March 29, 2024, 07:17:34 AM

Author Topic: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?  (Read 21639 times)

rant

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #15 on: June 12, 2017, 10:58:25 PM »
I build my book the same way.  you may have missed my first post.  Let me make this clear:

THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH IN SCHOOL SPELLS TO MAKE THE AX WARLOCK COMPETITIVE.

I'm sorry if that was unclear.  MY Warlock is good but it relies on too many out of school spells.  I think this is a symptom of the necro.

the reason why I say it's a PT problem is because I don't see a PT maining AX.  BUT, I do see that the mages that PT main seem to have an answer to everything.
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silverclawgrizzly

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #16 on: June 12, 2017, 11:00:09 PM »
I'll take you up on that offer Rant. I'll take your tickets. As Gen Con judge I have use of a free spot in both the practice session and the tournament itself.

No I'm not competing(you can relax folks) but I always have people interested in participating who are unsure about the cost.
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zot

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #17 on: June 12, 2017, 11:04:24 PM »
 i did miss that part for the post. i play warlord and wizard as my favorites. and the original warlord at that. people dog that one the most too. doesnt matter to me, i still like it.


silverclawgrizzly

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #18 on: June 12, 2017, 11:07:30 PM »
Dude Bloodwave is legit. Speaking of play tester view points I can say this without spoilers: The days of bad mouthing the orc warlord are over come Academy: Warlord. If people think the spoilers for Academy: Force Master are nice, they haven't seen jack yet. Don't believe me just watch 8)
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rant

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #19 on: June 12, 2017, 11:07:54 PM »
I'll take you up on that offer Rant. I'll take your tickets. As Gen Con judge I have use of a free spot in both the practice session and the tournament itself.

No I'm not competing(you can relax folks) but I always have people interested in participating who are unsure about the cost.

all yours. I will see you personally griz
« Last Edit: June 12, 2017, 11:45:09 PM by rant »
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silverclawgrizzly

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #20 on: June 12, 2017, 11:12:54 PM »
We can arrange dropping them off via PM if you like.
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rant

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #21 on: June 12, 2017, 11:21:33 PM »
Bro, I'll be by the booth bright an early.  Like I eluded to earlier, It was the main reason why I purchased gencon ticks.

Such a waste of a core mage.  Now, when everyone buys the core, they know not to pick warlock.
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Halewijn

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #22 on: June 13, 2017, 12:25:58 AM »
I also disagree. Arraxian warlock is still pretty darn good. Why would he be any less competitive than the adramelech warlock? All his abilities are great, the dark school is huge and he is trained in the fire school too.

Quote
"I'm sorry if that was unclear.  MY Warlock is good but it relies on too many out of school spells.  I think this is a symptom of the necro.

It's true that PvS didn't give them as much as other mages but they have gained chant of rage (which is one of THE best cards PvS) altar of infernia, Bloodthirsty strike, curse item, and a few other cards. Warlocks don't even need dissolve anymore.

Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5HZnNQB1BI
-> Final stages of the ADMW tournament. Arraxian warlock beating a priestess. Making some awesome use out of curseweaving.

« Last Edit: June 13, 2017, 12:49:21 AM by Halewijn »
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Mystery

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #23 on: June 13, 2017, 03:33:27 AM »
Warlocks don't even need dissolve anymore.

no to that, curse item alone doesnt work against mage wands and can still be dispeled, explode is costy

I still like playing the warlock and he is still pretty nice, but remove curse made it harder and Pillar of flame one of the current must have cards in my pov costs tripple

Biblofilter

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #24 on: June 13, 2017, 04:22:50 AM »
Im sorry if i offended some - and i may have overdone my statement a bit.

It usually generate a bit of discussion - which is great.

Ax Crown did really well in the ADMW Winter Special - but the point remains vs a Necro your not in good shape.


You might have 20% or more of your spellbook not working, on top of that if he/she runs fire protection its really uphill.
Ax Crown has amazing healing = Deathlock still good.

If you don´t play vs Necros then your all good :)
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Sailor Vulcan

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #25 on: June 13, 2017, 04:52:19 AM »
You could also run an Enchanter's wardstone and some arcane wards to protect some of your curses. The wardstone is much better than most people give it credit for. Also you need mind shields to protect your blood reaper from psychic spells such as chant of rage. Things like that. Also don't be so afraid of going out of school.

Also the warlock is very good at attacking things. If you're facing a necromancer don't agonize over not being able to put Ghoul rot or poisoned blood on him. Just attack him more and have your own Deathlock ready when you need it.
« Last Edit: June 13, 2017, 04:57:02 AM by Sailor Vulcan »
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Biblofilter

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #26 on: June 13, 2017, 05:28:45 AM »
Well some good news!

I don´t think a single non-Warlock mage cast Dragonscale Hauberk in ADMW Winter Special.
There are lots of fire protection out there, but if Warlocks are no treat nobody are going to run it.
7+ dice, piercing 1 Firestreams might just be good enough.

Why not enter him in Gen-Con and lets see.

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jacksmack

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #27 on: June 13, 2017, 05:34:34 AM »
In General the Chitin armor seems to be the out-of-school-auto-include-chest-piece replacing Dragon Scale which should help both warlocks a bit.

Sersiryx is not bad.
I have no idea why there is so much hate on this guy. He has reasonable armor and reasonable HP. He can be guarded unlike flying familiars.
In the hands of the female warlock he even has a decent melee attack. (potentially 4 dice against something with marked).
He can benefit from ring discount unlike most other familiars.
He can guard for you when needed (not pest). Also he can hinder, which can be used to stop the enemy mage from escaping.
He is probably my favorite familiar.


AX warlock struggles vs necromancer and druid.

Vs necromancer you should consider not to make use of your Bloodreaper as you may be forced to put down Deathlock (or mby the necromancer does it).

Curse equipment, eye of baal, molochs torment, magebane and arcane corruption can give you alot of direct damage - even without ghoulrot.

Ignite is underrated for a nullify probe and ensuring that the curse you cast right after will go through. And its just 1 spellbook point.
(if your lucky it also adds to the direct damage).

Vs necromancer you gotta put pressure on him early. If you allow him to get 3 brutes out then your done.
Force him to armor up = less brutes out. Then swap to Curse equipments. Remember timing, so that when he lets equipment die then you have initiative and can QC fireball.
So makes sure you start to deal with him round 4 or 5 the latest.

Vs druid i dont have much advice. While in theory fire beats druid, the problem comes from the tight spellbook building the AX crown is under in order to be versatile and stand a chance vs multiple books.
I know everyone is saying AX beats druid with fire... but that's just not what i have found to be the case.
If he had points for 3 helions and LoF then druid would probably be an easy fight... but imo he is giving up too much vs other mages if he chooses to include that many fire creatures.

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #28 on: June 13, 2017, 05:41:27 AM »
wardstones only pay off if you the oponent dispels something every other round at minimum else a mana crystal of him will just counter it already, I do run one still, but more for opportunity costs to mess with mana calculation etc .

Protecting with arcane ward is not that easy, purify, remove curse and purge magic target the mage, dispel and disperse the enchantment so they can always work against one. I still run it but its not straight forward.

The Warlock still has good amount of healing: bloodreaper, death link, regrowth (out of school), demonic link, vampiric,...

your tiny mask gives piercing on all attacks, combine with wolf fury and you already have a base attack of 5 dice pierce 2 for 7mana investment, fire attack spells also get that one piercing. If you buff your creatures with demonic link or demonic bloodlust (reaper is anyway thirsty) you never lose a sbp...

never go only explode/curse equipment, a single dissolve may be necessary to take care of something rather cheap right away.

dont be afraid cursing non-mage creatures, you get the spell back if no dispel....

for some: dont invest too many sbp in creatures
Mind shield with chant of rage could be interesting, but maybe nullify/dispel/seeking dispel is cooler as more flexibel for same sbp. or arcane ward. but sersiryx is pretty vulnerable to it :(

Deathlock is questionable as warlock with so much healing potential, i rarely use it

druid i think its a lot of cautious play and get use out of your fire attacks and curse the creatures, still though game

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Re: Has the AX Crown lost his competitiveness?
« Reply #29 on: June 13, 2017, 06:03:30 AM »
wardstones only pay off if you the oponent dispels something every other round at minimum else a mana crystal of him will just counter it already, I do run one still, but more for opportunity costs to mess with mana calculation etc.

Wards Stone is Alpha Omega in a curse based book.

You are basing your mana calculation on dispell. Vs. Destroy Magic and Purge you absolutely need these stones out.
The key is not to cast them too early.