# Black Magic Woman **URL:** \ **Category:** Official News\ **Created:** [July 17, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789 "2016-07-17T23:00:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Lyya](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/lyya/32/3650_2.png) [@Lyya](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Lyya)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/81 "2016-07-19T01:08:49Z")
Well, I tried a bunch of combos earlier with Tal’Rae and so far, I have to say that Web feels kind of weak. Most of the devastating spells in this game are dangerous because of their side effects, not the raw damage they do, so the status effect isn’t particularly notable. While the combo with Dark Maiden works, it’s a bit like cheating since it’s mainly about (ab)using the status effect for the side effects instead of for what it is. (It would be just as effective if Web did nothing at all except double Tal’Rae’s damage.) As an aside, I feel that real power in this game comes from being able to deny the opponent a turn. Goblins are strong because of this, converters are strong because of this, Mab is strong because of this. The table stakes are high for any troop vying for a spot that could otherwise go to a controller; and almost all of the non-controlling troops fall short. ---
**Author:** ![Esoxnepa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/esoxnepa/32/1837_2.png) [@Esoxnepa](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Esoxnepa)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/82 "2016-07-19T01:16:38Z")
> [@Lyya](#): > > …, I have to say that Web feels kind of weak. … I feel web is quite strong. The frustrating part is the number of ways that web can be applied. They all consume a turn, with Spider Queen also draining their mana. If we get a web on 4 or 5 gem matches, it will frustrate people. I found it enjoyable to web a Goblin and take him from 19+ damage down to 3. My web combo degenerated into a 13 magic webspinner. ---
**Author:** ![Lyya](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/lyya/32/3650_2.png) [@Lyya](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Lyya)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/83 "2016-07-19T01:21:33Z")
I suppose that’s fair. Frozen felt underpowered until Mab made it “free.” Then again, passive effects on 4 or 5 gems is part of turn denial, so… ---
**Author:** ![Lyya](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/lyya/32/3650_2.png) [@Lyya](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Lyya)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/84 "2016-07-19T02:15:23Z")
By the way, Sheggra in the last slot is quite strong. Dark Maiden\*\*\* Tal’Rae\*\*\* Hellcat Sheggra Red/Red banner [http://ashtender.com/gems/teams/dark-maiden,tal-rae,hellcat,sheggra?banner=pridelands](http://ashtender.com/gems/teams/dark-maiden,tal-rae,hellcat,sheggra?banner=pridelands) Anyone else find a winning team? ---
**Author:** ![Namour](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/namour/32/2957_2.png) [@Namour](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Namour)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/85 "2016-07-19T02:32:17Z")
Perhaps there would be more discussion on this if they brought back the events linked to troops…as they did with Rakshanin and Sacrificial Priest. This motivates more people to experiment. ---
**Author:** ![Athilias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Athilias](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Athilias)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/86 "2016-07-19T02:40:53Z")
> [@Lyya](#): > > Anyone else find a winning team? Not really. It’s hard to have success against top teams with any of the newer troops lately other then hellcat. I can’t wait for the new kingdom to get here. ---
**Author:** ![Studs](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/studs/32/3498_2.png) [@Studs](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Studs)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:12am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/87 "2016-07-19T04:12:06Z")
Yes, I was really hoping this would become a regular thing! ---
**Author:** ![Grundulum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/82dd89/32.png) [@Grundulum](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Grundulum)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/88 "2016-07-19T04:13:16Z")
Sirrian has said in the past that events will return. They’re evaluating changes to the format. ---
**Author:** ![Sirrian](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/sirrian/32/35758_2.png) [@Sirrian](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Sirrian)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/89 "2016-07-19T06:41:00Z")
Yep - events like Rakshanin & Sacrificial Priest, although they got lots of criticism on the forums as a “waste of time”, were super popular amongst low-to-mid-tier players, who really like resource-boost type events. So we DEFINITELY want to do more! Unfortunately, the current implementation requires that we do some stuff manually to the server code for these style of events, deploying files at the start and end of an event by hand, to turn things on/off. It’s also difficult to test this properly, which leaves a lot of room for human error (it caused some bugs, including an issue where some players lost Souls). We’re going to bring those events back, but we need to write some systems that allow us to do it automatically, so we don’t create issues for everyone again. ---
**Author:** ![killerman3333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/killerman3333/32/4068_2.png) [@killerman3333](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/killerman3333)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 10:42am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/90 "2016-07-19T10:42:49Z")
> [@Sirrian](#): > > We’re going to bring those events back, but we need to write some systems that allow us to do it automatically, so we don’t create issues for everyone again. Make it an official update that can “check for troop if troop was released x days ago do x” and then you can call it the event update. ---
**Author:** ![Studs](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/studs/32/3498_2.png) [@Studs](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Studs)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/91 "2016-07-19T15:12:49Z")
> [@killerman3333](#): > > Make it an official update that can “check for troop if troop was released x days ago do x” and then you can call it the event update. I’m guessing that’s the plan. Probably pushed out while they work on the Guilds rework. ---
**Author:** ![killerman3333](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/killerman3333/32/4068_2.png) [@killerman3333](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/killerman3333)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/92 "2016-07-19T15:21:47Z")
I hope it is in the plans cause there have been a good number of requests that seem really fleshed out for mini games and new game modes. ---
**Author:** ![kzintiwife](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/kzintiwife/32/2350_2.png) [@kzintiwife](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/kzintiwife)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/93 "2016-07-20T17:43:04Z")
> [@JasonAshcroft](#): > > Ok so “not linear” apparently means that the 11th troop only gives you +10 points instead of +50… that’s a huge difference… not so after 10 troops: troop is worth 10 after 200 lvls: lvls are worth 2 after 30 traits: the pattern would be 1/5 or 20% of 25 … so 5… is that right? (trying to update a spreadsheet for keeping track of bunches of things like kingdom power scores) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Robert](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/robert/32/12802_2.png) [@Robert](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Robert)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/94 "2016-07-20T19:09:15Z")
Really doesnt sound appealing. I dont know how many troops others normally use but I have set teams and thats it. I only unlock all the newer troops to progress kingdoms, without that id likely skip essentially all the 11th, 12th troops etc. Might help somewhat if the 11th troop means you can get them all to level 18, instead of 20, to reach the 200 total level limit. ---
**Author:** ![GemsCollector](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@GemsCollector](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/GemsCollector)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/95 "2016-07-20T19:44:19Z")
> [@kzintiwife](#): > > so after 10 troops: troop is worth 10 > after 200 lvls: lvls are worth 2 > after 30 traits: the pattern would be 1/5 or 20% of 25 … so 5… For the 11th troop the first 2 are confirmed and I’m sure the last one will be even remotely important only if there are new Power Levels or something gets changed otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Zelfore](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/zelfore/32/22295_2.png) [@Zelfore](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Zelfore)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/96 "2016-07-21T04:30:56Z")
> [@Sirrian](#): > > We’re going to bring those events back, but we need to write some systems that allow us to do it automatically, so we don’t create issues for everyone again. If I might make a suggestion, consider also offering a slightly larger bonus depending on the event troop’s progress in completion. Plenty of people can throw a level 1 into a 3-Troop team. But leveling, ascending, traiting, etc. are not as simple. For example, 2x bonus if the troop’s in a team, but a 3x bonus if said troop is also fully traited! Merely an idea that popped into my head. If people complain about those with extra resources being able to trait/level more easily, consider the fact that end-game players don’t really need the event’s resources in that case. (And can probably build better/faster line-ups using all 4 slots.) ---
**Author:** ![Spherix](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/spherix/32/2388_2.png) [@Spherix](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Spherix)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/97 "2016-07-21T13:51:42Z")
Spend more to earn more? The problem is that the events primarily appeal to people who are interested in the resources because they don’t have them, and can’t afford to immediately ascend, level, and trait every new troop that comes out. Are you trying to entice people with abundant resources to spend them, or trying to reward people for using the troop? People with resources to spare probably aren’t going to bother either way. ---
**Author:** ![Zelfore](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/zelfore/32/22295_2.png) [@Zelfore](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Zelfore)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/98 "2016-07-22T00:50:51Z")
I disagree, encouraging people to spend resources is a good way to get impulse purchases. Whether someone is missing a couple stones which means they’ll extend their playtime for them, or someone already has the stones necessary, the reason they’d be willing to spend them is because of the promise to easily reaccumulate (one of) them. Considering these events only affect PvP means the outcome (traitstone-wise) is not guaranteed, but worth the risk. Even if they don’t want to lever/trait the troop, they’ll still get 2x regardless, it’s just that 3x is a bit more enticing. Everyone’s a bit of a completionist at heart anyways, promoting a new troop a little sooner than they intended for faster resource accumulation isn’t a bad trade-off. ---
**Author:** ![Mekkalyn](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/mekkalyn/32/21868_2.png) [@Mekkalyn](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Mekkalyn)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/99 "2016-07-26T03:50:00Z")
Has anyone come up with a really good Tal’Rae web team that is PvP viable? ---
**Author:** ![Lyya](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/lyya/32/3650_2.png) [@Lyya](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Lyya)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2016, 7:32am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789/100 "2016-07-26T07:32:18Z")
Best team I was able to come up with was: Dark Maiden\*\*\* Tal’Rae\*\*\* Hellcat Sheggra\* Basic premise is: Dark Maiden skull hits cause Web (and Sheggra helps with skulls), Tal’Rae follows up with her spell on the Webbed target, and Hellcat and Dark Maiden feed everyone (convert yellow to red for Maiden when possible). [Previous page](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789.md?page=4) [Next page](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/black-magic-woman/9789.md?page=6)