Master Of Magic captures the '90s fantasy feel of the original perfectly, due in no small part to the cast of playable Wizards. While you're free to create your own mystical monarch, it's much easier to get straight to exploring if you choose one of the pre-gen characters. The game offers a wide (albeit not complete) assortment of spellbook and ability combinations, so you can easily play several campaigns with plenty of variety without ever seeing the customization screen.

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We've ranked the starting Wizards based on their overall capabilities. If you're looking for an edge in your conquest of Arcania, start here!

14 Ariel - Charismatic

charismatic wizard

Ariel's diplomatic skills give her a bit more leeway when dealing with other Wizards, but her ability comes into play so rarely and with so little overall effect that it's hardly worth missing out on better powers. While half-price heroes, mercenaries, and artifacts can be a boon early in the game before your economy gets rolling, Arial's charisma sees diminishing returns the longer the campaign goes on.

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Being one of the few single-type Wizards in the game is also a net disadvantage for Ariel. Her mastery of Life magic can keep your units buffed and healthy, and she can get to rare powers like summoning Angels quicker thanks to her specialization, but a lack of versatility can be a curse rather than a blessing.

13 Raven - Extra Spellbook

shaman wizard

Raven is the only starting character with no Wizard ability. Instead, he starts with an extra spellbook; this slightly increases his research speed and allows him to start with eleven spells instead of ten.

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Raven uses Sorcery and Nature magic, making him effective at battlefield control. His lack of an ability, however, causes him to lag behind the other Wizards. Only his small research bonus puts him ahead of Ariel in terms of overall effectiveness.

12 Jafar - Alchemy

alchemy wizard

Jafar focuses purely on Sorcery, which is fairly weak in the early game but has the potential to shut down enemy Wizards later on. Sorcery also has some decent summoning spells, letting the wandering Alchemist fortify his forces with creatures like Nagas.

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Alchemy allows Jafar to transmute Gold into Mana and vice versa at a one-to-one ratio, making it easier to fix his economy. This can be useful when an event hampers your income, or if you need to hurry production.

11 Oberic - Mana Focusing

mana focus wizard

Chaos and Nature are both excellent Realms, so Oberic's spellbook will always be filled with useful magic. Whether you're summoning powerful creatures like Basilisks and Fire Giants or blasting apart castle walls, Oberic's magic is great for combat.

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As impressive as Oberic's repertoire is, his ability leaves something to be desired. He distills Mana from Power more easily, which isn't much use until you have several towns and Nodes under your control. To get the most out of Mana Focusing, you may need to temporarily pull some Power away from research and casting ability.

10 Kali - Artificer

artificer wizard

Kali uses both Sorcery and Death magic, a combination that lets her capitalize on her opponent's misfortunes. Whether she's countering enemy spells or raising fallen soldiers as undead, she's best used turning other players' losses into her gains.

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Kali starts the game with Enchant Item and Create Artifact, along with her usual allotment of spells, letting her empower any heroes that join her from the start. Since heroes only come along rarely, these spells can be put to use diplomatically; trade a handful of magic items for spells, mana, or gold to stay on-pace with your opponents!

9 Rjak - Infernal Power

infernal power wizard

Rjak needs to expand consistently and relentlessly in order to make the best use of their abilities. Religious buildings provide additional Power and unrest suppression thanks to Rjak's Infernal Power ability, so you want to have as many towns as possible and max out the religious line in each of them.

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Rjak's exclusive use of Death magic can be a bit of a bottleneck before you have a healthy Mana income. Since most Death buffs only affect the undead, you'll need to rely more on summoned units like Skeletons and Ghouls than you would with other Wizards.

8 Freya - Nature Mastery

nature mastery wizard

If you're going to pick a single-discipline Wizard, it's best to select one that has mastered their field. Freya is one of the two pre-gen Wizards that fits the bill.

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As the game's pre-eminent Nature Wizard, Freya gets a bonus to Research when developing new spells within her domain, and they cost less to cast. Even better, she gets twice as much power from Nature nodes and her Nature spells are twice as hard to dispel. From summoning bears to warping the battlefield, Freya is able to field hardy armies and shape the battlefield to her advantage.

7 Tauron - Chaos Mastery

chaos mastery wizard

Like Freya, Tauron has mastered a single type of magic at the expense of the others. He gets all the same bonuses that Freya does, except that his specialization is in Chaos magic rather than Nature.

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Chaos is arguably the best overall discipline in the game, with powerful summons, dangerous damage spells, and disruptive effects. When it comes to brute magical force, Tauron is about as straightforward as it gets.

6 Horus - Archmage

archmage wizard

Life magic and Sorcery might not be the most impressive pairing in the game, but Horus can out-cast any competitor with ease. As an Archmage, his casting ability starts ten levels higher, and he levels it up more quickly. This translates to more spells per turn, provided he has the Mana to power them.

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In the late game, Horus can summon elementals and angels alike to the battlefield with ease while healing his soldiers and interfering with his opponents' spells. If Horus is one of your opponents, eliminate him early so that he never reaches that level of power.

5 Sharee - Conjurer

conjurer wizard

Sharee's combination of Chaos and Death magic makes her an offensive powerhouse, and she can use enchantments like Dark Rituals to get almost as much Power out of her towns as Rjak with little effort. Both of those domains have some great summoning spells, which is excellent for Sharee since she researches and casts summons faster.

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Sharee's summoned units have a reduced Mana upkeep, letting her field more high-tier monsters provided she has the time to summon them all. Remember, you can only cast one spell at a time, so she can't create an entire army out of thin air!

4 Merlin - Sage Mastery

sage wizard

The best-known Wizard of all time, Merlin uses his power for wisdom and protection. Armed with Life and Nature magic, he is able to deploy and enhance a powerful combination of mortal troops and mythical creatures.

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Merlin gets an astonishing twenty-five percent bonus to his Research, letting him quickly fill his spellbook. True to his character, Merlin doesn't need to destroy the other Wizards - he only needs to create an unassailable position while rushing down the research tree toward the Spell of Mastery.

3 Tlaloc - Warlord

warlord wizard

As the game's Nature and Death magic-wielder, you might think Tlaloc would be a formidable summoner. That's technically correct, as he has access to some exceptional summoning spells, but his real strength is in the armies he raises from his towns.

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As a Warlord, Tlaloc's soldiers start with one extra level of experience, giving them better stats right out of training. Additionally, his units and heroes that survive long enough can gain an additional level past the usual maximum of Elite. The Mana that Tlaloc saves on maintaining summons can be instead put toward buffing the best soldiers in the world with Giant Strength, Iron Skin, Lycanthropy, and more!

2 Lo Pan - Channeler

channeler wizard

Lo Pan is a perfect Wizard for players who want to aggressively seek and destroy their opponents. Since he uses Sorcery and Chaos magic, he can deal heavy damage while countering his opponent's spells, even when he's right on the enemy doorstep!

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Lo Pan pays only half the normal Mana upkeep for all his spells, letting him maintain an impressive suite of enchantments. Thanks to his Channeler ability, he also ignores the usual Mana cost increase for casting spells far from his capital. As a result, he can save a ton of Mana over the course of a campaign and unleash devastating high-tier spells in the endgame.

1 Sss'ra - Myrran

Sss'ra

Sss'ra has a decent realm pairing - Life and Chaos - and doesn't have any advantages when it comes to casting. He doesn't need them, though, because he has something none of the other Wizards have; an entire plane to himself. Sss'ra starts in the subterranean realm of Myrror, rather than the overworld of Arcania. As a result, he can expand with no competition from his opponents for at least a hundred turns!

Not only does Sss'ra get an entire world's worth of resources, but he can also choose one of the Myrran species for his starting town. Myrran species tend to provide more Power per population and have access to elite troops. With all those advantages, Sss'ra may never even need to venture up to Arcania to win... but if he does, the surface Wizards had better watch out!

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