[quote=@MelonHead]
The thing is, all you have to do is couple your deadly surprise attack with a bunch of other movements as a smoke screen and it becomes incredibly difficult to avoid. It's why an illusionist would be such a powerful character, though not many people bother with it, I've been toying with a mana-addicted illusionist for a while since mentioning it in the FAQ thread.
[/quote]

Actually, I ended up winning that match with the ninja because of semi- meta gaming my illusion. See I knew early on people meta game. Often without realizing it. But I needed to think of a way my illusions would still matter in the arena. So I devised that, through use of a single prep, my false image doppelganger could be replaced with a real me if it was ignored. 

Aside from thinking of some way to IC punish people who meta game, I'm not sure how well an illusionist would work in the arena.