Revision of 2010 banned figures

After much analysis, we are happy to anounce the return to play of our three previously banned figures albeit in modified form. These figures used to be “must includes” in the old metagame, but, if we’ve done our homework right, have now dropped to the status of “need to consider” when building your own warband

There were several reasons for the initial bans. Two of these pieces directly attacked theme warbands, which is actually something we would rather encourage. We have attenuated this, and adjusted the pieces to be more in line with their point costs.

Delver Sergeant

The Delver Sargeant was the victim of unfortunate wording. For 15 points, she gave you a great tech piece that also allowed warbands to activate 3 miniatures during a player’s first turn. We didn’t want to throw away the tech altogether, so she’s kept one champ power intact, though we’ve now corrected the triple artillery strike threat inherent to her second power. She comes back leaner, but still very mean tech at 15 points.

Witchknife

The Witchknife lived up to its name as a hated piece, due to its map-wide ability to stun keyword-bearing creatures without any requirement for line of sight, and for its repeatable daze (save ends) ranged attacks. We’ve altered the stun effect significantly to make it a close-in effect, and changed the focus from controller to damage. The attenuated witchknife remains viable as a tech option and as an accurate ranged piece, but will not longer be a focal point for warband building.

Eternal Blade

The Eternal Blade has her own story. I’ve always felt she was valuable to new players, since her commander effects could be doled out once per round, avoiding key timing issues that are probably better addressed by experienced players. However, she was (even by conservative estimates) costed about 20 points too low, and in her old form, destroyed theme bands with her ability to augment artillery and close strikes. This had a phenomenally limiting effect on the metagame, which was nicely solved by her ban. In this respect, the 2010 season saw an amazing array of viable warbands, and we’d really like to stay in this realm as we enter 2011.

In re-introducing her, we kept her flavor to a degree. Now, during setup, you can assign up to three bonus eternal training item cards to her, which she may distribute to other pieces at the start of rounds. Remember, a given champion power can only be used once per round, so she can only distribute one item per round. While these items are ‘free’ to assign, they still count as points if she is eliminated before they are distributed, making her perhaps a juicier target if you take her down early.

Of course, the items also increase the value of recipient creatures in her warband, so they do represent a net of extra points on the table. From a strategic perspective, you will need to choose carefully during the set up of each match how many items you want to assign to the Eternal Blade when you place her in your start area.

Assigning items to creatures walks a fine line, but permits a champ power to work over several turns in return for putting an extra value on the benefiting creature.

The Eternal Blade herself cannot use any of the Eternal Training items she carries. Although the rules legally allow her to bear these cards, they do not explicitly allow her to use them, and she clearly does not fulfill the criteria for using them (based on her level). Similarly, she must assign the items to an ally of appropriate level and faction for that ally to be able to use the items.

We hope you like these new developments in organized play; it looks to be an exciting constructed season for 2011. These figures are legal for sanctioned play starting now. Enjoy!