Master of Magic: Through the Myrror Review

Master of Magic by MuHa Games and Slitherine launched in great condition, being a faithful adaption of the original 1994 classic. Master of Magic has already received three patches (1, 2, 3) that fixed all of the issues we had in our review, the largest of which personally was the lack of rebindable hotkeys. Most interesting however is the upcoming free large content update, “Through the Myrror”, where we receive a new race, four new wizards, three new heroes and of course a number of thematic units for the goblin race including three unique ones. Such large post launch support is why Slitherine has rapidly become one of my three favourite publishers, alongside the new MicroProse (it still feels good seeing that name back again) and Hooded Horse.

The star of the update is of course the new Goblin race. These small, green humanoids are known for being slain in vast quantities their great affinity to Nature and beast mastery and favour tribal structures and dank caves natural habitats over civilisational advancements. Goblins have a unique connection to the fauna of the land and are known for their skill in beast taming and druidic magic. These lovely little greenskins don’t need to charge into battle by themselves however as they synergise well with the nature summons: War Bears, Sprites, Giant Spiders, Cockatrices and Basilisks will all supplement your troops if you desire providing utility, muscle and attritable forces. I’m a fan of the classics (hence enjoying this game) but also enjoy different takes on things, and this “noble savage” goblin theme works well.

The Druid is a very interesting unit, providing great utility by being able to cast the Web spell by themselves (nothing worse than being harassed by flyers when you’re ground based), but they can also summon War Bears directly to the battlefield and that means a ‘nise hot cup o’ mangel‘ for all comers.

The Beastmaster provides goblins a flying unit, but again its more about versatility as it has a good ranged attack, a bleed, and the ability to summon their own creature support too, but at the cost of being a single unit and thus more vulnerable. As always, it’s interesting seeing the equivalent units compared between races to see how they play differently, it’s one of the biggest draws of MoM for me.

Alongside the Goblin race, the Through the Myrror update will be introducing new Heroes and Champions with unique abilities to help players customize their playstyle even further.

New Heroes

Toadsworth the Boartamer: The Goblin champion who rose to the rank of hero despite all evidence pointing to a contrary fate. He is a master Boar-tamer and remains loyal to a master that gives him respect.

Jotun the Icetroll: Also known as the Cursed, is a solitary Troll hero who seeks to serve Wizards in hopes of lifting her curse. After decades of isolation, Jotun learned to harness her cold curse and now lends her aid to a worthy master.

Bjorn the Fireborn: The fierce Beastman hero, who played with fire and got burned. His sheer will to fight made him survive and emerge a creature of Chaos, forever merged with burning flames that now hunger for his enemies.

New Wizards

Tlachtga the Goblin druid, her mastery of the less benign face of the circle of life has drawn her to Myrror where nature’s malice can be tamed and controlled. She is known for her powerful Nature summoner abilities, which make Nature summons 50% cheaper, and begins her journey with a unit of War Bears and all of the Nature summoning spells. Her dark origin story is steeped in secrecy and magic which only adds to her enigma and appeal. It is said that she was born of a union of the great druid Mug Ruith and an unknown beast, her mother. Some even claim that she was born with the ability to change form and that she actually tore herself from her mother’s belly with little bear claws.

Corax, a former criminal who turned his life around to become a champion of Life magic. His unique background and mastery of the Life domain make him a formidable force on the battlefield. Corax was inspired by his enlightened father to change his ways and seek the light. He even went so far as to change his feathers to reflect his newfound path. Now, he seeks to bring his wisdom to darkened places, using force if necessary.

Raa’ss: a Draconian Wizard: This draconian wizard is known for his incredible mastery of Chaos and Death Magic, which he wields with deadly precision on the battlefield. As a Fantastic Warlord, Raa’ss is able to summon powerful creatures to fight alongside him, adding even more power to his already formidable arsenal.

Bianka: Dwarven Runekeeper: Hailing from Myrror, Bianka has risen to the highest ranks of dwarven nobility, thanks to her unmatched mastery of rune magic and her steadfast determination. But her impressive achievements do not stop there, as she is also a skilled Stonemason with an almost unnatural affinity to stone. Bianka seeks to prove herself as the ultimate Master by wielding not one, but three separate magic schools: Sorcery, Chaos, and Nature she has a formidable force to be reckoned with.

Ready access to bears and all other nature summons is a great supplement to the squishy low tier goblin infantry. Trying to win the fight below without the ability to cast Web from a Giant Spider summon was close to impossible as I couldn’t cast Web after casting Earth to Mud which was also essential to split up the enemy army so I could focus on the faster and much more dangerous flying demon. It’s these synergies, tradeoffs and balances that occur everywhere in Master of Magic that keeps bringing me back.

I’ve definitely been enjoying my time with the new patch. My World of Warcraft main for 15 years was a Druid so we’re good there, I love using summons to augment my troops and really, who *doesn’t* love greenskins (apart from Goblin Slayer I guess…)? The Master of Magic: Through the Myrror update goes live on March 9 and is free for all players. This review utilised an early access key provided by Slitherine and the game is currently 15% off on Steam.

#roundtablecoop