Jordon

I feel like your rarely going to delve outside of M&SU with this version of Toni aside from the occasional counter pick perhaps. Fitz seems like the most obvious auto take and Amina still seems very worthwhile. I'm also glad to see a bit more incentive to hire multiple union miners now (but still probably not 3 of them). If your going to take Howard, then your also going to take a steamfitter (or vice versa). However I don't think either are a necessity. Same goes for gunsmiths. The captain seems like the least important of the M&SU but not without some merit as the Middle of the Storm might get better milage depending on the matchup. Overall though, your probably going to want to lean into cheaper models over him. Also worth noting that I think this version of Toni will never be taken as a second master, or look to hire a second master, but I guess we'll need to wait and see what the other alt masters look like. Another question: Would False Claim net you two summoned models? (discarding two cards of course)

She sounds interesting. I have a feeling her activations are going to be quite long given how many additional actions she can generate. Quick question, does Spark of Revolution trigger her own Labour Contract?

I do love playing the crossroad seven. I love how each model plays completely different than the others. I love how you can play the exact same list within each faction to offer a different experience (upgrades + effigies). I think the only missed opportunity is that they're not really taken seriously when compared to a typical master lead crew. Seeing how you need to buy them all together, most people end up with a complete crew that they will never actually run because it's just not all that viable competitively. To address that, I wish Wyrd had come out with a single upgrade that gets put onto your CR7 leader - but ONLY if you have hired the entire CR7 roster. This keeps it relatively easy to balance across each faction as your only left with a couple of stones to play with, which likely means 1-2 upgrades or a single cheap model in addition to the seven. I would love to see these models taken a lot more often as they're very fun and super thematic. It seems a shame to buy a box of seven models to only use one of those models and shelve the rest. An example upgrade for a CR7 list: The greatest sin: This model may attach an upgrade with a cost of 2 or less without paying it's soul stone cost, ignoring restrictions. Cover Fee's: During the start phase, this model may discard a card. Choose any enemy non-leader models to gain sin tokens (limit one per model) equal to the value of the card discarded (1/2/3). Rehearsal Practice: Choose up to two other models with the crossroad keyword. These models are treated as minions for the purposes of strategies, schemes and upgrades.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be resolved. Made sure I was on a strong wifi connection. I tried everything from restarting phone, resetting network connection, uninstalling/reinstalling the app. I go to download the cards and a brief set of text shoots across the bottom of the screen and then nothing. It's as if it's not even trying to download. I cant even see GG2 or anything. Update. It now seems to be working. Im pretty sure it was something with my phone. What it was, I couldn't tell you...

I'd love to see a return to Raethford in Arcanists. Yeah, yeah I know he's dead, but death is more of a minor inconvenience in Malifaux. It wouldn't take much to convince me of his return. For those who might be unaware. He used to have both December and M&SU keywords, which made him a really interesting character and one who could tie together some of the more loosely based allegiances.

I seem to be having an issue viewing cards. I noticed that a few of the cards were blank during the last update. I deleted the app and reinstalled but now everything is blank. I tried On Demand downloading but it didn't seem to help. It appears as the cards are not actually downloading. I click, say, a faction and it doesn't show anything actually downloading. The cards are there for me to click, but I can't actually view any picture. Anyone else having this issue?

Mech is obviously great, but I do think she's less important of a pick with performers as they typically don't need as much help with scheming. Still solid though I still rate Envy pretty high. Mainly as a great gun since performers are light on them. In terms of synergy, he does have some play with focused and can strip distracted for +1 damage. Mostly niche stuff but overall I've found his gun makes him worthwhile alone. As I mentioned above, I still really like Saboteurs with Colette. Ranged scheme removal is pretty sweet and they can use Arson twice when paired with Hirata (if he's in range). Overall I just like these over Showgirls.

What I liked about showgirls back in M2E (which wasn't much TBH). Was that they had Precious. This meant that killing them gave another model reactivate. This forced the opponent to make difficult choices as killing them would likely mean a more capable character would get to activate again. They could also attack from their lure and even had some poison shenanigans that could work when paired with other Showgirls. I won't say that they were amazing back in M2E, but they did seem to have a more defined purpose. Another feeling is that I get the sense that they are intended to be brought along side mannequins, who do offset their low durability. However at 9ss worth of models, I'm better off with the aforementioned henchmen.

If I had to voice my concerns about anything it would likely be for the showgirls. I just can't seem to get them to perform (heh) as well as I'd like. For all the reasons I'd want to hire them for, I just find myself drawn to saboteurs, who just do it better. Lure is great, but Colette sort of has me covered on the movement front. Distracted does seem to be better now, but I still don't think it elevates the showgirls enough to warrant their existence. They simply die far too easily and their role typically gets them into harms way. I've found myself going elite with Colette, spending big on the holy trinity of Carlos, Cassandra and Harata. Either one of these characters will do the work of two showgirls.

I feel like the difference between her situation and McCabe, was that McCabe was being used in a way that was likely unintended from his initial design. Now McCabe works better (but different) within keyword and worst everywhere else. Colette works as intended (a little too well) but just got worst within keyword and even more so outside of keyword. With all that being said, she was way over tuned before. Even getting taken down several pegs, I still view her as one of the strongest masters in the faction. You just need to actually apply thought and caution with her actions now. There is also one legit buff, aside from the change to distracted. The removal of a suit to Presto Chango, combined with the change to her trick of the hat trigger means that its actually worthwhile to summon doves now. The trigger was basically useless before, now I'm going to try for it every time. So If your able to kill a dove for the ram trigger on Presto, you'll be getting two model movements, a scheme marker, a dove, and a card. That's quite a bit of stuff for a single action. You can decide whether or not it's still worst than what it was before. The way I try to look at these changes is by not focusing on what was lost and comparing her to how she was. I like to think of if this model in its current form, were to show up as a master in another faction, would people be impressed? My thoughts are yes. She's still an A-tier master and still seems like the obvious choice for a good many GG2 strats.

I would love a callback to M1E where Colette would turn people into Mannequins.

So when talking specifically about Marcus, I found myself replacing them with a Razorspine. With Ambush and Deadly Pursuit, they can usually do the job of two molemen. Well they can't drop markers quite as far as two molemen but they make up for it by being more survivable and they can actually benefit from mutations. The Blessed will also work in a pinch, but it sort of seems like a waste of its talents.

So with the new GG2 shakeup, it seems like most summoners will need to rethink their hiring pools. Sandeep is such a master where I would rely on summons to do most of my scheming. Obviously that's not a thing in GG2, and interacts are up from the previous GG season. So how are people thinking about hiring now? Are you looking to hire things like wind gamin? Are you looking to more academic support? How does this new rule set change up how you approach Sandeep? Personally, I'm looking more at the Vidiya Guards then I was previously. They're one of the better caddies for Magical Training now. Their pushes seems more relevant in GG2. Plus the card draw for Know the Warrior will also be pulling more weight now that Kandara has changed. Speaking of Kandara, I feel like her role may shift into more of a schemer/denial piece now that she's no longer the card draw engine for the crew. I don't feel like Kudra has quite found her place yet. Disillusion is still quite strong but I'm still not sure if she takes the spot of a golem. Ox Mages continue to baffle me and despite the importance of hired models, I still don't see myself hiring them. Even though, I think that Arcane Conduit now can remove slow from summoned golems?

I honestly forgot about Acolytes. That should tell you what you need to know already... At 7ss, they're more expensive then the other masters core minions. It also doesn't help that the main mechanic of that keyword actually hinders them as oppose to helping. I'm just not sure what their real purpose is. As I mentioned, Silent Ones do ranged better then they do. From the Shadows is nice, but often gets them killed. Analyze Weakness is a nice niche pick but too steep a price at 7ss. Tools for the Job tries to offset much of this models mediocrity but it just doesn't go far enough IMO.

For me, I'd probably rank Silent Ones as the best. They're probably the best part of December keyword and I'll always bring at least one, most times even two. The work incredibly well in the keyword and really compliment Raspy in alleviating some of the pillar pressure. The heals are very good and helps to stand up the rest of the keyword. I also really like Rail Workers. They're just very tough, Killy models for their cost. They're not particularly good at scheming but they're pretty decent at holding points and clearing enemies. I'll usually run at least one, but I'm not opposed to running two of them in certain matchups. I don't really play Hoff, but the Wardens look decent enough for their cost. I could see them filling a role similar to the rail workers. Fire Branded are decent to mediocre. My main issue is that they're very static and need a Pyre marker in order to get anything decent out of them. Also, they're often taking damage from burning so they tend to die quicker than most. All that being said, when you get them in a Pyre marker, they actually be pretty scary and reasonably tough. I'll usually bring one, rarely two, though. Union Miners are a niche pick for me. If your hiring them, it's likely for False Claim, which is a really good ability, especially in M&SU where schemers are uncommon. They have a bunch of other niche abilities which makes them interesting in certain matchups. Overall I do like them, I just don't always have a reason for hiring them. I'll most often take one but have on occasion taken two. Order Initiates have been pretty meh for me. They biggest purpose is drawing cards for Marcus. Outside of that, they're pretty average in melee and survivability. You really need a few mutations in order to get them to work well and that's why I feel like they're not great. I'll usually take one, but I find they have a diminishing return beyond that. Pre Errata and GG2, I would have said Showgirls are pretty forgettable. They do seem to have a bit more purpose now, but I'm still not sold on them. They really don't have much keeping them alive and usually they're your scoring models. They just don't really do anything particularly well and you need to play them so incredibly carefully. I often compare them to Saboteurs, who have a similar role but generally just work better. I've stopped hiring them long ago. We'll see if GG2 changes my impression. Ox Mages are tied with Showgirls are my least rated core minion. My biggest issue with this model is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. It's very subpar with it's damage and defence. It feels like it wants to be a support piece, which already makes it more niche than the other minions on this list. Even so, I find it's support abilities a bit awkward to use. I just have a hard time understanding exactly what this models use is. It's especially bad given that Sandeep has access to the gamin, who fulfil a more specialized role for a cheaper cost. The Mantra is pretty good, but that's about it. I don't ever hire them

I would classify a core minion as one who's in that 5-6ss range. Typically those that you would (ideally) consider hiring multiples of to form the baseline of your list. Those minions that are usually sold in 3's. I'm excluding versatile and gamin models as I feel like they're more supplementary. When I say "best", obviously there are many factors that come into play. Schemes/strats/enemy crews all play a factor in what you hire. However I find myself, in most cases always hiring or leaving particular minions regardless (or very rarely). What I'd consider core minions December: Silent Ones Academic: Ox Mages Wildfire: Firebranded Performer: Showgirls M&SU: Union Miners Chimera: Order Initiates Augmented: Warden Foundry: Rail Worker Questions: Do you ever hire them often? Do you ever hire more than one? Do they have a niche role?

I'd probably put them in my top 3 worst models within Arcanists as they really just don't work. They're clearly designed as a cheap scheme runner but they're abilities make them cumbersome to use as they don't work on their own. You need to hire them as a pair to hopscotch off each others scheme markers. Beyond that, they have a bury effect that only works once you get hit, however they're so unbelievably frail that they often don't survive that single shot. In my opinion, they need a complete re-work. Sure giving them armour/health would help, but honestly even if they were more durable, they'd still be awful as they just don't really work as intended. Which is especially a shame given how badly Marcus needs cheap scheme runners. Hoarcats are they only other cheap scheme runners and unfortunately they're not very good either.

I think she's still a fine pick. With summons getting hit in GG2, Sandeep will need to be a bit more careful with his hiring pool now. Kandara is an excellent scheme runner and will likely be the go-to choice due to her agile, and serene countenance. The Mantra hit will be felt for sure, but it needed to change as it dwarfed the Mantra's in terms of power. She'll now be taken for more than just her Mantra, which is a good thing. Throw knife is an amazing attack and with her not needing to be so Mantra focused, she might have better opportunities to actually use it now

I wonder if these new master cards will reflect some narrative change. Just basing the art change on Sonia, I feel like there is more narrative influences, rather than a strict change for game play sake. This could be really cool. Even if they are more "what if" type of changes. For example, what if Raspy actually got taken over by December? What if Sandeep lost control of Banasuva? What if Marcus discovered the secret of immortality from the jackalope? Give me cool rules and a convincing story to go with it, and now were talking.

Honestly you could have his card say "replace this model with a malifaux rat" and I'd still take it. The Horsemen list was my primary list in M2E. It was never super competitive but was easily the coolest list on the table. I'm really hoping it makes a return in the next book.

I'm curious what peoples thoughts are on new Sonia compared to Kaeris. Both seem to operate similarly (I guess Reva as well). This is not meant as a "who is better" discussion, but just as a curious comparison of how they differ and in what way. Overall it seems like Sonia can out Pyre Kaeris with her getting a built in trigger on flameburst. Nearly double the range and (very likely) positives, means your very likely to see 3+ Pyres a turn from Sonia. Kaeris (at least when I player her) is usually dropping 2 a turn, primarily from On the Pyre. Obviously the crew has a huge impact on this as well as Kaeris has access to Elementals/Carlos who also generate Pyre markers, which as far as I'm aware, Sonia doesn't have. I feel like the big difference in the pyre game is the Injured versus Severe. With this is seems like Sonia is more about moving models and keeping them trapped in Pyre markers. Whereas Kaeris is more about moving the Pyre markers to the opponent. So while Kaeris may have less to work with, she is able to do more with less, keeping them relevant. The other major similarity is Channeled Flame versus Blaze of Glory. It looks as though Channeled Flame is just a straight up better version of Blaze of Glory as you can still use Channeled Flame to reduce on yourself, and even using it defensively. It's pretty great on Kaeris so I imagine it'll be even more potent on Sonia. Another key difference is that I get the sense that Keris is a skirmisher. She wants to be up in the thick of it, locking people down her Up We Go, tanking hits with armour, while also setting things ablaze. Sonia on the other hand doesn't have a melee action and primarily relies on Flamburst. On top of not being overly resistant, she really doesn't seem like she wants to be anywhere near combat. She can use her reposition trigger on confiscated lore but not much else beyond that. Overall I feel like they did a good job with having both masters do very similar things but going about it in a very different manner. I'm not sure who'd have the advantage if both crews faced off. but it'd probably be very interesting.

I would imagine that certain masters will still be tied to certain mechanics. Unless were looking at keyword changes, most crews seem constrained by certain elements of their current toolkit. I'd be hard to imagine Raspy without Ice Pillars as her crew interacts with them as much as she does. How they're created and utilized will likely change. I'd love to explore a non ice mirror style of play where Raspy is up in the thick of it. Marcus also seems very tied to mutations. The obvious change here being a whole new set of mutations. Personally I'd love to see a nod back to his M2E poison build. Seems like poison is under utilized within Chimera. Kaeris also seems pretty locked into pyre markers but maybe that could also work as strait up burning. She could honestly go in any number or directions. More support, more damage, more scheme. I'd love to see accelerant make a return personally. Foundry really needs scrap in order to work. I could see Mei change into more of a support role. The keyword could use some more scheme related help so pointing her in more of a scheme role could be interesting. Not sure if you could utilize power tokens for summoning but I feel like summoner would fit Hoff pretty well. Toni would make a great support/scheme lady as she undertakes more of the M&SU boss role. Colette is another one that could really go anywhere as she and her crew are not really locked in to any particular mechanic. Maybe poison could work here as well? Else, someone who is more behind the stage helping out the crew rather being in the spotlight? Sandeep could maybe go less on general elemental summoning and lean more into Banasuva summoning? Maybe some benefit to him when he's "trapped" in his Gada versus being let loose?

I'm liking the sounds of the new Presto Chango the more I think about it. Send dove forward (comfortably within 8" of Colette) Have another dove and a friendly model next to Colette Have Colette Presto, killing the nearby dove for a ram (and a card). Drop scheme marker in front of forward dove Swap forward dove with friendly model next to Colette Swapped dove is now next to Colette to allow her to do it again Obviously you'll need to make sure your very deliberate with your spacing. However with just a single 8+ of any suit you get Roughly a 10" place for friendly model Roughly 9" place with a friendly scheme marker Replacement Dove Free card Doesn't sound all that bad to me

Soulstone miner works pretty well in just about any crew. It's independence makes it a very attractive model. It's reasonably tough, okay in combat, able to run schemes, and when it's served it's purpose, it's fully content mining for soulstones. You can't really go wrong with including at least one in just about any list Admittedly, one of it's more compelling reasons for hiring was due to it being a great candidate for the Magical Training upgrade. Since this latest errata, that is no longer possible. However it still has plenty of merit in its own right. Raspy does tend to stick within her theme mostly. However if you were to venture outside her keyword then I would imagine the soulstone miner being a good option to go with

I feel like historically, Arcanists have always fared well in tournaments. I don't think Colette was the glue holding the whole faction together. The meta will drastically change after this update so who can say where anyone will be competitively. Everyone loosing their super master, summoning getting toned down, focus getting toned down, new set of schemes and strategies. I'm sorry but there's no way anyone is going to be able to predict where anyone stands for quite some time.