Mei Feng as TT

[Rurouni Benshin]

If you're not running Oiran, why would you have "Hidden Agenda"?  Granted it's a 0 ss upgrade, but it seems a bit out of place if you don't have any Oiran in the crew.  I would also spend the 1 ss to put Vapormancy on Mei Feng.  That way you could at least trigger Vent Steam off an attack if you needed to.

[BigHammer]

I'm guessing Hidden Agenda is to allow McTavish to discard his Recalled Training at some point and still be a legal target for the Emissary's Rite of Strength to make him fast.

[Linar]

Correct, the only reason to take hidden agenda is for still be a legal target for the Emissary's Rite of Strength

[Zac]

What size pool do people usually run Mei with, and what do you end up spending stones on. It seems she might be pretty hungry for suits to make sure those triggers come off. 

[BigHammer]

What size pool do people usually run Mei with, and what do you end up spending stones on. It seems she might be pretty hungry for suits to make sure those triggers come off. 

I personally run at least five stones, more commonly six. I spend most on cards and damage prevention. If I have a chance to get a good turn of damage in, but have no high tomes, I might spend one or two getting my Vent Steam triggers if it's important to have the aura up (playing against Guild, Arcanists or Gremlins, usually), but only if I feel I can spare them. That's just me, though, from what I can tell I play Mei Feng quite differently from many other players.

[volt_ron]

I've been running with 5 stones, but half of those are usually used by my henchmen...

[Rurouni Benshin]

I keep a full 7, but then again I do that with just about all my Masters, save for Misaki, who I keep about 4-5.

[Dragonfly]

I keep a full 7, but then again I do that with just about all my Masters, save for Misaki, who I keep about 4-5.

Not trying to derail this thread, but instead a minor jackelope trail...

I also never take more than 4 or 5 SS for Misaki.  Does anyone else take more?  I'm not saying a bigger cache doesn't have it's uses but if I take more usually I end up finishing the match with a few SS unused; and unused SS at the end of game feels like wasted points and maybe bad planning.  Thoughts?

[StormLordXIII]

I keep a full 7, but then again I do that with just about all my Masters, save for Misaki, who I keep about 4-5.

Not trying to derail this thread, but instead a minor jackelope trail...

I also never take more than 4 or 5 SS for Misaki.  Does anyone else take more?  I'm not saying a bigger cache doesn't have it's uses but if I take more usually I end up finishing the match with a few SS unused; and unused SS at the end of game feels like wasted points and maybe bad planning.  Thoughts?

Not to derail this either, but I usually play her with 3 since I find her and her stalking bissento upgrade most effective with that extra crow from being out of stones!

Now back to Mei Feng

Edited October 17, 2015 by StormLordXIII

[volt_ron]

If it comes between fitting another Rail Worker/Gamin/whatev or a full cache, I'll always take the extra model as 10T is easy to be out activated in general.

[Rurouni Benshin]

Being out activated hasn't really hurt me all that much, to be quite honest.  Most of the games I play I am out activated, by about 1-2 models on average (I bring anywhere from 7-8 models to start, 6 rare occasions).  Usually about halfway through Turn 2 though, I've caught up to my opponent.  Unless they're playing a summoning Master, it's rarely ever been a problem for me.

Case and point: The last game I played Mei Feng was against Hamelin.  The game ended in a 10-10 tie.  In hindsight, I did make 1-2 tactical errors, but it does go to show that even when outactivated, your chances of winning aren't dramatically different.

And to comment on "unspent stones being wasted", I haven't lost/won a game where each stone used wasn't prudent, and there've been plenty of games where I had stones left over.  The important turns to know when to use them are usually during Turns 2-4.  It's those critical moments between deciding if you want to draw extra cards in the beginning of the turn, or if you want to reflip initiative.  That's when choosing to use a stone or not becomes critical.  And if you end up winning with a stone or two left over, does it really matter if it's unused at that point?  I mean, you still won, right?

[Adran]

I keep a full 7, but then again I do that with just about all my Masters, save for Misaki, who I keep about 4-5.

Not trying to derail this thread, but instead a minor jackelope trail...

I also never take more than 4 or 5 SS for Misaki.  Does anyone else take more?  I'm not saying a bigger cache doesn't have it's uses but if I take more usually I end up finishing the match with a few SS unused; and unused SS at the end of game feels like wasted points and maybe bad planning.  Thoughts?

Whist it might seem annoying to end the game with a stone or two left over, I find it much more annoying to lose the game because I ran out of stones at a vital moment and couldn't get the suit/prevent the damage I needed, or lost the initiative because of 1 poor flip. 

Even if I lose my soulstone users early, the ability to draw 2 extra cards in the draw step (before discarding) is a good use of stones. 

It is a playstyle thing, and there isn't a right answer, but I personally prefer to have options, and the option to be able to use a stone (even if I don't) can make a big difference to both mine  and my opponents plays. 

[RarerMonsters]

...

Not to derail this ...

derail, lawl

So, Mei Feng isn't technically my first master (That was Misaki), but Mei Feng is my favorite and decidedly my jam.

The ultimate meta of Mei Feng is the "Human Freight Train" line of thinking: turn cards into actions. Arcanists have better hand manipulation than TT, so we need alternatives. 

So, my keys to running her are as follows

Upgrades:

Seismic Claws: Necessary Upgrade, triggering extra jackhammers out of seismic claws is a huge deal.

Wings of Wind: Helps her generally slow crew and gives her a 0 action to use.

Recalled Training: Recalled Training is HUGE on her. Odds her on turn 2 or 3 you'll want to get something really critical don with her, so in addition to whatever else you get this gives you +flips on railwalks, meaning you're substantially less likely to need to blow a decent card to keep the line moving. When I alluded up there that we need alternatives to Arcanist hand manipulation? This is it. You want to save your good cards to power additional combos from her later.

(I don't like Misdirection on Mei Feng. She already has a Mask trigger that will get her out of combat, Misdirection won't prevent her from getting Walloped by lone models, and if they succeed on a huge hit they'll just throw the two cards and cheat out a severe against her. )

Supporting her, I tend of the following as mandatory

Shadow Effigy: Mandatory pick in every 10T list.

3 Metal Gaimin: Incredibly efficient models with obvious synergy and great mobility, either if your opponent has constructs or with your traps (See below)

[Edited: Apparently Traps aren't Constructs]

Either Sensei Yu or Mr. Graves for the added mobility.

Usually 1 Oiran for a cheapish schemerunner and potential clutch Lure.

Then I build around who I'm facing or what I'll need.

If I think I can be more conservative and rely on ranged support, Katanaka snipers.

Kang if I need to hold space and survive.

For territory control focus, a few railworkers for a more durable if slower group.

For more mobile schemerunnning, Monks of High River.

Against Rezzers: Toshiro.

Against Arcanists, probably Kang with Hard Worker.

 

Tactics wise, I almost never go after masters with her. I get the most success going hit and run against Henchmen and Minions, using her mobility to pick off anything key, and then either railwalking back out of danger or popping a steam cloud to keep me safe enough that she's not worth killing. She's also not to be underrated as a scheme running. Spending 1 AP to Railwalk into a Jackhammer to finish off a wounded enemy, then dropping a Scheme Marker before Venting Steam is a very good turn considering how much of the board you can cover.

I don't go after Masters with her that often, since so much of what she relies on are combos and Masters often have the defense triggers to break up what you do, and she doesn't have the damage to kill stuff off just one or two attacks a turn

Edited October 22, 2015 by RarerMonsters

[daemonkin]

Traps aren't constructs

D.

[RarerMonsters]

Well I'll be. They're not. Huh. Well, okay I guess don't assume things just because they seem obvious. Well, thanks for correcting that.

[Ludvig]

Well I'll be. They're not. Huh. Well, okay I guess don't assume things just because they seem obvious. Well, thanks for correcting that.

They would be too obvious scrap generators. Very cheap (2ss) models are often neither living nor construct to avoid being used for marker generation (as was more or less mandatory in m1.5).

Edited October 22, 2015 by Ludvig

[daemonkin]

No worries but I think it was designed to stop the cheap scrap points for Mei and also for Levi to summon.

D.

[RarerMonsters]

Yeah, seems pretty clear. Probably why I didn't notice: they logically SHOULD be but they apparently caught the exploit before it happened. Good job Wyrd

 

Pretty sure the rest of my opinions hold out okay though.

Edited October 22, 2015 by RarerMonsters

[Ludvig]

No worries but I think it was designed to stop the cheap scrap points for Mei and also for Levi to summon.

D.

And Hoffman getting too cheap scrap.

[daemonkin]

Still a very useful model for area denial. Pop a few on squatters markers and a pathfinder in waiting to spawn more.

Mei is definitely my favourite master and for upgrades I rarely leave the house without Vapormancy. The high Ca with large range with auto burning helps set up for her claws. typically I vapormancy for burning, kick to get to btb then claws with +ve. All helped by the timed use of recalled training.

D.

[Ludvig]

Still a very useful model for area denial. Pop a few on squatters markers and a pathfinder in waiting to spawn more.

Pathfinders are fun in that strategy. Don't forget that you only need range and LoS to the trap to shoot something in melee with it so you then auto-randomize onto your enemy. Don't get that pathfinder killed in vain!  That 10pt investment can often lock that side of the strat from enemies for a couple of turns.

Kangs  aura synergizes well with blasts if you bring him against the right foe.

[daemonkin]

Try Toshiro giving Willie +ve on his dynamite punches in the face ;-)

D.

[Ludvig]

Try Toshiro giving Willie +ve on his dynamite punches in the face ;-)

D.

He hits sure, but your not that likely to get anything higher than minimum damage. I'd be more inclined to give him focus. I'm also not sure on the meaning of "+ve" is that my phone being stupid and misinterpreting some icon?