Nical

"Tortoise and Hare" is good and famous fable, but I think Korean folktale "Tortoise and Hare" may be good for Malifaux, too. Because the folktale is more serious....

"Eye for an Eye" Tactic usually work. Because they usually forget we can shoot them too. For Example, Shooty Mercenaries like Trapper and Lazarus,Mctavish are very useful. And if you have Lucius, Austringer and Rifleman will be useful, too. And don't forget to think about our "basic" solutions like Better Schemes / Terrains / Tricks.

I think Stitched become "Bullet magnets" in M2E Neverborn. Because they have low wk / df and high damage attack, so Our opponent want to kill them by range attacks. And in our side, We have other good models like Illuminated and our minion-focused masters can give their buffs to any minions. But stitched are still good dealers and our best minions to kill incorporeal models.

By my experiences... Fears Given Form Good upgrades for control, but you must remember this upgrade can deal your other models. Candy is best for this upgrade, but Bad juju (as second upgrade) may use it well. Mimic's Blessing Good "Insurance" Upgrade, But useless duplication may be more useful for some mimics. And this upgrade is not useful against Ca attacks. Useless duplications Good Upgrade for mimics. I like to take it for Lucius and / or some mimic enforcers. But Mimic's Blessing may be better than this. (Sadly, Lucius can't take Mimic's Blessing) Depression Good upgrade, but don't forget Melancholy is given to only "other" woes, not upgraded model. However, this means if you take more woes, it become more useful. Pact In my experiences, it was almost useless. But some models like Bag of Props Collodi can use it well. Retribution's Eye One of best upgrade for heavy hitter. And don't forget this upgrade affect damages themselves. So this upgrade works with every damages by abilities / attack actions / tactical actions. On Wings of Darkness Flight is good, but this upgrade is usually taken for additional draw by SS. So if you don't want to invest SS for this upgrade, other upgrade may be more useful. Hexed Among You Good upgrade for swampfiend crew. But if you don't have clear plans and / or synergies for them, Trappers may be better. At least, they have gun. P.S : Don't forget mercenaries in our crews can take our generic upgrades, too.

Samurai takes damages by missed only during his activation. So you couldn't kill the samurai. But killing 2 models in an activation is not bad.

I don't choose one, but I usually copy range attacks. Additionally, Copying is fun but I prefer to use her Abilities.

You can take 3~4 Guardsmen with gun (Austringer, Riflemen, Pathfinder) and Doppleganger to build good ranged crew. And take other models for Schemes and VP, your crew will be completed. Envy + Changelings are fine, but as I said, Fated Collodi is better in "many situations" and this combination is one of them.

Lucius is very useful, but he is not master for beat-down play. he is control master and his win condition is VP by Schemes. And he is very "sacrificing" master. He can use other models as resources for more VP, and you must do. Take some Guild models. They make Lucius Shine. But I don't recommend Guards & Dogs. Because we have good 4ss minions like Terror tots and we got our dogs in Shifting Loyalties. (At least, we got rules) And Doppleganger and our solid minions like Waldgeist, Illuminated are always useful. And If you think about Lucius "to win", you must think about Fated Collodi, too. Fated Collodi may be better than Lucius in "many situations."

When I tested it in wave 2 (with Collodi & Lucius), I think Mysty is useful but it is not a self-sufficient model. So I think it needs some synergies to work. If your crew can make it work, it will be very good model.

I agree with Lusciousmccabe. Pact is too situational upgrade. For Example, if you draw(not flips) Black Joker, you don't need to use Pact. And if your non-Pact model filps Black Joker / your Hand is empty, Pact never works in these situations, neither. So I think normal 1 SS is usually better than Pact and we have other important upgrades.

Arcane Effigy is used mainly for condition removal. Its burning buff is good, but Collodi doesn't need to act like heavy hitter and minions need healing buff more. But all effigies are solid as 4ss models, so you don't need faster scheme runners, they are not bad choice. And Arcane effigy's Attack is Ca Attack. Additionally, Lucky's "Hit me!" may be useful. I usually use it as healing buffer, but I don't avoid using it as sacrificial lamb in late game. Return to the point, I have played Fated Collodi by some activation logics from Wave 2 beta. So I introduce them. Collodi don't need to be activated to spread a buff by an effigy -> Don't need to use the effigy's accomplice to Collodi. Collodi can spread the buff when he receives it, but he need to be activated to spread a buff by his actions. so If you don't need to activate Collodi for other things, you may use effigy's accomplice to other model. If you use your effigies for other things, you don't need to activate them before Collodi. Some effigies used for other things must be activated when you need them. don't need to care their buffs, they are like free gifts. For Example, Arcane Effigy can give buff and use Accomplice to Collodi and in start of the turn, and it may be a good choice. But it may mean "Okay, I will waste my condition removal in this turn" to your opponent. Healing buffs may be more important than other buffs. Other Buff are useful, but healing buffs are essential to keep our fragile models and Collodi's Fast buff. So if you don't need to activate a certain model, Activate Brutal or Lucky first. I prefer Lucky to Brutal, but I agree that Brutal is generally better choice. Don't need to use chain activation early. Chain activation is very, very useful. but if you keep more models than opponent, you may activate left models like using long chain activations. And this may be more useful for scheme run, because your opponent can't do nothing except watching what you do. If opponent can kill / deny your "important" model in 1 Activation -> Try to get initiative and save it (or prepare to recover). Spreading the buffs early is important, but loss of "important(for VP and / or Combo)" model may be the more important issue. If you think you can save the model, give some heal / buffs to save it. But you think you can't, you must prepare to recover your loss. so I like Frame for Murder.... If opponent can use chain activation -> Try to get Initiative and try something. If your opponent can use chain activation to do something, you may not stop it. So you will do something to recover your loss or deny opponent's plan. In this situation, you must watch out scheme run combo. 3VP Combo may be more dangerous than killing your models. If opponent can't deny / kill your "important" model in 1 Activation and can't use chain activation -> Think about opponent's next move In this situation, opponent usually prepare to do next move. So you may think about what is his / her next move. If you think his / her next move won't be dangerous, try to play more aggressive and get more VP. If you can't remember these all, just remember "Play Accordingly".

Though her hiring Pool is wider than other neverborn master, but I think she must have an upgrade to hire all effigies. Because she is their creator and she ordered them in stories (before they became other things), but she can't hire other faction effigies in game.

Pandora herself is one of deadliest master in this game. Wp Attacks with some Aura are very dangerous denial / attacks. Dreamer's Chompy is very powerful monster, but summoning dreamer may not need him. Nekima is very good heavy hitter, but she is very expensive. Teddy with Retribution's eye(Ignoring Armor) or On dreaming Wings(Flight) is very useful beater. Hooded Rider is good, but he need some turns to become a dangerous thing. But my favorite beating Enforcer is Lazarus with Retribution's Eye(Ignoring Armor). Illuminated are useful, but you may need other models to give brilliance to their target. Beckoners are good partners for them. Stitched together are good beater, but their range is short and you need to think about opponent's hand. Waldgeists can be used as board controllers for aggressive play. Neverborn models in 2-player box are good, but I think any neverborn master can play competitive without them. Additionally, your arcanist tactic may work as neverborn, but we are more fragile and more tricky.

Black Blood Shaman?

Use terrain and take cover to hide your models. Choose schemes for situation wisely. For example, Nino can deny your interacts and you must try to kill Francisco. Francisco's El mayor is great, so you must kill him or other models far from him First. I recommend Lilith(Block LoS & Killing), but I prefer Collodi against Perdita. Because I'm used to play him.

In Bag of Props Collodi Crew, Bunraku can replace Marionette. And I think Bunraku may works like Coryphee, because Bunraku is very versatile model like Coryphee and cheaper than it. So I made scratch build models for them in Wave 3 test season.

Simply, Models in Lynch crew usually get good bonuses against brilliance models, so his Main Tactic is "give brilliance and kill". But you can give brilliance to opponents easily by beckoners (and other models).

I recommend Tannen / Coppelius. Tennen can boost your summoning and deny your opponents interacts and Coppelius is very versatile. And Scion of Black Blood is good model for Summoning Dreamer, because his condition removal ability can remove wake condition.

Darkened is almost useless unless you take Addict Upgrade, but your Darkened 'Minions' get some attack / damage bonus by it. Depleted are good tar pits, but watch out distract. They can't interact, so your opponent can use them for VP. Terror Tots / Gupps are good scheme runners for Lynch, because Lynch can recycle A for their Sprint / Leap.

As Lusciousmccabe said, Widow Weaver is for Wp denial / Horror duel Synergy, not for Area Control. Widow Weaver's Web Marker need to use with Wp Action / Ability for Area Control and oher models can make Horror duels. So I think our henchmen for Area Control are Candy / Bad juju with some upgrades and Widow Weaver need to use with other models like Collodi, Dreamer.

Actually, Lynch can attack people with eldritch powered up cards. But he needs some upgrades(Wanna see a Trick / Woke up with a Hand) for that. And Illuminated is always useful in any crew. So I recommend Lynch.

Don't forget Lazarus(11ss / Rng 12). and mercenary enforcers can take Retribution's Eye.

Simply, use Multiple / / to kill dreamer. And I think Crew Swap can be helpful to you.

I recommend Jakob Lynch. Because if you don't want to play him, you will need the Illuminated in his box.

No. you must discard to 6 in draw phase, but draw phase is at start of each turn. So you discard to 6 at start of next turn.