Nexus: An NPE like no other

[Maniacal_cackle]

7 minutes ago, Math Mathonwy said:

Why is seemingly no one playing Nexus in the Vassal worlds, btw? Was there a gentleman's agreement to not run Nexus or is it just coincidence that no one seems to be using her or is it that she isn't considered all that anymore for a competitive environment?

It is possible no one considers cadmus good for a competitive environment (particulary with timed games?) with the summon changes.

Or people could just be wanting to do something different. I know several of the players still think Cadmus is insane.

Any thoughts @Plaag, why no Cadmus?

[santaclaws01]

9 hours ago, Math Mathonwy said:

Why is seemingly no one playing Nexus in the Vassal worlds, btw? Was there a gentleman's agreement to not run Nexus or is it just coincidence that no one seems to be using her or is it that she isn't considered all that anymore for a competitive environment?

A lot of it is that gg1 was a perfect playground for Cadmus. It encouraged close brawls a lot whereas gg2 doesn't. That combined with the summon changes means eyes and ears/berserker husks that have been summoned are a lot less important for your opponent to kill as they can't threaten strategy markers anymore, leaving the opponent more free to try and focus on the bigger guys.

Another reason is that of the really successful Cadmus players leading up the worlds, only Longtin actually stuck with explorer's where the rest of us went back to our main factions. As for it not happening in r1, Cadmus isn't the biggest fan of corner to start with, and then it being btl as well is rough, especially against Bayou where you have to worry about Zipp.

[Plaag]

19 hours ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

It is possible no one considers cadmus good for a competitive environment (particulary with timed games?) with the summon changes.

Or people could just be wanting to do something different. I know several of the players still think Cadmus is insane.

Any thoughts @Plaag, why no Cadmus?

cadmus is too easy

people just give a chance to win not again cadmus)

[santaclaws01]

3 Masters let's gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Nathan Sells]

A truly excellent name for a leaked box. But it looks dope!

[AverageGatsby]

Can Nexus use exoskeletal connection through the target? So, drawing range snd los from say Meredith, and targeting Meredith to drop a web and presumably Meredith would stay put?

[ShinChan]

I just played a game yesterday vs Nexus. I confirm he/she/it is still a NPE. So many E&E, so much healing, parasites everywhere, card draw, body count, activation control...

My opponent was playing a generic list and I even tailored mine to "counter" Nexus, didn't matter much. I honestly won because of some lucky flips and my opponent's misplays (not that I didn't make any).

[Pallas4]

On 8/21/2021 at 9:06 PM, AverageGatsby said:

Can Nexus use exoskeletal connection through the target? So, drawing range snd los from say Meredith, and targeting Meredith to drop a web and presumably Meredith would stay put?

I never thought about that... but... yes.

Models are always on their LOS. And models can't target themselves with an attack action.

But it's Nexus who attacks, not Meredith.

[Adran]

On 8/21/2021 at 8:06 PM, AverageGatsby said:

Can Nexus use exoskeletal connection through the target? So, drawing range snd los from say Meredith, and targeting Meredith to drop a web and presumably Meredith would stay put?

Yes, this is what would happen as you can't place a model in base contact with itself. 

[Erik1978]

On 2/28/2021 at 4:45 PM, Math Mathonwy said:

Cadmus seems to have by far the highest win percentage out of keywords that have been played more than two times. Or am I misreading the data somehow?

Apart from Explorers being a new faction people need to adjust playstyle against, Cadmus is so different from everything else that people probably need more games before they know how to play against them. That said, I think a few adjustments to Cadmus would be in order. 

I'm reluctant to play them at the tournament next month, I'd hate to be that guy bringing people frustrating games. I do like the crew through. The totem models are so cool.

[Plaag]

1 hour ago, Erik1978 said:

Apart from Explorers being a new faction people need to adjust playstyle against, Cadmus is so different from everything else that people probably need more games before they know how to play against them. That said, I think a few adjustments to Cadmus would be in order. 

I'm reluctant to play them at the tournament next month, I'd hate to be that guy bringing people frustrating games. I do like the crew through. The totem models are so cool.

cadmus is very broken, it is so easy to play with it while your opponent suffering

[GrumpyGrandpa]

45 minutes ago, Erik1978 said:

Apart from Explorers being a new faction people need to adjust playstyle against, Cadmus is so different from everything else that people probably need more games before they know how to play against them. That said, I think a few adjustments to Cadmus would be in order. 

I'm reluctant to play them at the tournament next month, I'd hate to be that guy bringing people frustrating games. I do like the crew through. The totem models are so cool.

From what I've seen, most people seem to agree that the issues with this keyword is beyond "Just learn to play against them". Hell, this is a 23-page thread dedicated to that subject 😅

Do you have much experience with them, and how would you yourself counter them?

[Erik1978]

I played 1 game against them in the beta, which probably doesn't count for much, I've played them 3 times. First was a draw, then 2 wins.

I haven't used Emissary but I can see why that kind of breaks the mold in terms of durability.

I would (if you can't play Hamelin), go for a lot of ranged blasts. Like Fuhatsu.

Terrifying will prevent a lot of attacks from Shambling Nests and Eyes & Ears. I know Husks don't care but most of my parasites have come from Nests, except when I played against Yan Lo and they were afraid of everyone.

Asami summoning Obsidian Oni bombs. One of those can nuke a batch of ears and take some chunks out of an important model too, with a bit of luck.

As several have said: kill Nexus, Archivist, and Meredith. Ofc that's easier said than done if Emissary is standing there. 

Cadmus RULES the center of the table, so if schemes/strat allows it: go for the flanks. It's not a fast crew, apart from Spider, which I always take for the mobility the others don't have.

I wish we had more time with the explorers beta but time will always be an issue if they want to stay alive as a company, which is fair since they've made the best game in the world. Just don't pull a M2E Sandeep and let them win tournaments for 2 years before Wyrd finally nerfs them.

[Maniacal_cackle]

8 hours ago, GrumpyGrandpa said:

From what I've seen, most people seem to agree that the issues with this keyword is beyond "Just learn to play against them". Hell, this is a 23-page thread dedicated to that subject 😅

Do you have much experience with them, and how would you yourself counter them?

One method that is working for a lot of tournaments is to limit time for rounds.

If you only get 2.5 hours to 3 hours, the Cadmus players may just register something else

But more seriously, there appears to be some things you can do (I managed to tie the first and only Cadmus player I faced, but he was still learning). I think in particular recognising you can't win a brawl against Cadmus, so figuring out how to win a game without a brawl. One issue is that the GGs have become more and more brawl-oriented than GG0 imo.

EDIT: Apparently I lost a game that I deleted from my memory.

[Erik1978]

Oh, I forgot one thing you could try:

Shenlong can both push Emissary away from the others, and win the important duels with Chi, that's also a weapon against the bubble.

Afterwards, Fuhatsu (or if you are cool like me: Miss Guided) will blast away at Nexus/Meredith/Archivist.

Some Archers could also due good damage and with blast.