Balancing a Warlord book

[TeenageWargamer]

So I am attempting to build an Anvil Throne Warlord book for casual play and possibly some tournament play.  I know that the warlord is often considered a weak choice, but I really like them.  The Anvil Throne Warlord seems to be slightly less creature and more equipment focused than the Bloodwave Warlord, but at the same time I don't want  to do a solo build (I have absolutely no faith in solo builds unless you are using the Forcemaster).  As a result, I was wondering how many spell points you tend to spend on creatures and equipment in an Anvil Throne Warlord book.  I was also wondering how many dispels/seeking dispels/nullifys you guys tend to take, they are so costly for a warlord but so useful!  Last but not least, I was wondering how you buff up on channeling without using things like harmonize or moonglow amulets.  Thanks!

[Knabbmaster]

A good way too save spell points for the anvil throne warlord is too use dispel wand and give it cantrip. You shouldn't have a too big off an problem with your channeling with your barracks which should give you an additional three mana every round if you still need more I recommend you add meditation amulet and battle forge.

[TeenageWargamer]

Currently, I run Battle Forge, Construction Yard, and Barracks.  Recently I also added Alter of Carnage, but I haven't gotten it out yet.  As for wands I actually like running a Mage Wand with him, load it up with a Dispel or Dissolve at the end of the game and watch your opponent freak out (especially if he blew all of his dissolves on your armor earlier).  I have played 2 games with him so far, I might try including the Dispel Wand next time.  Economy is still a little rocky, and my main issue is that I usually play locally, but there are only three other people who play Mage Wars. Recently I got Octgn and want to start playing more, but am worried that some of the global players (Charmyna) will pound my face in.  Also want to take this mage to tournaments eventually.

[sIKE]

Recently I got Octgn and want to start playing more, but am worried that some of the global players (Charmyna) will pound my face in.  Also want to take this mage to tournaments eventually.

Don't worry about that, look forward to playing the game and learning. Almost everyone is very nice and like to play the game just like you.

[sdougla2]

Warlords were considered weak before the release of Forged in Fire. Now they are considered to be much more on par with the other mages.

With a Warlord I generally want to run 2-3 Dispels, no Seeking Dispels, and no Nullifies. I don't think of either Nullify or Seeking Dispel as really necessary for most strategies.

In terms of mana generation, my Anvil Throne Warlord is my most economic mage, and doesn't use any arcane spells to do it.

If I'm not under pressure, I open with:

Turn 1 (19): Battle Forge -> Construction Yard (4)
Turn 2 (13): Deploy Meditation Amulet -> Meditate -> Barracks (2)
Turn 3 (11) [2]: Deploy General's Signet Ring -> Deploy Orc Butcher -> Meditate -> Garrison Post (4)

By this point I am generating 17 mana/round and get an additional discount of 1 on a soldier.

Once I have a bunch of soldiers on the board, I can follow up with Altar of Carnage to increase my mana generation even further.

How many creatures you should run will depend heavily on whether you plan to play the Barracks. I would run a minimum of 8 soldiers in a Barracks build. In a non-Barracks build you can run fewer.

As for equipment, I think you should run at least 2 Harshforge Plate, 1 Elemental Cloak, 1 Reflex Boots, 1 Leather Gloves, 1 weapon, 1 wand, and 1 Veteran's Belt or Regrowth Belt. That way you have a strong use for all of your runes, and you have strong defensive options.

[TeenageWargamer]

My issue is that I don't own all of the expansions, I don't have druid vs necro.  Even though I could use cards like the meditation amulet, acid ball, and veteran's belt on octgn, I want to be able to build this book physically as well.  I also really don't like reflex boots.  They are extremely costly (9 mana+1 for the rune), and defenses don't always work (for some reason, even with a defense ring and the rune most of my rolls are super low).  I got rid of the boots entirely and just loaded up on armor. I do run an elemental cloak and two harshforge plates, plus leather boots (although that may change, in two of my three games played I was force pushed into walls of thorns, some bizarre kind of local meta).  Throw on Rhino Hide plus the extra armor from Hand of Bim Shalla (I will probably switch to Paladin when he comes out, I run a lot of holy spells in my book) and you have one pretty beefy mage.  Can I ask why you only run one nullify?  I have had opponents that always throw as many dissolves as possible at harshforge, the only way I can keep it is with some clever nullifys (including that crazy trick with enchantment transfusion where you can double nullify your self).

[Kharhaz]

I have had opponents that always throw as many dissolves as possible at harshforge, the only way I can keep it is with some clever nullifys (including that crazy trick with enchantment transfusion where you can double nullify your self).

Armor Ward [mwcard=MWSTX1CKE01]Armor Ward[/mwcard] is a good option for Warlords (half in school) if your opponents like to target your equipment.

[sdougla2]

I don't run Nullify because it is too expensive for what it offers a Warlord. Harshforge Plate is a better way to discourage enchantments and incantations targeting your mage.

Armor Ward is a more efficient way to protect your equipment than Nullify. At that point it costs 16 mana to Dissolve your Plate if it has a rune on it.

[TeenageWargamer]

According to my math, Nullify costs three spell points to include, and so does Armor Ward.  Given the choice, I though I would always take Nullify, I believe that canceling a spell is better than just making the opponent pay more.  However, Enchantment Transfusion is an absolutely insane investment in spells points and Nullify can be Decoyed pretty easily, so I think I will give it a go.  Do you guys run Eagle Claw Boots at all?  Also, how do you deal with etheral things like Mana Siphon?

[Kharhaz]

I try to run eagle claw boots in some 80% of my books.

Armor ward is more reliable than nullify. When I used them, nullify was always stopping disarms when I had it out.

Disarm is a good way to test the waters on your opponent. It is cheap and if they do not have a nullify then they likely lose some important equipment for a round or two.

Armor Ward on the other hand is a six mana investment that is far superior at guarding your equipment. You spend 6 and then:

A. Opponent dispels it for 6. We break even.
B. You pay x+4 when I pay x - battleforge's y - 1 from forge hammer. This is how you can win games.
C. They do not dissolve your equipment. Which is another WIN - WIN really, I would gladly pay 6 mana for you to not destroy my cool toys.

[baronzaltor]

Armor Ward is also good because it is not a mandatory reveal like Nullify, so you can reveal it on your own timing instead of having to burn it on the next spell wether you are ready or not.

[sdougla2]

Stopping a spell of your choice is better than taxing a spell, but stopping a spell of your opponent's choice is not nearly as exciting, and Armor Ward is persistent, unlike Nullify.

[ACG]

Stopping a spell of your choice is better than taxing a spell, but stopping a spell of your opponent's choice is not nearly as exciting, and Armor Ward is persistent, unlike Nullify.

When you reveal Armor Ward, your opponent will often not even have enough mana to pay the tax (if they did not see it coming), in which case it behaves exactly like a nullify stopping their spell.

[TeenageWargamer]

All extremely good points.  I will probably leave in one nullify, but the other 3 and enchantment transfusion are gone!  My last (hopefully) question is what do you do against incorporeal, I can't seem to find any good options for the Warlord to use.

[Kharhaz]

My last (hopefully) question is what do you do against incorporeal, I can't seem to find any good options for the Warlord to use.

Not a lot of great options here, but these are some

A. [mwcard=MW1Q18]Mage Staff[/mwcard].
B. [mwcard=MWSTX1CKE02]Divine Might[/mwcard].
C. [mwcard=MW1Q08]Elemental Wand[/mwcard] plus your choice of spell