Vangerdahast

Just looked at their card and I see what you mean. Will take a closer look at them. Thanks.

Ill Omens is huge but damaging Mordrake for card draw worries me. Mordrake has other utility than losing health. One other thing, it seems that Daeva are not generally hired. I hire one to mimic De Walt's Firefly in order to have Ivan gaining Distracted +8 (at best)Turn 1. Am I misundersranding something? Seems pretty potent to me.

I have just started to play Ivan and absolutely love his gameplay. For the moment, I only have his full keyword and the Archivist (because of Spelleaters for Sonnia Criid). What are the main OOK and Versatile hires for Ivan? I think Vernon and Welles for scheming. Harata fort min 3 damage? Not sold on the Archivist. His attack doesn't ignore Concealement. Isn't is too problematic with Ivan? Other models?

@Plaag: what do you think about Smuggler Colette competitively? Do you rate her lower or higher than errated Colette? And would you hire Dorian Crowe?

I can agree with it but, like you, feel it à bit weird. It doesn't feel like the intent. In this case, I would say, resolve completely the disengage action et then resolve no you see me. But not sure.

Disengage is a general action that let make a claw action. Now you see me is about attack actions. I think that you can't use now you see me with disengage.

And if you flip or cheat enough Crows, you can gain 2 soulstones per turn.

Cassandra can copy Boring Conversation from Dorian but would this count as Cassandra's bonus action? Same question with Colette's Smoke and Mirrors? I believe the correct answer is yes but can't remember where I read that.

Concerning Colette, she could be paired with Wong. They practice magic shows and in M2E, Wong's totem, Olivia Bertrand, was a Showgirl. So that would make sense to see them paired.

Some thoughts after a few more games. My core crew is the same (see two posts above). I regularly take: Carlos, Mechanical Rider, Showgirl in addition. Concerning Harata, I have tested him and he can be of great value. I used him with Duet to kill a Peacekeeper at beginning of turn 2. Harata used his Haka with Peruperu for 1 ping damage. It was efficient with the Duet which have a stat 7 attack versus Df 4 of the Peacekeeper. That was a very good tool for bypassing the Armor 2 of the Peacekeeper. About that, with the new Presto Chango, even if the range has been highly decreased, it is still possible to kill a big target turn 1 or beginning of turn 2. Activate one of the doves as late as possible to see if your opponent has a bit overextended one of his models. I have also killed a Dawn Serpent turn 1. But it will be less frequent than before the errata. On a side note, I have recently had great value out of Miss Fire (Willy). Playing often versus Masters with destructible markers (Misaki, Zipp, Euripides, ...), I have found that it can be a real pain for the opponent. So I now regularly take him when facing these Masters. I swap him with Carlos or the Rider. And it is still possible to win a game versus brutal Masters. Managed a 6-4 win versus Nekima in a Break the line game. At the end of the game, I only had the Rider at 1 wound left and the Duet at 5 wounds left. Only killed the Totem and a Young Nephilim. I scored my points fast then denied interacting as long as possible to stop my opponent from scoring the strategy by engaging his models. Distracted, Manipulative, Finesse and Serene Countenance helped a lot.

After a few GG2 games with errated Colette, I have a core list like this: Colette Doves Duet Cassandra Angelica Depending on Strat and Schemes, I add Mechanical Rider or Carlos. I would like to use Harata but his lack of movement trick and the lack of Don't Mind Me bother me. I will try him in Turf War to kill ennemies and flip Strategy Markers to neutral, I think. As a Minion, I take a Showgirl or a Saboteur. And I add Magical Training depending on the number of Soulstones that I want (between 6 and 8). My games have been tight. As already said, don't expect to win by more than one or two points. And be careful with your actions, Colette forgives nothing nowadays. I also need to test other things as well. This core list can be modified in the future. If other players have other lists, please Share.

@Jordon: Yes, Showgirls were great in M2E. But I think that they can still be playable in some cases presently. In my first game of GG2 with new Colette, my Showgirl (with Magical Training) died only in Turn 5 because of Hidden Martyrs. My opponent was worried I chose her and Carlos or Cassandra for this Scheme. Hiring a Showgirl can give you an easy first point for Hidden Martyrs or you can fake this scheme and your Showgirl will be safe for most of the game. Lure can also be used to reposition your own models. I have only played a Break the Line game with new Colette and yes, she has been reworked to play essentially in keyword. Concerning the Distracted buff, I feel that it has hindered my opponent a bit (he was playing Misaki) but mass Distracted can be difficult to achieve, Angelica has a role to play in this regard but I failed at that in this game. I still need to test Harata but I don't think I will play Harata + Carlos + Cassandra. For me, Cassandra is mandatory (paired with Angelica for awesome speed) and depending on Strat and Schemes either Carlos or Harata. In Break the Lines, I took Carlos to be able to place all the Strategy Markers in my opponent's half in Turn 1. With Harata, I think I woudln't have been able to place the fourth Marker Turn 1 because of lack of speed (please correct me if I am wrong). I think that GG2 is still well-suited for her but she is more difficult to play and less forgiving than before. I am a little bit worried about what se can do in future GG less oriented on Interacting. In GG1, new Colette wouldn't be able to play Public Ennemies or Recover Evidence like before. Soloing Colette should be more difficult in the future. One other thing, by the end of the game, the Colette crew will probably be outnumbered by the opponent's crew because of the fragility of her keyword. So, score your points as fast as possible. In a tournament, where all turns won't be played due to time limit, it can be something that can grant Colette a win if the game only lasts three or four turns (and a loss in a five turns game). In my lat game, at the end of turn 4 the score was 5-3, at the end of the game 5-6. What other people think about OOK hiring now? The Mechanical Rider (even nerfed) will still see play with Colette but don't know what other models could fit the new Performer Crews.

I remember changing Von Schill (he was a henchman at that time) in a mannequin Turn 1. Hilarious (my opposent didn't reacted the same). I would love to see the return of her Avatar: 3 Colette on the table. Can be very funny.

Concerning the 4 Markers: Revel in Creation let you drop a scheme Maker as a bonus action. Rider uses Revel in Creation that drops a Marker and uses Revelation Trigger. Then Rider walks and Interacts for another Marker. End of its activation. The Rider activates one more time, uses Revel in Creation to drop a third marker then Walks and Interacts for a 4th Marker. Concerning the card draw on attack, I rarely ust it (I use Fate Tokens to reduce damage or for Revelation Trigger). Perhaps a matter of personal playstyle.

@ShinChan: Good idea about increasing the TN. Concerning the similarity of lists. I personally don't play quite like this but tournaments seems to prove the predominance of this type of list. The problem seems similar to Seamus: a very good Master with an average/bad Keyword. Difficult to rebalance. If we want more in keyword Colette Crew, then Performers should be upped and probably Colette a bit nerfed to balance the up.

Yes, it's a huge investment but I think it is worth the price.

Yes the Duet has counterplays. But facing Duet AND Rider can be very difficult. Focus on the Duet and the Rider can use revelation very often. Focus on the Rider and the Duet is able to do all it wants. Very difficult to take down the two at the same time. Colette also has coutnerplays: attacks that target WP (Colette needs a Soulstone for Fade Away, resource drain), attacks that target Mv, irreducible damage, Laugh Off..., attacks that prevent Triggers like Soulstone Miner, for example.

Interesting idea. I don't play double masters. I have only played once with Hofman as the Leader and lost versus a Justice+ Perdita crew. I also played a single master Colette versus a Justice+Perdita crew and won. So perhaps is she better on her own than with another Master. If you are right, that will be difficult to have her balanced in the two formats.

@Adran: Yes, perhaps the Revelation Trigger could be "Minions only". Or for all models but witihin range 6.

Thanks to @Adran and @Maniacal_cackle. I don't use it very often (because I feel it too broke and don't vnecessarily need it to win) but even 6 actions seem too good in my opinion.

Concerning Colette, it is a bit difficult to see if she is strong or OP. Without Plaag, the stats are good but not overwhelming (as said by @Adran). If it can contribute to the debate, I have almost 100 games with Colette and my win ratio should be around 75%. A bit more in GG0 and a bit less in GG1. In tournaments, I placed 2nd, 3rd, 3rd. For me, very strong but not OP. Feel free to disagree. Perhaps she could be slightly nerfed. Reducing range on Presto Chango to 6" for example. Not sure about changing Fade Away. For this, please remember that other models have it (Scion of the Void, the Scribe and Bete Noire). A nerf to Fade Away would also impact these models. Another model that could be nerfed is the Mecahnical Rider. I man the Revelation Trigger. Being able to reactivate a model anywhere on the table is huge. Especially in a faction with the Coryphee Duet. That means the Duet can have 8 actions in a turn. The Soulstone Cache Upgrade is also a problem as it grants the Rider the possibilty to use this Trigger on Turn 2 insterad of Turn 3 without the Upgrade. The problem is less important but also exists with the Soulstone Miner. It was nerfed to not count for Schemes and Strategy the turn it unburies but has it is only until next activation, the Rider can reactivate it and make it count for Schemes and Strategy. Perhaps the Miner should not count until next turn instead of next activation. Personnaly, I would nerf the Revelation Trigger to models in range of the pulse. It would disallow to self reactivate the Rider and would oblige the player to think about where he places the model he wants to reactivate. I know that the two options were tested during the Beta. But I think that ignoring the range of the pulse is a bit too much.

I am presently looking at playing Tara and have a question. If I hire the Student of Conflict, can she be used to remove Slow on the second activation of Tara? I explain: If I activate Tara during the Turn, I know that she will be gaining Slow at the start of her second activation. In between, the Student uses Covetous Cravings to give Fast to Tara. As a Master, Tara already has three actions and can't use Fast. But in this case, at the start of her second activation, she will gain Fast and Slow that mutually cancel each other and Tara has now three actions to use on her second activation. Please confirm if I am right and do you think that hiring the Student (4+1 Soulstones) for that is worth the result.

I haven't played many games with Rapsutina but I had generally 15-17 Pillars on the table at some times (and 20 one time). Perhaps a matter of personal playstyle.

Yes, I see that but in my games, the Duet is generally killing or scheming and rarely have many actions to use for healing. And Pulse 3 means playing in bubble or walking to have models in range. Perhaps I play differently to Plaag as my Performer crew is generally wide spread on the board and so it is more difficult to heal the right model.

Can you explain a bit about that? In Performers only the Mannequins and the Duet can heal (and Cassandra with Upstage). Based on your Vassal games, you only play the Duet and their healing is good (could perhaps have a wider range). So Performers have means of healing but other Keywords do it better (with multiple models able to heal).