Flippin' Wyrd George

Actually I think that tweak to death defying would go a long way to fixing her. I wish something similar could be done to Now You See Me... so it can't be ignored. Perhaps change to an ability where you discard a mask or stone?

I can take that. I think the main point I was trying to make is that: of the 4 events I have run solo Sandeep, I have done exceptionally well at all of them. I have played over 20 other events which I brought other Arcanist maters to the table and I have only been equally successful in about 4 or 5 of them. The ratio of success is significantly higher with solo Sandeep. I would also encourage you to look at Ben Sime (of Arcane Reservoir) Arcanist results since Sandeep was released. They have significantly improved, and with no disrespect to Ben, I'm sure he would openly admit Sandeep has been a big factor contributing to his success.

If he needs a change I think it's just a minor one to bring him fully up to speed with wave 5. I'd like to see accomplice on his card which would mean the combat mechanic slot can be freed up, or perhaps it could be moved to one of the aura upgrades? I'd also like to see the TN or his gun reduced to 12 as his crew has limited card draw and I find after giving reactive and summoning spiders it is hard to hit those TN14s with any spare AP he has. As for combat, I wouldn't object to his melee being raised to 6 or 7 so the large severe damage can be made more relevant with a simple focus. At Ml5 it's too easy for most models to negate the focus by drawing the duel. I think comparing Ramos to a Nicodem is fairly futile as Nicodem will surely be seeing the nerfbat in the foreseeable future, and Ramos also has an aggressive element to him which Nico lacks

If I take the events I have run solo sandeep at, the placings are: 1st/40 players 5th/32 (drew with UK #1 and made silly error to cost 1st) 7th/110 (lost to Varney's Nico) 1st/40 3rd at at UK masters (lost to Varney's Nico) No other event have I tried to run solo Sandeep, because it's dull The other events I have won are with: Kaeris 1st/26, Colette 1st/26 A mixture of Kaeris, Raspy & Sandeep 1st/48 and then I've attended about 20 other events where I've finished in the top 10 using a variety of masters, solo or otherwise, other than sandeep Please don't think I'm trying a dick measuring contest here, I'm just trying to back my facts up with figures. The fact is that when I run Sandeep solo I have a clear power advantage. I disagree with you. The faction is GOOD, and even without sandeep it is easily a top 3 tier faction. Sandeep is just too good. There is no synergy or broken combo because HE is the broken combo by himself. He gives the actions to the models that need it exactly when they need it. It is so reactive it's near impossible to outplay as an opponent. I think the internal balance of the faction is fine. We are easily still a top 3 (or higher) faction. Though I would agree Mei, Colette and possibly Kaeris could use a slight boost (cache perhaps for Colette and Mei, and a new lampad-esque model to synergise with Kaeris?)

I agree with the OP. This needs to be said. I have had huge success with Oxfordian Mages in various lists in the U.K. meta, particularly Sandeep, and am of the opinion they are just too good for 15 stones. Combined with commands upgrade they have the answer to just about any problem your opponent throws at you. Sure, they do die, but what 5 stone model ranged model doesn't drop? They are ranged models so there is no reason for them to be in a position of danger, play it smart and they're safe. It's also worth mentioning that if they're killing your mages, they sure as hell aren't also taking your beatstick, support pieces or master with them. Also Arcanists have access to some of the easiest healing in the game AND they have inate protection from their arcane shield and upgrade. Heck even in close combat they have a use - you can double focus and use the (0) to almost guarentee yourself a free soulstone, and in an academic crew, possibly a decapitate! On a pseudo 5 stone model. It is a shame, because mages were probably ok pre-errata, just they weren't seen very often because there was limited synergy. The addition of wave 4 models and then errata upgrades has pushed them over the edge imo. As a side, I also think any aspiring Arcanist player should put Sandeep back in their case and leave him there. I'm a little hypocritical here because I did run him at masters, but this is because he's the obvious choice for every scenario. It also opened my eyes up to how dull and disappointing it is that much of our faction is now neglected. It's such a rich and diverse faction with so many options which are GOOD but never get a look in because of the current autotake toolbox meta. Marcus, Ironsides, Rasputina, Ramos, Kaeris can all do a GOOD job. But why would you take them when Sandeep can do everything they do and more. It saddens me. I would also like to disagree with the OPs opinion that Sandeep is not the big problem. There are plenty of players dominating with Sandeep who don't use the oxfordian mages. I think both are in need of errata and I would be very surprised, and disappointed, if the mages or Sandeep don't get a look in. #nerfsandeep //rant over

Honesty, whatever I need her to do. It's very hard to define a role for Kaeris pre-game which is generally her strength. Moving stuff out of position is HUGE in malifaux, it was particularly relevant in 2017 though. And you move your models up to a position where they are ready to go next turn, perhaps after a push from Angelica

Ticket bought, looking forward to it. Sean, will you compete as well? Can't see any harm in it if you wanted to

Nah only I just started playing around with well rehearsed with the addition of Cojo & using slate ridge mailers and Medical automaton, so I haven't looked into it it with Kaeris yet. I'm sure it's good, but the 5" in-activation threat range on Langston is so much pressure for the opponent. On Johanna it may be useful.

Yes correct. The only burning you need is for your own models - the grab and drop & cards, and the child and occasionally Kaeris provide all you need. This burning setup provides the synergy. Minimal setup but maximum efficency. PS: apologies for many typos, I have corrected the original post. Typing quickly from phone leads to careless errors

That's a really hard one to be honest. If there is a scheme marker scheme and Undercover Enterage she can do the job in most any strat. She used to be autotake in Guard the Stash because as a final activstion pushing 3 models off stash with blinding flame is gold. Its hard to say when I'd drop her but sometimes I just know she can do the job from what's there. My crew last year was: 50 SS Arcanists Crew Kaeris + 4 Pool - Grab and Drop (1) - Blinding Flame (1) - Seize The Day (1) Malifaux Child (3) Howard Langston (12) - Imbued Energies (1) Johan (7) - Imbued Energies (1) Angelica (6) - Practiced Production (1) December Acolyte (7) Performer (5) Arcane Effigy (4) (exported from CrewFaux) And you could swap the acolyte, performer and effigy to your own tastes. No henchmen and use of flurries means you can take a low cache and don't need to stone for cards often, saving stones for damage prevention cus you discard the bad cards anyway. Premise was that child gives Langston and Johanna burning as Angelica moves them up the table. This gives Langston huge threat range and if he gets into something without overextending too much your opponent spends turn 2 trying to deal with him. Also gets some scheme markers in place. Kaeris can sit about 6"-8" from your deployment and when needed can activate to use blinding flame and push and threats away. Vs aggressive crews she can pick a key opposing model out of position if needed too. Bottom line is it is very hard to say how I use Kaeris because she plays about 5 different ways and can be adapted to each game, even after hiring. Some times she will yolo grab and drop, sometimes she will nuke rom afar, sometimes she will draw cards, sometimes she will prevent my opponents crew from charging in and give me mobility. Just build a crew around her that can do most things and with some practise and synergy you begin to see her potential. Blinding Flame without doubt is autotake

Turf wars (particularly guard the stash). Undercover Entourage, Take one for the team, Ours (place models on centre line), Symbols (use grab and drop to get molemen up the table off scheme markers), Hold up their forces, Set up (burning steamfitter can drop 3 scheme markers in one activation). Basically any other scheme marker scheme. If anything I think shes better in 2018 than she was 2017

Doh! I meant Union Miner. So many models with similar names haha The Malifaux child is used to give your own models burning (they relent) and then as it's at positive you're likely to get a time to trigger it again, or you can cheat a low tome. The crew does need some setup turn 1 & maybe 2, but you can take away the element of possibly failing setup by adapting your playstyle to burning your own models and using them. Do what you can guarantee.

I don't like to claim my successes as I hate sounding like a boaster But as you asked, I ran solo Kaeris at an event last year and won it. In fact, every tornament game I have hired Kaeris in at I have won, against some big players too. She just doesn't see the table frequently (like a sandeep or Marcus) because she has to go into the correct pool. I agree that not all of those abilities come up every game but she can very easily change her playstyle midgame. Not many masters offer that level of versatility successfully

I don't understand this forums obsession with the Emissary in Kaeris lists! It's 10 SS to give her instinctual. What a waste of stones, she doesn't need 2 (0)'s. Hire better models and make use of whichever (0) is best. What do you usually run?

This is fairly easy to do with a Malifaux Child or Union Steamfitter. Id never use any model other than Kaeris to apply burning to an enemy because too easy to resist or counter for limited effect. I also disagree about the Zipp comment, Kaeris can walk 18" and place a model 8" (ish) away from is starting location, and herself back to safety. She can only do it once but once should be all you need. She does have a lot of zero actions but they are all situational and it's about reacting and deciding which one will enhance your turn the best. Sometimes you need placement, sometimes you need cards.

Comments like this just make me sad. She is fine as she is. She uses burning very efficiently as a mechanic and is a very good master that many players get a lot of success with. She can provide tankiness, crew mobility, card draw, scheme running, healing, enemy debuffing, ranged threat, denial, the best enemy reposition in the game, table control, combat threat; this list goes on. She is very good but it's just not immediately obvious what her best playstyle is and, in my opinion, it doesn't involve setting enemy models on fire. Many players use Kaeris by attempting to throw fires that cause death and destruction. That isn't what she's about. She should manipulate fire to her own uses. A total rewrite is unnecessary.

Thank you all for your replies. Lots of interesting points here, have also considered Zipp but I would like to use Mah for now. I had another game with Mah in Ours last night, this time against Titania. The pool contained Guarded Treasure, Dig Their Graves, Hold up their forces, Take one for the Team and Set Up (or Undercover entourage, my opponent and I crossed wires and I thought we had Set Up and he thought it was Undercover, so pool of 6 schemes!) I used: Leader: Mah Tucket - Cache:(6) Lead Lined Apron 2ss Manifest Destiny 1ss Dirty Cheater 1ss The Little Lass 4ss (Pit Traps 0ss) Trixiebelle 8ss A Gun For a Lady 1ss Dirty Cheater 1ss Sammy LaCroix 7ss Francois LaCroix 8ss Stilts 1ss Do Over 1ss Gremlin Taxidermist 7ss Bayou Gremlin 3ss Bayou Gremlin 3ss From my last list I moved dirty cheater to Trixy (which kept her alive past turn 3) and dropped pit traps from Sammy onto Little Lass which saved me a stone in my cache. I scored 3 from Ours using Mah to hold an opposing quarter Turns 3 & 4, also scoring Hold Up their forces for two points in the process, and I took Take One for the Team on the Taxidermist for 2 points (killed by a Waldgeist in turn 4). My opponent took an unexpected Undercover Entourage on Titania for 3 points, scored 2 from Ours, and 2 from Dig their Graves. We called the game 7-7 as we were unsure what the actual scheme pool was so we allowed both set-up and Undercover in the pool. The standout points were that using Sammy to turn my opponents important scheme markers into stuffed piglets has been HUGE. She has been close to MVP in both games. She goes under the radar a lot with her AP but being able to shut down your opponents schemes (in this instance, Dig their graves) whilst also engaging models with irritating piglets is great. I find the taxidermist good for this too as it allows Mah to keep up on activations during the game. Pit Traps were once again outstanding. Together with the horror duels from Sammy, my opponent was regularly having to use two cards from his hand to fully activate a model next the pit traps. Trixy was very useful as a ranged threat and didn't gremlin lure once. Francois traded himself for the Mysterious Emissary which shut down the summoning mechanic of the Titania crew. The Little Lass overextended turn was and was taken off before she could active and the Bayou Gremlins did sweet naff all, hiding from dig their graves points. One interesting point from the game is that every turn Titania managed to put the condition on Mah that Mah may only attack Titania unless she discards two cards. This shut down Mah for the entire game as she didn't want to waste her AP hitting a very tanky, healy Titania, so instead ran Pit Traps and tried to survive all game. Perhaps some condition removal would be useful in the future. I'm genuinely thinking Mah might be good, though possibly its the gremlin crew around her that is doing the job... I am very happy with the changed list and can see this being ran in most pools.

I thinking giving her instinctual is too good. She is probably underpowered at the moment but if she is able to do 2 zero's straight off the card she will be able to draw three cards every turn without even the hint of a TN. I think that's probably too easy to do, and too good. Maybe some form of instinctual where she can take one (0) from her card and one from an upgrade would be handy? Overall I think she's fine. Not top tier, but still fills a role and is very successful in certain pools, particularly utilising grab and drops ability to make models mobile and scheme run easily. I'm not sure about the Arcane Emissary. I'm not convinced it is worth the 10 stones. Even with Kaeris. I don't hire it. I just think there are much better investments to make with those stones as it puts out pretty meh damage after its initial charge AP, and is too easy to tie up. I don't think the instinctual is THAT great to weaken your crew so much by hiring the emissary. Mobility and survivability is key with Kaeris and the Emissary just doesn't help much there (even with his destined regen df6 and HTK, he drops too quickly in combat as he can't give it back hard enough and clear out the threats). As for the other questions: I usually take Howard Langston (or Joss in Punish the Weak & Hold Up Their Forces). Have lately found that a well rehearsed Cojo, Slate Ridge Mauler & Automoton combo do a job with her as they utilise the HTK mechanic efficiently and the well rehearsed is excellent for mobility. I don't touch the other models as I think Rail Golem is a bit gimmicky and drains your hand far too much, still think Angelica is a better cheaper choice than Captain for mobility as no TNs, though I can see the merits of his hammer, generally I dont want my support pieces in close combat where they're likely to die T3/4. I also don't touch Carlos because he needs burning to survive, and as I run Grab and Drop almost exclusively he cannot be anywhere near Kaeris as his burning will remove after he activates. Firestarter: I really want to like Firestarter but he just doesn't do it for me. In my opinion, Kaeris's biggest strength is using the burning mechanic on her own models rather than enemies. I'll concede she needs to get burning on one enemy target if she is going to be attacking it, but otherwise she doesn't really use the burning all that much. I think making enemies burning with Kaeris is a bit of a trap... As such I think Firestarter is a bit unnecessary as a Malifaux child or a Union Miner can do the same job of putting burning on your own models for much cheaper. Fire Gamin: I have lately been testing Blade and Claw on Angelica in my Kaeris crews and hired a Fire gamin for the first time (to make use of the construct characteristic). To be honest, I still don't really see their merits. If you're after scheme runners you're much better off with a wind gamin/hoarcat to run wide or a moleman to tunnel to your grab and dropped scheme markers. Heck even a wind gamin is better at dmg output than a fire gamin. They're just not great. If you want to put burning on your opponent at range they do that fairly efficiently (provided your target isn't in cover or engaged) but I'm not sure that style of play is using Kaeris to the best of her ability.

I dont think it is much of an issue getting him down to 5 wds. If he's not getting hit he's free to ravage your opponent with slow and potentially 3 melees at 2/4/5 and that's never bad. He'll eventuallyget hit, and not too hard because of the impossible to wound, then he can start laying the smack down.

Hi all, I'm normally an Arcanist player and do fairly well with them on the UK tournament scene but I'm mixing it up and trying some niche masters this year. Wanting to give Mah Tuckett a go. I've had one game with her so far vs summoning Rasputina and managed to scrape a 6-4 win. Flank deployment/Symbols of Authority Punish the Weak Set Up (Snowstorm) Dig their graves Recover Evidence Public Demonstration I hired this crew and took Punish & Set up on Snowstorm. I got 4 for the strat and 1 on each scheme. Raspy scored 1 for dig, 2 for punish and 1 for symbols. Leader: Mah Tucket - Cache:(5) Lead Lined Apron 2ss Manifest Destiny 1ss Dirty Cheater 1ss The Little Lass 4ss (Know the Terrain 0ss) Trixiebelle 8ss A Gun For a Lady 1ss Sammy LaCroix 7ss Pit Traps 1ss Francois LaCroix 8ss Stilts 1ss Do Over 1ss Gremlin Taxidermist 7ss Dirty Cheater 1ss Bayou Gremlin 3ss Bayou Gremlin 3ss Francois threw himself at raspy and took her to 4 wds before dropping to snowstorm. Sammy ran around making piglets whilst denying enemy dig their graves markers, but not doing much else. The bayou gremlins ran down the flank to grab markers and did their job. The taxidermist made piglets and ran schemes. Trixy killed a wendigo for my only punish point before being sacriced to an ice golem. Little lass spaffed about a bit not really doing anything and Mah tried to get in raspys grill (ultimately delivering the final blow on raspy, but not after failing to topdeck hits on a charge, and doing nothing exciting all game except a bit of card cycle) I think the crew itself was excellent, but in hindsight I would have taken out traps on Little Lass, used her to make more pit traps in key locations, and saved an extra stone in the cache. Now my biggest issue was: what does Mah actually do? Am I missing a trick or is she really as bad as she seems. I can get her to melee 8 but I am crippling my crews resources, I can push models around but is this how I want to use my master? She's quite mobile with get off my land but also very vulnerable with no defensive trigger. At the moment it seems she just cycles cards, hits moderately and is a vassal for pit traps. The traps were really good, and her card cycle was excellent, but otherwise I'm not sure what she does other than kill one/maybe two models before dying herself. She doesn't seem to bring much to the table. Am I missing any combos? How can I utilise Mah, Sammy & Little Lass a bit more? Interested to hear the Gremlin forum braintrust thoughts. Ta

Feel safer doing it, which means it happens a lot more as every time I discard I am always drawing one back.

So with the recent drop in stones I've been giving the Slate Ridge Mauler a bit of table time and am absolutely loving life with him. He'a not an auto include but with the Circus Bear upgrade he definitely pulls his weight now. In the ideal setup he can make a model Slow Ml7 and also have 3 attacks at 4/5/7 Ml6. He hard to kill and impossible to wound AND has a trigger on his melee to heal 2, easily keeping himself above hard to wound when he drops. Together with a Well Rehearsed model and some healing in the crew (Medical Automaton I'm looking at you) I'm finding the Mauler is pretty damn useful, and quite easy to keep in that sweet spot of 5 wds or below, but not on HTK. In the thee games I've hired them they have chalked up a Seamus kill, a Nekima kill & an Old major kill plus a few enforcers and minions. He's no longer the laughing stock I once thought. Anyone else had any experience/success with him?

You may not place in terrain when using Path to Salvation. Commonly missed one - I was misplacing for a while in late 2016

Normally have Kudra and a Vally, and medical automaton heals up sandeep and the mages quite nicely when needed. The spare AP can be found once summoned models are out/no longer needed. Usually from Student of all though or as a last AP action.

Action Through Inaction! I find myself regularly cycling 4-5 cards a turn using this ability. Really really underrated.