Is Misaki kinda meh overall?

[Kaptain_Konrad]

Hello all. Is it me or is Misaki kinda meh. I feel like her Last Blossoms keyword doesn't mean much, her identify from last edition was altered from suicide cruise missle to slippery wet noodle. I feel like the only reason to take her is because you like her, but I rarely see any reason to use her over anyone else in 10T or outcasts. She can be very defensive but that feels so wrong with her character and leads to disguised spam. I guess she can stalk and smack with a bunch if min 2 damage, hoping they don't have armor. Am I the only one really disappointed by her?

[-Loki-]

A lot of keywords don't mean much beyond maybe accessibility.

[solkan]

8 hours ago, Kaptain_Konrad said:

Hello all. Is it me or is Misaki kinda meh. I feel like her Last Blossoms keyword doesn't mean much, her identify from last edition was altered from suicide cruise missle to slippery wet noodle. I feel like the only reason to take her is because you like her, but I rarely see any reason to use her over anyone else in 10T or outcasts. She can be very defensive but that feels so wrong with her character and leads to disguised spam. I guess she can stalk and smack with a bunch if min 2 damage, hoping they don't have armor. Am I the only one really disappointed by her?

A wise man once said, "If you're not making choo-choo noises when playing Mei Feng, you're not playing her right."

I believe there's a similar saying for Misaki, but the onomatopoeia for spear stabbing takes longer to explain. 

[Durza]

Paging @Rathnard

[EnternalVoid]

10 hours ago, Kaptain_Konrad said:

Hello all. Is it me or is Misaki kinda meh. I feel like her Last Blossoms keyword doesn't mean much, her identify from last edition was altered from suicide cruise missle to slippery wet noodle. I feel like the only reason to take her is because you like her, but I rarely see any reason to use her over anyone else in 10T or outcasts. She can be very defensive but that feels so wrong with her character and leads to disguised spam. I guess she can stalk and smack with a bunch if min 2 damage, hoping they don't have armor. Am I the only one really disappointed by her?

Well one thing to remember with Stalking Binsento is that it gives a positive to hit and damage, meaning she has a good chance of getting that strait damage against models that lack Hard to Wound.  Really her moderate is her sweat spot as 4 damage is enough for non armor targets to drop fairly fast.  Then again if you are going against Ressers you could always take Kang to offset Hard to Wound with his Aura.  Misaki to me feels less a suicidal cruise missile and more scalpel, shaving away at my enemy's crew forcing them to try and stop Misaki or she is going to remove their options one by one.

[Rathnard]

4 hours ago, Durza said:

Paging @Rathnard

Fair enough. ;)

Misaki is actualy my favourite Ten Thunders Master, and the one I'm most comfortable using by far. Just yesterday I played her, single list, in a tournament and came second, winning all three of my games. 

Her damage output is actually really high. The positives from Stalking Bisento make it much easier to hit moderate/severe damage and most importantly, there's her Assassination Trigger. Being able to just auto-kill models is huge since it lets her wipe out alot of the most frustrating models in the game (Kiljoy, Gracie, Mech Rider etc) with ease. Armour, Hard to Wound, Hard to Kill, healing...none of it matters. They just die. Basically Misaki tends to be the answer to just about every problem model you might happen to face. 

Furthermore, Assassination gives you a great psychological edge. So long as Misaki hasn't activated your opponent will think twice about cheating/discarding their cards, which indirectly improves the effectiveness of the rest of your crew. So even if you lack the cards for Assassination, it's still hampering how your opponent plays. 

In Ten Thunders I take her with Stalking Bisento, Misdirection, Recalled Training and Death Contract. Then I'll support her with push effects and models that will put pressure on my opponents hand, either through discard effects (Lust, Yamaziko) or attacks your opponent won't want to lose against (Samurai, Lust again). Generally Misaki will aim to put Stalk on the most threatening model and take it down on the charge (helped by various push effects). Recalled Training is saved for when she's under some pressure from the opponent and/or is out of soulstones, and Misdirection helps keep her safe. Basically, with Ten Thunders she can bring a tonne of pushes and discard effects to help boost her damage output and keep her safe. 

I've played Misaki in Outcasts too, albeit two years ago. My usual upgrades back then were Stalking Bisento, Oathkeeper and Scout the Field. Without Misdirection she's more fragile, but you can mitigate that if needed with a Freikorps Librarian and the Survivalist upgrade. You could also take Scramble to boost her mobility so there's plenty of options. Otherwise, her playstyle remains much the same - taking out problem models and letting your opponent freak out about the threat of that Assassination Trigger. The only difference is that I'd play a little more cagey with her - targeting isolated models where possible, limiting possible retaliations and only risking her life when I know the damage she does will be worth losing my Master. 

As for when you'd take Misaki over other Masters, I basically look to her when I'm after a crew that needs to spread out (Recon/Squatters Rights, Guard the Stash). There, her mobility and evasiveness really shine. 

In Ten Thunders, Misaki's main competitor is Mei Feng. Mei has the potential for some great mobility, but requires setup, can be card intensive and Vent Steam tends to make her better when you want to stick together. She also lacks the damage output of Misaki. Under the right circumstances she can deal alot of damage to alot of different models, again, it requires a bunched up enemy crew and she's far less effective against single models. 

For Outcasts, Misaki is competing mainly with the Viks. The Viks definitely have the higher damage output but they're glass cannons - fire them into the crew, watch them kill stuff and watch them die. Misaki has the advantage of being able to stay alive longer, plus that sweet, sweet Assassination trigger. So she'll play a much more mobile game, taking advantage of her crew's ability to spread out while Misaki herself does what she does best. 

Anyway I've run out of time (not that I had any to begin with...), so that'll do for now.

[Kaptain_Konrad]

Thanks, that was really helpful. 

[Furycat]

I'll add my 2 cents to say that Misaki is very much not meh. She's one of the flat out most destructive of the Ten Thunders masters, with excellent mobility. Stalking Bisento really helps to make her damage output much more consistent, giving + to both attack and damage, additional mobility, and potentially an extra (0) attack. Combine it with recalled training and she can erase almost anything in the game, regardless of hard to wound, hard to kill, negative flips, armour, etc. Diving charge really makes her a potent threat that your opponent simply cannot lock down in combat, and often she will create a zone of 'I don't want to go there!' all around her. Baked in 4" push on her melee attacks is also fantastic, letting giving her the mobility to casually slide out of engagement to interact or move off to other parts of the board if so desired. Additionally, stalk can be used to play mind games with your opponent, putting it on a high value piece and forcing them to play conservatively with it, while you head off to slaughter lesser pieces. As mentioned Misdirection can add significantly to her survivability, and also again plays games with your opponents head. Forcing them to discard cards when attacking her will often make them pause as they remember her assassinate trigger.

Also not to be forgotten is her thunder attack, a turn of that with recalled training can deliver some spectacular results against bunched up crews, and give you a good way of splashing damage onto models that otherwise might be tough to put damage on due to defensive triggers, etc. (Looking at you Colette). In a tournament today, I killed half an opposing crew in a single activation thanks to recalled training and thunder.

Also not to be forgotten is the Misaki + Sensei Yu combo. Using Wandering River Style, the good Sensei can propel Misaki 10" up the board, make her fast, and stalk her target for her with disciple, setting her up for a potential 5 attacks, at + or ++ to both attack and damage, depending on if you use recalled training. This will comfortably erase virtually anything in the game, as the + flips make it much easier to land moderate and severe damage hits.

Misaki is a fantastic, highly mobile, precision killing master. Her crew should generally be built to get on with things without her as she offers them no real benefits beyond her raw damage output, and you can seriously disrupt an opponent's game plan simply by ramming her down their throats and forcing them to deal with her, while you get on with the schemes and strat. Easily my favourite Thunders master.

[Freman]

Well... she does allow you to take Jorogumo in Outcasts... just saying.