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So what exactly is Sandeep2s gameplan?


profdikweed

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3 hours ago, profdikweed said:

Like I know students of all is pretty big but I'm not seeing the macro of how he wins.

Interested in any experiences, example lists or even just really good dojo.

I've only played him a couple of times, but he seems to have some moves.

Picture this: it's flank and your opponent has no idea what they're up against (Disclaimer: I don't support gotchas). They've made a terrible mistake and put some of their models within 5" of each other. A Wind Gamin concentrates, moving the Banasuva up the board. Sandeep activates, using Student of All to make the Banasuva Toss him 10" up the board. He uses Aetheric Control to blast the entire enemy crew with a Shockwave 2, Mv13 duel or 2 damage and +2 burning, drawing a 2" pulse from the Pyre marker they're now all standing in. Next, Sandeep Concentrates (potentially using the trigger on his gun) which triggers his Demise using the Banasuva's aura which gives half the enemy crew Staggered. Then he does Aetheric Control again, and it is a Mv duel and a bunch of them are at -2 Mv. Then he upgrades a Gamin or gives himself Shielded or whatever.

Next, the enemy does something that hopefully doesn't scatter them to the winds. Then Banasuva goes, using Student of All to make Sandeep do the shockwave again (Bana'll be a bit further back and you have to draw range from him, so if he isn't close enough do something else, maybe drop a pillar in a choke point instead), then Banasuva obeys Sandeep to do the Shockwave again. When Sandeep needs to get out you can use a Wind Gamin to place him, or if he gets dived you can use Kandara's I've Got Your Back.

 

Other tips: don't actually hire a Wind Gamin. Hire two 4SS Gamins, turn one into a Wind Gamin using Cassandra (who you should also hire) to copy Sandeep's action, and then upgrade the other one with Sandeep. Other than that, you should only hire at most one academic who is not also an elemental. Kandara and the Banasuva are Academics, but they also get the Elemental synergy and aren't actively bad. Cassandra can copy Banasuva's obey as well, great hire.

The gist of it is that Sandeep + Banasuva + Free Toss = very high threat range with little reaction time. This particular threat is something like potentially 15-20"+ threat depending on how you rule the base size of his Pyre Markers. I'd recommend putting Soulstone Cache on the Banasuva by the way, this whole crew can fall apart without his demise aura and he hits hard enough (and often enough, 4 attacks a turn if he obeys himself) to potentially finish off things for the stones. You really want to be able to discard a card when you activate to make a Wind Gamin concentrate to place you within 4" using their demise, it's fun!

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Personally I find the golems work much better with Sandeep than they do with their own respective masters in most cases. There are so many pushes and "obey" type actions that means that you can really get a lot of AP worth from the big beaters.

Some other little tricks is to use Spark of the Elements combined with Moment of Reflection to give any golem built in suits but to mitigate the damage through shielded.

Basically Sandeep2 can supercharge these golems, ensuring they maximize AP efficiency. Feeding them markers, shielded, movement and AP before they've even activated is pretty potent. 

 

My biggest issue with both versions of Sandeep, but particularly so with Sandeep2 is finding the stones to hire both Academic and Elemental models. We have no access to cheap Academics unfortunately so it makes it tough finding a balance between the support crew (Academics) and the models that do the actual work (Elementals). You'll probably never want to take Vidiya Guard or Kudra as they're simply too expensive. 

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  • 2 months later...
On 7/11/2022 at 4:03 PM, 8wGremlin said:

@Jordon I'm a new player and I have Sandeep as my master, what would you suggest for a starting 50ss crew?
and any tricks and tips I should be running. (as Sandeep, and also as Font of Magic?) 

I should be facing Sonia Criid, Collette Du Bois, or  Rasputina thoughts?
 

Kandara and 1-2 wind gamin are my usual base line. The wind gamin are excellent for just about any scheme and it's rare I ever regret hiring them (hiring is much better than summoning to keep them effective as scheme/strat runners). Kandara is just amazing due to her having both keywords.

 Obviously if you face Raspy or Kaeris, then ice and fire gamin are pretty great counter summons as they can both remove their respective markers. 

My only main bit of advice would be to be very careful with Banasuva. His mantra is amazing and should be a priority threat for the opponent. Don't over commit him, keep him safe and he can really setup the rest of the crew. 

Some people hire Oxfordian Mages as a cheap magical training caddy. Personally I don't like them and I don't find the extra card is worth the "tax" of hiring a mage. I'd probably hire an Vidiya Guard over the Ox Mage but neither of them really impress me.

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  • 1 month later...

I've fought with Raspy, Reva (3 times) and got wiped out due to her burning shenanigans and the fact that she has Vincent St Clare?
Reva destroyed any Gamin, and her crew just healed, got really frustrated, as any burning on most of her crew was immediately turned into :+flip twists on every dual.
I couldn't keep up. 

Really could do with some advice on how to play Sandeep 1 & 2 as I'm obviously doing something wrong, as I could hardly compete with the synergy her team had. 
My Mantra's weren't cutting it as it affects elementals (or the model itself). I felt out gunned, out magiced, and our mantrad. it's either that, or Sandeep's could do with a buff.  

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51 minutes ago, 8wGremlin said:

I've fought with Raspy, Reva (3 times) and got wiped out due to her burning shenanigans and the fact that she has Vincent St Clare?
Reva destroyed any Gamin, and her crew just healed, got really frustrated, as any burning on most of her crew was immediately turned into :+flip twists on every dual.
I couldn't keep up. 

Really could do with some advice on how to play Sandeep 1 & 2 as I'm obviously doing something wrong, as I could hardly compete with the synergy her team had. 
My Mantra's weren't cutting it as it affects elementals (or the model itself). I felt out gunned, out magiced, and our mantrad. it's either that, or Sandeep's could do with a buff.  

I myself fought Reva (Luminary) yesterday with Dashel 2 and I feel your pain.  She's a tough nut to crack.

if you're finding gamin are getting killed too early, take a Golem (ideally you want both).  They won't take the damage from Burning, and the Golem can siphon Burning off annoying models (hello Lampad).  Both Gamin and Golem can mess with Pyre markers too (the Gamin is better here).  If you can get the Pyres off the table (or more than 6" away) from a Lampad, and the Golem can siphon the Burning it uses to protect itself, you've got a chance of taking out a really annoying model.

Oxfordian Mages may also be useful (take this with a pinch of salt as I have never actually used them).  The Healing Mantra will come in useful on the Golem (and possibly keep the Gamin alive a little longer), Elemental Bolt  can use its trigger to reduce Burning and switch it to Poison or Slow, and if you do get close, Counterspell should be really useful. 

 

Sadly the only advice I have for Vincent is don't summon until he's dead (and good luck with that!)

But yeah, its hard.  I have faced her a couple of times (both versions) and struggle to even compete, never mind beat her!

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