Wave 5 Redefining Our Meta

[KingCrow]

Kudra could potentially be a big help in trying to hand out armor from the Steamfitter.  Sandeep summons in a Gamin, it activates for activation purposes, then Kudra kills it with her 0 action on her upgrade, thus putting out a scrap marker .  Early game, this seems a little resource intensive but later, if you summon the Gamin in the midst of enemies and then have Kudra blow it up, that's decent AOE damage being done to your opponent and a scrap marker that you can then use for the Steamfitter.  

Or, instead of Sandeep, you could also bring along the Mechanical Rider to save some AP so summon in the Gamin.  Again, this seems resource intensive just to get Armor +1 but the summoning is usually going to happen anyways and if the Gamin is going to die, might as do what you can to take advantage of the situation.

[WWHSD]

59 minutes ago, KingCrow said:

Kudra could potentially be a big help in trying to hand out armor from the Steamfitter.  Sandeep summons in a Gamin, it activates for activation purposes, then Kudra kills it with her 0 action on her upgrade, thus putting out a scrap marker .  Early game, this seems a little resource intensive but later, if you summon the Gamin in the midst of enemies and then have Kudra blow it up, that's decent AOE damage being done to your opponent and a scrap marker that you can then use for the Steamfitter.  

Or, instead of Sandeep, you could also bring along the Mechanical Rider to save some AP so summon in the Gamin.  Again, this seems resource intensive just to get Armor +1 but the summoning is usually going to happen anyways and if the Gamin is going to die, might as do what you can to take advantage of the situation.

Summoning a gamin and killing it for scrap seems like it is potentially even harder on your resources than just having the Steamfitter discard two cards would be.  

It might still end up costing you two cards but now those cards will have specific value and suit requirements that need to be met (one to summon the Gamin, one to have Kudra kill it). Additionally, applying armor depends on actions from two models being taken before the Steamfitter does his thing. 

[KingCrow]

Right, that's why I stated in the original post that it might be a bit resources intensive but if you have a Gamin on the field and it's about to die, then using Kudra to kill it for the scrap marker could be a valid tactic.  

Also, trying to find reasons to bring Kudra along since she's just so meh in comparison to other models. Lol.

[WWHSD]

58 minutes ago, KingCrow said:

Right, that's why I stated in the original post that it might be a bit resources intensive but if you have a Gamin on the field and it's about to die, then using Kudra to kill it for the scrap marker could be a valid tactic.  

Also, trying to find reasons to bring Kudra along. Lol.

It seems like both Kudra and Kandara are relatively cheap, mobile, and survivable Henchmen that can go take care of business outside of Sandeep's bubble of influence.

[Treehouse]

I am always amazed on why Mei Feng constantly gets bottom-ratings. People keep stating her damage output is too low/card intensive, but straight-out damage dealing is not really her point. Looking at the Strategies and Schemes she can do well at and/or deny the opponent points, I would rate her higher. Although, it is hard to define what the rating-system is based on, anyway. 

[thatlatinspeakingguy]

15 minutes ago, Treehouse said:

I am always amazed on why Mei Feng constantly gets bottom-ratings.

don't you think it has something to do with her being dual-faction? many arcanist players don't bother buying her box since they can not use her crew with other masters they have, and once they buy her they are already used to other masters. they don't invest enough time in her to make her work and come to conclusion that there are better options - that is masters they are more familiar with.

[Treehouse]

12 minutes ago, thatlatinspeakingguy said:

don't you think it has something to do with her being dual-faction?

That's partly what I thought, yes. Well, not neccessarily the dual-faction aspect but more the time-investment / personal preference. That - and we probably are all biased to by popularity of masters.

Though I can't and did't want to assume everyone disregarding Mei Feng does so because of these reasons.

 

[WWHSD]

37 minutes ago, thatlatinspeakingguy said:

don't you think it has something to do with her being dual-faction? many arcanist players don't bother buying her box since they can not use her crew with other masters they have, and once they buy her they are already used to other masters. they don't invest enough time in her to make her work and come to conclusion that there are better options - that is masters they are more familiar with.

The Rail Workers are also dual faction so can be used with any Arcanist Master.

If being dual faction has anything with her being considered near the bottom for Arcanist masters it is likely because she's better in Ten Thunders so players that favor her are going to tend to play Ten Thinders instead.

[Jordon]

3 hours ago, Treehouse said:

I am always amazed on why Mei Feng constantly gets bottom-ratings. People keep stating her damage output is too low/card intensive, but straight-out damage dealing is not really her point. Looking at the Strategies and Schemes she can do well at and/or deny the opponent points, I would rate her higher. Although, it is hard to define what the rating-system is based on, anyway. 

I really enjoy playing Mei Feng and I don't feel like she's bad at all. She's got a great offence and supreme mobility with a situational game winning ability with vent steam. However due to her role as a primary beater, she has some tough competition with Marcus and now Ironsides. I find the rest our our masters do a pretty decent job not stepping on each others toes and bringing something unique to the table. Vent steam is an incredible ability and can win games, however it's not a guarantee that it will even be applicable depending on your opponent. Otherwise she's all about chaining AP which now Ironsides can also do pretty effectively. Marcus also has means to generate a bunch of additional AP and also have high mobility. So in terms of what she brings specifically, I feel like we have other options.

Mei got a pretty nice boost this wave however it pales in comparison to what wave 5 did for Ironsides. The competition for a "beater" is now tougher than ever for Mei with Ironsides and Marcus both being exceptional melee masters with strong secondary styles. You just have to ask yourself why your bringing Mei in a given game and then ask if it wouldn't work better with Marcus or Ironsides. It might not always be yes, but aside from fun, I feel like other masters just do it slightly better. 

 

[spooky_squirrel]

On 9/24/2017 at 6:54 AM, thatlatinspeakingguy said:

don't you think it has something to do with her being dual-faction? many arcanist players don't bother buying her box since they can not use her crew with other masters they have, and once they buy her they are already used to other masters. they don't invest enough time in her to make her work and come to conclusion that there are better options - that is masters they are more familiar with.

There are two non-master models in her starter box that cannot be used outside of her crew: Kang and her Totem. Rail Workers are really good and require minimal support. Their (0) buff lasts the full turn, so anything that triggers additional attacks from them still gets them (prompt, reactivate, Flesh and Metal), and putting them in a crew with a Bleeding Edge Technology carrier (M&SU Enforcer+) makes them last just a little bit longer, for when you need to keep something tied up.

What she brings to the table is massive amounts of mobility (especially with her Wave 5 upgrade that lets her bring a passenger), which is great into scenarios that require mobility. Vent Steam effectively turns off shooting and casting at things around her, which is useful when you're not facing dedicated Ml beaters, and you can use her Rail Walk ability to extend her threat range considerably--if what you're looking to do is attack. I've also used it to get her into hard to reach places of the board to run schemes or complete/deny a strategy point. Her crew for the longest time had problems keeping up with her, but that can be mitigated by selecting quicker models for the crew, or taking advantage of out-of-activation things like Angelica's pushes and the Emissary's Flesh and Metal.
With GG18 beta shaping up the way it is, you might seriously want to think about having Mei Feng in your practiced masters list for scenarios that require mobility. With everything at her disposal, she can get to those Symbols of Authority  (even in Corner deployment) to tear them down. That same upgrade I hinted at also makes her Foundry hires quicker on their feet, bumping their walk by 1 if they activate within range and LOS of the effect, letting you extend their mobility without needing to hire Angelica to push them.