MapleStory iTCG card preview - Thunder Bolt

Thunder Bolt

Magicians have the most damaging tactics in the game. Certainly, Magic Claw and Energy Bolt both throw damage around, able to snipe at one or two monsters early in the game. But what happens if your opponent has a great turn six, using Spawn abilities to put Yeti & Pepe, Wild Boar and Curse Eye into play? How do you come back from that? One great card is Thunder Bolt, something I like to call “The Answer.”

Thunder Bolt almost certainly destroys the monsters on the other side of the board. Very few monsters can take 50 damage and live to tell about it, and those that can are easily dismissed by even the weakest Magician creatures. Wipe your opponent’s board (and do 50 damage to him or her, by the way) and let your Monsters do some cleanup work to finish the job.

The trick then is to find a way to survive to turn six. Dark Axe Stump has a large amount of Hit Points for a Magician monster. You can get him out on turn three and he will usually survive attacks on turn four. Dark Axe Stump’s level-up action is Spawn 40 and it costs 40MM. Use him to enable another copy of himself, or other early-game monsters such as Octopus, Jr. Necki and Zombie Lupin.

The level-up ability of Thunder Bolt is almost as strong as its Tactic ability. Blast does 30 damage to an opposing character, for the cost of 60MMM. This ability can let you draw a game to a fast conclusion, but it does have some drawbacks. Unlike Bowmen, Mages do not damage monsters through their level-up abilities. You can only target the other character with this ability. Damage done to enemy characters are reduced by 10 for every monster they have in play, which means that sometimes your Blast will do 20, or 10, or maybe even no damage at all. For this reason, you want to level-up with Thunder Bolt late on your stack. Use your earlier abilities to destroy your enemy monsters to clear the path for your Blasts.

One deck idea is to use Stormwind, the Magician character that can only be found in booster packs. Her Think Fast X ensures that you will get it into play on turn six every time. She also has Thunder Spear, a direct damage ability that costs 70MMM. It does 40 damage to a player. Combine that with a Blast level-up and you can quickly end the game if your opponent fails to keep a monster in play.

Thunder Bolt is likely going to define the environment for control strategies.

Article by: Andrea Jennifer Shubert
http://ww2.wizards.com/maplestory/news.aspx?doc=news_thunderbolt