Welcome back, Mages of Etheria! Now onto some new for Mage Wars, the best game out there! If you don't already know, the GenCon convention starts this Thursday, and the team from Arcane Wonders will be there in full force!
They will be showing off all the Mage Wars stuff, doing a limited release of their new game, Sheriff of Nottingham, and will be having a Mage Wars Tournament!
In addition to all that, people who visit their booth each day will be receiving a promo card for Mage Wars each day that they visit the booth! Let's talk about each of the Promos and break them down!
They will be showing off all the Mage Wars stuff, doing a limited release of their new game, Sheriff of Nottingham, and will be having a Mage Wars Tournament!
In addition to all that, people who visit their booth each day will be receiving a promo card for Mage Wars each day that they visit the booth! Let's talk about each of the Promos and break them down!
Alternate Art Bear Strength
Alright, this one is pretty simple. It's just a different art version of a card that we already have, Bear Strength! This card is a staple in almost every spellbook, so it's good that they will be releasing a different art version of it so we can get more of them! Many people say that they run out of copies of cards, and it looks like Arcane Wonders has been listening to its fans and decided to re-skin some cards and release more copies of them! Awesome!
Victorian Griffin
Next up we've got a new card, Victorian Griffin! Let's break it down!
Stats
Type: Creature
Subtype(s): Griffin
Mana Cost : 17
Casting Type : Full Action
Range : 0-0
Target : Zone
Level : Holy 4
Defense : N/a
Channeling : N/a
Armor : 2
Health : 15
Traits : Flying
Attack: Quick action melee attack. 4 dice, Piercing +1
Special Text : When Victorian Griffin has the Flying trait, enemy creatures in its zone are hindered, and they also lose and cannot gain the Elusive trait.
This card is very interesting to me! At 17 mana, it costs quite alot, but its ability is really amazing when you stop to think about it! Even though it has the Flying trait, it still manages to hinder enemy creatures! That can be really helpful!
The more interesting aspect (at least to me) is the fact that it causes creatures to lose the Elusive trait. This could spell huge trouble for solo-type Mages. One thing that those type of builds always seem to have is Mongoose Agility, which gives them the Elusive trait. Now the reason that this is so important to them is two-fold.
1) It allows them to NOT be hindered by enemy creatures. This lets them move around the Arena much quicker and lets them chase the enemy Mage if they need to.
2) More importantly, it lets them ignore creatures who are guarding. Now, with this card, the Holy school seems to have the best defensive tandem in the game! This Griffin, paired with the Guardian Angel is just an amazing defensive combination. Solo Mages are going to need to start packing more cards that Restrain creatures in order to deal with these new defensive threats.
Stats
Type: Creature
Subtype(s): Griffin
Mana Cost : 17
Casting Type : Full Action
Range : 0-0
Target : Zone
Level : Holy 4
Defense : N/a
Channeling : N/a
Armor : 2
Health : 15
Traits : Flying
Attack: Quick action melee attack. 4 dice, Piercing +1
Special Text : When Victorian Griffin has the Flying trait, enemy creatures in its zone are hindered, and they also lose and cannot gain the Elusive trait.
This card is very interesting to me! At 17 mana, it costs quite alot, but its ability is really amazing when you stop to think about it! Even though it has the Flying trait, it still manages to hinder enemy creatures! That can be really helpful!
The more interesting aspect (at least to me) is the fact that it causes creatures to lose the Elusive trait. This could spell huge trouble for solo-type Mages. One thing that those type of builds always seem to have is Mongoose Agility, which gives them the Elusive trait. Now the reason that this is so important to them is two-fold.
1) It allows them to NOT be hindered by enemy creatures. This lets them move around the Arena much quicker and lets them chase the enemy Mage if they need to.
2) More importantly, it lets them ignore creatures who are guarding. Now, with this card, the Holy school seems to have the best defensive tandem in the game! This Griffin, paired with the Guardian Angel is just an amazing defensive combination. Solo Mages are going to need to start packing more cards that Restrain creatures in order to deal with these new defensive threats.
Dragonscale Wolverine
Card number 3 is a Dragonclaw Wolverine! Man this card is awesome! Let's look at the stats!
Stats
Type: Creature
Subtype(s): Animal
Mana Cost : 14
Casting Type : Full Action
Range : 0-0
Target : Zone
Level : Nature 4
Defense : N/a
Channeling : N/a
Armor : 2
Health : 13
Traits : Rage +3, Frost -2
Attack: Quick action melee attack. 3 dice, d12 8+ = Bleed, Piercing +1
Special Text : For each Rage token on Dragonclaw Wolverine, he gains Armor +1. If he has 3+ Rage tokens, his Ripping Claws attack gains Counterstrike.
Well, this card is simply awesome. It's another powerhouse Animal creature that is a good candidate for being made into a Beastmaster's Pet. It would cost 19 mana, so he could actually do it turn 1 if he wanted to. And boy would it be awesome.
It would then start with 3 armor, 16 life, and a 4 dice attack (5 if in the same zone as the Beastmaster). If it managed to get all 3 Rage tokens, it would have 6 armor, and a 7 dice attack (8 if in same zone as Beastmaster) with the counterstrike trait. In my opinion, that's better than a pet Steelclaw Grizzly because even though it's less damage, it has the chance to inflict Bleed, and it Counterstrikes everything that hits it with a melee attack.
The question is, how much health will this card have left after getting up to 3 Rage tokens? If I saw this card come into play for my opponent, I probably wouldn't hit it unless it was with a strong creature that rolled at least 5 dice. Better yet, I would just throw curse spells at it that do damage over time, and then Tanglevine or Force Hold it so it can't move. You don't want to make this thing mad, trust me.
Stats
Type: Creature
Subtype(s): Animal
Mana Cost : 14
Casting Type : Full Action
Range : 0-0
Target : Zone
Level : Nature 4
Defense : N/a
Channeling : N/a
Armor : 2
Health : 13
Traits : Rage +3, Frost -2
Attack: Quick action melee attack. 3 dice, d12 8+ = Bleed, Piercing +1
Special Text : For each Rage token on Dragonclaw Wolverine, he gains Armor +1. If he has 3+ Rage tokens, his Ripping Claws attack gains Counterstrike.
Well, this card is simply awesome. It's another powerhouse Animal creature that is a good candidate for being made into a Beastmaster's Pet. It would cost 19 mana, so he could actually do it turn 1 if he wanted to. And boy would it be awesome.
It would then start with 3 armor, 16 life, and a 4 dice attack (5 if in the same zone as the Beastmaster). If it managed to get all 3 Rage tokens, it would have 6 armor, and a 7 dice attack (8 if in same zone as Beastmaster) with the counterstrike trait. In my opinion, that's better than a pet Steelclaw Grizzly because even though it's less damage, it has the chance to inflict Bleed, and it Counterstrikes everything that hits it with a melee attack.
The question is, how much health will this card have left after getting up to 3 Rage tokens? If I saw this card come into play for my opponent, I probably wouldn't hit it unless it was with a strong creature that rolled at least 5 dice. Better yet, I would just throw curse spells at it that do damage over time, and then Tanglevine or Force Hold it so it can't move. You don't want to make this thing mad, trust me.
Asto Vidatu, Angel Slayer
Oh, my. This guy is awesome looking! And he's super powerful! Let's take a closer look.
Stats
Type: Creature
Subtype(s): Manticore
Mana Cost : 20
Casting Type : Full Action
Range : 0-0
Target : Zone
Level : Arcane 3, Dark 2
Defense : N/a
Channeling : N/a
Armor : 2
Health : 14
Traits : Flying, Legendary, Tough -2
Attack: Quick action melee attack. 5 dice. Full action, ranged attack, 0-1 zones, d12 8+ = Cripple, Piercing +1. Full action melee attack, 2 dice, d12 5-8 = Weak, 9+ = 2 Weak, Piercing +1.
Wow this guy is pretty powerful! He is only the 3rd creature in the game that can inflict Weak condition markers, one of the most powerful markers available currently. In addition, his ranged attack is great for Restraining creatures in order to make them lose their Flying trait, which is why I think he was called the Angel Slayer. Interestingly enough, this guy is the perfect counter to the Victorian Griffin promo seen above. He can constantly Restrain it to make it lose its Flying trait, which gets rid of its special ability.
The only downsides to this creature are his costs, both mana wise and spellpoint wise. 20 mana is quite alot, but I think his stats and attacking prowess make it worth it to bring him out. The more hurtful cost is the spellpoint aspect. No Mages (currently) have training in both Arcane and Dark, so nomatter what, he will cost a minimum of 7 spellbook points for the Wizard. He will cost 8 spellpoints for the Necromancer and both Warlocks, and will cost at least 10 spellpoints for everybody else. That's quite a bit. Wizards already have the Gorgon Archer for 4 spellpoints and it can inflict Weak conditions, so I don't think this will appeal too much to them. I guess we'll see in time.
Well, that's all of the GenCon promos from Arcane Wonders. I hope you enjoyed this preview, and I hope to see you next time in the Arena!
Stats
Type: Creature
Subtype(s): Manticore
Mana Cost : 20
Casting Type : Full Action
Range : 0-0
Target : Zone
Level : Arcane 3, Dark 2
Defense : N/a
Channeling : N/a
Armor : 2
Health : 14
Traits : Flying, Legendary, Tough -2
Attack: Quick action melee attack. 5 dice. Full action, ranged attack, 0-1 zones, d12 8+ = Cripple, Piercing +1. Full action melee attack, 2 dice, d12 5-8 = Weak, 9+ = 2 Weak, Piercing +1.
Wow this guy is pretty powerful! He is only the 3rd creature in the game that can inflict Weak condition markers, one of the most powerful markers available currently. In addition, his ranged attack is great for Restraining creatures in order to make them lose their Flying trait, which is why I think he was called the Angel Slayer. Interestingly enough, this guy is the perfect counter to the Victorian Griffin promo seen above. He can constantly Restrain it to make it lose its Flying trait, which gets rid of its special ability.
The only downsides to this creature are his costs, both mana wise and spellpoint wise. 20 mana is quite alot, but I think his stats and attacking prowess make it worth it to bring him out. The more hurtful cost is the spellpoint aspect. No Mages (currently) have training in both Arcane and Dark, so nomatter what, he will cost a minimum of 7 spellbook points for the Wizard. He will cost 8 spellpoints for the Necromancer and both Warlocks, and will cost at least 10 spellpoints for everybody else. That's quite a bit. Wizards already have the Gorgon Archer for 4 spellpoints and it can inflict Weak conditions, so I don't think this will appeal too much to them. I guess we'll see in time.
Well, that's all of the GenCon promos from Arcane Wonders. I hope you enjoyed this preview, and I hope to see you next time in the Arena!