The new guy

[Death-from-above]

Hello fellow Mages,

My name is Death-from-above, but you can just call me Death. Unless someone already claims that title in which case, call me from-above. Not as flashy, but shorter I suppose. I've been an avid fan of Mage Wars for a couple of years now and I am trying to get myself back in the game so to speak.

I graduated college recently and most of my time has been consumed by finding a full-time job and it didn't leave much time for me to play the game. I am a good friend of LordofWinter irl (at least I think I am). He is pretty much the main reason as to why I got into this fantastic game. Most of the time though he kicks my butt when we play.

In terms of favorite mages, it varies depending on what sort of mood I am in. If I want to flood the board with creatures, I use the Beastmaster of Straywood. If I want to hide behind my conjurations, I use the warlord (by the way, I am super excited about the Forged in Fire expansion coming out). Ultimately, I love the priest. I have always had a thing for Angels and holy power. The Priestess was great, but not set up to be a super-aggressive mage. With the priest, he can join his holy brethren in smiting anything in their path.

I hope to be contributing to some of the posts here on the forum. If there are any tips and tricks I need to know about the forum, please let me know so I don't do anything wrong or step on someones toes. I figured I would end this post with a question. I am sort of redoing my priest deck since I have been out of the game for a while and would love any sort of advice when it comes to building a solid deck. In terms of what my playstyle is, I like to play somewhat defensive until I have a very small but efficient army to strike at my foe with both the army and my mage. Is their any recommendations for this or is there another Mage I should be looking at that would be better suited at this task?

I am open to any suggestions and criticisms. I am not easily offended haha.

[Lord0fWinter]

Hello my friend. Took you long enough to make a profile You are a good friend haha. Duh. Most of the forum rules are "sticky" posts at the top of the page, so you can just look through that. It's pretty much all common sense though. Don't spam, don't advertise external products, don't flame people, etc.

I think you should stick with the Priest since you like him. It's not all about winning after all, it's about having fun (don't know why I'm preaching to you, of all people). But the spellbook section has some Priest builds, I'd just look them over and see what's in them and what people are saying about them, then use those ideas to form your spellbook. Then you can post the spellbook on here using the spellbook builder (under "Cards" at the top of the page) and get advice from others.

Here are a few Priest spellbooks:
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=13850.0
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=13579.0
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=13554.0
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=12515.0

[Zuberi]

Welcome to the forums! Glad to have you join the community. I wish you many glorious battles within the Arena. May all your foes fall at your feet.

As to your question, it is kind of broad. I think it depends a little on what you mean by a "small army" and even then there are probably several mages that will fit the description. The Priest is focused primarily on himself. He has the best melee attack out of any mage, so he definitely wants to be at the front and hitting things himself. He shouldn't focus too much energy on creatures, I think, and I'd say his playstyle caps out at 3 creatures usually. If you're planning on more than that, the Priestess might be a better fit because she lends much better support for her creatures and her increased channeling helps to get them out.

Obviously, this is a generalization and sometimes he might go over 3 and she might sometimes go under. These numbers aren't hard set (they're mostly opinion) and the mages can work just fine outside of such a definition.

I strongly recommend a Battle Forge for the Priest. Since he is focused on himself, having a spawn point beef him up without using his own actions is really nice AND it helps to offset his reduced channeling. I personally really like using a Guardian Angel to draw my opponent's attacks (she is really hard to kill, especially if you give her some extra armor) and then punishing them with my Holy Avenger. The whole time having my Priest set them on fire, of course. There are lots of good choices for Holy Avenger. Knight of Westlock is an obvious one, and the Highland Unicorn can be really nice. Even the Asyran Cleric is decent if you need something on the cheap. There are a few good promo creatures out too, if your group allows them, that can make awesome Avengers.

I also really like Brogan. I hate for my attacks to be stopped by pesty things like armor and defenses, and Brogan laughs at such nuisances.

[Death-from-above]

Ah Zuberi. I have read many of your posts and benefited from your wisdom on more then one occasion!

As to your question, it is kind of broad. I think it depends a little on what you mean by a "small army" and even then there are probably several mages that will fit the description. The Priest is focused primarily on himself. He has the best melee attack out of any mage, so he definitely wants to be at the front and hitting things himself. He shouldn't focus too much energy on creatures, I think, and I'd say his playstyle caps out at 3 creatures usually. If you're planning on more than that, the Priestess might be a better fit because she lends much better support for her creatures and her increased channeling helps to get them out.

By small army I meant like 3-4 creatures that could stand their own in a fight. I do see your point though; the Priestess has better supporting abilities then the Priest. For the most part, I love using creatures in general. I usually play much better when I can delegate different tasks to other creatures. My other favorite mage to use is the Warlord. I have tried using the Forcemaster before and I couldn't use her correctly because I kept going back to strategies that were meant for creature heavy spellbooks. The Priest I enjoy a lot because of the ease at which he can burn people and I like the Holy Avenger ability.

I also really like Brogan. I hate for my attacks to be stopped by pesty things like armor and defenses, and Brogan laughs at such nuisances.

Haha yes, Brogan is one of the creatures I find myself using constantly. Him as well as Knights of Westlock and Guardian Angels. I would love to stick one of the higher level Angels in there, such as Sammadrial but I know I would never get him out in time for her to be useful.

I remember one time I did a deck with nothing but the 3 big angels and a couple of Gray Angels in there and somehow won. It was against LordofWinter too haha. But that was with the Priestess and we were both still figuring out the game. Honestly every time I play, I come across a new rule that I did not know about.

I have been tinkering with a spellbook I wouldn't mind having the forum pick apart and tell whats good and what should be gone. I will post that as soon as I put it together. I appreciate the suggestions so far! 

[Wise fool]

Welcome, Death.  I meant welcome to you, the person identifying yourself as Death, not that I welcome my own death....  You know what, welcome From Above!

I am also new to the game and the boards, but just started posting willy nilly without introducing myself.  Is that a faux pas?   

[silverclawgrizzly]

Welcome Death From Above and Wise Fool! May your battles be epic and your mana ever channeling.

[Death-from-above]

Welcome, Death.  I meant welcome to you, the person identifying yourself as Death, not that I welcome my own death....  You know what, welcome From Above!

I am also new to the game and the boards, but just started posting willy nilly without introducing myself.  Is that a faux pas?   

Haha greetings Wise Fool! It is nice to meet a fellow new person. I don't believe there is a faux pas in acting willy nilly (At least I don't think there is). I do that occasionally myself. I just figured I would intro myself before I started posting so other mages could know a little about my background.

Is Mage Wars your first game involving a board?

Welcome Death From Above and Wise Fool! May your battles be epic and your mana ever channeling.

I appreciate the warm welcome Silverclawgrizzly! Your name is a close reference to one of my favorite creatures. Are you just as formidable as the Steelclaw Grizzly??

[Wise fool]

Haha greetings Wise Fool! It is nice to meet a fellow new person. I don't believe there is a faux pas in acting willy nilly (At least I don't think there is). I do that occasionally myself. I just figured I would intro myself before I started posting so other mages could know a little about my background.

Is Mage Wars your first game involving a board?

I played chess avidly as a kid.  Loved Stratego and Axis and Allies back in the day.  Love MtG although I stink at it.  I'm a fan of Arabian Nights and Space Alert.  Our house is filled with board games, but Mage Wars is my current favorite.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Welcome, Death.  I meant welcome to you, the person identifying yourself as Death, not that I welcome my own death....  You know what, welcome From Above!

I am also new to the game and the boards, but just started posting willy nilly without introducing myself.  Is that a faux pas?   

Haha greetings Wise Fool! It is nice to meet a fellow new person. I don't believe there is a faux pas in acting willy nilly (At least I don't think there is). I do that occasionally myself. I just figured I would intro myself before I started posting so other mages could know a little about my background.

Is Mage Wars your first game involving a board?

Welcome Death From Above and Wise Fool! May your battles be epic and your mana ever channeling.

Is that supposed to be a reference to the Hunger Games?

I appreciate the warm welcome Silverclawgrizzly! Your name is a close reference to one of my favorite creatures. Are you just as formidable as the Steelclaw Grizzly??

As formidable as a steelclaw? That depends on how hungry he is, and some other factors. He is smaller and faster than a steelclaw. His claws are weaker than a Steelclaw's so Beastmasters prefer not to use his kind in battle, and those claws are also highly sought after by Anvil Mountain Warlords, merchants and wealthy beings throughout Etheria. Because of this he has had to run, fight, and hide to survive. However, having his claws made of such a valuable magical material lures his favorite snack: Mages. And some merchants too, I supose.

[silverclawgrizzly]

Welcome, Death.  I meant welcome to you, the person identifying yourself as Death, not that I welcome my own death....  You know what, welcome From Above!

I am also new to the game and the boards, but just started posting willy nilly without introducing myself.  Is that a faux pas?   

Haha greetings Wise Fool! It is nice to meet a fellow new person. I don't believe there is a faux pas in acting willy nilly (At least I don't think there is). I do that occasionally myself. I just figured I would intro myself before I started posting so other mages could know a little about my background.

Is Mage Wars your first game involving a board?

Welcome Death From Above and Wise Fool! May your battles be epic and your mana ever channeling.

I appreciate the warm welcome Silverclawgrizzly! Your name is a close reference to one of my favorite creatures. Are you just as formidable as the Steelclaw Grizzly??

I'm certainly as friendly as one when I wake up in the morning At least before break fast. Actually I named myself after my favorite creature as well but changed it slightly to personalize it.

[Zuberi]

I hated the Holy Avenger ability when I first started messing with him. I was trying to play him like a Holy Warlock and was so frustrated that I couldn't pull off the attack boost of that ability every round in the manner I would like. After analyzing it, I realized that it's not meant as an offensive tool but rather a defensive one. He's a body guard. The Priest might be more aggressive than the Priestess, but he's still a lot more defensive than a Warlock or Forcemaster.

From your description, I think the Forged in Fire expansion is looking right up your alley so far. From the previews, both mages seem like they'll like their critters and the new warlock definitely has an easy time with the burns. They also both have had familiars previewed to help delegate tasks.

I did experiment with a "Buddy" Build for the Priest for awhile using Samandriel. It actually had decent results until my friends learned that they could put her to sleep and my Priest was COMPLETELY incapable of waking her up. This was before DvN, of course, so perhaps the wand of healing would make a difference. It was also while I was still thinking of him as a Holy Warlock, so I wasn't getting much use out of Holy Avenger anyways. I think if I was to go back to that style of book now, I would miss my body guard.

I am also new to the game and the boards,

I think I may have already welcomed you elsewhere in the forums, but if not, Welcome to the Arena.

[Shad0w]

Welcome to the arena.

Moving to off topic

[Death-from-above]

Welcome to the arena.

Moving to off topic

Thank you Shad0w! When I didn't see it I was afraid it had been deleted haha. I should have posted in off topic in the first place. My bad.

[Shad0w]

NP