How many casters for a Competitive List?

[Deadkitten]

Basically as the title suggests.  How many Casters do people think are needed for a competitive list at 2K?  What's the minimum?  How many do you aim for?  For the double (and triple casters), I'm basically looking at the number of Spells and Unbinds.  How much do you consider one of the artifacts that will make a Hero into a Wizard?

 

 

[CaptainSoup]

A fairly broad question. As in all things it depends on your local meta and how competitive you want to be in that meta. Right now magic is fairly strong in AoS 2.0 with plenty to choose from (unless your destruction or armies like fyreslayers) so depending on your army you could be spolied for choices. Keep tabs on who is playing what in your local meta and plan accordingly. If someone is pushing a magic strong army and is winning games then lean towards some more unbinds, just remember what you are giving up to compensate for those extra unbinds.

[RuneBrush]

Completely agree with @CaptainSoup, it will depend on your local group.  It's possible to dominate magic with only a couple of wizards against some opponents and against others may need a full complement of 6.  Some armies are also more magically focused than others - so you're going to want more in a Tzeentch list than you are in a Stormcast list

For my Legions of Nagash army, I tend to run at least 4 at 2000 points.  That normally includes Neferata (who has 2 spells/unbinds).

[Mayple]

It is also worth pointing out that you can absolutely choose not to run a single caster whatsoever. They are not mandatory inclusions (of course, depending on your army, they might very well be) - and so you should not feel compelled to bring one out of fear of not being competitive if you opt out of the magic power battle. Sometimes beefing up your staying power/punching power will be far better than half-heartedly forcing yourself into a magic showdown.

On the other side of that, there's always beneficial to have access to some kind of unbind, just so that you can stay active in all parts of the game. 

 

To give you some actual pointers to go by;

If you don't feel like participating/competing in the magic phase, bring either none, or very few casters (No more than two) - as you'll probably be dispelled consistently by any army that actually prioritizes this, so you'll only benefit against armies that do not. Never bring endless spells if you're in this category.

If you do feel like participating/competing in the magic phase, bring two or more casters, and ensure you have some kind of bonus to cast and/or dispell to keep up with other spellcasting focused armies. Strongly consider endless spells if you're in this category.

 

 

And to make it easier on us all to give any tips beyond what has been given so far; What army do you play? It is very relevant if you want more detailed assistance  

[Deadkitten]

11 hours ago, Mayple said:

And to make it easier on us all to give any tips beyond what has been given so far; What army do you play? It is very relevant if you want more detailed assistance  

HA!  I'm actually asking in reference to wanting to start a new army 🤔.  I'm looking at SCE or Nighthaunt just bc there are lots of models floating around.  That got me looking at wish lists but then I actually started writing lists and need to prioritize.

I run Legion of Blood with 3 casters (no skellies relying on VHD).  It's always felt OK but not great.  Basically, I just want to put a check on my opponent's casters running over me.  I'm not particularly drawn to the magic phase the way Nagash/Arkhan or Tzeentch players are.  

[Skreech Verminking]

On 11/25/2018 at 5:05 PM, Deadkitten said:

Basically as the title suggests.  How many Casters do people think are needed for a competitive list at 2K?  What's the minimum?  How many do you aim for?  For the double (and triple casters), I'm basically looking at the number of Spells and Unbinds.  How much do you consider one of the artifacts that will make a Hero into a Wizard?

 

 

It depends what kind of army/faction you play.

there are army’s like khorne outhtere, who could allie in a sorcerer, but would do so much better without 1.

it is similar to other army’s who may benefit the possibility of taking a wizard/sorcerer/magic-thing/Grey seer etc. But if your wizard/magic-things doesn’t have any kind of bonuses to their casting/unbinding roles, you’ll have to expect, that he’ll be doing sometimes nothing in your round.

especially if your playing against a heavy unbinding/magic-casting army.

sometimes you’ll also have to answer some question, like, does my wizard have access to a magic lore (in other words, do my/your army have a battletome), or is his spell worth it taking him into my/your army.

Do I/you want to cast any endless spells?

If most of your answer is no, consider not taking a magic-caster, since he will only be in your way.

those points spend on a magic-caster can also be spend on some elite cannon fodder.

or to upgrade a unit of clanrats to 40models

[Praecautus]

Khorne say take axe, robe-boy and do it the proper way! No glory in making enemy into frog

 

 

as others said, it depends on what you are up against, I tend to play khorne with no wizards. My local group is relatively magic heavy so I have enough unbinds to mess up any magic users day, 3-5 unbinds, reroll and brazen rune. The only armies that reliably get magic off tend to be those that have a lot of casters, but then they tend to be lacking elsewhere

 

(local results may vary)

[RuneBrush]

7 hours ago, Deadkitten said:

HA!  I'm actually asking in reference to wanting to start a new army 🤔.  I'm looking at SCE or Nighthaunt just bc there are lots of models floating around.  That got me looking at wish lists but then I actually started writing lists and need to prioritize.

If I were building an army for Stormcast or Nighthaunt I'd probably be looking at including 2 casters, possibly 3.  Stormcast have got Evocator units which can cast spells (and dispel Endless Spells) and Nighthaunt have the Myrmourn Banshee's that provide additional (if short-ish ranged) unbinding/dispelling.