Hello fellow combatants! Today we’ll be taking a look at the Essentials Card Pack. However instead of going card by card I’m going to present to you my selection of the top 10 best cards from that pack. Those are in my opinion the most valuable and have the greatest potential for being meta defining.
About the pack
Essentials pack is a release that is targeted at newer players - it’s meant to provide them a selection of vital universal cards that can significantly improve their decks without forcing them to buy all of the boxes. It’s also interesting because those cards are meant to be a base for us going forward. This means that in the future - with the start of the new season - we can expect to get a box similar to Direchasm one - full of brand new universal cards. I find this a perfect solution - I would rather get a new card rather than 5th set of Supremacy or Hold Objective 1 copies. So overall I really like this direction. I also think that the overall value of the card pack is great - it’s filled with really good cards. Of course it also has a bit of a tras-- I mean Hold Objective X cards inside, but it’s not a bad thing. In general it’s really good in terms of the value. Definitely a recommended buy for any of the newer players who don’t have access to those cards.
Having said that - let’s focus on the cards and their ability to impact the meta for advanced players. Instead of my usual scoring for cards I’m going to share with you 10 cards I’ve found the best and possibly most influential.
Top10
Branching Fate - one of the staples from the Nightvault. Current meta is full of options to make you attack 3 dice one. on top of that you can grant yourself 1+ rerolls. This makes this card fairly easy to score. At least in theory. There are multiple warbands who are happy to take a shot at this one. It’s great because you don’t even need to hit with the attack to score this. It should be a fairly solid pick for a ranged warband who is having those 3 dice to roll. Briar queen will also be happy to welcome her long gone friend.
Great Gains - yet another great card. It’s a glory multiplier that has been a very important part of hold objective and control decks in the past. Currently meta is quite rich in easy surges and two glory end phase objectives. In addition we’re living in a very deadly meta where kill pressure is present most of the time. This makes the Great Gains a very tempting pick. It might be a much easier option to score than ever before. Scoring 5 glory during a round is not a tall task at all, so this card has a huge potential to be present in multiple decks. It’s great for hold warbands, but with the inclusion of very good end phase cards for aggro it might find its way into those aggressive builds as well.
Path to Victory - personally I love this card. It has been one of my favourites back when I was heavily playing Thundrik Profeeters. It’s a great card all around, but ranged warbands really enjoy it. It’s a solid 2 glory, well balanced and it is a Dual card to fuel all of yours Set The Tempo’s. Because you need to hold some objectives there’s a counterplay to it as well. Very sweet design for a flex warband.
Commanding Stride - it’s another from my long time favourites. It’s great for any strong leader - and currently we’re having plenty of those in meta. Hrothgorn, Mollog, Krusha, Rippa - all of them will be more than happy to be pushed with this one. I also loved this to move my Thundrik/Averon turret in range for a few volleys. And while it might not be the time when turret leaders are ruling the boards it’s still super useful for a Hroth or Mollog to get in range for an attack. Expect them to run this.
Inspired Attack - this one is super cool on it’s own. But if we couple it with a Punching Up and/or another +1 damage card we’re getting to the point where any fighter can be a potential tank buster. This card + Amberbone Mace is already making most of the fighters worried. Quick, aggressive warbands who can inspire easily will be running this for sure. The great value of the benefits it brings to the table is nicely balanced by range limitation and requirement for a fighter to be inspired.
Lethal Ward - a very nice ping damage card. It has always been useful. Nowadays - when almost everyone would like to hold an objective at least for a short period of time - this card became a super reliable way of dealing damage. Ping damage is also very useful for all the ranged warbands out there, so I’m really glad to see it come back. It’s also another piece of tech that helps dealing with all those wound upgrades that are so readily available.
Duellist’s Speed - fantastic card for ranged and for a bit slower fighters who would like to score Bold Conquest. Make an attack and push yourself. Super useful. Could allow Mollog to be even more annoying with his range two attack. If you ever missed Hrothgorn killing people with his crossbow and zipping across the battlefield - this is the card that will make it happen. In general this card has the potential for some really cool moves. Could also make your life quite miserable when applied to some of the big boys.
Fighter’s Ferocity - so, this one might not be that hot on the first glance - especially when there are so many +1 damage upgrades available. But this is really hot for all those ranged warbands. Give this to Ironhail and watch those 4 dice attacks do their magic. With Rapid Reload he suddenly becomes really scary. While this might not be so great on two dice ranged fighters it is a fantastic option for everyone else with a gun or a bow. P.s. Hrothgorn’s crossbow goes to 3 dice after inspiration.
Gloryseeker - An old favourite is back. Current meta is full of 4+ wound fighters, so it’s not difficult to get the benefit from that card. As with Fighters Ferocity - this card is not that huge for melee fighters - there’s plenty of other options that work always. But this one is huge for ranged fighters. Ranged warbands suddenly got a tool to land more damage - a thing that’s sorely needed vs tougher warbands. Also… my old fantasy of hitting others for 4 damage at range 3 is back thanks to Hrothgorn.
Quickening Greaves - fantastic piece of Hold Objective tech. Current meta is fairly stacked with disruption tools that are making holding a larger number of objectives a difficult task. Reintroduction of greaves is for sure going to help stay on those tokens. With a limited number of friendly pushes every such card is very important. What’s great about this is that you could even get a value of 3 Sidesteps out of it.
Conclusions
As I’ve stated at the beginning of the article - Essentials pack has re-introduced a fair amount of very good cards back in the meta. There’s an interesting dynamic of +1 wound and +1 damage cards being added to the pool. The 10 cards I’ve selected have the ability to influence the meta in a noticeable fashion. Most likely they’ll have a larger impact than the introduction of universals from the Crimson Court pack.
Those 10 cards offer a very nice mix of mobility, damage and objectives that should reinvigorate archetypes like ranged warbands or aggressive hordes. It will also boost the ability to score glory for more traditional hold objective warbands.
I’m pretty excited as ranged warbands are among my very favourite ones. So seeing some strong cards that support this playstyle makes me very happy. But pretty much everyone has got some old-new options to consider during deck building which is great. For sure when compared to infamous Gift Pack this release is offering far greater value and is well worth the buy - even if only for those gorgeous new art styles.
What are your thoughts about the newly reintroduced cards?
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