Mage Wars Tournament @ GenCon Indy 2014

[Coshade]

Here's a link to the spell book I ran at Gen Con. Nathan used the Anvil Throne Warlord that you see as the second comment at Gen Con as well.

http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=14530.0

[Alexander West]

My tournament report from GenCon is now up on the Arcane Wonders' Mage Wars page.  It has the full spellbook, as well as commentary on the spells and games played:
http://www.arcanewonders.com/arcane-wonders/gen-con-champions-tournament-report

I have started a thread in the Spellbook Design and Construction subforum for anyone who would like to discuss the book:
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=14540.0

I did my best to get all the details right, forgive me if anything is slightly off, I worked purely from memory!

[zot]

After the lists publication, perhaps the top 8 players may give a quick rundown of MVP creature/spell and Best Plays, for their books  Not asking for a primer here, just a few tips.

   I badly misplayed against Nick on the second round of the tourney match. I could play my book one of 2 ways, and chose poorly, which played into his long game strength. As a result, I lost before even getting going. It went to time, and had I chose to play correctly, who knows how it would have went. I would have like my matchup against the beast master.

   Anyway congrats to Alex. It was great that a not wizard won.

    - Tim

[Battlehamster]

I was the 2nd Forcemaster in the final 8. This was really my first tournament that I played in (I had played at Dicetower last year but had only just begun to play so did not hardly understand the rules and it showed).

For me my opening play was move and cast Battleforge and then quickcast Sunfire Amulet. That amulet was an MVP for me for sure. There is something psychological about your life ticking up every turn that makes it hard for your opponent to ignore. This extra life also extended my life so that I could focus on killing the other mage. My build is all about attack (as most Forcemasters are). My plan was always to be attacking the opponent by turn 3 at the latest. Whenever I saw an opponent put out items for a long game (Barracks + Construction turn 1 for example) I knew I had the advantage.

Pretty straightforward book though and I had difficulty overcoming wall strategies (both delaying walls and Wall of Thorns). I had inadvertently cost myself 2 spellbook points so was running 118/120 which would have been very helpful with an eagleclaw boots. Also Akiro's Favor would have helped to overcome the numerous dazes I encountered against both Wizards I played (Wiz Tower + Surging Wave is very difficult for me to deal with if I don't have Forcefield up though not impossible as I split my wizard games 1-1).

Ultimately I went down in the first round of the Finals to Tim's Earth Wizard by being too aggressive. The life advantage was mine for most of the game due to Sunfire and there was a point that I should have backed off and recharged. I had him Force Crushed but he had his tower right next door and a renewing spring to take off the corrodes I was putting on with my Devouring Jelly. I was mana starved due to the Crush so should have backed up out of range of the tower and recharged, then had him come to me or finish him off with more mana. Ultimately I failed about 3-4 Defense rolls at the end and was crushed with a boulder on Turn 16/17. Very sad.

It was a great experience though, went 3-2 overall and Top 8 is not bad. Many changes I'll be making to FM including adding Eagle boots, Akiro's Favor and more attack spells. Congrats to Alex and all the other top 8. Hope to see you again soon.

[zot]

Anybody that wants to post books can but if you wait I will do the t8 tonight

Please withhold mine from being posted. I would rather not contribute to netdecking spell books. Thanks.

[zot]

Ultimately I went down in the first round of the Finals to Tim's Earth Wizard by being too aggressive. The life advantage was mine for most of the game due to Sunfire and there was a point that I should have backed off and recharged. I had him Force Crushed but he had his tower right next door and a renewing spring to take off the corrodes I was putting on with my Devouring Jelly. I was mana starved due to the Crush so should have backed up out of range of the tower and recharged, then had him come to me or finish him off with more mana. Ultimately I failed about 3-4 Defense rolls at the end and was crushed with a boulder on Turn 16/17. Very sad.

It was a good game though. It was getting close to time, and we were both hurt. I was pretty pleased to see so many forcemasters being played. It is my second favorite mage to play. You played pretty good considering it was your first tournement. Hope to see you again next year.

[V10lentray]

[/quote]

Please withhold mine from being posted. I would rather not contribute to netdecking spell books. Thanks.
[/quote]

Wow, someone has their panties in a twist.

[zot]

Wow, someone has their panties in a twist.

   Not at all. I have had this opinion since I began playing in tournements. I feel one of the major downfalls of mtg is the rampant netdecking. When you go to a mtg tourney and see the same thing over and over, how boring.

   I want to face what my opponent thinks is a winning strategy, not what I think is. The game will determine who is more correct in that situation specifically. I never lent my mtg decks out back then either. I did not want to face my decks, but rather my opponents. I want to see their surprise tactic, or combo, or superior play they may have come up with and react accordingly. Did I have something in my design to handle it?

   Not sure why you assumed a negative here.

[Battlehamster]

Wow, someone has their panties in a twist.

   Not at all. I have had this opinion since I began playing in tournements. I feel one of the major downfalls of mtg is the rampant netdecking. When you go to a mtg tourney and see the same thing over and over, how boring.

   I want to face what my opponent thinks is a winning strategy, not what I think is. The game will determine who is more correct in that situation specifically. I never lent my mtg decks out back then either. I did not want to face my decks, but rather my opponents. I want to see their surprise tactic, or combo, or superior play they may have come up with and react accordingly. Did I have something in my design to handle it?

   Not sure why you assumed a negative here.

I think Zot has a point. I too would rather play a variety of spellbooks, not the flavor of the month. I see nothing wrong with his request.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Anybody that wants to post books can but if you wait I will do the t8 tonight

Please withhold mine from being posted. I would rather not contribute to netdecking spell books. Thanks.

If the spellbook is fun enough to play, net decking isn't such a bad thing every once in a while. It's only if people start relying on it too much that it becomes a problem for the metagame.

Rule of thumb: only share spellbooks that are really really fun. I want to try Murphy's "Thief" forcemaster eventually, and i just haven't gotten around to it yet. There are some rather ingenious spellbook designs that I've played and wish that I had come up with them.

I still love building my own spellbooks though.

[Laddinfance]

Since Mage Wars is a game of instant answers, I think "relying" on the "net-deck" for your spellbook is actually a downside. Good players will recognize what's being played and are able to anticipate the remained of your spellbook, and since you can grab what you need when you need it, you can be prepared for any tricks.

End of the day, I think that the nature of Mage Wars makes it less of an issue, as it's more in the skill of the pilot than the strength of the jets.

[V10lentray]

End of the day, I think that the nature of Mage Wars makes it less of an issue, as it's more in the skill of the pilot than the strength of the jets.

and the roll of the dice...

[Alexander West]

and the roll of the dice...

Mage Wars is actually great as far as dice variance goes.  I love that they made cards like Akiro's Favor, which are essentially insurance on dice outcomes.  Additionally, as a player you get to choose whether you play a high variance strategy or a low variance strategy.  Some kinds of books are *much* more dependent on a few die rolls than others, whether because the latter book uses fewer die-based mechanics, or rolls *so many* dice that any specific die roll isn't a big deal.

[Battlehamster]

Agreed, I usually don't find dice rolls to be that big a deal. Sure it is annoying to miss those yellow die rolls, especially for me using a high risk/high reward mage like Forcemaster, those defense rolls are my lifeblood.

[silverclawgrizzly]

Mentioning Akiros Favor and the effect dice with the Force Master got me thinking. Could you use Akiros Favor to re-roll her Deflection roll? Cause that's pretty awesome.