Yan Blow?

[zFiend]

but in my experience he will put out more damage on the enemy than any other Resurectionist master

 

I have no idea how you play McMourning

[Dirial]

I have no idea how you play McMourning

 

Oh, come on! McMourning is no Resser, obviously, but Guild.

 

[jonahmaul]

I have no idea how you play McMourning

Yeah, in my experience McMourning and Seamus are both far better damage dealers than Yan Lo (I have played the latter much less than the other two though so maybe I've just not got as much mileage out of the old guy).  If you want to kill things Yan Lo certainly would not pop into my head.

[Adran]

I have no idea how you play McMourning

Badly it seems, but I can get 12-16 dmage off Yan lo reasonably easily (by turn 2 or 3)

(Hunpo assault into 3 or 4 models (occasionally using Lightening dance to help set up that extra one), then positive flips to hit and damage is pretty handy on a 3/4/5 damage spread)

 

 

I don't Transfuse, so expunges aren't that high.

[jonahmaul]

Badly it seems, but I can get 12-16 dmage off Yan lo reasonably easily (by turn 2 or 3)

(Hunpo assault into 3 or 4 models (occasionally using Lightening dance to help set up that extra one), then positive flips to hit and damage is pretty handy on a 3/4/5 damage spread)

 

 

I don't Transfuse, so expunges aren't that high.

If your opponent is allowing you to Humpo Assault 3 or 4 models then they are setting their stuff up wrongly!

 

I only take one Transfuse normally and sometimes don't bother using it.  McMourning can usually get reliable poison out on his own then just Expunge a handful to make a Fleshie.

[MasterDisaster]

Badly it seems, but I can get 12-16 dmage off Yan lo reasonably easily (by turn 2 or 3)

(Hunpo assault into 3 or 4 models (occasionally using Lightening dance to help set up that extra one), then positive flips to hit and damage is pretty handy on a 3/4/5 damage spread)

 

 

I don't Transfuse, so expunges aren't that high.

 

Whilst Hunpo Assault with the Brutal Khakkhara has potential to deal some nice damage it is only Ml 5 which isn't particularly stellar even with  and you can reliably achieve this until at the earliest Turn 2 or 3. 

 

Somebody earlier stated perhaps in another thread that whilst other Masters spend their first two turns setting up their game plan Yan Lo spends his trying to become playable. I see him as a glorified Henchman at the end of the day. 

[dgraz]

So, Pro-Lo? Or No-Lo? Lets put this baby to sleep!

Obviously it isn't this clear cut. Most smart players aren't lambs to be led by some internet vote.....it's those players thinking outside the current 'internet flavor of the month club' that often discover cool things that the lambs will pick up as the next best thing.

 

However, the more I read this thread, the harder it is for me to refute certain comments. While I don't completely agree with some statements, I can see that they have at least partial validity. 

 

Like 'he spends the first few turns becoming playable'.....this is somewhat true......he does start fairly weaker than several masters and his one really early game trick (Lightning Dance) does make him sometimes feel 'more like a Henchman than a Master'. There isn't much denying that his early game feels....not as impactful as many other masters....like when I activate Marcus, you KNOW it's master time. But is this truly a weakness?

 

Now we need to look at some advanced playing.....a good player will use their strengths and cover their weaknesses.....a great player will USE their weaknesses. So in Yan Lo terms, what does that mean? Most players don't see him as a threat....most other Ancestors are much scarier and draw more attention.....so Yan Lo has the time to build up and when you really need his power, he is ready....when Izamu and/or Yin go down, he brings them back....he has the Chi to make it easy....and he is easily healing lots of damage by then....his ranged attack becomes very reliable and is fully capable of taking out Scheme Runners or weakened enemies (minor examples). 

 

When you drop Sonnia on the table, she draws immediate attention.....I don't think I've ever faced a Sonnia that took more than two or three Flameburst attacks....because I shut her down fast. So while others may see Yan Lo as weak early, that can be a strength.....insuring that he will be around the entire game to use his abilities is sometimes just as important as getting an early jump on things but dying by turn 3. Obviously, this weakness turned strength is much less useful in a real strict time tournament setting where you may not get past turn 4.

 

I don't know.....maybe I'm talking out of my butt.....or maybe Math is right and I'm just one of the greatest Malifaux players of all time.

 

I will also add that I completely agree that the Brutal Khakarra is garbage.....totally useless....I never take it. I'd almost be willing to bet that if that one thing was better (just to be Ml 6), people wouldn't see Yan Lo as weak as they do. Then he could be that brutal late game finisher that he really should have been.

[Corpsalot]

Most smart players aren't lambs to be led by some internet vote.....

 

He's Baaaaaaahhhhdd!

[Clement]

I'd probably still take the brutal Khakarra against low df stuff. High min damage is the name of the game against ressers at least and we aren't generally challenging to hit.

Those who *never take the Khakarra*, are you generally going for Bone Ascendant at all? Is it last in the list for ascending?

[kross1]

I never take the old man whoop ass stick, and you are correct there is no reason to take the bone ascendant. I spend most of my chi above 3 (which I like to keep at +3 for the ca bonus) on giving my other models armor +2 and Spirit.

[dgraz]

I never take the old man whoop ass stick, and you are correct there is no reason to take the bone ascendant. I spend most of my chi above 3 (which I like to keep at +3 for the ca bonus) on giving my other models armor +2 and Spirit.

This.

[Clement]

That would jive. The whooping stick was balanced around bone, so really you take the upgrade on the assumption you will start hunpo assaulting into models at some point during the game, instead of just using it as a weird movement effect.

[Fireuser]

Been following this thread a bit, and I am not sure what people expect from him.  His strength is being able to have the appropriate tool for the given situation.  Sometimes that will be giving out Armor, sometime it will be giving additional ap to other spirits.  Sometimes lightning dance will be more game impacting than any amount of damage (take prisoner, turf war, recon, anything with a scheme marker...).  Really don't just lock yourself into a mindset of "this is what he is supposed to do", instead I like to think "this is what he is supposed to do right now".

 

My only wish is that he had more things to do with chi.

[Rob Lo]

Well, I think he's perfect. I dunno what you all are talking about.

 

 

 

 

* I may be intoxicated at the moment. Always watch out for the drunk old guy. Go Ressers!

[chris_havoc]

I must admit I see very limited use for Brutal Kh-Ka-Kakarot. Maybe in a 10T list coupled with Misdirection it would make more sense to risk missing with Yan's actions but I would rather definitely get off 2 damage than not get off 3. Perhaps if it was Ca 4 and not Ml 5 it would be more playable as it got better with Chi. Ca 7 beat stick but if that's the case Bone Ascendant would also be more appealing and take focus from the defensive Ascendant Upgrades, for me at least. Maybe it shouldn't trigger Harvest Chi in that case though?

That's besides the point, that is one area I think he could improve. I LOVE Reliquary. Playing Unnerving Aura on Yin and Izamu is a bomb and a half. Escaping Yin is dangerous with Wicked and Izamu will not let you leave. It's good enough that it almost lost me points it was so effective at killing. That means playing both of them quite aggressively and that means Reliquary comes in really useful. 10/8ss Enforcer models on an 8   is amazing especially after having had to pour in enough damage to actually kill either of them.

Fortify the Spirit is OK it is not automatic so becomes quite pricey but Df/Wp 8 is pretty awesome especially when you are Impossible to Wound and Incorporeal. Transcendence is great, obviously, and has the option of being an expensive and powerful general buff or a cheap and powerful buff for a single model. Izamu with Armour 4 makes even Killjoy have to work for it. I've never really used Terracotta Curse but I image it's very much like McCabe's Netgun, amazingly good control over the other crews ability to maneuver it just doesn't suit my playing style.

Someone said earlier in the thread that, like Kirai and one half of Molly, Yan Lo is hampered by the lack of available plastic Spirit models. I am kind of excited to think how good it would be to get off Fury of the Yomi on Gaki if you have some Masks for Blood Frenzy. With Datsue Ba there to summon Gaki and Seishin for heals or moving Izamu around I can imagine that when those models are available Yan Lo will take on a new light in Ressers. I still think he is great as is and I'd love to hear feedback from people who might have the old Spirit models.

Way longer than I intended when I started replying.

TL;DR Yan Lo GOOD

[Rathnard]

Well having lost interest in Molly and after reading this thread, I thought I'd give Yan Lo a try for my game last night (vs Ironsides, which was also pretty interesting it itself!). Being only my second game with the old man I made my share of mistakes, but I did get a better feel for how he works. 

 

Here's the list I went for (For what it's worth the Strategy was Turf War);

 

Yan Lo

- Reliquary

- Fortify Spirit

Izamu

- (upgrade that summons Seishin)

Datsue Ba

- (personal upgrade)

Chiaki

- (personal upgrade)

Soul Porter

Shikome

Onryo

Crooligan

 

The approach I took with Yan was to concentrate on his supportive side (Transcendence and Healing) as well as generating Seishin with Datsue Ba and Izamu's Spirit upgrade to get in the way and help generate Chi for Yan. In reality the Seishin weren't that great. They're not worth my opponent killing and in reality they just sacrificed themselves for a heal at the first opportunity. 

 

Yan Lo himself did alright when I focused on support with him. Reliquary was awesome of course and between that, the Armour buff and his Heal, he was able to keep Izamu up and fighting throughout the game. Lightning Dance was good for sucking in an unsuspecting Essence of Power, but for 2AP and at least one high card (because you don't want to fail that second cast), a Rotten Belle would have been far better for pulling in models. I think Lightning Dance has more potential if you're using Yan offensively, where you actually want to leave him closer to some other models where Terracotta Curse or Humpo Assault can really mess things up. 

 

In any case, I can definitely see where people are coming from when they say he's just not as great as other Masters you could be taking. In fact, I kind of feel like I could just replace him entirely with Chiaki, a Nurse and a Rotten Belle and call it a day. Reliquary is pretty cool of course but again - if Yan Lo was more of a threat I wouldn't need to resummon an Ancestor. 

 

So it then begs the question; if a bunch of minions can pretty much replace what Yan Lo does, maybe you really need to use his offensive abilities to get enough value out of him? It feels risky to throw him in with Lightning Dance and mix it up in melee, but I guess the positive is that he's not so essential to the crew that losing him would be any great loss. 

 

Aside from being an Ancestor and his obvious killing power, Izamu is actually a poor fit for Yan. His talent to sacrifice himself after a final swing means there's no Chi for Yan and no corpse to resummon him. He was still the star of the show in this game and he easilly did most of the killing. But I'll probably be looking at replacing him with Toshiro or Yin in my next game. 

 

I could have used Datsue Ba more aggressively in this game - for the most part she kind of sat up the back, missed with Weigh Sins and failed to summon Seishin. Since I'm not using Seishin anyway I'll probably just drop Datsue Ba altogether. For the record I've never seen many opportunities for Datsue Ba to summon a Gaki or Onryo. As above it's probably just me not being aggressive enough with her, but it's still not really something I'd count on. 

 

 

TL/DR: I tried Yan Lo and while he was pretty decent in a supportive role, I feel like he needs to be more offensive to be worth taking. I want to like him though, so I'm keen to give him at least a few more tries. 

[dgraz]

 

TL/DR: I tried Yan Lo and while he was pretty decent in a supportive role, I feel like he needs to be more offensive to be worth taking. I want to like him though, so I'm keen to give him at least a few more tries. 

Have you tried him out with just his fluff crew? I've had the most success when I can re-summon in just about whatever you kill....something like;

 

Resurrectionists Crew - 50 - Scrap

 

Yan Lo -- 5 Pool

+Fortify The Spirit [1]

+Reliquary [1]

 

•  

• Soul Porter [3]

• Chiaki the Niece [6]

• Izamu the Armor [10]

• Komainu [5]

• Komainu [5]

• Toshiro the Daimyo [9]

+Command the Graves [1]

• Yin the Penangalan [8]

 

 

You could even spend the last SS for an upgrade of choice.....I've found he isn't really SS dependent and I either use mine for drawing cards or for a suit on a Toshiro summon.

[Sezar]

I have only used Datshue once ever, and it was on my first (and only so far) try of a Spirit focused Yan Lo, and well, she summoned 4 Seishins and 3 Gakis on a killing spree through a pretty typical Seamus gang... Call me impressed, while my opponent ended swearing all over her and the old man (they both teamed together: Yan started Humpo Assaulting to weaken enemies till 1-2 Wds left either using the Khakkara of his regular attack, allowing Datshue to easily kill them off for the summons)

Ohh, and he was the first one on my gaming group to start playing with Yan Lo!

[Corpsalot]

I have only used Datshue once ever, and it was on my first (and only so far) try of a Spirit focused Yan Lo, and well, she summoned 4 Seishins and 3 Gakis on a killing spree through a pretty typical Seamus gang... Call me impressed, while my opponent ended swearing all over her and the old man (they both teamed together: Yan started Humpo Assaulting to weaken enemies till 1-2 Wds left either using the Khakkara of his regular attack, allowing Datshue to easily kill them off for the summons)

Ohh, and he was the first one on my gaming group to start playing with Yan Lo!

 

Seamus's crew is going to have average to lower than average defense than most other crews in the game, so hunpo assualt works on them a bit better. I agree with you though, Datsue-Ba seems to work well with a spirit focused Yan. I have just had bad luck with her because my meta usually kills her turn 1 or 2. I have even had her get her upgrades plinked off by Hans so she wouldn't be able to summon seishin anymore.

[Bengt]

I have even had her get her upgrades plinked off by Hans so she wouldn't be able to summon seishin anymore.

Seems like good deal for you since Hans can ignore Incorporeal and Datsue Ba has quite few wounds.

[Phototropic]

I have to agree that Datsue Ba works well with Yan Lo. I am already a huge fan of hers with what she brings to Kirai but I have also found her useful for handing out adversary since its not as easy to do with Yan Lo compared to a Kirai crew. Yan Lo doesn't feel as much of a card hog as kirai so its nice to have a high card for Dats to cheat in for the damage. I really enjoyed being able to get spirit ascendant by turn one then give Dats, a hanged and Izamu an action on turn two. I imagine her and the hanged would really benefit from Yan Lo handing out armour but haven't had a chance to try it out. I also want to try out Yin with take back the night which should work well in spirit heavy crews. I will throw in the caveat that Kirai is my main master so I'm looking for some one with a small elite crew for the strats where this is better, hence using Yan Lo with the expensive spirits and ancestors.

[Patzer]

Good stuff! I have joined the Dastue Ba appreciation society. She is such a good mix up model, can deal with heaps of different situations, as well as providing a lot of support for the crew. She is the Mech Rider of Ressers! Simply outstanding.

 

Phototropic, great point on taking Take Back the Night on Yin. Could be really good in Turf War, etc. Where Yan/Datsue can buff nearby Spirits, and Yin lets you draw cards.

[zFiend]

Could be really good in Turf War, etc

See there's the problem. Could be. Nicodem will be.

[MasterDisaster]

See there's the problem. Could be. Nicodem will be.

 

As will Molly, Tara and McMourning. They are very good at Turf War. Why chance Yan Lo when you can be certain the aforementioned Masters will definitely do well?

[zFiend]

As will Molly, Tara and McMourning. They are very good at Turf War. Why chance Yan Lo when you can be certain the aforementioned Masters will definitely do well?

Amen brother.