Titania, 2017, and the State of Neverborn
What a year it has been so far for the faction of Neverborn. With new schemes, a new master, and an errata changing the cards of two of our masters, change has been a plentiful for the masked beasts of the void. While the meta has drastically shifted as new schemes and models have brought change to the meta, one thing remains consistent in my mind: Neverborn remain among the most balanced and flexible factions in the game.
While many of my friends, who are among the top players in America and play other factions, currently feel boxed into a select few viable masters and models. I continue to view a plethora of options when I reach into my carrying case of Neverborn models. Below is a quick summary of how I see each of the masters of Neverborn faction has been impacted by the changes of GG2017, the newest errata, and the releases of wave 4. The list of masters are organized in order of power level.
Tier 1
Lilith: I think a massive characterization of wave 4 is the distinct focus on forcing players to run schemes over kill. While some may view this as a drawback for Lilith who is known for aggressive killing, I think she is still among the most powerful masters in the game. Lilith to me is one of those unique masters in the game that function with a variety of crews at an elite level, and who is not dependent on one skill or combo to get wins. Her unique mix of board control, killing power, and movement speed makes her an option no matter what pool or faction you are playing into. None of the new wave 4 Neverborn models seem to have made it into my tournament Lilith lists, however the new upgrades certainly have. It is very common in my Lilith lists to see 2 1000 faces and Malifaux Provides. I think one of the biggest advantages wave 4 has brought to Lilith is a demand for high min damage. While it may be obvious, the ability to consistently put out min 3 and 4 attacks in a Lilith crew makes her extremely powerful verse a wave 4 which featured the likes of Nellie, Reva and Sandeep. Looking at GG2017 I see a lot of potential for Lilith. Lilith players to be successful in this new scheme pool are going to be required to lean less on the standard Lilith and friends kill the world build, in favor of a play style which utilizes board control and tactfully trading models. Lilith still is most potent in scheme pools that encourage killing or playing on the enemies board side such as entourage, breakthrough, and recover evidence. I would hesitate to play her in pools that include set up, tail em, and Accusation. If you could only take one master to a tournament my pick in Neverborn would still be Lilith.
Collodi: A long time powerhouse of the faction Collodi has been atop of the Malifaux power curve for much of the past year. In a game focused on AP efficiency the ability to spam hard to kill models that can go fast has been a staple of Collodi’s success since his remake. I find Collodi to be one of the biggest winners in 2017. The Rogrou has become another viable option to add to Collodi’s arsenal. I have found Collodi to perform extremely well vs Asami and Zipp who have been pegged as some of the top new masters in the game. On the down side Sandeep and his ability to spam metal gamin can be very overwhelming for a Collodi lead crew, and fighting vs Nellie is almost like fighting a mirror match, making it a very dicey proposition. The removal of show of force and hunting party as suits is a huge win for Collodi whose crews can do suited schemes about as well as any master in Malifaux. In general I would rate Collodi as the top master in Neverborn but what keeps him in check is and always will be some extremely bad matchups. His crew tends to operate in a bubble and rely on hard to kill and consistent casting to get the job done. Any crew with Sue, tons of armor, condition removal, and/or blasts is still going to give you concern. What makes Collodi truly compelling and top tier for me is his ability to compete every always, suited, and double scheme with the exception of leave your mark with consistency. The only scheme I would not try with Collodi is last stand.
Dreamer: One of the most controversial changes in 2017 is the so called “dreamer nerf” of the newest errata. While it is true that this is a slight power hit, forcing the Dreamer to have proper stone management for summons seems to not be the biggest deal. Going up to a 7ss cache and using primordial instead of daydreams seems to be a workable solution in my games. His new summon, the Bandersnatch, has been less than impressive to me, and is not something I would choose over the insidious madness in really any situation unfortunately. While the new schemes are Dreamer friendly the new masters and models are unfortunately not. Guild being able to attack buried models and have a casting based master is a serious threat to Collodi. The biggest concern however, would be the rise of Zipp as a top tier master. Zipp triple walking turn 1 into Dreamer’s face is about as scary an experience as one can have at a tourney. Zipp will kill Dreamer and there’s not really to much to say about that. Luckily chompy is a solid option vs the sky pirate, so try not to stick around summoning too long. Dreamer excels at many of the old scheme pools you always played him in, specifically any game with corner deployment. The flexibility of summons and speed he brings to the game still keeps him in my top tier list for 2017. The biggest change I see occurring with Dreamer is the viability of him in pools with assassinate which used to be a no go.
Tier 1.5
Titania: I think a lot of players are still trying to get a grasp on where Titania will fit into the spectrum of Neverborn play. My personal opinion is that Titania can be one of the most fulfilling masters in the faction when played correctly, and absolutely adds a new level of play to the faction that is 100% viable. Rather than going to much into a long rant here I decided to just create a guide using the PullMyFinger template below to give a more comprehensive overview of why I think she adds value to the faction and the common mistakes I have seen with her from those who are struggling to make her work.
Tier 2
Pandora: While Lilith has been able to maintain relevance in a shifting landscaped focused on scheming, in my opinion Pandora has been taken down a notch. Her lack of versatility is a major flaw in a game where masters and schemes are becoming more and more dynamic. It’s almost to the point where if the paralyze or terrifying upgrade both weren’t limited I think she see’s top play, but having to choose one or the other leads to an incomplete master in my opinion. She can still win and do well in the right match ups, but in a must win situation their is probably usually a better option out there. I think her crew will struggle to run schemes as effectively as many of the other top models in the game. However sorrows remain one of the best Accusation models in the game so if you’re in a game where you are hard pressed to take Pandora, try and at least make sure Accusation is in the pool.
Zoraida
I must be honest going into wave 4 the introduction of the Will-o-Wisp and frame for murder as a suited scheme in the pool gave me great excitement when it came to Zoraida. I saw a huge potential for her to rise and become a master I regularly take in tournaments. Well after having a devastating table 2 defeat at CaptainCon I can say that dream is dead. The wisp is great. Having a 3 point model summon the voodoo doll is tremendously valuable. However, the need for Z to have 7s to operate effectively is a massive drain. Catching enemies off guard and burning one of their premier models to death turn 1 is very potent, however she still falls short of what the masters in the top tier bring to the table. Obey masters walk a fine line in Malifaux of being overly powerful or lacking function. Zoraida seems to fall in the latter from my experiences with her. She is a nice counter punch when opponents are suspecting something else, but considering the plentifulness of conditions in Neverborn it is very likely your opponent could take condition removal and totally screw your game plan without even making the Zoraida prediction.
Tier 3
Lucious and Lynch: Short and to the point, these masters are better in their non-neverborn faction. I do not see a point in playing the inferior versions of masters. The best Neverborn models do not synergize particularly well with these models. Lynch, from my TT friends point of view, is ok but is taking a hit as similar to pandora, only doing damage can only get you so far. New Lucious I hear is good, but any minion based list not featuring Collodi seems questionable to me.
I hope this has been helpful for new players to the faction or those players which may not have gotten the chance yet to seriously play with the new models and rules. In summary this is going to be a good year for Neverborn who have the flexibility to handle most anything that comes at them, as long as that something isn’t ashes and dust.
Titania Review
Overview
Wave 4 created a whole new playstyle for Neverborn. Starting with the Rougarou and Malifaux Provides and ending with the Queen’s Return box set, we are seeing the ability for Neverborn to now use scheme markers as a resource. While this playstyle is not necessarily new to the game, the ability to utilize scheme markers as resource is what makes Titania and her crew truly unique to the faction. She is also the first Neverborn master to feature a 12 wound profile, making her perhaps the most seemingly durable master in the faction and our best option when it comes to denying assassination on face value. With a variety of attack and support abilities Titania is a versatile master who should be considered in any scheme marker focused pool.
Tactics and Tips
Some advice for in game play with Titania is as follows. Titania likes an aggressive play style. Upon first reading her card it may be easy to underrate her mobility and durability, so often enemies will over extend on her as compared to Lilith who projects a much more obvious large threat range. A common strategy I like to do is get the full ' inches of push turn one off of the A New Harvest Ability turn one, so that essentially I am starting 6 inches off my deployment zone. This can easily be accomplished by spending your first 3 activations dropping a scheme markers with minions in the crew to set her up for launch. With an 8 inch range on bloody command and a 9 inch threat range on charge often I am getting 2 attacks on an enemy turn one as you push 6’ walk 5’ threat range 8/9’. Often I will go after enemy models on the flank early with Titania rather than running right up the middle with her as she will go down to a good turn of focused fire and relies on 1 or 2 models in her crew keeping up with her to heal her up.
In general A New Harvest is an ability I try to utilize every turn if possible and it shouldn’t be too hard as you are creating scheme markers with attacks and when healing Titania, in addition she is often on the front line denying enemy scheme and this is a great way to deny an opponent who attempts a scheme like search the ruins or set up on you. In my opinion this is one of her best abilities, as the ability to push off of and consume ANY scheme marker within 6 is something that I cannot rate highly enough.
In my opinion Titania is serving 2 roles as a master, one as an attack master and the other as support to her crew. When it comes to attacking it’s usually best to lead with wicked silence on the first attack into bloody command on the second if you do choose to charge. With a min of 2 bloody command often is going to do do the same damage and the only triggers you are going to want on the first attack is ram or crow. While crow (my loyal subject) is an amazing ability we will go into in the next section, ram (deal with him) seems really inefficient in my opinion, again to be discussed more in the next section. For this reason it is always better to at least get one scheme marker down if you can, as it will be a much more valuable resource then ¾ of the triggers on Bloody Command and usual the same damage without the risk of BJ. A scheme marker in base with an enemy is great to have down as not only can you push from it and use it to up the damage track on bloody command, but it also will trigger her thirsty roots ability causing the enemy to take a wp 13 duel or suffer 2 damage. It also is needed to complete schemes such as Set Up and Dig Their Graves. Lastly it is important to remember that Wicked Silence does benefit from the Behold My Glory trigger, if you do choose to take that upgrade. This means on the first attack on the charge you are getting a scheme marker, forcing the enemy to attack you or discard 2 cards, and not risking a black joker flip. Pretty damn good if you ask me.
As a support master Titania brings a ton to the table. It is my humble opinion, leaving home without Behold My Glory is a pretty poor choice EXCEPT in the case of assassination in the pool. Ideally how Titania likes to operate is leading the charge and absorbing damage for her crew, in addition to creating scheme markers which will help fuel her crew’s abilities as you will later see. The Queen’s champion is a great example of Titania the support master, although this upgrade is kind of falling out of favor for me, when played correctly it can be a huge buff for a member of your crew. Ideally the support mechanics from Titania come from the triggers on her attacks. As discussed her Bloody Command trigger has 2 triggers which help to support her crew. The first trigger is My Loyal Subject on a crow with allows Titania to heal another friendly model within 4' 2/2/3 after succeeding. This is a great trigger, and is a big reason on why I favor hard to kill models so much in a Titania led crew. The second of her two support triggers is Deal With Him. Originally I saw some talk of this ability on forums and message boards as being great, and while it may be good to obey an engaged Nekima to attack from 8 away, it generally seems not worth while to me. First off you are pitching likely a medium to high ram to get this off, which if you are taking a Rougarou, Burt, or Graves is a pretty valuable card. Second you are risking another flip where your enemy could resist with a Red Joker or 13 vs your attack, and where you may have to spend an additional high card to get it off. Unless Nekima is engaged with an enemy who is 8 away and you only have one AP left, I do not see myself using this trigger. Honestly in the situation described above you probably are better off putting Behold my Glory on the enemy to protect Nekima.
Leading a Crew
Titania plays best with a crew that is durable, can put out damage, and utilizes and creates scheme markers. The combination of the new Malifaux Provides upgrade with Titania’s trigger to heal friendlies makes hard to kill a huge asset, similar to a Collodi lead crew benefiting from the brutal effigy buff. With this in mind below are the following models I would consider in a Titania led crew.
Aeslin- My biggest gripe with Aeslin is that she is an 8ss model costed at 9ss. If she was just one less point I could see the justification of using her but in general she falls way short of what Barbarous is adding as a henchman to the crew. I also have a huge gripe with whoever made the As Leaves on Wind ability. Why is putting enemies within aura 6’ on CA relevent? Sue’s ability is so much better because usually casts are longer range, getting the enemy within 6’ of you seems to tedious. Her attacks are similar to Titania’s which is to say solid but not mindblowing, and her other 0 of no movement shenanigans within 6’ is cute but it should should be a front card ability as I don’t want to have to activate Aeslin to put it up. Either way all this adds up to a model that I don’t think deserves much table play.
The Tooth, Thorn, and Claw- I am a big fan of the minions in Titania’s box. For one they have a ton of flavor, in addition to having the needed versatility to get play in other master led crews. I have seen a couple of threads ranking the minions of this box set and in my opinion it is a hard thing to judge. Personally I think you are going to want to take 1–2 in most games you play with Titania and figuring out which 2 you want is going to be situational. If you need scheme marker generation the Tooth and Thorn are probably your best bets. While the Tooth’s lure is probably the worst of the bunch the ability to generate scheme markers on attack is a huge asset to keeping titania alive and operating at full capacity. If you are in need of killing a combination of Claw and Thorn is probably best as he has arguably the strongest lure action of the three and brings a ranged presence. In general I like the thorn in any game where engagement will be beneficial such as Interference and Headhunter, and verse crews where I anticipate armor. Ideally in a turn Titania and this crew play in the front line generating scheme markers to improve one another’s attacks and forcing enemies to take Curse of Autumn and Thirsty Roots.
The Gorar- Whenever one goes to rate a neverborn totem yhe key question will be, “is this better than primordial?” In the case of the Gorar I think the answer is no. I get what Wyrd was trying to do here but I am not really sure how to execute it. Moving this model within 6’ of the board’s center is very risky. And while it’s Serpent’s Call attack would be the shit in Collodi, the inability to consistently slow models in Titania leads to a totem whose job it is to more or less wait for something to die while it stands in the middle of the board. Considering the durability of Titania’s crew often my goal is to keep minions alive so this seems very counter intuitive.
Barboros- It is truly a match made in demonic heaven. Barboros in my mind is one of the best pieces in the faction to combine with Titania, and in GG2017 in general should start to see a rise in play. For those that don’t know the combo is to put up the challenge aura on Barbaros and then follow up with the Behold my Glory trigger on Titania, more or less neutering an enemy engaged with Titania from attacking without discarding cards or passing a WP duel. In addition to this Barbaros is extremely durable and is an exceptional partner to Titania on the front lines. Adding Malifaux Provides and Nexus of power to him is a great way to increase resistance on an enemy who is forced to make the tough decision of going through him or Titania. Between him and Titania I have been able to hold the line against some of the hardest hitters in the game, including Leviticus and Wong.
Rougarou- When I first saw the Rougarou, I had a hard time valuing him over Mr.Graves. However after playing it I realized the Rogarou partners really nicely with Barbaros and Titania. Consuming scheme markers to stay above hard to kill/ push out of combat and utilizing high rams in the deck to put out 4–6 damage combos really nicely, in addition to be able to pounce on opponents Barbaros is attacking. If I am going the Barbaros build, the Rougarou is almost always an automatic inclusion. Be careful vs Arcanists however, as Marcus can really screw what you want to do with him. In the case of Arcanists I usually will take Mr.Graves with Malifaux Provides to perform a similar front line beater roll. Try to get a 4th scheme marker down turn one near your deployment zone if you can, as the free push with the Rougarou can be really handy turns 1 and 2.
Nekima- If you would like to play a more brawler focused killy crew for say a game of Reckoning where Dig Their Graves is in the pool, Nekima is a wonderful henchman to pair with Titania. Ideally you should try and get The Queen’s Champion on her as quickly as possible and take a combo of Malifaux Provides and Fears Given Form on her. When Combo’d with those 3 upgrades she becomes one of the most satisfying models in the game to play with.
Stitched Together- Again hard to kill and highly powerful damage splits puts this in the conversation for a Titania crew. The ability to cast into a combat that Barbaros and Titania are holding down is primarily where I see the stitched getting play. It is sometimes too slow to keep up but generally it is a fine investment at 6ss.
Mysterious Effigy- A durable minion that serves a purpose of feeding the crew scheme markers and running around denying schemes and holding objectives. While Titania doesn’t really need designated scheme runners if you are going to take one I think ME is the right call.
Changelings and Trapper- For any player that has not experimented with a trapper and one or two changelings just know its basically good in semi-open board. It is particularly nice in this crew because it can force the enemy to rush sloppily at you and get bugged down into the Titania and Barbaros bubble.
Mr. Graves- Pushing Titania turn one and the durability he has in this crew with Malifaux provides makes Mr.Graves a solid choice. He works in almost every neverborn crew as the push is invaluable, and his durability and damage track are above average.
Iggy and Doppleganger- Incite and the ability to cheat initiative in combo is always a powerful tool to utilize. Iggy generally likes to hang back and Doppelganger can interact in combat, so both fill the roll decently well of dropping scheme markers for Titania to utilize. This crew also tends to struggle with armor so consider taking retribution’s eye on Doppelganger in the Arcanist match up.
Burt Jebsen- One of the most undercosted models in Malifaux. I think he is particularly good in Titania because of her ability to heal and buff him, combined with his already ridiculous base card abilities. Imagine a world where Burt has The Queen’s Champion and Malifaux Provides and is on the front lines with Titania and Barbaros. He also is utilizing the same rams you would otherwise be using for the Rougarou if you were to take him in a list.
Primordial Magic- The best general faction totem in the game.
Strategies and Schemes
Titania, in my opinion, is a tier 1.5 master because she perfectly fills a niche need in the faction. She is by far the best master in the game for the new scheme dig their graves, with an attack that specifically has language to score the scheme. I consider Titania in any pool with dig their graves as scheme running has become considerably harder in gg 2017 and this scheme in addition to set up are extremely easy for Titania and crew to accomplish. Her crew likes to operate close for the synergy of scheme marker deployment, however it is not a requirement to success to stay in a bubble like say collodi might want. General rule of thumb for selecting Titania is the more schemes in the pool that require scheme markers, the better she is. Remember you can not only get scheme markers down quickly but also deny them with your 0 action, giving her access to delete any scheme marker within 21 inches of her on turn 5.
As far as strategies go I think she fits best in extraction, bounty, and guard the stash. The other schemes and strategies are all doable for her, but I just think I would prefer another master in most instances. For deployment I think close can be a struggle for her. While she does want to be in the action, the ability to set up scheme markers early and create push lanes is a huge advantage with her that is lost in a close deployment game.
Schemes and strategies that give me the biggest concern when selecting her would likely be assassinate, frame for murder, Accusation, mark for death and tail em. I say this not because she struggles at them but because I find Collodi to be the other option in most scheme and strats I am otherwise considering Titania, and he is much better at those schemes.
Upgrades
The Queen’s Champion- As stated above it can be awesome in the right circumstance. Burt and Nekima become truly forces of nature when they get this upgrade, and Barbaros becomes damn near unkillable. However the issue is how to effectively get it on a model by turn 2. Titania crews generally don’t have many ways to manipulate enemy movement outside of an audience with the queen. While this ability turn 1 could potentially get an over extended enemy in Burt or Nekima range post a graves push, it is not the easiest thing in the world to pull off. When this upgrade works it is amazing, but often it is hard to control getting the early kill, and vs a good player often rushing in for the kill will put your model in serious danger meaning they will quickly die after receiving the upgrade. It is something worth considering, but not auto. Best in a game like hunting party where killing is encouraged.
Behold My Glory- As stated above almost always a take for me. While I try to avoid Titania in assassinate pools because of her front line nature, that is the one circumstance you might not want this upgrade.
An Audience With The Queen- Movement tricks are always good. This upgrade can really catch an opponent off guard, and get a key model out of position. Much like Lilith’s swap with a range and a CA6 vs wp you can often use your highest card turn one to set up the brawl with Titania. I highly recommend this upgrade.
The Forest Claims All- Pretty cool vs Rezzers and Arcanists. The ability to convert corpse and scrap into scheme marker fuel can be really good in the right matchup. That said the 4 inch requirement on it is to small to make it relevant imo.
Others- Aether connection is really nice on Titania to get that defense up, especially due to her brawler nature. In general because of her and Barbaros/ Nekima’s front line nature I don’t mind going soulstone heavy so don’t feel pressured to take a third upgrade.