Tooth and Claw

One of the two new Rivals decks arriving with the Gnarlwood core set. For all the other concurrent releases, see the links below:

First Impressions

[D]AVY & [P]HIL

Rivals perspective: (D) This is a little more straightforward than Daring Delvers, I think. You’re gonna get in there and smash. You’re just going to try to do it while sporting the Savage condition (see plot card below). Anything aggro feels like it has to be in consideration. Mollog in particular can be Savage and more likely to keep activating than other fighters. Magore, Gorechosen, and Reavers are in the mix, and there’s even a Khorne card to boot.

Champs perspective: (D) There’s some aggro support here which is always good to see during rotation. Between this and Delvers, I think aggro play remains behind the curve in End Phase objectives, but it’s not all tumbleweeds.

D: It’s worth describing Plot cards if you’re not familiar. If your constructed deck includes any cards from a deck that includes a plot card, you may choose one to have in effect for that game. If your faction has a plot card too, they can both be in effect (like Desecration from Khagra and Primacy from MadMob).

P: This feels odd to me. Staggering your fighter feels like something you never want. You probably get this off the charge token most of the time. This kind of adds some extra book keeping but maybe it will feel more organic once we play with it.

D: I think it will feel fine for folks already comfortable with the core game. I think it might be tough if you're new. Getting to stagger before an activation will keep Savage things triggering, even if you're low on fighters and need to activate one multiple times.

P: This is a pretty easy surge. Charge with all your fighters. However, with larger warbands this gets more and more difficult so milage may very across bands.

D: Additionally, with the new charge rules, this isn’t quite as much of a problem when you’re short on fighters late in the game. You can get a couple charges off with your last fighters and still activate once everyone has charged. Sometimes getting your objectives cycled earlier in the round can give you a better chance to score later.

Greenskins on the first two cards for this deck out of the gate. Someone knows what’s up.

P: Second condition makes this a non-starter in my book. It will be very hard to ensure no fighters hold an objective. Next.

D: Oo, I missed that second condition. Or maybe read it as a hybrid instead of a dual. That's a big ask. Scoreable in restricted formats and certain matchups.

P: Kind of a new unafraid but only for your leader, in enemy territory, within two of an enemy, and a friendly. It feels like a risky option but the big fighters probably like it pretty well.

D: Not my cup of tea. Too many ways this can go off the rails. It’ll definitely get scored on me though!

This art makes sense. The Despoilers **are** fully committed… to working those glutes!

P: Feels a bit risky but as long as you have enough fighters or fighters that can survive this should be doable.

D: Hrm. Soulraid might have liked this, but for needing them to all be savage. I guess you could delve with the fish to get staggered and thus savage? Trying to think of the warband that can swing this. Elite warbands worry about losing too many fighters. Horde warbands might be too fragile to live in enemy territory? Gnarlspirit?

P: This feels a bit too tough. Getting all your fighters in enemy territory is risky and then keeping all enemies out of your territory is pretty much impossible to make happen intentionally. You can certainly have it happen in certain matchups but probably just because your opponent didn't want to be in your territory.

D: Too inconsistent for Championship play. Will occasionally blow a game open in restricted formats.

P: Not terrible, but there are much easier end phases for one glory.

D: On a scale of 1 to Meh, this is as high as you can go. Slightly better than the old Assassination objective.

P: This is probably tough. Being savage requires stagger or wounds to be able to reliably activate again. Some warbands will be able to swing with a charge counter but there are much easier kill surges

D: Great for Mollog. If you’re willing to stagger a fighter before going in, this is fine. It’s also a little easier with the new charge rules.

P: This is also going to be manageable for some warbands but again, you have much easier kill options.

D: You *may* have easier kill options. You probably do. Velmorn could might set this up ok if he’s got a command token.

P: Nice and simple for one glory. I like it, this is very reliable which is what one glory end phases must be.

D: This feels like some bread and butter for elite warbands. Bigger warbands do not want.

This feels like the scariest we’ve seen Mollog…

P: This seems easy enough as a kill surge. Be savage and kill and enemy in enemy territory? So charge into enemy territory and get a kill. Pretty standard stuff there

D: Note that the attacker is the one that needs to be in enemy territory. So you could have ranged fighters attacking back in to your own territory to score.

D: Lot of kill surges in this deck.

Boss move scoring this against Krushas there, Magore.

P: Maybe Mollog can pull this off? Overall it feels like a big ask to me.

D: It's not the second taken out this round, for what it's worth. So if you can get two during a game... Might be a meta read on this one.

P: Wow, reading skills not up to par for me on these ones. Definitely more playable.

P: This could be pretty simple. Get a fighter vulnerable is the tricky part but with pings or with lower damage attacks it will come up.

D: The vulnerable fighter doesn't have to be the one you attacked, which raises the value of this one for me. Good especially for decks that need to string attacks together for kills. Shadeborn

P: Is turning an enemy fighter into a beast a worthwhile reason to use a ploy spot? I'm not sure, but it can definitely mess with objective holding bands or bands that need weapons and that isn't nothing

D: The new rules mean that you could break someones cool weapons with this, so there's that. But target needing to be savage, and close to a leader makes this pretty situational. It may be a big deal depending on the meta. The duration is pretty long, at least.

P: This is nice. Limited in it's targets, but a push that can target friend or foe is very good and pushing a friend four hexes could be game changing.

D: Gnarlspirit say yes please!

D: Great way to yo-yo a charge too!

D: In either case, I think it has to end by a friendly fighter though? As in… friendly to the person playing the card?

P: A little surprise damage is nice and this is very easy to set up. I think this is good.

D: Ping proliferation continues! You can trigger with a friendly or enemy savage or beast, which adds a lot of flexibility.

P: Having the choice between cleave and ensnare is a nice accuracy boost so I think this is decent, but I still think I'd often prefer+dice.

D: So say we all. Determined Effort is probably just better if you’re playing Championship.

P: Decent for Khorne fighters and I don't think anyone else considers this. Limiting speed when not charging probably isn't as impactful as we would hope since most fighters will be trying to charge when possible.

D: This messes with Hexbane, Reavers and Gitz special movement tricks.

P: I think it is worth questioning if domains start to become prevent. If they do I think they start to lose a lot of value because they will be too easy to counter.

D: Or become important to take to counter other domains.

P: Wow. Between weighty blessing and this the persisting gambits are getting crazy. This is probably going to see a lot of play.

D: Whoa! Really great for single defense die fighters. Yowza.

P: Seems alright. Messes with hold bands a decent amount but they might just be able to play around this. Maybe the easiest use will be to set up a surprise knock back kill.

D: Could make a board pretty dangerous in a hurry. Would have been a bigger deal pre-Gnarlwood.

Finally, the anti-Farstrider tech we’ve been asking for.

P: Hmmm this again messes with hold bands but probably isn't impactful enough across all match ups.

D: The kind of card that you might be willing to sideboard in if that was a thing in this game.

P: +2 move ploys have been good historically, so I imagine even with the downside this is solid. This also can affect multiple moves so there are some strong plays with this. If you need to stagger the enemy you could play it before and opponents turn too. Seems like a well designed card.

D: Yeah, could set up some nasty positioning with The Exiled Dead and the like. Pretty flexible. Hexbane might like it for some surprise attacks late in the round with plenty o' dog help.

P: I'm not really sure about the use for this card. A mass heal is useful, but only situationally and I don't think I want to be staggered if I feel like I need some healing.

D: I'm assuming this is also in here to spread some Savagery around, but the rules about performing everything on the card keep this limited.

P: This is okay because it can be modified but I'm not sure this is what you should be choosing for weapon upgrades.

D: For what it's worth, you get a charge token after the move part of a charge, so you'll be savage any time you charge with this.

There, Thrafnir. That’s the spot I used to go sit and read tomes. Simpler times, my girl.

P: I'm not sure when the reaction will come up but being able to support savage fighters at any range is pretty decent. If only it was in offense as well as defense.

D: Between stagger and charge tokens, there could be a lot of Savage fighters on the field, so this feels like a pretty repeatable action.

P: Two damage is big but no super actions is really really bad. I think maybe ExD can play this but I don't know anyone else will be able to effectively get in position to take advantage of the damage.

D: OOOF, Exiled Dead gonna smash with this and Dark Parasites.

P: Uhh yeah- this is good. Great speed and great fortitude but can't be on large fighters? Gimme. Little knockback as a cherry on top as well. Very good upgrade.

D: Aggro likes it, for sure. Being a beast may be too much of a problem for hold warbands, or those that rely on attack action upgrades.

D: Weirdly, you can’t give this to fighters with 4 wounds, because they will be come large as soon as the upgrade applies, and then the upgrade breaks because the fighter is large.

P: Bonus damage is solid but losing choice about what your fighters do is not. I think this is playable for very aggressive bands but not amazing

D: If the pool gets tight on damage upgrades after rotation, you'll still see stuff like this.

P: More +dice for range one? Wow. And can get it out for free? This feels like a restriction incoming.

D: Non-Chaos mutations! With the timing on this, you could apply it mid-scything attack?

P: Nope. We have seen something similar before and the math just doesn't work out. Maybe mollog could make use of this but even that feels like a stretch

D: Mollog *can't* use it. Not available to Large Fighters. The only help is that we usually see these heal at the start of a phase, so this can at least trigger three times instead of 2.

I like that the Wraithcreeper get's its horsey hooves back.

P: Most of the time this is a great speed that protects against stagger. That isn't bad but I don't think it will be enough to make the cut very often

D: It's actually pretty hard to be savage and still be able to benefit from a bonus to move if you can't be staggered. I would not be surprised to see this in some hold decks to allow for more flexibility with delving?

D: Wait... Hm. Yeah I guess if you charge on to a hex? Weird. Can you delve if you can’t be staggered?

P: Not terrible but I think it won't make the cut very often. Ensnare just isn't enough to warrant a slot and stapling on +move is also not that enticing.

D: Erm... Hard to see this taking a spot in your deck, given that it's two very modest bonuses.

P: Seems good. Stopping pushes is a big deal. Getting a situational reroll for defense on top is pretty nice.

D: Great! We're already seeing some Darkwater Anchor and this has an even better side benefit. This might be a staple.

Summary

It feels like there’s not as much setup or anticipation needed in this one. A good one to mix in to a warband that just wants to thrash. I really like thinking about how these might play in Rivals vs. Nemesis vs. Championship.

DavyOctober 22, 2022Comment