Sell me on Kirai

[RiceP.]

So, long story short, i have a friend who plays ressers and has a bunch of urami models, pretty much all of them except drowned and jaakuna (wich i have because i play daw) and gaki (wich i don't have and probably wouldn't be able to get any time soon), and he is willing to sell them to me for a laughable price if i would want to play Kirai. Anyways, i like her (and her crew) models, and i wanted to play summoner for a long time, but there is but. I read through her and, actually, all of the urami, rules, and they just felt lackluster to me, like there is something special that differentiates her from other masters.
I actually want to be wrong, because as i said, i like keyword models (and i would have more reasons to buy versatile resser units which is nice too), and i fell like i'm too inexperienced with summoners to judge , therefore  i'm creating this topic, so You could tell me where i'm wrong. 
 

[Ogid]

I haven't played the crew but I've heard she is in a decent spot right now. Also if you play RES, having an aditional master to fit different pools is nice, just for that it's a very good idea to get her; especially if you got a good deal and already like the models. Go for it!

Some things I like about her crew: Full incorporeal team plus seishin to increase the mobility even more, great for tables full of terrain/hazardous and to spinball models; anti-healing, that's not very common and it's very good versus crews spaming healing or to all those Demise(Eternal); Lure stat 7 in keyword; summoner with stat 7 and healing; a lot of Adversary play; Vengeance is also a very strong ability... also her quirk of her summons damaging and healing her is quite unique and her cost 8 summon (not that hard to summon having stat 7) is good.

[D-solad0r]

Go for it.

I'd not doubt it.

[Maniacal_cackle]

By all accounts, the crew is incredibly powerful. Some highlights:

• Kirai has quite a bit of survivability.
• She can summon 8-cost models (which are actually quite good).
• The crew has a ton of little tricks that really deal with a lot of issues (incorporeal, lantern of souls, anti-healing, etc).
• Incorporeal + vengeance are a heck of a combo. If someone hits you for two damage, it reduces to you each taking one damage.
• Very solid use of the adversary condition (key to unlocking the crew is to learn to use adversary effectively, I suspect).

Really the main issue with the crew is lack of card draw, but they can easily grab card selection with The Whisper.

[Sagrit]

I love Kirai  She might not be the top-tier master in competetive meta, but she's definitely strong and fun to play. @Maniacal_cackle is right in his points and i just want to add some more:

• Lot of incorporeal - you can use it very effectively to move around the table and also to hide when you want to.
• Irreducible damage on Ikirio. I had games when Ikirio just killed opponents master on Turn 1 (with good cards and lot of Masks of course).
• Datsue Ba have Lantern Aura and it's nasty against lot of models. Combine it with Manos and it's almost a quarter of Table with no Demise possible.
• Goryo is very strong summon. For opponent It's hard to ignore them and when he's trying to deal with them, he will spend lot of AP and take some damage back.
• Lot of additional movement. I mean like really a LOT  For me it's really fun and effective to gave additional move all around. After all many Schemes and Strategies say that you must be in some specific place

[RiceP.]

Update;
You guys convinced me, i went and bought her core box (and managed to get gaki as well), and i'll probably take her on my next game. That raises the next question, is there a place i can read or watch some of her tactics and how models and crew as a whole operates? Afaik, in ressers index there is only one Kirai topic, which is more then year old and, as author says, written without actual playing experience.

[Maniacal_cackle]

Congrats, @RiceP. I'm torn between Seamus and Kirai, so I may be joining you soon!

One thing about Kirai is she is a bit of a Swiss army knife. She isn't like Reva where you could have one fixed list & game plan and take it to every game. Kirai has loads of summoning options, which in turn can impact list building. So the best thing you can do is just play lots of games and learn as you go!

But here is where I would start...

I'd hire 2 Goryo, some Seishin, Datsue Ba, and whatever else. I'd use the Seishin to get the Ikyro up the field, followed by the Goryo. I'd meatgrinder them - send them in to die, and do a lot of damage on the way out.

Activate Kirai at the end of turn one. It Ikyro died, resummon. If a Goryo died, resummon. If not, summon a drowned (for stunned trigger) or a shikome (for schemes) or an onryo (if you don't own the other options).

If you just have the core box + Gaki, then the crew may feel a bit weak until you get the Goryo + Seishin box. But that's alright. Just focus on learning the crew.

[Maniacal_cackle]

Then make sure to come back here and ask for more advice after a few games.

Or who knows, you may become our Kirai expert and we all have to go to you for advice!

Experimentation and innovation really pay off in Malifaux. There's loads of models people write off, and then someone finds a way to break them.

[Sagrit]

Let me make an advice different to Maniacal_cackle  Not that he's wrong, it's just another opinion.

1) I must say, that Kirai indeed has lot of options, but overall game style is pretty straightforward. At least when you are just starting. The main idea - your opponent must fight with your summons. As long as he's spending AP dealing with summons - your are OK to do Schemes and Strats.

2) If you are mono-master only i would suggest such list for the start:

• Kirai (+Whisper)
• Ikiryo
• Datsue Ba (+Whisper)
• Lost Love
• Seishin
• Seishin
• Onryo
• Onryo
• Manos (+Upgrade) 

Last slot is really depends on your model pool and Schemes and Strats. there are lot of alternatives there:

• Dead Rider - mobility and a good beater
• Toshiro - overall good model with Minion heavy crew
• Anna Lovelance - good auras against Place heavy opponent
• Carrion Emissary - nice for Research Mission
• Yin - nice for Take Prisoner
• etc

This list playstyle is pretty straightforward - you main idea for Turn 1 is to give Fast for Ikiryo, move her with Seishins and Datsue Ba and charge in the middle of opponents crew as soon as possible. The goal is to do some irreducible damage and leave a model with Terrifying and Vengence engaging key enemy models. Opponent will have to deal with Ikiryo, spend some cards for Terrifying and get some damage from Vengence. If Ikiryo is killed - that's awesome for you. Activate Kirai, summon new Ikiryo, summon something more (Goryo, Shikome, Drowned) and send Ikiryo again.
Your 10SS model go and do something useful for VP. Onryo here for Adversary and scheme-run. Lost Love for Fast and also By Your Side in the proper place. Seishins give extra Move and heal Kirai and other models. Datsue Ba here to finish off models, protect Kirai or even charge in melee with Lantern aura.

3) If you are in multiple-master meta - drop Onryo and 10SS model and take Molly. He's super good with Kirai because Kirai need cards and Molly can give it. Also some Irreducible damage and Slow source is always good.