Card of the (i dunno... month?)!!

[RomeoXero]

Alright boys and girls of Mage wars, im not gonna guarantee anything but i think i might be able to to a few more of these now.  So without further ado, let's talk Glancing Blow!
I gotta say folks, im getting massive use out of this guy. Its novice and war (another one, i know that bums out some of you), costs 2 mana to play and zero mana to flip (a mandatory reveal on the next attack that hits) and it causes the attacker to roll 3 fewer dice on that attack.

This little enchantment is a BALLER! With an enchanters ring, and for one quick action and ONE mana you can negate 3 dice from any attack. Now as far as specific uses go I've found a few:
1. This thing almost guarantees that your fellela or thought spore will survive a single attack. Flame blast (common unavoidable familiar killer) rolls one die. ONE!
2. As far as plants or similarly unarmored guys go this is amazing. Coupled with armor or regen (or both!) It's just gravy.
3. Spawnpoint mages should love this spell! For two (or one) mana and one SP, you get something useful to do with the extra action you're gaining without taxing out your mana supply early! Plus they keep your first creatures alive looking enough for reinforcements to arrive. 2 birds!
4. Compared to brace yourself, which stops a maximum or 4 damage (usually less as crits can and do happen), GB stops 3 whole dice, a maximum of 6 damage regardless or crit potential. That having been said they work marvelously In  tandem.
5. Nature mages should abuse the shit out of this card. With access to fellela (Though cassiel can and should do it too), and In school enchanters ring, along with cheap squishy creatures this guarantees  (almost) that they will hit at least twice.  Sometimes that's all you can ask (and for one freaking mana with ring, what else can you ask? ).

So far I've put it in pretty much every book i run, from warlocks to druids to wiza... ok i don't play wizards but if i did id put this on a blue (or jade) gremlin any day. Or a moonglow farie (if you play such nonsense). All of them have benefited from it. What do you all think? Anyone have different results?

[Borg]

Excellent card indeed.
What you really have to account for in this card is the mandatory reveal. Its only drawback.

To work around this drawback it is best placed on creatures where you really want to reveal this card as soon as it's attacked, not simply because you "must".

A frontline fighter for example might still get some use out of it, but it might also be triggered by a low 2 dice attack for a minimal gain. In these situations, Brace Yourself often is a better choice.

Because of this mandatory reveal upon being attacked, imo it is best used on creatures
1- which you'll normally not find in the frontlines and which are best kept away from attacks
2- which are fragile and can be killed with one serious attack
3- which want to reveal this card anyway as soon as they're attacked

[jacksmack]

Glancing blow must be revealed at the beginning of the roll dice step.

If you successfully avoid an attack (such as with a defense), then the roll dice step is skipped - thus not triggering the mandatory reveal.

[farkas1]

I do like glancing blow for the fact it is one spell book point in any school.  I should use it more especially in my low armored books or against things rushing at my spawn points or familiars if I feel they are too squishy.

 I do like brace yourself a little more in most cases for my Mage.  It lasts for the whole round.  My last game I used it it saved me a total of 16 damage from a crazy Druid wall combo. 

I also really enjoy tangle root a lot.  I know it's more mana and spellbook points for being out of school.  But over several turns it negAtes a potential 12 damage for one quick action. 

Good pick for card of the month tho and I will be running it more for sure. 

[Borg]

Glancing blow must be revealed at the beginning of the roll dice step.

If you successfully avoid an attack (such as with a defense), then the roll dice step is skipped - thus not triggering the mandatory reveal.

Correct,

For some reason I didn't read beyond " When this creature is attacked, you must reveal Glancing Blow ...
but then it adds "at the beginning of the roll dice step". My mistake.

The card just got better.

[Biblofilter]

Im convinced

Putting a Glancing Blow or two into books.

Seems really nice not only on familiars but on creature like Knight of Westlock.
He already has armor and a defence, so reducing dice if they get pass the defence seems fine.

Having enough mana left for revealing enchanments is sometimes a problem so reveal cost 0 is nice.

[Coshade]

This is a great card to bring up! A lot of mages that go for longer games can struggle against rushes. When adramelech throws 10 dice fireballs at you, any sort of reduction is useful. I noticed it was pointed out, but brace yourself is generally better against swarms, while this is better against level 2 spells (creature or attack). That being said i think i need to put 1 or 2 in a few of my books.
Hope to see more card highlights romeo!

[Reddicediaries]

The one issue I see with this card is the fact that smart players will attack with a weak creature or attack to pop it and then just smash it with whatever they really wanted to hit it with.
It's the same thing with divine reversal.

[drmambo23]

The one issue I see with this card is the fact that smart players will attack with a weak creature or attack to pop it and then just smash it with whatever they really wanted to hit it with.
It's the same thing with divine reversal.

I would disagree. I get what youre saying, though.


Baiting a nullify is pretty easy but i would say baiting a glancing blow is not that simple. With it being novice war, i would not expect a beast master to have it on a wolf, i would suspect rhino hide, wolf fury or bear strength. For a warlock i would suspect bloodlust or something. Holy schools divine reversal can be seen coming but also healing charm and others are in school. I think this card is amazing from the games ive seen it in bc of the mixup and it not being easy to predict.
There are so many cheap in school spells for most mages  that wanting to bait an attack with a weak creature instead of going for the kill with a bigger one bc of this 1 card seems to notadd up for me.
The only time i would be 99.9% positive i saw a glancing blow would be on a thoughtspore.  And even then i could be wrong.

[DaveW]

If you are concerned about the possibility of a low attack die creature from popping the Glancing Blow, put it on a creature that you are keeping away from the bulk of the fighting (archers and familiars primarily), and add an Enchantment Transfusion.

Transfuse it to whichever creature needs the protection before the roll dice step, and then reveal it. Sure, it costs another couple(?) of spellbook points, a few more mana, and an additional quick action to set it up... but if you have the time and mana, you can have the peace of mind that Fellela or a Thoughtspore or whatever won't melee attack your creature to pop it. (You would usually want GB on a familiar, etc. in any case... so just adding ET makes the spell available to your entire army.)

[keejchen]

4. Compared to brace yourself, which stops a maximum or 4 damage (usually less as crits can and do happen), GB stops 3 whole dice, a maximum of 6 damage regardless or crit potential. That having been said they work marvelously In  tandem.

I'm not convinced. 

Brace yourself lasts until the end of the round, a well placed brace can soak 10+ dmg. Bonus if comboed with veterans belt.

It is not a mandatory reveal, meaning it is immune to being baited by an opponent who has creature advantage, and you can even wait with reveal until you have seen the actual dice roll, meaning it will always be used for something.

On something like Fellella, it is true that GB would give her a better chance against that one specific attack, but it has to be perfect and only works that one time. Brace can soak 4 from that attack and stays up. It's also better for countering mage-push through WoT.

I will likely put GB in a book with Cassiel since she can cast it, but otherwise I would think the brace is the more solid choice.

[Reddicediaries]

I agree with keej.
Glancing blow is better when you want to protect your creature from the 1 attack that could kill them. Brace is just better in every other case though.

[Beldin]

My 2 Cents:

I'm not convinced. 

Brace yourself lasts until the end of the round, a well placed brace can soak 10+ dmg. Bonus if comboed with veterans belt.

Agreed. I echo everything keejchen says and add that I like the idea of this card however brace is more solid. I like the spikiness of Brace and have used it to save myself and make my opponent wastes mana and actions on now sub-optimal wall of thorns/force push combo. Also Wizard loves Brace. As Keej says you combo this vet belt and its gold, add a voltaric shield as well and you are golden.

This is a great card to bring up! A lot of mages that go for longer games can struggle against rushes.
[...]
brace yourself is generally better against swarms, while this is better against level 2 spells (creature or attack). That being said i think i need to put 1 or 2 in a few of my books.
Hope to see more card highlights romeo!

I disagree. Loses against rush decks happen in the book building phase. I put at least one road of defence against rushes in my books. In my opinion it is one of the basic books you will see and play against so it needs some thought. I tend to also place two braces in my books as well. Brace has applications against attack spells and a well timed brace can cause an attack spell to do zero damage, especially against a wizard with Vet belt and Voltaric shield.

When adramelech throws 10 dice fireballs at you, any sort of reduction is useful. I noticed it was pointed out, but

Rush ball is a nice deck to play however it if you can overcome the initial rush with damage reduction, armor, and heals then the Lady Warlock needs a solid plan B or it becomes a struggle for her to win. Sadly also her initial rush eats up a good chuck of mana that can be used for more solid long term actions.