Which Faction for Dual Factions?

[Loveless]

This is mostly a little bit of opinion/preference rather than any specific "what's better" question, but I'm wondering what preferences are on the several dual faction 10T masters.  So...bit of a list and 3-minute observations on the ones in question:

 

Misaki (Dual with Outcasts) - I haven't had a ton of time with the main girl, but she seems to be rather independant of her crew.  I'm guessing at that point it comes down to which upgrades you most want access to - and I'm prone to want to run her as 10T.

 

Mei Feng (Dual with Arcanists) - no real clue, not my playstyle.  She seems to benefit from constructs, which are more abundant in Arcanists, though Komainu and access to Foundry models helps.

 

Jakob Lynch (Dual with Neverborn) - his core crew doesn't change much for me and a ton of what gets taken are inherently dual faction anyway.  However, I'm currently more likely to run him as Neverborn for easier access to objective runners - once you get the Ace of Masks, Terror Tots become even more absurdly useful at the role, for instance.

 

Yan Lo (Dual with Resurrectionists) - this is another one where I feel like most of your core crew is going to stay the same regardless of what faction you declare - plus things like Toshiro come pre-equipped with rules that let them use their preferred models.  I'm leaning towards Rezzer primarily, as I see a bit more use out of some the generics there.

 

Lucas McCabe (Dual with Guild) - absolutely no idea, never played him or seen him played >_>

 

Brewmaster (Dual with Gremlins) - not really sure...nor am I sure it matters.  You pretty much have to take an upgrade if you want to make full use of Tri-Chi models regardless and I'm not familiar enough with Gremlins at the moment to make any opinions.

[Fireuser]

If you use the Ace of masks from your hand, you do not get to pick it back up.  So I am not sure I am seeing why having it would make terror tots that much more useful.

 

I think Yan-Lo gets a lot of mileage of of Rezzers, though if you wanted some more ranged support 10T would be a good option.  I recently faced off against a Samurai and their upgrades help them out a lot.

 

I just recently started playing McCabe, and I am not sure it makes a lot of difference.  Both factions have good ranged and melee options, and he is so upgrade congested that I don't really have room for generics.

[Dirial]

If you use the Ace of masks from your hand, you do not get to pick it back up.  So I am not sure I am seeing why having it would make terror tots that much more useful.

 

I'm pretty sure, it's flipped or cheated. So, you would indeed pick it back up, as long as it's not Jacob himself using it.

[zFiend]

I'm pretty sure, it's flipped or cheated. So, you would indeed pick it back up, as long as it's not Jacob himself using it.

 

[Insidiously Mad]

That is correct. Its if its flipped OR cheated in as long is it during your activation (rather than opponents) and not Jacobs. So you can ditch and pick up the ace of masks infinitely for terror tots sprint action.

[Boshea]

Haven't really done much dual faction in M2E yet. Used to always run Jakob as 10T in 1.5 for Scheme schoices, but switched to Neverborn for the better upgrade options. For most masters the core of what you want to take is always available regardless of a faction. This helps since it really only comes down to upgrade choices and filler pieces as to what will benefit you. To my knowledge McMourning is the only master who has a real palystyle change depending on the faction you take.

[Insidiously Mad]

Also McCabe I'd say Guild just because of how crazy the Pale Rider is with the Glowing Sabre. Damage spread of 3/5/6 on turn 2 ignoring Armour, HTK, HTW and Incorporeal goes all the way up to 6/8/9 by turn 5. absolutely nuts. 

[LunarSol]

McCabe is really interesting because he has a lot of good targets for his buffs in both factions and a few pieces that allow him to do really different things in either.  Pale Rider is crazy as noted above and he can do a really cool mounted setup in Guild.  In 10T you've got Izamu, Lone Swordsmen and other interesting targets for his buff that also perk up when they get to experience the joy of Austringer pushes.  Totem wise, I think Luna is probably better in Guild so you don't spend all your Guardsmen credits on Hounds; in 10T, though, super weasel plays right into his hand.  He seems perhaps the most different but equal between his different faction options, possibly only surpassed by Brewmaster.

[MightyGodzilla]

Mei Fang --> Rail Golem. Nuff said. (Willy & Metal Gamin & Rail Workers oh my!!). My very first game I had to face this with my Guild crew and I'm still sore.

Lucas McCabe -->I bought Samurais during GenCon because I thought they were cool and I forgot I could actually use them. WooHoo!!!

[Argentbadger]

I can't really comment on the comparison to their 'native' faction as I only have experience with Ten Thunders crews, but there are certainly cases where I can see big benefits for these masters being played in Ten Thunders.

 

Mei Feng - there is a practical upper limit on the number of constructs you really need (3 seems enough for me in general) so being able to bring independent hard hitters like Illuminated, Izamu etc in Ten Thunders is good.  Of course, there are plenty of comparable pieces in Arcanists so overall that may be a wash.  Recalled Training on Mei Feng is amazing as she can generate so many flips if you get the placement right.  Toshiro is a strong peice with her to summon in new constructs where you need them.

 

Jakob Lynch - Ten Thunders has so many great options with 'discard a card to do X' that love Lynch.  Rail Workers, Thunder Archers, Torakage all really benefit from almost always having their discard power available.  Also the healing with Hungering Darkness becomes amazing with Kang in the crew.

 

Yan Lo - He likes an Archer to free up the big killers like Izamu if they get left engaged with a model on only a couple of wounds.  Torakage can add a bit of mobility (but admittedly you could take Necropunks in Resurrectionists if you wanted for much the same effect).

 

Lucas McCabe - Leaving aside the apparent power of the Pale Rider with the Glowing Sabre, there are plenty of good options in Ten Thunders.  Mr Tannen can really add to the 'tankiness' of McCabe and getting a push to start his slow move to the centre can help a lot.  Similarly Izamu, Ototo or Yin benefit a lot from getting Nimble or a push in an early turn.  Ten Thunders is full of high power minions (Archers, Illuminated, Dawn Serpent) who love to get Reactivate, and adding Toshiro just doubles up on the love for minions.

[ArcticPangolin]

I've pretty much just played Guild, but with more 10T releases I'm dead keen to get a few more key models so I can run McCabe as 10t for some variety. For me, these reasons are:

 

Kamaitachi - Seems like it was made for McCabe.

Archers - For Swiss army knife ranged support. Also, Glowing Sabre & Badge of Speed.

Samurai - Their upgrades make them a lot more versatile and giving them Nimble is icing on the cake.

 

I daresay that once I've worked out what I'm doing with 10T Lucas I probably won't have a preferred way of running him though, Guild or Thunders.

[decker_cky]

I think Wave 2 + the bonus generic upgrades have made Mei as good or better than she is as an arcanist.

 

Obviously, there's some beefy models in the arcanists, including constructs like Howard, Joss and Coryphee Duets. There's also some great construct boosts that go on those models (or on the rail golem) in bleeding edge tech and powered by flame. If you want to go all constructs, it's really a no contest for Arcanists.

 

They have arcane reservoir too, which I almost always take with Mei as an arcanist. But as much as anything, I think that speaks to a problem Mei has as an arcanist - she's not dependent on her generic upgrades. Beyond Seismic claws, all of her upgrades are nice to have rather than must have.  With 10T, she has a selection of amazing upgrades available to make Mei herself an even more potent piece. Along with seismic claws and whatever other personal upgrades take your fancy, there's misdirection (amazing, even if it overlaps with Mei's other defensive trigger), recalled training (give her an epic key turn), and now on the wings of wind (doesn't compete with another 0 action, so it's just plain adding a free push to Mei and another model each turn). 

 

On constructs, as mentioned, critical mass is at 3-4. She has the foundry stuff, which is good, shadow effigy and komainu (plus Lazarus, who I'm liking lately). Not a ton, but it's enough, and there's some great stuff. If you have some ancestors, komainu hand out auto-slow for example.

 

Those models tend to leave points for other things - that's where the support models come in. 10T is full of great support models. Kang, Sensei Yu, Chiaki...lots of good options. And then there's Toshiro. 

 

Toshiro was made to make 10T mei amazing. He boosts the minions you tend to take as rail points. And he summons on the scrap you'll be bringing. Oh, you didn't bring any? Well now you have a use for that side of emberling, letting it start a summoning engine before it starts using it's non-insignificant minion status to run around and complete schemes. 

 

Actually...emberling is one of the things making Lazarus great with this crew, and not just good. Without lazarus, emberling can cut itself to drop scrap. Thats not bad when you see how much it adds for 4 SS, but with torch, if you have a tome, it can make scrap from lazarus, who will quickly shrug it off. Then you let toshiro do his thing and you have a bonus komainu. Oh, and it's lazarus so he just heals himself. And speaking of lazarus...have you seen how mean he is when he assimilates a komainu's Guard the Soul ability?

 

At first glance, the other faction tends to look better, but there's a lot of neat tricks that 10T have available to them.

[Kadeton]

Great post, Decker - I'll have to take another look at TT Mei!