by Koz1120
rainofwalrus wrote:
first round is a wash. at best, you give yourself 1 armor? moot.
I suppose it's just personal (playgroup), with a dozen or two games under my belt, Bear Str has had more ROI than BimShalla ever has had.
And I hope you waste an action to Dispel 'Bear Str.' I want that tempo-meta related to such a powerful enchantment. Our group has never bothered killing a BimShalla--kinda telling from where I sit.
I suppose it's just personal (playgroup), with a dozen or two games under my belt, Bear Str has had more ROI than BimShalla ever has had.
And I hope you waste an action to Dispel 'Bear Str.' I want that tempo-meta related to such a powerful enchantment. Our group has never bothered killing a BimShalla--kinda telling from where I sit.
How is Dispelling a Bear's Strength a waste? Didn't you say that you guys regularly cast Agony as a "counter" to Bear's Strength? That takes the same number of actions and the same amount of mana as just simply Dispelling it does, except Dispel cannot be countered by Reverse Magic/Nullify while Agony can, so...I'm a bit confused by your use of the term waste here, especially since it's such a good card. Plus, you only have one in your deck! That seems like an excellent target for Dispel from where I'm sitting. Why WOULDN'T I want to Dispel it? And Dispel it ASAP. Are your opponents really not doing this?
However, I agree that Bear's Strength has a more immediate return than Bim Shalla does because it gives +2 melee immediately. But as far as Bim Shall goes though, why did you just mention "+1 to armor"? It can also give +1 to melee that same first round. Only half as good as Bear's Strength for the same mana, which is why I agree that Bear's Strength has a quicker ROI. However, as you have already pointed out, going after a Bim Shalla doesn't tend to be worth in economically due to the difficulty of removing it effectively (although if I find myself in the same zone as one with a melee mage I'm going to take it out), while Bear's Strength is often removed either from Dispel, Purge Magic, or Steal Enchantment. So, over the course of a game Bim Shalla will be around a lot longer and is far more versitle.
The second Bear's Strength can heal me, protect me, bounce all over the board to wherever I need it on whichever creature I need it and be more difficult to remove AND offer offense...well, then I guess I'll place it above Bim Shalla.
Plus, Bim Shalla's are stackable. Ever seen two or even three of these going WITH a Bear's Strength? Yeah...good stuff. Sprinkle some Battle Fury's for flavor and watch your opponent disintegrate. Add in Temple of Light and you have the entire basis of my Priestess deck (daze/stun locked with a sudden burst of + melee on something with a Battle Fury...goodnight, thanks for playing).
Not trying to be confrontational by the way, I'm just enjoying the discussion and like to talk Mage Wars strategy. I find it hard right now to find people that are willing to talk the deeper strategy stuff like this so sorry if I'm going a bit overboard about it ;)
Can't wait for tournaments for this game.