Is spellbook building with only a single core set possible?

Question

Let‘s say a friend of mine and me buy a single core set of Mage Wars, play some games with pre-defined spellbooks and then want to start building our own ones.

Although building a deck can be quiet fun, it also takes a lot of time (as we know from “Star Wars X-Wing”). Do we just simultaneously build our spellbooks and find a somewhat fair draw-method in case both of us want to have the same card? That could take a lot of time before „actually playing“, especially if we have to do the maths manually.

In X-Wing we use one of the online builders, build our fleets and if a card is taken by both players, we simply use a sheet of paper as a replacement. Then we meet and can directly dive into the game. In Mage Wars cards a way more important and using a sheet of paper seems silly here. Furthermore I was not able to find a (finished) online builder project. (Edit: Found one: http://forum.arcanewonders.com/sbb/#)

Question: Is spellbook building with only a single core set possible? What are alternatives to the idea outlined above? Getting two core sets seems rather expensive, if each player is only allowed to use cards of “his” set.

Answer 1

My wife and i play with the Mage-War Academy core set.
We each have a custom deck. Since the wizard and the beast master have no common type of spell, it's rather easy.
However, should we both want the same spell in 3 copies when the said spell is only available in 1-3 copy, you should photocopy it so that both player has acces to the number they chose. i'd recommend sleeving them, cause... y'know... paper. Since the cards are not drawn, it is of no matter if it's different from others.

Take special notice of the enchantment cards. They are used as "hidden" information. You should play a completely unrelated card (i recommend using Equipment cards of the OPPOSING wizard) in its stead so that it looks and feel like a normal card. And switching the card with your paper one when it is revealed. Take care to have different "replacement" card for each of your enchants. And write on a sheet of paper the corresponding pair so your opponent cannot accuse you of lying.

Be warned that most gaming groups and tournaments will not let you play with fake cards.