General Uses For All Mages/ Mage Types
As Necromancer/Siren use the equipment spawnpoints + Altar of the Iron Guard, to spawn guards on the mage as necessary.
- Keejchen
Guarding with rage creatures is a nice way to help you get the rage token (or deter attacks if they don't want to give you the token), plus they get to counter with the newly gained rage token.
- Keejchen
Agony affects normal attack/strikes but also affects double, triple, and counterstrikes.
• A darkfenne hydra’s base triplestrike with agony only rolls 3x1 dice and the counterstrike only rolls 2 dice
If you have 1-2 corrode tokens on you and have an equal amount of armor on, preferably a chest piece, you can put a rust on yourself to drop your armor amount there by removing the corrode tokens. Then, use enchantment transfusion to move rust to an enemy creature.
- Charmyna
Use Nullify with enchantment transfusion to counter a teleport or any other spell that will foil your plans!
- Echephron
If you suspect your opponent to purge magic your enchantments on them or one of their creatures, have a nullify and enchantment transfusion on another creature within 2 zones. When they reveal purge magic reveal enchantment transfusion during the counter spell step and move nullify to the purge target. The nullify will cancel the purge. You do spend more actions and set up time but the overall outcome will be in your favor if this works correctly.
- Mystery
If you reveal poisoned blood (especially against a holy mage), prep a deathlock (assuming you have one) and cast it in the first QC to ensure they keep finite life and don't heal back up.
- Sharkbait
Cast reverse attack on the creature you intend to put a hate token on when casting chant of rage on an enemy.
- Sharkbait
When a target gains/ has a +X trait such as “lightning +1” the damage dice and the effect die are both modified. Likewise, if the target has “lightning -1” the damage dice and effect die are still modified. This also works with attacks that state “+X vs flying, non-living, etc.” Both damage dice and effect dice are modified.
If you are facing a warlord with strategist helm, put magebane on the warlord. If he uses the helm he will take 3 damage per turn instead of 2.
- Farkas1
Casting 2 mana generators such as 2 crystals/ flowers, 1 flower and 1 wispwillow/ moonglow amulet is considered a “soft opening” because it does not reveal any plans to your opponent, only increases channeling.
- Intangible
Battleforge placement can dictate what side of the board you or your opponent want the fight to take place since the forge can still target a mage at range 2. Placement near your starting corner typically, but not always, means a slower build is being played. Placement in the center or near the center of the board may reveal that the fight will take place sooner than you may expect.
- Coshade
Use force push to push an enemy through wall of thorns. If you push a mage through the wall they will take 10 dice of damage.
- Biblofilter
Spells that help against non-living and undead, especially in a necromancer mirror match:
• Curse of decay does not have the poison subtype.
• Agony works on non-living and undead to reduce the amount of dice they roll.
• Chains of agony works against undead and non-living creatures to deal direct damage when they move. This helps especially since most undead/ non-living are slow or lumbering and will not be an immediate threat but will still take the damage.
• Marked for Death adds one die to any creature that attacks the enchanted creature. This is very helpful for dealing with resilient and incorporeal (the more dice the better!)
• Enfeeble will keep a lumbering zombie at a distance for a while and keep them from guarding or attacking your wounded creature.
Grey Wraith and Blue Gremlin do not need line of sight to teleport and can use this advantage to teleport through a wall.
Chain lightning can be used on a flyer or a wall to hit the next target on the other side of a wall.
Putting reverse attack on yourself then melee attacking a big guard will help take the guard down faster.
Steal equipment can still be used if the enemy has champions gauntlets equipped.
Whirling Strike and Sweeping Strike can be used with the Water Elemental to hit creatures in different zones. The effects from your first attack resolve before your next (sweeping) strike which allows you to push the first creature into the next zone, follow it, and then use sweeping to hit another creature. With whirling strike you can move the elemental 3 zones if you get the push each attack and hit 3 different targets, one in each zone.
Use sleep to target a flame immune creature when fighting the adramelech warlock. She, most likely, will not be able to attack it and wake it up.
Galvanize can be used remove the stun gained from overextend allowing your soldier to activate next turn.
Altar of Infernia only affects melee +X traits. Any card that specifically states that dice are added in any way other than melee +X, such as marked for death, straywood scout, focused strike, academy weapons, etc will still provide bonuses because they are not listed as melee +X. Also, attacks and traits that add dice such as light +!, flame +!, +2 vs. non-living, etc will still work with the altar because they are not listed as melee +X but as adding dice.
This means that these cards are not affected by the altar:
• Ranged +X
• Piercing +X
• Charge +X
• Bloodthirsty +X
• AC Warlock’s Bloodreaper
• Necromancer’s Eternal Servant
• Lightning raptor
• Afflicted demon
• Ballad of courage
• Smite
• Zombie frenzy
- iNano78
An elemental wand with an attack that deals direct damage or can put on corrode markers is a great way to deal with resilient.
Purify removes not only poison conditions but enchantments with the poison subtype, poisoned blood, plagued, and ghoul rot
Immediately after you reveal telekinetic bomb play siphon energy. This will remove 1 dissipate, heal you mage, and the bomb will detonate on the following upkeep.
Run a goblin bomber in a zone with a few enemies then use overextend. The bomber will then be able to detonate, making a zone attack, and you do not have to deal with the stun from overextend.
You do not have to pay for the mandatory reveal on enchantments if you think it will set you back mana. Choosing to not pay voids the spell but can save you mana.
The steps for casting a spell are as followed: 1. Declare Spell, 2. Pay Costs, 3. Counter Spell and 4. Resolve Spell. First, you must follow all steps for casting, just like any spell. Then, if the spell is not countered, you must resolve the attack, following the steps for attacking. The attack sequence begins during step 4, the resolve spell step. When you cast an attack spell, it is both a spell and an attack. The target of the attack is always the same as the target you chose when you cast the spell. The rules also state that “When a spell resolves, if you find that the target of the spell is no longer a legal target or has moved, then the spell is cancelled”. You check for targeting of the spell during step 1, declare, and step 4, resolve. If the target is legal during both checks the spell is not negated and is completed as normal. This being said, Eagle Wings can’t be revealed at any point during the attack steps which begin at step 4 of the cast spell sequence, but can be until any point after counter spell, step 3, of casting a spell. This can be tricky but you have a small window when the target is established, costs are paid, and spell is revealed to counter a spell that does not target flying creatures such as Quick Sand Seismic Burst, Stalagmite, Surging Wave, Swell, Tsunami, Whirlpool, Tanglevine, Stranglevine, Earthquake, and the effect from Vinewhip Staff since it is a quick spell. *Tsunami, while it is a zone attack, it only attacks non-flying objects. Revealing Eagle wings will only cancel the attack on that creature and all other legal targets will still be attacked. Revealing Eagle Wings does not work with countering enchantments such as Stumble and Tangleroot since there is no reveal step for an enchantment after another enchantment is revealed. It also will not counter Gate to Hell as that effect is instantaneous.
Following this method of revealing eagle wings to cancel certain spells, the same can be said with maim wings.
You can reveal maim wings on a flyer to drop them behind a wall or into elephant grass to block line of sight from the attack.
- Puddinhead
Poisoned Blood cannot be revealed to counter a Healing Charm because there's no counter spell step for revealing enchantments.
- Puddinhead
Poisoned Blood must be revealed before a creature takes an action to drink from the Renewing Spring.
Don't wait until you have 20+ damage to heal. Heal when you've got 12 damage. Most people don't Finite Life that early.
- Puddinhead
Zone attacks will attack invisible objects and/or creatures.
Giant wolf spider get a +4 to its effect roll if the creature is restrained. Tanglevine is one of the most efficient ways to assure the creature is restrained and the spider gets the buff.
- Farkas1
Deathlock is a good way to prevent a necromancer from healing since poisoned blood cannot be used on him.
Unmovable is a good trait to have, especially when facing a siren, forcemaster, or druid. Eagleclaw boots are very reliable if you are anyone but a war mage. If you are a war mage then steadfast boots are your spell of choice. In rare cases, you may even find the need to tanglevine a friendly creature to keep them out of harms way against these 3 mages.
Whirlpool has no effect on flying and aquatic creatures. These are easy to recognize as the traits are listed on the card and in the subtype section of a card. Whirlpool also does not work on uncontainable creatures; incorporeal and unstoppable creatures also have the uncontainable trait. This list of creatures includes:
• Devouring jelly
• Magma golem
• Water elemental (aquatic)
• Sardonyx, blight of the living
• Talos
• Invisible stalker
• Whirling spirit
• Fire elemental
• Grey wraith
