Who is your favourite title and why?

[Math Mathonwy]

Now that the titles have been out for a while - who is your favourite? Play experience and on paper speculation are both welcome!

My criteria for a successful title are

• Mechanically interesting and fun to play
• Equally powerful with the original version
• A different playstyle from the original that works in different situations
• Empowers new aspects of the keyword

Your criteria can be something else. And especially I can see the second one being different for different people - if the original version is very weak then it could be seen as a good thing for the title version to be significantly better. Especially since that would leave room for errata to fix the original. OTOH in the case of weak keywords it might mean that if the keyword gets "fixed" then the results might get too powerful - a difficult subject where several view points can be valid!

But to answer the original question - my favourite title is Zoraida. Her playstyle seems very versatile and a lot of fun. I feel that she is powerful but doesn't overshadow the original and offers a very different playstyle and her buffs can empower new Swampfiends. The original Zoraida loves superstar beaters while the new one prefers her keyword.

And she summons Effigies giving new life to many of them as well. Now, this is of course also somewhat problematic in that collecting all the stuff she can summon is silly expensive if you want the whole collection. I happened to have quite a good amount of Effigies courtesy of my Collodi force but will still be missing a couple but such is life, I guess.

But yeah, she seems like an ideal title to me. Who is your pick?

[SEV]

I didn't test all the NB titles yet but I love NB Dreamer.

His playstyle is quite different from regular Dreamer. He's less versatile in his crew building so you have to plan carefully (you need a lot of LD models). Playing with a second hand full of severe is just sooo sweet. Also being able to launch a Chompy missile in your oponent face is quite nice.

I'm a big fan of Lady Y as well. Her stat 7 wp attack is awesome. And she offers a nice package... Having 3 execute models (2 being hench) in keyword can be attractive in some matchup.

[Azahul]

I haven't even had a chance to put him on the table yet but Leveticus. Regular Leveticus bores me to tears. Five Riders of the apocalypse? Sign me up!

[Maniacal_cackle]

McMourning 2 is pretty up there. Simply by existing he makes McMourning 1 a lot more viable. My main complaint about McMourning 2 is that in some ways he makes McMourning 1 obsolete as a beater, since he hits harder and is more useful in the cagey early game...

Yan Lo 2 is super fun, but I'm not sure that his existence really enhances Yan Lo 1...

Seamus 2 seems like he likely enhances the existence of Seamus 1 (or is at least complemented by it), in that the type of crew you want to build for one or the other is quite different. But I think this is a bad way in some ways when you do it with a master as game-warping as Seamus.

Jack Daw 2 is also in the camp that he really enhances the viability of Jack Daw 1 and offers different solutions, so you can be more confident declaring Jack Daw into factions like Bayou it feels like.

So those 4 seem pretty solid in Ressers from what I can see so far.

Molly 2 is probably my biggest disappointment - I'm not sure what she really offers to the pre-game that Molly didn't already have... I guess she adds don't mind me which is nice in some situations.

[Azahul]

27 minutes ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

Seamus 2 seems like he likely enhances the existence of Seamus 1 (or is at least complemented by it), in that the type of crew you want to build for one or the other is quite different. But I think this is a bad way in some ways when you do it with a master as game-warping as Seamus.

I am curious about this match-up, it's not one I've got much experience with but it's probably the most cited example of the problems Titles can introduce in list building. The thing is I can't see much difference in how I would approach hiring into these two Masters. Maybe it's an Outcast thing. We've got zero Hard to Kill Take the Hit options, extremely minimal anti-shooting effects (Nothing Beast potentially having a Concealment Aura is the only thing I can think of and I'm certainly not hiring it just for that), and loading up on Henchmen and/or cheap Hard to Kill models in case of Seamus1 doesn't feel inherently problematic if my opponent reveals Seamus2. Do I just have a bad read on the match-up?

[Maniacal_cackle]

4 minutes ago, Azahul said:

I am curious about this match-up, it's not one I've got much experience with but it's probably the most cited example of the problems Titles can introduce in list building. The thing is I can't see much difference in how I would approach hiring into these two Masters. Maybe it's an Outcast thing. We've got zero Hard to Kill Take the Hit options, extremely minimal anti-shooting effects (Nothing Beast potentially having a Concealment Aura is the only thing I can think of and I'm certainly not hiring it just for that), and loading up on Henchmen and/or cheap Hard to Kill models in case of Seamus1 doesn't feel inherently problematic if my opponent reveals Seamus2. Do I just have a bad read on the match-up?

Seamus 2 is good at doing ping damage, and ping damage tends to be good against soulstones and hard to kill (not that hard to kill is actually a problem for seamus 1).

So against Seamus 1 you're likely to see a bunch of henchmen, and then Seamus 2 can abuse them with ping damage. Also while stone users can stone through distracted, he hands out so much that it overloads their stone potential.

Also doxies can end the activations of elite models, so you can tie them up pretty well as well.

I think there's some other factors, but so far it feels like a good complement.

EDIT: I should note that this is in theory. Every time I've played against an opponent so far with Seamus 2, they've ignored Seamus for list building as we were doing titles... So I feel like we'll have a more clear idea of this in a few months when people are expecting Seamus 1 again.

[Azahul]

3 minutes ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

Seamus 2 is good at doing ping damage, and ping damage tends to be good against soulstones and hard to kill (not that hard to kill is actually a problem for seamus 1).

So against Seamus 1 you're likely to see a bunch of henchmen, and then Seamus 2 can abuse them with ping damage. Also while stone users can stone through distracted, he hands out so much that it overloads their stone potential.

Also doxies can end the activations of elite models, so you can tie them up pretty well as well.

I think there's some other factors, but so far it feels like a good complement.

EDIT: I should note that this is in theory. Every time I've played against an opponent so far with Seamus 2, they've ignored Seamus for list building as we were doing titles... So I feel like we'll have a more clear idea of this in a few months when people are expecting Seamus 1 again.

I guess my presumption is that if I'm facing Seamus1 I'm less likely to want a bubbly crew because key models are going to just die, and if I'm not bubbling I'm not sure how fussed I am that a Seamus2 bubble can eviscerate models because I'm already not playing that game. If he's luring in and killing a model a turn and I built a crew hoping to score points while expecting to lose a model to Seamus each turn that doesn't feel enormously disruptive to the game plan.

 

But I admit with how poor the local Resurrectionist representation is here I am 100% talking from theory.

[Trample]

I haven't put many on the table yet, and those I have it's only been 1-2 times. Viks, Von Schill, Dashel, and Sonnia are the only ones I've tried. I want to like those that offer two varied playstyles like Dashel, Nekima, Seamus, and similar masters. The ones that can come at the game from a very different angle. Dashel and Nekima, for example, shift from beater to summoner depending on the title, which can (in theory) give you a lot of flexibility after keyword reveal. 

However, what I actually find myself liking are the masters that feel like they ought to have felt the first time around. Of those I've played I would put the Viks and Sonnia in this category, but others might include McMourning, Perdita, or Rasputina. Of those I've played, the Viks and Sonnia have the vibe they ought to in the games they play. The Viks are vicious as hell and actually stick around for a bit. You can toss them in there to wreak havoc in the manner that seems to live up to their billing. Sonnia now actually has some efficacy to her blasting, which is really cool. So it's most fun to see the masters that work the way you thought they ought to work. I really want to try the  Rasputina title. 

[Morgan Vening]

There's no choice for me. It's Zipp.

I'm not sure of how effective he's going to be, at a competitive level, or even as a casual one.

But from a purely RubeGoldbergian perspective, I love him. If he gets everything off, it's gonna be awesome (Distracted, Cutlass specials, drawing 4 cards), but there are significant fail points so it's a gamble. And with Gremlins, taking gambles is half the fun.

And from a thematic perspective, I love him more. I ABSOLUTELY will be spouting off Princess Bride quotes all game. Even if they kill Zipp and stop me from my Westley and Inigo* lines, I'll use other characters (Miracle Max, the Crone, Vizzini, Humperdink, Rugen), and make a complete hashup of everything.

Heck, Mancha will use Fezzik quotes as long as he's on the table (he got the comfortable mask Westley mentioned, and didn't even need a face burned by acid). If I could find a suitable sized Andre model, I'd absolutely proxy him in for that model.

* Might need to OOK Francois in, if I can find a suitable proxy for Inigo. Else Zipp does double duty on the movie quotes.

I'm gonna have a blast, win or lose. Probably lose, because I suck at this game. Does not matter.

[Regelridderen]

I’m looking at Pandora Tyrant-torn

Original Pandora was the least interesting model in her crew. Basically just a gun platform. New Dora looks as if she’ll take a much more active part in supporting her crew, while being able to summon thevpoltergeist will allow a much more reckless use of it - and make room for aversions.

Lucius is my second,

Again Lucius wasn’t the most interesting character to play - despite being quite powerful. But his dishonorable version will be out there, taking heads and chewing bubble gum while still manipulating his crew. 

[SEV]

20 minutes ago, Regelridderen said:

Original Pandora was the least interesting model in her crew. Basically just a gun platform

We must play Dora very differently than... She does so much more than her self-loathing attack! OG dora love to be in the thick of things to open the box and control activation order (a legit t1 play is x3 walk + box!). Her tactical actionsare amazing. Mysery/opportunist on all conditions give you a lot of plays.

New Dora is nice too but play a little more from the back. She give great support, but I miss her mysery and her activation control.

[Regelridderen]

2 hours ago, SEV said:

We must play Dora very differently than... She does so much more than her self-loathing attack! OG dora love to be in the thick of things to open the box and control activation order (a legit t1 play is x3 walk + box!). Her tactical actionsare amazing. Mysery/opportunist on all conditions give you a lot of plays.

New Dora is nice too but play a little more from the back. She give great support, but I miss her mysery and her activation control.

I’m gonna miss her Fears given form. And yes Mood Swings can be a game changed

[dannydb]

New toni 

 

She does so much good stuff and unlike her old model which could suffer from getting stuck in a rook the new ones brings more mobility and scheming power in exchange for a little bit of Killing power. 

 

She turns her crew up to 11 though especially Fitz giving psudo hard to wound and Amina having built in card draw on her push 

 

And we haven't even got to drudges who I love. I don't think you hire them but bring a union miner and you can easily summon 3 turn 1 ready for Amina to push stuff forwards and refill you hand with

[Durza]

Euripides, Euri1 is my favourite master and Euri2 is a big difference in playstyle. Plus who doesn't love Eye lasers.

[RisingPhoenix]

For my faction, Outcasts

The Good

Leveticus (Love) - Who can say no to riders?  Completely different playstyle and counters from Levi 1.0, this is probably the best title in the game.  This just enables so many cool things.   I love this concept and it is sweeeeeet.  

Tara (Love) - I like Tara.  Sadly Tara 1 was nerfed into oblivion (pun intended) and languished as mostly suboptimal/unplayable.  Tara 2 added some nasty teeth back into the crew.  And you don't need Aionus, who is HORRIBLE!  Freeing her from the shackles of a 10 soulstone tax model and giving her one of the nastiest surprises in the game is great.

Jack Daw (Like) - The anti-bubble Daw who doesn't die to ping damage!   Really designed to be a nuclear beatstick on a single bubble, and then probably die, he's amazing for that.  A bit of a one trick pony, but it's a good trick.

Hamlin (Like) - So he lost summoning and rat potential, but in turn replaced a lure with an Obey.  A really good Obey.  That can hand out Blight Tokens.  Very different playstyle.  Not sure how good he is, but I love the idea and it definitely makes your opponent wonder what will happen when you drop Hamlin.

The Bad

Viks - So OG Viks hit things with swords, but was 2 masters at once!  New Viks... is a standard master with a totem that hits things with swords.  Gee.  They're good, I don't know if they're better, but they're certainly not unique.  Not at all.  They feel like a generic "master".  I would have loved to see them play up the broken blade and tyrant aspect more.  Instead we got something that doesn't change Viks much at all.

Parker - One of my favorite crews, based around shooting and scheme markers.  New Parker got... scheme markers and shooting.  Gee. Slightly weaker gun, a noose action that moves a target 4" and does no damage (yay good master actions) and some marker removal that Mad Dog already had meaning he was the only crew in Outcasts that already had marker removal!  Blah. I would have loved to see a bounty hunting version of him that could remove markers to "hunt" people and then gun them down for bonuses.  Make him a real kill crew with some cool mechanics.  Instead we just got what we had but worse.  

Von Schill - A tanky beater that stands in front of his mostly ranged crew and fights, as well as handing out upgrades.  Quick, which VS did I describe?  I dunno.  Why are all my list of "the bad" just a slight variation on the existing master?  This one is so egregious.  Had they released this as VS 1.0, no one would have batted an eye.  He's supremely boring.  One of the two will end up being better and you'll always pick that one, because there isn't any meaningful difference in playstyle here.  At least Viks 1/2 has the two masters versus survivability, this is just sad.

The Ugly

Zipp - Zipp 1 is a great master!  Maybe someday they'll print a title card for him.  We can dream, right?  

[Da Git]

New Titania, just based on her artwork, she is by far the prettiest of the new masters.

Mechanics wise, there are a lot I like, but really, all hail to the Autumn Queen!