The Johktari RUSHmaster

[Intangible0]

This is what I used in episode 14 of Arcane Duels.

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname][/spellbookname]
[mage]Johktari Beastmaster[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNA01]3 x  Acid Ball[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWA04]3 x  Hurl Boulder[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFA02]2 x  Hurl Rock[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a09]1 x  Jet Stream[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a07]3 x  Lightning Bolt[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKA01]2 x  Surging Wave[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWA01]2 x  Arc Lightning[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWA02]1 x  Force Hammer[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1j22]2 x  Tanglevine[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE06]1 x  Lion Savagery[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e21]1 x  Hawkeye[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e01]1 x  Bear Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e34]1 x  Reverse Attack[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e40]1 x  Vampirism[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e28]2 x  Mongoose Agility[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE02]2 x  Akiro's Favor[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE04]1 x  Brace Yourself[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e23]2 x  Jinx[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e29]1 x  Nullify[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=FWQ01]2 x  Dancing Scimitar[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q07]1 x  Elemental Cloak[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFQ06]2 x  Morning Star[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ06]2 x  Eagleclaw Boots[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q08]1 x  Elemental Wand[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1i07]2 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]2 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i28]3 x  Teleport[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i26]1 x  Sleep[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i15]1 x  Knockdown[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]

So the strategy here is obviously to throw attack spells at your opponent until they're nothing but a pile of rubble on the field.

1. Open with two face down enchantments: Hawkeye and Akiro's Favor.
2. On turn two run two spaces forward and take advantage of the fast trait, blast them with two hurl boulders after revealing the two enchantments. That's 8 dice of damage between two attacks and you get one reroll
3. On turn three you'll get just enough mana for a 5 cost and 8 cost spell. I usually like to go with an acid ball in case they throw armor on and a lightning bolt in hopes that you can stun them (higher chance with the reroll).

If your opponent walls off then spend a turn preparing with the dancing scimitar and whatever else will be useful, then the next turn walk over with eagleclaw boots and continue your assault.

If they throw armor on you should have enough corrode to deal with it. If they counter you with aggression then try to daze/stun them. And against a Forcemaster surging wave does wonders since it's unavoidable and will probably slam them.

Also if the opponent has a lot of creatures then you can keep teleporting the mage away and as long as you have mongoose agility on you can keep striking them while moving too far away from their minions. Perks of being fast!

Overall I tried to put enough contingency spells in that will ward against aggression, so far the book's done pretty well.

[Biblofilter]

Saw the videos 

This book is real aggro. I was just fidling with one of my own spellbooks: "wow i has nothing that can stop this guy/girl"

Armor and especially defences seems to be a possible counter..
Guards with interception might be a problem to.

I like that you have multiple of the important spells.

I like that you have build a really good spellbook, that forces people to think twice before they cast a lot of mana/action generators.

A few spells id might change/add:
Hurl Rock for something similar but unavoidable (block/reverse attack)

Id like a Posion Blood or something like that, maybe a few other curses as well.

An Enchanters Wardstone might be nice.

[V10lentray]

I would list my book but it's irrelevant.

Play Sheriff of Nottingham, at least that game isn't broken.

[ringkichard]

Ray, I promise this can be beaten. Walls, intercept, reverse attack, regrowth, Divine Intervention... don't give up!

[juli]

If you really want to do a hard counter to this deck, try forcemaster with a battleforge.
The built in defence and never ending forcefields while the forge gears you up will negate almost everything he can throw at you 

[MageHorst]

Ray, I promise this can be beaten. Walls, intercept, reverse attack, regrowth, Divine Intervention... don't give up!

I agree. And, as Intangible0 mentioned in the video, it would be very interesting to see this spellbook in action against another aggressive Mage. Or against a Druid (vine makers + Tanglevine).

[V10lentray]

I truly think that deck would get crushed by my druid build. Vine markers, and 2 Tangle vine / 3 Strangle vines you can't run if you're tied up.

[V10lentray]

Here was the book used in that video. After the match, we made many changes to this book.

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname][/spellbookname]
[mage]Necromancer[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNA01]2 x  Acid Ball[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWA02]1 x  Force Hammer[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWA04]1 x  Hurl Boulder[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a09]3 x  Jet Stream[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFJ04]1 x  Armory[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWJ02]1 x  Archer's Watchtower[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j19]1 x  Deathlock[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j12]2 x  Mana Crystal[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNW02]2 x  Wall of Bones[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j11]1 x  Idol of Pestilence[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNC02]2 x  Deathfang[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC07]1 x  Mort[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC13]2 x  Skeletal Archer[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC14]2 x  Skeletal Knight[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC15]2 x  Skeletal Minion[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c32]2 x  Skeletal Sentry[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1e09]1 x  Agony[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e27]1 x  Marked for Death[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e14]1 x  Enfeeble[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e19]1 x  Ghoul Rot[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e25]2 x  Maim Wings[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNQ02]1 x  Death Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q07]1 x  Elemental Cloak[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ05]1 x  Libro Mortuos[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ10]1 x  Storm Drake Hide[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q15]1 x  Leather Boots[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q16]1 x  Leather Gloves[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q18]1 x  Mage Staff[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q05]1 x  Demonhide Armor[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1i06]2 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]2 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKI01]1 x  Drain Soul[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i12]2 x  Force Push[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI03]2 x  Reassemble[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i28]2 x  Teleport[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI05]1 x  Unholy Resurgence[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i01]1 x  Banish[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i24]1 x  Seeking Dispel[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]

[Intangible0]

Ray, I promise this can be beaten. Walls, intercept, reverse attack, regrowth, Divine Intervention... don't give up!

I agree! When I made the deck I wasn't thinking of how to make it more effective, I was actually wracking my brain trying to figure out the best ways to beat it. That's when I realized how much versatility there actually is in the attack spells.

Ray this can be beat. I wanted to do this episode to show what aggressive decks can look like, and I think it shows that there should be some considerations made for how to counter such a build.

I'm interested and a little excited to see if this changes the meta at all.

[Coshade]

I really like the rush tactics! While my prefered style is to go for a more economy game, I think it is important to respect the rush decks.

So mages with channel 10 can do a version of this deck as well. You can cheetah speed yourself as a quick cast, move 2 then akiro yourself. You have the mana round 2 to do some intense damage. The Johktari has the advantage with fast but a lot of other mages could do a slightly weaker version of it. As a player I feel its important to be prepared for a rush deck.

I feel like with a rush deck you can predict what the rusher will do. In the first turn the conjurations (or lack there of conjurations) is a great way to identify if they will be rushing.

Ways to defend against it

- Walls - Buys you at least a round (probably 2-3) that lets you get the proper creatures out

Reverse attack/Block- An instant waste of mana for the rusher or lets you stack the damage back against him. If they use unavoidable then they won't do as much damage to you.

Battleforge/Brace yourself - Getting a chestplate or even leather gloves and stacking it with brace yourself will give you 5-6 armor for the round.

Counter rushing yourself - Starting with Akiro's Favor Turn 1 and letting him come to you to then returning the attack spells back at him.

In Episode 5 I vsed a rush wizard as a necromancer. I did the double mana crystal opening then turn 2 a double walled. I did that to try to stop the rush that wizards can do. There's tons of ways to defend against rushing, it just takes proper preparation.

A lot of other people had some great suggestions here! With your group I encourage playing some games with a rush strategy to see what its like to deal with a rusher. Each game only takes about 10-15 minutes to sway the advantage between the rusher or not.

@Intangiblo0 - Do you think these are proper ways to defeating the Rushmaster?

[BoomFrog]

Best defense against a rusher is to summon one creature then use wall of thorns and curve push on them. If they don't put on any armor then punish them for it. And now you've got a perfectly positioned wall between you and them but your creature is beating on them and hindering.

[sIKE]

Best defense against a rusher is to summon one creature then use wall of thorns and curve push on them. If they don't put on any armor then punish them for it. And now you've got a perfectly positioned wall between you and them but your creature is beating on them and hindering.

QFT

WoT+Push&Push pretty much will stop agro books dead cold in the water. Just have to be careful of your own wall and put some armor on.

[Coshade]

I like the responses! I was wondering if you could elaborate a little more since rush builds tend to act fast. I guess I am more interested in using a standard tournament deck rather then building a deck specifically designed to beat this. I am confused on how your creature can hinder him if it does not get out until round 2. I don't think a lot of people would suggest as a standard opening to start with a creature since economy really suffers (maybe I am wrong here?).

So what you are saying is that turn 1 you cast a spawnpoint and no other economy (see that he is rushing)

Turn 2 you grab wall of thorns and force push and summon a creature (he hits you for 16 dice and akiro's one of them - 16 Dice (2 attacks) VS 10 Dice (5 attacks)

Turn 3 you push again during QC have a creature and maybe can push again if he chooses not to move out of the way (23-25 dice creature attack variance (11 attacks rolled seperatly) and he hits you with acid ball Hurl boulder (11 dice + corrode change over 2 attacks) 

So after round 3 the rusher has 37 dice over 4 rolls with 2 of those being Akiro'd and one corrode chance
The defender with WOT and a spawnpoint has  33-35 dice over 11 attacks. It seems like it would be a pretty close game.

[sIKE]

I like the responses! I was wondering if you could elaborate a little more since rush builds tend to act fast. I guess I am more interested in using a standard tournament deck rather then building a deck specifically designed to beat this. I am confused on how your creature can hinder him if it does not get out until round 2. I don't think a lot of people would suggest as a standard opening to start with a creature since economy really suffers (maybe I am wrong here?).

So what you are saying is that turn 1 you cast a spawnpoint and no other economy (see that he is rushing)

Turn 2 you grab wall of thorns and force push and summon a creature (he hits you for 16 dice and akiro's one of them - 16 Dice (2 attacks) VS 10 Dice (5 attacks)

Turn 3 you push again during QC have a creature and maybe can push again if he chooses not to move out of the way (23-25 dice creature attack variance (11 attacks rolled seperatly) and he hits you with acid ball Hurl boulder (11 dice + corrode change over 2 attacks) 

So after round 3 the rusher has 37 dice over 4 rolls with 2 of those being Akiro'd and one corrode chance
The defender with WOT and a spawnpoint has  33-35 dice over 11 attacks. It seems like it would be a pretty close game.

This is a good way to war game it out, other than the WoT blocking LoS and possibly preventing one of the attack spells going off, and timed with Initiative could result in a quick death. With just two pushes you are talking 20 dice of damage. Average damage of course will be in the twenty range but it is not unknown for the rolls to be above average....at that point many decide to withdraw and regroup....

[Intangible0]

The wall push trick may work against most rush decks but it may struggle against this one particularly. You can be pushed right back through your own wall and since the JBM has fast she can move two spaces away while still casting spells. This could mean that she's pulling the same trick as your with your own action (casting the wall) and she's now too far away to be pushed herself.