How essential is teleport?

[Mrmt]

I finally succumbed, and went 'all in' on Mage Wars - meaning I have the core set plus all the mage expansions, but no extra spell tomes. [edit I have since ordered the spell tomes]

My concern is that experienced players have suggested no deck is complete without at least 2 teleports; ie that the card is so important to winning, you cannot do without it.

If correct, this would means that after spending a hefty chunk of change on this game plus expansions, I still would not be able to make two viable decks to play head to head.

Firstly, is this basically correct? ie That without at least two teleports, a deck won't be able to perform? (If so, that is rather annoying.)

Secondly, are there plans to introduce extra teleports, or equivalent, into future expansions, in the same way as they did for dispels and dissolves? Or does one have to buy the core tome?

[IndyPendant]

Congratulations, and welcome to Mage Wars!  It remains my favourite board game after nearly six months now, which is a personal lifetime record for me. ; )

No, it is most definitely *not* correct that a spellbook without at least two teleports will not be able to compete.  Teleport isn't good enough by itself to make that claim valid.  However.  Not including two teleports is (almost) always a sub-optimal decision, and many players argue that not including three is sub-optimal.  (I'm not one of the three minimum crowd though.)

Let me try an analogy: if you play a (Straywood) Beastmaster, you almost always want a lot of animals in your book.  Since you're putting a lot of animals in your book, you are almost always going to want to include a Ring of Beasts.  Will you automatically lose most games if you don't include that Ring?  No, of course not.  But the ring is so good in that combination, that you need to have a very good reason *not* to include it in your spellbook.

Teleport is like that, but with every spellbook; if you don't include at least two, you need to have a good reason not to.  Here are two good reasons for you to use: 1) I don't have enough copies of the spell to use, and I don't like constantly switching out cards from other books.  2) My local meta is different from most other ones, in that they don't play enough cards that would make Teleport truly useful enough to justify the 8-spellbook-point cost (for everyone but Wizard) of including two of them.

Go ahead and create books with only one (or even 0!) Teleport, it's not going to break your game.  If you ever *can* though, try to include at least two.  Teleport really is useful enough to justify that, in most books.

[Mrmt]

Thank you, much appreciated.

Hmm. So, I effectively need to buy Core Spell Tome 1 if I don't want my mages to be 'sub-optimal'? Grr.

I might house rule that teleport is unique, (unless you are trained in arcane, perhaps, in which case you can have 2), and solve the problem that way. That might even help the warlord out also. I could justify it thematically by saying it rips a hole in space-time, and it's too dangerous to do it twice.

It just rankles that they never added any extras of this 'essential' card, in the same way that they did add extra dissolves and dispels.

PS re warlord and teleport, perhaps there could be a 'extraordinary dodge', or 'terrifying burst' war spell that does the same job...

[baronzaltor]

If it comes to be too big of a deal, just pull out a few unused cards and run them as proxies for teleports until you get around to getting more.

For just casual play, theres nothing wrong with proxies, so long as you identify which cards they are at the beginning of the game.

[sIKE]

If it comes to be too big of a deal, just pull out a few unused cards and run them as proxies for teleports until you get around to getting more.

For just casual play, theres nothing wrong with proxies, so long as you identify which cards they are at the beginning of the game.

I just use a sleeved piece of paper that says teleport. So typically I pull the real card out to play it, and then discard the proxy, placing the real card back in my spellbook. I make a production out of it so it is clear what I am doing and I am not cheating. I do let my opponent know that I have a couple of proxies in my spellbook at the beginning of the game.

[Mrmt]

I just use a sleeved piece of paper that says teleport. So typically I pull the real card out to play it, and then discard the proxy, placing the real card back in my spellbook. I make a production out of it so it is clear what I am doing and I am not cheating. I do let my opponent know that I have a couple of proxies in my spellbook at the beginning of the game.

Yep, I guess that works! Not completely satisfying, but does the job...

[Aylin]

At this time, not including at least two Teleports in any book you expect to do well is kind of a bad decision.

They're useful at so many things, like saving your creatures from conjurations (Stranglevine/Quick Sand), escaping deadly situations, putting your opponent into deadly situations, etc.

You won't need a Teleport for everything, and Force Push can act as a cheaper version of it for some things. I'd say 2 is the minimum you should have in a book (proxy if you have to) regardless of anything else, and a couple copies of Force Push can help if you don't have enough.

If your meta doesn't use Teleport for much you could probably get away with only having one...but you wouldn't be able to compete on OCTGN or in a tourny without them.

[ACG]

I generally don't use teleport at all (except in my necromancer book). This is partly because I don't have enough copies and partly because my meta hasn't really caught on to it yet. That said, it is a very useful spell. It can:
 - Automatically get you and your creatures out of restraining conjurations
 - Let you use your quickcast to move (by teleporting)
 - Force enemies into dangerous locations
 - Get slow creatures close enough to attack without moving
 - Lots of other stuff too.

I think the issue is not so much that the card teleport is essential as that there are very few ways to achieve that effect.

[silverclawgrizzly]

Teleport is cool but it's not mandatory. It's kind of expensive, could backfire horribly if you target another mage, and is really most useful for escaping. Mind you it's hilarious when it works perfectly though. 

Welcome to Mage Wars though, I'm new as well! What Mages are you focusing on if any?

[Mrmt]

At this time, not including at least two Teleports in any book you expect to do well is kind of a bad decision.

This seems to be a problem for this game. Surely no spell should be so essential - at least without alternatives - particularly one for which there are so few copies in the core plus expansions.

[Mrmt]

Anyway, who was I kidding? I found a couple of core sets on special offer and bought them. seemed it would be useful especially if I wanted a showdown between 2 beastmasters, or between 2 priests.

At least I can make a couple of mages with 2/3 teleports each now! And maybe throw in an extra gorilla...

In for a penny, in for a pound.

I am Mark Turner, and I am a MageWarsaholic.

[Aylin]

At this time, not including at least two Teleports in any book you expect to do well is kind of a bad decision.

This seems to be a problem for this game. Surely no spell should be so essential - at least without alternatives - particularly one for which there are so few copies in the core plus expansions.

It's definitely on my list of grievances against the game as a whole.

[DeckBuilder]

In case people are feeling disenchanted by this issue, this WILL change - so stay the course, folks.
Hey, I have been one of AW's most vocal critics so if they can win me over, good things are coming.
The best bit is how they listen to their fans - which gives everyone that warm feeling of contributing.

[Mrmt]

In case people are feeling disenchanted by this issue, this WILL change - so stay the course, folks.
Hey, I have been one of AW's most vocal critics so if they can win me over, good things are coming.
The best bit is how they listen to their fans - which gives everyone that warm feeling of contributing.

This is interesting... I hadn't realised this was a pre-existing source of concern.

It seemed immediately obvious to me this card was excessively dominant, but I am new - and a lot of things that appear obvious to new players may in fact turn out not to be what they first appear.

[Shad0w]

Consider that not all players are playing at a tourney level.  When learning and playing for fun you do not need the most optimal book.

Yes on a tourney level Teleport is in a majority of books but do you know why?

It is due to the fact it is the best movement in the game it can be used for for both attacking and defending. For 6 mana I can "move" this golem 2 zones and still attack. I am now traped by a Strangle Vine for jsut a few mana you can use tele to break the vine.  The other player is out of range of your army for 12 teleport them 4 and attack.
Currently the next closest movement card is Force Push but because it is not a teleport effect when playing against a control style book it is often a dead card.