[Jasper]

Bold Text Originally posted by Pocus:

I would prefer the defender to win tie. Because defenders are generally weaker than the attacking mage. This would help a bit Marignon, Jotun, Ctis, etc. as they would dare a bit much field all their astral mages into battles.

Have you tried to field Witch Hunters (150 gp and astral 1) or Grand Master (270 gp and astral 2) versus Arcoscephale? Ouch, you are left with a bunch of shortcircuited dead mages. These nations (the astral 1&2 level) would be more playable in these circumstances.

But the weaker mages can also stand to gain from the attacker having a Magic Duel edge, as they have a reasonable chance to start a magic duel themselves and win -- even against a mage with more skill.

If defenders win ties, then casting Magic Duel would be spending time to risk a mage in order to maybe a _cheaper_ mage. You'd want to know you had at least +2 and probably +3 more Astral than your target before considering Mage Duel.