Malifaux M2E: Masters I've Played

So after playing for a while, I have been trying to figure out who my favorite master is in M2E.  The biggest problem is that I haven’t played every master with its most current rules, so some of these guys will be based on my feeling of their playstyle in previous incarnations.  Weekly updates to the rules are fantastic, but they reset me back to zero every week!

So here are the masters I feel I’ve seen enough to be able to make an informed opinion on.  There are a few others that I have played only once that I didn’t feel like I got a great feel for, so they didn’t make the list.

Jakob Lynch – I had a boatload of fun playing this guy when I had him on the table, except when it came to the Brilliance aspect of him (which seems pretty high on importance to him, but I always liked his card-sharking abilities more).  He feels like he’s improved in his ability to manipulate cards, but stepped back in his ability to keep off Brilliance.  Usually I’m only getting one or two models with Brilliance out there, which is plenty for his 52 Card Pickup auto-damage at the end of the turn.

Lady Justice – It’s been a while since I had her on the table, but she seems very reminiscent to how she was in the past.  You don’t want to be near her, or she will take the sword in her hands and chop you in half.  There might have been a missed opportunity to play her up as the inspiring figure that commands from the lead.  The figure that other Guild fighters would follow to their deaths.  She can get some of that with her upgrades, but I would have liked to see that come out much more.

Perdita – Gone is the Alpha Strike (thankfully).  Here are the days where the Family members actually seem useful.  I rarely played Perdita in v1, but I remember being happy when I saw any of the Family on the board against me.  Nino and Santiago were the most common ones, and despite people trying to use them well (Guardian on Santiago was one of my favorite huge point sinks to see across from the table) I never found a problem taking them down.  Now the Family feels like it should, supporting each other.  Perdita’s gotten a new life in my book.

Lilith – What a change!  I know it’s not the most popular change out there, but Lilith went from being a fast melee machine with a little bit of control to a control master with a melee punch to back it up.  Her spells, especially the ones on her upgrades, are top notch.  And unlike most other control masters, she’s no slouch when you reach her either.  Rather than being an in-your-face master, she’s become a gorilla warfare master.  Unlike Marcus who leaps out and smacks you around then fades away, Lilith and her crew grab you and yank you away from your supports and pounce on you that way.

Zoraida – The unquestioned Queen from v1 – how did she fare in her move to M2E?  Her Voodoo Dolls are no longer the annoying “If she has LOS to you, you’re screwed” piece they were and actually feel a lot more dynamic to me than they used to.  Maybe not in what they do themselves, but in how you use them.  Yanking on them, putting out Conditions, hitting them, etc.  There’s a lot more to do to a Voodoo Doll’s target, even if there’s less to do with a Voodoo Doll.  She’s also got one of my favorite upgrades in Crystal Ball.  But she’s lost a lot of her former speed.

Pandora – One of my least favorite models in v1 is back around in M2E, and she’s taken a big power hit.  Funny that to me, her big power hit still leaves her looking pretty nice in the scheme of things.  In the past, she would be played back about 8” or so from the field and was really obnoxious with Crows.  Now she’s got to be up in your face.  I find I like having her about 3” from my opponents, right in the thick of things.  Combine Candy in there and the crew is a boatload of fun.

Von Schill – The Henchman-turned-Master shows his face.  I really liked Freikorps in v1 because they felt like the underdogs – a Henchman (even if he was awesome) with a very limited crew selection trying to face down the enemy.  Here, new Von Schill feels… honestly, a little boring to me.  It might be the lack of flavorful options available so far (Strongarm, Librarian, Trapper… where are you!), but so far he seems pretty light on options.  I do still love the idea of the well-oiled merc group, so I’ll have to keep an eye on him in wave 2.

Seamus – Heh heh heh.  I love this guy’s changes.  His flavor just felt like “big scary guy” in v1, but in M2E, he’s picked up the mass murderer who can come out of the shadows and drag you back into the alley.  You’ll never find him.  His upgrades really help make the master flavorful.  You can take him in several different directions.  A huge improvement over his v1 version.

McMourning – Of all the guys on the list, he’s probably one of the most changed (I’d argue Lilith is probably second most).  Gone are body parts, here to stay is poison.  His summoning is a bit different – both harder and easier to pull off.  He doesn’t need the card anymore, but he does need a bit of help with getting the Poison out there.  Scalpel Sling was taken away – one of my favorite v1 abilities for him – but was replaced with some fantastic other tech for him.  Overall, happy with his new tricks too.

So which of these masters make the top of my list?  Right away I can remove Von Schill and Lady Justice.  They’re fun to play, but not when compared with some of the other tricks I can try with other masters.  Perdita and Jakob fall off next leaving me with the three Neverborn and two Resser masters.  So my top five:

Number 5: McMourning

I am really enjoying him, and I’m hoping my enjoyment working with him will increase the more I get the hang of the Scheme Markers.  They’ve been a great new tool in the game and I know there’s a lot more I could be doing with them that I’m just not yet.

Number 4: Zoraida

It saddens me that she’s this far down the list, but I’ve been finding it a little challenging to feel like I’m getting the most out of her.  Of course, when I first started playing v1, I didn’t really get all of her tricks yet either.  She’s not firing on all cylinders yet.  Nearly every game I play with her, I feel like I could have done better by doing something else.  Lots of depth there – just gotta puzzle it all out.

Number 3: Seamus

His Back Alley alone is making me love this model.  More than any other master, I feel like he’s hitting his fluff perfectly.  The image of him popping out from behind a building that you thought no one was in and stabbing someone with his knife and then dragging the body away never to be seen again always jumps through my mind when I’m playing him.

Number 2: Pandora

I’m actually a little surprised she’s as high as she is on my list given how much I disliked her in v1.  I don’t feel as invulnerable with her anymore, and I have to be much closer to the action than I used to.  But Neverborn has a fair number of ways to punish models for being up close.  She provides a lot of control, and I do love control.

Number 1: Lilith

Speaking of control, Lilith has become my favorite master to play so far.  Being able to sneak around and harpoon models into melee with my beaters and then wreck them makes me smile.  Nephilim have a lot of pushes and movement tricks to them, and Lilith has plenty of those to spare.  Nothing is safe from her.  She gives the perfect vehicle to set up traps for your opponent’s models, and that’s one thing I’ve always enjoyed in games.

Now to be sure, this will all change before too long.   Heck, I’m clicking “post” and already rethinking them.  But for now, I’ll stick to this list.

What about you all?  What masters have you been enjoying in M2E and why?