I <3 Dreamer

[Ergonomic Cat]

I didn't put this in the Tactica discussion, because it's mostly just raving, with a few input suggestions.

First of all, I still love Summoning Dreamer.  I played my first post cuddle game with him, and while I did miss the extra mask on the second summoning, he's still so much fun.  

And, completely in line with what I perceive to be the design decision behind the change, I actually adjusted my plan in turn one from "Summon 3 things, done" to "Summon 2 things (one from Daydream, one from hand) and then buff one."  And that reminded me that Dreamer has buffs, and they're realllllly good.  So the rest of my game was summon 1-2, and buff them.  And I think it's much better.  I no longer felt like "Well, I sac'ed a Daydream, I should probably use that Mask...."  I was free to make other choices, some of which were much better than just bringing out another Insidious Madness.

Being able to summon Lilitu is just so amazing.  It will never stop being amazing.  Being able to summon Lelu is fine, mostly because he makes Lilitu just better.  Dreamer being able to allow everyone around him to heal 1-2 (or 2-4 for Lelu/Lilitu) cannot be undervalued.  It's a very small heal.  But there are so many circumstances where it's so good.  My crew included a Waldgeist (because Hunting Party was in the pool, so I needed very tough minions), and being able to heal up a minion that has cover, perfect camo, and armor +2, even if it's only 1-2 points, meant that my Waldgeist just didn't die.  And between his 4" threat and Lilitu's 4" threat, it was very hard for my opponent to get to Dreamer, or to pick up heads (Headhunter Strat) for a good 4 turns.

Then being able to take Lilitu from 1 wound left to 1 wound down over 2 activations (Regen on her, regen on Lelu, Heal on her, Heal on Lelu) was fantastic.  It meant I could put her in the thick of things, utilizing her 4" reach to hit things and deny huge swaths of the board.

And then Stitched - summoning a Stitched on a middling card, pushing him 6" and giving a free melee attack (Gamble Your Life? Sure!) then getting to chain activate him, heal him above 1 wound, let him Gamble Again, go down to 1 wound and get reactivate (without slow now!) is just too much....

And in Hunting Party, for a low card and an AP I could summon an Insidious Madness, and literally just move him to a corner of the board to make sure I had a minion alive for the entire game.

And that's not even looking at Coppelius with On Dreaming Wings giving everything around flight, which cannot be underestimated....

Also, on my last turn, I drew both the Red Joker and the 13 of Masks, thanks to soul-stoning with On Wings of Darkness.  So activation 1 was Mr. Tannen, activation 2 was two new Teddies.  

So, for the input:

What else do people take in Summoning Dreamer?

I took Widow Weaver, Coppelius and Mr. Tannen.  Coppelius will always be there, and Mr. Tannen seems too great.  Widow Weaver was much better than I expected her to be, and flight was good on her, but I feel like there might be other options there.

I also just took a Waldgeist and a Depleted, as the toughest minions I could find for low cost, but I'm not sure if it's even worth taking minions in Summoning Dreamer most of the time?

[EnternalVoid]

10 hours ago, Ergonomic Cat said:

And then Stitched - summoning a Stitched on a middling card, pushing him 6" and giving a free melee attack (Gamble Your Life? Sure!) then getting to chain activate him, heal him above 1 wound, let him Gamble Again, go down to 1 wound and get reactivate (without slow now!) is just too much....

One thing I will add up front real fast; the Dreamer's Empty Night Mask trigger, Journey, is limited to Ml attacks.  Gamble your life is a Ca action so it cannot trigger that attack.  It can only let it use its Hooks attack.

That said this is how I have generally played Summoner Dreamer, rarely did I summon three things turn 1 unless it was two normal summons and a daydream to replace the one I used.  More often I would summon a single model, two if I needed to replace a Daydream, and then use Empty Night to buff my models.  I really was playing Dreamer as a support master with light summoning more than a summoner with light support.

I like to actually take several cheaper guys to buff my numbers, and I don't take Tannen personally.  I never found him necessary as I generally only went for a couple summons a game and generally kept my Waking down for heals.  Corrupted Hounds and Bloodwretches have proven useful for me oddly enough.  Corrupted hounds can have Empty Night used on them to push 6" and get an attack with to hit, to any terrifying or Manipulative test, and to damage.   It has been useful to push an attack through where I need to do moderate damage and they do on their own or paired up.  Bloodwretches I like giving fast to so they can use their tactical action then charge a target.  That way they have two attacks with Ml6, to hit, 3/4/6 damage spread, and when they damage I get to draw two cards and discard one.  I had a game where I tagged a Bloodwretch with Fast and Playtime letting me draw a card, then draw two cards, then discard one.  Basically ends up being draw 3 cards and discard 1.  While I cheated both attacks *my opponent did not want me getting those cards with out a fight* I basically refreshed my hand afterwards.  He dropped two face cards, I dropped a face card and a 10, and while half the cards I drew were low the others were good to decent while also letting me cycle through my deck a bit.  Of course with Corrupted Hounds and Bloodwretches you cannot pass attacks off to so I make sure to start with my 3 Daydreams and some other nightmare to make sure I have some safety net.  I often take either Lilitu or a Beckoner as well *beckoner if I took an Illuminated* so I often have them lure Dreamer forward a bit first turn so I don't have to spend an AP walking.

Often I have found that the hounds and Bloodwretches are fast enough that if I need them to run off and do something they can, while by turn 2 I have some summons to help support Dreamer if I have to pull them away.  Or they mixed it up with the enemy and my summons can play second wave in the fight or rush off to do something else I need.  I have not used a Waldgeist with the Dreamer yet as generally instead I have invested in an Illuminated but a Waldgeist has value with the extra armor, forest markers, and camo.  Just I often found a Beckoner and Illuminated are nice back up muscle to scare people with.  I have had an illuminated activate, charge an enemy to stop them from advancing, then later have the Beckoner tag them with her Promises to give them Brilliance.  Often they do not try as hard to stop it as the illuminated has already gone but then the dreamer uses Empty Night and the Journey trigger to give the Illuminated extra attacks as it is a minion against the model that now has brilliance.

And now typing this up makes me want to play the dreamer again *was trying to play masters I don't play much*  been a while since I pulled him out as I was trying out other factions but now I might have to pull him out for a few games to scratch the itch.

[Ergonomic Cat]

Awesome info!

Now I really want to a Bloodwretch.  I want to like those models, but haven't been able to yet - this seems like a great place for them!

And yeah, I only took the Waldgeist this game because both Headhunter and Hunting Party were in the pool, so I needed to make sure I had tough buggers.