Academy mage-release order

[Halewijn]

It seems AW wants to release the academy mages in the same order as the mages in arena, but this will make the gap of development even bigger. Wouldn't it be better to bring them out in the reversed order? 3/4 of the core mages have an alternate mage and the wizard has wizard's tower, [mwcard=MWSTX1CKC08]Gargoyle Sentry[/mwcard], [mwcard=MWSTX1CKC05]Screech Harpy[/mwcard], [mwcard=DNC03]Devouring Jelly[/mwcard] and more elemental spells in expansions. All of these are getting an academy mage. At the same time, the druid, forcemaster and probably also the paladin and Siren still are a bit underdeveloped compared to the others. (I leave out the necromancer because I feel he has a lot of content already)

Stupid comparison:
- The beastmaster can summon 19 animals from arena, 12 animals from academy and OCTGN has another 5 promo animals. Giving a total number of 31+5
- The druid can summon 5 plants creatures. (+2 attacking conjurations)

I'm not saying this number should be almost equal but the difference is very big.

[Wildhorn]

They want to release the 4 main Mage, then the Forcemaster and Warlord both still need some love. So, its ok so far. Druid doesn't need any love. It is a very strong mage. Samething for Necromancer.

[Halewijn]

Agreed, she's véry strong, but the number of "druid" cards if still fairly limited. Right now she uses a lot of spells from the beastmasters. Both the enchantments and creatures.

I kinda think the warlord has gotten a huge boost with Forged in Fire. The weak spot of the warlords are their weak battle orders and the veteran ability, but these won't get better with extra cards. The war creatures, conjurations and equipment cards are very good. The command spells are ok.

[Sailor Vulcan]

It seems AW wants to release the academy mages in the same order as the mages in arena, but this will make the gap of development even bigger. Wouldn't it be better to bring them out in the reversed order? 3/4 of the core mages have an alternate mage and the wizard has wizard's tower, [mwcard=MWSTX1CKC08]Gargoyle Sentry[/mwcard], [mwcard=MWSTX1CKC05]Screech Harpy[/mwcard], [mwcard=DNC03]Devouring Jelly[/mwcard] and more elemental spells in expansions. All of these are getting an academy mage. At the same time, the druid, forcemaster and probably also the paladin and Siren still are a bit underdeveloped compared to the others. (I leave out the necromancer because I feel he has a lot of content already)

Stupid comparison:
- The beastmaster can summon 19 animals from arena, 12 animals from academy and OCTGN has another 5 promo animals. Giving a total number of 31+5
- The druid can summon 5 plants creatures. (+2 attacking conjurations)

I'm not saying this number should be almost equal but the difference is very big.

I don't think there will be more than one version of each Mage in Academy. The Academy mages have different training than either the original Arena mages or the alternate Arena mages. I don't see the Academy beastmaster as a counterpart to the Straywood Bm any more than the Johktari Bm. And imagine if there were four different versions of the beastmaster, two in Arena and two in Academy! That would get confusing and annoying really fast.

[Halewijn]

I just meant that the academy versions support the arena mages and right now, many of the mages that already have alternate versions get the academy mage sooner.

We have 3 beastmasters now and 1 forcemaster. Since the time between expansions can be long, why not releasing an academy mage first for the least-supported arena mage?

[farkas1]

I think this is a valid concern however I do think someone mentioned this on either arcane duels or on Mage cast episode.  What I remember is that they said they would release the four core mages from arena into academy, than released out of order, with the exception of maybe the forcemaster.   
Any way they do release them, I do agree they should release based on need to expand the pool for each Mage and school.  Forcemaster obviously needs more cards.  Followed by Warlord, Druid, and necromancer.  I do think based on how big the nature school is already the Druid may be pushed back because of the perceived strength of certain mages.
 Let's just hope all the academy mages will be released by the end of next year!!!!

[gw]

Let's just hope all the academy mages will be released by the end of next year!!!!

N-e-x-t -y-e-a-r-?

THIS MONTH !

[Laddinfance]

The Priestess and Warlock are being manufactured, and we're starting work on the next two mages. Just to give you some idea of where we're at.

[Kaarin]

The Priestess and Warlock are being manufactured, and we're starting work on the next two mages. Just to give you some idea of where we're at.

And those mages are?

[exid]

euh... arena needs new cards too!!!

[Laddinfance]

euh... arena needs new cards too!!!

I'm working on the Arena cards. We have a separate designer working on the next two Academy Mages. No, I'm not going to spoil them. But I'm sure we'll have more on them soon.

[exid]

euh... arena needs new cards too!!!

I'm working on the Arena cards. We have a separate designer working on the next two Academy Mages. No, I'm not going to spoil them. But I'm sure we'll have more on them soon.

i don't like to play two times the same spellbook... without new cards, my ideas become more and more crazy... and loosing...

[Laddinfance]

I totally understand. I'm hoping that PVS will give you a lot to work with! I'm very excited about it.

[iNano78]

A Canadian online retailer has more info on Academy Priestess, Warlock, and Lost Grimoire 1:

http://www.greatboardgames.ca/mage-wars-forcemaster-vs-warlord-5601.html
http://www.greatboardgames.ca/mage-wars-forcemaster-vs-warlord-5602.html
http://www.greatboardgames.ca/mage-wars-forcemaster-vs-warlord-5603.html

Of note, all have an ETA of May 27, 2016. The Academy expansions each come with 72 cards and tokens (presumably burn, etc). And the Grimoire includes 108 spells.

[Iudicium86]

I wonder though, will there be Academy sized spellbook packs or something? It seems these mage expansions for Academy don't include a 40-pocket sized spell book with designs to match the theme of the mage. Far as it looks, there is only going to be the core set's Beastmaster and Wizard's books to use.

Sure, we could use spare Arena spellbooks, but those are huge 80 pocket books. Wasted space compared to the Academy sized books.

Would love more of the Academy 40-pocket design options in spellbooks sometime.