Avatar Kirai lists/stratss

[Toonook]

So I recently got Simulacrum 29 and Kirai's avatar, and am looking to possibly run both of them at the Australian GT in September. Games will be at 30ss and I'm at a bit of a loss how to build a 30ss crew that will maximize aKirai's output. Obviously crew is dependent on strats/schemes, but since I'm a much more confident McMourning player I will only likely bust out Kirai if I need a lot of movement shenanigans, which makes me think maybe aKirai might not even be of any use to me. Hit me up with some knowledge.

[Calmdown]

You're pretty much on the money. Everything she does, McMourning does better, unless you're talking about movement in which case her avatar is not what you should be spending SS on.

That said, she's had a damage buff which makes her a lot better than she was and I'd say her avatar is now viable for certain scheme, terrain and opponent combinations where you have to run her because you need the movement and you need a solid closer model that will end the game for you once its pretty much tied up.

[Fetid Strumpet]

I find that the book 2 masters usually are so tied into the synergy of what they do for their crew's that taking an avatar for any of them is more a fun rather than a mechanically good idea. That said I have slightly modified my initial opinion of Kirai's avatar.

In a tournament you really need to know your crew. You need to know how they operate, move, damage, and take damage in return. How they operate has to be almost second nature to you to have a really good shot at winning. So there can be something to be said for getting used to a master, and if that master is flexible enough, always using that master no matter what the strat.

If you were to do that, focusing on Kirai, then I definitely see a point to using her, as if Contain Power comes up it is the only way Kirai really has any hope of performing the killing blow. But other than that one instance I would never bring aKirai for mechanical advantage. She however can be fun to mess around with, and she is definitely a blast to paint.

[DeleteAccount]

I always take aKirai, aside from using the model, because it's job is to be insurance. What I mean with this is that you will have games with kirai where things will go south and the baby dragon factory is at a minimum. Normally, Kirai just keels over and dies without even a whimper, but in comes the avatar which gives you a very mobile brawler to give you one last big umph push to get $$$$$$$$ done. It's also insurance when you just don't have the cards in hand to make kirai sing, one of the best things about aKirai is she doesn't give a damn about what suits you are packing, so in a given turn where you feel you may have to bet a lot with kirai to get the desired results, you can instead to go with the flow and avatar.

Of course, always remember that Kirai is at her best when she can control the flow of the match through pinpoint summoning and mobility, basically, the moment you can't do this is when you switch to aKirai. Keep in mind that what I'm suggesting means that most times she will come out, it's because you are being pushed to the ropes or because you automanifested thanks to dominating the game.

Also, never bother making a list avatar friendly, to make the avatar really sing you are supposed to have a big entourage of smaller spirits like Gaki and Onryo, but in my personal experience, they tend to die quite a bit and summons are mostly used to bring Ikirio and shikome (even after cuddle) because you need that concentrated hate. I also have to state that I usually don't use Datsue Ba because she still hasn't clicked on me, so my smaller spirit generation is pretty light.

Anyway, best thing you can do is jam her in your lists and see if she gets things done. The errata to give her the strength she should have always had makes her quite a heavy hitter in a list that usually caps at 2/3/5 damage.