DonCheadle

Follow up question: How would it work with Claim Jump, if 3 points had already been scored before turn 5? By the way, all considerations here are made without accounting for additional turns, should have made that clear in the primer. "At the end of every Turn after the first, if this Crew has at least two Scheme Markers within 2” of the Centerline of the board, not within 2" of an enemy model, and not within 4" of another friendly Scheme Marker, this Crew scores 1 VP and removes all friendly Scheme Markers within 2" of the Centerline." If the prior action (score 1 VP) isn't carried out because one has already scored all points available (and the rules state one cannot score more than 3 points off of a scheme), will the latter (remove scheme markers) still be taken?

I believe so, but I'd post these questions in #rules questions.

Say I have Guarded Treasure and Search the Ruins, with GT at 2 points at the end of turn 5, and the models/Scheme Markers in place to score both schemes independently. Would I be forced to score the final point of Guarded Treasure, thereby losing 2 points (since I'd get 3 from Search but only 1 from Guarded Treasure)?

I think they're better than ever in GG18. Ply, Symbols, Ours, Guarded Treasure, Surround Them, Breakthrough, Search the Ruins, Take Prisoner, Public Demonstration are all great Strats and schemes for them. Premiere scheme runners, for which I'll gladly pay a premium. Also don't underestimate their Mask Trigger on their melee.

Agreed, especially coupled with the Emissary the LRM will pay dividends in a Shenlong crew. I actually started this faction with pretty much the same setup (Lynch, Shenlong, TTBs, Samurai, Emissary, Yasunori) so I can give you a bit of a rundown on what you're getting. Lynch n' crew : I assume you're already knowledgeable on these guys. Significant changes are largely upgrade based, as you gain access to Misdirection, which allows Lynch to become a bunch more survivable (if you have a model nearby that can soak damage). Shenlong: I haven't had many successes with Lynch, but this master did marvels for me once I wrapped my head around his upgrade mechanics. Noteworthy are his 6" focus/defensive as a (0) aura, his pushes to give out fast (that can move scheme markers (both friendly and enemy, *don't underestimate this*) and a bunch of nifty tricks such as stealing common conditions from enemy models. He's also quite decent in melee as well. Peasant: 2 SS for 2 activations, which also give your models focus and defensive. Only reason they're not always taken is that our Wonder Weasel, the Kamaitachi, is also very good (and works well with Shenlong's upgrade swap mechanic), but they give it serious competition and tend to win out overall for me. High River Monks : Recently received a cost reduction, still kinda subpar but hey, at least the models are dope. In a way that is somewhat emblematic of our faction, our cheap models don't do much damage - Rail Workers and/or Sabre models notwithstanding. Sensei Yu: Oh boy, pretty much my life's ethos. Yu can't charge, and while his melee is actually quite respectable, it's nothing to write home about for an 11 stone (you pretty much always take Wandering River Style, or Promising Student for Shenlong) model. However, Yu is our #1 facilitator when it comes to getting models and Scheme markers where you want them to be (and your opponent, by contrast, won't). Yu is magic, plain and simple, and while in kill-heavy pools the Emissary beats him (since he can also push up a beater and make him fast), in pools where scheme markers are abundant Yu quickly becomes the difference between shameful defeat and unquestionable victory. A prudent opponent will often not even consider taking marker dependent schemes against Yu. TTBs: I'm having a tough time deciding which of the above two models I like better, but while I can relate more to Yu, TTBs take the spot for my favourite models in the game. Surprisingly quick, decently durable (very much so, one might say, for their cost) and inordinately versatile, Brothers are your premiere scheme runners. The best 0 trigger is likely the place on the mask, but all of them can be situational useful. Further, people like to downplay their melee capabilities but I've used the mask trigger to great effect. If Yu is the butter, then they are the Swiss army knife that spreads said butter onto your helpless enemy (uh... I think that's how it works right?). Samurai: Aesthetically, I love these guys, and to be honest they're not half bad (you're likely already familiar with them to some degree). Well, in Shenlong, they take on another form due to being able to mitigate their slowness (aside from the Heavens Samurai, but nobody ever takes that guy :/) by means of pushing. I throughly enjoy "kicking" a Samurai forward, giving him fast and telling him to shoot at the enemies, three times at that. Free focus or defensive plays reasonably well with their abilities as well, and the heals that go abound in a Shenlong list can help you keep these warriors healthy. That being said, they are sadly somewhat outclassed by Snipers (free focus is just too good), but I think they're still pretty nice.

McCabe has "min 3" thanks to his inbuilt Ram. He also gets + to his attack flips thanks to Promises. Makes sense since he's our Guild insert. Uhh, that aside I'd say we get most of our damage from masters out of RT, and then minimum isn't such a deciding factor (though still important). As for Defensive Triggers, we have misdirection, that should be good enough.

I've given some thought to this, and have come to the (premature) conclusion that TTBs are amazing at their costs, but not quite valuable enough to be worth 6 points. At 5 SS, our models worth taking include the TTB, the Charm Warder, the Rail Worker, the Bunraku, the Komainu, the Tanuki and the Yokai, with the last five not being mainstays but having their respective & respectable niches. I do agree Torakage could've used a drop, but who knows, perhaps they wanted to buff them instead of lowering their costs and are waiting until June, like I wished they'd done with the HRM (increasing their damage spread by 1 but costing 6). A man can hope, eh? I think our early release subpar minions could use a little love, but overall we are an elite faction, and making Tengu cheaper would buff Asami, which isn't necessary.

I think Ulix is at least Tier 2. Sure he has his counters, but those are pretty niche, and can either be anticipated (best not to pick him into NB) or played around (he's decent even if he can't charge). The raw scheming potential of Ulix, especially in GG18 where Ply for Info exists, makes him a very strong contender in my book, and putting him at 2.5 is just plain wrong. He is linear (although he does scheme and kill well), and he does have his counters, but despite this he is very good at what he's supposed to do (which is lay waste to enemy scheme marker Strats) and as such should not be underestimated.

Exactly, this was my initial point. As with other riders, it's an ability that gets better as the game progresses.

I think it still uses enemy VP, and to be frank this seems to be a minor theme (intentionally so, I might add) for the Oni (see also:Feigned Weakness). Comeback Strats are a real consideration, as it makes them better at pools where you expect your opponent to score points early, whereas you'd rather be taking end of game schemes. You might argue that it wasn't executed all that well, but from the perspective of intention I believe it has merit.

I'd argue YasNas stacks in the sense of enemy VP on the Kodoku trigger (plus he doesn't really get any worse as the game goes on). He definitely has similarities (Stubborn, Statline, damage reduction) but isn't one of the riders. And let's be honest, be glad that he isn't, imagine him in a Levi crew!

50 SS Ten Thunders Crew Mei Feng + 6 Pool - Seismic Claws (1) - Misdirection (2) - Recalled Training (1) Emberling (3) Toshiro The Daimyo (9) - Command The Graves (1) Yasunori (13) - Smoke Grenades (1) Shadow Emissary (10) - Conflux of Combat (0) Mechanized Porkchop (6) This is a list I'd be considering. Bit low in activation count, but summoning a few Komainu's should make up for it.

Wish I could say I have but up until now the pools haven't been becoming and it's sadly not looking much better in the proximate future.

Hoffman might be worth a consideration. Give a model the augment to interact for (0) and suddenly you scheme run hard. Either that or Nino in Perdita to forbid interacts.

Mmm Reva, Parker, Wong but I do technically have Ulix.

No option for slightly more than last year makes me a disappointed Voter.

Ha those are the exact two lists I usually bring when I'm being lazy and want to win. I could consider proxying Sue (he seems to find a space in most lists these days) but since Sonnia is on + flips anyways due to high WP I think I won't be bringing him this time. The issue I predict with Shenlong Snipers is that they tend to clump up, which is fresh meat to a blaster like Sonnia (if she can get to them, of course, but I'd rather no risk it). I think McCabe is a good way to do it. Sabre Minions should make short work of Monster Hunters as well.

Ah no, I loved the overall point @Gnomezilla made, I was solely referring to the last part of reacting to an "unshuffled" deck with a special way to shuffle. In true randomness, similar cards being stuck together is absolutely possible, and I'd say changing the way you shuffle mid-game is cheating, if only a very mild form.

You could argue that that's low key cheating in the same way mana weaving exists in Mtg.

Eh, nice to have one for next turn as well. On a side note, this is why I stopped playing Ramos. Overall prepwork turned very formulaic and there wasn't much reactive play (plus me being slow on 3 Spiders a turn leads to very long games).

It's correct in that for 6 cards, the chance to get 0 of them is 61.5270782% and so on and so forth. However, it does not account for possible multiples (aka what is the chance of getting 2 or more usable cards?).

Wouldn't stone for drawing have the same effect as simply drawing two more cards?

Nice! No love for Smoke Grenades?

Misaki would be quite the consideration, but sadly I do not own her. I'm currently considering Mei Feng (double vent steam should protect me quite well) and Asami (WP5 and Murdermonkeys + YasNas on 1AP charges should dismantle Sonnia nicely). Investigator makes both of these a lil iffy as they'll remove crucial markers.

Hey everyone, I've got a grudgematch against my Store Owner / local Guild player coming up, we rolled Ours and Sonnia is looking pretty fine in the pool Deployment: Flank Deployment (11) Strategy: Ours (Crows) Schemes: * Guarded Treasure (Crows) * Covert Breakthrough (1) * Undercover Entourage (5) * Search the Ruins (8) * Take Prisoner (9) Quite a lot of our models have 6 WP, and I have some concerns that I'll be blasted off the board with little counterplay, especially since I have no experience against her. Of course YasNas flap flap headchopping is an option, but that aside, how do we as TT go about playing against Sonnia and other Blast heavy masters?