OldSundown

Dopplegangers can't mimic things that reference a model by name, so retract and Pull Strings aren't legal targets. Puppet Show, however, is perfectly acceptable.

Quantity has a quality all its own. With two Austringers you can have a turn in which you unleash 8 Raptor Strikes, 6 of them paired cb 7 (9 with Inspiring Swordplay) and then 2 of them with cb 9 (11 with Inspiring Swordplay and paired if you didn't sac your Drill Sgt.). It is pretty impressive to dish out that kind of hurt without needing LoS and at huge range. But! I can see dropping a Austringer over a Guard if you were looking to be a bit more resilient and hold your ground a bit better. And I agree that Lawyers are awesome. Gotta love Red Tape.

My only thought would be dropping one of the guards for a Drill Sergeant. He will make your Raptors CB 11 Paired. (Hilarious by the way.) He can link in to the Guard to make him a decent bodyguard, and later on in the game can be sac'd to give Lucious reactivate. Plus, you get another ss in your cache! Lady J and Lucious both love their soulstones. I really like your list! It looks similar to one I like to run, though I generally run an Executioner instead of the Guardian because I love my fat Wolverine when he can be placed halfway down the field.

My typical Collodi crew at 35ss (the norm here) is as follows. Zoraida Collodi Primordial Magic 3x Marrionettes 2x Stitched Togethers Doppleganger Generally I use the first turn to have Collodi walk once (hells yes 2 inches) and then fill himself with stones. Then I typically activate my marionettes one at at time and get Collodi into position for a turn two alpha strike. Z activates and summons a voodoo doll on something for an obey then Ravens as her last action. The voodoo doll obeys the Stitched to Charge forward, the Doppleganger mimics Obey and Z's wk to move forward and obey the other stitched to charge forward. The stitched then postion themselves within 4 inches of Collodi. The puking snake tries to keep up. This enables me to have an amazing turn two. The doppleganger gives a great chance of winning the initiative, then Collodi activates and makes all the dolls fast and hands out Melee Expert and companions all the Marionettes and a Stitched. A marionette then pulls me where I need to be and makes a couple of attacks and the others teleport in and flurry or reposition me. Then the stitched unleashes hell with WP 7 Gambles then puts up some fog. Later on in the turn the Doppleganger can throw out some WP 10 Gamble Your Lifes and Z can summon a Wicked Doll who can teleport over to the fray to get stuck in as she and her totem toss out some obeys. I sometimes take Bad Juju over the double Stitched. It is pretty hilarious to have your half of the table be populated by only a lonely Zoraida and her Voodoo Doll.

As others have said, I am a fan of the Night Terrors with Seamus and Kirai. Seamus even more so than Kirai because of their aura and because Kirai doesn't really need help getting objectives, and if she does, an insidious madness works well. With McMourning I typically play them in games of 40ss or more, in smaller games I find that 1 Necropunk acting on the flanks can get the job done with some Belle support. And that leaves me with 3 extra ss to spend on murdering. (I use Belles anyway.) With Nicodem, I often find myself summoning a couple of Necropunks late game for last minute dashes to schemes and strategies, and because at that point, I should have the cards in hand for leaping. Or I start with a couple of them for Killjoy's Seal Team Six. (Shock and awe.) Night Terrors don't really see a spot in my Nicodem lists because of the no corpses and not being able to summon them. Crooligans. I have yet to test them out, but they seem pretty solid in a bigger game with Seamus + Molly or Nicodem. Other than that...3ss > 4ss.