procedure of mage wand

[Hectorius]

hi 
I searched and found these 2 threads
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=15043
http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=14854
very helpful, but I got one question that isn't covered there.

how do I actually change the spell of the mage wand?
say I have a Sleep of the wand used last turn. this round I want to change it to teleport.
* do I have to choose teleport that I want to bind to the wand now in the preparing phase and put the card in front of me with only one other card (and change it as a 3 mana quickaction during the action phase)?
* OR could I choose 2 normal cards (1 enchant + 1 creature) and then during activation of my mage I can pay 3 mana and go to my spellbook again to swap sleep vs teleport as a quickaction.
2nd case would be much more powerful.

and from the threads I got it right that when you take a spell from the mage wand you have to bind a new spell on it? (in case you expect a Dissolve and dont want to put a new spell on the wand).

-----------------------------------

When you cast a spell with the Spellbind trait, you may immediately bind a spell to it.

what happens when I not to choose a spell immediately but next round? (kinda same question like above)
at which point I can put my spell under the wand?

PS: one more thing.
in the 2nd thread I saw one contradictory thing pertaining Wizards Tower:

Wildhorn is incorrect about the Tower. Even though it is a Familiar, it does not prepare it's spells like other familiars do. Therefore the spell does not return to it's owner's spellbook during the planning stage because it is not a prepared spell.

and

The wizards tower says "During planning stage you may change the bound spell."
That would mean that during the planning stage the spell would return to your book and a new spell would be placed there.

any confirmation if I can switch the spell during the planning stage?

[echephron]

It's your second case. It should say that in the basic rulebook

* OR could I choose 2 normal cards (1 enchant + 1 creature) and then during activation of my mage I can pay 3 mana and go to my spellbook again to swap sleep vs teleport as a quickaction.
2nd case would be much more powerful.

and from the threads I got it right that when you take a spell from the mage wand you have to bind a new spell on it? (in case you expect a Dissolve and dont want to put a new spell on the wand).

Also yup. have to bind when possible, despite what rules may tell you....i think.

Wizard tower never makes you lose the bound spell except when the tower is destroyed.

[Zuberi]

First, if you want to switch the spell attached to a [mwcard=MW1Q19]Mage Wand[/mwcard] you will replace it with a spell from your spellbook. It does not interfere with your Planning Phase at all, and you can prepare two entirely different spells during that phase.

If you do not bind a spell to the Mage Wand when it is cast, then the only way to attach a spell to it afterwards is by using it's ability to switch spells. Pay 3 mana and attach a spell from your spellbook as a quick spell.

Regarding the [mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ02]Wizard's Tower[/mwcard] the two quotes you posted are not contradictory and are both true. The tower does not prepare spells like a Familiar and the spell is not automatically returned during the Planning Phase. However, you do get the option to change the spell during the Planning Phase, which is entirely free for you to do. You can not, however, replace the spell with nothing, which is what the thread you linked to was discussing.

[DaveW]

how do I actually change the spell of the mage wand?
say I have a Sleep of the wand used last turn. this round I want to change it to teleport.
* do I have to choose teleport that I want to bind to the wand now in the preparing phase and put the card in front of me with only one other card (and change it as a 3 mana quickaction during the action phase)?
* OR could I choose 2 normal cards (1 enchant + 1 creature) and then during activation of my mage I can pay 3 mana and go to my spellbook again to swap sleep vs teleport as a quickaction.
2nd case would be much more powerful.

The Sleep spell that was bound to the Mage Wand at the end of last turn will begin this turn still bound to the wand. During your turn, you will prepare your two spells as usual. You will not include the Teleport spell for the wand in your preparation. During your turn, it is a quick spell (so you cast a spell either with your quickcast or as part of your Mage's Action) to swap out the Sleep spell attached to the Mage Wand and replace it with the Teleport spell. This costs three mana to do. At this point, the spells are swapped... the Sleep spell goes back into your book, and the Teleport spell is now attached to the wand. Note that you still only get to cast one other spell during the turn, even though you still have two spells prepared.

and from the threads I got it right that when you take a spell from the mage wand you have to bind a new spell on it? (in case you expect a Dissolve and dont want to put a new spell on the wand).
-----------------------------------

When you cast a spell with the Spellbind trait, you may immediately bind a spell to it.

Correct. The term "may" is somewhat confusing here, but there must be a spell attached; you can not leave the wand without a spell bound to it.

in the 2nd thread I saw one contradictory thing pertaining Wizards Tower:

Wildhorn is incorrect about the Tower. Even though it is a Familiar, it does not prepare it's spells like other familiars do. Therefore the spell does not return to it's owner's spellbook during the planning stage because it is not a prepared spell.

and

The wizards tower says "During planning stage you may change the bound spell."
That would mean that during the planning stage the spell would return to your book and a new spell would be placed there.

any confirmation if I can switch the spell during the planning stage?

You certainly can change out the spell attached to the Wizard's Tower during the Planning phase, as noted on the card. This does not cost any mana.

When other familiars cast spells, the spell is expended and removed from the familiar. The Wizard's Tower has the Spellbind trait, however, which means that the spell remains on the Tower after being cast, just as one would remain on a Mage Wand (for example). In the case of the Wizard's Tower also, you must replace the attack spell bound to it with another spell if choosing to swap the spell out during the Planning phase.

[sIKE]

First, if you want to switch the spell attached to a [mwcard=MW1Q19]Mage Wand[/mwcard] you will replace it with a spell from your spellbook. It does not interfere with your Planning Phase at all, and you can prepare two entirely different spells during that phase.

If you do not bind a spell to the Mage Wand when it is cast, then the only way to attach a spell to it afterwards is by using it's ability to switch spells. Pay 3 mana and attach a spell from your spellbook as a quick spell.

Regarding the [mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ02]Wizard's Tower[/mwcard] the two quotes you posted are not contradictory and are both true. The tower does not prepare spells like a Familiar and the spell is not automatically returned during the Planning Phase. However, you do get the option to change the spell during the Planning Phase, which is entirely free for you to do. You can not, however, replace the spell with nothing, which is what the thread you linked to was discussing.

That is interesting as we have always played it the other way. If my WT has one more life left I typically remove the spell from the Tower and do not Prepare another one, just like any other Familiar, are you saying the Spellbind rules supersede the Familiar rules?

[DaveW]

First, if you want to switch the spell attached to a [mwcard=MW1Q19]Mage Wand[/mwcard] you will replace it with a spell from your spellbook. It does not interfere with your Planning Phase at all, and you can prepare two entirely different spells during that phase.

If you do not bind a spell to the Mage Wand when it is cast, then the only way to attach a spell to it afterwards is by using it's ability to switch spells. Pay 3 mana and attach a spell from your spellbook as a quick spell.

Regarding the [mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ02]Wizard's Tower[/mwcard] the two quotes you posted are not contradictory and are both true. The tower does not prepare spells like a Familiar and the spell is not automatically returned during the Planning Phase. However, you do get the option to change the spell during the Planning Phase, which is entirely free for you to do. You can not, however, replace the spell with nothing, which is what the thread you linked to was discussing.

That is interesting as we have always played it the other way. If my WT has one more life left I typically remove the spell from the Tower and do not Prepare another one, just like any other Familiar, are you saying the Spellbind rules supersede the Familiar rules?

Yes. I asked this specific question once before here, and was told that this was especially true since the wording on the Wizard's Tower says "change the bound spell" ... you don't swap it for nothing.

[Sailor Vulcan]

First, if you want to switch the spell attached to a [mwcard=MW1Q19]Mage Wand[/mwcard] you will replace it with a spell from your spellbook. It does not interfere with your Planning Phase at all, and you can prepare two entirely different spells during that phase.

If you do not bind a spell to the Mage Wand when it is cast, then the only way to attach a spell to it afterwards is by using it's ability to switch spells. Pay 3 mana and attach a spell from your spellbook as a quick spell.

Regarding the [mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ02]Wizard's Tower[/mwcard] the two quotes you posted are not contradictory and are both true. The tower does not prepare spells like a Familiar and the spell is not automatically returned during the Planning Phase. However, you do get the option to change the spell during the Planning Phase, which is entirely free for you to do. You can not, however, replace the spell with nothing, which is what the thread you linked to was discussing.

That is interesting as we have always played it the other way. If my WT has one more life left I typically remove the spell from the Tower and do not Prepare another one, just like any other Familiar, are you saying the Spellbind rules supersede the Familiar rules?

Yes. I asked this specific question once before here, and was told that this was especially true since the wording on the Wizard's Tower says "change the bound spell" ... you don't swap it for nothing.

Can you swap it for itself? Can you put the card back in your spellbook and bring it out again face down on your tower?

[Sailor Vulcan]

First, if you want to switch the spell attached to a [mwcard=MW1Q19]Mage Wand[/mwcard] you will replace it with a spell from your spellbook. It does not interfere with your Planning Phase at all, and you can prepare two entirely different spells during that phase.

If you do not bind a spell to the Mage Wand when it is cast, then the only way to attach a spell to it afterwards is by using it's ability to switch spells. Pay 3 mana and attach a spell from your spellbook as a quick spell.

Regarding the [mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ02]Wizard's Tower[/mwcard] the two quotes you posted are not contradictory and are both true. The tower does not prepare spells like a Familiar and the spell is not automatically returned during the Planning Phase. However, you do get the option to change the spell during the Planning Phase, which is entirely free for you to do. You can not, however, replace the spell with nothing, which is what the thread you linked to was discussing.

That is interesting as we have always played it the other way. If my WT has one more life left I typically remove the spell from the Tower and do not Prepare another one, just like any other Familiar, are you saying the Spellbind rules supersede the Familiar rules?

Yes. I asked this specific question once before here, and was told that this was especially true since the wording on the Wizard's Tower says "change the bound spell" ... you don't swap it for nothing.

Can you swap it for itself? Can you put the card back in your spellbook and bring it out again face down on your tower?

[DaveW]

First, if you want to switch the spell attached to a [mwcard=MW1Q19]Mage Wand[/mwcard] you will replace it with a spell from your spellbook. It does not interfere with your Planning Phase at all, and you can prepare two entirely different spells during that phase.

If you do not bind a spell to the Mage Wand when it is cast, then the only way to attach a spell to it afterwards is by using it's ability to switch spells. Pay 3 mana and attach a spell from your spellbook as a quick spell.

Regarding the [mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ02]Wizard's Tower[/mwcard] the two quotes you posted are not contradictory and are both true. The tower does not prepare spells like a Familiar and the spell is not automatically returned during the Planning Phase. However, you do get the option to change the spell during the Planning Phase, which is entirely free for you to do. You can not, however, replace the spell with nothing, which is what the thread you linked to was discussing.

That is interesting as we have always played it the other way. If my WT has one more life left I typically remove the spell from the Tower and do not Prepare another one, just like any other Familiar, are you saying the Spellbind rules supersede the Familiar rules?

Yes. I asked this specific question once before here, and was told that this was especially true since the wording on the Wizard's Tower says "change the bound spell" ... you don't swap it for nothing.

Can you swap it for itself? Can you put the card back in your spellbook and bring it out again face down on your tower?

You must already have a card to use in your spellbook before you can swap them. However, if you have a second card of the same type, you can swap it for that card and have the spell face down until you cast it.

[Zuberi]

That is interesting as we have always played it the other way. If my WT has one more life left I typically remove the spell from the Tower and do not Prepare another one, just like any other Familiar, are you saying the Spellbind rules supersede the Familiar rules?

Short answer: Yes, spellbinding rules supersede familiar rules in this situation.

Long answer: Spellbinding is different from preparing a spell. The card gives specific instructions on binding a spell to it, and then limits it's casting ability to only being able to cast the spell that is bound to it. Since it is not able to cast spells other than the bound spell, and since binding a spell is not the same as preparing a spell, it doesn't actually prepare any spells during the planning phase and instead just goes off of the spellbinding rules. This would fall under the rules on page 16 of the English rules where the card may limit what types of spells you may choose, and in this instance it limits it to being unable to choose anything because you can only cast what's bound to it, and binding a spell has completely separate rules.

Now, I'm not completely sure about being unable to change the bound spell to NO spell, but my interpretation of the wording leads me to believe that you can only remove the attached spell if you replace it with a new one, and all of the documentation only mentions replacing the bound spell with another spell. I don't see anything to really suggest that flat out removing the bound spell is an option.

Now, if my interpretation is correct it would also technically prevent you from removing the spell and then reattaching the exact same card, which I know is a popular tactic to get the spell face down again and deny your opponent information, but it seems like cheating to me. You would need a second copy of the spell in your book to do this, like DaveW suggested.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Well crap, I've been doing it wrong then. Thanks for the clarification.

[DaveW]

I can testify that it really stinks when you have to go through your spellbook to figure out which attack spell you really don't mind losing quite as much as another. It's even worse if your opponent has the initiative that next round as you won't even be able to use it before losing it....

[Hectorius]

thank you echephron. also DaveW.

[...]During your turn, you will prepare your two spells as usual. You will not include the Teleport spell for the wand in your preparation[...]

good long clear explanation what I really have to do. I didn't find it anywhere. made me feel it was a silly question of mine but I needed to ask 

First, if you want to switch the spell attached to a [mwcard=MW1Q19]Mage Wand[/mwcard] you will replace it with a spell from your spellbook. It does not interfere with your Planning Phase at all, and you can prepare two entirely different spells during that phase.

If you do not bind a spell to the Mage Wand when it is cast, then the only way to attach a spell to it afterwards is by using it's ability to switch spells. Pay 3 mana and attach a spell from your spellbook as a quick spell.

thank you Zuberi!

I also fully understand now how [mwcard=MWSTX1CKJ02]Wizard's Tower[/mwcard] works. I am glad I made this thread and - as it seems - also helped others.
cheers!