- Therion Black Crusade League Champion
- Alex, Canada champion
- Eu8L1ch veteran reviewer.
Agnok
His ability seems pretty solid, especially the fact that he can't be choked. The choice between resources or cards is pretty useful. With the kroots' unit already giving resources he opens up a lot of combos.
The ability pretty much guarantees that you'll be able to have some sort of economy, assuming you're running kroot. The fact that you will always be able to access a certain amount of cards and resources certainly opens him up for interesting deckbuilding. The one downside is that many of the kroot printed so far aren't exactly great, but with this kind of static effect they become reasonable.
The ability is very interesting since, as long as you play many Kroots, you can ensure yourself a steady flow of cards/resources regardless of what your enemy is doing.
Despite the sig squad being good, the other Kroot cards we have right now are rather underwhelming so I'm not sure the ability will be enough to offset it: the problem with them is not just their lack of command icons.
Agnok's Shadows
That’s a fat unit! But just as a signature unit should be. The ability is tricky to use thus.
These definitely give the impression of a guerilla warrior, and have OK stats. Playing around them at first will definitely be tricky... they do seem to have a much larger impact in games without enormous opposition though.
Interesting card. The lack of a command icon is mitigated by the Warlord's ability of course, but not reaching the 3 attack mark even without having command and being subject to 2-cost hate is a serious issue, especially considering their ability is not always useful.
Behind Enemy Lines
A nasty double whammy. VERY scary with the krootox that just got printed! If you float enough resources you can ambush and easily bloody a warlord
I have to say I greatly overrated Surprise Assault - which is similiar in a few ways - when it was first spoiled, probably because I overlooked the significant restrictions. This card however is a lot easier to play, synergises with the Kroot theme and has a powerful effect: in fact, I think granting Tau (or anyone, actually) access to such easy and effective exhausting might be a tad too much.
Vanguard Pack
Here we have a Syren for a 0 cost. Seems pretty solid. It also feature this "win resources out of command" theme. Exhaust a unit and even gain 1 resource for 0 is nice.
A very good card which can cheaply help establish a victory at a planet if your opponent still needs to deploy units to it. Kind of interesting that it 'helps' win command though, but even with your wl ability winning command will almost always be better than not.
A very efficient card, and another form of exhaustion. Albeit restricted in a few ways, it's still very good for pitched battles, especially against decks playing fewer and stronger units. It will net you a gain over your opponent in almost every situation, and that's more than enough in my book.
Evolutionary Adaptation
Fluffy as hell. It’s very circumstantial but at that cost it’s a sweet option.
Very situational. Obviously insane with a Vicious Bloodletter in your opponen'ts discard but otherwise it will mostly be a deploy stall
Nothing to write home about. The effect is too limited and conditional: you need to kill a unit that possesses a nice keyword before you can use that, and the unit must come from your opponent's deck - and then you have to remove it. The only keyword I consider good enough for all this to be worth it is AoE 2+.
Trapped Objective
The "Forced" trigger soften the impact of this card. It's useful if your opponent really needs to commit somewhere obvious, otherwise it's only good to narrow his options a bit.
It's interesting in that it cycles, and makes committing to a given planet a little inconvenient for your opponent. Not sure what kind of list wants this option necessarily though. It seems designed for Ragnar but I don't know enough about Ragnar lists at this point in time to say if this would warrant an inclusion.
Way too many restrictions for an effect that's just moderately useful, since even a single 2-shield negates it. The card replaces itself, but only if you meet its condition which is far from granted, and does so with a delay..
Pinning Razorback
To disrupt the "battle plan" of your opponent is always an intriguing option, so this power is nice. On the other hand a 2/5 for 4 Cost with only 1 command makes it hard to fit in a deck. I guess that makes it pretty alright with Gorzod.
Another vehicle that will probably be reserved for use by Gorzod exclusively... it might also be interesting in Maksim as well. The ability doesn't seem that strong in large engagements (unless your opponent only has one heavy hitter) but it can steal a combat turn if your opponent only has one unit at the planet, if I have read it correctly.
It has potential, but it's heavily matchup-dependent: for Tau and 'Nids, which both lack removal and tend to have fewer and bigger units, it's a nightmare, but it needed more oomph to be worth it considering it's in the cursed 4-cost slot.
Catashan Devil Patrol
Strong. One of the two stars of this pack (along with Runt to the Front). With Straken sig event + Noble deeds + Run to the front, we've got a hell of a beast here!
A very strong card no doubt. This side of the alignment wheel gets another ambush style trick, and this one as a very strong ability when it enters play (for the cost). Won't be surprised if this makes it way into all kinds of lists.
It almost has ambush and a useful ability. Not spectacular but very solid.
Siege Regiment Manticore
There are most certainly combos to do with this. Not OP since it needs a battle at the adjacent planet, and the exhaust limits the power. Your opponent can chase it but with Starblaze...
A very strange card to position. I feel like it will also be the most feared when it is included in a Gorzod list. I'm not too sure I like the cost in other lists, since at 4 you are competing with Griffon Escort, Sister Allegra, and Scion Strike Force.
Flavorful card and a fun one to play, but it needs too much setup: the fact it can't properly defend on its own despite means you need to deploy on a planet you have already "fortified", but then you're investing additional 4 resources into it, which would've probably been spent more wisely to contest another planet.
Noble Shining Spears
0 ATK for a 4 cost is costly. In some situations it will not be able to do anything except command, for a 4 cost...
I'm not too sure this card is worth the cost, especially compared to a Wildrider Squadron, for example. It does interact very well with the Clash of Wings event from this pack though, so that may be something to consider, although maybe only if you are planning on playing Baharroth.
I understand movement effects have probably gotten out of hand in the current meta (see Calibration Error below) but for as long as Wildriders and Vypers stay in their current form this is not going to see play.
Clash Of Wings
Baharroth comes to mind, but not exclusively. Used wisely it may turn the tables on a key-battle. It can also be used to punch some nasty flyers (Hello Heldrake ;))
A strong event at 1, this can definitely swing the tide of battle in your favor, especially given the rather large HP of eldar non-vyper mobile units. As mentioned earlier, it also seems very strong if you have a Noble Shining Spears in play, since your mobile units will be taking half-damage, rounded down. Even though the vyper has low hp for its cost, this event still interacts quite well with it when used for the offensive merits of having flying!
Particularly nice for Baharroth, I'm not sure a full-mobile deck is currently viable but this might be its best trick up the sleeve.
Strangleweb Termagant
For 1 cost it's a nice little command unit that can hinder opponent moves. (Who said Eldar?)
Nids really don't have too many command units, so having another 1 hammer at 1 cost is a boon. The effect is very nice as well, since it can block teleportarium shenanigans, among other things (until they get massacred by a marauding warlord, I would presume)
In my opinion, 'Nids don't need 1-for-1s that much: what they do need are more efficient cards to win fights. Still, there's nothing wrong with this card, especially since movement effects can be almost impossible to play against for 'Nids, which have very few ways to shift combat math.
Rain Of Mycetic Spore
It seems strong. First it can infest multiple planets, but more importantly the card can't be removed (except by a few events) until it reaches the first planet. Let's hope it can help tyranid players to infest without being forced to invest too many cards while deckbuilding to make it viable.
This card seems like it wants to make the infestation of planets a lot more certain in nids decks, which can only be a good thing for nids players who are trying to balance the effects which need infestation vs. those that infest in their lists. It's pretty innocuous, but definitely something that will provide quite a boost.
Great card, I really like it - this should've been included in the Great Devourer, as it's both very useful and flavorful. In particular, Infestation decks aren't viable right now: they either end up being completely inconsistent or very weak due to the fact you need both cards that profit from infestation and cards that generate it - this does both.
Runts To The Front
Very solid. Not only in Ork but also Astra, again disrupting enemy "battleplan" is a key to victory. Straken definitly can use this.
I love the fluff of this card! It's actually pretty strong too... and makes snotling attack a much more appealing card
Pseudo-exhaustion trick, very similiar to Suppressive Fire in its end results and possibly stronger in a few situations (since it consumes an opponent's combat round). For Zogwort this is a 5.
Everlasting Rage
Some love for Khorne (instead of blood). Heal + dmg, fortunately it cost 2 or it would have been broken. Seems well balanced as it is. Nice also with Baar'zul signature unit.
This is 1/5 outside Ba'ar Zul and 4/5 within the deck. The ability to boost for 3-4 on the next attack can make a huge difference, especially given that most of your khorne units will be hitting pretty hard to begin with. The healing allows your warlord to stay alive even longer, which can only be a good thing when you plan on getting him bloodied!
Very interesting card for Ba'ar Zul, but just for him, since otherwise it'd be difficult for X to have a significant value - especially considering it's not cheap.
Ragging Deamonhost
To me this is the hidden OP card of this pack. Costly at first glance, but I see a lot of combos coming with this "thing" on weenies decks. (not the main Chaos deckbuilding nowaday which is cool)
The card is very good if you can somehow get it to die before every other non-daemon, non-vehicle at the planet. Usually though, I feel that it will be killed off last, meaning that it is similar to honored librarian except that it is a 3/3 for 4. It is a cultist though, so some plays will be possible off of that alone.
Love the flavour, but it's too easy to ignore this until it's one of the last units at the planet: a vanilla 3/3 for 4 is way too weak, so I fear the tempo hit might be too much.
Catatonic Pain
Moving your opponent is always nice. I guess I'm not totally sure an Urien deck could find room for this though. Maybe in a full Torture/event deck to max out with other effects.
This is a meta card - if you expect lots of elites it can be a very powerful play, especially for 2 out of an Urien deck. The card is a net loss in terms of card advantage and resources though, so the temporary gains you get off of it must be large in order to account for the loss. Not sure this is great at 3 resources unless youre moving something quite expensive.Probably a 3.5/5 in an Urien list.
It's very expensive but the effect is potentially very powerful. Largely depends on what your opponent is playing, and is of course better in Urien.
Replicating Scarabs
A small step up for the Illuminator. A cycling heal is always good. 3 HP increases its chances to survive and it's a cheap target.
Does not seem particularly powerful - it cannot take command and in combat it can either strike for one or repair for one on your end (albeit at the speed of a combat action). Might be worth considering for the stream of resources it can generate in Szeras though.
If they had a command icon, sure. As it stands, they're not going to do much, not even in Szeras.
Ghost Ark Of Orican
A bit too "combo", hence the 3/5 mark. The idea of cascading from Lychguard to a 2-cost soldier is hilarious, as long as your little vehicle survives. Also it's nice to see vehicles coming for the Quantum Shielding.
A strong card. It must go down first. It can be brought back with ressurection orb. The Lychguard which may be protecting it is a soldier, at least that can guarantee a trigger. It makes you consider the use of quantum shielding. It's interesting to note that having lots of low cost soldiers in your discard pile could mean that you are protected against AoE to a degree as well. The main problem I see is that the 4 drop slot will be very clogged if you want this unit + some soldiers + some spyders.
Limited by trait synergy and being a 4-coster end up making it quite unimpressive.
Of course you can try to use it to draw fire while putting your Quantum Shieldings and damage removal effects to good use, but it requires too many pieces to be effective and doesn't protect your Warlord.
CALIBRATION ERROR
A card that will hurt a few current meta star units (Vyper, Fiend) and supports (Corrupted Telep). It's a bit situational (it may be totally useless against some decks) but it fits in current meta. We'll see...
A very meta-dependent card. Against certain lists this card will grant you a huge advantage that is difficult to play around entirely. Against others it will do literally nothing (unless they trigger Plaanum I guess). Seems like a great neutral card to me, although it can make Kith even more efficient at beating elite lists, which is worrisome.
It's a hard counter in a game with no searching effects: this means that unless you get lucky with your matchups it's going to clog your hand quite often and might not show up when you do need it - and even then it's not game-deciding.