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Author Topic: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?  (Read 12654 times)

Reddicediaries

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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #15 on: January 06, 2017, 06:47:07 PM »
It's viable against 99% of the field, but against the 1% (charmyna) it falls short.
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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #16 on: January 06, 2017, 06:56:50 PM »
It's viable against 99% of the field, but against the 1% (charmyna) it falls short.

That's because charmyna is one badass Mage Warrior


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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #17 on: January 06, 2017, 07:05:07 PM »
That and he runs extremely long game books will are almost impossible to kill fast.
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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #18 on: January 06, 2017, 07:16:58 PM »
That and he runs extremely long game books will are almost impossible to kill fast.

Correction, that are almost impossible to kill fast by any means that you currently know of with your current understanding of the game. I think a lot more of this is charmyna' skill and experience with Mage Wars more than anything. He's like a legend here. He went on a couple years hiatus I think but now he's back.


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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #19 on: January 06, 2017, 07:19:32 PM »
Well of course its his skill as well. He usually plays long game books that if PLAYED corectly are almost impossible to beat fast. His skill and thinking is what sets him apart from every other mw player on the planet.
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Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #20 on: January 06, 2017, 07:24:24 PM »
Well of course its his skill as well. He usually plays long game books that if PLAYED corectly are almost impossible to beat fast. His skill and thinking is what sets him apart from every other mw player on the planet.
No you're still missing it. It's almost impossible to beat fast because it's him who's playing it. If charmyna designed aggro decks to fight against his control decks they would still have a pretty good shot of winning lol.

But despite being a genius, from what I recall he's been out of the game for a while. The difference between him and other mw players isn't that large. Drefan or Schwenkgott could probably fight him on even footing. And I think I and a bunch of other players could at least give him a decent challenge and maybe even win on rare occasion.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2017, 07:27:31 PM by Sailor Vulcan »
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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #21 on: January 06, 2017, 07:29:56 PM »
My FM book is always in flux. But here are some ideas:

Prior to DvN, high Armor was hard to beat with an Aggro book. Then came Corrodes and negative Armor, specifically Rust, Acid Ball, and Devouring Jelly. With Academy, we also got Crumble, which gets around Nullify but is stopped by Arcane Ward. With the most recent expansions, Acid attacks are weaker thanks to Chitin Armor and Waterfall Cloak, but Armor can be ignored completely thanks to Critical Strike, which can be combined with Lion Savagery and/or Wolf Fury to really get your Piercing up.

Meanwhile, you can use your Thoughtspore(s) to get around Jynx, Falcon Precision to bypass defences, Decoys to fish for Nullify/Arcane Ward, Poisoned Blood to prevent healing, etc.

All of that said, my definition of "Aggro" may be different than yours. If you're looking for a book/strategy that completely ignores what your opponent is doing and still expects to win in 5-7 rounds even against a strong opponent, then I agree, it probably won't work. At least not consistently, and certainly not against an opponent who has seen it before.  Otherwise, everyone would be running such Aggro books. In my experience, you need to react to your opponent unless/until you are confident that you can win a race to the finish.

I usually open with Battle Forge and expect at least 4-5 equipment out of it because I can't afford the actions needed to arm myself. That may not be as reliable as the PvS meta stabilizes (e.g. with Swell, Water Elemental). And I have a lot of specific counters to books I expect will give me trouble: Obelisk and Orb for swarms, Sleep(Spore) for annoying creatures, Eagleclaw Boots and Teleport(Spore) for walls/vines/push/kiting, ways to neutralize strong guards (e.g. Mongoose Agility, Tanglevine + Astral Anchor, Knockdown, etc), and whatever else might give you difficulty. Don't be afraid to put a utility spell on a Thoughtspore, like Dissolve or Dispel or Force Push, to act as a deterrent in a specific matchup if nothing more. Don't forget to include some spike healing (e.g. (Minor) Heal), passive healing (Regenerate and/or Vampirism), and be prepared to reveal Forcefield when you are about 50% damaged). All these are in my "Aggro" FM book and see a lot of use.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2017, 07:37:17 PM by iNano78 »
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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #22 on: January 06, 2017, 07:33:42 PM »
Thanks Nano! You explained your points very well. I guess my biggest thought right now is what kind of buddy I want. I wonder if you have ever thought of using skelly knight (good vs siren and enemy forcemasters)
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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #23 on: January 06, 2017, 08:00:51 PM »
Well of course its his skill as well. He usually plays long game books that if PLAYED corectly are almost impossible to beat fast. His skill and thinking is what sets him apart from every other mw player on the planet.
No you're still missing it. It's almost impossible to beat fast because it's him who's playing it. If charmyna designed aggro decks to fight against his control decks they would still have a pretty good shot of winning lol.

But despite being a genius, from what I recall he's been out of the game for a while. The difference between him and other mw players isn't that large. Drefan or Schwenkgott could probably fight him on even footing. And I think I and a bunch of other players could at least give him a decent challenge and maybe even win on rare occasion.

The main difference about him is the way he thinks about the game and how he builds his decks. He is the ONLY player who builds deck with the mind set he does.
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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #24 on: January 06, 2017, 08:06:15 PM »
Thanks Nano! You explained your points very well. I guess my biggest thought right now is what kind of buddy I want. I wonder if you have ever thought of using skelly knight (good vs siren and enemy forcemasters)

I haven't used one myself, but it looks good. So does Blightheart, though he is a little more expensive. Mort is good too, with built-in quasi-regen, which also combos with Wall of Bones. And Reassemble gives more bang for buck than Minor Heal with a living buddies. The only Psychic Immune buddy I've used was the Devouring Jelly, but Chitin (and Waterfall Cloak) really nerf it. Of course, Clear Mind and Mind Shield are in school, so there is always an affordable counter to psychic Songs available to the FM.
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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #25 on: January 06, 2017, 08:08:26 PM »
Thanks Nano! You explained your points very well. I guess my biggest thought right now is what kind of buddy I want. I wonder if you have ever thought of using skelly knight (good vs siren and enemy forcemasters)

I haven't used one myself, but it looks good. So does Blightheart, though he is a little more expensive. Mort is good too, with built-in quasi-regen, which also combos with Wall of Bones. And Reassemble gives more bang for buck than Minor Heal with a living buddies. The only Psychic Immune buddy I've used was the Devouring Jelly, but Chitin (and Waterfall Cloak) really nerf it. Of course, Clear Mind and Mind Shield are in school, so there is always an affordable counter to psychic Songs available to the FM.

Alandell is intersting as well. Support him with a buff or two and he's going to town.
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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #26 on: January 06, 2017, 08:17:03 PM »
Thanks Nano! You explained your points very well. I guess my biggest thought right now is what kind of buddy I want. I wonder if you have ever thought of using skelly knight (good vs siren and enemy forcemasters)

I haven't used one myself, but it looks good. So does Blightheart, though he is a little more expensive. Mort is good too, with built-in quasi-regen, which also combos with Wall of Bones. And Reassemble gives more bang for buck than Minor Heal with a living buddies. The only Psychic Immune buddy I've used was the Devouring Jelly, but Chitin (and Waterfall Cloak) really nerf it. Of course, Clear Mind and Mind Shield are in school, so there is always an affordable counter to psychic Songs available to the FM.

Alandell is intersting as well. Support him with a buff or two and he's going to town.

Alandell will be good in the late game, when you have more than enough mana, if he survives that long. Knight of the Red Helm would be great if he weren't so fragile.

I've been tempted to try a Zombie Brute... They're harder to support (e.g. no way to heal them), but nobody likes to see one on their opponent's side, and the FM has lots of cheap ways to make Lumbering a non-factor. Their biggest weakness is probably Eye for an Eye, which is a good counter to Resilient.
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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #27 on: January 06, 2017, 08:19:19 PM »
I think we named all the good buddies. Other then the classics: grizzly, troll, vampiress, and stalker.
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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #28 on: January 06, 2017, 10:37:00 PM »
I think we named all the good buddies. Other then the classics: grizzly, troll, vampiress, and stalker.

FWIW, I currently have the Vampiress in my book. She's easy to support (eg Living), has built-in healing (Vampiric), a strong attack (5 dice) and can deal with Flying for an affordable price (although can be targeted by non-flying Meyer creatures when they activate). Oh, and she can get over walls on her own. And she'll only get better when Frost damage shows up. ;) Mind Shield and Clear Mind are included to counter Sirens, with the latter available to Thoughtspore if necessary... although Chant of Rage or Siren's Call could mess up my Spore while Song of Love or Lullaby screws with my Vampiress. Have to be careful. Sirens are really good, and I haven't entirely figured out how to deal with them. If I can't beat a Siren with the Vampiress or going solo (maybe with Spore support), I may have to try a level 3-4 Skeleton or a Zombie Brute. Or find 9 sbp's for the Brute as a backup to my Vampiress (?).

I last tried a Bridge Troll who ran into an Andramelech Warlock runnning a swarm of Flame damage demons... which was rough for the Troll, but he provided enough of a distraction to allow my FM to pull off the win despite losing her buddy in the process. A Teleport-spore was summoned mid game and made it easy to hop over Walls of Flame and keep the pressure on to finish the match.
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Re: Aggro Forcemaster: Is it viable?
« Reply #29 on: January 07, 2017, 08:26:11 AM »
This is what I came up with for starters.

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname]Agrro Forcemaster![/spellbookname]
[mage]A Forcemaster Spellbook[/mage]
[mage]built by the OCTGN SBB[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=FWA02]2 x Force Hammer[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNA01]1 x Acid Ball[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MW1J04]1 x Battle Forge[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1J16]1 x Mordok's Obelisk[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1J21]1 x Suppression Orb[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1J22]2 x Tanglevine[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWBG1W01]2 x Wall of Force[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MW1C26]1 x Necropian Vampiress[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWC16]2 x Thoughtspore[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=LG01E03]2 x Critical Strike[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE06]1 x Lion Savagery[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWE05]2 x Forcefield[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1E01]2 x Bear Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1E31]1 x Poisoned Blood[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWE08]1 x Mind Shield[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWBD1E01]1 x Astral Anchor[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWE03]2 x Falcon Precision[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1E10]1 x Decoy[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWA01E02]2 x Arcane Ward[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1E40]1 x Vampirism[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1E05]1 x Cheetah Speed[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1E28]1 x Mongoose Agility[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=PSQ05]1 x Leviathan Scale Armor[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1Q06]1 x Dragonscale Hauberk[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1Q23]1 x Regrowth Belt[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ04]1 x Galvitar, Force Blade[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWA01Q04]1 x Leather Chausses[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1Q15]1 x Leather Boots[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ09]1 x Wand of Healing[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=PSI02]3 x Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWI13]1 x Seeking Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=PSI01]3 x Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1I28]2 x Teleport[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1I12]2 x Force Push[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWI12]1 x Minor Heal[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1I26]1 x Sleep[/mwcard]
[mwcard=LG01I01]2 x Clear Mind[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MW1I20]1 x Purify[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]




It seems fairly solid at first glance. I opted to include more enchantments rather than more wards. Biggest things i might want:

Mage Wand just to prolong all my spells
A wardstone since I have so many enchantments.
Hand of Bin/ more dmg buffs.
More equipment to get more use out of my battle forge.

Things I might cut

A dispel/dissolve: need to test more
Cut down to 1 of most enchants
« Last Edit: January 07, 2017, 08:32:00 AM by Reddicediaries »
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