Is wizard tower not OP anymore?

[Sailor Vulcan]

I just played quite a few games with a new wizard deck this past week or two, and I've noticed that my opponents don't have much difficulty destroying my tower. It often only takes them two attacks to destroy it.

Some things to note:

-This is a new deck, and I've been positioning the Gate in the wrong zone, in NC.

-because of this, they've had an easier time destroying my creatures as they come out. I've even had my gate destroyed at least once.

It could be that these things caused me to lose in spite of the tower, but I'm not entirely sure. The tower feels more fragile to me now than it used to.

Something else to keep in mind is that almost all of my attack spells in the book are low attack dice and I mainly included them for their effects rather than for burst damage against the enemy mage. Also, I should have included fewer creatures and more ways to keep my creatures alive longer.

So I'm not sure whether the tower was so much easier to destroy because I wasn't applying enough pressure from non-tower sources, or if the tower really is so much easier to destroy now in general. I'm guessing it's probably some combination of the two. The tower has 1 more life and 1 less armor than battle forge. Considering how hard it can be sometimes to destroy enchanter's wardstones, I would say one more armor sometimes makes a creature more survivable than one more life would. It's probably easier to destroy a wizard tower than a battle forge.

The tower's main advantage is in saving actions and spellbook points for a low mana cost. But if it's destroyed quickly enough it doesn't get as much value per spellbook points saved. It's the same level as elemental wand. If you spam a level 2 attack spell from the tower every round after its summoned, that's about 6 mana starting cost to effectively increase your spellbook points by 2 or 4 each round as long as you pay the attack spell's cost each time you cast it. Elemental wand has a 5 mana starting cost and effectively adds the same number of book points each round as long as you pay the attack spell's casting cost each time you cast it. There are two main differences.

1. elemental wand can change its spell for a 3 mana quick cast, but wizard tower can change its spell for free.
2. Wizard tower doesn't technically cost 6 mana it costs 7 and has 1 channeling. Therefore if you choose not to cast the attack bound to it on a particular round the mana still adds up so you'll pay less for the attack next round. Elemental wand costs less but does not have channeling.


So I'm not entirely sure what to think of the tower right now in the current meta. I have to test it more.

[SharkBait]

I'm personally still of the opinion that it never has been OP, so the implication that it previously was is not the correct way to frame the discussion in my opinion.

I do think it's a valuable tool that the wizard has, and when used properly can have a huge effect on the match. However, just like any tool, if it's not used in situations that it was designed for, then it can be rather underwhelming. Using a hammer to turn a screw can technically be done, but it's not nearly as efficient as a screw driver.

The tower isn't the ONE thing that makes a wizard powerful either. The wizard is generally able to build a toolbox with a lot of things in it, but still has to apply them properly. Everything has counters, including a wizard and his tower.

[iNano78]

Tower + Gate is a lot of mana (both up front and committed to future actions), preventing you from using higher cost attack spells, especially if you are putting out a relatively expensive arcane creature every other round.  I think the tower is more powerful in a solo or buddy Wizard than one that uses the Gate, since you'll have enough mana to take full advantage of the extra attack spell per round.  But I'm no expert, and not much of a Wizard player in general (e.g. have only used him 4 or 5 times total).

Also, did you immediately summon a second (and third) Tower when the first (and second) were destroyed?  One of the biggest complaints about the Tower is that it's a major threat that takes resources to take down, and when you do take it down, another one gets cast immediately, then another, then another - and each time, it can cast an attack spell upon being cast.  Hence, a commonly proposed nerf is to make it Epic.

I see the Priestess/Priest/Paladin becoming the best counter to the Wizard's Tower, since White Cloak Knight is immune to both it and Arcane Zap, and Brogan already has the right amount of Piercing for dealing with a Tower.