Performance Log: Unholy Summoner

[Intangible0]

I made this book a bit ago called the Unholy Summoner, which we talked about in the 4th episode of the Mage Cast. In this thread I didn't particularly care to talk about the actual book but rather, the performance log I used to keep track of the book's progress. I feel that these notes brought the book much more success than it would have had normally. I'm so sold on the idea that I'll do it for every book from here on and I recommend every one else do it as well.

By making a performance log for a book you've just started you can keep track of its strengths and weaknesses. The goal is to make your book as perfect as possible; by "perfect" I mean that it has reached its limitations in what it is and what it can do.

Here are the sections I've come up with so far:

Change Log
Name each iteration. Whole numbers for expansion releases or complete changes in concept, and decimals for each set of alterations. Tell each card added or removed in each iteration.

Card Considerations
In between matches, whenever you're thinking about Mage Wars and the thought comes to mind, "Oh man the book could really use THIS card!" go ahead and write it down in this section. If you play a match and your book was hung up on some flaw then write it down. If a card would be fun to include... write it down.

Card Analysis
After a match think about what cards were definitely useful or not. When a card performs well then take note on it, that way if later you are considering removing that card the analysis will remind you why you included it in the first place. If, on the other hand, you look at a card during a game and realize you've never cast it and that it's wasting space then also write it down so you can start thinking of a replacement. This section can also be useful for later builds.

Games
Write down every match you had in between each iteration. Who you played against, the mage they used, the basic concept of their build, and then whether you won or lost. After that, write down a synopsis on what went well and what didn't, regardless of the outcome. Point out any glaring weaknesses your build had and what you could have done better. The most important thing here, is to be honest with yourself. Don't coddle your book or blame it on bad rolls. Your build isn't going to improve and you aren't going to learn from the experience if you point blame at the dice. I can't stress that last part enough 

So that's what I have for the structure so far, I hope you can provide me with some insight to make this format as helpful as possible. Thanks for reading, without further ado, here's the Unholy Summoner's Performance Log:

Performance of the Unholy Summoner
Change Log:
1.1
Removed a jinx
Removed a Poisoned Blood
Added in a Deathlock
Added Adramalech’s Torment
1.2
Took out one Enfeeble
Took out the Devil’s Trident
Removed Hurl Boulder
Removed a Ghoul Rot
Took out a Bear Strength
Removed Purge Magic
Removed a Force Push
Added in an elemental wand
Added in a Dissolve
Added in two Hurl Rocks
Added another Dispel
Added in a teleport
Added in Seeking Dispel
Added in Decoy
Added Drain Life
1.3
Removed Agony
Removed Magebane
Removed one Hurl Rock
Added in Force Hammer

Cards Considerations:
Take out Marked for Death
Another Ivarium Longbow
Take out Adramalech’s torment once the wildfire Imps are out
Leather Chausses for the Leather Boots
Add in a tanglevine
Add in Flame Hellion
Add in Nullify
Scratch a Hurl Rock for another Surging wave or knockdown.
Add in a Mage Wand
Add back in the second Jinx
If the imps come out then cut an ignite
Dancing Scimitar
A wall of some kind
Moloch’s torment for Adramalech’s torment
Morning star
Wand of Healing
*Arcane Corruption to fill the void of Mass Dispel???
Akiro’s Favor
Rouse the Beast
Circle of Fire
Cobra Reflexes

Card Analysis:

• Agony has never been cast. If a creature needs to be dealt with I’d rather destroy them, then hopefully convert them. (Removed)
• Death Link has been useful but it’s pricey. It’s not the best at dealing with creatures and it’s a prime dispel target.
• Magebane comes in pretty late in the game so it’s not very efficient. One benefit s it still hurts Necromancers. (Removed)
• Rise Again is just amazing. When they lose a creature and I get one for cheaper it’s incredibly effective.
• Vampirism has helped me win a game before, but overall I don’t get enough melee attacks in to make it worth it.
• Vampirism has helped me win a game before, but overall I don’t get enough melee attacks in to make it worth it.
• Adramalech’s Torment is worthless, the only reason I run it is for the imps. I should reconsider them for flamebrand imps.
• Ring of Curses hasn’t been particularly useful since I don’t cast a ton of curses.

Games so far:
*(Adoryc? Maybe, I can’t remember.) Poison Necromancer - Win by burst from a few creatures. Should have started taking notes on this book immediately, now I don’t remember this match very well.
     1.1
*Sharkbait’s Ranged Warlord - Win by burst swarm after “kidnapping” mage with Teleport. Jinx was crucial to setting up the kidnapping and getting the mage away from all of his ranged units.
*Puddn’s melee/ranged Warlord - Win by destruction of all creatures and conj. I probably lost focus and spent too much time on objects other that the mage.
*Roca’s Unicorn Priestess - Win by creature race with Pent, Forge, and Rise Again. Was very unstable for a while and it took a bit to take down even one unicorn, risky.
*s3chaos’ Medium Swarm Necro - Lose when I couldn’t deal with spawnpoints and couldn’t get pentagram down. Outplayed, and quickly at that. I wanted to dissolve Libro but he had a few big zombies on the field and it was a bit suicidal to get too close.
     1.2
*Ringkichard’s Rush Creature BM (no spawnpoint) - Win, Some adjustments were very helpful, losing the bear strength kind of hurt. He rushed with a Cervere and petted bitterwood, I played a lot of regenerate and stabalized. Eventually I killed the creatures and prevented him from casting any more. Wild Fire Imps were very helpful.
*Ringkichard’s Academy Rush Creature BM - Win, Bitterwood fox into Cervere again. Later he cast Slavorg. I didn’t cast the mana crystal, which helped immediately but hurt the long game. Taking out the mass dispel really hurt me in this match. This was very tough for the first 7 or so turns until I finally Rised his Cervere. Careful movement and Enfeeble really helped. The Pentagram was cast turn 2 and once his threats were removed I outdamaged him. Very long match and the bloodreapers didn’t help but they drew attack spells.
*Poopstar’s Vampiress Warlock - Win, Super tough match. I got rushed and brought down to 2 health. This book has taught me to keep a steady head even in the face of danger, where armor and regeneration really helped. He conceded after awhile of not summoning creatures but what he didn’t know was that I was actually out of creatures (had about 3 on the field). On average he had 3 to 5 armor at any given time with the vet’s belt. Rather than destroying the armor right away I pinged him with small amounts of damage and dealt with whatever he cast, this prevented me from falling behind. However, had I dealt with the armor earlier I might have been able to take him off guard and finish him. The rush almost destroyed me, I need to develop a better counter aggression.
*DrMambo’s Idol Necro - Loss, incredibly hard loss. I didn’t have a way to deal with the Grey Wraith and so my creatures just kept getting destroyed without much effect. Combined with Essence Drain and Meditation Amulet he also overpowered me with mana.  I eventually just conceded because he Rised one of my creatures and had me outnumbered 4 to one on creatures. My losses so far have been from Necromancers/creatures I wasn’t able to destroy.[/size]


That's about all I have for now. Things are still in progress, but what do you think so far?!

[Sailor Vulcan]

I made this book a bit ago called the Unholy Summoner, which we talked about in the 4th episode of the Mage Cast. In this thread I didn't particularly care to talk about the actual book but rather, the performance log I used to keep track of the book's progress. I feel that these notes brought the book much more success than it would have had normally. I'm so sold on the idea that I'll do it for every book from here on and I recommend every one else do it as well.

By making a performance log for a book you've just started you can keep track of its strengths and weaknesses. The goal is to make your book as perfect as possible; by "perfect" I mean that it has reached its limitations in what it is and what it can do.

Here are the sections I've come up with so far:

Change Log
Name each iteration. Whole numbers for expansion releases or complete changes in concept, and decimals for each set of alterations. Tell each card added or removed in each iteration.

Card Considerations
In between matches, whenever you're thinking about Mage Wars and the thought comes to mind, "Oh man the book could really use THIS card!" go ahead and write it down in this section. If you play a match and your book was hung up on some flaw then write it down. If a card would be fun to include... write it down.

Card Analysis
After a match think about what cards were definitely useful or not. When a card performs well then take note on it, that way if later you are considering removing that card the analysis will remind you why you included it in the first place. If, on the other hand, you look at a card during a game and realize you've never cast it and that it's wasting space then also write it down so you can start thinking of a replacement. This section can also be useful for later builds.

Games
Write down every match you had in between each iteration. Who you played against, the mage they used, the basic concept of their build, and then whether you won or lost. After that, write down a synopsis on what went well and what didn't, regardless of the outcome. Point out any glaring weaknesses your build had and what you could have done better. The most important thing here, is to be honest with yourself. Don't coddle your book or blame it on bad rolls. Your build isn't going to improve and you aren't going to learn from the experience if you point blame at the dice. I can't stress that last part enough 

So that's what I have for the structure so far, I hope you can provide me with some insight to make this format as helpful as possible. Thanks for reading, without further ado, here's the Unholy Summoner's Performance Log:

Performance of the Unholy Summoner
Change Log:
1.1
Removed a jinx
Removed a Poisoned Blood
Added in a Deathlock
Added Adramalech’s Torment
1.2
Took out one Enfeeble
Took out the Devil’s Trident
Removed Hurl Boulder
Removed a Ghoul Rot
Took out a Bear Strength
Removed Purge Magic
Removed a Force Push
Added in an elemental wand
Added in a Dissolve
Added in two Hurl Rocks
Added another Dispel
Added in a teleport
Added in Seeking Dispel
Added in Decoy
Added Drain Life
1.3
Removed Agony
Removed Magebane
Removed one Hurl Rock
Added in Force Hammer

Cards Considerations:
Take out Marked for Death
Another Ivarium Longbow
Take out Adramalech’s torment once the wildfire Imps are out
Leather Chausses for the Leather Boots
Add in a tanglevine
Add in Flame Hellion
Add in Nullify
Scratch a Hurl Rock for another Surging wave or knockdown.
Add in a Mage Wand
Add back in the second Jinx
If the imps come out then cut an ignite
Dancing Scimitar
A wall of some kind
Moloch’s torment for Adramalech’s torment
Morning star
Wand of Healing
*Arcane Corruption to fill the void of Mass Dispel???
Akiro’s Favor
Rouse the Beast
Circle of Fire
Cobra Reflexes

Card Analysis:

• Agony has never been cast. If a creature needs to be dealt with I’d rather destroy them, then hopefully convert them. (Removed)
• Death Link has been useful but it’s pricey. It’s not the best at dealing with creatures and it’s a prime dispel target.
• Magebane comes in pretty late in the game so it’s not very efficient. One benefit s it still hurts Necromancers. (Removed)
• Rise Again is just amazing. When they lose a creature and I get one for cheaper it’s incredibly effective.
• Vampirism has helped me win a game before, but overall I don’t get enough melee attacks in to make it worth it.
• Vampirism has helped me win a game before, but overall I don’t get enough melee attacks in to make it worth it.
• Adramalech’s Torment is worthless, the only reason I run it is for the imps. I should reconsider them for flamebrand imps.
• Ring of Curses hasn’t been particularly useful since I don’t cast a ton of curses.

Games so far:
*(Adoryc? Maybe, I can’t remember.) Poison Necromancer - Win by burst from a few creatures. Should have started taking notes on this book immediately, now I don’t remember this match very well.
     1.1
*Sharkbait’s Ranged Warlord - Win by burst swarm after “kidnapping” mage with Teleport. Jinx was crucial to setting up the kidnapping and getting the mage away from all of his ranged units.
*Puddn’s melee/ranged Warlord - Win by destruction of all creatures and conj. I probably lost focus and spent too much time on objects other that the mage.
*Roca’s Unicorn Priestess - Win by creature race with Pent, Forge, and Rise Again. Was very unstable for a while and it took a bit to take down even one unicorn, risky.
*s3chaos’ Medium Swarm Necro - Lose when I couldn’t deal with spawnpoints and couldn’t get pentagram down. Outplayed, and quickly at that. I wanted to dissolve Libro but he had a few big zombies on the field and it was a bit suicidal to get too close.
     1.2
*Ringkichard’s Rush Creature BM (no spawnpoint) - Win, Some adjustments were very helpful, losing the bear strength kind of hurt. He rushed with a Cervere and petted bitterwood, I played a lot of regenerate and stabalized. Eventually I killed the creatures and prevented him from casting any more. Wild Fire Imps were very helpful.
*Ringkichard’s Academy Rush Creature BM - Win, Bitterwood fox into Cervere again. Later he cast Slavorg. I didn’t cast the mana crystal, which helped immediately but hurt the long game. Taking out the mass dispel really hurt me in this match. This was very tough for the first 7 or so turns until I finally Rised his Cervere. Careful movement and Enfeeble really helped. The Pentagram was cast turn 2 and once his threats were removed I outdamaged him. Very long match and the bloodreapers didn’t help but they drew attack spells.
*Poopstar’s Vampiress Warlock - Win, Super tough match. I got rushed and brought down to 2 health. This book has taught me to keep a steady head even in the face of danger, where armor and regeneration really helped. He conceded after awhile of not summoning creatures but what he didn’t know was that I was actually out of creatures (had about 3 on the field). On average he had 3 to 5 armor at any given time with the vet’s belt. Rather than destroying the armor right away I pinged him with small amounts of damage and dealt with whatever he cast, this prevented me from falling behind. However, had I dealt with the armor earlier I might have been able to take him off guard and finish him. The rush almost destroyed me, I need to develop a better counter aggression.
*DrMambo’s Idol Necro - Loss, incredibly hard loss. I didn’t have a way to deal with the Grey Wraith and so my creatures just kept getting destroyed without much effect. Combined with Essence Drain and Meditation Amulet he also overpowered me with mana.  I eventually just conceded because he Rised one of my creatures and had me outnumbered 4 to one on creatures. My losses so far have been from Necromancers/creatures I wasn’t able to destroy.[/size]


That's about all I have for now. Things are still in progress, but what do you think so far?!

That's a lot of work! Writing things down is a very good way to be more aware of what you're thinking and what you're doing in general, not just for Mage Wars. I really should do that more. I'm not sure this level of depth and tracking is actually necessary though. Practice and intuition aren't perfect, but they can do a lot of the heavy lifting once they're good enough, at least when it comes to Mage Wars. I think keeping a change log like this is a good way to improve your spellbook building skills, but if anyone is worried about the sheer amount of work involved, don't worry. Once you've played and watched enough games and built enough spellbooks you can start to get a sense for this kind of stuff, so keeping a perfectly detailed and comprehensive change log for every spellbook isn't strictly necessary. One thing that you can do easily if you play on OCTGN is to talk to your opponents about your spellbook after the game. If they have any good advice, save a copy of the game log and look over it later the next time you want to edit your spellbook.

[Tyrnan]

Great Post Intangible0 
Sounds like a lot of work but I totally want to do this for my books now ...

@Sailor Vulcan:
Great hint saving the game log in OCTGN. I didn't know it is possible. Thanx for that!

[Sailor Vulcan]

Great Post Intangible0 
Sounds like a lot of work but I totally want to do this for my books now ...

@Sailor Vulcan:
Great hint saving the game log in OCTGN. I didn't know it is possible. Thanx for that!

Of course it is. Just highlight the whole thing, copy and paste it into a word document. If you don't want to use click and drag to highlight, just click on the chatbox in the game (that's where the gamelog is) and press ctrl and a. Also this works for almost every block of text you see on a computer ever.