Ulix, upgrades and Sammy

[Blacks85]

How do you usually set up Ulix and his upgrades?

I've also figured out that - having many upgrades and only 3 Aps - Sammy Lacroix would have been a nice purchase for Ulix. 

• Clobberin Stcik, Husbandry on Ulix
• Corn husk on Old Major
• Hunting bow on Sammy LaCroix 

However, this is a pretty heavy core for a 50SS crew...it's almost 50% of the team.

Are you always (or often) playing Sammy with Ulix?

Because on the paper, hunting bow seems amazing....but in game I was not happy of this upgrade performances.

Clobbering stick also, despite combo with Sammy, wasn't really exciting to have...maybe I was lucky with hands but I've always summoned without think about Clobbering.

Generally speaking, after many games I've never been able to use the Sammy LaCroix casting for conditions. Do you like her in general? Do you usually throw her in the brawl?

Because I've always kept her back...but having such a short range I should probably fearless send her in the front.

[Dogmantra]

As my summoning core I use:

• Ulix w/ Husbandry, Dirty Cheater
• Old Major w/ Corn Husks, On Yer Tip Toes (if not using the pigapult)

if I bring Sammy she's holding the Hunting Bow - I don't always take her, when I do it would be for either stationary control points like Turf War or for killy strats like Reckoning or Collect the Bounty. Less so for something like Recon or Interference. It's good for solving that issue you mentioned with The Sow where you can avoid her getting shot to death by pushing and walking her up early and then having Sammy make her charge with the hunting bow.

 

For more general Sammy thoughts: HOLY MOLEY YES SAMMY IS THE BEST. As you can see from my sig, I'm president of Sammy's fanclub. You can send her into range to cast her Jynx without worrying too much because she has obscenely good Df and Wp with Bayou Two Card. The thing you want to be scared of is either automatic damage (i.e. blasts and pulses) or things like Nekima or Howard Langston with really high minimum damage.

[Omenbringer]

I think Ulix is a lot like Som'er in that he really benefits more from his staple models than for more "elite" oriented builds. You have mentioned issues with getting benefit from the Sow in other threads but I value her much higher in the crew than Sammy carrying one of Ulix upgrades.

[Blacks85]

1 hour ago, Omenbringer said:

I think Ulix is a lot like Som'er in that he really benefits more from his staple models than for more "elite" oriented builds. You have mentioned issues with getting benefit from the Sow in other threads but I value her much higher in the crew than Sammy carrying one of Ulix upgrades.

I absolutely agree with you on Ulix, that is why I've picked Sammy only for the hunting bow to play with the pigs. 

But I don't understand, why do you think the same about Som'er? I do believe the elite part of gremlin works great with the built-in  Som'er and its moskito can spread around.

4 hours ago, Dogmantra said:

Ulix w/ Husbandry, Dirty Cheater

Old Major w/ Corn Husks, On Yer Tip Toes (if not using the pigapult)

Yeah right, dirty cheater is absolutely smart on Ulix...stupid me. 

But why the "On Yer Tip Toes" on Old Major?

I can't see the general utility of this upgrade...hum 

[Dogmantra]

On Yer Tip Toes is an "uh oh" button - Old Major is pretty easy to hit but he's really important, it lets you basically have another go if a joker shows up at an inopportune moment. Plus as a small benefit, it makes a couple of things that target piglets sightly easier around Ht1 walls, e.g. Penelope pushing them.

[Omenbringer]

1 hour ago, Blacks85 said:

But I don't understand, why do you think the same about Som'er? I do believe the elite part of gremlin works great with the built-in  Som'er and its moskito can spread around.

Som'er can work with an elite build but he still likes his staples even in those lists, that would be Skeeters, Bayou Gremlins, and Piglets (I would add in a Slop Hauler but virtually all Gremlin lists like to have one of those). Skeeters spread the support as you point out, Bayou Gremlins provide scheme running and also allow him to summon (he needs one to summon one), and lastly the Piglets aid in movement. "Elite" builds are much less forgiving than those that include these staple models (particularly when Dumb Luck is in the equation). Som'er's strengths are his ability to shift his play style in game, out activation, and also deck manipulation, having those staple models is a key to all of those.

Also Som'er doesn't have an in-built he provides, he has a 0-action that can provide a if he has one to discard and also has a chance of failure (This also applies to the Skeeters though with a higher chance of failure), that is a big difference between Som'er and Lenny.

[thebarbalag]

I've had quite a bit of success running Som'er without any Bayous, Pigs, or even Slop Haulers. A list with Fingers, Francois, Merris, Burt, and Gracie can brutalize an enemy, even without Gremlin staples, like outactivation or rampant healing (though Fingers and Som'er himself, with the right Upgrades, can get quite a bit of healing done, and Gracie and Burt, with Dirty Cheater, can kinda take care of themselves). I do usually bring a couple of Skeeters for the activations, and board control.

[Math Mathonwy]

16 hours ago, Blacks85 said:

Generally speaking, after many games I've never been able to use the Sammy LaCroix casting for conditions. Do you like her in general? Do you usually throw her in the brawl?

Because I've always kept her back...but having such a short range I should probably fearless send her in the front.

I don't have Ulix yet so will comment only on this but to echo Dogmantra - don't be fooled by Sammy's low Wd stats into thinking that she's super fragile. She isn't super durable, either, but Jynx is extremely powerful so throwing her into the fray is definitely worth it.

I used to not appreciate Twisted Mind since for some reason I hadn't realized that it affects also the target and that you can stack it if you cast it onto different targets so it is actually very powerful. And the other two are obviously amazing. And that two damage seems bad but OTOH that could be thought of as a 2/3/5 damage track that just always scores weak damage. And it's Ca attack so it's not bad against Incorporeal stuff.

All in all I think that Sammy is worth her 7 SS even without making use of her ability to get Master-specific Upgrades.

[Blacks85]

5 hours ago, thebarbalag said:

I've had quite a bit of success running Som'er without any Bayous, Pigs, or even Slop Haulers. A list with Fingers, Francois, Merris, Burt, and Gracie can brutalize an enemy, even without Gremlin staples, like outactivation or rampant healing (though Fingers and Som'er himself, with the right Upgrades, can get quite a bit of healing done, and Gracie and Burt, with Dirty Cheater, can kinda take care of themselves). I do usually bring a couple of Skeeters for the activations, and board control.

If you build a purely elite crew designed to evaporate the opponent...isn't better to use Ophelia which is clearly more dmg oriented than Som'er?

Som'er gives you flexibility, but if you start with the concept of annihilation....better the kin

1 hour ago, Math Mathonwy said:

I don't have Ulix yet so will comment only on this but to echo Dogmantra - don't be fooled by Sammy's low Wd stats into thinking that she's super fragile. She isn't super durable, either, but Jynx is extremely powerful so throwing her into the fray is definitely worth it.

I was definitively too afraid of getting here in range. Next times I will throw her ahead - dead or not - I will see the effect of her curses

[Adran]

5 minutes ago, Blacks85 said:

If you build a purely elite crew designed to evaporate the opponent...isn't better to use Ophelia which is clearly more dmg oriented than Som'er?

Som'er gives you flexibility, but if you start with the concept of annihilation....better the kin

I generally find Sommers abilities to add rams to the totals means that his crew is probably going to to do more damage. Granted I'd put several kin in the Sommer list to do that annihilation, but Sommer doesn't require as much clumping to keep the rams as Ophelia with lenny would. (plus Burt with Crazy Critical strike is just funny. 

[Four_N_Six]

I've tried Sammy as my summoner for both Ulix and Som'er with differing success.

 

I have decided that Ulix needs to summon himself, so that the pigs are near him for his triggers and moving.  Whenever I bring Sammy, it's just one more positioning model I have to worry about, and she tends to fall behind, which screws up my summoning.  I've never tried Ulix's Bow on her, but I will have to try next time I run Ulix.  I honestly have no idea why it never occurred to me before.  Tunnel vision to have her summon, I suppose.

 

With Som'er, I don't seem to need the Bayou gremlins as close to him to be reliable.  It helps, but his aura is also larger than the one Ulix needs so you have some flexibility with positioning.