Call It Shadespire!

Decision: Should You Play Stand and Shoot? TL;DR:  If you're playing Thundrik's, Farstriders, or Eyes of the Nine, it's a solid out-of-sequence attack that opens up some very tricky plays when used correctly.  Ylthari's might be able to swing this one too, but everyone else should probably pass. Factor: Season 1 Rotation: Lifelong GW players confronting the idea of season rotation for competitive balancing. With the rotation of S1 universals from the competitive environment, the number of playable cards that allow for extra attacks diminishes greatly.  Most notably, Ready for Action and My Turn will be rotating out - which may leave many competitive players longing for more off-activation options that allow for taking an extra swing or two at the opponent's models.  For a few warbands, Stand and Shoot provides this kind of utility, albeit in a limited fashion.  Additionally, Stand and Shoot benefits from not being restricted, so replacing My Tu...

Special: Shadespire S1 Rotation TL;DR: Some cards got rotated out.  Most cards didn't.  A few cards got significantly better or worse because of the changed meta.  Most cards didn't. Prelude: The Gestalt Yeah, I know, it's Gestahl, but we're going for a theme here.  All FF art by Yoshitaka Amano. Let's start by addressing the elephant in the room:  the rotation as a whole is a very good thing (TM).  It lowers the entry barrier to playing the game, keeps the meta fresh, removes a number of problematic cards, reduces the need for errata/FAQ based on poorly templated S1 cards, and establishes a pattern for future releases.  We understand some people don't like it - but overall it improves the game in measurable and significant ways.   Of 1106 unique cards currently available in Shadespire, 236 cards will be leaving competitive play.  This represents roughly 21% of the currently available card-stock leaving play.  ...

Decision: Should You Play Momentary Madness? TL;DR: We had high hopes, but alas...the answer is no. Intro: First Impressions If you're anything like us, your first impression of Momentary Madness was likely very positive.  "Wow," you mumbled around a mouthful of peanut-butter Clif Bar "that seems really good!"  But after a bit of actual play, you probably changed your mind, much like we did.  Peanut-butter Clif Bars really aren't that good, and neither was Momentary Madness.  One tricky thing about Madness is that it feels like it should be really good.  We think that can be attributed in part to the fact that you use your opponent's model to make the attack.  Does that really matter though?  Long answer: "Yes" with an "if."  Short answer: "No" with a "but." To keep things relatively concise, let's just hammer out the big points.  The fact that you attack with an opponent's model does m...

Decision: Should You Play Prized Vendetta? TL;DR:  Yeah, probably.  It's a solid accuracy booster against a single target.  Just don't drop Potion of Rage for it. Factor: The Ideal Let's start out by taking a very brief look at how good Prized Vendetta could be in a completely ideal situation: i.e. one in which you know ahead of time whether the roll you make is going to fail or not, and only reroll if you need it.  In that very idealized hypothetical, Prized Vendetta would increase your chance of hitting by the amounts given below: 1d 2d 3d 1b 2b 1g 1s 19% 15% 13% 17% 13% 15% 2s 25% 23% 20% 24% 21% 23% 3s 24% 25% 24% 25% 25% 25% 4s 21% 24% 25% 22% 25% 24% 1h 23% 19% 16% 21% 16% 19% 2h 24% 25% 23% 25% 24% 25% 3h 19% 24% 25% 21% 25% 23% Those are really good numbers. However, we have to remember that this is the best that Prized Vendetta can possibly be , and depends on you possessing a Cassandra-level ability to predict the future...