1st Necro - Black Death

[blackirishguilt]

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname]Black Death[/spellbookname]
[mage]Necromancer[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNW02]2 x  Wall of Bones[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j20]1 x  Sacrificial Altar[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j18]2 x  Poison Gas Cloud[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ01]1 x  Altar of Skulls[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j11]1 x  Idol of Pestilence[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNC01]2 x  Acolyte of the Bog Queen[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC19]4 x  Venomous Zombie[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC22]3 x  Zombie Brute[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c08]3 x  Darkfenne Bat[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC09]4 x  Plague Zombie[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c12]2 x  Emerald Tegu[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c23]1 x  Malacoda[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC24]3 x  Zombie Minion[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC23]4 x  Zombie Crawler[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1e19]2 x  Ghoul Rot[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e27]2 x  Marked for Death[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e08]1 x  Death Link[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e16]2 x  Force Hold[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNQ01]1 x  Cloak of Shadows[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ02]1 x  Death Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ05]1 x  Libro Mortuos[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ03]1 x  Deathshroud Staff[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1i28]2 x  Teleport[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]3 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]2 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI06]2 x  Zombie Frenzy[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i08]1 x  Drain Life[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI01]1 x  Animate Dead[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]


My 1st take on a Necro book.  It's pretty straight forward in wanting to get the poison going as quickly as possible and keep it going with the late game [mwcard=DNJ01]Altar of Skulls[/mwcard] + [mwcard=mw1j11] Idol of Pestilence[/mwcard].  Zombies are mostly there as meat shields though [mwcard=DNQ03]Deathshroud Staff[/mwcard] + [mwcard=DNI06]Zombie Frenzy[/mwcard] does allow for some big combat turns especially once the blood starts flowing.  Thanks for any input!

Edit:  Oh yeah.  Probably the thing that excites me the most about this book is making [mwcard=DNC09]Plague Zombie[/mwcard] my Eternal Servant and putting it on the [mwcard=mw1j20]Sacrificial Altar[/mwcard].  Buff a Zombie, Rot everything in the zone, then bring it back to do it all over again.  I may need to take something out to fit in a [mwcard=DNQ10] Meditation Amulet[/mwcard] to keep up with mana needs and I feel like [mwcard=DNJ04] Graveyard[/mwcard] could play well with this strategy too.  Thoughts?

[Lord0fWinter]

My quick 2 cents since I'm about to head to class:

1) I know you want the Tegus because of their Rot effect, but honestly you have enough creatures without those. 4x Venomous and 4x Plague and a Malacoda is plenty of Poison. Plus you'd have to use a full action to cast them since they aren't deployable from Libro.

2) I'd actually take out the crawlers and minions too. If you want to focus on Poison, I doubt you'll use those guys too much.

3) You'll want armor. If something goes wrong and you start losing you'll need it to stay alive since the Necro is so fragile. Dragonscale Hauberk and Leather boots/gloves should do nicely.

4) Nullify and Block. To protect your Mage and to protect your Libro.

5) Most people, if trying to use the Altar, use Skeletons. Because the Altar itself is the skeleton subtype, Mort helps keep it alive and so do the incantations that heal skeletal objects, like Reassemble and Unholy Resurgence. If you want to try zombies, that's great, but from my experience if the Altar is your main goal, Skellies work better.

6) Of course, your Zombies could just outright kill the other Mage and then you wouldn't need the Altar. If that is your main focus, either throw in another Zombie Frenzy or a Mage Wand so you can bind your Frenzy to it and cast it every round.

7) I do like using the Meditation Amulet with Libro. Some people don't some do. I'd suggest trying it and seeing what you decide.

8 ) The Necro is probably the only Mage so far that can run two spawnpoints really really well. So you could do a Graveyard and Libro. I usually pick one or the other, but it's totally possible to do both. In that case, you'll definitely need the Meditation Amulet. And could possibly keep the Crawlers so you have something low cost to bring out.

I'll take a closer look later.

[blackirishguilt]

Thanks LoW, really appreciate it.  I was on the fence about the Tegus also, they could definitely be cut.  That would easily make room for some armor/blocks/nullify to solidify that hole at the same time.

As far as skellies go, my thought is to open with the Altar and an Acolyte to start praying, then deploy zombies to harass and hinder.  If they go aggressive on the Altar, I can wall it off and have another Acolyte to reconstruct.  Admittedly, a big flyer could present problems to that play, so I will need a way to prevent that.  I suppose Force Hold could fill that role though it is fragile.  The hope is that by attacking on two fronts they won't be able to handle both.  Zombies get damage and Rot on, I keep applying pressure with my trait and hopefully late game start doing 3-5 damage minimum every upkeep.  Now that I think about it, a Poison Blood or 2 might be a good idea to prevent mid game healing until the Altar kicks in with Finite Life.

[silverclawgrizzly]

I'll add a few comments.

1. Like WInter said the Graveyard is a good idea. I don't use it with my skeletons but with zombies you want A LOT of zombies out quickly.

2. Get a way to heal other than Death Link and Drain Life. Regrowth Belt, Regenerate, something.

3. Deathlock and Poison Blood are your friends. If you get the other mage on the ropes you don't want them coming back.

4. If you're going to go the poison route then there are certain curses that play well into that as well. Ghoul Rot, Chains of Agony, and Mage Bane. These can all really speed up the passively killing process. Basically you want as many problems coming down on them as possible on this front so they can't focus and deal with it all at once.

[Death-from-above]

I don't play the Necromancer often so I don't have much advice to give. I just wanted to mention that, from what it sounds like, you plan playing an acolyte and the altar on turn 1 and there is no need for that since you can't put a token on it anyway until the Acolyte can be used on turn 2. So if you wanted to use that 9 mana for something else, say a death ring or Libro on turn 1, I think that would be a better course.

[blackirishguilt]

Thanks all!

@silverclaw - Very good points.  How important is it to play around [mwcard=MW1I21]Purge Magic[/mwcard] when it comes to laying on the curses?

@ death - The problem though is that if I summon Acolyte turn two I cant use it to pray until turn 3, slowing down the clock by a turn which may or may not be relevant.  I'll have to play it both ways and see. 

[Death-from-above]

@ death - The problem though is that if I summon Acolyte turn two I cant use it to pray until turn 3, slowing down the clock by a turn which may or may not be relevant.  I'll have to play it both ways and see. 

My apologies. I wasn't clear in what I meant. I was just saying that there was no need to put the Altar down in turn 1. The Acolyte on turn 1 is perfectly fine. I was just saying that since you couldn't use the Acolyte on turn 1 anyway, there isn't a reason to summon the Altar on turn 1 as well.

On turn 2, you could drop the Altar and put a token on it with the Acolyte you summoned on Turn 1.

[silverclawgrizzly]

Irish I don't concern myself with Purge Magic too much outside of a Wizard. It's expensive for most mages and flat out insane for a Warlord If you want you can put one of your Nullifies on the person you're cursing. Now obviously Destroy Magic is going to get around a Nullify but my "Only a Wizard will carry this most likely" statement holds extra strong for that.

Now if you are fighting a Wizard and he's bringing out the Purge Magic and Destroy Magics then he's going to be using his mana to get rid of your crap and not doing his own. Like the famous general said "You don't win wars reacting to what the other guy does, you win wars by making the other guy react to you."

[blackirishguilt]

My apologies. I wasn't clear in what I meant. I was just saying that there was no need to put the Altar down in turn 1. The Acolyte on turn 1 is perfectly fine. I was just saying that since you couldn't use the Acolyte on turn 1 anyway, there isn't a reason to summon the Altar on turn 1 as well.

On turn 2, you could drop the Altar and put a token on it with the Acolyte you summoned on Turn 1.

That makes perfect sense, thanks a bunch.  I figured there was something I was missing because you know your stuff, just couldn't sleuth it out.  I blame real life...work intruding on my necromantic thoughts.   

@ silverclaw - Great points, thanks mate!

Back to the drawing board for volume 2.0 look like this:

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname]Black Death 2.0[/spellbookname]
[mage]Necromancer[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNJ01]1 x  Altar of Skulls[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ04]1 x  Graveyard[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j20]1 x  Sacrificial Altar[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j11]1 x  Idol of Pestilence[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNW02]3 x  Wall of Bones[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j19]1 x  Deathlock[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNC09]4 x  Plague Zombie[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC01]1 x  Acolyte of the Bog Queen[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC19]4 x  Venomous Zombie[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC07]1 x  Mort[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC13]2 x  Skeletal Archer[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC14]2 x  Skeletal Knight[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c23]1 x  Malacoda[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1e31]1 x  Poisoned Blood[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e08]1 x  Death Link[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e20]2 x  Harmonize[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e35]1 x  Reverse Magic[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e19]2 x  Ghoul Rot[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e04]2 x  Chains of Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e27]2 x  Marked for Death[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e02]2 x  Block[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e29]2 x  Nullify[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e24]1 x  Magebane[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNQ03]1 x  Deathshroud Staff[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ02]1 x  Death Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q05]1 x  Demonhide Armor[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ10]1 x  Meditation Amulet[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q07]1 x  Elemental Cloak[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ05]1 x  Libro Mortuos[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ01]1 x  Cloak of Shadows[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNI06]1 x  Zombie Frenzy[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI03]2 x  Reassemble[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI05]1 x  Unholy Resurgence[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI01]1 x  Animate Dead[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i08]1 x  Drain Life[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]3 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i24]1 x  Seeking Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]3 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]


I tried to start with the essentials to the poison plan, then built ways to facilitate killing things to speed up the Altar, defenses against common problems, and some utility.  Still not a lot of ways to gain life but Death Link and Drain Life should help.

[Laddinfance]

I find an interesting spell for Necomancers is Devil's Trident. It can apply a poison condition at range (albeit a short one), and it can burn the target. Not something you want to rely on, but it's pretty cool.

[Myrddin]

I find an interesting spell for Necomancers is Devil's Trident. It can apply a poison condition at range (albeit a short one), and it can burn the target. Not something you want to rely on, but it's pretty cool.

Interesting idea. I guess against zombie-swarm opponents will want to stack armour and you'll want to remove it again: whether or not Devil's Trident synergises therefore depends on who you think will win the arms (armour?) race. If keeping them at 0 armour is your top priority, then its piercing is wasted. But if you think they'll manage to keep some, nice being able to pierce through it.

Then again, a condition-led zombie horde cares less about armour than zombie crawlers/minions/brutes

[Laddinfance]

Yea, you only really care about Colossus Belt at that point. One of my playtest games with the Anvil Throne Warlord I missed out on tainted markers about 3 or 4 times simply because I had Tough -4. Now, I will also say that this is the exact type of spellbook that likes Battle Fury. With nine creatures that have awesome conditions it's sometimes totally worth it to have Mort swing a second time.

Most of what I'd have to say about this spellbook will be my personal preference, and I would hate to tell you, "Just make a book like me instead!"

[blackirishguilt]

I got to play the book and definitely learned some things.

Probably don't need 2 Spawnpoints for this type of build.  Graveyard is incredibly synergistic but Libro just felt like wasted mana and I never got much return from it.  Death Ring may be the same but I'm not sure.

Idol of Pestilence and Deathlok may also be cut.  Idol is win more and Deathlok buys time against lots of early Regen but is so situational as to be virtually useless.  More testing required but it's on the fence for sure.

Will need to tweak the utility spells as the Dissolve/Dispel numbers don't seem very good.  I don't care much about them having armor when most of my damage is direct. 

Some more aggression/fodder would be good to drive mana on Graveyard and protection for me and the win con would be good. 

Dispel Wand would be great if I had it, until then we may look at a Mage Wand with a Dispel option as that also works with Reassemble and Zombie Frenzy




My opponent is really new and didn't pressure me so it was easy getting the Altar going but man was it awesome to see him take 8 poison every upkeep! (4 Rot tokens + 1 from Plague Master + 2 from Altar + 1 from Idol) While the setup was slow, the payoff ended the game incredibly fast. 

[Death-from-above]

Nice. Glad you got to test it.

Since you say your opponent didn't pressure you early on, how well do you think this book would have done against a more aggressive opponent? If you have any thoughts to how you would fend off an aggressive mage while setting up an economy, I am all ears. I am currently trying different methods for the Anvil Throne Warlord in early defense against aggressive mages and I haven't found one that clicks yet.

[blackirishguilt]

Great question Death.  Honestly, I think it would have been very easily disrupted by an aggressive opponent.  I think cutting Libro will help with that as instead of dropping 10 - 14 on that (Harmonized) you could instead get out a defender like a Skeletal Knight early on to meet the aggression. 

The dilemma I'm having now is wanting to include cheap fodder like Crawlers to help against Aggro, but doing that makes Libro/Death Ring more appealing which is against the controlling late game strategy I'm going for.  Ultimately, I need to spend some time optimizing the opening to get Cleric > Altar > Graveyard > Eternal Servant (guard) as efficiently as possible.  Once that's setup, you should have the flexibility to go aggressive with Venemous + Plague Zombies to start the poison or drop back defensively with your Walls of Bone + Reassemble.  I'm thinking something like this might work:

T1 (20) [mwcard=DNC01]Acolyte of the Bog Queen[/mwcard], [mwcard=DNQ10]Meditation Amulet[/mwcard] [11]
T2 (21) [mwcard=DNJ01]Altar of Skulls[/mwcard], Meditate, Pray w/ Acolyte {1 skull} [15]
T3 (25) [mwcard=DNJ04]Graveyard[/mwcard], [mwcard=DNC13]Skeletal Archer[/mwcard] (Servant?), Pray w/ Acolyte {2 skulls} [ 0 ]

From there I would probably want to Harmonize the Graveyard and the rest is up to the game.  You can put up a Wall, start playing Venemous Zombies, drop some curses....you know the drill.