B.A.D. - Arraxian Crown Warlock Spellbook

[Wildhorn]

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname]B.A.D.[/spellbookname]
[mage]Warlock[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1a12]1 x  Ring of Fire[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a06]2 x  Flameblast[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a04]2 x  Fireball[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1j08]1 x  Hand of Bim-Shalla[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ01]1 x  Enchanter's Wardstone[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1w04]1 x  Wall of Thorns[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1c01]1 x  Adramelech, Lord of Fire[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFC02]1 x  Blood Demon[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c03]1 x  Dark Pact Slayer[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1e09]3 x  Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e08]1 x  Death Link[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e19]1 x  Ghoul Rot[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e24]1 x  Magebane[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE04]2 x  Enchantment Transfusion[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE06]1 x  Lion Savagery[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e36]1 x  Rhino Hide[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE02]1 x  Akiro's Favor[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e01]1 x  Bear Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e04]1 x  Chains of Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e05]1 x  Cheetah Speed[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e25]1 x  Maim Wings[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e31]2 x  Poisoned Blood[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e40]1 x  Vampirism[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE04]2 x  Brace Yourself[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e32]1 x  Regrowth[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e28]1 x  Mongoose Agility[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e29]2 x  Nullify[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWE03]2 x  Falcon Precision[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE03]1 x  Arcane Corruption[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE07]1 x  Rust[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e14]1 x  Enfeeble[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1q06]2 x  Dragonscale Hauberk[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q21]1 x  Moloch's Torment[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q07]1 x  Elemental Cloak[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q09]1 x  Enchanter's Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q10]1 x  Fireshaper Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ09]1 x  Sectarus, Dark Rune Sword[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q18]1 x  Mage Staff[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q11]1 x  Gauntlets of Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q14]1 x  Lash of Hellfire[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1i28]2 x  Teleport[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i20]1 x  Purify[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFI03]2 x  Disarm[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i25]1 x  Shift Enchantment[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i12]2 x  Force Push[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i02]1 x  Battle Fury[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i11]1 x  Explode[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]2 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]1 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]

The name come from the creatures into this spellbook:

Blood Demon
Adramelech, Lord of Fire
Dark Park Slayer

This is my main spellbook and originally it was based on the Beatdown spellbook that won the BashCon 2013. It evolved with every expansion coming out. This is the last iteration of it, named B.A.D.

I have multiple way of opening.

- Adramelech on turn 2 and I support him.
- Adramelech on turn 2 and Blood Reaper Blood Demon on turn 3 and then I support them.
- Blood Reaper Blood Demon and weapon on myself (either Lash of Fire or Curse Sword) on turn 2.
- Blood Reaper Blood Demon on turn 2 and Dark Pack Slayer on turn 3.
- Buffing myself while going toward opponent and unleash pain and suffering once at destination.

I should be bashing opponent head by turn 3 (or 4 if he stayed in his corner).

This spellbook has attack power and also utility. It was made to be able to react to pretty much any situation (but I lack experience vs Control spellbook, so I am not quite sure how good  it is against them).

What I love about this spellbook is, beside knowing that I will hit them hard, my opponent has no idea how I will hit them. It is full of little tricks and combos.

So far, after over 15 duels, he is undefeated and a game never lasted more than 9 rounds against him. Typically, the opponent is on the ground in the First Quick Cast phase of turn 7, burning from a Fireball.

[Biblofilter]

Looks pretty BAD 

I have an old "Lord of Terror" spellbook myself, but i have only played a few games with him.

I like to ask why you have the following spells in your book:

[mwcard=MW1W04]Wall of Thorns[/mwcard]

Why not [mwcard=MW1W03]Wall of Fire[/mwcard] ?

[mwcard=MW1Q18]Mage Staff[/mwcard]

Is this some kind of back-up gun?

[V10lentray]

Wall of Thorns is probably for the quick force push through a wall. 10 dice is greater than 5 dice.

And for mage staff, probably because of the ethereal damage trait.

[sdougla2]

How do you deal with a defensive Earth Wizard that uses Iron Golems to guard? I've never come up with a play for the Arraxian Crown Warlock in that particular circumstance that I'm happy with. Every other matchup looks reasonable, though Force Master might be annoying.

[V10lentray]

Banish and Teleport seem to work pretty well.

[Wildhorn]

Looks pretty BAD 

I have an old "Lord of Terror" spellbook myself, but i have only played a few games with him.

I like to ask why you have the following spells in your book:

[mwcard=MW1W04]Wall of Thorns[/mwcard]

Why not [mwcard=MW1W03]Wall of Fire[/mwcard] ?

[mwcard=MW1Q18]Mage Staff[/mwcard]

Is this some kind of back-up gun?

WoT is to deal with Forcefield and vs unarmored mages, it is a painful lesson given to them.

Mage Staff is to deal with Ethereal creatures/conjuration.

[Wildhorn]

How do you deal with a defensive Earth Wizard that uses Iron Golems to guard? I've never come up with a play for the Arraxian Crown Warlock in that particular circumstance that I'm happy with. Every other matchup looks reasonable, though Force Master might be annoying.

Teleport/Force Push him out of his guards, of course.
Else, simply curse with Ghoul Rot, Mage Bane, Arcane Corruption to kill him slowly.
Last option, Moongoose Agility on Adramelech or Blood Demon to bypass guards.

Also, Agony on Iron Golem make them less threatening (and you can kill em via Moloch Torment).

[sdougla2]

Banish is too expensive to even consider using on Iron Golems, particularly for an Arraxian Crown Warlock.

Teleporting him away from his guards can certainly help, but moving him one zone often does basically nothing (the first attack triggers Voltaric Shield if he activated that, and then he walks back into his guards). If you Teleport him multiple zones, you're expending enough mana that it's harder to apply pressure to him, and he can Teleport back, which favors his higher base channeling and more Teleports (any decent Earth Wizard reliant on Iron Golems will run 4 Teleports).

Curse spam can work, but Earth Wizards have cheap access to all of the anti-enchantment cards, and you only run a few damage over time curses and no Enchanter's Wardstone, so the Wizard can just remove them. I don't see this working very well for you with this card distribution.

Agony makes Iron Golems less threatening, but they still slow you down a lot. Killing them via Moloch's Torment takes forever. It can contribute to killing them, but you would have to take 13 rounds and 13 mana, the full cost of an Iron Golem in the first place, to kill them that way.

There are certainly things a Warlock can do against Iron Golems, I've just never come up with a plan that really satisfied me, and I still think the matchup is in the Earth Wizard's favor. Curse spam is probably the best option, but it really forces you to play a bunch of curses in order to actually make that work.

[Borg]

Hi Wildhorn,

I'd like to hear your reasoning for including the following cards :

- Gauntlets of Strength :

normally I will only include this in my book if I can play it through a Battle Forge. As a Mage's QC I find it somewhat of a subpar choice, there's usually something more important to cast. Same goes for Moloch's Torment. Do you find it worth the action to cast this spell ? ( as I think I can spot at least 15 cards which seem to be more impactful to cast at any given time )

- Battle Fury :

Wouldn't you get more out of a Retaliate ?
Battle Fury adds only a basic quick attack for 5 mana while a Retaliate gives you a +X Melee attack for potentially only 3 mana ( Enchanter's ring )

If it's an extra attack that you want you might as well cast a Flameblast for the same mana cost, higher damage output ( Fireshaper Ring ), only 1 SP instead of 2 SP's and it's unavoidable to boost, not to mention you can hold the Flameblast back and cast it if really necessary and the BF hast to be cast up front.

- Maim Wings :

Between Adramalech, Blood Demon and the Lash, there seems to be enough ways to handle opposing flyers, so why the inclusion of Maim Wings ?

[Wildhorn]

Hi Wildhorn,

I'd like to hear your reasoning for including the following cards :

- Gauntlets of Strength :

normally I will only include this in my book if I can play it through a Battle Forge. As a Mage's QC I find it somewhat of a subpar choice, there's usually something more important to cast. Same goes for Moloch's Torment. Do you find it worth the action to cast this spell ? ( as I think I can spot at least 15 cards which seem to be more impactful to cast at any given time )

- Battle Fury :

Wouldn't you get more out of a Retaliate ?
Battle Fury adds only a basic quick attack for 5 mana while a Retaliate gives you a +X Melee attack for potentially only 3 mana ( Enchanter's ring )

If it's an extra attack that you want you might as well cast a Flameblast for the same mana cost, higher damage output ( Fireshaper Ring ), only 1 SP instead of 2 SP's and it's unavoidable to boost, not to mention you can hold the Flameblast back and cast it if really necessary and the BF hast to be cast up front.

- Maim Wings :

Between Adramalech, Blood Demon and the Lash, there seems to be enough ways to handle opposing flyers, so why the inclusion of Maim Wings ?

If I project to go in melee, Gauntlets of Strenght is a nice cheap +1 melee.
Moloch Torment is awesome if opponent try to stay out of your line of sight. It is also very good to finish up a creature that ended up with 1 hp left, instead to waste a full attack on it on next turn.

Retaliate is only good if your opponent attack the creature. If he doesnt, Retaliate will do nothing. Since Adramelech is flying, it is more rare he will get attacked in melee. So Battle Fury allow him to double attack. Flameblast is nice, but if you do not have a LoS or you are at range 2, Battle Fury on Adremelech save the day.

Maim Wings is for 3 purposes. 1st, it is a curse, so I can use Moloch Torment. 2nd, sometimes I just don't want to hinder the creature, I just don't want it to fly. Like if it could fly over a wall, with Maim Wings, it suddently has to go around it. 3rd, sometimes, I want my creatures to not be hindered by a flying creature, so Maim Wing allow my creature to pass free.

[Wildhorn]

Banish is too expensive to even consider using on Iron Golems, particularly for an Arraxian Crown Warlock.

Teleporting him away from his guards can certainly help, but moving him one zone often does basically nothing (the first attack triggers Voltaric Shield if he activated that, and then he walks back into his guards). If you Teleport him multiple zones, you're expending enough mana that it's harder to apply pressure to him, and he can Teleport back, which favors his higher base channeling and more Teleports (any decent Earth Wizard reliant on Iron Golems will run 4 Teleports).

Curse spam can work, but Earth Wizards have cheap access to all of the anti-enchantment cards, and you only run a few damage over time curses and no Enchanter's Wardstone, so the Wizard can just remove them. I don't see this working very well for you with this card distribution.

Agony makes Iron Golems less threatening, but they still slow you down a lot. Killing them via Moloch's Torment takes forever. It can contribute to killing them, but you would have to take 13 rounds and 13 mana, the full cost of an Iron Golem in the first place, to kill them that way.

There are certainly things a Warlock can do against Iron Golems, I've just never come up with a plan that really satisfied me, and I still think the matchup is in the Earth Wizard's favor. Curse spam is probably the best option, but it really forces you to play a bunch of curses in order to actually make that work.

Doesn't matter if he goes back into his guard pit. It is all about timing and leaving him out of it for 1 attack.

Quickcast the moving spell, attack with creature. He goes back in his golem group. Repeat on next turn.

Anyway, Wizard are a pain in the ass no matter what. There is no easy way against them.