Gnarlspirt Pack
Welcome to our quick rundown of all the new Gnarlspirit Pack cards with the Gnarlwood release. Make sure you catch our podcast coverage, of the release.
For coverage of the other cards in the release, follow these links:
Sons of Velmorn Rivals Deck Review
Tooth and Claw Rivals Deck Review
Daring Delvers Rivals Deck Review
First Impressions
[D]AVY & [P]HIL
We were surprised that the next Darkoath warband after Godsworn Hunt was going to be just four fighters, so we were interested to see where it went. And where it went was somewhere interesting indeed. A dynamic “double inspire” like Crimson Court but more fluid. Getting your timing right between Beasts and Inspired status is going to be the trick with these guys.
Those are the eyes of someone totally sane
P: Wow, lots to unpack here. A very solid stat line with a great weapon and a range 3 spell just for good measure. This is a solid fighter. While it is not explained on this card, he can get a spirit token before his activation for +2 move and flying. Uhhh, speed 6 range 2 or 3? This guy is threatening a lot of the board. (D: Like… all the board). The downside is he becomes a beast but that probably isn't that big a deal because I don't think these guys will be holding a lot or need many weapons. Feels pretty darn good to me.
D: Kinda odd, right? This feels like the archetype that would be the "disposable missile" in another warband. I think we'll see that the beast status is a relatively limited, but important drawback. Letting him carry top tier weapons would be an issue. This probably also limits some of the "hold in enemy territory" strategies that you might dip in to.
P: Removing his spirit token gets him inspired and while he loses that speed bump he makes up for it with more accuracy and damage. Take whichever you need more for the situation, this guy is doing work no matter what
D: Nice that he’s two defense die no matter his status.
P: Well that's a scary hammer and wielded by a solid body to boot. He is a bit slow but that's about his only draw back. After he takes a spirit token he is on two block as well so good luck shifting this guy.
D: Man. This feels like an easy first charge, right? Barrel in with a 2 smash, three damage attack, and then hang out on 2 block.
P: Gaining more knockback and stagger at the expense of two block on defense doesn't feel like a good trade. His ability to provide a reroll to friendly beasts in defense and let them hold objectives could come in very handy but you would, I think, need to be building around it and these guys strike me more as an aggro band.
D: The re-roll defense feels big. If you get the timing right, you can have boosted defense right where you need it.
I think she might like to… live for the fight. YYYYyyyyyyeaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!
P: Only three wounds instead of four but oh baby those axes look like they are going to do work! Get +1 movement, scything and grievous 1 while overcome?! Get chopping on those little fighters.
D: Mama mia. That beast mode berserk assault...
P: Seems to me that Kheira choosing to inspire or not will be entirely determined by if you need scything. Against elites I think she inspires for the more focused attack and otherwise does her best impression of a blender. Being a brawler really gives her some nice tools as well.
D: Right! Two brawlers in the same warband is worth paying attention to.
Everybody thirsty for that mask
P: The squishiest fighter so far, but has that range three to help out. Getting double supports when overcome should be pretty nice and throwing the spear on a charge for +1 dmg should be able to catch some people out of position.
D: Honestly, he’s no more squishy than Kheira, because that double support works on defense. So statistically he’s on a block, but can’t get hurt as bad from ensnare as Kheira can from cleave.
P: Okay I think you probably always inspire this guy. More defense, accuracy, and damage while handing out supports to all beasts? Yes please.
D: Wow, if you can engineer an inspire, that's a big defensive and offensive boost for the rest of the crew… and with unlimited range.
Objectives
Kheira having the most fun.
P: Oaths are back baby! I love the design space, same as back with Godsworn Hunt’s oaths, but this actually feels doable in some matchups. I don't know that I love an aggro warband trying to keep their fighters alive but this is not terrible if you can get it for two glory.
D: That second caveat is interesting because you can signal an intent to run away if you’re down to one fighter but have the lead.
P: it is worth mentioning with oaths- if you draw into them after scoring surges you would have to wait until the next round to declare the oath and that may cause some headaches, though I don't think that stops you from taking some of them.
D: Oh man, yeah. I feel bad for Godsworn, because this is what Oath's could have been. I'm not 100% sure about this one in particular, but I think it'll be great in Nemesis/Rivals.
P: The first surge oath I think? the first condition seems a bit odd but they have some cards to help with this and the second condition is not too hard. Look out zombois!
D: Seems like you'd only include if you're building towards the first option. A potential 2 glory surge you can score with a power card is pretty tasty. The second caveat is awfully matchup dependent.
P: Another surge but this feels much harder. Kill two fighters in a round or one big fighter is a much taller task. I like the second condition a lot better than the first but this is still achievable. If you can make it happen for 2 it is a big swing.
D: I think this is a card you don't take if it didn't have the oath caveat. Maybe still not, but I do remember the days when I'd include versions of this in Reavers or Farstriders.
D: Without the oath, obvs.
Hunting by way of “running straight at the prey”.
P: Maybe the easiest oath they have, this is still risky since it forces the whole band into enemy territory. For 2 glory it is probably worthwhile. Feels crazy if you draw this late and only need to make one charge.
D: And with the new charge rules, you’re not even done for the round in that case. A great example of an oath card. Playing it signals intentions in a way that gives the opponent a chance to prevent this with pushes or other disruption. It also makes your plan very unambiguous.
P: Similar to oath of the hunt but for only 1 glory. It appears the designers want you to get stuck in with this band. I'm not certain you want to always do that though...
D: A rougher Godseekers. They have the speed to reliably do this, though. You can have a lot of control over this one.
I guess Gorl upgraded to have a helmet?
P: A bit of an odd one, but for two glory I think making this happen shouldn't be to hard. The fact it is feature token instead of objective is crucial here. I think this is going to play well, but we will see.
D: Very much so. Plus plunder can actually help give you a landing spot if they're covered up. Easy late, but pretty doable at any time. I'm thinking this goes in most Gnarlspirit Pack decks. It does make things tricky if you don’t have upgrades to spread around, but other objectives are trying to force you into enemy territory. Fairly easy late game, though. This is assuming that you can use plunder to place the snare/cover features. It is harder than you might think, since the extra feature tokens aren’t initially placed.
P: I think you could catch someone flat footed with the second condition but it would be tough (D: Or require someone not very knowledgeable about the deck yet). If tokens couldn't come back I do think token removal could make this awesome but as gnarlwood is changing that I think this one will be a reach. Still playable at three glory but not automatic by any stretch of the imagination.
D: Man. Someone might accidentally let you score this. It's definitely preventable, but... that's a big score. I wonder if there's play with a flip and removal strat.
P: Hm, actually, this might be much tougher than first thought... Probably only has play if you use flip tech or remove objective tech?
P: If you want a kill surge you can't ask for much better.
D: I like that this leans into the already delicate balancing act that you're working on with these guys and the Struggle mechanic.
Velmorn seems tall. Is he tall?
P: This feels very good, especially if you get some extra attacks in the power step from something like blind gamble. Also just scything gets this pretty reliably. Solid card.
D: Yeah, lobbing Crimson Kheira into a crowd with this in hand is gonna feel good.
Setting all your heads on fire is a unique intimidation tactic.
P: Straightforward and pretty easy, but only one glory. If you need consistent scoring this can do that.
D: Modest, consistent. I think this will see easy Championship play when the universal pool is thin.
P: I'm not sure on this one. It should be trivial when it comes up but you may not want to stack upgrades much in this very flexible warband.
D: I don't know if Illusions will fade away (ha!) as the Ulgu sets rotate out, but those obviously make this easier. And this doesn't have to happen in a single round. A surge that's pretty easy late game.
D: Though… I usually prioritize ones that score well early game.
P: An okay kill surge but you have better options.
D: Sometimes dead in hand, sometimes easy. It's something that your opponent can try to play around, especially in more limited formats like Nemesis and Rivals (where this is likely to be taken) and I like that mini-game.
D: If you had to have an objective that had almost the exact same name as another objective, then Godsworn/Gnarlspirit is the overlap we deserve.
Gambits
P: Wow. This is very good. Staggered permanently. Sign me up.
D: You! Shall! Not! Delve! Good for downing big targets.
“…but thanks for the support.”
P: I think this is good, Lupan can support beasts anywhere on the board while inspired so I think this mostly just reads +2 dice?
D: Likely in round 2 or later, to get him inspired, yeah. But even if you have to use it for a +1, that's totally fine.
P: "Our first card for the warband that removes feature tokens. Getting a charge token is a steep price but I imagine if you charge and then do this it isn't too bad?
D: There's a corner case where you want to be able to hand out a Charge token for scoring something like Oath of the Hunt too.
P: I think this card is going to be useful but it's hard to know just how useful without playing with it. I think the ping for Kheira or the cleave/ensnare for Lupan are best but sometimes you will need that heal. Wizard level is probably the worst but maybe that range three is just what you need.
D: Huh. Very flexible with lots of fighters, not so much as they die. And gated behind your boss. It’s a busy looking card, but I like the design.
P :Yowza! I think multi-pushes are good and the restriction on this one is not a big deal. Get some beasts and then push however you need them. Very good.
D: You can really engineer some big time uses out of this, but it should almost always be a sidestep. If you get knocked down to a single fighter it's dead, and it's tough-ish if you're down to two. Nice design.
Does that hurt? Looks like it hurts.
P: Go on guard and inspire. Probably very situationally useful. I'd use this on Lupan myself but seems good regardless.
D: Uh, I think you probably do take this. It gets Lupan and the boss pretty tanky defensive wise, and if you're at all interested in flipping, it can counteract the stagger effect too.
P: Bonus move is solid when you need it but this band seems pretty fast anyway so you might not find that you are looking to be faster very often.
D: Infinite charge for Sarrakkar, gooooooo! Just kidding. That much speed might well be a bit of a “hat on a hat” situation.
P: A mass inspire but the heal clause gives me pause. If you can't heal I don't think you can play this? That makes it much worse.
D: I think that's correct as written. Kind of a bummer. Getting to manipulate your inspire/beast status is big. But needing to be injured is a problem.
P: +dmg ploys can be good but I think more often than not you leave +dmg in upgrades. This could certainly catch people out though.
D: Yeah, still nice to have if you’re feeling comfortable with your accuracy situation.
Is head exploding? Or his butt?
P: This is not very good, I don't think. The fighter has to be holding an objective so they can't be a beast before you play this. Then, they because a beast and get staggered when you do play it. If removing objectives is very important then it is serviceable but I don't think it will be, especially when you can bring them back.
D: I think if you're building towards Return to Ruin, this might be a thing. But there's a lot of caveats.
P: You know, I guess with objectives starting face up this has more play than initially thought. Could really mess with hard hold objective bands.
Upgrades
P: Simple and strong. +wounds is always worthwhile.
D: Simple and strong: The Gorl Spinehammer Story.
P: Another “break a held objective” option, but an upgrade. I think this one is not great again. I think many fighters want to be beasts and getting a charge token is a steep price
D: I didn’t think about the beast problem. I do think this is holding the door open for leaning towards some non-full out aggro playstyles. Gorl’s ability can help with this too.
P: Again, more play with face up objectives. Makes this more valuable but still pretty niche?
P: Basically picking up a bite reaction like Klaq-trok but this one can be modified. This should actually be quite good!
D: Hell yeah! Throw in ferocious bite and a damage bump, and baby, you got yourself a murder-stew going!
D: Also, this art is rad!
P: Probably not essential to take but not bad really. A defense boost with a small accuracy boost. There are certainly worse options available.
D: I'm guessing the only rules you're ignoring for cover hexes are the ones in the rulebook, and not like... Nether Defence.
P: With fewer cover hexes to worry about this is probably not as good?
D: Yeah… that seems like the side benefit. You can get most of this warband to two defense dice in one way or another, so a re-roll seems pretty dece.
D: P.S. More rad art.
P: Don't really get this. Leader locked range 1 reaction after making your range 3 attack? No thanks.
D: Can also be modified at least. Not going to see it much in Champs, but it's probably got play in other formats. If you consider it a second chance at someone if you miss the first, that's not awful. Helps with getting you to two successful attacks too. But yeah, the other one is mo’ betta.
P: Interesting, but I don't know how much this really will come up. It could be clutch against certain warbands though.
D: Get it on beast mode Gorl and he's tough to shift. Or a guarded 2 dodge fighter, for that matter. Situational, but it’s like the defensive side of Bahannar’s upgrade and I found that quite good.
P: Always being on guard has proven to be very strong over time. This is a strong upgrade even if it can temporarily turn off.
D: Getting shut down by having a charge token really turns a lot of the most egregious uses of this card off. I think it may even push into not-great territory. It combos with a turret mode Sarrakar. Add the previous card for even more defense.
P: Great strength you can get on a kill. This is solid gold.
D: Staples like these help you weather changes in the universal pool. With a faction Great Fort as well, they're sitting real pretty. The ability to hand out for free is just icing on the cake.
P: Eh, unless spell casting becomes important you can probably pass on this.
D: Maybe there's the aforementioned crazy Sarrakkar turret build? There was a time when the ability to get a wizard to level 3 would have been mind-blowing. The supply of wizard gambits and upgrades continues to dwindle, though.
While Sons are looking for their crits, you sneak up behind them and crush.
P: This is solid. Not as good as soundless step but still free movement after your activation where you attacked. I think this will be clutch a lot of the time.
D: Duellist's Speed is in Essentials already, so not a super big deal for Chamionship decks, but happy to have it in Rivals/Nemesis.
Summary
Wow. Really cool warband. We think the skill ceiling could be really high on this crew. Get your timing right and you’ve got the perfect (usually aggro) tool for the (usually aggro) job. I’m interested to see if anyone develops the alternate path of objective destruction coupled with defensive bumps.