Sonnia the melee monster

[Ludvig]

Soooo, the less hyped new upgrade for miss Blastypants McBlastsy. I'm looking to make it work despite it not seeming like a great idea on the surface. I would appreciate some help, here is what I have so far:

Sonnia + no more masks, cherufe's imprint, reincarnation

Francisco + hermanos, wade in

Queeg + promises

Effigy

Child

That puts me at 28ss. I'm hoping that the effigy buff along with the melee trigger will give enough cards to hopefully fuel all her discards and allow a couple of stalkers to show up. Impeint gives both flamewall and takes away enemy soulstone use which seems handy when being so aggressive.

I think the other models kind of speak for themselves.

Any suggestions to improve or add to the list? Based on the assumption that the melee upgrade stays of course

 

 

[Gnomezilla]

Based on this being used against me (my opponent much prefers Sidir to Queeg, but otherwise the same) I can only add this: don't charge anything which you aren't certain you can kill. Sonnia was left within angry-range of Ryle, and he had already flipped the black joker for that turn.

[4thstringer]

I'd want another witch hunter to hold the disrupt magic upgrade, so that your opponent has trouble with casts when you get there.   She also wouldn't hate getting some plus damage flips from papa still, though that might make the temptation to blast too high.  You could also use a queller buff her.

My biggest problem (outside of durability) with melee monster sonnia was her short charge.  You almost need shooty models that will encourage your opponent to close quickly.  Maybe riflemen? (I know, thats crazy).

[Karych]

I don't think that reincarnation is a great idea, cause of her mi doesn't give burning. may be Handler will solve this problem 

edit: sry, I'm blind:3 I didn't see that no more masks also gives burning 

[STO]

Peacekeeper/Emissary or even Phiona might be the answer

[Ludvig]

Might need Loco for blasts no matter which way you attack I think, otherwise she isn't very scary.

Even if I will attack with her in melee I fully expect turn one to be her doing her usual thing and casting. Turn two will likely depend on how agressive my opponent has been. If you're engaged and thing you can kill them you could go for an attack or two to summon a stalker but if it's a tougher model that's unhurt I think just using it to push away and then doing double regular attacks is better.

@4thstringer I could put disrupt magic on Grimwell but I'm not sure how often I would get enough bang for my buck. Sonnia isn't exactly going to be in the enemy deployment and most melee models aren't too reliant on casts. Maybe the valedictorian and Hannah but apart from them I'm not sure who I would be shutting down with it. Pesky leapers might stay put I guess but not sure how much I would need it.

[FinalForm]

3 hours ago, Ludvig said:

Queeg + promises

Any suggestions to improve or add to the list? Based on the assumption that the melee upgrade stays of course

I don't think that queeg is better than Hearthbane in any way in this list.

[4thstringer]

25 minutes ago, FinalForm said:

I don't think that queeg is better than Hearthbane in any way in this list.

Promises vs. disrupt magic, Ill take promises.

 

[Ludvig]

7 hours ago, FinalForm said:

I don't think that queeg is better than Hearthbane in any way in this list.

For the same price of Heartsbane I gett Queeg ans promises. That's a lot of plusflips and since i'm hoping to save cards for my summons I'm going to wqnt plus flips. If I can get a pistolero in there too I got get half my list a  to bot defense and willpower which is good for card efficiency.

The more melee models with upgrades ai have, the more I want promises. His whip might also be good for repositioning once combat has started to get at  3" models.

[Sklertic]

It's an odd upgrade, that basically cost 9 ss, seeing as you have to have Francisco as well. When I first saw it, I wanted to use her as a suicide bomber a la Papa Loco; charge in, deal dmg, then activate her version of exploding demise.

The problem is, that you're stuck with ml 5 for this to work and without Francisco: df 4 as well. I don't know what the designers were thinking, when they made this. Isn't Francisco enough of a crutch for Guild players already?

Anyway, for your list I would suggest maybe a Guardian for some added survivability, and a Witchling Handler to help with the summon engine and burning.

Good luck!

[Ludvig]

@Sklertic

Thanks, I know what you mean, ml doesn't seem like a place for her and making her use her (0) to get a higher ml instead of defense is a pretty big cost, the upgrade could have just added some blasts and ml +1 to unleashed without using the (0) so you would get to use either defense or the explody one which I use far to seldom. 

I like the idea of a guardian. I'm not sold on handlers myself, they never perform for me. In this list I'm thinking Sonnia can spread enough burning herself since her ml now both gives burning and lets you push. A probable first activation would be the effigy buffing and chaining into Sonnia who hits once to give burning and push out and then blasts twice. After that I should hopefully have either already summoned stalkers or targets with burning that I can kill with my hitters. I don't see where I would fit in the handler's activation if Sonnia is engaged to something scary.

[PanzerHarris]

I'd be sorely tempted to drop Reincarnation for Counterspell Aura. A lot of potential damage can come your way via casting actions, and it also makes Lures etc a lot harder to pull off against you. I just don't like the resources Reincarnation makes you spend for Stalkers when you're already throwing cards for Quick Study and needing Soulstones to keep Sonnia upright.

As for the rest of the crew, I still like Hannah being around. There's a surprising amount of cast actions for her to copy in Guild and who doesn't like Arcane Reservoir? The trick I've found with Hannah is one picked up from my clubmates. If you can, make a focussed Ml attack with her and blast off.

Otherwise I'd look at Watchers (that moment when your opponent spends most of a turn removing Burning from a key model to deny Sonnia line of sight, only to have her target them anyway with Relay Information, is pure comedy gold, plus they deny cover and aren't randomised for when she casts into melee). The Peacekeeper is a good shout. It's a huge priority target that isn't Sonnia. Always good!

Dr Grimwell is fun too. He's a potential Disrupt Magic caddy, can help with moving her around, and is only too happy to perform brain surgery on something that gets too close.

Elite crews are less of an issue with Sonnia because if your opponent isn't very careful she can quite happily bully their lesser models off the board early. I've been quite happy to run at 6 or 7 models with her.

[4thstringer]

Maybe sidir for by your side? Just to take some pressure off.

[PanzerHarris]

The only time Sidir has ever been useful was when I traded the model for drinks... What's the point of a bodyguard that can't keep up?!

[Ludvig]

Thanks for the suggestions Panzer and Stringer. I'm not super positive towards Sidir. He has trouble keeping up and if you use him as a bodyguard he becomes the obvious first target to kill which takes away promises. If I put el mayor on him he can only save one other model from one attack so that's not too hot either. He's also a lot more expensive than Queeg and can't get extra mobility for himself or the other models while not hitting that much harder than Queeg.

I don't have access to Hannah but I might proxy her. Watchers are always nice runners and support models and I will try Grimwell as soon as he arrives, see if the negatives to cast are worth it. He's in transit.

[Sklertic]

I appreciate the spirit behind the upgrade, the implementation is just awful. I dare say Sonnia got the worst new upgrades in the book. Needs some errata.

[Ludvig]

2 minutes ago, Sklertic said:

I appreciate the spirit behind the upgrade, the implementation is just awful. I dare say Sonnia got the worst new upgrades in the book. Needs some errata.

Lynch got one that is very similar to her witchling upgrade in that he needs to pitch two cards to get a depleted when a model with brilliance dies. It also takes about half it's life in damage and more than half if ou pitch aces. I think that one might be even worse. At least Sonnia gets the ability to now push herself put of melee and at the same time light something on fire for Sam who then companions. The problem is she already had such great upgrades it's hard to find room for the new ones.

[Nukemouse]

If you are worried about response to sonnia, mounted guard or phiona gage can help get her out of any dicey engagements and mounted guard provide DF sometimes like pistolero de latigo. Phiona can also place a marker, so in addition to the firewall you should have a lot of LOS control.

[RhiaCat]

This is an example list I would likely look at running for Melee Sonnia.

50 SS Guild Crew
Sonnia Criid + 7 Pool
 - No More Masks (1)
 - Cherufes Parting Gift (1)
 - Reincarnation (1)
Francisco Ortega (8)
 - Wade In (1)
 - Hermanos de Armas (1)
Master Queeg (7)
 - Promises (1)
 - Expert Sleuth (1)
Witchling Handler (8)
 - Disrupt Magic (2)
Witchling Stalker (5)
Witchling Stalker (5)
Brutal Effigy (4)

 (exported from CrewFaux)

 

Francisco is there for his melee prowess, Queeg is there to get Promises and movement shenanigans. I think the beat way to go in melee is the summoning route, and use the Witchling Handler's (0) to get the burning on them.

 

Sonnia has Parting Gift to let her, after winning initative, activate the Handler, throw up burning Aura, then chain activate to Sonnia. Summoning the Purifying Flame is gravy. Stalkers fill out your crew, and Brutal Effigy is there because why wouldn't you take one of the best Guild Minions? 

[Ludvig]

21 minutes ago, RhiaCat said:

This is an example list I would likely look at running for Melee Sonnia.

50 SS Guild Crew
Sonnia Criid + 7 Pool
 - No More Masks (1)
 - Cherufes Parting Gift (1)
 - Reincarnation (1)
Francisco Ortega (8)
 - Wade In (1)
 - Hermanos de Armas (1)
Master Queeg (7)
 - Promises (1)
 - Expert Sleuth (1)
Witchling Handler (8)
 - Disrupt Magic (2)
Witchling Stalker (5)
Witchling Stalker (5)
Brutal Effigy (4)

 (exported from CrewFaux)

 

Francisco is there for his melee prowess, Queeg is there to get Promises and movement shenanigans. I think the beat way to go in melee is the summoning route, and use the Witchling Handler's (0) to get the burning on them.

 

Sonnia has Parting Gift to let her, after winning initative, activate the Handler, throw up burning Aura, then chain activate to Sonnia. Summoning the Purifying Flame is gravy. Stalkers fill out your crew, and Brutal Effigy is there because why wouldn't you take one of the best Guild Minions? 

The stalker and totem summoning isn't allowed from the same model so those upgrade seem to clash somewhat. In my experience the problem is usually not having enough burning to get stalkers but the ridiculously high cost of that summoning in cards.

The burning aura also seems kind of redundant since Sonnia should put a lot of burnig out. How do ou figure the extra burning will help?

[Sklertic]

I'll recommend the Guardian again. Queeg + Guardian = 2 Protects per round

[Ludvig]

27 minutes ago, Sklertic said:

I'll recommend the Guardian again. Queeg + Guardian = 2 Protects per round

No it doesn't. The guardian is immune to all horror duels which means you cannot pass the test to take a (0) so Queegs ability is useless against it unfortunately. It does give ou one protect and good engagment range.

[Sklertic]

Thanks for pointing that out, I've been playing that all wrong. I still stand by the recommendation though

[Ludvig]

4 minutes ago, Sklertic said:

Thanks for pointing that out, I've been playing that all wrong. I still stand by the recommendation though

Yeah, definitely trying one. Immunity just being an auto-pass would have been more intuitive to me.

[RhiaCat]

8 hours ago, Ludvig said:

The stalker and totem summoning isn't allowed from the same model so those upgrade seem to clash somewhat. In my experience the problem is usually not having enough burning to get stalkers but the ridiculously high cost of that summoning in cards.

The burning aura also seems kind of redundant since Sonnia should put a lot of burnig out. How do ou figure the extra burning will help?

Like I said, totem summoning upgrade is taken more for the chain activation. While I agree that normally the summoning cost is high, Sonnia is also drawing at least 1 card whenever she damages a model in melee thanks to her built-in Ram, which does a lot to lessen the pain of that cost. 

Sonnia can put a lot of burning out, but only on her ranged attack. In melee Sonnia, you'll need the burning the handler lets you give out to get the summons (also not sure on the exact timing since I don't have my cards on me, but I believe the Handler lets you get a stalker if you oneshot a model since it gives burning as part of the effect of the attack, and not a trigger)