What cards should be out at the start of an Academy demo?

[Sailor Vulcan]

I remember at a convention I went to there were Mage Wars Academy demos, and they had done the first setup round for me, but I don't remember what cards were in play.

Is there any particular cards that should be out round 1 for demos? I'm thinking wispwillow amulet and sistarran robes for the wizard, and for the beastmaster wychwood faerie and leather chausses?

[iNano78]

I remember at a convention I went to there were Mage Wars Academy demos, and they had done the first setup round for me, but I don't remember what cards were in play.

Is there any particular cards that should be out round 1 for demos? I'm thinking wispwillow amulet and sistarran robes for the wizard, and for the beastmaster wychwood faerie and leather chausses?

I probably wouldn't force any particular card, but for the Wizard, I might recommend Wispwillow Amulet and Lightning Raptor.  This will introduce the concept of a "large buddy" to combat the (likely) Beastmaster's swarm.  Maybe recommend a Genie for support in a future round.

The Beastmaster could start with a Faerie, or could just pump out Wychwood Hounds on both of the first rounds so he's ready to go full-swarm.  Maybe a weapon would be good, too, so he can join in on the attack.

[Sailor Vulcan]

I remember at a convention I went to there were Mage Wars Academy demos, and they had done the first setup round for me, but I don't remember what cards were in play.

Is there any particular cards that should be out round 1 for demos? I'm thinking wispwillow amulet and sistarran robes for the wizard, and for the beastmaster wychwood faerie and leather chausses?

I probably wouldn't force any particular card, but for the Wizard, I might recommend Wispwillow Amulet and Lightning Raptor.  This will introduce the concept of a "large buddy" to combat the (likely) Beastmaster's swarm.  Maybe recommend a Genie for support in a future round.

The Beastmaster could start with a Faerie, or could just pump out Wychwood Hounds on both of the first rounds so he's ready to go full-swarm.  Maybe a weapon would be good, too, so he can join in on the attack.

Except the wizard cannot afford a lightning raptor and a wisp willow amulet round 1.

Btw, you know that in the demo, both mages start with 12 damage, right?

[iNano78]

I remember at a convention I went to there were Mage Wars Academy demos, and they had done the first setup round for me, but I don't remember what cards were in play.

Is there any particular cards that should be out round 1 for demos? I'm thinking wispwillow amulet and sistarran robes for the wizard, and for the beastmaster wychwood faerie and leather chausses?

I probably wouldn't force any particular card, but for the Wizard, I might recommend Wispwillow Amulet and Lightning Raptor.  This will introduce the concept of a "large buddy" to combat the (likely) Beastmaster's swarm.  Maybe recommend a Genie for support in a future round.

The Beastmaster could start with a Faerie, or could just pump out Wychwood Hounds on both of the first rounds so he's ready to go full-swarm.  Maybe a weapon would be good, too, so he can join in on the attack.

Except the wizard cannot afford a lightning raptor and a wisp willow amulet round 1.

Btw, you know that in the demo, both mages start with 12 damage, right?

I couldn't remember the Raptor's cost off hand - and it isn't in the Card Database / Spell Book Builder.  Of course, you could get the Amulet out turn 2 and it's just as good - e.g. still nets you +3 mana assuming the match goes to round 7... which some Academy matches do... but...

No, I didn't know that.  Given how short Academy matches are, I wouldn't have thought they needed to shorten demoes further.  Do they still use the recommended spell books? In any case, definitely forgo the Amulet and Raptor as you won't have time to get full value out of either.  Instead, just get out a couple blockers (Mana Worms perhaps?) and ready attack spells and Shrinks for rounds 3+.  And the Beastmaster might want to consider a Wychwood Ironvine (if it's in the starter; can't remember) so he can remove some damage before the attacking rounds begin.

[sIKE]

When we did the demo's at BGGCon we setup to the end of the 2nd round. So the initial 2 rounds with no attacks were taken care of. I think the wizard started with the genie, a mana worm, and a piece of equipment (I can't recall of the top of my head. I honestly don't remember what the BM set up as. I will ask around to see if anyone else remembers.

 

[Sailor Vulcan]

When we did the demo's at BGGCon we setup to the end of the 2nd round. So the initial 2 rounds with no attacks were taken care of. I think the wizard started with the genie, a mana worm, and a piece of equipment (I can't recall of the top of my head. I honestly don't remember what the BM set up as. I will ask around to see if anyone else remembers.

Thanks!

It was probably sistarran robes.

[sIKE]

So the cool thing was by doing the setup this way, we went though Reset and all of that first thing. So some of the cards were exhausted, the QC marker on the Mages was exhausted and the Mages was tapped out. So you could walk them though all that and then get into playing (since there is no planning phase in Academy). I think it really helped with the learning curve.

[silverclawgrizzly]

This is pretty good stuff. I'm gonna give setting up first round prior to demos some serious thought. Thanks for posting.

[sIKE]

This is pretty good stuff. I'm gonna give setting up first round prior to demos some serious thought. Thanks for posting.

I really am kicking myself for not taking a couple of pics of the setup while I was there, I went back though the MW Facebook feed and look to see if there was a pictuce of the setup sadly there wasn't.

But looking through things I think that Vulcan is right with the Robes for the Wizard.

BM, Ironvine, Wychwood Hound, and Ridgeback Skunk. Aaron might be able to chip in here.....

[Laddinfance]

It's changed a few times what we put out first.

Though this was one I liked:

Wizard: Azurean Genie, Mana Worm, Sistarran Robes

Beastmaster: Wychwood Faerie, [Enchantment on Mage], Razortusk w/Badger Frenzy

Generally, you want a simple strategy that each player can grasp right out the gate. That's why I'm often a fan of the Satyr Gruff. He has some obvious combos and encourages an aggressive play, which helps get people right into the action.

[Sailor Vulcan]

It's changed a few times what we put out first.

Though this was one I liked:

Wizard: Azurean Genie, Mana Worm, Sistarran Robes

Beastmaster: Wychwood Faerie, [Enchantment on Mage], Razortusk w/Badger Frenzy

Generally, you want a simple strategy that each player can grasp right out the gate. That's why I'm often a fan of the Satyr Gruff. He has some obvious combos and encourages an aggressive play, which helps get people right into the action.

So do you think the Satyr Gruff should be put out first instead of the genie?

[Laddinfance]

It depends on how you want to run it. The Genie is options, and he really shows off what the Wizard wants to do.

[Sailor Vulcan]

It depends on how you want to run it. The Genie is options, and he really shows off what the Wizard wants to do.

Okay then, I'll probably have genie out first then.

Btw, I notice that the wychwood faerie is listed as the beastmaster's opening, despite the fact that both players start the demo with 12 damage. Do demoes usually last long enough for the faerie to make a difference? I've only taught two academy demos so far, and both times I only did the first setup round for them. The first time I did not have them start at 12 damage, the second time I did. Although to be fair the first time I was teaching Academy to an Arena player and didn't have the preconstructed books set up.