Math Mathonwy

I was really, really close to putting Guild McM into Tier 2 and it might've indeed been the right choice. I certainly consider him better than Lady Justice since he is more mobile, buffs his crew better and has access to Nurses. He tanks almost as well (maybe better considering his mobility and Nurses) and is almost as killy. Or rather, he usually is killy enough. Hoffman has some bad matchups true, but I was considering kinda the optimal situation so not taking him against Ressers nor NB. As for Von Schill, yeah, he was another one that I really wondered whether I should put him into Tier 2. But in the end I kinda decided that out of all the Outcast Masters, him and Misaki are the ones I most like to see on the opponent's side. He is really nice against some crews, though, so maybe Tier 2 would be a better fit.

I have to say that I haven't seen anyone claim Somer as lacking in M2E. The only criticism I've seen levelled against him is that he is one of the weakest Summoners in a way (compared to Ramos he is kinda sad) but that is not really a coherent argument on him being weak.

The suggested tactic included Copycat shooting twice.

I did find another account of such a thing:http://oracle.wizards.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9711e&L=mtg-l&D=0&P=4275 You can find far more through there, of course http://oracle.wizards.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9711e&L=mtg-l&D=0&P=5049 But this is sorta off topic in that whether it happened or not, my point was to illustrate a behaviour that I don't find showcasing "skill" but can lead to winning through under-handed tactics that are allowed by the strict RAW of the rules.

Brewmaster himself looks really, really great in the render! A lot better than in the art, actually, and I really like the art.

Here's a story that touches this phenomenon lightly (and shows the card that was used), though in a bit of different light than the story I had heard: http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mg88

It's 100% not in the current rules! It was at the very beginning (I mean, you weren't allowed to use shields, for crying out loud!). Like I said, I too doubt the veracity of it actually ever happening. Far more likely is that someone made a thought experiment but never went through with it. But whether it happened or not is completely beside the point. Let's pretend that it did happen ans was allowed by the rules and the judge that was there allowed it since it was allowed by the letter of the rules. Do you think it was a good play in those circumstances?

I don't think that Raspy has anyone she crubles against like some other Masters do but Tara throwing a Fast Valedictorian in her face certainly makes her sad. Lecture Notes (though you need to cheat or stone the Crow) is Ca 7 against Wp 6 and after that she can't use her Trigger. Df 4 against Ml6 with a possible double positive to damage - Flurry and Raspy's 12 Wounds go away fast. Tara can move a ridiculous amount in a turn and Valedictorian has a 50mm base and 3" melee. Ice Walls can naturally be used to neuter this if the terrain allows.

I wish to again stress that the tiers are very shallow. A tier 3 Master against a tier 1 Master is still a tight, balanced game. I made the listing based on three criteria: 1) Who I most like to see standing across the table. 2) Is there anyone better at doing whatever they are doing in the Faction? For example, I consider Perdita better at killing than Lady Justice and that is what LJ is mostly about. Perdita doesn't do quite as much damage but is far better at projecting it, more difficult to intercept and has other stuff going for her besides. 3) This one is the most nebulous, but who are the least needed in the Faction. I.e., if you have a limited amount of Masters, who are the least missed.

I'm not sure you know/remember what foot HE were like in 6th. They weren't disruptive - they just sucked On this I'm sure: you were allowed to shuffle your opponent's deck if you weren't satisfied with it and there was a card that force your opponent to shuffle their deck (preferably done after they had somehow arranged it using a card that allowed you to do that; but it was a really sucky card). But that wasn't the point of the story. It was a "good" tactic in that it lead you to "win" games. It was a "smart" play. Well said!

They look really nice! The middle one isn't quite as nice as the other two but all in all a really, really solid entry! My favourite is definitely the tall one. The concept is the same but the sculpt is different. The artificial legs are far wider apart than on the metal one.

I'll take the plunge! Considering that all Masters get their preferred opposing Faction, Strat and Scheme pool, I would rate them onto three tiers as follows. Note that these tiers are really shallow and skill trumps them almost completely. Guild Tier 1: Perdita, Sonnia Tier 2: Hoffman, Lucius, McCabe Tier 3: Lady Justice, McMourning Arcanists Tier 1: Colette, Ramos Tier 2: Rasputina, Kaeris, Marcus Tier 3: Ironsides, Mei Feng Resurrectionists Tier 1: Nicodem, McMourning Tier 2: Seamus, Tara, Molly, Kirai Tier 3: Yan Lo Neverborn Tier 1: Dreamer, Lilith, Collodi Tier 2: Lucius, Pandora, Zoraida, Lynch Outcasts Tier 1: Leveticus Tier 2: Victorias, Jack Daw, Tara, Hamelin Tier 3: Von Schill, Misaki Gremlins Tier 1: Somer, Ophelia, Ulix Tier 2: Wong, Zoraida, Brewmaster Tier 3: Mah Ten Thunders Tier 1: Shen Long Tier 2: McCabe, Lynch, Brewmaster, Tier 3: Mei Feng, Misaki, Yan Lo There were a lot Masters I might've put into neigbouring tiers but here's my attempt trying to spread them around a bit. If I was in doubt, I mostly dropped them into the lower tier just to populate them, so I must stress how shallow these are. Feel free to disagree and discuss!

Meaning that the logical thing to do would be to never interact with anyone outside of the game. The community should just die completely. During WHFB 6th, there was this guy playing in the Finnish tournament scene. He was insanely good. He played the factions known as the very weakest and his army builds went against conventional wisdom. O&G without cavalry, foot High Elves with a lvl 3 Mage, stuff like that. And he won almost every game. Among other things, he won the biggest Finnish tournament ever with those damn foot-HE. He garnered a lot more respect and was far more "the best player" than he would've been if he had played the actual power lists of the time. I'm a really good player when I put my mind into it. During Confrontation's heyday, I won a ridiculous number of tournaments in Finland (I and a couple of friends hosted monthly tournaments and we toured the country taking part in others) with a huge number of different factions and lists. But ultimately I realized that though winning was fun, the more important thing was the community and the hobby and all that. I stopped taking things too seriously, relaxed and became merely a strong contender who occasionally won a tournament as opposed to cleaning well over 90% of them. Of course these days I simply wouldn't have the time to become truly good (wife, child, career, and so on - not to mention playing a dozen or so minis game systems). But that makes me appreciate the community even more - I really don't have patience for "super competitive" people anymore. I also note that you didn't comment on the story about MtG. Do you consider it a legit tactic?

I don't think they're that bad, actually. The middle one looks really odd but the two leaping ones are actually quite nice, I think. At least when painted up to this level! They look a bit awkward, but I feel that fits their zombie state. As for the painting, the fur texture has been pulled masterfully and the glistening sinews are just amazing! Really fantastic work. They look like painted birch seeds to me. Those are used a lot in minis these days. I'm kinda of two minds about them, personally, but they are great for livening up these sorts of street bases where tufts can look a bit out of place.

I think in a tournament, ideally, the most skilled player wins. Peeking into someone's bag isn't a skill. Constructing a perfect counter list against Ramos since you know that your opponent forgot his other bag with Rasputina, Colette and Marcus in it isn't something to brag about. If I knew someone to have a similar style to Spectre in a tournament, I would never interact with said person outside of a direct game and I think that would be the only sensible way to approach such a style. Shun the person completely. And if everyone was the same, then the social aspect of a tournament would die. But I suppose that some people consider the tournament a fierce competition for that shining prize (that Starter Box must be mine!) as opposed to a social gathering where you meet friends and acquaintances.

Lynch got an errata which affected his power level

I tried this approach striving to retain as much of the original as possible. It might read a wee bit schizophrenic now, but I think that the article has improved.

This reminds of this one story of the early MtG. Early on, you weren't allowed to use protective shields in tournaments and there were no limits on how many of the same card you could have in your deck. There was this really cheap card that forced the other player to shuffle their deck. If a player wasn't satisfied in how the other one shuffled, they were allowed to shuffle the opponent's deck. Now, the tactic was to load your deck with nothing but these shuffle cards. You took your opponents deck and mashed the cards together shuffling it with brutal force marring all the expensive cards. Then you gave the deck back and asked whether your opponent would concede. If they didn't, you play another shuffle card and mash their deck even harder. And ask them to concede. And so on. Now, whether this tale is apocryphal or not (I heard it told as something that really happened, but it does sound like something that would get you punched, so I really doubt anyone actually did it) but it might highlight why something that is allowed by the rules isn't necessarily a thing that should be done.

A white Spirit Molly and a black Horror Molly? Not a bad idea!

Stuff like asking to see someone's minis in order to pretend to appreciate the paintjobs while "secretly" gathering intel for that extra edge? Wow. And the comparison to pro sports? Seriously? Minis gamins is a hobby, not a job. No one's livelihood hangs in balance in a tournament. Also, the hobby aspect is huge. People spend a lot of time painting their minis and they like to play with pretty things. All that Sirlin stuff really doesn't apply. People care about the visuals. People care about the minis and the terrains. People care about fluff and the story. People want to enjoy themselves and the top prize is a $50 box of minis and bragging rights that extend to a hundred or so individuals whose actual increase in respect towards you is mostly about how you conduct yourself. Welcome to competitive wargaming.

Well, Levi is essentially the toughest as well as the killiest Master (as long as he can pick his targets, which he can). One of the fastest, too.

It would go off. Similarly, if a Razorspine Rattler flips a BJ on damage, the victim still gets the Poison. Now, I do agree with Verdeloth that Wong's attack does not use the "and" structure like most similar attacks do (takes damage and gets Poison; takes damage and causes a pulse) but that is sorta special since the pulse doesn't affect the model that gets the damage. I do agree with Wizuriel that, unless otherwise stated (as in, "this attack flip gets a positive twist") you apply the consequences only if the duel succeeded.

All the stuff there tells you what happens when you succeed. The first part (Target suffers damage...) is just the same as the second part (This model flips a card...) and neither happens if you fail

Guild McM is tremendous fun, though.

The M2E Crewboxes are really varied on how much plastic they contain. Sonnia on one end and Ramos and Marcus on the other. But if we compare to, say, Nico's box, I think that the Molly/Philip/Machine/3xCrooligan sounds very plausible. Besides, the Machine was already gigantic as a metal mini, so the plastic one is prolly going to be absolutely ginormous.