catbat07

As a player who has played against gremlins 2-5 times a week for the last six months, I can attest to Omenbringer's post being very true. While gremlins may seem like they can do everything, there are many ways to mess up their game and deny them some of those important resources that everyone complains about. Too much healing? Kill the healers. Francois making a mess of things? He'll be at low wounds for you to kill. Burt being annoying? break his face open with Nekima. Gremlins require everything to go right to do the amazing things that make them gremlins.

9 minutes ago, Math Mathonwy said:

Maybe they could've upped the cost to 3 and then adjusted something to make them actually competitive compared to the Bayou Gremlins at the same cost bracket?

Somer was already the best Gremlin Master and now he is even more so because he doesn't care one whit about the cost of the Stuffed Piglets. But I guess that seeing even more Somer in tournaments is good for the health of the game  

So is that three Factions now that have one Master clearly above the rest? Sandeep, Nellie, and now Gremlins? Arguably Collodi and Hamelin as well, I guess.

Back in the Malifaux 2E beta I said several times that activation control is too good and that the game should have a passing mechanic or something to alleviate it. Now I guess I get to say "told you so" but I really don't get much satisfaction from it, sadly.

This is very true. I certainly agree that stuffed were too good, but completely eliminating a model from the game (essentially) doesn't create a healthy environment. 

Gremlins are not a particularly powerful faction. While they can seem that way, they can be played around fairly easily. However, in GG17, they are incredibly strong. Take the average schemes pool: Claim Jump, Dig their graves/leave your mark + some other stuff. In any given game, there will be two schemes (on average) that benefit heavily off activation control. Gremlins, being a faction with plentiful activation control were able to score 8-10VP very easily, and have no problems with any of the strategies. This is exactly the same reason why Tara and Sandeep are broken right now. The meta has devolved into summoning and cheap activations. With the right scheme pool, it can be very difficult to win against one of these lists. 

Gremlins will be perfectly balanced in GG18 (hopefully). Also, Gremlins aren't the biggest problem. Hamelin, Collodi, Tara and Sandeep all desperately need fixing, mainly because they do gremlins better. Sort of.

6 hours ago, Da Git said:

I gathered @4thstringer was planning to kill Collodi first turn to become the Master. Would Marionettes still be useful? 

Marionettes are some of the best three stone models in the game. If you want scheme runners, there's nothing I'd take over them. 

10 hours ago, Da Git said:

Also, if you're going Collodi, would you take an Marionettes? 

of course you would take marionettes! Give me one good reason for not taking marionettes.

otherwise, hodgepodge would be very good with Nekima. Extra stones.

I play a lot of games against Zipp. Trust me, you can't deal with him until you drain cards and/or soulstones, which requires way more effort than it is worth. As for the rest of your crew, don't make the mistake of playing Headhunter like you actually have to kill things. In headhunter, it doesn't matter who's head you pick up. Often, by killing the opposing crew, you're in fact giving them VP, especially if you do this from afar.

The rest of his crew seems to be the problem. The first mate is definitely annoying, but never particularly hard to take down. Remember that he only has eight wounds, and every soulstone spent is a soulstone less that Zipp can use. I haven't personally played against Fingers, but from my understanding he is under the threat of relying to much on soulstones to stay alive. As for the Skeeters, they are so easy to take down that you often don't have to worry about them, and both Merris and Earl suffer from the same problem. As for the Pianos, why does Reva care? She heals lots, and even if she does get killed, it's not the end of the world. Always play Malifaux for the VP, never play it for the "I've killed more than you, so I win."

in the end, every master in Malifaux can feel ridiculously hard to play against, but as long as you keep your eyes on the prize, you'll come out on top.

I would love it if the Nephilim were fleshed out more, as they are an interesting and unique concept. While the other Neverborn are just supernatural monsters (mimics..... so many mimics), the nephilim have unique culture and beliefs that would be fascinating if they were presented in more detail.

9 hours ago, feagaur said:

Pandora tends to have a few models in a bubble doing most of the killing / paralyzing whilst a few other models run off and do the schemes. Or spends more time stopping her opponent getting any points rather than scoring loads herself.

I can see how Pandora is a brilliant master, it's just that Collodi scores VP a lot better. Even if his crew has one-two more activations than you  (which it should), there is no way of denying Collodi his schemes. The 4AP with obeys and lots of difficult to kill models means that the opposing crew will often waste their AP killing your small models while you run away with the game. If played right, Collodi should not have less than eleven models on the board, the majority of which being effigies and marionettes. When you have a small model count crew facing him, it becomes incredibly hard to win the game. This is mainly because he walks a bunch of armour 1 defence 6 hard to kill models into your crew and goes defensive. Most big beaters will require two high cards from your hand to kill even one of these effigies. Because your opponent is draining their resources, it becomes incredibly easy to just run the other things around the outside and score schemes.

if you're not fighting a low model count crew or a crew which better handles armour and Htk, one must remember that Collodi is an incredibly flexible master. He will always have some way to cause a lot of pain, whether it be through a stitched/wicked doll combo, changelings and snipers, or just good 'ol pull the strings. In fact, pull the strings is not to be underestimated, as the ability to put 12 damage out at CA7, from afar, ignoring cover and handing slow/obeys out at the same time is priceless. People often pigeonhole Collodi into a support master, but in reality there's nothing he can't do. 

Collodi is definitely a difficult master to play, as getting caught up in killing or giving out conditions is very easy. In any given game the Collodi player must keep their eyes on VP, or they have no chance in hell. 

2 hours ago, feagaur said:

Personally I'd argue swapping Collodi and Pandora. I've not played Collodi but have played against him and have never had a problem defeating him. Pandora on the other hand gives me the Heeby Jeebies.

How did your opponent play Collodi? Also, what did your crew look like? the main thing that Collodi does well is have 4AP and a very powerful obey effect. Also, the ability to take a whole brace of the best 3/4 SS models in the game is incredibly powerful in GG2017. Pandora, while more than worth her weight in gold at killing/paralysing models, can't score most schemes with the reliability that Collodi can. She can demolish in the right scheme pool, but is inherently less flexible. She also has more bad match ups than Collodi.

1 hour ago, Vorschlag said:

If I was rating solely on flexibility I'd rate Zoraida as top of the heap.

Repulsive can deny a number of schemes and strategies.

Wicked winds of fate can score and/or deny vp in a few schemes.

Obey can be used aggressively to paralyze or damage.

It can also be used to reposition or scheme again to score and/or deny v/p.

Doll can be used to control positioning or paralyze to score/deny vp.

It can also be used more aggressively for damage and other conditions.

Bewitch and crystal ball give you additional hand control but I under use these options.

Her additional flexibility comes from her hiring pool.

But again different players, different skill levels and play styles with different masters.

I'm started to re-evaluate my thoughts on her. There are definitely ways around her, but I can see that flexibility now. 

Interesting. I love Lilith as a master, but don't know her quite like I know Collodi. This will require field testing!

8 hours ago, Adran said:

Zoraida doesn't give as good a quality AP out, but she can give it to anyone, even your foes, which is a lot tricksier than any of the others. If you want attacks, then the dreamer or Collodi are probably better than Lucius due to the not being limited on the number they can do. Its hard to say what Lucius does that he is best at. Almost any situation you would be better of with one of the other 3, its just which one at which time

Hmmm. definitely given me food for thought. Still, I can't say that I think Lucius doesn't have his place in our arsenal. The positive flips he grants alone are very powerful, and he has a lot of flexibility in how he moves/obeys his own models. Maybe he isn't tier one, but I'd still put him in the top 4/5. 

1 hour ago, HegemonyKrcket said:

Tier One: Collodi, Lilith

They don't have any really bad Strat/Scheme match ups.  They don't really have any "hard counter" match ups with other masters.  And you can get an insane amount of work out of their AP.

while I totally see Collodi as tier one, I'm interested in this tier one Lilith business - would love to know your thoughts.

2 hours ago, Math Mathonwy said:

Finally, Lucius is tier 3 only because Collodi, Dreamer, and Zoraida all do the same thing and are better at doing it - Lucius isn't bad after the errata and maybe he should be there on tier 2 with the rest.

How are Zoraida and Dreamer better than Lucius? Zoraida is way less flexible, both in terms of hiring pool and game play, and you can't really compare Lucius to the Dreamer as they do very different things in game. I think people underestimate Lucius a lot, as his abilities at first seem very similar, as though he only does one thing. However, having so many ways to do the same thing can lead to some spectacular turns,  allowing you to gain VP with ease. I know that whenever I play Collodi, I play him primarily as an obey master,  and Lucius can do this just as well, if not better.

I definitely agree that different masters have different ratings for different people - after all, everyone plays Malifaux differently. I still don't understand Tier one Lilith however: while she has a lot of flexibility and quite a few powerful abilities, I just don't think she compares with Collodi, lucius or Dreamer in terms of winning a game. Collodi is amazing because of the obeys, 4AP and excellent model options, Lucius because of his Auras/pulses and the flexebility he gives you in game. Dreamer is very good because of the easy out activation and amazing summoning. He's still definitely tier one, as though the cuddle cut down on his raw summoning, he is still a perfectly good master in that regard, and perhaps more importantly, can bring three 2SS models. 

Lilith in tier one? Interesting. Also, no Dreamer?

So, lately quite a few of our mastered have gotten buffed or Cuddled, ie: Lucius, Zoraida and the Dreamer. Especially with Titania out at the same time, where do you think all our masters rank? I'm of the opinion that:

Tier one: Dreamer, Collodi

Tier two: Pandora, Lucius, Zoraida

Tier three: Lilith, J. Lynch, Titania.

want to know your thoughts. Should Pandy/Lucius be tier one? 

On 18/07/2017 at 1:55 AM, Pyrflamme said:

 Would make using multiple Wretches and Death Marshals more appealing in contrast to Beast Bombing.

While I can see the Death Marshalls, plenty of very strong tournament lists are just wretch spam. Ever since Tara was buffed she has quickly become on of the strongest masters in the game, with beast bombing becoming a sub-optimal strategy. 

On 18/07/2017 at 6:18 AM, nomoredroids said:

Maybe the Burning Man is weakening the walls between the Void and Malifaux. What if Tara could summon Void Wretches, now? 

Remember she has six AP. That's gonna need some big drawback if it were to be balanced.

You should probably stick with just outcasts for now, but when you eventually do choose a Pariah there's no wrong choice. Iron is better than Bone, (mainly because Terracotta warriors) but It really depends on your play style and the models available to you. Go with Bone if you plan to play/like the look of Resserectionists. Iron has quite a few Arcanists, but varies quite a lot in other factions. 

I think the thing to remember with Levi is that with just him, two waifs and Ashes and Dust, you're already at six activations. You probably don't need any help with schemes because Ashes can easily do them itself/split. As well, I'm any given games you only need one to two models form CJ or LyM. With void wretches/winged plague/crooligans or a necropunk, you can easily get these schemes while still conserving points for anchors. Also, which Pariah do you plan to play? 

I would never leave home without at least five marionettes/effigies when I'm in Collodi. Otherwise I really don't feel that there are any must takes.

So, fairly recently I picked up Lucius, as he is both my favourite master fluff and miniature wise. Having played several games with the secretary himself, it has come to my attention that I have little to no idea of what to bring with him. What do people generally take, and for what schemes and strats?

I recently started playing ressers, and found myself falling into the same trap the you are. In the end, it only works with the right crew on extraction. You have a chance on guard the stash, but those games tend to be more spread out, and on interference and headhunter it is a no-go. 

With all Killy schemes the main thing to remember is that the enemy needs to be close to you. If the schemes and strats mean that your enemy can hide in a corner all game, you're not going to have a hard time.

Changelings! There is no crew where I wouldn't take three. They have amazing mobility, are good scheme runners, can pack a punch and can be very difficult to take down.

If you really want filth, go for Collodi. Otherwise, Pandora is probably your best choice. she is a complex but very strong master, and I dare say you will never regret learning her. 

Aside from gencon, where can I buy this?