A new Youko owner, list advice?

[belorey]

So inrecently purchase a Youko core box and i would like to know which box/models in keyword or ook i should get now.

The only two i'm sure about are Hinamatsu and Fuhatsu.

With time i will buy full keyword, but first i would like to get her best options.

[Jinn]

14 minutes ago, belorey said:

So inrecently purchase a Youko core box and i would like to know which box/models in keyword or ook i should get now.

The only two i'm sure about are Hinamatsu and Fuhatsu.

With time i will buy full keyword, but first i would like to get her best options.

Charm Warders are a must have. They allow you to potentially fully discard your opponent's hand, and are great besides that as well with Lantern of Souls, and Chi.

I think Kabuki Warriors are good, but they come with Bunraku which are not great. Kunoichi are a decent alternative if you're facing an opponent with limited ways of removing distracted so their unexpected ferocity trigger hits hard.

[thewrathchilde]

so at the risk of sounding cliche..... building her crew depends on what you are trying to accomplish which is dictated by your overall strategy and the type of game you are playing her into. 

In her box you get her, Bill and the Geisha. Then if you are trying to stay in keyword initially you are choosing between Deadly Performance (Kabuki & Bunraku), Charm Warders, Kunoichi, and Hinamatsu. If you order direct you can get Kabuki Warriors without the Bunraku but eventually you might want them too so might be better getting the whole box or waiting. 

If I look at the above options I second the opinion of @Jinn and think the Charm Warders would be my first pick. They bring the greatest utility/flexibility for a range of games. They are one of the few boxes I would field all of in a game too- I like the Kunoichi but would probably never field 3 at a time. Most of the time 1 x Kunoichi makes my Youko lists but I think I MAY have fielded two only once. After that I would probably go with Hinamatsu....I don't like him unless I have a little healing in the crew as well. If you are taking him in tandem with Bill then go for it. If it is one or the other I would prioritize him differently. 

I am a true believer of Fuhatsu and have fielded him in almost every Ten Thunders crew at some point but would only recommend him if you can get the alt or pick him up as an M2E single....the Lords of War box is not worth it because you will rarely field even 1 x Brother and never use more than that. I would prioritize the Kabuki & Bunraku lower as well. They would be my last pick....sure you can do stuff with them- (-) flips to WP duels, etc.....but for their cost it is really hard for me to fit them into a crew- often times I am picking between one of them and Bill, or Fuhatsu, or a Lone Swordsman- and most of the time they don't make the cut at that cost. 

Something else to consider is the Silent Strike box- I get mileage out of the Lone Swordsman and a Samurai with her too. There is some risk in diluting your composition where you aren't getting many pass tokens but typically 2-3 is all you need to ensure you can get the last activation if needed. Both Samurai and the Lone Swordsman are pretty self sufficient and don't require a lot of resources or support (maybe a little healing on the Lone Swordsman once or twice) which Youko likes cause it preserves your resources for other models. 

 

Typically all my Youko lists  have at least 1 x Charm Warder and 2 x Geisha.....those really the only constants which gives you a lot of room to play. Then there are two different directions I go....either 3 x big models to fight and stall the opponent trying to capitalize off Youko's ability to create advantages (Bill/Hinamatsu/Fuhatsu/Lone Swordsman) and then a Tanuki (previous to errata) or Low River Monk for more healing. The other direction is more spammy where I take pretty much all small models 2 x Charm Warders, 2-3 Geisha, Kunoichi, etc where I just try to avoid, out position the opponent. I have also run that version with McCabe and Luna in the crew and it worked pretty well in a scheme heavy game.

 

My biggest problem with Youko (even still) is when I play her it is because I WANT to play her; it is never because I need to play her. Theoretically I like her in Turf War (pull models to where you want to kill them) and Ley Lines (pull models away from the Ley Lines) but in both of them I like some of our other masters even better. 

[Jinn]

I'd probably only recommend this if you're planning on branching out into McCabe eventually, but somewhere down the line the Hucksters/Desper box might be worth it. They're all premium scheme runners (which is what Youko desperately lacks) and they have a little bit of synergy with Youko. Hucksters have the Shady Dealings trigger on their melee and have manipulative (which is nice with Distracted spam) and Desper can steal stones and give stunned to finish shutting down enemy models in ways Youko can't. Mainly it's the Hucksters and their scheming capabilities you'd be after though.

These guys would help you complete the schemes/strats Youko might struggle with, like Symbols of Authority and Breakthrough.

[Vessien]

As a good self-suficient scheme runner, consider getting the Dawn Serpent. It is also cheaper to get since it comes on its own box.

As for keyword models, I agree what was has been said. Charm Warders are a must and Hinamatsu is great and surgically removes key enemies.

The "issue" with the rest of them is that TT's versatiles are quite strong. You may want to field them in certain situations but not always.

[belorey]

Thanks a lot. You help me to know which i should pick first. I'm a McCable player (it's the fiest crew i bought) so i'm Happy to know i can play some wastrel models with Youko too.

I have 1 samurai so i will try to get an m2e box Lone Swordman. And i Will defitely go for Charmander © 🤣

[thewrathchilde]

4 hours ago, belorey said:

I'm a McCable player (it's the fiest crew i bought) so i'm Happy to know i can play some wastrel models with Youko too.

typically though the best Wastrels with Youko are probably just McCabe and Luna. Being able to cycle upgrades across the Qi and Gong crew which are mostly minions anyway significantly helps make up for the movement/action deficit in the crew.... fast Kunoichi and Bunraku or Geisha actually make decent scheme runners and fast Charm Warders or Kabuki Warriors are something to fear. 

 

Where I disagree with @Jinn is on the Hucksters. I love Hucksters in McCabe and will take them OOK if I have to in order to get a specific set of schemes done but my limited experience is just taking McCabe lets the crew scheme run more efficiently and he brings a lot of good tools to the crew. Either way probably works- I just have gotten good mileage out of McCabe himself. Obviously if you are in an area where you can't take second masters then taking scheme runners is the option available....Bunraku do pretty good as scheme runners too especially if you have any healing to top them off periodically. 

[Morgan Vening]

On 5/17/2021 at 3:08 AM, thewrathchilde said:

typically though the best Wastrels with Youko are probably just McCabe and Luna. Being able to cycle upgrades across the Qi and Gong crew which are mostly minions anyway significantly helps make up for the movement/action deficit in the crew.... fast Kunoichi and Bunraku or Geisha actually make decent scheme runners and fast Charm Warders or Kabuki Warriors are something to fear. 

Oooh, I like this! Blade is a fairly obvious option, but Mask given the situationality of the Kabuki's own bonus action, looks like a good one too.

[NoisyAssassin]

Do you still feel like McCabe and Luna are worth taking OOK after the errata? 

[thewrathchilde]

1 hour ago, NoisyAssassin said:

Do you still feel like McCabe and Luna are worth taking OOK after the errata? 

I think so....he isn't doing as much in terms of damage output and duels but he is still enabling another minion heavy crew and running schemes, etc.

You still get the Luna Scrap/Artifact machine and Luna is doing it more cost effectively with lower cards. This is really powerful in a Youko crew where most of her keyword models are minions and the bulk of your crew is likely able to benefit from the additional AP to make up on scheme runners and increase their output in other areas. McCabe himself can still taxi Youko or another model first turn, add to the control with Slow & Staggered from his gun which in tandem with Youko handing out distracted....