Help against Purge Magic

[Ravepig]

Here is the scenario of what happened in my Arena Match tonight: I had my Warlock buffed fairly well with Enchantments. I had three nullifies, one Reverse Magic and one Arcane Ward in my book. What my opponent did was use his QC to cast dissolve, which he knew he was wasting- dissolve's target says Mage, so it automatically triggers Nullify, which then freed him up to use his action to cast Purge Magic which removed all my enchantments. I can't place both Nullify AND Reverse Magic at the same time, because one spell would trigger both making one pointless.

How can I counter this tactic for future reference???

[JasonBourneZombie]

While there are ways, they would require different spells and/or tactics and a decent ability to recognize when your opponent is about to double cast to purge.

One enchanters wardstone makes a 3 enchant purge cost 6 more mana, holy mages can intervention away, and enchantment transfusion can shift them elsewhere so you can still get the benefit or return them to your mage with a second one.

That's about it. I suggest the wardstone approach. Making your curses and buffs harder to remove can work quite well.

[Ravepig]

Did not even think of Enchanter's Wardstone. That's a good idea. Likely would still purge magic, but definitely at a much higher cost.

I'm still trying to figure out the strategy/benefit of Arcane Ward other than attaching to an item to protect against crumble. That's what's interesting: Dissolve targets mage, but crumble targets equipment. Most of my opponents stick with dissolve, so what's the value of Arcane Ward?

[Brian VanAlstyne]

Arcane Ward will protect a specific enchantment as Dispel targets the enchantment and therefore won't trigger a nullify or reverse magic.

[Biblofilter]

Enchantment Transfusion.

Put 2 in every spellbook you have, when your opponent cast Purge Magic. Reveal ET and then move them back to target with the other one.

[Ravepig]

Enchantment Transfusion is a good idea!

[iNano78]

You could also use Enchantment Transfusion on another creature with its own Nullify or Reverse Magic and bring that to your Mage after losing your first Nullify/Reverse Magic.

[Kaarin]

Arcane Ward is nice for protecting your medium creatures that You don't plan on buffing soon. With Enchanter's Ring it's 1 mana cost for protecting your creature against enchantments and incantations.

[Ravepig]

Just to be clear- Purge Magic removes all hidden and revealed enchantments. Enchantment Transfusion allows me to move all my enchantments to another legal creature. So, is this a matter of timing? Meaning, I need to cast Transfusion PRIOR to when I think my opponent is going to cast Purge Magic, OR can I reveal Transfusion during the counter spell step? I'm assuming it's a guessing game as the way I read the rules/card text, purge magic would also remove Transfusion. Is this correct?

[iNano78]

Just to be clear- Purge Magic removes all hidden and revealed enchantments. Enchantment Transfusion allows me to move all my enchantments to another legal creature. So, is this a matter of timing? Meaning, I need to cast Transfusion PRIOR to when I think my opponent is going to cast Purge Magic, OR can I reveal Transfusion during the counter spell step? I'm assuming it's a guessing game as the way I read the rules/card text, purge magic would also remove Transfusion. Is this correct?

As long as Purge Magic hasn't got to the Resolve Spell step (step 4), you could reveal your Enchantment Transfusion.  In other words, you could reveal it at the end of the Declare Spell step, Pay Costs step, or Counter Spell step - your choice.

[Ravepig]

got it- thank you all for the help!

[baronzaltor]

Some random thoughts to help get around Purges...

1-2 Enchanters Wardstones makes Purge Magic really expensive.  Unplayable expensive in some cases. 

Playing a Jinx at the right time can also botch his attempt to purge you, if his first spell that he is trying to waste gets Jinxed, it never gets to burn your Nullify and you've kinda ruined his round.  In fact, just toss out Jinxes all the time him because its annoying.

Another option is to not to directly rely on stacks of enchantments and draw buffs from other sources like incantations and equipment mixes with only a couple enchantments.  Things like Hand of Bim Shalla can buff you without being directly purge-able for example.  Or, have a couple creatures to share your buffs over.  When doing a beatdown sort of Warlock I like to do a tag team of some upper-middle tier creatures like Necropian Vampiress and a Dark Pact Slayer or Blood Demon to make a reaper to share buffs over so that no one Purge Magic can wreck everything.

You can also toss out debuffs/curses on the opponent as you buff yourself... try to get him to spend his Purge Magic to knock off a stack of curses instead of your buffs.

[Ravepig]

Some random thoughts to help get around Purges...

1-2 Enchanters Wardstones makes Purge Magic really expensive.  Unplayable expensive in some cases. 

Playing a Jinx at the right time can also botch his attempt to purge you, if his first spell that he is trying to waste gets Jinxed, it never gets to burn your Nullify and you've kinda ruined his round.  In fact, just toss out Jinxes all the time him because its annoying.

Another option is to not to directly rely on stacks of enchantments and draw buffs from other sources like incantations and equipment mixes with only a couple enchantments.  Things like Hand of Bim Shalla can buff you without being directly purge-able for example.  Or, have a couple creatures to share your buffs over.  When doing a beatdown sort of Warlock I like to do a tag team of some upper-middle tier creatures like Necropian Vampiress and a Dark Pact Slayer or Blood Demon to make a reaper to share buffs over so that no one Purge Magic can wreck everything.

You can also toss out debuffs/curses on the opponent as you buff yourself... try to get him to spend his Purge Magic to knock off a stack of curses instead of your buffs.

These are good tips and exactly how I reworked my book. I plan to add a few solid creatures, buff the small group up and then head out to battle.

[JasonBourneZombie]

Jinx and nullify are both mandatory triggers during the counter step. Wouldn't they both be revealed on the first cast and leave nothing for the second just like a nullify reverse magic combo?

[Ravepig]

Jinx and nullify are both mandatory triggers during the counter step. Wouldn't they both be revealed on the first cast and leave nothing for the second just like a nullify reverse magic combo?

Not if you play Jinx on your opponent's mage