Sure, the game is very random, but is there at least a general list of what to do, and what not to do?

This is mine so far:

Kills are better than treasures. Focus on getting a kill, and then steal one more treasure for the win. Getting two treasures only works if the other players aren't paying attention.

Try not to get hurt first. Easier said than done, but once you get hurt, you become a target for an easy point.

Try to have 1 or 2 counter/dispel cards available. This way, you can control how nasty your opponents can be. Save them for game changing moments. If you have a lot of stones, try to keep a counter ready to negate fire attacks.

Items are powerful. If your opponent has a couple on the table, try to avoid him or her until you've got some power yourself.

Keep maintained spells and items limited to 3 or 4 at a time. Anything more severely limits your options.

I think that another subtle strategy is to know when to leave another wizard alone in a 3-4 player game. If a nearby wizard is on his way to fight with another, you might not want to attack him. Let him thwart the other wizard, and hopefully, they will hurt each other, making it easier to kill one later. I call this the Orochimaru/Akatsuki strategy.

Firstly, I should say I play the "old skool rools" so this may not get as much traction in the revised rules.

I tend to make sure I'm always drawing cards. That means evaluating from turn to turn what I think will be least useful and grabbing more.

Know the map--how easy is it for an opponent to grab your treasures and run?

Secure a treasure early on--with a wall, making it inaccessible or less accessible. This frees you up to be more aggressive.

Save a counterspell or 2 and try to draw into one if you don't have it. If players assume you'll have one, they might leave you be more often.

Most importantly--get into the chaos of the game! This is a game about FUN! Winning at all costs isn't as important as doing something ultra-cool and with style! We don't remember "hey I've won 4 out of 5" games so much as--"yeah, that game where you cast disease and killed 2 opponents by walking through them…yeah that ROCKED!"

Hope these help…

Gearhead said:

Indeed! Personally I don't believe anything will ever beat enclosing my opponent and myself into a small space, casting Invisibility, and then stabbing him with Dagger. Never have I seen dread wash over someone so quickly.

Gearhead said:

I can support that! You know, Wiz-War and Cosmic Encounter are similar in spirit. They both generate unpredictable scenarios and each game rewards its players for adapting to the scenario and developing custom strategies. That's what I call fun.

I think the most amusing win I've had so far involved heavy stra-tee-gery by my opponents. They did everything they could to stop me from getting to a 2nd treasure…but I had a rotate sector that gave me an easy win.

The look on their faces after I rotated the sector said it all.

I tend to let my opponent know im going for their tresure when they are going for kills, as it forces them to play defencively, the ammount of times ive had a match where players have never left their board because they are playing the waiting game is crackers.
that being said… every match that is 2 or 3 plays ive only ever seen won via kills.

main rules i run by for my stratagy:

always draw new cards

maintance - no more then 2 matained spells at a time

counters - try to have at least 1 - 2 counters in hand at all times

false friends - trick a player into thinking you can team up with them… makes the first steal or kill miles easer

if the board rotates its normaly not a massive problem, becuase its rare that my maintance spells are recked by them, and half the time my walls are in a bottle neck so they gain nothing from it…

also, am i the only one who has seen how unlucky the red player is, with a strate line to his chest?
if they pull a windwalk (i think i got the name wrong there) its a nice sprint to their portal