Guys. You can run wizards even if you don't have Searing Pain. They can do all sorts of cool tricks. Add blocks and movement if you're worried about elf warriors. Use this thread to discuss wizard tricks. Point out useful items or plays.
I'm going to point out Runestone yet again because it just never stops being an amazing item. Winds of War to remove warriors from the premises, Wall of Fire to put under peoples feet, and Squeamish for deck cycling that doesn't affect either of the previous two cards a bit. You get a gold card, silver card, and a cycling trait that will never will hurt you if built around properly, and all for only a minor token! Even better, it's only a common item so you can get as many as you want for your team! As for plays and tricks, Violent Spin is basically the largest trap card wizards have for defensive purposes. People almost always go for two wizards standing side by side with their warriors, and with Violent Spin you can move both characters out of the way AND put the opponent into some conveniently placed terrain as well. If played at the right time it can get you 5 squares of distance between you and a warrior, which is not shabby at all!
Most of my matches with wizards go "I see your tricks and raise you a powerful bludgeon to the face."
Have more wizards than your opponent. Then you can outwizard them at all times. Elf Wizards cause undue amounts of stress to the opponent. Watch how flustered I get when I run up against an Elf Wizard! On a more serious note, Armorbane Pendant is a nice tokenless option for armor removal (trait + Memory Loss is randomly useful), and Waenog's White Chain has three nice cards. (Thanks @Flaxative for showing me both of these!)
This is the build I was initially using on these maps, to pretty good success: Spoiler: variant beta j. lawrence Level 9 Human Wizard Mindsplinter Staff Searing Pain Wallbuilder's Bracelet Rod Of Palver Pree Armorbane Pendant Ring Of Appropriation Robes Of Foz Zachary's Boots Untrained Tactics Superb Electromancy 2 x Spark Generator 1 x Force Blast 3 x Fireball 1 x Powerful Spark 3 x Obliterating Spark 1 x Hot Spot 1 x Memory Loss 1 x Flash Flood 1 x Gusts Of War 1 x Lateral Thinking 2 x Violent Spin 1 x Dissolve Armor 2 x Dangerous Maneuver 1 x Unreliable Block 1 x Combustible 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Stone Spikes 1 x Weakened Armor 3 x Telekinesis 1 x Wall Of Fire 1 x Reliable Mail 6 x Flash Of Agony t. swift Level 3 Human Wizard Kazmir's Staff Kazmir's Staff Akon's Amulet Waenog's White Chain Asmod's Telekinetic Chain Ring Of Appropriation Robes Of Foz Zachary's Boots Untrained Flexibility Electroporter Novice 1 x Spark Generator 1 x Gusts Of War 1 x Weakened Armor 1 x Reliable Mail 2 x Boiling Armor 1 x Dissolve Armor 1 x Flash Flood 1 x Spark Inductor 1 x Slowed 1 x Stone Spikes 2 x Dangerous Maneuver 1 x Dimensional Traveller 2 x Violent Spin 4 x Potent Spark 2 x Missile Block 1 x Cone Of Cold 1 x Retreat 4 x Telekinesis 1 x Wall Of Fire 1 x Flanking Move 2 x Freeze 4 x Flash Of Agony j. chastain Level 3 Human Wizard Mindsplinter Staff Searing Pain Wallbuilder's Bracelet Rod Of Palver Pree Armorbane Pendant Ring Of Appropriation Robes Of Foz Zachary's Boots Untrained Tactics Superb Electromancy 2 x Spark Generator 1 x Force Blast 3 x Fireball 1 x Powerful Spark 3 x Obliterating Spark 1 x Hot Spot 1 x Memory Loss 1 x Flash Flood 1 x Gusts Of War 1 x Lateral Thinking 2 x Violent Spin 1 x Dissolve Armor 2 x Dangerous Maneuver 1 x Unreliable Block 1 x Combustible 1 x Subtle Parry 1 x Stone Spikes 1 x Weakened Armor 3 x Telekinesis 1 x Wall Of Fire 1 x Reliable Mail 6 x Flash Of Agony Yes, it has Searing Pain in it, but it's mainly to get more Flash Of Agony in the decks and to have Fireball to help clear traits; feel free to replace it with something else that will attach cards to your enemies, if desired. The six Obliterating Sparks are the true hero of the deck, and Freeze is always helpful, Elven Maneuvers or not. However, I've recently switched to this, to see if it might be a little more effective: Spoiler: variant omega j. lawrence Level 9 Human Wizard Painful Flashstaff Searing Pain Wallbuilder's Scepter Rod Of Palver Pree Cinnabar Ring Ring Of Appropriation Robes Of White Wylla Bertha's Big Clogs Untrained Flexibility Electroporter Novice 1 x Spark Generator 1 x Wall Of Illusion 1 x Slowed 1 x Obliterating Spark 1 x Hot Spot 1 x Dissolve Armor 1 x Flash Flood 1 x Officer's Harness 3 x Fireball 1 x Retreat 2 x Punishing Bolt 2 x Arcane Shell 1 x Stone Spikes 1 x Dangerous Maneuver 1 x Dimensional Traveller 1 x Spark Inductor 1 x Boiling Armor 2 x Gusts Of War 1 x Walk 3 x Telekinesis 1 x Wall Of Fire 1 x Flanking Move 1 x Reliable Mail 6 x Flash Of Agony t. swift Level 3 Human Wizard Blue Destruction Blue Destruction Ring Of Appropriation Ring Of Appropriation Asmod's Telekinetic Chain Destructive Wand Hylithia's Robes Bertha's Big Clogs Untrained Flexibility Electroporter Novice 1 x Spark Generator 1 x Slowed 3 x Dissolve Armor 3 x Officer's Harness 1 x Spark Inductor 1 x Arcane Shell 1 x Stone Spikes 12 x Arcane Burst 1 x Dimensional Traveller 2 x Gusts Of War 1 x Retreat 6 x Telekinesis 1 x Flanking Move 1 x Reliable Mail 1 x Walk j. chastain Level 3 Human Wizard Painful Flashstaff Searing Pain Wallbuilder's Scepter Rod Of Palver Pree Cinnabar Ring Ring Of Appropriation Robes Of White Wylla Bertha's Big Clogs Untrained Flexibility Electroporter Novice 1 x Spark Generator 1 x Wall Of Illusion 1 x Slowed 1 x Obliterating Spark 1 x Hot Spot 1 x Dissolve Armor 1 x Flash Flood 1 x Officer's Harness 3 x Fireball 1 x Retreat 2 x Punishing Bolt 2 x Arcane Shell 1 x Stone Spikes 1 x Dangerous Maneuver 1 x Dimensional Traveller 1 x Spark Inductor 1 x Boiling Armor 2 x Gusts Of War 1 x Walk 3 x Telekinesis 1 x Wall Of Fire 1 x Flanking Move 1 x Reliable Mail 6 x Flash Of Agony Yes, the Searing Pain is still there, for the same reasons; treat it like you would in the previous build. However, I'm trying to see if the Punishing Bolts might be a better damage choice in the long run, and the token it frees up allows for me to get rid of the Combustibles in the deck. That might be worth it as well. Also, I can hold up to five cards at the end of the round with two of the wizards, if need be, and four on the other. There's also more Telekinesis here, which I think is helpful as well, especially on a map like Arena Crescent, where I can usually have a wizard in a VP in round one, because I'll usually draw at least one TK. Furthermore, that increase in TK somewhat mitigates the loss of the Violent Spins. My general tip? Pack a lot of damage. A LOT of damage. With these maps, there's no room to get fancy with some Winds Of War or a ton of Illusory Barriers. That can be said for many maps these days, with the meta, but these are all small. You need to follow the Rules of Wizardry very strictly this month: VPs are your enemy. Only take them when you absolutely need to, or can without any chance of being cornered. Don't waste a move card for 1 point, when that move might give your enemy 2 points next round. Always destroy the Game Genie (priest) first, if possible. Priests are your mortal enemy. Make warriors use as many step moves as you can in an attempt to reach you. And then TK them away. Again and again and again. If the opposing wizard can't see you, and you can't see them, it's a net win for you. DO NOT be afraid of overkill. Do it whenever you can. The quicker they are gone, the quicker you can worry about something else. Warriors bluff way more than they should. Merely not moving will often win you a round. You may lose because of it sometimes, but you were likely going to lose anyway in that instance. Move on and destroy more Game Genies and maneuverers and lungers next time. Have fun. It's a game. That's about all I can think of right now. However, there may be something I'm forgetting. I'll let you know.
I forgot Rule #8. 8. ABC. Always. Be. Chipping. Never turn down the opportunity to damage an opponent. One hit point now is one you don't have to worry about later.
Actually, I've only seen two mostly wizard decks in the high-ranked players: gulo gulo and black jelly. Even decks with one wiz are rare, besides Sirsrsly, who has mastered the ultra-combo of , telekinesis your ddude next to my blocking mace elves Flax; how come I never see you running wizards then? Conclusion: wizards are weak right now and in general when compared to warriors. Big love, Endless voyager.
Wizards make or break on certain types of maps, and currently the maps favor warriors, not wizards. On top of that, they are much harder to kit out effectively with a lighter collection compared to warriors, meaning players will stick with warriors even during a wizards rotation. So while it may seem like warriors are the dominant build strategy, it's really just how the meta has been shaping up lately. On the right map rotation, wizards decimate warriors (see Abriiiiiil).
Thank you for considering me a high-ranked player, but I am merely above average at best. I think using three wizards might have something to do with that. And wizards just need more step moves, I imagine....but this is not a thread to complain about what wizards need, but what to do with what they have. For the record, I've shifted back to the beta variant from above, but inserted Electroporter Novice to free up a major token on the two spark/fire wizards, and have inserted Phantom Pain and Waenog's White Chain on both. This keeps the Flash Flood and Wall Of Fire around, but also gives me some Illusory Barrier to deal with wizards when needed (like SoulEye's, who decimated me in roughly four total moves for the match, all three characters destroyed. He was using a Game Genie, of course). Also, Path Of Knives + Violent Spin seems like it could be a good combo, if the opportunity presents itself.
I had a lot of fun while playing 3 wizards, who were focused on electrical attacks and flooding the board (12 x Flash Flood in total) this month. It wasn't my original idea, I saw something similar being used by one of 1650+ players (unfortunately I don't remember his nickname). I am certain that wizards are less popular mainly because powerful staffs/arcane items are usually rarer than warrior's equivalent. It is possible (and not that hard) to prepare a warrior, who would be usable and viable even in high-ELO build, while using only commons, uncommons and rare items. This task is harder in case of wizards, especially burning ones. They may be extremely powerful, but they usually require some epics or legendary items in order to be so. Robauke used a neat little trick during his today's match in peasant tournament. His wizard had Wimpy attached in order not to trigger Elven Maneuvers while playing Gusts Of War and Winds Of War.
I've definitely had that idea as well, but I suppose I'm more partial to Telekinesis, so I'm not weakening my other attacks. I was definitely using 6 Obliterating Sparks, 4 Potent Sparks, and a number of Flash Floods earlier in the month, but I'm trying to see if something else is viable as well. It hasn't been too fruitful so far, however. And I've never been over 1625, so it wasn't me you were talking about, haha.
Actually, here's a wizard-ing question that maybe some of you with more esteem and knowledge can provide some insight for: Let's say you want to use a combination of Blue Destructions, Sour Staves, and Deadly, Deadly Staves. You've got 6 of each, so you can use as many of each as you'd like for 3 wizards. Would you set them up: Wizard A: 2 Blue Destruction Wizard B: 2 Deadly, Deadly Wizard C: 2 Sour Staves or, Wizard I: 1 Blue Destruction, 1 Deadly, Deadly Wizard II: 1 Blue Destruction, 1 Deadly, Deadly Wizard III: 2 Sour Staves or, Wizard One: 1 Blue Destruction, 1 Sour Staff Wizard Two: 1 Deadly, Deadly, 1 Sour Staff Wizard Three: 1 Blue Destruction, 1 Deadly, Deadly Or some other combination of staves? I'm looking at the benefits and drawbacks of specialization versus diversification here; if this were burning wizards, it's obviously better to specialize. But with these attack types, is honing your craft or being a jack-of-all-trades the better play? I can see the points both ways, but I was wondering what others thought. (For clarification, assume the items, robes, boots, and skills are being used to trait cycle.) Thanks. Merci. Domo Arigato.
Well, it's nice to know there are 3.5 - 4 of us that want to talk about wizards seriously. As much as my guildmate @TreePipit does not enjoy it, throwing a warrior (or even a wizard, like I did this morning) to the outside of Arena Crescent with a TK is sometimes the only way for a wizard to stay alive there. That being said, I wish using something different than 3x Blue Destruction/3x Searing Pain was working for me these days. Oh well, kill or be killed, I suppose.
Yes it is, and I'm enjoying the conversation even if I haven't contributed. I don't think SP wizarding belongs in this thread, but some of the ideas and tips I'm seeing should work on either side.
