The Jaws of Itzl

Welcome to our rundown of The Jaws of Itzl. Make sure you catch our podcast coverage of the release. For everything out with this release window, follow these links:

Thanks go to GW for providing a review copy to make this content possible.

Introduction

[D]AVY, [P]HIL, [B]RIAN, & [S]KYLER

D: The Jaws of Itzl are a group of warrior saurus separated from their slann master deep in the mines of Embergard. Will they stay true to the great plan or be lost to an unquenchable reptilian rampage? Let's find out!

WARSCROLl

P: Their inspire seems directly designed with Predatory Fighters in mind. Normally, the only way to meet this condition would be with ping effects but their ability keeps another avenue open. Be very cognizant of the fact this is only in your opponents activations and power steps so make sure to time any pings you do have correctly.

D: I think the inspires look attractive enough I'd be taking a hard look at a deck (or pairing in Nemesis) that provides some ping damage.

P: As mentioned we have a built in ping to help with their inspire. Rolling any block makes this pretty likely to trigger if your opponent doesn't have a particularly accurate attack. Finding ways to boost your defense or limit your opponents accuracy can add a lot of potency to this nasty ability.

D: Gasp emoji. This makes it a real downside to be throwing low percentage attacks at these guys. Aaaand, I don't get it, but this seems like unlimited range? That can't be right...

P: Free move! Your only minion is the venomites so keep an eye on where those snakes are because they might surprise you with an out of sequence move. The natural inclination here is to move in for support after declaring an attack, but being able to shift onto a treasure or reposition to a strategic position can come in clutch.

D: I know which of those Phil finds more intriguing...

P: Truly savage! If you trigger this with 3 or more damage the odds of doing at least one damage are pretty good. I kind of like looking at this as a conditional finisher because it usually won't be able to be used in the ideal circumstances and if you do get the kill it refreshed the ability, which could be huge. But, it is worth keeping in mind that if you need to use this early because a fighter is damaged but in position you likely just fire this off and hope you can hit multiple damage before your own fighter dies.

D: Er. Mer. Gerd. You can use this to trigger inspires too, fwiw. When this goes off in a game, it might go *OFF*.

P: What an ability. If you build around positioning, whether on treasure or just specific locations, being able to prevent drive back for a whole round can really throw a wrench in the works.

D: I like that there's a few abilities in here that aren't just KILL.

FIGHTERS

Uninspired
P: Gor-rok, is that you?! Even if this is a new sunblood, his stats seem equally legendary. 3 move, 1 block, 5 health is a pretty beefy stat line. The 3 bounty makes sense for being a leader but careful hunting this lizard, that club can do some damage! 2 hammers for 3 damage will threaten a lot of fighters right out of the gate.

D: Uninspired damage 3 without grievous. What a bawse!

Inspired
P: Adding an extra save dice and going all the way to 4 swords means you probably choose Kro-Jax as your first inspire each game.

D: Now there's an inspire worth chasing.

Uninspired
P: Another elite stat line for Ro-Tak, making these lizards tough to chew through. With 2 hammers at range 1 or 2 for 1 or 2 damage you should have some utility with this spear. Either go for the big hit or keep your distance to poke away from a desirable position.

D: If you're going for that grab treasure, plan that Phil likes, then range two attacks get tastier.

Inspired
P: No extra defense here, but still going to 4 swords for a pretty darn accurate attack. By combining the profiles of the attacks the extra damage at range 2 should be a big boost when you are already in the thick of fighting and need to keep chopping.

D: Yeah, that's a near premium range two attack. If you get adjacent, then this is a good overrun candidate.

Uninspired
P: Same base stats as Ro-Tak but So-Kar's weapon is the worst of the bunch. That being said, three swords for 2 damage is plenty respectable!

Inspired
P: Again, we see these guys being extremely accurate after inspiring with 4 swords across the board. Picking up crit grievous for the potential at 3 damage is pretty scary. Add in the extra movement and you have another pretty great inspired stat line.

D: Oh boy. That's a scary statline for two bounty.

Uninspired
P: Pay no attention to the pile of snakes over on this treasure token... The sotek's venomites are very easily killed with only 1 health but are hardly worth the activation with no bounty. The 2 dodge further dissuades any attacks going at these guys. To keep those factors in check the rest of this fighter is generally bad. Only 3 movement with a 2 swords 1 damage attack means these guys are really only here to be in the way.

D: I'm glad there's a warscroll rule to nudge these guys around to useful spots. Otherwise they almost feel like a tax on the warband- preventing an easy charge-out. I can see some builds that choose to voluntarily kill this zero bounty fighter (see Wrack & Ruin?)

Inspired
P: If you get to the point of inspiring these minions, good job! As a prize you get an extra attack dice and stagger. Being able to slap a stagger token on someone is probably decent! It's possible in the later stages of the game that these guys will need to charge or else you won't be able to reactivate the saurus.

D: That said, perfectly acceptable stat line, so... do your thing!

Summary

P: With a look at fighter stats and abilities we can see that this band of savage saurus is not messing around. They may be reverting to their natural instincts and play very aggressively, but their abilities very much keep open the possibility of a flex counter punch warband. An out of sequence move, the ability to prevent drive back, a ping on defense, and some pretty beefy stats gives me lots of hope that these saurus can still remember the great plan and hold down the treasure tokens forcing your opponent to you.

D: Good gravy. What if three Klaq-Troqs? Someone asked, and they answered. Good for you, Phil.

The Mortal RealmsNovember 23, 2024Comment