InvokeChaos

So I was originally going to attempt to go for the design position open at Wyrd... but after a lot of really thinking about it... I determined that my personal life doesn't allow me the ability to uproot and move to Marietta. Not saying I would even have gotten the job... but that was a major requirement. I will have to keep dreaming! Anyways, I'd already designed the model I wanted to submit... and it seemed a waste to just design it and do nothing with it. So I thought I'd post it here in case someone wants to use it. Hope someone gets some joy out of it! PAINTED DEMON – 7ss Oni, Minion Df 5 / Wp 6 / Wd 6 / Wk 5 / Cg 6 / Ht 2 Mesmerizing Skin – Ml attacks from enemy models against this model suffer (negative flip). Hard to Kill Attack Actions (1) Ink-Covered Claws (Ml 6/ Rst: Df / Rg: 1): Target suffers 2/4/5 damage. Cruel Slash: This attack’s damage cannot be reduced. (1) Wreath of Onibi (Ca 5 / TN: 10 / Rst: Wp / Rg: 10): Target model gains the Slow condition. “Such beautiful lights...”: After succeeding, push target model up to 3” towards this model. Tactical Actions (0) Life-like Tattoos: Discard a non-joker card. This model gains one of the following effects, as determined by the discarded card: Mark of the Kitsune: Push this model up to 5” in any direction. Mark of the Gyuki: Until the end of the turn, enemy models damaged by this model’s attacks gain Poison +1 condition. Mark of the Kasha: Until the end of the turn, enemy models damaged by this model’s attacks gain the Burning +1 condition. Mark of the Reiki: Until this model's next activation, this model gains the Spirit Characteristic and Incorporeal. 40mm base Design Notes Concept – I wanted to create a model in the 7-8ss range that could be used to enable some of our other Oni/faction tricks, thus being enticing to bring in other crews. I wanted minor synergies with each master as well, if possible. Lastly, I was looking for a way to incorporate the ability to deal with armor, as that is a major roadblock for 10T in general. I really liked the idea that it had a moving diorama of tattoos on it, and based its ability around that. I also thought it might be neat for painters to get the model knowing that there are tattoos that belong on it (like Shen and Yu). Stats – I don’t feel there is anything standout about the stat line here other than the wounds. I intentionally kept them a tad low (as well as keeping Df5) to compensate for Mesmerizing Skin, Hard to Kill and the fact that it’s 7ss. Lots of 5s and 6s in Thunders, so I felt no reason to deviate for this model. I left the WP a bit higher as a 5/5 seemed too light for it’s cost. Mechanics - My initial design route with this model was to make it an enforcer/henchman and create “tattoo” upgrades that it could equip that gave it various benefits. I quickly abandoned it. I tried putting triggers on the attack action (tattooing its enemies) but that felt kind of weird and not in the flavor I intended. So, I changed it to a zero action that triggered on a discard. It felt cleaner. I imposed that restriction to help keep the model’s ability in check. 10T brothers flip a random card for an effect and it’s potent if not chaotic. I didn’t want that level of randomness. Nor lack of cost. Plus, the Lynch synergy was a nice bonus. It also allowed me to make this model a minion so it could be summoned. Each of the tattoos represent another Oni type and I tried to choose abilities that were representative of their mark. The two attack actions I knew I wanted to be one damaging, one condition dealing. I wanted to bring another bit of Oni flavor to this model in the form of “demon lights”, a trait in Asian mythology that indicated something was of the other world. In Japanese mythos, the Onibi are basically will-o-wisps, so I wanted to give them a small lure (mask trigger felt appropriate) and handing out slow seemed both effective and flavorful to the concept of an Oni that has hypnotic features. I chose reduction over ignores armor because there are a few abilities (including in the mirror match) that I wanted to be able to bypass, and for 7ss and a 2/4/5 track, I didn’t feel that was overpowered. Though I left it built-in because I wanted counterspell to matter. A couple of master notes: Asami gains an moderately aggressive summon that has more utility and accuracy then the jorogumo, at the cost of survivability. The Painted Oni can be taken down quickly. I wanted it to be able to make an impact regardless of it popped in and flickered out and the slow cast does exactly that. The idea of being able to summon one with an Obsidian Oni and have a little combo there felt great without being too good. McCabe grants some much needed survivability to the Painted Oni and giving this model reactivate allows it to potentially hand out a lot of slow, thus enabling McCabe’s net gun/AP control style of play. This may be too good, but as I feel his net gun is fairly underused, I was willing to keep it as is. Yan Lo’s Fury of the Yomi was why I added in the spirit characteristic to the Tattoo of the Reiki. Not only was it flavorful (Reiki are spirit Oni), but made the minion a bit more useful in a Yan crew.

Very fair, my friend. I really like that second concept. An ability that lets them call the flame to them and then re-purpose it. It's thematically very cool. I'm just going to suck all the burning from you three and then GIVE IT TO OUR ENEMIES!!! Or use it for my own gains. Thematic it after Calls Unto the Chi? Stealing your triggers @Tokapondora I modified slightly just for power reasons and change a name to reduce repetition of the word fire. the highlighted text is clunky but I like the concept so left it. (0) Calls Unto the Flame (Ca 5 / TN: 12): Move the full value of the Burning condition from each model within 6 to this model. You may discard a card. If you do, lower the value of the Burning condition on this model by 2 and gain the effect of a trigger matching the discarded card's suit. The Phoenix Rises: Heal 3 damage on this model. And All Will Burn: Until the end of the Turn, this model adds to all their final duel totals Scattered in the Wind: Place this model within 5" of its current location. Clad in Embers: After succeeding, this model gains the following Condition until the end of the Turn: "Ablaze: If a model deals damage to this model it gains the Burning +2 condition." Then add a 1AP cast to redistribute it: (1) Anointed by the Fire (Ca 6 / Rst: Df / Rg: 8) - Move the full value of the Burning condition from this model to the target. Like Wildfire: If the value moved was 4 or greater, this model gains the Reactivate condition.

Even with this restriction, being able to have a minion gain reactivate for so low a cost breaks too many things. You get effectively 4ap from that model every turn, making it one of the most effective scheme runners we have. Especially considering the 2nd activation they are free to use Wander the Earth. They basically become a firm contestant against yokai at that point, who with their flicker mechanic and triggers can emulate the 4ap concept. Shenlong plays with a 9 card hand and makes that cost basically trivial, but can also fast and push them. It's just too much. I like this idea, but wording becomes a problem. Plus removing burning so easily slaps the concept of burning in the face. It normally takes 1AP to remove a condition, and you could potentially remove 4 condtions on a 0... then gain 2AP, then gain crazy trigger effects. And nothing says you can't do the ability again. While it might be removing damage you've put on, it could also just be removing damage your opponent put on as well. I agree that reactivating a bad minion doesn't change it from being a bad minion, but that's WAY too good, haha. I'd use it, though...

He has a trigger that gains him Chi when he kills something with his primary attack (or inflicts severe damage) and that doesn't care if it's friend or foe.

My concern is that they are a modification away from being insane. 0 to push for charges, 3 attacks on the charge, built in trigger for burning... I mean... As others have mentioned, if you make them 2/3/4, they are basically more singularly focused yokai. Add in HtK or Armor and they are basically more expensive 10T bros. That being said my initial look at a fix was indeed to give them 2/3/4 and HtK... but then they throw out 9pts of damage on a charge... and with proper positioning/target selection they could even survive to do it again. And that's too good at 6pts. If you look at burning in 10T it facilitates three interactions (correct me if I'm missing any) besides damage: High River Style's ability to inflate duel totals for damage Shadow Emissary's ability to lower defense on targets with burning Obsidian Oni's to damage on burning targets Honestly none of those is particularly interesting to me... so I'd probably want to go in some new direction. I think what would be neat is if they could "blow up" burning. Kind of like an expunge. But make it do something special like it hits all models for the burning amount in a 3" or something. Make it a trigger or something: (1) Over the Flames (Ml 6 / Rst: Df / Rg: 1): Target suffers 1/2/4 damage. Ignite: After damaging, the target gains the Burning +1 Condition for each in the final duel total. Combust: After damaging, the target suffers an amount of damage equal to it's current Burning condition value. All models within 3 suffer damage equal to this model's current Burning condition value. This damage counts as being caused by the Burning condition. Then end the condition. alternatively Combust: After damaging, all models in 3 suffers an amount of damage equal to this model's current Burning condition value. This damage counts as being caused by the Burning condition. Either way I'd make the HRM have: Saracenar's Plight: Reduce the damage this model suffers from the Burning condition to 0. So they are immune to their trigger.

That is literally perfect and I appreciate such a thorough response. My apologies for missing this post when I searched!

And as others have mentioned, if you're going to buy the minions from a master set, generally it's better to buy the master set. There's only a few exceptions and really the only one I can think of off the top of my head are Yokai. I am buying a second box of Yokai because I need more than three for my Asami crew.

For the point cost you're probably better off with Winged Plague or Void Wretches. Void Wretches are ridiculously AP efficient for their points and potentially very hard to shift due to incorporeal and their Df going up with your hand size going down. They also move fast because of incorp (bypassing terrain). Winged Plagues don't do much beyond scheme running, but they have a solid tactical and are Wk6 with flight... so they get where you need them to go. Bandido's definitely have a better attack than the other two, but are only walk 5 with no movement shenanigans or terrain bypassing featuers. Run and Gun is neat, and so is Finish the Job, but I kind of feel they are better in a parker crew than others. Especially when you can save 2ss by hiring 2 void wretches which are faster and can hand out slow to your opponent. Being hard to shift on top of that.

Morning Wyrdos! So Avra Cadavra says: After reducing an enemy living or undead target to 0 wounds, summon a Flesh Construct into base contact with the target before it is removed and the model places no corpse markers. Shieldbearer's Chosen ability says: If this model would be killed and it does not have a Soulbound Upgrade attached, it is not killed. It heals all damage and attaches a Soulbound upgrade ignoring all restrictions, then places a Corpse Marker in base contact with itself. What happens when the Shieldbearer is Expunged when Chosen hasn't been triggered yet? The Shieldbearer is never removed, and Avra Cadavra specifically says place the Flesh Construct before the target is removed. So would you not place the Flesh Construct? The first time in the game it happened, I thought that the Flesh Construct shouldn't be placed, but we rolled with it, he placed it, and I didn't place a corpse marker. It really didn't matter at that point (though I should have asked for a ruling then. I was kind of in the moment with my own strategies at the time). The second time I DID ask for a ruling because I really felt like that might be unintended and just wanted clarification. Our judge said that in his opinion no corpse marker would be dropped and no Flesh Construct would be summoned, but because he wasn't 100% certain, he said just do both to make it fair, but I told him I would ask here. So... do you still summon a Flesh Construct? As far as the corpse marker, I thought Avra Cadavra said you don't drop one from dying... but it just says don't place. Chosen says then you place. My grey area is the timing on that. If everything is triggering at the time the model is reduced to 0 wounds, would you resolve Avra's stuff first... Here's where my head is at: 1) Model is reduced to 0 wounds. 2) Avra Cadavra's condition is met 3) Shieldbearer's Chosen checks for killed state and that condition is met 4) What resolves first and what affects what? Do I resolve all of Chosen's affects first? Do I resolve all of Avra's first? If I resolve Chosen's first... then do I still get the corpse? Does it not matter because Avra says the model places no corpse markers, so even though it hasn't resolved yet it still applies? Not trying to argue one way or the other. Just making sure I got the nitty gritty down. Thanks for your patience and help.

I typically see Arcing Screen and Arcane Reservoir on him in my meta. What's the third typically seen? Or do people take different upgrade packages entirely?

Wait he can summon an electric creation? *goes and reads what the heck electrical summoning actually does* Well by jove, I don't know why I've never seen that upgrade taken before. Unless you are going hard melee or something, it seems like summoning an eletric creation is better than hiring one! Yeah but if he hits moderate (through cheating or what not) he one shots electric. So he could theoretically move up, summon, shoot, summon. Just would be potentially card intensive.

Yeah I noticed that too... normally I see a joss or something with eletric creation getting nuked. @Legislat just for my own curiosity, what is your opponent's scrap generator? am I just missing something from the list?

Addendum: i feel that there is a note that should be mentioned in regards to the fact that they are Last Blossom models and mercenaries. Now... i can't think of a situation i would spend 7 stones for them... but the last blossom thing has some validity. it's a themed crew to be sure, but with Jorogumo in the mix, a torakage or two while running a last blossom list has potential. Again, it's just not quite efficient enough compared to other choices. That all being said, play what you like! Nothing wrong with being thematic even if it's not optimized for greatness!

Everything Nikodemus said... I personally never take them. Despite loving the ninja aesthetic. Too many other models in that price range eclipse it. Chiaki, Brothers, Yokai, Obsidian Oni, Illuminated for 1pt more... etc. Really the deciding factor is that they typically go down in 2 swings. And that's too fragile for me at 6 pts. They're as fragile as a Yokai without near the utility or efficiency. Note on that: 5wds vs 6wds. There is literally no difference unless armor is involved (or your dealing with min 1 damage). 3 hits from min 2. 2 hits from min 3+. Potentially 1 hit for most beater models. You really need to bring the goods if that's the case, and yokai bring the goods. Torakage do not. And 10T bros are ridiculous... they can go armor 1 on a trigger and df 7 with defensive. So they take like 3-4 hits to shift. That's one of the reasons they get so much good press.

TL;DR - They just aren't competitive enough with our other 5ss options... even with Hidden Agenda I have several thoughts but as you'll see, that's very typical of my posts. First off, welcome to 10T! I hope you enjoy your stay here! I'll address Torakage first, as they are a side mention in your post and thus I'm not going to focus on them. Torakage due indeed make pretty nifty scheme runners, but their point cost is what's restrictive. For 6ss, they are a fairly tight package, but they don't bring enough defensive qualities nor do they have enough mobility tricks to outpace the cheaper 5ss and 4ss options of the Yokai, 10T Brothers and Tengu. Not saying they are slow... Wk6 with ability to just walk out of engagement is a thing... but they have no place effect. The other 3 do. All on non-AP spending abilities. They are decent in df/wp, but only 6wds and no defensive stats. 10T Bros have all the defense... Yokai bring tremendous melee potential and tengu are stupid cheap. So they all have their places. Torakage aren't bad... not in the slightest. But they just don't quite bring the heat the other three scheme runners have. That being said, they definitely have their place with certain masters and scheme pools. But I wouldn't count them as go-to's. They will also work great if you don't have the other models, haha! While they are a point more, running 2 of them is definitely not a bad thing. They just aren't as competitive as some other options. That's all. Be aware that min damage 3 models can 2 shot them... and that's a whole lot of pain. On to Oiran. So Oiran are one of those "I wish this model was better" kind of things. Here's why: CONS 1) Oiran are the ONLY lure in the game that doesn't have it's requirements built-in. Which means it only goes off if you are super lucky, or have the proper suit in your hand. This automatically disqualifies them for a lot of people. 2) Their melee attack is "only" 5, so she can't hit reliably against stronger models, and even if she could... her attack is damage spread is PATHETIC. And their 2AP melee attack? Even worse. It's actually so bad, that it's better to focus and attack with their primary attack then it is to use their higher accuracy 2AP attack. You would have to connect 3-4 times with the 2AP attack to do better than a single focused mod/severe hit from the primary. 3) Their defenses are wholly lackluster and they die to a stiff breeze. Ok, so now that I've picked them apart, let's go over why I personally like them and do use them with a specific sort of regularity. PROS 1) They have disguised, which is really strong. 2) They like Defensive... so much so that they get it 2 for 1! This matters. Some mathematical geniuses that are not me have stated that to you duels statistically can be considered as raising your stat value by 1. Don't ask me where I read it. Don't ask me to explain it. Obviously the high end doesn't matter... their 13 still beats yours. But the concept is that getting a to your flips is really solid. Now the downside is your fishing for your black joker at that point, but if you have already seen it or it's in your hand, there's literally no reason to not stack those 's. 3) They have a +1 to WP aura. This is the reason I take them right here. Especially against Neverborn and Ressurectionists... both of which have some really terrible WP shenanigans fairly common in their crew. 4) Her main defensive trick is actually her attack. The trigger on her melee attack prevents showgirls from being targeted by the model she damaged. This can be a game changer as she's only Rg 1", but Cg 8... so you can dash into a big model, make it unable to attack the Oiran, and she can't be charged by anyone else. The Rg 1" matters because it gives very little room to maneuver for your opponent. This is a give and take thing... you don't tie up as many models... but the ones you DO tie up, don't have much range of flexibility. If you are a 3" reach and they are a 50mm base... they can tip toe to the edge of your threat range and still threaten almost 5" + their range away... yeah they can't charge or shoot but they still can do stuff. And a heavy hitter may not need more than one swing. Or just needs to engage your model or something. So strangely, there low reach is a positive for what you want to use it for. 5) They CAN lure... it's just really hard. 6) Hidden Agenda. Ok so this upgrade seems LEGIT. And you know what? It is. So while they don't have the raw mobility and such that some of the other scheme runners do, being able to have 2-3 minions on the board that can't be charged, can make them untargetable by something their engaged with AND have fast every turn? That can be insanely good. Not to mention the free focus. SO WHY AREN'T THEY TAKEN MORE? So despite the pros outweighing the cons in quantity, it's the quality that matters. Consider this: Fast + focused is 2AP. Fast grants an AP, focus takes an AP to get. So Hidden Agenda effectively hands 2AP to all Oiran when it triggers (which is why putting it on a ranged character is usually the idea). And even with a free focus and 3AP... they STILL aren't as effective as a 10T brother. Let's do a simple breakdown as to why: Bro has same stats effectively. Swap the Df and Wp. Lower charge, but bros can potentially make up for it with the reach on their weapons (and the trigger on their dance)... so for me that's kind of a wash. Both like going defensive. Oiran get a two for one. Bros get +1 to the Df stat and a trigger to up their defensive condition from being attacked. So bros are better here. Both have only one attack (yes Oiran have two but see above) but the 10T brothers is leaps and bounds better overall. While the Oiran's is niche, the 10T bros is just useful all the time. Fast from Oiran can be matched with the mask trigger from the dance of heaves on the bros... which places them 3" (effectively 4" because it's not completely within). So they are only 1" slower... and don't require a model to have attacked and damaged to get it. Thus it's by and large more consistent. Especially with the other 3 triggers available that are ALL useful. So basically... any time you might think an Oiran is a decent take as a scheme runner or flanker... 10T bros is just BETTER. Arguably so are Yokai. All 5ss. SO WHEN DO YOU TAKE THEM? I take them for the aura and when I want to toss hidden agenda on a random model to enable Shadow Emissary (pushes and fasts an upgrade wearing model). Like a heavy hitter who gets recalled training? If he's a henchman he's also getting hidden agenda just because it's free and sticks on him. If I'm facing neverborn or rezzers... then that oiran is coming in. I am NOT going to try to get the fast and focused... it's just gravy if I do. I am going to keep those oiran for the WP aura and for activation control and scheming. if I get that mystical high crow in hand, then that lure is going to happen at the WORST time for my opponent. Oh and because they do like defensive so much, but it requires a card... Lynch is a good master for them as his crew likes the bonus WP, you can pitch aces to go defensive, and you can even use the emissary's 0 action to give damage reduction to models that are defensive. Cute tricks. They actually do work though. Seriously though, grab some yokai or 10T brothers. You won't be disappointed.

I second the nellie bump. Burt can be given debt and then fasted and reckless to do stupid good things. Austringers don't need line of sight to McTavish and ignore his cover shenanigans. Yeah they are low damage, but a fast austringer still puts pressure and they are accurate enough to warrant some cheating or stone use to keep McTavish up... and that's wins for you. Anything that makes your opponent have to change their game plan and react to your situation instead of vice versa. Alternatively they can be used for that extra push to line up a charge. Just remember that while nellie can pitch cards and evidence to force activations, if he gets 3 spiders turn 1, he still has 9 models and a reactivate from the brass arachnid for 10 activations. If you have the ability to wait that out and set up some blitzing models, you can severely swing the game. I would also throw out a couple of other options to consider: McMourning in guild isn't as strong as rezzers IMO... but his upgrade allows you to pass armor ignore to anyone, if memory serves. Giving that to one of your high damage, high mobility/range models is ridiculous, especially with debt to the guild. McMourning himself also is incredibly mobile. He can bring Sebastian, which basically nukes spiders. If they get any poison on them really at all, and are within range of Sebastian's induction, they're toast. Especially considering there is no bleeding edge tech present in the list you presented. As mentioned, Johan crushes constructs, but she also dies to McTavish/Lazarus fire pretty handily. If you can screen her... good times. Armor is a thing. Lazarus can't ignore it, and neither can McTavish I believe. Howard and Spiders can't either. You have access to Ryle, Peacekeepers and Guardians (who also pass out defensive 2). Not saying it's the saving grace answer, but you can absolutely make use of it. Min dam 2 howard is much less scarier. Hoff Bubble? You may not have Lazarus, but you have McTavish accessible. And your McTavish is better than his McTavish. Sonnia - I know she doesn't bypass armor, but she can blast a ton of damage around and is a tough nut to crack at range. You may not be able to nickle and dime Lazarus... but if you maintain your spacing, you can absolutely out blast Lazarus. And spiders without healing crumple to blasts. Especially if you take her summoning upgrade, this can swing the activation control in your favor. Plus she does have flame walls to block LoS... and that means no mass shooting from L&M. Probably more effective on the Laz as he is slow as molasses and would have to walk then shoot... which denies his bombardment. McT will just try to push out and keep it up, but at least you deny a possible free attack from him.

Terracotta Warrior, Doppleganger, Burt Jebsen and performers are great out of faction picks. Terracotta let's you trade out upgrades and puts a really good defensive condition on your enforcer/minion models. I like to take Surprisingly Loyal and then swap it out for Secret Assets with the Terracotta Warrior. Doppleganger gives initiative boosting and can copy actions. Burt Jebsen is just a really solid model that can do a ton of work. Performers are fantastic models with Lucius as anti-schemers and helping with positioning. I love them with Phiona Gage dropping scheme markers everywhere. Speaking of... I really really like Phiona Gage from the Nellie box with him. Especially with Transparency upgrade (let's her drop scheme markers on attack). Field Reporters aren't bad with him either. Also you will want to get three copies of Debt to the Guild because it's a ridiculous upgrade

Gosh darnit, I keep doing that. When I was taught this game I was told that blasts don't inherit the damage "type" and thus bypass incorp. I never really played a blast master that wasn't casts so I keep forgetting that when thinking of Misaki. I was educated later, but it was fairly recent. Will amend!

I love Vincent. He can be good for holding an area because of his ability to push out and do some damage. His lack of an engagement range can be a liability though.

Dr. Dufresne is female alt sculpt. I saw someone take a student of conflict and swap out her sword for the bone saw to genderbend sebastian. There's a cat called scum in GB who i believe is canonically a female kitty. Could always paint her up all decrepit like to proxy. Or put a bow on the Chihuahua and call it a female. I don't know if it's actually given a gender one way or the other. But no, I am cool. I don't have a problems with orderlies for male nurses if I want to genderbend. I would rather see master's get alternates over minions. I'd love to see a male kirai though with a female lost love. That could be cool. Even if they just took the current models and swapped roles, that might be neat. I don't know her backstory though, so maybe that doesn't work...

You actually have a pretty functional McMourning crew there already. I'd look at something of this nature: McMourning (7ss cache) -Moonlighting -Plastic Surgery -Decaying Aura (I just really love this on him, but you can elect to save the points) Dead Chihuahua Sebastian -Those are not ours Nurse 2x Necropunks 2x Belles Bete Noir Here's the deal though, you will need some proxies. Moonlighting summons flesh constructs (of which you already have one, but you'll want two probably) but you also summon canine remains to anything that dies from poison. So you'll need a couple of those. Nurse is indispensable with McM and belles can be swapped to doxies if you want (or one of each); you have the stones to do so. This is a good shell list for updating in the future as well as the necropunks could be crooligans or canine remains or guild autopsies. The belles can be doxies or a guild lawyer if you're so inclined. Bete Noir can be upgraded to a carrion emmissary and still leave you at 5 cache... plenty of options

One thing we do extremely well is AP manipulation in general. Chiaki with her slow upgrade can potentially neuter 4 models in a turn by making them slow. Shenlong and Yu can push and slow models fairly easily. Yan Lo is actually pretty solid because you can lightning dance models out of position. Lust can totally wreck placement. McCabe hound spam is always a good idea. If i'm playing against rezzers I am probably bringing Misaki... not only does she have blasts (which incorporeal hates), but she has a high WP and a high Ml to make sure her abilities are getting off. Against low Df rezzers, she is a blender, even with Hard to Wound. Drop on misdirection, servant of the five dragons and stalking bisento. Stalk their key components, get pushed and fasted by Yu and go forth and murder. She's Df6/Wp8 with a deflect trigger. Unless you're careless in positioning, she's going to make your opponent very unhappy. Brewmaster is good actually. Obeys, negative flips, and he's a great lockdown piece that can decimate your opponents ability to score. Yokai... 5pts. Hit well above their weight. INCREDIBLY mobile. And they place right before scoring, allowing denial or allowing you to score. They aren't rare either. And yes... they do flicker out... but that's flicker 5 if you hire. That means that unless you spend the flicker on something, they are there the whole game. And they have a trigger to gain more flicker. Asami with 3 yokai hired. Then have her 0" place and summon in 3 more yokai (if you can) turn 1. You can absolutely have a 8-9 model crew starting that still has plenty of hitting power, and end of turn one you have 11-12 activations. Seriously, these guys are work horses.

Some thoughts: Misaki with Lone Swordsman and Sensei Yu are severe threats to a shooty crew. They get up the board quick, with fast (and stalk from Yu copying) and both are bullet-proof. Misaki much less so, but Lone Swordsman can practically laugh off Sh attacks. Once they are in range, it's target priority. As Adran said, cover is a thing. I believe it's listed somewhere that 30% of the board should be terrain with a good mixture of blocking, impassible, cover, walls, etc. Snipers to counter shoot are solid, and with their built in they don't really care about cover all too much. Plus Yu can buff their Sh stat if you focus for the extra range. On the shenlong front, high river stance with burning allows you to take a point of damage to raise your duel total. This happens after cheating, if memory serves. So if you know you have a focused Dita shot coming in, and they are barely beating you, that couple of points of damage to negate their focused damage flip could be a real life saver. Emissary has a 0 action that grants pseudo-armor... it's damage resistance but it's not armor so Dita can't ignore it. It comes from going defensive. If you are playing Shenlong, you should have an 8-9 card hand and 2 peasants... so that should be plenty of ways of getting the prerequisite defensive condition on your models. Also I would look at deployment. Games can absolutely be lost on deployment. Maybe set up some test games just to practice deploying, and examine how quickly the opponent can get in range with guns. Which brings me to my last note... try to learn the capabilities and ranges. Dita can ignore LoS, cover, armor and can push in position out of activation. Not all at once, but you have to be aware she can do that. Ophelia has a rocket that ignores LoS, a gun that grants terror, the ability to push out of activation and her thinking luck trigger to be on a 4/6/8 damage spread with built in positives on attack to basically ignore cover... all at 10" from her; 12" on the rocket. Don't forget you can pre-measure. Get some proxy bases and plink it down where you want to move, then do some quick measurements to see what is required to get one of those models into range to ruin your day. Keep in mind their bonuses and weigh it against your defenses. If they only can get one shot off, might be ok... but if they haven't used their push yet and can get all 3 shots off... definitely not ok. Some example lists and pools of what they are playing would potentially allow some more help as well. Even a photo of your typical board setup.

This is cute, but Yan is not only upgrade heavy, but you have 4 total actions you are probably flipping on: dance, attack Ca, brutal k and his heal. Dance, heal and his attack like 's but you should probably be on Ca8 for those anyways. Brutal K should really only be used with hunpo assault, which already has built in 's. @Mrbedlam Nice reports! You should try the Chiaki shuffle give her fast and the terracotta protection, then when she activates have her pass it to Yan Lo.

Indeed. I will clarify above, as my current wording implies they can't stone that initial damage. I didn't think about it as I wrote, just kinda talking. My apologies. Though I did take that into account for the passage afterwards, rofl. Ah, brain, why do you fail me? On the plus side, it is on success not damage, so even if they prevent all of the first attack, you nuke stoning for the rest of the turn. On that note, don't forget... declare triggers after cards are flipped (and selected in the case of twists). They just don't resolve until after damage flip.