26/11/2025
We are now less than two weeks away from Gothic, and it’s time to reflect back on the year. Organised competitive play was an unexpected treat for the second half of 2025. I think Cornerstone season was a success for myself and Sorcery as a whole and shows great promise moving forward. I fully embraced the opportunity by giving myself goals and challenges. So, how did I do? Let’s find out.
Cornerstone Season Recap
In New Zealand, we were treated to a high number of Cornerstone events compared to other countries. These were spread throughout the nation, and we had players travelling up and down the country to attend events. There were eight first-wave Cornerstone events, and then five more in the second wave. I made it to three first-wave and two second-wave events.
I was hoping that the majority would be Constructed events so I could pilot Battlemage and test the strategies I’d worked on over the year. However, most opted for Sealed events. For stores, this makes sense as it helps move product and will likely be more profitable. This does result in higher entry costs, which I believe negatively impacted overall attendance. Out of my five Cornerstones, four were Sealed, so I only had one opportunity to play Battlemage. I’m glad I attended Melbourne Crossroads, otherwise I’d be starved for competitive Constructed play this year.
The prize support provided by Erik’s Curiosa was extremely generous. The decision to have Swaps for community champions and Day of Judgement for the judge was amazing and helps put the spotlight on the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. I think the Dispel promo will feature in a lot of Collections throughout Gothic, so will serve as a nice memento for Cornerstone Season 2025.
However, this prize support was undermined by high entry costs and top-heavy prizing structure. For the majority of events, it was first place or bust. As Cornerstone season went on, attendance dropped as excitement waned and entry costs added up.
The added issues of having Dragonlord as the prize for first-wave events further exacerbated the ‘first place or bust’ feeling. Combined with the distribution issues surrounding Dragonlord, I think it created some unintended feel-bad moments. But for the most part, having a highly coveted prize for first place achieved exactly what it set out to do.
So, I had three chances to win a Dragonlord box at first-wave Cornerstone events. I placed second twice and first once. I’ve discussed these events in earlier articles, so check out my Portfolio if you’re interested to read more.
At the two second-wave Cornerstones, I placed first and then second. These events definitely helped bolster my Dust balance. I’m satisfied with my results and this practise in Limited events definitely helps prepare for future competitive events. Thanks to the Mirror Realm YouTube channel for helping improve my knowledge and analysis skills.
In the future, I would like Cornerstone events to have a flatter prize structure to encourage attendance. In other card games, playing for one big prize does seem to drive attendance, but in Sorcery, it seems to be the opposite. From what I’ve seen, events with lower entry costs and lower stakes have more turnout. Obviously, this doesn’t gel with a store’s need to cover rent and other costs, so the solution is still to be found.
I love playing Sealed, but the further away from the set’s release, the less appeal it generally has due to the high cost of entry; players have the cards they want and have opened their fill of boosters. I enjoy having Sealed in the rotation, but when it’s the majority of events, it’s unsustainable. Playing Sealed with Gothic less than a month away certainly had me eyeing my budget.
My Cornerstone Goals
So, what goals did I achieve? You can find my goals for Cornerstone Season here:
I managed to attend at least three events. I didn’t get to the South Island. Instead, I opted to travel to Melbourne, Australia, for the Crossroads. So I didn’t get to the South Island, but I did get to the West Island, so I think I can count that goal as achieved.
In regards to making the top cut… the Cornerstones I attended only had between six to 12 players, so that occurred by default. I did make it to the top eight of Crossroads Melbourne, so I think I achieved that goal successfully.
I did manage to win the one Constructed Cornerstone event I attended, so my Battlemage managed to get its moment in the sun and retire with a satisfactory list.
As for the bonus goal of Rainbow foil Battlemage. I didn’t manage to achieve this personally, but it was unlocked at Crossroads Las Vegas. Congratulations, Edward, for finishing second and winning that beautiful card.
My Final Battlemage List
After all my iterations, exploring all four elements and each combination, my final list is Water-Air.
https://curiosa.io/decks/cmgpxarxs00ufk404gzq5s0wa
This version is just all gas. Battlemage loses the late game, so this list just wants to increase the odds of winning early. If the game does drag long, we still have maneuverability, strong removal to deal with threats, and the burst damage opportunities.
This version leverages Airborne minions and other low-cost minions to just push out damage as fast as possible. This list just goes all in on dropping minions above curve in the early game with Towers and Mix Aer.
Water sites and Airborne minions help avoid blowouts from cards such as Earthquake and Poison Nova and prevent that important moment where slower decks can turn the corner and regain control of the game.
Throughout testing, I’ve come to the conclusion that Blink is just essential. It’s movement for your Avatar to either start dealing damage earlier or escape a bad situation. It allows your minions to push through damage in unexpected ways. It frees them from effects such as Root Spider and Babbling Brook. I’ve never drawn a Blink and been unhappy about it.
As part of my testing, I tried a mono-Air Battlemage, but Water just adds the necessary spice. This list is as ‘ungreedy’ as possible. I’ve cut back Water as much as I can. Polar Explorers is an example of such a cut. It was a dead card too frequently despite it being a game-winning card in a handful of games.
This list would love to play Fields of Phyxis, so would probably drop the two Sinkholes and possibly the Merlin’s Tower. But with Gothic so close, that’s just a guess. I’ve dismantled and unsleeved all my decks in preparation for a new era.
The Future of Battlemage
So, leaving AL and going into Gothic, am I still hungry for more Battlemage? It’s an Avatar that’s brought me a lot of joy over the year. It was nice to have a single Avatar to focus my testing around – and even build an identity around. Honestly, part of my motivation in championing Battlemage was to earn a bit of recognition and clout as a Battlemage expert. There’s some big names and skilled pilots that I’m competing against for that honour, and I don’t think I made much of a splash in the discourse despite my efforts.
Going into Gothic, part of me wants to take Battlemage into the new meta. Another part wants to never play Battlemage again. With Skeleton tokens running around, Battlemage has a lot of potential, so I’m not putting away my Screaming Skulls just yet. But I think I’d prefer to champion one of the 13 new Avatars. I like the exploration and discovery process too much, so focusing on one avatar does limit that. I will likely have a Battlemage brew on hand, but spend the majority of my time testing the new 13.
Of the currently spoiled Gothic avatars, (Necromancer, Persecutor, and Saviour) they all look like a lot of fun, but none quite grab me like Battlemage and Elementalist did out of Beta.
As for older Avatars getting a new lease on life, I’m hoping that Templar gets some juice in Gothic. There’s a couple of spoiled cards that I think will help, but will there be a critical mass to get it over the line? We will see.
Conclusion
So, that’s Cornerstone Season. Overall, I had a lot of fun and enjoyed the opportunity for competitive events. Erik’s Curiosa was incredibly generous with their prizing and support, but also should be applauded for taking the time to make it happen. I think it shows the talent and love in the team that they pulled this off when they easily could have waited to roll out organised play with Gothic. I’m looking forward to what’s in store for 2026, and to play in the Avatar of the Realm event, which will of course be held in Auckland, New Zealand.
In the next article, I will talk about my overall thoughts on Arthurian Legends, the rules changes that went live today on the 26th, and my plans for Gothic.
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