GoldenWG

TT has the better minions to reactivate and their emissary dove tails perfectly with what McCabe wants to do. He is a really strong master either way, TT just makes him a notch better. Also, the TCW breaks some mechanics for McCabe and makes him very strong

Will there be a scorpius for the winner? They seem to be sold out everywhere, apprently a large order was placed this week.

Ashes in Daw can do some interesting things. You can ping him with aboms and draw cards then use a nurse to heal him full without suffering the paralyze condition. He seems to always be used in strong Daw list.

Fair question, cards are always great. It is super nice to know you can cheat high damage or have the 13 to make an attack miss. The stones Are also card draw. This list in effect draws five extra cards a turn with the stones and emassiary.

The emassiary is drawing three cards a turn off the low river monk. Yu is a dead 11 points because Shenlong does the same thing. The emassiary is also a super solid fighter when push comes to shove. Why put more random upgrades on a master who sits on the the back of the board? He operates in his bubble in this list his one limited and the low river monk upgrade are enough. Also, the plus 1 shoot on snipers from Yu is a bit redundant when at a double positive flip. Sometimes Izamu does trade with Hans. Not the worst.

This is my sniper list. It is great in collect/reckon games. Can can run a decent amount of schemes. Hans can smoke the big robot.

With the tournament season coming to an end and all the new wave models getting ready to shift TT, I wanted to take the time and reflect on my experiences with TT over the past year. The easiest way to start is by discussing where I see the masters. To me Shenlong and McCabe are by far the strongest in a variety of schemes. I am a huge fan of the Shenlong sniper build in reckoning/collect games. There is often enough in the scheme pool to score between 4-6 points and since the list does not lose on collect or Reckoning, it is enough to pull ahead. McCabe is flexible enough to cover the stake/interference/squatters rights games. Both list can also be built to play the other strats. Overall, these two are best in faction right now. With Shenlong and McCabe being overall the best, we do have masters that are great at specialized roles. Lynch is great at guard and turf war. His burst kill and all the TT models that synch so well with him often means he is in a game or two for me at an event. He tends to do better when needed then the more general McCabe/Shenlong builds in the right pools. The most surprising master that I have added over the last few months is Mei. I think vent steam is such a game breaking ability when played into the right match. I have often dropped her into guild or ressers and she dominates the game by walking and venting twice. I have tended to the death ball build over the summoning one. She is a gamble. Sometimes you expect Sonnia and get lady J. I like Yan Lo a lot and think some of the new models will boost him in TT, just not there just yet. Misaki is just not special. She dies easily and her kill potential is not great enough to offset her easy to kill nature. As a faction TT is in a great place. The faction has a strong balance of masters and strong pieces. We seem to be strongest in the 4-6 minion category and power support pieces. TT bros and Tengu are amazing scheme runners and the emassairy and Yu are extremely strong support pieces. We also have high end minions that are amazing. TT seems to lack the strong henchmen of other factions. In my opnion we currently do not have the quality hench of other factions. Betty helps a lot with that. Looking to the future, Asami will slot into that third master spot in events. Shen/McCabe will stay at top, but like lynch there are pools where Ten points is trivial for her. I hope this was okay to read. I really just wanted to lay out my thoughts as my Malifaux year ends. If nothing else, this is still a kick ass game and I am glad a certain world descended into chaos or I may never had found this one;)

When I think about it on a master by master basis I brake it down like this: McCabe-Emassiary because of the free upgrade and the fact that with the upgrades everywhere anyone can be made fast. Mei Fang-Emassiary because of the drop scrap marker in a summing list and the zero push is nice. The Emassiary can also make Tashiro fast which means he can summon three times with the right list. misaki-Yu- the long push and the second stalk is her bread and butter Shenlong- I have found neither because he can do it himself. Yan Lo-Emassiay I like the Emassiary because of the melee boost but I can see Yu's usefulness Lynch-Yu I really like coping Mullgian and extra AP for lynch, the Emassiary is also good. Brewmaster-YOLO

The two together is interesting. In my opinion, that is a lot of support. Typically when I build crews I have a master with 2-5 points of of upgrades. The uber support piece in n Yu or Emassiary, a 10 point power model, Izamu or the dawn serpent in McCabe, then 4-6 3 to 8 points models to fill out the crew, finalizing with 5-7 stones. If inwould take both support pieces I am typically giving up that power beater of several little guys. I agree there are cases wher both are useful.

I know, overly dramatic title. Over the last few months I have played in a number of events and I have found that I am more and more leaving Yu in the bag. The main reason for this is I typically find the Emassiary with the master specific upgrades a better all around choice. The overall benefits are that the Emassiary can push and make fast with a single AP that does not require cards and that when needed the Emassiary can dish out damage. The amount of times the Emassiary has double focused at start of activation, pushed Izamu made it fast, then took a shot doing six damage has blown a numbers of games open for me. I always prefer the Emassiary with McCabe, Mei fang, yan Lo. These masters benefits immensely form their specific upgrades. Yu ends up with Misaki and Lynch. This is due to the benefits of pushing leaders and his 0 action taking advantage of these masters' powerful 0s. Have others found similar usage?

Shenlong with 2 snipers and his totem is brutal. The peasants can focus them once. Shenlong can move them and make them fast. Then the snipers shoot once at 28 inches with focus. Take the 0 focus from Shenlong and take a second focused 28 inch shot. The shot is ++ and the damage is a +. This is four shots a turn.

I have had this conversation a few times when it comes to event play. Is it better to be very strong with a single master? aka I play Shenlong all the time. Or be good with say three masters? There are benefits both ways. By playing a single master you know the ins and outs of match ups. You know how to handle Tara and lady j because you have played your master so much. However, having a few masters you are good with allows you to specialize more. My example is dropping Yan Lo can really throw people because he plays a unique game. Which is where I feel Mei may have a similar role.

The two best TT masters are shenlong and McCabe. Yan Lo is a great third master because he is dominate in certain scheme pools. Rather than just restate what those above said I'll share the list I typically run with each. Shenlong-wondering izamu 2x snipers 2x illumated TT brother peasant Mcabe-promises, saber, badge emassiry with upgrade Dawn sperant luna 3x dogs Effigy torakage Yan Lo-reliquary, misdirection, brutal Emassiary Izamu with hidden spoul porter 2xtengu TT brother Lone Warrior with recalled Lynch is a great damage dealer and is strong. He is very competitive. Misaki is an all or nothing master. I dislike how one demensinonal she can be. Mei Fang is interesting with the new pieces coming out in wave 3. Her vent steam is a great counter play against some powerful masters. I think she deserves some deeper play testing.

Tengu is the alpha chi farmer. I always start my Yan Lo games by whacking it. By end of turn one I have 2 chi which become an upgrade. It comes with regen built in and has a low defense. It is also a spirit. It is a thankless job but important to the list.

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