg22962

Firstly, in case I'm misunderstood, let me say I think Charmyna to be one of the best players in the world.
While I was independently playing a Combo-based Wizard build (Golem Pit), Charmyna took it to the max!
His Watergate concept was the epitome of Efficiency and Attrition (as mentioned in Resources S&T article).
I can imagine nowadays its creature base may be just Hydras and Devouring Jellies with Teleport Wands.
(Because of Hydras against Bloodthirsty, Gorgon's poison situational with Nonliving, Jellies are just good).
And there lies a mistake, because you are building predictably.

I have no proof what I propose here will beat a Wizard because I have hardly played the new set.
So this is just theory and may be utter rubbish.

Watergate seems very safety-first and slow, certain that in a game of 30 rounds, it will win.
The strategy Charmyna advises in his thread is to summon Gate to Voltari in his start corner.
So that is what I assumed will be done.

Both my ideas are based on the Necromancer - but neither are swarms, vulnerable to Orb/Obelisk.
Why Necromancer? Well, he is a 10-mana mage with access to Cloak of Shadows and others spells.
Cloak of Shadows hard counters the Wizard's Tower, forcing multiple Teleports of a Slow onto you.
With a Thunderbolt Wand and a Nullify, the Cloak of Shadows enables a safe attack from range 3.
But attacking an armoured Wizard with Shield On at range is mainly for a 50% Stun or 25% Daze.
Anyway I gave up on Cloak + Thunderbolts and Teleport Wand control idea as it feels too difficult.

The first build I’d experiment against Watergate would be the Aggro-Control Necromancer
Here is a tentative first build (totally untested)

NECRO AGGRO-CONTROL

Equipment (6)
1 Cloak of Shadows (2)
1 Eagleclaw Boots (2)
1 Moonglow Amulet (2)

Conjurations (11)
1 Deathlock (2)
1 Idol of Pestilence (2)
2 Mana Crystal (4)
1 Sacrificial Altar (1)
2 Wall of Bones (2)

Creatures (17)
1 Plague Zombie (2)
1 Shaggoth-Zora (3)
4 Zombie Brute (12)

Curses (14)
4 Agony (4)
1 Ghoul Rot (2)
1 Jinx (2)
1 Magebane (1)
4 Marked for Death (4)
1 Poisoned Blood (1)

Buffs (14)
1 Cheetah Speed (2)
1 Harmonize (2)
1 Mongoose Agility (2)
4 Nullify [8]

Incants (42)
4 Dispel [8]
2 Dissolve (4)
4 Force Push [8]
4 Teleport (16)
3 Zombie Frenzy [6]

Attacks (16)
4 Acid Ball [8]
2 Hurl Boulder [8]

The concept of Aggro-Control is you put down some early threats (here 4 Brutes and channel 14 by turn 5).
You then use control spells (Nullify, Teleport, Force Push, untargeted Frenzy) to constantly apply pressure.
In Magic, the classic Aggro-Control was Merfolk as once a threat was down, you had Counterspell cover.

However, I am not confident it works against a Wizard (build can be focused for more anti-Wizard).
It’s the old chestnut where you start turn 5 with 14 channeling then summon your 4th Zombie Brute.
Then you use your many movement spells (Force Push, Teleport, Zombie Frenzy) to hunt or escape.
While competing with a Wizard on mana and matching him on all the utility spells for control.
It may be as simple as 4 Brutes, Zora and a Plague Servant by turn 6 then just 3 turns of Frenzy!
Obviously avoid wounding guards (via Teleport/Push) until enemy is too wounded to fully heal.
So the Brute Bloodthirsty can always target the enemy mage (once guards have been bypassed).
Only then can you use your Plague Servant against Guard counter-strike or sacrificed to the Altar.
Well, that’s the theory anyway. It isn’t tested but Aggro-Control should give Watergate a hard time.

However, what is more likely to beat Watergate (or Golem Pit) is the Control Necromancer build...
So Watergate opens Harmonized Gate in start corner (or Golem Pit opens Battle Forge in start corner) and you respond with...

C10: (20) Acolyte in start corner (15), Crystal adjacent (10)
C11: (21) Altar of Skulls in start corner (12), Crystal adjacent (7) – Altar = 1
C12: (19) Wall of Bones x2 around you Early QC (7), Moonglow Amulet (1) – Altar = 2
C13: (14) Enchanter’s Ring (12), Harmonize Self (7)  – Altar = 3
C14: (21) Nullify Self (20), Mort etc...

So Channeling 14 (attacks on adjacent Crystals outside is 1 less attack on Walls), safely entrenched with Walls of Bones with 4 more in book to rebuild breaches, Mort reconstructing skeletons plus 6 Reassembles, while Skeleton Archers take out flyers etc. The danger of course is Huginn Teleport hence Nullify on both self and cleric then anti-flyer tech. But few wizards run Huginn these days due to the higher prevalence of Pestilence etc.

The bottom line is that, facing the usual Watergate opening, the Altar of Skulls will activate round 9. The question is will the Altar itself, guarded by Mort and Knights, resist a siege to win in the upkeep of round 25 latest? This is in a zone with both Fortified Position and Sacred Ground (10 spell points total). Also this book can win earlier than round 25 by sending out a Grey Wraith to infect the nearby Wizard and then use Plague Master ability.

Whilst I think Altar of Skulls will fail miserably against aggressive builds, against defensive Wizard builds like Watergate, with the wrong-footed early placement of Gate so far away etc, I believe that this ridiculous eclectic build is probably your best choice if you know you are facing a defensive Wizard.

Now I’m sure there are plenty of other builds to beat a Wizard. The Druid, with her access to vine range Orchid that bypasses Nullify, Acid Ball etc should be good. We are all still learning how to play the new mages (above ideas are both theory) and maybe the 2 new mages have actually fixed the Wizard issue?

I hope so anyway...

[sIKE]

To build upon what Deckbuilder has said here, before DvN I played a good set of games against Charmyna with FM, Priestess, Warlord, and the Priest. I didn't win any of them, and believe me I tried. The thing that always stymied me was the Wizards Tower and the fact that he is a very high caliber player who you can not make a mistake with. I played against him before the HoB/ToL/BF nerf. He had a wicked ToL builder that was just brutal and made you want to cry.

With all of that said, you will need to plan for the WT, you could wall it off, Fog Back will not do as most Attack Spells are Ethereal and will blast on through. Wall of Stone/Thorns would work, if it is cast NC, since we have new players will give some detail about NC/FC.

NC - Near Center
FC - Far Center

These are from your start corner. You can cast a Range 2 spell into the NC from your start corner. You can move 1 Zone (I always describe from bottom right corner) up or left and cast in to FC.

Back to the WT. IF the opposing mage casts the WT in his NC (your FC), I would move one left (if starting from bottom corner) and cast a Wall on the FC/NC boundary border as well as extend it to the border below the WT.
This will deny LoS to the bottom half of your side of the board and give you some time to build up.  If he casts it FC then you will need to decide which area of the board you want to deny LoS to (from the WT). I would (probably depending upon my (and his) creature placement.) still cast a Wall on the FC/NC boundary border as well as extend it to the border below the WT this way I separate the Wizard from his tower, at least from projecting power to the bottom half of the board back to his direction.

This is just the first of several needed to steps to beat the Wiz. The best game I had against Charmyna was with the Priest with a buffed Holy Avenger Unicorn. Real close to wining that game but fell to a dissolve and a push through a wall of Thorns.

[silverclawgrizzly]

Ok just throwing out a couple ideas to this spellbook. It seems pretty powerful so ideas on how I'd handle it would be appreciated.

1. Could you swarm the Wizard with creatures? Yeah his armor is nice but you could maybe wear him down. Especially if you managed to get rid of the Regrowth Belt. It would seem a Beast Master could get out a bunch of cheap creatures fast enough to swarm him at least at first.

2. He's got a lot of Dispel and Dissolve. I am currently under the impression that Reverse Magic will send those back at him. Am I correct? If you got rid of his armor he's a little more vulnerable. I mean it's really only gotta work once to make a difference.

3. Would putting a wall up around the Wizard Tower weaken it's effectiveness?

4. Would a Cloak of Shadows on a dark mage who positions himself effectively make the Teleport/Hello Hydras technique harder? Put Cheetah Speed on the Dark Mage and you get a range/mobility advantage I would think.

Again these are just ideas off the top of my head. Don't actually know how effective any of it would be.

[sdougla2]

2. Reverse Magic will reflect Dissolve, but will have no effect on Dispel. Dispel targets the enchantment, not the creature.

[silverclawgrizzly]

2. Reverse Magic will reflect Dissolve, but will have no effect on Dispel. Dispel targets the enchantment, not the creature.

That's good to know. At least you could keep your stuff relatively safe with a few in your spell book.

[ACG]

1. Could you swarm the Wizard with creatures? Yeah his armor is nice but you could maybe wear him down. Especially if you managed to get rid of the Regrowth Belt. It would seem a Beast Master could get out a bunch of cheap creatures fast enough to swarm him at least at first.

Swarm is a good way to deal with the voltaric shield, but the wizard has cheap access to Mordok's Obelisk, and will probably also run a Suppression Orb. This is to say nothing of the fantastic suppression cloak, which is probably the strongest of his anti-swarm spells. The wizard is really good at control, so swarming him may be difficult.

[silverclawgrizzly]

1. Could you swarm the Wizard with creatures? Yeah his armor is nice but you could maybe wear him down. Especially if you managed to get rid of the Regrowth Belt. It would seem a Beast Master could get out a bunch of cheap creatures fast enough to swarm him at least at first.

Swarm is a good way to deal with the voltaric shield, but the wizard has cheap access to Mordok's Obelisk, and will probably also run a Suppression Orb. This is to say nothing of the fantastic suppression cloak, which is probably the strongest of his anti-swarm spells. The wizard is really good at control, so swarming him may be difficult.

Oh believe me I found that out yesterday lol. I managed to take out the Oblelisk and it got a lot easier but putting Essence Drain on my pet timber wolf, Mana Siphon out, and other fun stuff did not make my Beast Master jump for joy. And oh yeah that Suppression Cloak is horrifying.

These ideas were just in reference to the Watergate spell book I saw linked. I firmly believe The Wizard has the potential to take on any and all comers. I think of him as Batman, with the right plan he'll take on any threat you want to throw at him.

[Aylin]

However, what is more likely to beat Watergate (or Golem Pit) is the Control Necromancer build...
So Watergate opens Harmonized Gate in start corner (or Golem Pit opens Battle Forge in start corner) and you respond with...

C10: (20) Acolyte in start corner (15), Crystal adjacent (10)
C11: (21) Altar of Skulls in start corner (12), Crystal adjacent (7) – Altar = 1
C12: (19) Wall of Bones x2 around you Early QC (7), Moonglow Amulet (1) – Altar = 2
C13: (14) Enchanter’s Ring (12), Harmonize Self (7)  – Altar = 3
C14: (21) Nullify Self (20), Mort etc...

So Channeling 14 (attacks on adjacent Crystals outside is 1 less attack on Walls), safely entrenched with Walls of Bones with 4 more in book to rebuild breaches, Mort reconstructing skeletons plus 6 Reassembles, while Skeleton Archers take out flyers etc. The danger of course is Huginn Teleport hence Nullify on both self and cleric then anti-flyer tech. But few wizards run Huginn these days due to the higher prevalence of Pestilence etc.

The bottom line is that, facing the usual Watergate opening, the Altar of Skulls will activate round 9. The question is will the Altar itself, guarded by Mort and Knights, resist a siege to win in the upkeep of round 25 latest? This is in a zone with both Fortified Position and Sacred Ground (10 spell points total). Also this book can win earlier than round 25 by sending out a Grey Wraith to infect the nearby Wizard and then use Plague Master ability.

Whilst I think Altar of Skulls will fail miserably against aggressive builds, against defensive Wizard builds like Watergate, with the wrong-footed early placement of Gate so far away etc, I believe that this ridiculous eclectic build is probably your best choice if you know you are facing a defensive Wizard.

Now I’m sure there are plenty of other builds to beat a Wizard. The Druid, with her access to vine range Orchid that bypasses Nullify, Acid Ball etc should be good. We are all still learning how to play the new mages (above ideas are both theory) and maybe the 2 new mages have actually fixed the Wizard issue?

I hope so anyway...

I'm not going to comment on the aggro-control book, partially because I don't play Necromancer very well and partially because I don't really have the time to spend on it right now.

However, there are a couple of things I want to say about the control book. It's counting on the fact that the Watergate is slow and does everything it can to protect a squishy 0 Armour/7 HP Cleric for 9 rounds. But I'd think a Watergate player would likely switch to a more aggressive stance after seeing an Altar of Skulls come out on Turn 2, and I'm not sure this Necromancer build could handle that. I don't think the Watergate with the standard casting could mount an assault until Turn 4, but it could probably get through the wall by Turn 5 at the latest (through Wizard's Tower in your NC and Gremlins) to Teleport the Cleric away (before Nullify is on it in your build order). Gremlins could also Teleport through the wall fairly early in the game to attack the cleric or the mage. An early Teleport by Huugin would also be problematic.

There are a lot of ways to kill that Cleric. Of course another one would likely be summoned, but if it was early enough it would probably mess with the build order too much, even if it did eventually get the Altar active.

I'm also not sure about the effectiveness of the Grey Wraiths against a Wizard. The Tower casting Arc Lightning or Pillar of Light would kill it pretty quickly, and potentially daze/stun it before hand, so I wouldn't expect them to live very long.

I think it's just too dependent on needing the opponent to take a long time for her/his build. It might work against Watergate, but in subsequent matches it would probably just cast the Gate closer to the Necromancer's starting zone and/or go on offense from the beginning, since it is a pretty versatile book. Like you said it probably wouldn't work against builds that aren't defensive, so the best I'm seeing out of it is a possible win...but only with the first game.



I think a fairly standard Druid book would do well though. It'll be hard for the Wizard to keep enough Armour on with the cheap Dissolves, Acid Balls, and Corrosive Orchids, and "hasted" Raptor Vines or Thornlashers would pose a problem as well. Honestly, I'm currently of the opinion that the Druid is almost as powerful as the Wizard.

[baronzaltor]

I suspect that corporeal conjuration heavy builds will have a little harder time when Critical Strike and Vorpal Blade become "real" cards instead of promos.

The ability to cheaply drop 3 static Pierce onto a creatures natural pierce means it will be much easier to  quickly dismantle Corporeal Conjurations like Wizard Tower, Battle Forge, Gate to Voltari,  Mordok's Oblesk, Walls, and so on.  most of them depend on their 3-4 armor for longevity.  When a Dark Pact Slayer has 5 pierce, that Battleforge isn't as sturdy.    +3 Pierce on Galador's charge attack is a Wrecking Ball for conjurations… Drop it on a Highland Unicorn, a Bridge Troll, even a Timber Wolf will make good mileage from it for tearing apart conjurations especially if he was a Pet. 

Critical Strike combined with Vorpal Blade, a mage can has 5 pierce on himself.. or it can be mixed with other weapons.  +3 Pierce on a Lash of Hellfire or Galvatar is rude, or it makes Mage Staff one of the most versatile weapons in the game with Etherial/Pierce+3/Reach in one package. 

Just need it to not be a promo anymore for any of the above to really matter, but still, thought Id toss it out there.

[DeckBuilder]

I do agree, Aylin, that the Druid looks strong against a (non-Fire) Wizard and other (non-Warlock) mages.

As for Altar of Skulls, the fact I haven't advanced it to a book list yet shows it's just an embryonic idea built to beat a defensive Wizard.  Yep, I forgot but the back-up clerics summoned for the princely cost of 5 each. After all, they can reconstruct the wall (with the reassemble). It's obviously part of the build that the designers intended (skeletal Altar, Walls etc).

For a Wizard who starts turn 2 in start corner (having invested 18 in a Gate to Voltari so just 12 mana) to race down to break down those reassembling and reconstructing walls of bones and have the mana to cast Tower (which is a mana sink, a stationary mana-generating free change elemental wand) and break down those reconstructing 12 walls and somehow get a triple action burst to break wal / trigger nullify / teleport before the necro raises a new wall for cost 6 seems mighty ambitious, Aylin. I'm not saying it's not possible as I haven't tested it out but where's the wizard's persisent threat creature base if he is investing in burst damage and no mana acceleration either! A wizard can do a lot but he's not an unlimited mana battery that spend 18 mana on turn 1 on a resource that will be peripheral. Mort and other guards will protect from Gremlins which die to Altar after a few rounds. Everything has its purpose.

I'm not saying Altar of Skulls is a surefire solution. Hardly, I find it a laughable strategy. But give the designers some credit. The moment I saw it, I knew they designed it to combat defensive builds like Golem Pit and Watergate. And it's good that they are creating alternate win conditions. It makes the game interesting,. i just hope its nerf of once per round was justified and did not neuter the concept. It would be embarrassing to have another Gate to Hell...

As for the Aggro-Control build, it can be improved to be more anti-wizard but is meant to be a more consistent concept. It should give the linked Watergate build a run for its money but it has no chance with Modern Golem Pit with 4 Golems + 4 Jelly. In the Stone-Lizard-Spock of Mage Wars, Golem and Jelly beats Zombie. However the speed of pressure and the all-out board manipulation focus (each Nullify is mainly on opponent to prevent Teleport Escape) should have Watergate on the back foot reacting to your pressure. The build is just a variation of somaddict's Forcemaster + 2 Grizzlies build which actually beat Charmyna's Watergate. So I have got high hopes it should perform well against Watergate if piloted by someone probably as not as skilled as our German expert.

Every Wizard build is different. My Wizard builds generally don't have Huginn (because of local meta Flameblast) but I always have Purge Magic (because of Beastmaster & Forcemaster buff-stacking and Warlock's Transfusion of many curses are prevalent builds in my meta). They also often have Orb (I teleport) and Obelisk.

So, to follow up on Steelclaw's quite reasonable observation about Swarm...

If the Wizard is not packing Orb/Obelisk/Pestilence control pieces (like Charmyna's Watergate), a build like the Straywood Swarm should have a great chance

If the Wizard is not packing Purge Magic, then a build like the Tempo-Aggro Beastmaster or Transfusion Curses with Wardstones Warlock should have a chance

But unlike the Forcemaster (most railroaded build), you really don't know what you are facing with a Wizard (even if he states his training). Is that a Fire Wizard with Jellies or Buffed Up Hydras or Lord of Fire Beatdown? He really has so much variety but luckily he can't cover all the bases - or if he does, this versatility is at the cost of a less focused main strategy.

I will publish a Necromancer Curses Transfusion + Wardstones Mana Denial build soon. Yes, I prefer Necro rather than Warlock as it is a Combo-Control build, not Warlock Aggro, and targets the enemy mage so curse weaving has little benefit.

Meantime, Aylin, care to share your Druid book that beats Watergate with us? (Watergate is only as good as its pilot really, the game is 80% skill and 20% build). You and I seem to be attracted to opposite mages in this set and I'd really like to see what a good Druid build looks like. Show and tell?

[Aylin]

I do agree, Aylin, that the Druid looks strong against a (non-Fire) Wizard and other (non-Warlock) mages.

As for Altar of Skulls, the fact I haven't advanced it to a book list yet shows it's just an embryonic idea built to beat a defensive Wizard.  Yep, I forgot but the back-up clerics summoned for the princely cost of 5 each. After all, they can reconstruct the wall (with the reassemble). It's obviously part of the build that the designers intended (skeletal Altar, Walls etc).

For a Wizard who starts turn 2 in start corner (having invested 18 in a Gate to Voltari so just 12 mana) to race down to break down those reassembling and reconstructing walls of bones and have the mana to cast Tower (which is a mana sink, a stationary mana-generating free change elemental wand) and break down those reconstructing 12 walls and somehow get a triple action burst to break wal / trigger nullify / teleport before the necro raises a new wall for cost 6 seems mighty ambitious, Aylin. I'm not saying it's not possible as I haven't tested it out but where's the wizard's persisent threat creature base if he is investing in burst damage and no mana acceleration either! A wizard can do a lot but he's not an unlimited mana battery that spend 18 mana on turn 1 on a resource that will be peripheral. Mort and other guards will protect from Gremlins which die to Altar after a few rounds. Everything has its purpose.

I'm not saying Altar of Skulls is a surefire solution. Hardly, I find it a laughable strategy. But give the designers some credit. The moment I saw it, I knew they designed it to combat defensive builds like Golem Pit and Watergate. And it's good that they are creating alternate win conditions. It makes the game interesting,. i just hope its nerf of once per round was justified and did not neuter the concept. It would be embarrassing to have another Gate to Hell...

Deckbuilder, I know it would be difficult for a Wizard who spent 18 mana in the starting corner and didn't move to beat.

What I'm saying is that the build order you gave takes several turns to get up its defenses, and I'm not sure it could withstand an assault before everything was set up. Most of the defenses aren't up until Turn 5 (when Nullify and Mort come out). I can see the Watergate getting two Gremlins into your zone by Turn 5. While they wouldn't likely kill the Cleric that turn, they would on Turn 6 (when a third Gremlin would join). Walled in with 3 Gremlins, it wouldn't be wise to summon another Cleric. Now, how things go from there would be pretty hard to determine without actually playing it, but this is the case I'm concerned with.

More importantly, in subsequent games with the same players, the Wizard player wouldn't open with a Gate in the start corner (if s/he even opened with a Gate at all). As you yourself said, it wouldn't stand up well to aggression.

I do think it would be a neat book though. However, it would need to almost be two partial books, one with that long-game Altar strategy and then another with something that can deal with something faster or based on mostly non-living creatures. The biggest part of playing the book would be determining how your opponent will play before the game even begins.

Meantime, Aylin, care to share your Druid book that beats Watergate with us? (Watergate is only as good as its pilot really, the game is 80% skill and 20% build). You and I seem to be attracted to opposite mages in this set and I'd really like to see what a good Druid build looks like. Show and tell?

I haven't played against any Water Wizards as a Druid yet, let alone Watergate ones, so at this time I'm unable to comply with your request. As for my Druid book in general, I'm still refining it and I'd rather not post it until I'm satisfied with it. I'm not sure how long it'll be since for the next couple of weeks I'll probably be focused on playtesting a couple other games.