Mage Wars is an incredibly interesting game in that most of the strategy in the game is in the spellbook design. Once the game begins, most of your thought is in the tactics. In order to clarify and delve into what exactly this means, we first need to define the difference between strategy and tactics.
Most card games are strategy games. If you look at RftG, GtR, M:TG, etc., you are planning what you are going to do in future turns in order to win the game. This is strategy. You are using resources you have (be it actions, mana, gold, stone, wood, etc) to not only do what you can on your turn, but to use what you did to plan a better outcome in a future turn, than just gaining a single resource, or gaining just one VP.
Mage Wards is similar to other Deck Building card games in that you want to channel your build towards a specific strategy in the most efficient way possible. You probably aren't going for a mana denial strategy with a Warlord because it costs a severely inefficient amount of spellbook points. But this is where MW stops going down that same strategic path. To explain that, let's look at deckbuilding strategy in M:TG. you can add any card in your deck, as long as you have at least 60 cards in your deck and only 4 of each copy. Mage Wars allow you to only have one copy of a spell that is always accessible.
If we examine further into deckbuilding strategy, we delve in the abstract concepts of card advantage and mana curves, both of which are vital to the success of any given M:TG deck. With the lack of card draw present in MW, these two key elements are eliminated for a more tactical mechanic of having a set amount of mana gained from the beginning of the game and allowing the player to choose and play any 2 spells they have in their spellbook. This limit is due to game mechanics, unlike in M:TG, where you can play as many spells as you have in your hand (and that you can pay for). This interestingly enough, is the reason infinite combos can't work in MW (at least for now). But I'm digressing. This nonlimit to number of spells cast is what makes them more efficient in M:TG than creatures. By allocating actions to the creatures instead of just the mage, MW offers a different sort of card advantage, which I will attempt to coin as action allowance. This means that the more creatures you have, the more actions you can take, which in turn represents a better opportunity you have to gain an advantage over your opponent.
But what actions you have available are important, as well. Having an attack action available with one bitterwood fox is strictly worse than having an attack action with a gorgon archer, assuming you can hit. So how do you decide what actions are strictly better in any given situation than in another situation?
This is the reason MW is a game of tactics more so than strategy. What you do directly affects what your opponent does will directly affect what you do. This is where I offer a better comparison than that of MW and M:TG.
This is one other game that I really study and have found the reactive dynamics just as important as those found in MW. Hive is an abstract strategy game that is often incorrectly compared to chess. Hive almost a strict game of tactics, in which you are constantly reacting to what your opponent does. Now, there is more strategy than in MW, but it is a reactive sort of strategy, rather than offensive.
So, if you are doing nothing but reacting to what your opponent does every turn, how are you going to win? I'll give you a hint: It's important, even critical, in MW, hive, AND M:TG. Got it? It's tempo. The key to not reacting and to start action is through tempo advantage. Tempo is defined as the pace of the game. So, tempo advantage is where you as the player dictate what the tempo is. By controlling this, you are effectively controlling what your opponent can do, or will do, to win the game. This is the key to winning the game no matter what mage you are. When you gain that tempo advantage is decided by how you design your spellbook strategy.
If your build is aggressive, you want that temp advantage in the early game, to try and finish them off before the reacting mage has the chance to gain the advantage back.
If your build is more of a combo/conjuration build (in M:TG called midrange), you want to gain that tempo advantage as soon as you are built up enough that you don't have to worry about your engine being broken. This can be done earlier or later depending on what you need to set up. An interesting tactic to employ with this build is to let your opponent deal with a highly destructive creature while you set up. This can allow you to gain that tempo much earlier than is usual with this midrange sort of build. This can save you tons of resources while at the same time causing your opponent to spend valuable resources to try are rid himself of your beast.
What if your build is one of control? This is the hardest build to play (along with aggressive strategies), because you have to survive long enough to swing the tempo in your favor. The most efficient way to do this is to have your spells be both reactive and active at the same time (AOE spells, reverse attack/magic, traps, teleports, etc.) This is best done through mana denial. You need all of this reactiveness, because you most likely won't be gaining that advantage until the late game.
Well, I have game waiting for me, so I think I will retire for the week. But next week, I want to talk about different builds and how they will specifically act and react. Thank you so much for reading, and if you have any thoughts about what I should add, or if you don't agree, please, feel free to tell me. And if you like what you are reading, share what you think, and I would love to keep writing for the MW community!
