Ressers in Love Is a Battlefield (February Vassal Series).

[Maniacal_cackle]

Next month's vassal world series tournament is up, and it looks pretty epic!

The twist: You can only spend 15 soulstones on OOKs and versatiles (not counting soulstone tax or upgrades).

So what do you think? Who is looking good? Seamus and Reva obviously take a massive hit (although I may still try to use Reva in some of the rounds). We unfortunately can't use things like grave golem + bone pile or Emissary + nurse, but... We can do Manos + Nurse, Bete Noire + Bone Pile, Yin + Nurse, and more. Any sweet combinations of models you think fit in well under these restrictions? My usual Dead Rider + Yin is banned for this one!

[ShinChan]

I would say that there are a couple of good combinations for Molly, Kirai and Schtook. 

Reva can fit there with a Rider or Toshiro too. I'm usually not a fan of the Golem since there is a lot of counterplay to him. 

I don't play McM, but for what I've seen, you can easily build a full keyword list. 

Seamus would be tricky. The Emissary is mandatory with him, which leaves him with 5ss to spend in OOK models, which doesn't seem enough.

Yan Lo is Yan Lo, he has everything he needs in keyword. 

[Maniacal_cackle]

3 hours ago, ShinChan said:

I would say that there are a couple of good combinations for Molly, Kirai and Schtook. 

I don't play McM, but for what I've seen, you can easily build a full keyword list. 

Yan Lo is Yan Lo, he has everything he needs in keyword. 

Yeah, those all seem great to me. And Jack Daw in many cases too can be full or full-ish keyword? I think Ressers are really well positioned for this overall.

3 hours ago, ShinChan said:

Reva can fit there with a Rider or Toshiro too. I'm usually not a fan of the Golem since there is a lot of counterplay to him. 

Funnily enough what I love about golem is there is essentially no counterplay to him. It doesn't matter if you have serene countenance, can give me distracted, benefit from concealing, hand drain, black joker flip, etc, the grave golem's hurl corpse is going to put the corpse marker/candle in base contact with you.

The demise and forcing a bit of work from your opponent is icing on the cake for me.

So I may try out Archie + Bone Pile, since Archie can also Hurl Corpse. But my usual Reva list has 10 stones of keyword models, so she may stay shelved for the tournament xD

3 hours ago, ShinChan said:

Seamus would be tricky. The Emissary is mandatory with him, which leaves him with 5ss to spend in OOK models, which doesn't seem enough.

Funnily enough I'm starting to doubt that the Emissary is mandatory on him, but it really depends on the terrain. Although in general I just don't like the Emissary as much as other people do. I think 2/3 maps are a bit light on blocking terrain this time around. But yeah, his keyword is meh.

So I think you hit the nail on the head, everyone but Seamus and Reva should be fine (although my Molly lists will have to adapt, I think she'll be fine).

[Sagrit]

I'm planning to try Explorers on February tournament, but if i would go Ressers, i would say Kirai don't really care about those limits. OOK is usualy just Manos or Rider.

[Graf]

Yeah, only Seamus and Reva care about that. Every other master works well under these restrictions. There is a big difference between "only crew models" and "limited non-crew models".

I recommend thinking about our upgrades more. Killer Instince e.g. becomes more interesting when you don't have full access to all of our Ruthless models.

 

[Maniacal_cackle]

Just now, Graf said:

Yeah, only Seamus and Reva care about that. Every other master works well under these restrictions. There is a big difference between "only crew models" and "limited non-crew models".

I recommend thinking about our upgrades more. Killer Instince e.g. becomes more interesting when you don't have full access to all of our Ruthless models.

 

That's a good point! Although our ruthless models are a but subpar other than Rider at this point anyway? But is good if you don't want to snag rider.

Also a good way to get blasphemous ritual into keywords if needed/focus engines.

[Graf]

I was thinking mostly about Dead Rider and Bone Piles, yes. The later also because of Numbskull, but that we cannot simulate. Might make condition removal more important and directly eat into your 15pt pool (->Nurses), not allowing you take take any expensive versatiles/OOKs. 

 

I've recently played a lot against Pandora and limited my versatile/OOK pool voluntarily since my opponent has a limited collection atm. I think this explain where I'm coming from.

 

Edit: Man, I really should get back tk Vassal for Malifaux. I seem to miss a lot of chances to play the game without it in the current situation. 

[Maniacal_cackle]

11 minutes ago, Graf said:

Edit: Man, I really should get back tk Vassal for Malifaux. I seem to miss a lot of chances to play the game without it in the current situation. 

You should! I'm finding it a bit much since I'm also playing in person once a week, but it is still pretty awesome getting to play with people outside my meta.

[Maniacal_cackle]

30 minutes ago, Graf said:

I was thinking mostly about Dead Rider and Bone Piles, yes. The later also because of Numbskull, but that we cannot simulate. Might make condition removal more important and directly eat into your 15pt pool (->Nurses), not allowing you take take any expensive versatiles/OOKs. 

Nice thing about bone piles and nurses is they can be paired with almost any model in the faction. Other than the ~4 models that cost 10 or more, they can pair with anything!

I imagine Manos + Nurse for example will be a reasonable package.

[Davos]

I'm going Rezzers for this event (abandoning my true love Outcasts) and it feels like Daw & Kirai are both really well positioned for it.  In my hyper limited Rezzer experience,  both really dont need OOK models to function well

[Maniacal_cackle]

Thinking about Molly more, I almost never take her with only 15 stones of versatiles/OOKs.

So should definitely be an interesting challenge!

[Maniacal_cackle]

5 hours ago, Davos said:

I'm going Rezzers for this event (abandoning my true love Outcasts) and it feels like Daw & Kirai are both really well positioned for it.  In my hyper limited Rezzer experience,  both really dont need OOK models to function well

Welcome to the dark side

Any thoughts on which rounds for which masters?

[Davos]

9 minutes ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

Welcome to the dark side

Any thoughts on which rounds for which masters?

Lol thanks....I can feel my soul slipping away as I gain more playable models....

 

No idea, haven't even looked at the pools.  All I know is a need a change because I'm getting my ass handed to me as Outcasts.  And Tormented/Urami is the only stuff I own lol.  That being said, Daw for killy things and Kiria for schemy things?  

...idk.  I'm bad at this game

[Maniacal_cackle]

13 minutes ago, Davos said:

Lol thanks....I can feel my soul slipping away as I gain more playable models....

 

No idea, haven't even looked at the pools.  All I know is a need a change because I'm getting my ass handed to me as Outcasts.  And Tormented/Urami is the only stuff I own lol.  That being said, Daw for killy things and Kiria for schemy things?  

...idk.  I'm bad at this game

That sounds reasonable to me!

I don't know the crews very well either though xD

[Urbin]

Also, this rule makes stuff like condition removal harder to tech-pick, so I think this could be a great opportunity for McM to shine

[Maniacal_cackle]

6 minutes ago, Urbin said:

Also, this rule makes stuff like condition removal harder to tech-pick, so I think this could be a great opportunity for McM to shine

Oooooo, that is a great angle to consider. Which of our things are harder to tech against with these restrictions.

Seamus is also likely to be wayyyy stronger (but then he is also shackled with a good keyword, and you're really wanting a fantastic keyword for competitive play).

Reva is also a bit stronger, but same keyword problem.

Transmortis and Experimental seem best of both worlds? Less anti-tech, super solid keyword.

[Maniacal_cackle]

Won 4-2

Dead Rider was super, super good. The whole game came down to positioning, and being able to reap his Winston (Claim jumper) out of position and kill it secured the win for me.  He summoned two brocken spectres off Molly - I hadn't really considered how easily he could bypass serene countenance and still have double crows xD One of the Brockens I single activationed after it was summoned, so it was just a free point for me (with Dead Rider).

Crooligans served their usual purpose of scoring, although only one point each (martyrs and catch & release).

I was quite brutal with my card advantage so made his hand really work to land his hits.

BUT ALSO I HAVE TO SAY THE FIRST ATTACK OF THE GAME WAS HIM RED JOKER-ing ME TO SUMMON A BROCKEN!!! My masters continue their streak of getting joker-ed. But the rest of my flips that game were insane, so I was happy with it xD

Combat didn't start until the end of turn 2, as I just hung back. I figured the later the game went, the more likely I could just reap something out of position, and also do crooligan tricks to secure points. If I had had my way, nothing would have happened until turn 5 xD Most of the game I managed to keep most of my crew unengaged and hiding behind forests out of LOS.

[SEV]

16 hours ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

Won 4-2

So you're already playing the February tournament. I know that you're a bit ahead of schedule in NZ, but we're entering Dr. Who realm here 🤣

Congrats on the (January) win though.

[Maniacal_cackle]

4 hours ago, SEV said:

Si you're already playing the February tournament. I know that you're a bit ahead of schedule in NZ, but we're entering Dr. Who realm here 🤣

Congrats on the (January) win though.

Oh no, our NZ secrets are leaking!

[Maniacal_cackle]

I may end up sitting this one out. Having trouble keeping up with all the games and time zone differences, but will see how I feel after the break. I think I have til Feb 4 to sign up.

Really want to take Seamus into one of the rounds though xD

[Tales]

Schtook and Yan Lo are still power players here. I rarely ever take OOK models with Yan, and it's usually just the Rider for Schtook. Seamus definitely suffers, but I still maintain that his keyword is relatively fine. The only non-keyword model I think he 100% wants to bring is the Emissary. He can make due without the rest, although it does limit the pools I'd want to take him in a bit. Still, we should be fine overall as a keyword. We're blessed with a pretty strong stable.

[ShinChan]

On 1/23/2021 at 5:04 AM, Maniacal_cackle said:

I may end up sitting this one out. Having trouble keeping up with all the games and time zone differences, but will see how I feel after the break. I think I have til Feb 4 to sign up.

Really want to take Seamus into one of the rounds though xD

There are still 12 days until the beginning  Take it easy, you have plenty of time to rest and come back to have some international fun!

[Maniacal_cackle]

Just now, ShinChan said:

There are still 12 days until the beginning  Take it easy, you have plenty of time to rest and come back to have some international fun!

Yeah, will see how I go!

Plus February and March are very hot months here in NZ (optimal for lung health/I should be healthy enough to play)!

Plus this is such a cool set of rules, I'd be gutted to miss it. But will see, waiting til Feb to sign up.

[Maniacal_cackle]

5 hours ago, Tales said:

Schtook and Yan Lo are still power players here. I rarely ever take OOK models with Yan, and it's usually just the Rider for Schtook. Seamus definitely suffers, but I still maintain that his keyword is relatively fine. The only non-keyword model I think he 100% wants to bring is the Emissary. He can make due without the rest, although it does limit the pools I'd want to take him in a bit. Still, we should be fine overall as a keyword. We're blessed with a pretty strong stable.

Even Emissary I feel like is unnecessary on many maps (although unfortunately IS necessary on most of the February maps).

[Maniacal_cackle]

Signed up!