Player vs. Player Basics
Introduction:
PvP in Wizard101; we start off in the Arena. The Arena is a place that has been downgraded to a place where rude, selfish, and foul mannered people reside. However, there is the occasional player who has good sportsmanship and accepts his defeat. Accepting defeat in a fair match is key to becoming a good duelist. Once you accept your defeat you can become stronger, make new strategies, switch cards from your deck, change some gear. The Arena is always changing, you can only change and adapt or you will get left behind with all these updates that KI is throwing in our faces. Not that it's bad, but to some players it's over whelming. Once you step into the Arena, it is like a whole new world. Think of it like a boss match or a group boss match, depending if you're going into 1v1 or group play. However, once you get to higher ranks (Knight and above), your spells need to be essential to your survival. Your strategies need to be effective in all aspects of game play in the duel. You'll need to gain a skill of anticipation, trying to guess your opponents movements. The Arena tests players patience, intelligence, and instinct.
Section one: Essentials of PvP
In the vast world of Wizard101, KI has given us spell cards that are perfect for a good duelist. In this section I will try to cover all Spell cards that are almost mandatory. I will say that some players have gotten to commander without some of these cards. These cards work only to make dueling much more smoother and easier to pull through to Commander rank.
Tower Shield
The first one on my list is Tower Shield. Arguably the best shield in the game. You can learn this spell from Lydia Greyrose, the Ice professor. This spell takes what ever damage spell your opponent casts at you and cuts the damage taken in half. This spell is your only defense against those pesky Balance spells other than weakness. If you peek inside any high ranking duelist's Deck or side deck you will almost always see this puppy there. The reason why almost every duelist has this card? Literally, PvP is mostly about how much defense and combos you have. So for 0 pips and 50% resist technically this is a good deal to just shell out a few training points for this card. While shelling those training points out you also get Volcanic shield, which defends against the two strongest schools in the game(base damage).
Infection
Second on my list, Infection. This is a definitely must have spell! This spell cuts all healing spells in half, which is a pretty good pip saver and a game changer in most PvP duels. I usually use this spell after a big attack or I anticipate that my opponent is going to heal. When do you know they are going to heal? Easily, If they are down by less than half and have four pips, guess what they are thinking of doing? Satyr. You can learn Infection from Mortis the Death tree in Nightside. Always carry 3-5 infections. If you can heal and your opponent can't then you are already winning. Always anticipate that your opponent will put an infection on you to stop you from getting back your health from his attacks. For me, I carry sprites in my side deck, sometimes I don't need them because my pet has spritely and Piggly usually takes them off for me, but when he's lazy I'll take it off my self with Cleanse or Sprite.
Reshuffle
Ah, reshuffle. One of the most saved cards in your hand. You can learn reshuffle from Mildred Farseer(correct me if I'm wrong). This card is like the Holy Grail, at least to me it is. As an Ice wizard I am used to long battles, where I sometimes run out of cards. Reshuffle does what its name implies. It reshuffles all the cards that you have used or discarded, even treasure cards! Don't be afraid to get this card, it's pip cost is worth every penny. You can also buy this card from the Library, but it costs 1,100g each. I always use this card when I know I ran out of a specific card that I need. I always count how many cards I have used or discarded. It is very important to know how much of one card you have because if your opponent is storm and you are down to your last storm shield then you're in trouble. I also use this card when I'm between to range of 17-29 cards left, no more no less. You never want to use this card when you have no other card left. That makes you an easy target for your opponent since you have no defense or offense to change his/her combo or movement. Never discard your Reshuffle!
Conviction
One of the most recent cards added to the game, Conviction. You can learn this spell Diego the Duel Master if you have a training point and at least a rank of Sergeant. This by far is the most complicated spell I've seen and the most troublesome. This spell by far is the best defense against Criticals and Stuns. This spell is also a must have for the modern duelist. At anytime your opponent could either stun you or cast a spell that might go critical. The best time to use this spell is after the 2nd round. Why? Well, after the second round that is when most of the attacks and stuns happen. This is a game changer! The only problem I see with this spell is that if a player has 140+ crit rate and he puts a Vengeance up(+20%-+25% crit rate) Then Conviction is almost useless. I think that KI should make it so it's +50% block, +90 is just about 18% block. Add that to your gear block and it's 21% block. While players with high crit rate and vengeance run around with 50% crit rate.
Optional Spells that you can train
Note: These spells can make the trip to Commander/Warlord easier but are not necessary.
Life Dispel
Sprite
Satyr
Cloak
Gargantuan
Vengeance
Fortify
Storm dispel
Stun block
The Rugs: Now comes the most important tool of them all. RUGS. They are just awesome. They're the very foundation of floating. You must be able to attach the rug onto something and move the smaller rug. You can do almost ANYTHING with rugs, it's mind blowing. There's not much to say or I would be repeating myself over and over. Also, check out Kevin Battleblood's blog for more info on "shadowing" and how to retrieve stray rugs.
