TEAM: Sulentic Shards (Crystallan team) Review Version 2.0

Sulentic Shards (Crystallan team)
Original Assessments in Gray from MAy 26, 2015, revised assessments in white.

Strengths: 
A Team of Bruisers - Having 5 Guards with an Orx Strength is no joke. These guys hit like a ton of bricks. Every single Rush you should be Slamming a couple of opposing players. This team is not for the timid. This is truly where the teams advantages are. Not just the Guards either, the Jacks are 3+ Strength too, and benefit from Harmonics. This team is a force to be reckoned with. The Crystallans also may be one of the top teams to benefit from the Star Realms League rules for Organized play. Being able to Slam from 2-3 hexes away, with 3+ Strength, and between 3 and 5 dice makes the Jacks no joke when it comes to crushing your opponent on the field. And in the Star Realms rules, if you can clear the Pitch so that there are no opposing player on the Pitch at the end of your opponent's turn, you automatically win in a 7 point landslide!

Pitch Perfect - Harmonics is a very strange ability, it definitely has some depth to it. Having the plus to Movement in most cases is a must. The extra dice to Speed comes in handy more often than I would have initially thought, and when you can get the extra dice on Strength for the Slam, that is amazing. With the Movement 5 bonus being the one you will see the most often, that should be the only one you rely on getting (much as I alluded to in my original Overall thoughts).

Defensive Chops - With the right setup, defending your side of the pitch is made easier by the Harmonics ability. Spacing your players to grant bonuses to other players is key. Knowing the capabilities of your opponent will help you know whether to set up for the blocking of the front 1-2 point zones or blocking the 1-2 centers and crowding the 3-4. I hold to The C3 Defense being the best setup if you are the Visiting team. It has proven itself very strong. Try it out.


Weaknesses:
No Strikers - Well, scoring is not easy with the Crystallans. A jacks only team is a challenge, but this is not an insurmountable obstacle, I mean look at the Orx. :-) This is a very difficult hurdle to get over. Jacks are less reiable scorers than Strikers, plan for this difficulty.

Clumping - If you are not careful, you will find your players clumped together. An astute opponent will try to get you to maneuver your players into areas that will handicap your ability to defend. This is also made even more difficult by one's own brain constantly saying, "Yeah, but 6 dice Slams!" It takes a few games to not fall into this trap. But if you can plan ahead, this weakness can actually become a strength as you learn where a player should end up when performing an action - it might be different than other teams.

They Are Big Rock Guys - Terrible Speed and Movement. Now these are mitigated by the Harmonics, but you cannot rely on it all the time. Getting the ball stolen is a problem. Try your best to Threaten hexes around your Jack if you have to hold on to the ball. If you can manage to be within three hexes of two Crystallans, you get an extra dice for Speed rolls too.


MVP Recommendations:

Crypt - This guy is a great choice if you are going for a team to crush and destroy your opoent, in a literal sense. With a 2+ Strength and a higher than average Crystallan Speed, this guy is a murderer. With a possible 6 Dice Slam on a 2+, you are all but guaranteed to send someone off the pitch with every Slam!

Any Striker MVP! This team would kill for a Striker. Whether it is Nightshade or the Praetorian or WHOEVER, it doesn't matter, grab 'em!


Overall: 
Don't fall into the trap of HAVING to have full Harmonics on everything you do. Crystallan Guards are utterly amazing BEFORE the extra dice from Harmonics. Take advantage of the single bump from Harmonics that 1 other Crystallans near you grants, this is a great advantage in and of itself. Use the plus to Speed to keep your players safe from those in the back Slams, and when you need to Steal (but you had better be Threatening the ballholder with at least one other Crystallan too!). If you are willing to put in the time on the Sulentic Shards, I have a feeling that the reward will proportional. If you are a fan of the Orx from Season One, I think you might enjoy the Crystallans. I agree with the original assessment for the most part. Like each of the teams from Season Six, the Crystallans are not a "pick up and play" team. They take time to learn and time to master, but I think they are a bit better than I originally thought having played with and against them more now.


Grade:
C +

C + is probably right, but easily a "B" if in the Star Realms League

TEAM: Wu-ling Wanderers (Koris Team) Review Version 2.0

Wu-ling Wanderers (Koris Team)
Original Assessments in Gray from May 8, 2015, revised assessments in white

Strengths: 
Portals - The portals are just so much fun! They add another layer on the game. Use them to Score. Use them to Slam. Use them to block line of sight. Use them to help guard your back. Use them to clog up your opponent's path. The possibilities are endless! I would add one huge extra to this too. Because of the way portals work, if you utilize them, it pretty much grants you an extra hex of movement (or possibly two if you jump from one to another). The more I play them/see them played, the more I think this is a great tactic to keep in mind and to develop as part of your team strategy.

Finally, Jacks that I can live with... - I love the fact that now, I can use one jack to place a portal, then use another jack to move one space, that becomes one space on the other side, then still Throw the ball. I think this is a huge boon for a jack-heavy team. I finally have some jacks that I...like. This is even more relevant if you are play with the Star Realm League rules where a Koris Jack could move 2 hexes and get a throw off.

Gotcha! - With the two Guards working together, or a Guard and a Jack working together, Gotcha! is fantastically powerful, even if you only have the Strength of a Corporation Guard. For a team with only two Guards, Gotcha! is more effectively used as a defensive tool I have learned. If you are playing the Nameless, no doubt it is offensive - Sticky Guard with Gotcha! stands beside the target, then the Hard Guard rushes him. But on the Koris, in my experience, it is a tool best used to guard Strike Zones and Threaten players who have the ball, or need to get the ball. Though, an occasional Gotcha! to hold someone for a Slam is always a good thing!


Weaknesses:
Maybe the four legs work independently? - Movement the same as a Forge Father is never good. Of course, because of the portals this is mitigated a good bit, but it is worth a mention, because... Movement 4 is bad. See above comments on Movement for a slight addendum to this.

One Striker - Want to paint a big target on someone's back? Make them the only Striker on the team. This will be the first person that gets killed on your team, and rightly so. Protect him... or use him as bait. :-) Still a big issue. You will get one, MAYBE two Rushes out of this guy against a good opposing player.

Portal Placing - Two things here: 1 - Until you get practiced with the Koris, the fact that placing a portal takes a full action from a Jack can really mess up your plans. 2 - You have to be thinking a few steps ahead to execute the Koris portals "Pitch perfectly". This is going to be a stumbling block for some newer players.


MVP Recommendations:

I am going to wait on this until I can see the Koris MVP and th other Season 5/6 MVPs are capable of. Still not used any MVPs with them, but they could definitely use Kryphos for sure! That guy is a literal and figurative monster!

Overall: 
I really enjoy playing these guys - I can't wait to have the actual models! They really open up a new level of game play, both you and your opponent. I think that the DB community is going to find a lot of interesting and innovative ways to use them. I might use them in our next league... we will see. I honestly believe that this team is going to be one of the teams that you are going to to get what you put into them. If you try them once or twice and decide you don't like them, that's cool. But if you are willing to put time into this team, I think the returns will be awesome! The play style needed to play them properly does not develop in a game or two, I can feel the understanding of how to use this team deepening each time they are on the Pitch in front of me. I seasoned Koris player is going to be a difficult player to stop, especially in a league environment.


Grade:
B -
But definitely an "A" for fun factor!

B
Still an "A" for fun factor!