Mr. Lynch Overview

I talked about my favorite master from the new book, McHammish, a few days ago.  Now I’m going to talk a little about the master I was already able to get out on the table after Gencon: Jakob Lynch!  Okay, now I’m going to call him Mr. Lynch from here on out because honestly it sounds pretty badass to have Mr. Lynch, Mr. Graves and Mr. Tannen wandering about together.

The first thing you notice looking at Mr. Lynch is that he seems a little low on the power side.  I mean, he’s got low stats for the most part, low damage.  He’s got a few neat rules like Cheating Bastard and Ace in the Hole which allow him to cheat second in every duel and use the 1M as a Red Joker, but those only really work on him.  He can discard a card for another action that can’t be used for a spell, and he gets to Mulligan his hand once a game.

His best ability, I think, is his Dead Man’s Hand spell.  It has to be used on an enemy and cannot be cast with Magical Extension (and it’s a damn good thing too).  It’s an easy cast and lets him pull up three cards one at a time.  After each pull, if it’s an Ace or Eight, it gets discarded.  Then , if it’s even, your opponent draws a card, and if it’s odd, your opponent discards a card.  So it is POSSIBLE to have a six-card swing in a single cast, but not overly likely.  Similarly, it is possible that there will be a no-card swing, but unlikely.  More often Mr. Lynch will draw 3 cards and your opponent will net gain or lose one card.

So Mr. Lynch’s going to get you a huge hand.  People are already talking about taking him with Doppelgangers, Arcane Effigies, and Sorrows to get more mileage out of the spell.  All are good options, though I think the Arcane Effigy is probably the best bet.  Of those choices, only the Sorrows can be added to a Ten Thunders list led by Mr. Lynch.

Mr. Lynch has got a few ways to get away from trouble.  He has only 8 wounds and his Soulstone Cache is only 2, so he’s light there, but with Quick Retreat, a (0) that can get him out of melee, Squeel! being an auto-trigger, a trigger that can get him out of dodge when he’s hit in melee, and cheating second with Cheating Bastard, he can usually keep himself safe a few hits.

All stacked up, though, he certainly doesn’t rate.

His totem, however, is where he really starts to shine.  The Hungering Darkness reads like a master.  He’s got pretty good stats down the line.  A high cast, 3” reach with paired 6s for his CB, and a nice damage track.  He’s going to be doing a lot.  He’s terrifying, he saps away wounds from nearby models with Brilliance to heal himself, and he has an Obey-like spell that only works on enemies but works better on enemies with Brilliance.

Because he relies so much on Brilliance, he has a couple ways to dish it out.  Anyone he hits in melee gets Brilliance, and he has a spell that can put Brilliance up.  If he gets a Mask on the CB or CA (it’s required on the CA to even cast the spell), he puts it up permanently on the target.

He’s only got 7 wounds and DF 4, but he’s a Spirit and can Use Soulstones so that will help keep him around.  He has a (0) that will draw wounds from models with Brilliance around him, friend or foe, and heal those wounds on himself.  Finally, at the end of the turn he picks a model with Brilliance within 5” of him and saps a wound away from them.  If no one is close enough, he takes that wound on himself instead.

He will die if he’s up front (which is clearly where you want him to be), but that’s okay.  If a model with Brilliance, friend or foe, dies while he’s not on the board, you can discard a pair from your hand and bring him back to play with half that many wounds.  So a pair of 6s will bring you in with 3 wounds.  From there, the Hungering Darkness can start sapping away wounds and heal back up.  Also, when he comes back into play, he forces a Morale check against all enemies, ignoring their Immunities to Morale checks, possibly sending them running for the hills.

He’s got three triggers on melee – one to make the permanent Brilliance, one to possibly cause more damage, and one to give him a healing flip if he kills a living model.  And he’s got a nice selection of spells.  Beyond Heed My Voice (the Obey-like one) and the Light Inside (the make-you-Brilliant one), he has Magical Extension and Serve Me, a way to reactivate friendly Brilliant models (though it kills them after).

The big push with Mr. Lynch and the Hungering Darkness seems to be to have Lynch build up a big hand, possibly sucking cards away from the opponent too, and then have the Hungering Darkness roll in and do all the heavy lifting.  Since he’s not likely to survive, you can bring him back to do the whole thing again.

All in all a bundle of fun.