Mage tactics

[Kingsider]

I got an idea of making a tactics thread for mages. Tactics, separate from strategy, are the steps by which you reach your long-term strategic goal. I'll list some observations and tactics of mine, which anyone is ofcourse free to dispute and challenge, especial since Im only rated around 210.

Burn tactics
-Playing burn effectively requires some thought. Imo fireballs are meant to go into opposing hero, and should only be played into allies when absolutely forced to do so. That solid 16 points of dmg is wasted anywhere else. Sometimes it is better to take a couple of hits than to instantly destroy every random critter the opponent draws from his sleeve.
-When facing opponents that heal (mainly elementals), try to stockpile your burn cards through the match (read: Fireballs, mostly). Inflict dmg with something else first, using lightning strikes to both hamper opponents allies and deal dmg at the same time. When you have your opponent in your reach, and then end the game in one sudden attack. Super nova is great finnishing tool, It should be played dead last. Sudden 12+ dmg burn attack is more effective than spreading it, since opponent smells the danger when his hp starts to go dangerously low, and might try to protect oneself. Stockpiling, as opposed to just playing the burn as you get it, also keeps your play flexible. Suppouse you are playing an opponent, and have a fireball, and the game is still going to take a while. You play the fireball immidietly and your opponent drops a huge, horrible monster the next turn, and you do not draw any burn - you are in trouble. Suppouse you instead saved the fireball - monster is BBQ.
-Arcane burst mostly sucks, don't pack too many, or better still, don't pack any.
-Also, pay attention to what kind of burn cards you pack - If you play a stall deck, poison and flame are good, on the other hand, If you play a fast, portal based assault, they are too slow - direct burn is better since it can be used to deal with allies.

Portal tactics
-Everything is better with portals, that being said, you cannot play portal any which way, it requires some thought. Portal works best with small, cheap allies, since you can usually send more than one trough it. Later game, you can attack with cost 2 or 3 allies immidiately by starting the portal, and sending em' trough. If you mostly run bigger thing, think twice if you need it.
-Retreat plus portal is a blast, especialy with Blake Windrunner - attack with Blake, retreat, play Blake again and attack again, that is six dmg with 4 resources, kinda like playing lightning strike, but into a single target. If Aldon is in the field, you get whooping 8 dmg with just four resources. Retreat is insanely flexible card, run the max four, always.

Bazaar, Bad santa and Reassearch, AKA "Do you homework"
I have seen many little aprentice mages running bazaar in their decks, and imo, that is just stupid. Mage class has a way to draw that does not benefit the opponent - reassearch. So forget the shopping mall and do your homework. Bad santa on the other hand is a very good, flexible card, and can certainly be run in your deck. In a deck of 40, I have 3. Here is a copy of my post on another topic:

Bazaar is somehow what effective counter against mage reassearch, since it allows you to keep up with the mage, and not allow them to build too significant card advantage at beginning and middle game. Only in the late game does reassearch become a major advantage point, when two resources every turn are not too much. It works in similar fashion against other unilateral draw engines, by reducing the gap between players. 1 card per turn vs 2 is worse than, say, 2 vs 3.

Bad santa is a good card when played at a right time. It can be used to reach equal hand size at the beginning when going first. It can also give you something to play when your hand is exhausted, keeping your play going, even with the price of opponent gaining something. It can also be used to fight unilateral draw by narrowing the gab in hand size. The trick with both Bad Santa and Bazaar is knowing when to play them.

If you have a card advantage of two or more, do NOT play anything that gives your opponent free cards from you (unless situation calls for desperate actions.)
Also some beginners play reassearch on turn 2 - do not, unless you have no allies to play. I prefer to play it earliest at four resources, together with a cost 2 ally, if possible, or drawing with it on the same turn.

more to come...

[Orenjer]

Agreed on reserving turn two for an ally instead. I think Bazaar has potential, but there is currently not enough support for it (e.g. lockdown of some sort for resources, skip a phase, counter cards, etc) to justify it and nullify whatever advantage you give the opponent.

How about mage heroes?

[Gondorian]

Good post.

Minor correction though: play Blake, Retreat Blake, play Blake costs 6. Still good value, but you got the costs wrong.

[Giskard]

You should call it Nishaven/Eladwen tatics.

[Kingsider]

Good post.

Minor correction though: play Blake, Retreat Blake, play Blake costs 6. Still good value, but you got the costs wrong.

The thing in mind was situation where a Blake is already on the field, but good point anyhow.

Giskard

You should call it Nishaven/Eladwen tatics.

Sadly the thread cannot be renamed anymore -_-

Ok, I will continue now with Hero tactics. I only play Nishaven, so I cannot offer a lot insight on other heroes.
Hero Tactics - Nishaven
-Nishaven's ability is well suited for both stall and rush decks, since both can certainly take a great advantage from a free boardwipe. Plasma blast (PB) allows you turn tables every five turns, If you are in a bind, or alternatively helps you maintain control of the situation. The key word is control. Retreat and PB are a great combo to keep in mind if you have to use the blast to reset the situation, you can first save your ally from dying. If you have allies on the field and still have to PB, make sure to attack first - either dmg the hero, or soften opposing allies so that PB takes em all down. I usually use PB in tandem with lightning strike to take down big creatures. Aeon is more troublesome, he needs a fireball to finish off.
-Plasma blast should be timed well to be fully effective, sometimes it might even pay to take a few hits from opponent, instead of using it right away. The mere possibility of Nishaven doing his dreaded attack might make your opponent hold back his bigger allies, and some times the intimidation factor is far greater than the actual attack. (The same works with other cards too, Many times it pays to play a portal, even though you have no allies - I played a portal once, with no allies in hand, and my opponent shrieked it away - it got no allies anyway on subsequent draws, but the portal took that shriek, instead of my research getting blown away. Intimidation is a great tool.)
-Immediately after PB you are vulnerable, since it takes five turns to accumulate enough energy, so if the opponent has control of the field, but the allies aren't anything too bad, it might pay to refrain from using the blast for two turns, at the cost of taking hits or using a couple of cheap allies as shields, to stock a few additional points of energy. This way your next board reset can be played sooner. Before activating, take you time and think it through.
-Nish is perhaps the best hero for going second, thanks to his turntable ability.

Hero tactics - other heroes
-Eladwen's ability is more precise than Nishaven's. It is effectively a free, ally-only fireball every four turns. It works well with both large and small allies, since you do not have to worry about damaging you board control with it, and can use it to soften anything too dangerous, or take out opposing ally for free. IMO, Big allies are more Eladwen's thing than Nishaven's, because of Eladwens ability to approach the situation with far greater precision.
-Majiya is pretty straightforward - just draw those cards :P One obivious point is that you might not need Bad Santa cards that badly. With consistent card draw, she feels overall the strongest mage around. (Though, Eladwen won the tournaments, so Majiya can certainly be beaten.
-Gravebone's ability is pretty different from any other hero around, and there is a unique touch to gravebone deck building. His ability allows him to consistently play the same monster over and over again. Lot of strong decks out there, for sure. Often Gravebones love to play Bella over and over again, drawing cards as if they were Majiya, plus getting a "free" ally. (or in case of bad luck or poor play, they just keep drawing and playing snakes with it).

more to come...