For example, do you think the celestial maps are going to bring more 3 Dwarf Wizard teams, or phase them out in favor of something else? I've only just dipped my toes, but my inclination is towards the former.
I only had a bunch of matches in the new maps, so I'm not sure either. I suppose wizards will rise in popularity even more. Not sure if 3xdorf-wiz will be the next big thing though. I see lots of potential for 2wiz + warrior/priest teams. But yeah, the new maps kind of favor wizards in more than a way. Especially because of long walking distances out in the wide open (and I'm looking especially at you, koi). Maybe we will see a rise in popularity of anti-wiz cards: Arrogant ofc, but also cards like Immovable, or people will want to bring missile blocks/shields more often than they did before. And even more mobility.
Color me surprised! Quite a few games tonight, and I have not seen a single dwarf wizard team. Most have actually been dual priest setups, with either a warrior or a mage to spam draw cards on. But the meta has definitely changed, just not as I suspected.
Would be interesting to know what rank range of players you played. I probably had 15 to 20 rank ~1.1k games in the last 3 days, and I've seen lots builds really. From my limited experience, the 2 wiz setup is a thing. Not super common, but definitely more common then most other builds. I did witness a double priest card spam player today, but that was the only one I encountered. Quite a few of all dwarven teams too. not 3xdwarf wiz though, just mixed classes. Firestorm builds: not as often as I initially imagined, but still a noticeable trend.
I'm pretty consistently in the 1200-1300 range. Trying tooth and nail to go higher, but only ever kissed the top 200 twice and got knocked back out immediately both times. I see Firestorm builds too, but they tend to lose because I victory point them out before they can wear down my warriors. (I run Priest/Warrior/Warrior in case you care.)
Makes sense. I just figured different builds might be in the spotlight depending on the rank. 2xwarrior-priest also seems to be a fairly used build I guess. Oh and I would add, the 1 of each class still is the most popular in my experience, probably because you don't need lots of good items for it to work, and also probably because newer ppl (like myself after all) seem to naturally tend towards it, given that's the starter pack you get for free.
Full wizard teams are rare on these maps, there's tons of line of sight blockers and it's very difficult to maneuver correctly, the only exeption being Koi. Movement build are the thing, flight aura for warriors is extremely useful, for wizards teleport self and other teleport cards. In general parties who tend to stockpile on movement cards are the thing with these maps! I'm running 3 wizard team (dwarf, human, human) on 1350-1500 rating and I mainly see either 2 warriors, priest or 2 warriors, wizard or 2 wizards, warrior. I, myself, have changed a lot of cards for this specific maps, teleport self and reflexive teleport have even higher value for me than before.
I can see the increased value of more mobility with the new pool, as I posted before. But I tend to disagree on the lack of line of sight. Koi ofc, as you said, but dojo also is a good map for wizards. They can threaten 2 (or even 3) VSs while staying relatively safe on that map. Celestial Temple is the most balanced map of the lot, and (unsurprisingly) I think it feels similar to Temple Tussle, in a way. It's still noticeably easier for a wizards to threaten at least a 3rd of the map or more, even from afar. Lions obviously is the one which allows for more defensive positioning. That being said, I feel wizards also have a slight advantage on this map. You're required to get out in the open to hold a 2nd (and, eventually, 3rd) VP. You can position a Wiz in the middle on top of the difficult terrain, directly holding a VS in your LoS, while still having a quite safe retreat option if anybody ever gets too close. Out of the Celestial pool, I feel Lions is the one requiring trickier positioning and much more attention in how you deploy your party on the map. Koi... sucks But yeah, I ve seen very close to 0 all-wiz teams in as of late. It seems like the build is rapidly losing popularity, at least in my own experience. 2 warriors and 2 wizards builds are quite popular, it would seem. I guess the firestorm-centric builds are losing popularity very quickly too. Just a not too effective novelty? Oh, and I can confirm Arrogant is gaining some traction. Not a shocker, really: you don't want encumbrance in your way when mobility is so key in the current pool I guess.
