Ahoy hoy, gentle readers! It is with no shame that I will be totally copying Mr Totes by giving you a rundown of my choices for the Guild Ball Big League I’m playing in (massive thanks to Pistol Pete the Pundit for sorting the whole thing). I doubt I’ll go into as much detail but you should get an idea of why I pick certain players and indeed a few choice plot cards. This first part will be the four core players of my team that play in almost all my games. Part two will cover the other four in my tournament eight, what roles they have and my reasons for switching people out.
Let’s begin with my captain, Smoke. I was first told to play her as everyone seems to hate Midas for some reason. I know he’s good but at least he’s not Obulous, right? In truth, as I’ve started to use her on the pitch she’s turned out to be loads of fun. Her AOE tricks are really useful for getting (and keeping) conditions on players and her “Cloud Jumper” trait is just wonderful. Being able to move anywhere without parting blows is awesome. You can use it to bypass “Unpredictable Movement” of course but her playbook means she won’t be doing much once she gets there. Her TAC is only 4 with a tackle on two hits so she’s not great at getting the ball (without a charge) but a Pass’n’Move can get her away ready to score from up to 17 1/2″. You can remove conditions but goals abound when Smoke’s in play.
Next up we have the mascot, Flask. No huge reason for this apart from the extra Inf it gives to Mercury. Although I never complain when a random charge creates a double Intensify.
As vice-captain, Calculus. No huge surprise here. Noxious Blast and Blind are both useful and she’s got pretty average stats all round. Plus, Smoke would miss her if she wasn’t around (read the fluff). Poison is literally the slow killer, if people forget about it they can get into trouble. There are plenty of synergies in the Alchemist team that I’ll go into later. Blind tends to be saved for a threat on goal. A -2/2″ Kick is very unpleasant for a striker.
Mercury is my next choice. He seems a bit marmitey to some. I think he’s solid. TAC 4 with a tackle on one hit and a 4/6″ Kick makes him a great midfielder. Usually with a pass out to Smoke as he hopes to be in 4″ of her anyway to get access to Momentous Inspiration. Fire Blast is pretty underrated too. Sure, Burning is only one health point per turn but -2″/2″ Move is a stinker (combine with Blind for even more fun). Also when combined with Noxious Blast you can be doing four damage in the turn (plus attacks) with another three in the maintenance phase. Unless they spend one of their valuable momentum points to get rid of it (did I mention yet how I hate Hemlock).
Pert two will be coming soon and I’ll give you the rundown on the other half of my team. Some choices will be expected, others not so much. Let me know in the comments who you’d expand this team with.
Until next time gentle readers.
TheBattlehammer 