Which card, in your opinion, is a must have in your given* deck so far?

*A deck that you have gamed with or designed.

My favorite deck to play thus far is Tau, I think. Ambush Platform is a must.

I also have been enjoying AM. Preemptive Barrage is just killer!

Both os these are 3 offs (though drawing a 3rd copy of Ambush Platform can be a bit un-needed...)

Tzeentch's Firestorm.

Board resets are a must for me at this time.

Oh thank god, for a moment i tought you were talking about yugioh

Coliseum fighters haha, just kidding

Posessed for chaos

Stingwing swarm for Tau

Burna Boyz for Orks

And the board clearing reset buttons ofcourse

For Space Marines, I'm thinking Indomitable. Utterly wreck your opponent's calculations and save a unit? Yes please.

Oh thank god, for a moment i tought you were talking about yugioh

Coliseum fighters haha, just kidding

Posessed for chaos

Stingwing swarm for Tau

Burna Boyz for Orks

And the board clearing reset buttons ofcourse

I used possessed in the last game I played, Possessed with Rokkit Launchers attached.

Almost as good as "Sharks with lasers attached to their heads" , if you know where that quote comes from.

Nullify without question. Throws off lots of plans, and is wonderful to throw in to stop a board wipe.

Nullify without question. Throws off lots of plans, and is wonderful to throw in to stop a board wipe.

Except when your opponent plays nullify as well to counter your nullify, unless you nullify his nullify again.

I think Nullify belongs to the top 3 of strongest cards right now.

For Orks, Battle Cry.

Chaos have some wicked cards that my buddy loves playing so for me as an Eldar/ Dark Eldar player , must have card is Nullify !

Blood Letters, I also can't seem to find them on time, luckily Ive got more copies of the core set waiting for me. They are so sick with their area of effect combined with the core Chaos hero.

Overall for me it's Superiority. Command switches are devastating. Unit wise I think it's becoming clear that Tactical Squad Cardinis and Vior'La Marksman seem to rise above the rest. At least for now.

Overall for me it's Superiority. Command switches are devastating. Unit wise I think it's becoming clear that Tactical Squad Cardinis and Vior'La Marksman seem to rise above the rest. At least for now.

I agree that Superiority is nasty indeed and so are the TSC and VM, I think it´s the 2 drops like that will be awnserd in the future by other Neutral cards.

For each faction, the #1 non-signature in faction cards that I always run x3 of for their current warlords are:

Tau - Recon Drone

Awesomely strong card for controlling command phase. Though actually, Tau has a lot of auto-includes for a Tau led deck, it almost builds itself.

Eldar - Gift of Isha

2 shield icons, and the main means for Eldar to win critical battles. Lots of other really strong Eldar cards, but this is the only one that I foresee myself autoincluding at x3 for at least the next few packs.

Dark Eldar - Archon's Terror

Lots of good Dark Eldar stuff, but this card is the answer for so many challenges your opponent can place before you. It wins games.

Space Marines - Indomitable

Like a shield card, but almost impossible to circumvent. Probably the most unbalanced card of the game. Not "OP", as this game is well balanced overall, but the most 5-star of all 5-star cards.

Astra Militarum - Catachan Outpost

Pretty much the only reason to go AM as allies or main right now, at least till we see the first chapter pack arrive. There are other good cards too, but this is the only one you'll put x3 of in straight away.

Ork - Ork Kannon

Ork cards aren't great generally, in my opinion, even if ork decks as a whole can come together quite well. There's no autoinclude for orks with me.

Chaos - Promise of Glory

Delaying deploying by one action, and a -2 discount off your next daemon. Absolutely essential for a faction that tends to lose at command, but which has potentially the best units in the game.

For each faction, the #1 non-signature in faction cards that I always run x3 of for their current warlords are:

Tau - Recon Drone

Awesomely strong card for controlling command phase. Though actually, Tau has a lot of auto-includes for a Tau led deck, it almost builds itself.

Eldar - Gift of Isha

2 shield icons, and the main means for Eldar to win critical battles. Lots of other really strong Eldar cards, but this is the only one that I foresee myself autoincluding at x3 for at least the next few packs.

Dark Eldar - Archon's Terror

Lots of good Dark Eldar stuff, but this card is the answer for so many challenges your opponent can place before you. It wins games.

Space Marines - Indomitable

Like a shield card, but almost impossible to circumvent. Probably the most unbalanced card of the game. Not "OP", as this game is well balanced overall, but the most 5-star of all 5-star cards.

Astra Militarum - Catachan Outpost

Pretty much the only reason to go AM as allies or main right now, at least till we see the first chapter pack arrive. There are other good cards too, but this is the only one you'll put x3 of in straight away.

Ork - Ork Kannon

Ork cards aren't great generally, in my opinion, even if ork decks as a whole can come together quite well. There's no autoinclude for orks with me.

Chaos - Promise of Glory

Delaying deploying by one action, and a -2 discount off your next daemon. Absolutely essential for a faction that tends to lose at command, but which has potentially the best units in the game.

All good cards, though the problem with Recon Drone that became clear while playing it is that it's limited. This prevents you from using a crucial promotion later that turn (and promotion is one of those cards that you MIGHT need as an final deploy to screw over your opponent). I kept running into this problem which really turned me away from running 3X drone.

I totally agree with you on Archons Terror though.

I totally agree with you on Archons Terror though.

And from last night's games (3 different opponents, 2 DE players), Archons Terror was just too much to handle. I gamed with a AM deck with Orks thrown in, and I just couldn't overcome either DE players' decks.

Archon's Terror is just too powerful, especially in conjunction with the 'regular' DE cards...

Still a wonderful game though; am just waiting for more AM card releases.

Great sum up Prepare for War , I think you mentioned some very key cards.

For me, the Ork auto include would be: Snotling Attack , you won't win command with them, but that first planet almost is surely yours. In special when lead by the Chaos Hero. Feels like a 4/4 for 2 but better the way combat is handled in Conquest. For sure the Area of Effect dudes can awnser it but at the same time you are allowed to play around that by deploying the Snotlings wherever you want.

You're wise to be aware of the downsides of Limited , though its not as much of a restriction as in some games for two reasons.

Firstly, shielding. Any limited card with a shield on it is never truly dead in hand. Drone doesn't have one, but Promotion does.

Secondly, resource carry through. Even if you find yourself with resources in your pool, you can carry them through to next turn. Admittedly this is less important for these 2 0-cost cards!

Even so, I think with core set only, its not a bad idea to run 3 Drones, 3 Promotions, as both are strong enough to justify the deck space. However, if you run 1 Frontline Launch Bay (I don't, I have to say) you could say dropping to 2 of Drones or Promotions might be worth it.

With the expansion in, Homing Beacon can start crowding us too, but if we go by the rulings on this (can of worms opening here) it doesn't trigger on much at present, as returning to HQ and retreating aren't considered moves. That makes it non-viable till we get to the new tau warlord and his signature squad. When we do, however, there's going to be hard choices to make. As another limited card with no shield on it, but playing out of cards that bounce back to HQ (and so aren't worth promoting) we'll be thinking hard about which limiteds we want.

Me, I think its going to be 2 Drones, 2 Beacons, 1 Bay for that Warlord.

Even so, I think with core set only, its not a bad idea to run 3 Drones, 3 Promotions, as both are strong enough to justify the deck space. However, if you run 1 Frontline Launch Bay (I don't, I have to say) you could say dropping to 2 of Drones or Promotions might be worth it.

It sure isn't altough I do feel it really depends per faction match up. While Drones and Promotion are great, factions like Chaos and Dark Eldar can force the destruction of these cards which will not only let you down 2 cards but also a possible command struggle you where otherwise bound to win versus those specific factions. The biggest downside of this on certain planets can lead to these attachments being not as great in the lategame. Besides the possible destruction, routing triggers can also lead to not really gaining any benifit from them. This is offcourse also true for heavier combat units but will be much more dangerous in the lategame, where command struggles matter less and combats matter more.

Even so, I think with core set only, its not a bad idea to run 3 Drones, 3 Promotions

Ya I'm very close to your preference, 3 promo and 2 drones seems about right to me. With new cards as choices get harder I'd stick with promo over drones just for the shields. One things to keep in mind though is how (when your running Tau with Ambush platform), seemingly harmless units can instantly be juiced (ie with an Ion Rifle etc.) to get a good punch in on a Warlord or other important unit. I have a good feeling that Warlord kills are going to become a very competitive strategy as the packs roll in, particularity with more cards like Aun'ui Prelate! Should make warlord assignment an even harder decision!

Even so, I think with core set only, its not a bad idea to run 3 Drones, 3 Promotions

Ya I'm very close to your preference, 3 promo and 2 drones seems about right to me. With new cards as choices get harder I'd stick with promo over drones just for the shields. One things to keep in mind though is how (when your running Tau with Ambush platform), seemingly harmless units can instantly be juiced (ie with an Ion Rifle etc.) to get a good punch in on a Warlord or other important unit. I have a good feeling that Warlord kills are going to become a very competitive strategy as the packs roll in, particularity with more cards like Aun'ui Prelate! Should make warlord assignment an even harder decision!

For sure that Warlord assassinations will play a bigger role, Ragnar and Coteaz will play a big role in this if Nazdreg didn't force this allready.

However this is also why I think Tau will need to figure out a great awnser to Calamity, the Ambush Platform really helps for this, on the other side you could also make use of the SM 3 drops to ensure your pressure after that important initial full round.

In my experience however is that if you get your opponents Warlord bloodied in the first or second round the chances are really high you allready won the game, regardless of the advantage your opponent has in taken planets. The only real exception is Straken and Cato as their support is less needed within the single faction decks to win combats.

Recon Drones are an answer to Calamity.

So is the new Warlord, of course, as he's much less attachment dependent than Shadowsun.

Recon Drones are an answer to Calamity.

So is the new Warlord, of course, as he's much less attachment dependent than Shadowsun.

Very true, altough I do have to say I feel the newer Tau Warlord is far less powerfull as the newer one, mainly because I feel much of the Tau Core is very good at the lategame where leaving combat early is not that profitable, in special when you have 7 health to work with... Offcourse there is much to be spoiled before I actually can state that and be correct with it.

I'd disagree, though as you say, we'll need to try the cards in context before we can truly judge.

Some reasons though, that I think Aun'shi will be the Warlord of choice here:

1) Armourbane is huge. Even Piranha Hunters become a good card when they can easily gain Armourbane.A Viorla Marksman with an Ion Rifle with armourbane is answerable with Archon's Terror or Indomitable, and thats it . Even the Warlord carries armourbane, making him straight off the best solo combatant there is, with his 2/7 stats. Forced retreat might be problematic, but mostly this weakness is a boon: you don't have to waste your first action fleeing from Ragnar and his Honoured Librarian: you can attack AND flee.

2) The signature squad is a 1 cost superb command capper that can survive a small snipe attack and still retreat after counterattacking. That makes for a nice easy cost curve, straight off.

3) Ethereal Wisdom is a true 0-cost event. A lot of 0 cost events have costs in the text, but not this one. The +1 attack synergises with armourbane, making the deck very hard to answer.

4) Homing Beacon. It barely works at all with Shadowsun decks, but is superb card draw for an Aun'shi deck.

5) Most of the things that make Shadowsun decks great lie outside of the sig squad. We can still use Ion Rifled Marksmen, we can still use Recon Drones, we can still run Trailblazers.

An Aun'shi deck, to me, is likely to be one that uses a lot of cheap Tau units, draws like crazy through non-command effects, still does well in command phase, and is solid and hard to answer in the combat phase. That to me comes together to say tourney-winning warlord.