One of my favorite parties from Austin missed out on the Top 8, but the group is still worth discussing. That party featured the new Mage, Jezbella of Karabor. If you're going to build a team around doing lots of magic damage, then Jezbella is good core figure. She gives all adjacent figures a free magic reroll and also gets the boon herself. In that way, she is very similar to tournament powerhouse Lady Jaina Proudmoore. In fact, it doesn't take a genius to see that Jaina is a great companion for Jezbella, because she'll jack up the damage even more. The third choice for the party is a standard figure known for his supporting offense and his excellent defense: Savin Lightguard.

As I noted in my last article, it took a lot of nerve for Jean-Phillipe Theriault to play this party at the World Championships. The powers-that-be disallowed teleportation on the Worlds map, robbing Jezbella of her crit effect. In other formats, such as the upcoming King of the Hill, Jezbella will shine even more.

The basic strategy is obvious—pump out tons of damage with Jezbella, Jaina, and the Water Elemental, while using Savin to speed the attacks and his Bulwark of Azzinoth to manipulate the enemy until you can kill them.

In a moment, I'll take a look at some of the party's Action Bar Cards to see how this specifically works, but first, I'd like to take a small detour. Some players may ask, why not play Tinker as your damage Mage instead? With Arcane Flux and Tinker's crit, won't that team crank out more magic damage?

The answer isn't that simple. True, running Arcane Flux and something like Fire Blast can give Tinker awesome DPS, but it's not significantly stronger than the potential damage of the Jezbella team, given her reroll ability. Moreover, it won't have nearly the flexibility, since it requires multiple cards: Arcane Flux, Fire Blast or Frost Nova, and the Greater Water Elemental that shows up in all Jaina teams. With three card slots gone, it's impossible to run Ice Block or Polymorph on both Mages, which is something you need in certain matchups. Tinker is certainly not a bad substitute, but I don't believe he has Jezbella's versatility. She can carry a variety of cards with equal ease.

For the party's Action Bar Cards, let's look at Savin first. Bulwark is a no-brainer, because your team will get slaughtered without it. The second card is a little trickier. The second card choice for Savin teams tends to be problematic, since Savin often tends to be too ticked up to cast spells, be they Flash of Light, Cleanse, or similar. Buffs such as Blessing of Kings are probably going to be too slow in a King of the Hill scenario, which rewards getting to the center immediately. Thus the natural choice is a reactive spell. Fortunately, there happens to be one that fits perfectly: Blessing of Protection. This card is great, since you'll already be moving your team next to Savin to share his Blessing of Wisdom. The party also desperately needs access to a sturdy defensive strategy in order to maximize its damage output. You can even bait enemies using Blessing of Protection! Simply put Jezbella at a spot where your opponent can get that Sulfuras swing on her without being taunted, and wreck your opponent with the Blessing when they try it.

There are some clear card choices for the Mages as well. Flamestrike is a bomb card for Jezbella, since nothing beats an 8-die AoE attack. Polymorph is a great card to slow down the enemy when you are camping the hill; I recommend taking two. Two Ice Blocks is also a wise call. If your opponent can't get rid of Ice Block, then taking the hill quickly will give you plenty of time to rack up VPs and freeze your opponent out of the game. Counterspell also makes the cut, to fight against opposing Ice Blocks and other trickery. Greater Water Elemental obviously makes the cut as well.

For the ninth card, you might want to go back to Savin. When you just won't need the Blessing of Protection, Crusader Aura will guarantee that Savin is first to the hill. Spellsteal is another possible choice.

To those on the forums who think that such a Mage team is too vulnerable to a party like Amalars, test the matchup. I have a strong feeling that you will quickly change your mind. A team that specializes in 1 resist will get obliterated by this damage machine.

Finally, if you play this team, be sure to test it as much as humanly possible. It's very fun and powerful, but it's also very fragile. Your games may often hang on a knife's edge. Practice moving your Mages away from melee enemies while keeping Blessing of Wisdom active and getting all your reroll/attack die bonuses. It takes some playing to get the hang of this. Have fun and good luck!