Death By Poison OR How to Annoy with Bats!

[Jon.Ambriz]

So, here is another book I put together not too long ago:

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname][/spellbookname]
[mage]Johktari Beastmaster[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=FWA01]2 x  Arc Lightning[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKA01]1 x  Surging Wave[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a09]1 x  Jet Stream[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1a07]1 x  Lightning Bolt[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWA04]3 x  Hurl Boulder[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFA02]2 x  Hurl Rock[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=FWJ08]1 x  Renewing Spring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j18]1 x  Poison Gas Cloud[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ01]1 x  Enchanter's Wardstone[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1w04]2 x  Wall of Thorns[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWJ06]1 x  Mangler Caltrops[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNC16]1 x  Spitting Raptor[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c08]4 x  Darkfenne Bat[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c12]1 x  Emerald Tegu[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKC09]2 x  Giant Wolf Spider[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE02]1 x  Akiro's Favor[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e28]1 x  Mongoose Agility[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e29]2 x  Nullify[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE03]2 x  Healing Charm[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e12]1 x  Divine Protection[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e21]1 x  Hawkeye[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e03]1 x  Bull Endurance[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE04]1 x  Brace Yourself[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e02]2 x  Block[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWE03]1 x Falcon Precision[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1q06]1 x  Dragonscale Hauberk[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q07]1 x  Elemental Cloak[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q08]1 x  Elemental Wand[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ06]1 x  Eagleclaw Boots[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q02]1 x  Bearskin[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q17]1 x  Lightning Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ01]1 x  Dancing Scimitar[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1i12]4 x  Force Push[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]2 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i17]2 x  Minor Heal[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i24]2 x  Seeking Dispel[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]

See TL:DR at the end if you don't want to read.

Behold and be afraid! Though they may be small, in a micro swarm Darkfenne Bats are things to be afraid of! Now, let me tell you a story: I got the idea for a Johktari build from Intangible0's Johktari spell rushing book, so I used that as a base. Starting with Hawkeye and Akiro's Favor and a couple Hurl Boulders I crafted it, but then I got an idea. What would happen if I stacked poisons? They are hard to get rid of, and a lot of books I have seen for both casual and tournament play do not have Wand of Healing in them.

So, armed with this knowledge, I began looking for ways to stack poisons. Poison Gas Cloud was nice for poison DoT damage, and a nice hinder, but I wanted more. I was stuck for a few days on what to do. Then, they came. Out of the shadows, like little messengers from Hel, the Darkfenne Bats crossed over my eyes on the spell book builder. Sure, they are weak and super frail, but if I were to get the Rot Counters stacking, then I would be set. With a smile on my face, and an evil gleam in my eye, I started crafting. How could I pass up Emerald Tegu and Giant Wolf Spider? The Taint and even more Rots would be delicious!

But wait, what does the Spitting Raptor have to do with DoTs? I'm glad you asked, imaginary person! I figured that by the point of the game where someone would stack armor, I would need some way to get around it, and the Spitting Raptor seemed perfect.

When the book was complete, I went and tested it. Against a solo, heavy Enchantment Forcemaster, RNGsus was on my side that night, and I managed to stack throughout the game: roughly 19 Rot tokens, and keep three Stuck Tokens on my opponent for roughly 6 - 7 ROUNDS, and keep 1 Taint Marker as well. As the game drew to a close, all three of my healing methods were blown to just barely avoid lethal damage; Healing Charms were used at the end of the Damage Step to off-set lethal damage, and Minor Heals were cast in place of anything else to boost my life out of the DANGER ZONE[/b] (cue guitar solo), and Renewing Spring pull out the very late game to heal enough to keep going. This casual game was won only by the using a tried-and-true method: Force Pushing through Wall of Thorns against Aegis 1 four times in order to kill.

TL:DR: This build takes advantage of Corrode/Rot/Stuck/Taint conditions in order to deal indirect damage during Upkeep. The Hurling Boulders are used to turn off defenses, and the Wall of Thorns+Force Push combo pairs well with Poison Gas Cloud to hinder and cause even more Upkeep damage and hinders movement for the next aerial assault from the Darkfenne Bat swarm.

[ACG]

Why Johktari (as opposed to Straywood)? The Straywood Beastmaster can quickcast the bats, whereas the Johktari needs a full action, so what does the Johktari bring to the table? You have no ranged weapons (so the ranged +1 trait is useless) nor a spawnpoint (so Fast is offset by the need to stay in place when summoning). Is wounded Prey really better than Melee +1, Pet, and quick summoning?

Also, if you are trying to kill with poison, it seems to me that armor is kind of irrelevant.

What is your plan to deal with a necromancer?

I assume you mean Hurl ROCK is used to turn off defenses; Hurl Boulder would be a waste.

[Knabbmaster]

One card too have in mind is [mwcard=MW1I20]Purify[/mwcard] and you have no way too remove equipment.

[Coshade]

I think you have an interesting idea here. I am curious to see how you change the book as time goes on.
I am wondering how you manage your actions. Holding off your opponent while getting the bats out seems really tough.

You have no way of generating buff actions or mana as your opening. Generally that means you want to rush a lot. How do you "get safe" after rushing to allow yourself time to cast all those cute critters?

Why no teleport? Do you rely soley on Force Push? I am wondering because poison cloud and teleport go together decently.

Against the Necromancer I would consider putting in more acid balls. The WOT and no armor should be enough for you to defeat him after your rush. What are your thoughts on that?

[Jon.Ambriz]

Why Johktari (as opposed to Straywood)? The Straywood Beastmaster can quickcast the bats, whereas the Johktari needs a full action, so what does the Johktari bring to the table? You have no ranged weapons (so the ranged +1 trait is useless) nor a spawnpoint (so Fast is offset by the need to stay in place when summoning). Is wounded Prey really better than Melee +1, Pet, and quick summoning?

Also, if you are trying to kill with poison, it seems to me that armor is kind of irrelevant.

What is your plan to deal with a necromancer?

I assume you mean Hurl ROCK is used to turn off defenses; Hurl Boulder would be a waste.

I'll start here with you in my list of replies ACG. I like the Johktari because she as in innate Fast so I don't have to waste a card for Cheetah Speed, which means I only need Mongoose Agility in order to dash out of an unfriendly situation. Also, how I play the first opening turns and when I summon Bats are all dependent upon whether or not I have Initiative or not, and what my opponent is doing. If they are sitting back, then I'll throw out a Bat. If they are coming towards me quickly, I have my Fast trait to run away and stop them with my attack spells like Arc Lightning for a round of stun. With respect to SBM, I will agree that quick summoning is nice, but I find it to be very one-dimensional and easy to see how he's going to play. Hurl Boulder turns off the defenses of a FM because it places the Slam Condition on her, which Incapacitates so she can't use her innate Defense and any other Defenses, the exception being of course Force Field because it activates as soon as I declare my attack on her. Hurl Rock is good for turns when she's close and I want to try and delay a melee attack with Galvitar.

Against a Necromancer I would either switch to Rushing him before he has the chance to summon his horde, or I will go for WoT+Force Push cheese to force him to equip armor before I kill with four passes through the Wall.

One card too have in mind is [mwcard=MW1I20]Purify[/mwcard] and you have no way too remove equipment.

This is true for both Purify and equipment, but this book is set so that once the Bats are out, the Purifies can do so much. Sure, one Purify is going to be annoying to deal with once the Rots have stacked to say 7+, but by the time even 4 Rots get placed a Purify is more likely. But, there is also Nullify to deal with Purifies as well. As for equipment, with this version of the build I'm not really concerned because regardless or not, the effect die will roll. The Forcemaster I was testing this book out had [mwcard=MW1E12] Divine Protection[/mwcard] in play, so my Bats were only rolling 1 die worth of damage. Most of the time they didn't even DO damage, but still placed a Rot condition on her. Though, to be fair I will most likely place in at least one Dissolve, or hell even an Explode to deal with Mage Wands and/or Wands of Healing.

I think you have an interesting idea here. I am curious to see how you change the book as time goes on.
I am wondering how you manage your actions. Holding off your opponent while getting the bats out seems really tough.

You have no way of generating buff actions or mana as your opening. Generally that means you want to rush a lot. How do you "get safe" after rushing to allow yourself time to cast all those cute critters?

Why no teleport? Do you rely soley on Force Push? I am wondering because poison cloud and teleport go together decently.

Against the Necromancer I would consider putting in more acid balls. The WOT and no armor should be enough for you to defeat him after your rush. What are your thoughts on that?

How I manage my actions, that is tricky. With this kind of dual book, with both Spell Rushing and Summoning, I have to think on the fly at least two to three turns in advance as to what my opponent might do and plan around that. This is especially true in the first turn. I can generally get away with assuming some things with considerations to what mage I'm fighting since most players fall into the same kinds of trends. If I think the opponent will play passively for a round or two, I'll let the bats out in my own zone so they have time to get ready and then start moving.

Now, I favor Force Pushes over Teleport because I'm an old school MW player and I LOVE Wall of Thorns + Force Push cheese. If I am able to position correctly, I will win in two/three turns even through armor since I will be rolling 20 dice will a top damage combined damage of 40 if I perfect roll crits. My ideal situation would be that on one side of the WoT would be the PGC and Mangled Caltrops. so as soon as they enter the zone with MC they are hit again and the PGC stops them from running too far away from me to chase.

Next to your point about no means of generating extra mana or actions. That does not necessarily mean I will want to rush. It just means I have to be very aware of my mana each turn, and what I want to do in the succeeding turn. If I am going to rush, I won't summon the creatures and keep them benched for late game when I can assume heals from my opponent have been used.

Also, I have come to the thought that my health is another resource I can expend in order to accomplish killing the other Mage. Sure, I may have to take one or two turns of damage, but I have Blocks/Brace Yourself/Healing Charms/Minor Heals for that.

[Schwenkgott]

hmmmmm, i don't think you can win anything with this book.
The reason behind that is the following:
It's relativly easy to do damage to your Mage and it's easy to reduce or even evade your attacks.

More specific:
-If you summon a creature, you cannot move
-If you try to run from an enemy, you cannot summon your creatures nor use your scimitar for attacks.
-Your creatures lack strength and can be either killed with little effort or be ignored.
-You want to use enchantments (only 13?) and want to protect them with enchanters wardstone, but there is no enchanters ring.
-No Dissolve and only one possibility to reduce enemies armor (raptor). No poisoned blood. You will struggle against heavy armored and regenerating enemies. A Mage with 5+ Armor, Veterans Belt and Regenerate 2 could go make some coffee for three rounds and still win the game when he comes back, because you cannot harm him.
- A single purify (or a Priestress) may get rid of all the poison conditions.
-The spiders stuck and your wall push does not work well with each other.

[sdougla2]

I'm pretty skeptical as well. Bats don't do a lot of damage, and while they can inflict rot conditions, I have trouble seeing that being fast enough to win you the game, particularly when the bats will probably be killed in a single attack. You may be able to win with an attack spell/Wall of Thorns -> push rush, that's mostly if your opponent doesn't play armor. You do have a few options against armor stacking (all of your creatures can inflict relevant conditions), but I just don't think it's enough. Particularly against an armor stacking Necromancer or Priestess.

If you want to focus on creatures that can inflict rot conditions, why not run a Lair and more Emerald Tegu? They're tough enough that they probably won't die to a single attack, and the Lair will leave your mage open to maneuver rather than having to spend actions on summoning.

[Jon.Ambriz]

Love the commentary guys, but take this for what it is: a casual book for some casual fun. Sure, I agree 100% that I either need to switch out to the Straywood Beastmaster and go for more Emerald Tegus for sturdier creatures, but think about it this way:

If I play a bat, what do most people think? It's an easy creature to kill. That's an action that they aren't spending on me. OR, more specifically, that's a spell they are using to kill my creatures. Also, to address the point about a Necromancer stacking armor, or the Necromancer in general, that is why I have ten attack spells, and an Elemental Wand in my book. I know the Necro is immune to poison, that's when this book switches from summoning creatures to full on attack spell rush.

So, against a Necro, my Turns would be:

T1: Hawkeye and Akiro's Favor (Hidden), move to C1 or C3 (depending on location on the board).
Deployment: Reveal Both.
T2: Double Cast Hurl Boulder, reroll as needed.
T3, Equip Elemental Wand w/ Final Hurl Boulder, Mongoose Agility (Hidden)
T4: Double Cast Hurl Boulder again.
T5-etc.: Move and Cast Hurl Boulder as needed.

Next, to the point about a Purify. That's fine and dandy, I'm not too concerned about it. But, as I pointed out to Knabb master, WHEN the Purify is dropped is much more important than IF. One Rot isn't going to be bad, but 4 or 5? A little problematic. I'm seeing most casual players dropping a Purify after 2/3 Rots are applied, or in some extreme case 4/5 Rots. Even more experienced players would not let Rots stack up 7+.

[sdougla2]

The issue I see with the bats in regards to eating up your opponent's resources, is that a more economically focused opponent will be in a better position to spend quick actions to kill your bats than you will be to spend full actions to cast them. With the Lair it might work out better, but I have trouble seeing you coming out ahead with the spell book you've presented. Hurl Rock springs to mind in particular, but there are plenty of other efficient solutions to bats such as Mage Staff.

As for waiting for too many rot conditions before removing them with Purify, they can just wait until they've killed all of the sources of rot conditions that you have on the board, and they can pretty easily be in a position after that to kill any additional sources of rot that you play the turn that you play them. You only run 5, and of those, 4 are extremely fragile.

I agree that your plan against the Necromancer is far more sensible than using bats and Emerald Tegu, but I think you would be in a much stronger position for that type of play with a few Acid Balls.

[wtcannonjr]

Jon,
I think your turn 4 plan needs adjusting since you cannot cast the single hurl boulder spell from your wand twice in the same round. The rules limit casting a single spell (card) more than once a round.

In casual play you should have fun with this book. How will you deal with archers? My group loves to play archers with guards to protect from melee.

[DaveW]

So, against a Necro, my Turns would be:

T1: Hawkeye and Akiro's Favor (Hidden), move to C1 or C3 (depending on location on the board).
Deployment: Reveal Both.
T2: Double Cast Hurl Boulder, reroll as needed.

I don't see it happening... at least not very effectively. There are a couple of problems:

a) If the Necro sees you double move turn 1, I would imagine that he will either deploy (if Battle Forged turn 1) or quick cast turn 2 a Cloak of Shadows preventing at least one of your attacks against the Necro. Sure, you can spend one or (probably) both spells and a lot of mana to kill off the Battle Forge on turn two, but I think he would be rather happy with that eventuality.

Alternatively (and perhaps more likely)...

b) he probably has played armor within the first two turns, or can just give himself four points of armor via Brace Yourself by the time you want to double boulder him.

You might still want to prepare one of the Boulders, but prepare something else as your second card that will be useful in some other way, just in case... maybe armor, or an enchantment, or even the Surging Wave as a better spell against a Forge. I'm sure that there are other good choices, but double boulder just seems to over commit yourself to me.

[Mystery]

So, against a Necro, my Turns would be:

T1: Hawkeye and Akiro's Favor (Hidden), move to C1 or C3 (depending on location on the board).
Deployment: Reveal Both.
T2: Double Cast Hurl Boulder, reroll as needed.

I don't see it happening... at least not very effectively. There are a couple of problems:

a) If the Necro sees you double move turn 1, I would imagine that he will either deploy (if Battle Forged turn 1) or quick cast turn 2 a Cloak of Shadows preventing at least one of your attacks against the Necro. Sure, you can spend one or (probably) both spells and a lot of mana to kill off the Battle Forge on turn two, but I think he would be rather happy with that eventuality.

If he plays a cloak of shadows you would be happy. as it doesn't help him. With the inherent fast. Watch the Arcane Dueles

b) he probably has played armor within the first two turns, or can just give himself four points of armor via Brace Yourself by the time you want to double boulder him.

You might still want to prepare one of the Boulders, but prepare something else as your second card that will be useful in some other way, just in case... maybe armor, or an enchantment, or even the Surging Wave as a better spell against a Forge. I'm sure that there are other good choices, but double boulder just seems to over commit yourself to me.

If he plays bit of Armor don't care. It all depends on the local meta also. But i see an acid ball missing in the deck.

[Intangible0]

I love that you made a deck inspired by the Rushmaster. The biggest thing I have to comment on is that you have a wildly different focus, certainly not a bad thing but I feel there are other ways to accomplish your strategy.

The comment that a lot of people have here is it's hard to visualize when you'll be able to cast the bats and still feel like a rush deck at the same time. I recommend an opening along the lines of this:
1)double move, Lair, Akiro's favor face down
2)Deploy bat, Hurl Rock, double move (If necessary) then punch, reveal Akiro's favor if you need to

From there on it's up to you to utilize your bats. You've put a little pressure on them that feels a bit rushy but you have more long game.

This is just one idea if you really want the creatures and a rush feel at the same time. It's not going to be focused in any area so you'll have to play cleverly to keep your opponent on their toes.