Interview with Sharkbait



Achievements in the Thunderdome series so far:

Ro8 (first round) lost against Keejchen in the first Octgn tournament

Ro16 (first round) lost against Arxiducs in the Thunderdome I. tournament

Ro2 (third round) lost against MasterMystery in the Thunderdome II. tournament



Schwenkgott: Congratulations on reaching the U.S. Finals of Thunderdome II.!

Sharkbait: Thank you very much! I was really happy to compete, it was a lot of fun.



Schwenkgott: Good to see that it worked out this time. You didn't make it that far in the first 2 tournaments. What was different?

Sharkbait: The biggest thing that I can point to is the amount of experience I've gained in the time from the first tournament through the 'Dome II. The first tournament was really my first competitive tournament of Mage Wars (I exclude GenCon 2014 since I was really only playing to play, not to compete.) The 'Dome I was only my 2nd competitive tournament, but I learned a lot from the first and tried to apply it to the second. The end result was that I was really good at the damage rush but didn't seem to have an answer for when things didn't roll my way and couldn't adapt well. By the time the 'Dome II rolled around, I had been playing this book competitively for a while and was more aware of various strategies I might see. I was able to plan how to incorporate my win condition (which generally amounts to burn the other guy to the ground) within various strategies outside of just the rush. I was also fairly practiced at refining the book building, though I admittedly didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted to prior to the book submission date. The experimental cards ended up working fairly well for me though, but I attribute that more to experience than a grand strategy with them.



Schwenkgott: It's remarkable that you managed to win again Arxiducs, who threw you out of the last Thunderdome. You even used the same mages as last time. What has changed since then?

Sharkbait: I had a lot of preparation time this time around . I knew Arx liked to thorn push a lot and then supplement the damage with some (very flammable) creatures. I set my game plan around the newly added Flaming hellions to keep the other creatures off of me while I armored up to make the thorn push useless. I didn't see the Grizzly coming, that was pretty awesome, but I've gotten pretty good at knocking out big creatures pretty fast. Once I had control of the board position, I turned up the fire and that was able to work out for me. Ultimately, it seems that experience plays a role in what's different yet again. I've learned a lot in the time between Thunderdomes.



Schwenkgott: You used the Adramelech Warlock in all of the online tournaments so far. She's one of the newest mages, what do like about her?

Sharkbait: I'm a huge fan of how quickly you can turn a 6 dice fireball attack into a 10 dice fireball attack . I'm also a fan of finding mages that are generally underused and finding ways to use them. The first mage I ever played was an Arraxian Crown Warlock (I apparently have a thing for fire and burning stuff....) and I liked him, but the playstyle of the Adramelech Warlock matches up with how I like to play games like this. I'm usually a fairly aggressive player, but can appreciate how control decks work (For those who have played MtG, I love red burn fast decks, but also love to play Izzet to combine some of the control with attacking.)



Schwenkgott: Some people say it's difficult to use her right, what's your opinion?

Sharkbait: Every mage is difficult to use at first. I'd say it's 90% learning how to use a mage and 10% having a matching style/mindset for that mage in terms of getting really good with them. maybe even as far as 95/5. I have noticed that each mage tends to emphasize particular skills in mage wars. Certain mages will give you practice in using a lot of creatures, others how to kite/avoid damage without armor, others how to control a battlefield, etc. Sometimes the same mage can teach multiple skills depending on the build a person tries to run. The people who have trouble with the Adramelech Warlock probably haven't practiced the skills that emphasize the strengths of the mage (which I consider to be a high damage burst and some nice supporting skills geared towards Damage over time (burns) and healing the creatures she runs (Demonic reward))



Schwenkgott: You already lost against two wizards and one druid during the tournaments. What are things you plan on doing better in future builds with the Adramelech Warlock?

Sharkbait: Druid - That mage is super tough to kill if you don't find a way to stop them from healing. They're like little cockroaches, they just don't die. Luckily, a well timed deathlock can be tough to deal with for them.

Ugh, wizards. I think my biggest problem with wizards is that I don't play against the style that has beaten me a bunch lately often enough. Every build has a weakness, and I have a few ideas of where I could have played better to use for next time. Among them, setup time with loading more burns and keeping the burns on the enemy mage while dealing with the threats that will swing the match in favor of the other mage are things I'm trying to incorporate better into my plan. It worked well against Arx, didn't work so well against Mystery. Once I start reviewing, I'll have to figure out where the holes are and plug them. I know my creature play was a bit on the weaker side too, so I'll have to practice that a lot coming up.



Schwenkgott: Now for the real question: Is it even possible to get on par with a Wizard by using the Adramelech Warlock?

Sharkbait: Yes. I honestly believe my Adramelech Warlock wasn't beaten by Wizards in those instances. I, playing my Adramelech Warlock, was beaten by some REALLY good players who were playing wizards. Any mage, when properly playing to their strengths, can beat any other mage. It's just a matter of finding and maximizing your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses/opponent's strengths.



Schwenkgott: I hope to see you back in the Arena in the next Thunderdome! Without spoiling too much: Will you bring back the Adramelch Warlock?

Sharkbait: I'll definitely be back for the next one and I'm already looking forward to it.

When in doubt, kill it with fire.

