DrayZed

Location: Game Kastle Fremont 3911 Washington Blvd. Fremont, CA. 94538 Event Type: 50SS tournament, Fixed Faction, Gaining Grounds 2018 rules (Painting not required), 3 rounds Event time: 11:15 am - 7:30~ pm Check in: 10:45-11:00 am 2.5 hours per round with a hard stop. (Everything should be wrapped up by 7:30pm) Player Limit: 24 Cost: $10 Pre-reg $15 at door Prizes: 1st-3rd will get LTD edition models. Raffle Prizes too!

They're already range 10 friend Did you mean range 8?

This was sort of implicit in the mention of the other model's triggers, but yeah, you hit the points that I was making as well.

Hey everyone, I'm here today to talk about one of my favorite models and one of the most powerful models in the game! Sande.. Sorry, Make that Oxfordian Mages. With the prevalence of Sandeep and Ironsides in a lot of competitive lists, as well as the ever growing list of synergistic models, one has to wonder. Is the master really the biggest problem here? I'm going to compare Ox-Mages to other models in faction at their point cost when you take 3 and the extra bonuses that they really get from just being near everyone's favorite new arcanist master. But first, We'll need to set the stage. 1. Oxfordian Mages are Incredibly Point Efficient baseline with Shielding While most people might argue that Ox-mages are under performers in their Soulstone to wound ratio, at 5-5, this is actually not the case. With Temporary Shielding, Arcane Shielding, and other defensive techs to the faction, they are at least 7 wound models, sometimes going to 8, 9 or even 10 in extreme scenarios! While it does take a card to make use of Temporary Shielding, this is more often than not, worth a card, especially when you'd use a card to try to avoid getting hit in general. Along with + Flips to WP contingent on seeing a friendly M&SU henchman, and the ability to reduce the damage they take to 0, they often will come out ahead of many other models in faction, especially when they can turn off after damaging triggers. Let's take a look at some of the other options in the faction. Ice Dancer-6ss: 6 Wounds ( Not a Midrange DPS model, but a wound comparison nonetheless) Willie/Miss Fire-6ss: 7 Wounds (Similar Role to mages) Silent Ones-6ss: 6 Wounds (Similar role, used to provide more utility) December Acolytes-7ss: 8 Wounds (Similar Role, Ranged Midfield DPS) Sanctioned Spellcasters-5ss: 5 Wounds (Identical in functionality but Guild Model). As you can see, the options that Arcanists have are not nearly as cost efficient as 5 point Oxfordian mages, especially when you consider that discarding a card for temporary shielding is not as card intensive as most players would have you believe. Why do I say this? Because it can often be more advantageous to simply throw away a card for two wounds instead of cheating in a card for a DF duel. 2. Oxfordian Mages have every possible trigger for every situation now Before, Oxfordian mages used to be incredibly limited by the amount of Academics and the grouping that you needed to do in order to get the most benefit out of their ability Resonance. Now, with the large influx of academics, especially with Sandeep (More on that later), Resonance essentially gives a built in trigger for either Slow, a 2 inch push, burning one (or min damage 3, if you're into the statement that everything is min damage 3 now), or the ignoring of armor. Amina, and the Shastar Vida Guard (Along with Kudra I guess) are models that sure up the weaknesses of the mages, making them more mobile, more defensive, and less likely to clump due to the sheer number of Academics that you can have on the board now. This also includes the fact that with their 2/3/4 damage track, and the ability to flurry, they often do the job better than other models in the Soulstone slot. Let's take a look at some of the other models and their need to hit the right suit for the right job. Silent ones: No triggers on masks, TN of 12. to block LOS, to attack again, to heal. Willie/Miss Fire: to do burning to Push. Gunsmiths: (Can use switch chambers) For No prevention, for Bonus damage, For Blasts, for ignore everything else. Sanctioned Spellcasters: for no charging or burning+1 for no (0)s or blast damage December Acolytes: Built in for Discard, for a 6" pull Oxfordian mages offer just as much utility as all of the models listed before for Arcanists, often filling in the same role. Oxfordian mages can do all of the things that the previously listed arcanists models can, at just the same cost or even less. 3. Oxfordian Mages used to be heavily hindered by Cover When dealing with ranged crews, before there used to be a simple solution. Take cover behind a piece of terrain with the Soft or Hard cover characteristics, and laugh as your opponent struggles to use their AP efficiently with their attacks. Now, With Sandeep giving commands in wind, Ironsides giving + to damage flips and attack flips, AND let's not forget the trigger to simply push the model to be >1" away from the terrain, one could see how the inclusion of Oxfordian mages would push many Arcanist lists over the top. Normally, models with are heavily punished by cover and cover generation effects. But, the natural trigger of Oxfordian mages removes most of the counterplay to them, only allowing fast engagement to be a solution. Because of their immobility, it is difficult for enemy crews to efficiently engage due to being in the backline. 4. Is this a Problem? Should anything be done? Currently, as a long standing Arcanist player, I'm of the opinion that we're not in a great state right now. Many of these points were exasperated by Sandeep but I'm of the opinion that he's* not the primary issue. If in the future the choice is made to nerf Sandeep, this still leaves Oxfordian Mages in a spot that leaves them as a must take or a heavy consideration. With many previous nerfs affecting arcanist "Must Takes", it follows that these models might be next on the chopping block. With that being said, I think that the best thing to do would be To reduce the prevention of Temporary shielding to 1, and/or to lower the range of Resonance to 2". This still makes the trio a fantastic choice in terms of Ranged damage per action point, but causes them to be more fragile and gives more room to natural counters to deal with them by making them weaker to area damage like blasts and pulses. Without these changes, we seriously limit the design space of the Arcanist faction by locking us to these powerhouses. Edit: A word

I'm like 99% sure this was errated so that way you couldn't have perfect blocking with same base sizes. Edit: Huh, Only with markers. Seems like a pretty big inconsistency.

I mean like later in the comments I literally state that you should probably take goodstuff against Arcanists IE Sue,Aionus. It’s slightly different than taking say, Ronin (before, a fantastic choice). But, like I said, you’ve got to commit to the idea that he’ll be able to do some things and you need to play against them

(I actually kinda forget to use the no-randomization action on the upgrade way too often.) I’m usually using it for Action through inaction. Preference on IE. It is good and it definitely has its place. I just tend to be very soulstone intensive for prevention. The Second spellcaster is really just there for the redundancy. Once you’ve got yasunori or Nekima unable to charge your opponents start to hate the poor collared people.

What I’m saying isn’t that you need all the stuff to beat him, but you need to consider the fact that he’s coming. If you just say that you’ll let him do whatever, and you’ll do your own plan, you might find yourself overwhelmed by his versatility to shut him down. Aionus has always given this list massive headaches, and should give any list running triple oxfords a huge blow. The particulars of my list in the last game were just kinda stuff that I liked and that I thought would be good against my friend. Let’s not ignore the fact that I played poorly and should have been able to at least not relied on his own misplay.

Hey everyone, here's my battle report for LVO. I came in first place, and a few people on A Wyrd Place wanted to see what the list I ran was and which masters I used, as well as my thoughts on what to do against the power of the Sandeep. First, I'd like to talk about the list I use and why it it works the way that I need my lists to work. Sandeep Desai + 6/7 Pool - Unaligned Sage (1) - To Command Another Plane (1) - Arcane Reservoir (2) The Valedictorian (10) - Warding Runes (1) The Firestarter (7) - Warding Runes (1) Oxfordian Mage (5) - Temporary Shielding (0) -Doom Ward (0) Oxfordian Mage (5) - Temporary Shielding (0) - Blood Ward (0) Oxfordian Mage (5) -Temporary Shielding (0) - Nemesis Ward (0) Sanctioned Spellcaster (5) Sanctioned Spellcaster (5) Sandeep has a ton of power in sharing his abilities to other models, as well as the actual models themselves being powerful themselves. One of the main ways to defeat lists such as these is to either: A. Displace Sandeep (Difficult, because he can teleport away) B. Destroy his control hand. C. Counterpick Against Arcanists with models such as Sue, Mei Feng, Aionus, Hannah, Anna Lovelace. During LVO, A few of my opponents entered with the mentality that they might play Sandeep, but none save for the last commited to really the counterplay needed to go against him. As everyone says and agrees, He's strong, this however doesn't mean that He's an unstoppable beast with no way around him, as we'll get into come round 4 (Despite my enormity of misplays that game.) Key: Me=Green Red=Opponent Round One: Close Deployment Public Executions 4 0 Eliminate the Leadership 3 0? Hold Up Their Forces Undercover Entorage 3 Recover Evidence 0 Vendetta List: See Above Arcanist Declared: Rasputina My opponent was returning player to malifaux after a three year Hiatus. We had fun talking about the game before the match and he said that he'd like to play some new things. I chose to play this list as I don't need to think about specifically building against Sandeep with Mei, and ended up helping him get comfortable back into the game while making sure my VP differential was huge. Round Two: Standard Deployment Ply for Information 4 0 Covert BreakThrough 0 Set Up 3 Surround Them 2 Inescapable Trap Take One for The Team 0 (Performer) List: See Above, change Sanctioned Spellcaster for Performer Neverborn Declared: Zorida Notable Models: 2 Will o the wisps, Mysterious Emissary, Doppel, Leilu, Nekima This one was a silly one, as he decided to Hem my Performer Turn 1 and cause it to cease to exist with a condition. Putting the Voodoo Doll forward however gave me plenty of room to take advantage of a large bridge in the center of the board as a choke point to constantly have models plying that poor doll for information. Some difficult shenanigans with having to use the firestarter and an ox mage to just barely squeeze in the extra markers to Nekima let me choke out the 3 points. Finally, I made sure to light his possible models for Take One, on fire, and run away with the firestarter to make sure they died to conditions. Round Three: Corner Deployment Ours 4 0 Guarded Treasure Dig Their Graves 3 Search The Ruins 3 Take Prisoner 3 Low River Monk Recover Evidence ? List: See Above Ten Thunders Declared: McCabe Notable models: Joregumo, Luna and Dogs, Yamaziko (No upgrades) Shadow Emisary (conflux), Graves Some interesting choices this game occurred with my opponent initially planning on doing Reactivate Joregumo Shenanigans without smoke bombs from Yamaziko. Running sandeep forward into the mixer and placing banasuva in a fashion that made it impossible for Joregumo to make it into the squishy parts of my crew ended up being a huge savior because of his dedication to kill Banasuva and Gamin baby that was summoned along with him. With him swapping Loot Bag almost immediately for the Glowing Sword, I knew that I could take advantage of the fact that no model was going to be able to regenerate off Hard to Kill. Putting all of my resources into killing his 7+ stone models allowed me to take control of the table quarters, ( Including using Valedictorian as just a 10 point anchor) made it pretty simple once he decided to run headfirst into firing lanes for the squad. Round Four: Standard Deployment Symbols of Authority 3 3 Punish The Weak 1 Covert Breakthrough 3 Show Of Force 3 Public Demo 1 Soulstone Miner, Arcane Effigy, December Acolyte Recover Evidence ? Notes: I think we tied 7-7, but we recorded it as 6-6. Same difference. List: Mei Feng +3 Pool - Vapormancy (1) - Tiger Claws (1) - Arcane Reservoir (2) Anna Lovelace (9+1) - Imbued Energies (1) Sue (8+1) - Imbued Energies (1) Emberling (3) December Acolyte (7) Soulstone Miner (6) Arcane Effigy(4) Steam Arachnid (4) Arcanists Declared: Marcus Playing against local and friend Michael, we both spent a lot of time discussing what we would do when faced against Sandeep. Myself understanding that other Arcanist masters are powerful casters despite Ironsides and Marcus being terrifying beatsticks, I thought that I could go toe to to with Mei Feng. Boy, I sure made a ton of misplays, and managed to scrape by this game by luck, and misplays on his part as well. My list shows its error with failing to take Rail Lines instead of Tiger claws in order to shuttle the slower Sue and Ana lovelace. I set up the acolyte in a fantastic spot overlooking the entire board with little chance of repercussion, and I decided in my infinte wisdom to walk him off his sniper nest, into the path of a flaming, unactivated Carlos. Turn 2 Rolls around, and i decide to make the most agressive play I can in an attempt to deny him Show of force for the remainder of the game, using the Infinite Trigger Tiger Claw attack. Instead of doing that, and killing Carlos, I bring the effigy down to hard to kill on a . Ouch. Due to some incredibly great luck, and skill, I manged to kill the Cerberus with the steam arachnid, only giving up points on punish the weak with the effigy. Sue and the Miner managed to make the Blessed vanish, and All I had to do in order to win was score full points on my strategy and scheme. With a fatal misplay on his part, he defended his last Symbol but gave me the chance to score 2 more points on covert breakthrough, tieing us the game, and securing my victory. (The other 3-0 had lost). Thanks for reading.

Unfortunately, Commands in Earth only affects actions with the symbol. I've found that taking the emissary is only really good with Kandara and having some fun teleporting your big charger up the board into engagement with things.

Generally the Firestarter acted as an AP battery for the Sanctioned Spellcasters, hitting models with the dreaded "You can't declare 0's or charges" when she needed to go far though, she scored hidden trap for me.

I'm ready for Sandeep to paralyze masters without doing damage

Key moments in the quals: G1: Asami v. Sandeep (Turf War) I took set up on yasunori and dig their graves. Took the mannequin in, and the sanctioned out. With no ranged attacks, the Sanctioned safely stopped any hair shenanigans. 6-4? G2: Lynch 10T V. Sandeep. (Headhunter) A pretty tough match, considering I took what people consider to be the worst (Hidden trap) and FFM on the Valedictorian. The Firestarter showed her worth by getting that last point. 5-4 Victory for me, could have been 5-3 if I wasn't afraid of hidden trap G3: Lynch NB V. Sandeep (Interference) No Marker-Schemes this game, so Sanctioned spellcaster back in. OP was playing with the new Lynch upgrade. Cheating second got annoying but was manageable. Op spent the time to drop a brilliance marker on my Sanctioned Spellcasters. If i hadn't set up the way I did (Double You can't lure me) His Beckoner and Lelitu would have made Sandeep a pile of paste thanks to the Illuminated. I was playing a Friend, and we called the game early due to my overwhelming lead. 10-1 Masters: G1 Sandeep v. Titania FFM on a Sanctioned spellcaster as Nekima was in the game, and AQM on Nekima as well. Some large blunders because of my overwhelming lead. IE: let the firestarter get marked for death (No LOS to Blood ward by my own actions) and not removing accusation on the valedictorian (10 of masks, didn't teleport out) but overall a great game and I was glad we decided on not forcing the double elim. 8-8 becomes 9-8 on coin flip. Overall: Sandeep is incredibly powerful but vulnerable to high Min damage and lures. If your crew loses him, expect to lose huge amount of versatility. (But hey, we already knew that right)? Of note is that I didn't take Mei, my second list to counter either Ressers or Guild.

I don't think he actually got to use misdirection at all that game. Ohaguro was in Mei's face. It's why I mentioned it was unusual that he was going defensive with her. No triggers makes it pretty scary to leave her guarding a stash marker by herself.

The only thing that changed from the last beta was the fact that they couldn't target non-masters