If you could only take one master to a tournament

[WyrdMatt]

So if you really had to pick one master only for a tournament what one would it be.

 

Cheers,

Matt

[Dogmantra]

100% Som'er. I've played and won tournaments only taking Som'er, and it's not just because he's my best master, he's just so versatile.

[Vorschlag]

It's between Somer and Zoraida for me.

I seem to be able to handle "most" scheme pools with one or both of these masters, my first thought was Somer due to adaptability but I think I often rely heavier on Zoraida at tournaments due to her capacity to counter other play styles.

[Omenbringer]

Zoraida does present some nice options for tournament play but I find that she doesn't offer as much for a Gremlin list as Som'er does.

[Vorschlag]

To be fair I think Zoraida, Ulix and Somer are all "reasonably" adaptable for "most" scheme pools.
I find Brew master very niche so dont often run him...which is sad as he is fun to run.
I dont run Ophelia or Wong often enough to have a valuable opinion on them.
I will never run Mah Tucket.

[Guildenstern]

I'd say Somer but he's also the only one I'm familiar with, at all, not that I intend to go to tournaments

[Math Mathonwy]

I think that the only one I wouldn't take is Brewmaster. Mah would be a weird choice but she could handle everything if needed.

Wong, Zoraida, and Somer would probably be the most versatile ones but I really can't think of Strat and Scheme combos that would give Ophelia or Ulix real pause.

Somer does have the edge in that he is particularly good in Reconnoiter and Interference while remaining a very good choice for any other strat as well. Zoraida OTOH is really good in Headhunter. Finally, Wong does some Schemes better than the others but you can substitute with crew selection.

[Rathnard]

Zoraida. She's one of the most adaptable Masters in the game IMO. She's got no set crew, and will work with just about anyone you take with her. 

But most importantly, she's one of my favorite Masters in the game.

[TerrorPenguin]

I'm really enjoying using Wong at the moment and find him effective at both killing stuff and scheme running. I would agree that somer is probably the most versatile though

[Tawg]

10 hours ago, Guildenstern said:

I'd say Somer but he's also the only one I'm familiar with, at all, not that I intend to go to tournaments

I'd take this approach.

Misaki is the only Master I have multiple games and games of experience with, although I have no experience with any sort of competition.

It rightly wouldn't matter who I picked if I was going to be in an environment with people trying much harder than I ever have

Lol, I should pay attention to which section of the forums I wander into   Dang recent post scroll.

Why is Ophelia not one people like too much?

[MR TORGUE]

Wow.. Mah Tucket... kinda sad really.. does anyone actually use her?

[Blacks85]

Brewmaster.

Som'er is definitively the best choice if you want to play as competitive as possible...just too versatile and probably the strongest in Gremlin.

But bubble them all?

Too much fun

 

[Math Mathonwy]

2 hours ago, MR TORGUE said:

Wow.. Mah Tucket... kinda sad really.. does anyone actually use her?

She isn't bad at all. She has only two problems IMO: 1) Gremlin Masters are so boss that she gets outclassed by being only "good" as opposed to "bloody amazing!", and 2) her special niche of Pushing, distracting and beating in melee is not obviously awesome in any strat where Zoraida or Wong wouldn't be more awesome.

She is lots of fun to play and competitive. Just not very likely to be the best.

[MR TORGUE]

15 minutes ago, Math Mathonwy said:

She is lots of fun to play and competitive. Just not very likely to be the best.

Yeah was gonna say i've had some great games against her and surprised at the lack of love  

[Dogmantra]

Mah is pretty nice in Turf War/Extraction & Squatter's Rights/Guard the Stash, but she's a bit restricted in crew (tends towards melee), whereas Som'er can do all those and more, which is why I answered him instead. She's probably my third or fourth favourite master (depending on how I'm feeling about Ulix that day) though, and she's a blast to play, just not as relevant for this question

[Guildenstern]

5 hours ago, Tawg said:

I'd take this approach.

Misaki is the only Master I have multiple games and games of experience with, although I have no experience with any sort of competition.

It rightly wouldn't matter who I picked if I was going to be in an environment with people trying much harder than I ever have

Lol, I should pay attention to which section of the forums I wander into   Dang recent post scroll.

Why is Ophelia not one people like too much?

Ha been there, done that...

Honestly my whole approach to a lot of models (read, *any*) in wargaming is going to start with - do I like the sculpt? Followed by - does it do fun/interesting stuff?

But I guess there's a lot of min/maxing kind of approach to Tournaments and what not, and I'd rather play fluffy lists.

[D6Damager]

I voted Ulix only because he is more fun than Somer for me. But basically summoning masters for the win.

[Omenbringer]

12 hours ago, Rathnard said:

Zoraida. She's one of the most adaptable Masters in the game IMO. She's got no set crew, and will work with just about anyone you take with her. 

But most importantly, she's one of my favorite Masters in the game.

I agree that Zoraida is supremely versatile due to her massive hiring pool but I consider that a bit of a disadvantage when comparing her to Som'er and his smaller staple pool. A larger hiring pool also means a larger pool of models to learn when and how to use, otherwise there is no advantage. In a competitive environment I give the advantage to the smaller hiring pool which is easier to really learn (and remember what each model does).

5 hours ago, Dogmantra said:

Mah is pretty nice in Turf War/Extraction & Squatter's Rights/Guard the Stash, but she's a bit restricted in crew (tends towards melee), whereas Som'er can do all those and more, which is why I answered him instead. She's probably my third or fourth favourite master (depending on how I'm feeling about Ulix that day) though, and she's a blast to play, just not as relevant for this question

I really like Mah however I agree that her strong melee focus is probably her biggest issue. Melee is not generally somewhere the Gremlin faction wants to be (piglet's really want to be in and out). Those Gremlin's that do want to be stuck in (Mancha primarily) dont offer a whole lot outside of what they do in melee.

[Vorschlag]

I can see arguably how Somer and Zoraida can both fit the bill for flexibility with a multitude of schemes, strats, table-layout and opponents.

Not seeing it with Wong....don't understand how he places above Ulix let alone Zoraida

[Dogmantra]

I think people who'd take Wong every game in a tournament would favour the general strategy of wipe the board then do schemes a bit more than someone who's bringing Som'er or Zoraida. It's not quite as powerful in GG2016 as it was in the rulebook scheme pool but it's still viable. And even though I'm not that great with him, Wong can actually be a pretty nice scheme runner too, with his (0)s being pretty good for achieving and denying marker schemes respectively. I'm not one of the people who actually voted for Wong but I can totally see why you'd take him.

[Omenbringer]

2 hours ago, Vorschlag said:

Not seeing it with Wong....don't understand how he places above Ulix let alone Zoraida

I am not really a Wong fan for the reasons Dogmantra states. From what I have seen Competitive Events aren't as likely to reach the later turns where the "wipe the board then do schemes" is effective.

Personally I would grade a tightly run Ulix Pig list above Wong for Competitive play environments.

[Vorschlag]

I wonder if numbers are high enough in any area yet to do single faction play offs between masters and then run the 1st and 2nd into finals against winners from other factions.

A lot of the time it would still just come down to player skill and crew selection over Master but it would still be an interesting system.

[Rathnard]

5 hours ago, Omenbringer said:

I agree that Zoraida is supremely versatile due to her massive hiring pool but I consider that a bit of a disadvantage when comparing her to Som'er and his smaller staple pool. A larger hiring pool also means a larger pool of models to learn when and how to use, otherwise there is no advantage. In a competitive environment I give the advantage to the smaller hiring pool which is easier to really learn (and remember what each model does).

I won't disagree with you, but i think having a more diverse hiring pool is a big advantage for Zoraida, just so long as you've had enough experience playing all those models to use them properly.

In any case, I'll freely admit that I'm biased towards Zoraida anyway.

[Vorschlag]

20 minutes ago, Rathnard said:

I'll freely admit that I'm biased towards Zoraida anyway.

he's clearly hexed...you can't trust his judgement. (says the guy pushing Zoraida as top-dog)

[Math Mathonwy]

To be fair, I think that Zoraida's hiring pool is basically three models over what Somer brings. Nurses, Waldgeists, and Iggy. And I'm not even a big fan of Iggy in Gremlins (he is great in Neverborn, though). So it isn't all that much extra to grasp.

Maaaaybe Papa Loco but I don't see the need, really. I suppose he could make a Rooster pretty silly and afterwards start helping McTavish since they both have damage tracks that are helped a lot by positive twists (and Roosters have Bayou Two-card on top of that). But he is a gamble and there's Pere already if all you want is to blow the opponent up.

Of the others, Bad Juju sucks completely without his Upgrade, Spawn Mother I think isn't all that even in Neverborn, Gupps are unnecessary, The Winged Plague doesn't add anything at all, Silurids are also not necessary (Gremlins aren't exactly lacking in fast Schemers), Samurai aren't needed since Gremlins shoot quite well enough already, thank you, Wind Gamins are again unnecessary, Ototo is overshadowed by Mancha Roja, and finally Malifaux Raptors aren't worth it with the Merc tax and Pigapult can be used instead.

Did I forget any?