Jordon

The new summon is good but typically I find the best way to keep up on activation control is to kill swathes of my opponents crew. There are times where I see summoning being a better option but for the most part it's still business as usual for Raspy. However I do also think upgrade slots are not as clear cut as they were before. Options are good, but competition makes it tough

In terms of value here is how I rank them 1) Mech Rider - She is the VP scorer whether it's dropping scheme markers or summoning models to accomplish schemes. She also keeps your activation control strong. Also she has a decent ranged attack which keeps her safer while still being able to commit. In short, she is often what actually wins games. As for what to summon, I personally like fire gamin as they can stay safe and deal with scheme runners, but i've ended summoning everything for various reasons at certain points. 2) Pale Rider - He's probably the most well rounded of the riders with his scaling damage, ranged attack, healing and scheme marker placement. His role often changes depending on what I need. He's the most flexible so I try to play him a little more conservative. If you give him regen (trinket) and combine that with his healing, he's definitely the tankiest of the riders, while still being able to hit pretty hard from both range and melee. The gun is nice early game when you don't want to fully commit him but later on I switch him to melee for the healing. Also his ability to drop markers makes him a great scheme runner and gunner as well and the high ranged damage make him a decent scheme runner killer. 3) Hooded Rider - I like hooded as mid game front liner. The damage scales pretty nicely mid-late game but I find it's his other abilities that give him a little more utility over Dead. He's got some anti-marker on his attacks which can deny opponents VP or other abilities. Also I love his (0) and use it as a Levi taxi so I'm not wasting as much AP walking with Levi. His 3" is also awesome at locking down models and is much of a defense bonus as it is offense. 4) Dead Rider - I use him as the early game front liner. His damage doesn't scale very well but early game it's better than the other riders due to the higher min damage and ability to get an extra attack. I use him to go after the biggest threats early on, but this also means he's often the first to die. His trigger to pull models is also good early on to isolate models and bring them closer to Levi. Again dont forget to use that 3" to lock down models and force them to waste AP. They're all important but I usually assume Dead and Hooded wont survive to the end of the game and that's alright as long as they fufill their roles.

I actually only run this version of Levi as it's the only one that interests me so I've probably played a dozen or more games using this build. Unfortunately since I started running it, it's gotten a few cuddles in the form of the Levi errata and now the mech rider errata. However I do find that the gaining ground documents have made the biggest impact on the competitiveness of this list. First rule to remember is that this kind of list is fun first and competitive second. That's not to say that it cant do well but it does have some really great matchups and some really hard counters. It can also be very unforgiving in that one poorly spaced rider can see 1/4 of your list disappear. Overall the riders are not actually very good 12ss models and most 10-11ss models will outperform them due to their relatively slow build. It's not until turn 3-4 where I feel like they actually behave like a 12ss model should (mech being the exception) Here are some tips I've learned Learn the strength of each rider and stick to it. Each has a purpose, some are more expendable than others. Use Levi aggressively to try and alleviate the pressure from the riders themselves. Make sure you prioritize your targets. Use Levi to try and take out the big threat early on. Defense through offence Dont be afraid to spend the first turn or two hiding. You have speed, use it to your advantage. Build your hand. There are hardly any bad cards in this list so spend a turn or two getting what you need so that your leaving nothing to chance when you do finally commit. Those 4ss you have left over can be crucial. There is actually a lot you can do with 4ss that will have a huge impact on your list. My favorites tend to be: Summon upgrades for Levi. Mech provides scrap hopefully turn 2 but otherwise I prefer to use his shooting one as it doesn't interfere with his damage output Hodgepodge effigy. You can usually end up getting your investment back and it gives a bit more activation control 3x oathkeepers. Fast Riders can get work done. Likewise you can use it on Levi for early pressure on key threats. Now there are new upgrades that are worth considering as well. For example you can use scheme markers dropped by Mech to summon more waifs. Dont forget you get 1AP on the emissary so use it wisely. Whether that is using it's (0) to push and (1) to walk to get a rider into position. Or to give another rider a trinket. Here are my favorites: Regen +1 on Pale Rider. Combined with his healing, it makes him fairly tanky. Companion on either Pale, Dead, or Hooded Rider. Chain activating two riders is often enough to kill most models before they get to retaliate. Mech doesn't really need it and is often too far away to make use of it anyway Reactivate on any rider. Late game this can be insane. Obviously it's only smart if your on low Wds but getting that extra activation on turn 3 or 4 can be extreme. My personal favorite is Hooded since he can always declare his triggers for extra damage. I don't often take DMM as I feel like spending AP on riders to interact is a waist. It's good if you absolutely need it but in all honesty you shouldn't be taking interact heavy schemes with this list. Hope this helps. I love running this list and even though I lost many of my early games you eventually learn how to play it and get good with it. My advice is to stick with it and don't be discouraged if you loose many of your early games. It's not a bad list if you know how and when to use it.

Yeah my bottom three were a lot harder to discern than the top three. I do agree that Colette is circling the bottom currently which is unfortunate as I love Colette and use her probably more than any other master. Her drop seems so sudden and is a testament to how much the meta has changed over the course of 1-2 books. As for Raspy, I do love ice queen but I just don't feel like she brings as much utility to the table as Mei which is why she was bottom for me. Mei has two distinct styles of play with vent steam being an incredible, albeit somewhat situational support ability. Obviously her other is kicking people in their faces from across the table. I feel like these upgrades enhanced what she already does and makes her a better fighter (both in terms of offense and defense) as well as a better support model. Raspy gained a bit of utility but ultimately her AP is probably better spent on blasting and even though her Ml attack is welcomed. I still think engaging her is still a valid tactic against her. I am willing to be wrong on that and as others have said I don't think there are any "bad" choices. I look forward to trying them all.

Well personally I feel like GG2018 will have a much larger impact on the master ranking once it goes live. However just looking at the boost all the masters received across all the factions, I feel it's going to take a while before the dust settles and we find out who's on top. One thing is for certain is that the gap between the best and the worst has for the most part been shortened. With so many low tier masters getting better, it'll have a direct impact on our faction as will ours on others. It feels like the game got more competitive than ever before. Just a gut reaction but I still feel like Sandeep, Marcus, and Ramos are still on top. While they never got the "boost" of other masters. They still got some viable tools and more options is always good. They haven't really changed their play style so much with maybe Ramos getting the best of the three. With Ramos, these upgrades give him some good options outside of his summoning (he's can be a pretty lethal shooter now). It opens him up as a summoner/damage dealer and/or summoner board control with a bit of anti scheme. He's still a summoner and that has not changed but his options for his other AP has increased and that can only help him. I feel like both upgrades are competent and you'll see them from time to time. Marcus got a viable poison build but i'm not sure it's necessary a better option for him. His new limited is nice if you play him more of a support oriented build but it's probably still not his most competitive build. Overall I feel like his new upgrades are more fun than competitive. He's still top tier though Sandeep likewise has a more aggressive build with an emphasis on getting Banasuva out easier and more frequently. However it's at a cost of his summoning upgrade which in reality is probably the more competitive option and opens him up as a great tool box. Banasuva is great but it's not really what makes Sandeep great and focusing on him is super fun but cuts down on his options big time. His other upgrade is nice and I feel like there is a lot to chew through before figuring it out so I can't say for certain if your going to see it all the time or not. 90% of the time Sandeep will have better uses for his AP but there are a few models and options that seem like they can be quite good. Of the rest of the masters. There is no question that Ironsides got the biggest boost. How far up she got boosted remains to be seen but I'm not sure she's "top tier" yet. However she now has a very clear direction in her playstyle and both her durability and offense got a pretty huge boost. I feel like she's now the best of the reaming masters but doesn't quite crack the top three. I am willing to be wrong on that though and I do think she's excellent now. Kaeris is probably the next biggest winner of the lower tier as she got two solid upgrades. Flaming Angel up her burning game huge as she doesn't need to spend as much AP setting up burning anymore. It also gives her a crazy good mobility option to allow her to play more aggressively, defensively or to position her to make the most of her auras. I don't see any reason not to always take this upgrade. As for Heat Wave, I think it's just another tool to expand her play style. She can scheme, she can support and not she can debuff. It's a really good debuff as it not only affects their defense but also their offense and abilities. Getting a -3 to flips is no joke. I do feel like Kaeris is in a much better spot than she was before but it's not quite as game changing as Ironsides. Raspy got a summon and some melee options. Both are great but neither will ultimately change how she's played. She's still a ranged damage dealer. It's just that now she doesn't have quite as much of an Achilles heal with being engaged. However dealing with her melee is probably still a better option than dealing with her ranged attack. Her summoning is interesting and I think you'll see it most of the time, but it doesn't really make her a summoner. It's just a nice option to keep you up on activation's when you start to run low. Again I feel like she got a boost but not significant enough to shift her meta placement. Mei is in a similar place. Her ability to use any trigger on any attack likely means she's roughly getting extra 1 free attack per turn than she was previously, which is great. Increasing the mobility for foundry models is again nice but I don't think it really changes much for her. She can now do a better alpha strike pulling some other beater and her new trigger allows her to play more of a hit and run style which might be really awesome for her. Ultimately though she's still a fairly resource intensive beater and these upgrades don't change that. Again I'll say she's better but nothing game changing. Then we have Colette.... poor Colette. She's at the bottom the wave 5 barrel in terms of what she got. I don't feel like her new upgrades change her nor do they expand on what she normally does in any meaningful capacity. She's the exact same as she was before with prompt being her main stay. I don't see her new upgrades being taken when we have better options in arcane reservoir and seize the day. With the boost everyone else got and the recent change to prompt, I feel like Colette is the only master to actually slide down tier as prompt is no longer as special and were seeing things like Zoriada's new obey that completely crap on prompt. An increase of push effects, models that ignore Df triggers and overall more competitive masters means Colette just doesn't stand out anymore. She's not bad, she's just no longer the menace she used to be. My current ranking 1) Marcus 2) Sandeep 3) Ramos 4) Ironsides 5) Kaeris 6) Colette 7) Mei 8) Raspy

Yeah that's definitely true. It's less utility but easier to pull off with the low TN and built in suit. So I think best case is that it's just different than most other obeys, better or worst depending on the situation. Typically I can top deck a prompt which keeps my hand pretty healthy. Disappearing act is nice but it's usually a first turn thing for me if I can get the markers out. Otherwise i'll just prompt + walk for a similar effect.

Agree completely. Colette desperately needed something to compete with prompt and these upgrades are not that. They just seem to add a gimmic play style that is very difficult to actually play around. Given the dramatic boost to some of our other masters. I sort if feel like Colette has dropped a tier, at least for me anyway. The change to prompt was a good one, but it also kind of puts it in league with every other obey in the game. It's still fantastic, but ultimately it kind of feels like it's most of what she has going for her now. I was really hoping for these upgrades to give her something new and fresh but it looks like I'll be waiting for some time. The problem with the upgrades themselves is that Dancing Blade requires two upgrades (lady's secret) to be worth it but your having to use a resource (scheme markers) that requires your crew to support as Colette herself cannot drop enough markers on her own to actually use this consistently. Not only that but by burning nearby scheme markers, your dramatically affecting her potential survive ability as scheme markers are the only thing that keeps her alive. Ultimately your better off prompting an actual beater as Colette is just not a beater model. Audience Participation gives focus to models who hardly make use of it. Ice Dancers are too fast to stay within range and are designed as scheme runners, not beaters. Performers have no Cg and again are not really designed to punch things. They're better off using sirens call and attacking enemy scheme markers, in which case your not really benefiting much from focus. Oiran are... well Oiran and thus not worth hiring - even with focus. Lastly you have Coryphee who loose the buff if they form the duet but are still probably the best model to actually benefit from focus as they are actual melee models. Her new (0) is just way to situational and is probably not worth the effort to what amounts to making a 4-5ss model "super slow".

Yeah I pretty much rate the wendigo as the best totem in arcanists and never leave home without it in a Raspy crew. It will almost always be worth the 3ss just based on stats alone. It's almost a bit sad since I do actually find the essence of power to be most effective with Raspy as well since her ability to stay still and use Ca actions works amazing well for the essence (same goes for silent ones). However it just doesn't compare to the wendigo so it unfortunately doesn't make the cut most of the time.

I found that the emissary is the single biggest boost model to Raspy specifically and would recommend it highly. It's ability to act as a mirror while engaged is massive if your playing the ice mirror build. It also is allows her to use her (0) attack action through it which is usually a very difficult ability to pull off through mirrors. It also comes with it's own way to pull frozen heart models from engagements which while not as good as snowstorms, it's still a big deal. It's basically a vastly superior version of the ice golem. Outside of that I would have to say ice dancers are extremely valuable and offers Raspy some much needed scheme runners. They are of course dependent on the scheme pool but even as super mobile ice mirrors they are still great hires for her.

I've recently taken a liking to shooty Ramos. By taking his new LPC upgrade you gain access to the increased range as well as either +1Ca or +1 Dmg. Combine this with powered by flame upgrade and the arcane effigy to give a potential +2 burning to his attacks. Lastly if you really want to dish out the pain then you can hire the mobile toolkit to give him positives to damage. When/if you manage to get it all setup then your looking at a Ca7, 3/4/5 damage, burning +2, with a positive to damage, ignoring engagement and armour. Even Levi will blush at that kind of ranged damage output. Bare in mind that there is a lot of moving parts in getting this to work but it is funny when your summoner is killing most models in the game in a single activation

I actually really enjoy the emissary. Not necessarily because of his upgrade with Kaeris but just in general I find him to be an incredibly versatile model. He's probably the most tool box high cost model we have access too as he can push models, apply burning, remove characteristics, charge really far, give out free AP, remove markers, give slow, heal itself while also having 2 Ca actions (both of which have no ) and one that cannot be reduced or prevented. That alone is worth it's 10ss cost to me. However I do also understand that you take other models with a more defined purpose to accomplish a singular goal better than this model. It just all depends on how you want to play. I personally love versatility so I think this model is great. As for how it performs with Kaeris specifically. I personally like it most with G&D as you can use that huge 10" charge to fly over the enemy crew and get right at their squishy support models and even knock them out of supporting range using his relentless charge. I think instinctual is amazing for Kaeris but can be difficult to use given it's limited range.

Heat wave is a game changer for Kaeris and the only thing that holds it back is the fact that it's limited (and rightly so). With all three of her limited upgrades you have three very distinctive ways to play her now. The awesome thing about Heat Wave is that it's universally applicable. Lowering a models duels affects everything that model does. It makes the affected model more vulnerable to attacks as well as lowering their own effectiveness with their own abilities. Whether it be a summoner, a brawler or support model, this ability will work. Flaming Angel lets her play the scrapper role more effectively. She can get in and get out of trouble to make the best use of accelerant or simply to engage models on your own terms. With the auto burning from swoop as makes for easy setups for accelerant or immolate as well as setting up your own models for her other limited upgrades. I do feel like you'll be seeing more of Kaeris as she's probably amongst our most versatile masters second to Sandeep.

I'd really love to see an alternate Ronin model. The whole school girl thing just doesn't appeal to me. I'd like to see them take a step back a little to how they looked in 1.5 with a bit more of the samurai/cowboy look

I like the idea of an alt Ironsides as a male version (a mister model?) Other than that I wouldn't mind seeing a new Angelica

I find Colette is one of those models with reputation for being un-killable (for good reason) and in most of my games people won't even bother trying to attack her even if it's not actually a bad play. If you know how to deal with her she can be extremely fragile. A simple push is all it takes to make her vulnerable and I find a lot of people just don't put in the effort in taking her out. Most just write her off as un-killable and just try to ignore her to their detriment. I like using that to my advantage and now I tend to play Colette extremely aggressive, often putting her in the heart of the opponents crew (with some doves/mannequins for support of course). Once stuck in, I'll swing around her cane to drop additional scheme markers which creates a nice "nest" of markers to keep her safe. This also quickly brings her up to Ml8, which makes disengaging her quite difficult. She can be a nasty distraction piece but you do need to be mindful of pushes and other hard counters. It's not going to be a great tactic every game but it's nice to see she has other styles of play other than strictly support.

Not sure if you've ever had the chance to play with Raethford from the story scenario but you really should. I've used him several times and I've even used him in regular play from time to time (in a casual game with my opponents permission of course). I would LOVE to see him become a legal master as I feel like he connects december with the rest of the faction and he's so much damn fun to play. He plays totally different than Raspy and plays more like a utility version of Ironsides. The armour that ticks down after every hit, the increased conditions with each successive hit, the summoning and destruction of ice gamin and of course flurry. He's incredibly unique even among our own melee masters Since he's M&SU, he can take the M&SU upgrades which makes for a really interesting list as now ice gamin are healing and giving out burning on their attacks. Running him with spiders helps his melee so there are fluffy and mechanical reasons to actually run frozen heart and M&SU. I do think he still needs a bit of balancing tweaks but he's otherwise very solid. I would love to see Wyrd bring him in as a fully fledged master in the future

I feel like if you know what your opponent is bringing, then yeah you can definitely get use from it or at least dictate the opponents choices enough to call it beneficial. However Malifaux doesn't often play out that way (which is an awesome thing about this game) and you may invest in warding runes only to face Lady J, Perdita, Vics, or any support master/summoner in which case counter spell will do nothing. Having it only work against offensive Ca actions is so limiting and even among those select few, stripping suits doesn't always have any impact on their abilities. At least for Raspy you aren't paying for counter spell and Ramos gets other abilities in addition to counter spell so you can justify it. However having to pay 1ss and an upgrade slot for an ability that will have any sort of impact on such a small percentage of models just doesn't seem like a smart investment. Especially when you have imbued energies which will basically guarantee some benefit.

Yeah this ability could just be reworded to "this model is immune to lure" as it seems like that is the biggest benefit. Outside of that it's uses swing wildly Overall I actually really dislike counter spell. I really wish it disallowed triggers, put Ca on or reduced the overall duel total for Ca actions instead of stripping built in suits. The majority of offensive Ca actions simply don't care and those that do often find different targets. Using Raspy and Ramos for as long as I have I can count on 1 hand the amount of times counterspell has actually made any sort of difference. I wouldn't bother taking warding runes (without mages) unless there is a high chance of seeing belles. Otherwise imbued energies is almost guaranteed to be the better pick.

I would also put forth the arcane emissary as a tier 1 buy for Raspy. She got the best version of the emissary compared to the other arcanist masters in my opinion. It's super fast with Cg10, gives Raspy a critical means to escape combat. More importantly though it gives her the best possible ice mirror. Typically she cannot use her (0) through mirrors since the 2" range means most models are engaged and thus no longer legal mirrors. The emissary solves that by not counting as engaged. It also makes Freeze over a lot easier to use as well

I do feel like message from the union is a highly underrated upgrade for Ironsides. I think it's mainly due to the fact that she has too many good options that this one often gets left behind unfortunately. In terms of Ironsides vs Kaeris for burning synergy. Well I think Kaeris is still the better option mainly because she can use it while engaged and Ironsides cannot. Kaeris also has the better stat (Ca7 vs Sh6) and it plays into virtually everything else she does. Ironsides sort of wants to be in combat, especially since her update and so focusing on bottles too much is kind of a waste of her talents IMO. It's still a great option and is one of the best answers for amour (a real bane for Ironsides) since stacking burning will melt armour versus chipping away at it via punches. For example three bottles on an armour +2 target will do 7 damage whereas three punches will only do 3-4 damage on average.

Ever get those games where you take a model you've take a dozen times and you use an ability you've never used before? It got me thinking of abilities that I know about but have never actually used for one reason or another. Of coarse I'm only talking about models that you use regularly as newer models take time to experience their full effect. Skinwalker (Myranda) - It's been out since wave 1 but I've never once taken it. She's just too valuable on the table to be cooped up underground. I've never really seen a reason to ever take this over imbued energies. Vent Boiler (Rail Golem) - This model has a (0) other than locomotion? Go figure Smell Weakness (Acolyte) - This model does something other than shoot? Go figure Stalk (Sabertooth) - I just always try to leap even if I don't really have a reason too Devour (Hoarcat) - Too many stipulations for a Ml4 attack. Its way easier to use their other attack Frozen touch (Silent One) - Yeah there is no practical reason to ever use this Arrest Him (Mouse) - Once something gets roped, it's usually pointless arresting them Buzz Saw (Brass Arachnid) It's almost always better trying to stoke in my experience Philosophers Stone (upgrade) - Has anyone from any faction ever taken one of these upgrades? Anyone else have similar experiences with models you've use a bunch of times?

I typically run Mei/foundry for busting armour. More specifically the hard worker upgrade that can be taken and used by foundry models. It lets any foundry model for a (0) and a card to ignore armour and H2W. Not that every model will use it, but it's really handy when basically everything in your list has the means to ignore armour

My top 5 1) Mouse - Basically nothing works on this model. His heal is impossible to get off and is mediocre even if you do. His rope toss is nice, but once you rope in a model he can no longer do anything since he has no melee attack and rope toss is a . Arrest him rarely works the way you want it too. He's the most expensive totem yet is a insignificant peon and doesn't play into Toni's theme at all. Other than the fact that he has a decent number of wounds, he's all but useless. I reeealy want to love him and god knows I've tried to make him work, but honestly he's just the worst. 2) Electrical Creation - I just don't ever see the point in hiring this model when it's guaranteed going to die in a couple activations. The explosion is meh when you consider an ice gamin can do the same thing but is WAY more useful for the points. I understand he's mainly there as a summon option for Ramos, but honestly he's rarely ever worth spending that tome/upgrade slot on. 3) Ice Golem - The emissary basically sealed this guys fate. Df2 is just abysmal, even with armour+2. He's way too slow and just ends up dying way quicker than a 10ss model should. Joss does it so much better at the same cost, as does the emissary if your looking to stay in theme. 4) Captain - I've run him a bunch now and he's just really one dimensional. He's got a whole bunch of abilities that never get used. He's mainly there to airburst something 3 times. Also, you really want to be running him with his upgrade, but damn that makes him a really expensive model. I've mainly learned to just hire Johan now who does more for much less. Cool model though 5) Poison Gamin - They just don't really offer anything exceptional that the cheaper gamin don't already do. Unlike the other gamin, these guys require poison models in order to accomplish anything worth talking about. They just lack the focus that other gamin have and don't really fill any particular role that I can't get elsewhere for cheaper. Dis-honerable mention - Essence of Power: The only reason he's not on the list is because he's still better than mouse and sometimes worth taking over the eternal flame

Nurses - their ability to shut down/buff models with such ease for a 5ss model is just crazy to me. How many times have you taken a master to its final wound only to have it fully healed by a nurse. Or to have your own full health master helplessly paralyzed. Seriously I hate these models

Yeah he's unfortunately completely outclassed by the emissary in my opinion. The emissary is faster, hits harder, has a bunch of heals, a far superior stat line and brings an absolute ton of utility including a push for Raspy and the ability to Ice Mirror while engaged. There is simply no reason to take the golem while we have access to this model. Blade and Claw is about the only thing that can make this model decent, but it does require the blessed of December and proper positioning. I've also taken the kill switch upgrade and used him as a walking nuke to mixed success