TheBattlehammer

As we all know there are changes afoot in the world of Guildball with there being a power adjustment on the horizon. It also looks like it will most probably be at Steamycon were we see these changes drop. On the recent podcast from Flock and Awe Matt his good self, dropped a couple of juicy nuggets regarding some of the changes we can expect. Therefore, I thought I would take a moment to have a run through some of the players who I think we may see changes to or at least the ones I would like to, let’s call it my “Wish list”. As Matt said on the podcast they want to make it so that all the players are an option to take and that they are taken for their abilities not just to feed influence to the rest of the team for example. So to start with let’s look at the players he specifically mentioned on the podcast…

Harry

He dropped quite a lot about Harry and so rather than me just reprinting it here I suggest you go listen to it yourselves as it was quite interesting. One point I did think was interesting was in reference to the change in the way “Inspiring hat” works. It sounds like other team mates will be able to use teamwork momentous abilities without spending a point of momentum. Now this sounds bonkers good. Especially if you have the plot card “one touch football”. The other comment that was interesting was that it may not work in the same way for other teams, therefore I suspect this may mean it is friendly guild only. Which does follow the recent trend in making abilities work this way. My other guess would be that one of the momentous results on his first 4 columns will be a KD, probably on column 4. The last thing I think will also change is I suspect he will go to either 2/3 or 2/4 influence. It’s a common issue with several players on this list in that they aren’t bad per say. But in a game where influence is pretty key not bringing 2 is a hard sell.

Graves

Ok so we know he is losing “Scything blow” and gaining “tooled up” absolutely stoked with that especially as we know tooled up is changing to Friendly guild only it helps out with the loss from Rage. It also makes me wonder if other guilds that have access to “tooled up” from Rage will be getting it on one of their existing players or a season 3 player?? Butchers already have it from Meathook (more on her in a bit), Brewers get it from Spigot so that leaves Engineers. This change actually surprised me a bit as the one I would like to see and in fairness Matt didn’t say either way if it is or isn’t happening, would be his influence to change to 2/3 or 2/4. In the Morticians guild there are a lot of models that only bring 1 influence and yes I know Silence brings 3 at present (wouldn’t be surprised if this dropped to 2) but I don’t tend to play him all the time. Therefore, bringing Ghast, Casket and Graves at the moment just doesn’t work. I genuinely think his influence stat of 1 is the main reason we don’t see #playgraves2016. For me he is awesome and has featured in the majority of my games.

Minx

When Matt mentioned that Minx was getting changes it was this that really got me started on thinking who else would be changed. In her current state I already like Minx. Her model is awesome and she is great at momentum generation and really really fast. However, she still doesn’t get much table time unless it is to give her influence to other players it seems. I have always felt that a dodge a bit lower down her playbook would really help out. The 3 damage and double dodge is a beautiful option but even on the charge it is a big ask to get 5 successes out of 9. Also I think if her kick stat was changed to 3/6 instead of 2/6 it would really make her a strong option. Especially in Union where a lot of the time she is being kept out by Hemlock, Gutter or Decimate who are all 3/6 kick.

So there are the players we know are getting changes from the Flock and awe podcast now onto some wild and rampant speculation.

Alchemists

Katalyst

The man himself Parky does use Katalyst occasionally and sometimes he has success with him, but I think in general he struggles to get in ahead of other stronger options. With Vet Katalyst on the horizon I would guess there will be a change too regular Katalyst as I just can’t see him ever getting in ahead of the vet version. Maybe make his KD momentous or move it down the playbook a bit along with giving him a momentous push on 1 success. Just something that makes his playbook not so meh.. maybe there is the potential to give him an ability like the “Regenerate” that Boar has.

Midas

Remove him from the game. Failing that I feel there needs to definitely be a change here because playing against him is just so rage inducing. However, I do think it’s interesting that I haven’t actually seen him at a tournament recently with Smoke definitely being the go to captain for the Alchemists round are way. Something needs to change with regards to either how “true replication” works or where the GB symbols are on his playbook. As it stands I shouldn’t have to base my team selection around what I can and can’t let Midas have. Perhaps also his influence should be capped at 6 max that would at least mean its only 18 points of damage from “scything blow” instead of 21! (o joy)

 

Brewers

My favourite and beloved guild and generally everyone’s least favourite to play against J. Overall a very balanced guild where every option is pretty viable. There are 2 players I would make alterations to and 1 if I am being greedy.

Stave

Quite simply for me he either needs “Gluttonous mass” (have you seen that belly) or 1 point of armour. At the moment he is just too much of a liability even “Sturdy” wouldn’t hurt. Just something that stops him being an absolute momentum farm would be appreciated. “Gluttonous mass” would fit his enlarged girth when you look at the other models that have it.

Stoker

Lose “tactical advice Stave” and just make him 2/3 or 2/4 influence also “burn the floor” needs to be changed so either it’s an AOE that doesn’t do direct damage or something like that. At the minute it doesn’t work and I have never used it.

Tapper

Just being greedy but if Blackheart can have “commanding aura” on 4 successes why can’t Tapper?

 

Butchers

Meathook

Again a player that I think suffers for only brining 1 influence to the table. Maybe make her 2/2 and “Furious” would help get her on the pitch. Don’t have a lot of experience or knowledge of Butchers (being a vegetarian) but I do know that she rarely gets seen and it seems that this is again an influence issue.

 

Engineers

My main issue with the Engineers is there playstyle is generally a negative play experience. I have only ever faced Ballista and on every occasion it has been a gun line that you seem to be waiting for a bad roll from your opponent so you can get into them. It isn’t anyone player that needs changing but perhaps the whole guild or at least Ballista, Ratchett and Salvo. Maybe if Ballista lost “Momentous Inspiration” so the reward for sitting back and shooting turn 1 and 2 wasn’t so great it would change the way they play. I think they would need a bit of a playbook adjustment as well, having had a quick look through it is in my eyes a bit meh. Outside of Rage and Gutter there is no reliable damage generation from the Guild itself, which explains why you see those 2 so often in there lineups… o and Decimate. But then their damage is all coming from Union models and although the Engineers are supposed to be a footballing team, every now and then you need to punch someone hard in the face. Perhaps if they got some changes to their playbooks so there was more in house damage options we would then see Colossus more often. His rules and playbook look ace but you very rarely see him on the pitch.

 

Fishermen

To be fair I actually don’t think there are any changes that spring to mind for the Fish. Like the Brewers all their options seem pretty legit to me and its more of a playstyle choice than anything else.

Hunters

At the time of writing the newest kids on the block. Again their options seem all pretty legit to me. However if I was to make a change to any player currently available it would be…

Zarola

She is the only player who doesn’t seem to get a lot of love. My personal view is that she is really underrated and the past couple of days I have been thinking of building a team around her. However, the 1 thing that does stand out to me is her kick of 2/6. If this was 3/6 I think she would get a lot more love. Her role in general in my eyes is to enable the rest of the team with “Midnight offering”. But if she is in the team along with Jaecar and the bear moving the ball around will become a real struggle. Seeing as Jaecar is pretty much an auto include and the bear is also popular I think this may be a big reason why she misses out. The tricks you could pull off with linked if her kick was better being bonkers.

Masons

These guy’s n girls are very much like the Fish for me in that all the options seem pretty legit I think even Harmony has seen a bit of love recently, certainly from Andrew Jones of the Singled out ilk. Again it seems to come down to a playstyle choice rather than any perceived bad choices. The only thing that stands out is Towers “defend the ground”. Much like Stokers “burn the floor” it just doesn’t really work due to how we interact with terrain. It’s a nice ability that just needs a tweak somehow.

Morticians

Currently my second faction so another one I have more experience to comment on. Outside of #playgraves2016 there aren’t any choices that I feel need a boost. In fact, it is probably the revers that’s true.

Obulus

The Ferryman himself is the first name that will spring to most people’s minds when you ask them who’s overpowered in the game at the moment. My own personal choice is that I prefer Scapal. But that is just because I find her more fun and I will readily admit she is not on the same power curve as Obulus. I guess either “puppet master” or “misdirection” need to change. In the first instance it probably needs toning down a bit, maybe lose the influence refund as I have never understood that or just make it a straight 3 influence cost play. In the case of the later I feel that “misdirection” hardly gets used because it is competing with “puppet master” which is so strong, maybe drop the influence cost by 1 when using it on a friendly model… although I guess it kind of is already a 3 influence play. Perhaps increase its range? Not sure exactly but it just feels like it could be good but just never seems to get used. Also I would reduce his tac to 5 or at least give him and extra column on his playbook so that he can’t get those Brewer style wraps off. I guess the final change would either be to cap his influence at 7 or reduce the amount he brings down to 4.

Silence

Drop the amount of influence he brings to 2 or make him 2/3 with “tactical advice Dirge” instead of “Kick support Dirge”. It’s just a personal thing but I didn’t like that he felt like an auto include just because he brings 3 influence. My own view is that players should be on the pitch to do things other than give out influence. Yes, I know “shut out” and “Tucked” are bonkers good, but they always felt like clutch plays to me.

 

The union

Blackheart

Ban him… he’s a dick! Just so powerful with so many options on his playbook that annoy the crap out of me. Get rid of the momentous 3 on the 6^th column it doesn’t make sense! Swap that with the 3 and double dodge on the 5^th column. Drop the momentum from the dodge on 1 success or move it to column 2 and also shift the double dodge 1 damage to the 3^rd column… or just ban him.

Harry & Minx

Already covered my thoughts on these guys but I wanted to reiterate how excited I am about this.

Snakeskin

The other Union member that never seems to get used. I have seen her on the table once I think at the first tournament I attended. To be fair I actually don’t know what you would change about her, she seems pretty legit to me already! So maybe its just a playstyle issue. I can see why she doesn’t feature in the non-union guilds she can play for as they have options that do similar stuff. Perhaps if she gained something like “Weak point” it would help her out. I think it would fit in with her assassin style fluff or an aura like “poisonous fumes” maybe even “follow up” would be fun

 

Well that’s my spurious thoughts on changes I would like to see. Let me know what you think of them or if you have some suggestions of your own.

 

Love as always xx