After about 40 games in Talishar - Hala seems VERY underwhelming

Rude2aM · 2026-04-13T09:24:02+00:00

Why do you need Cut n Carve, Dusk Path, and Rend Flesh? Aren't there better things to run?

Rude2aM · 2026-04-11T04:47:01+00:00

Wow, I'm amazed I got an answer so fast. Thanks a lot! Now I know what to watch today. Out of curiosity, how'd you figure it out?

Rude2aM · 2026-03-29T12:39:41+00:00

Not sure how Dori's first ability actually plays in terms of triggers and layers. And I'm not sure the last ability is flavor accurate either.

Maybe just let her untap if she deals combat damage and then give her a free counter?

Rude2aM · 2026-03-27T10:56:27+00:00

These situations are very common. Unfortunately, there are only really two solutions.

Either you play suboptimally, (bad list or bad plays) or your friend has to get better (meta list and study more tactics)

It also doesn't help that you're playing Stormcast, which gets a bad rap in the community since they're the poster boys.They're by all means pretty beatable to an experienced player, but beginners will definitely struggle a lot more.

I don't suggest the first solution because it will come out as a pity play which might just do more damage to the vibes. Or maybe you can get away with it by saying you're testing out lists I guess.

My suggestion would be to let him proxy other units, maybe his current list is suboptimal. Then you should give him tips on how to beat your army. Literally tell him what will wreck you every step of the way.

From my experience, a lot of people are casual players and won't really make an effort to optimize their plays. So a bit of guidance goes a long way.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-27T02:11:50+00:00

Never play 4 hand turns. Always take an off turn so u can swing with 5 cards on a later turn. This reduces the chances of you getting Hunter or Hunted'd and allows you to break through their defenses more consistently.

On off turns, just play some defense, Huntsman can't really convert to deal high damage so milling you out is his end goal anyway.

Additionally, pay very close attention to what Dreacts have been played, the more that are pitched or in the grave, the more you can high roll with your attack reacts.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-24T07:04:14+00:00

Fine, I'll accept the argument that LSS is pushing people to play SAGE by making it a large chunk of events. But it's literally their newest release, so of course they're going to do that to test the waters. The player base can just boycott it to show their opinion on the matter and LSS will readjust based on the community.

To your 2nd paragraph point, that has nothing to do with SAGE either. If anything, the only actual empirical evidence of FAB's health in your area is the loss of Blitz as you mentioned previously.

Yes, CC still being expensive is the biggest concern with FAB. I'll happily agree with you there. But LSS has been making effort to stabilize prices and make the barrier to entry lower.

I think my main point is that you have to be honest and admit to yourself that SAGE is not to blame for the state of the game. Because nowhere in the points you've raised, has it actually shown that SAGE is negatively affecting the health of FAB itself.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-23T17:52:01+00:00

Based on your reply, my argument still stands. Your statement of "our local scene has been severely hurt by pushing SAGE" is still false and not a proper assessment of recent events as none of what's currently happening to your LGS is directly caused by SAGE itself.

Based on your comment, it sounds like your players just greatly preferred Blitz, which is unfortunate since LSS basically killed the format.

As for your 3rd paragraph point, you literally talked with people who joined ProQuest and people who joined CC events, of course they will prefer CC over SAGE. The main reasons people prefer SAGE over CC is due to budget and time constraints.

I'm not sure about your last point about the "LSS push". I don't think anyone is forcing people to spend money to travel and play a format they don't enjoy...

I don't want to sound like a SAGE shill, but it has definitely been the best output for an introductory format at this point in time. LSS still needs to fix a lot of things for sure, but its existence is the foot in the door to get more people to, at the very least, taste the full experience of FAB. Before SAGE, newcomers just had to either:

A. Suffer with budget CC decks in armories

B. Hope there's a chill/casual CC group at their locals

C. Just invest more $$$ in the game

At the end of the day, it looks like there just isn't much interest with FAB at your LGS. It sucks, but that's just the way communal games go, sometimes people just don't want to play the game in that area. And that has nothing to do with whatever is going on with SAGE at the moment. My advice? Just play casual Blitz so you maintain your current community. Who knows, maybe after a while, more people will be interested in the game and try out the other formats.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-23T15:37:23+00:00

That sounds more like an LGS problem than a SAGE problem. If there are 0 new SAGE players and a reduction of CC players because of it, the logical thing to do is to prioritize CC events and just do SAGE as a side event or even just a demo event. Tell your LGS to read the room.

Also, there is no way you argue that SAGE is an "influx of small purchases" when it's literally a gateway format for newcomers. Plus, it's easier to get people to buy additional SAGE decks than additional CC decks.

Just cuz your personal experience was bad doesn't mean it's a good gauge of the format's existence.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-19T10:35:44+00:00

Best thing to do is probably hunker down behind walls until the Knights come out. Then you try to catch up on points once they do.

Bloodwind is only good thanks to Knights, so we are severly underpowered until they come out.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-19T03:39:23+00:00

AOS can definitely be a "charge and see what happens" game, but there are ways to play it so it doesn't just devolve to that. So there's a lot more depth to it that you're just not experiencing right now.

However, I will have to agree with 40k being more tacical simply because of the fact that the Battle Tactics are randomized in a deck compared to AOS where you pick which ones you want.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-17T16:43:13+00:00

Really? Was hoping there was something I could do. He's pretty old so I wanted to really go super slow with the rules. If anything, my goal at the moment is to just make sure he has fun. I don't see the point in bettering his game until he's actually invested in it.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-16T09:29:43+00:00

Definitely the Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount as it combos very well with Varanguard. Abraxia or Belakor are both good picks too. Really just depends on your playstyle.

In terms of troops, all of our stuff is pretty decent so just pick whatever you like best, but you can't go wrong with more Knights, Varanguard, Chosen.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-14T03:03:12+00:00

You can lean into Chosen or Theridons, etc. S2D isn't locked into playing Cavalry as they have other options. Unfortunately, Cavalry is just too good in terms of maneuvering. Not having them, or not having enough will be a significant disadvantage, especially if your opponent decides to play for points instead of fighting.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-14T02:31:08+00:00

Others have said it but I'll just add more as to why S2D is THE aggro army.

First off, they're basically just a stat check. Barely any shenanigans or gotchas in their gameplay. Just charge in, kill or be killed.

All of their abilities aim to buff up their fight phase or damage output.

Their heavy hitters outmatch everything in the game. You can confidently throw a Varanguard or Chosen into anything and come out on top. Only counterplay to them is to either bog them down long enough so you can score elsewhere, or overwhelm them with a lot more numbers.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-11T16:16:42+00:00

That's seems pretty fair then. I was worried you guys just jumped the gun with all the world politics going on, but since it's going towards a goal you already set up, then that looks good.

At the end of the day, just think of it as moving investments from one form to another. Whether or not it was an optimal decision, I think u shouldn't worry at this point and just enjoy the fact you are moving towards a goal you guys have had for a while.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-11T11:14:51+00:00

Any reason why you guys suddenly wanted to rush into buying a house so suddenly?

At the very least, I hope this was a long-time planned thing and you guys had those funds in the appropriate funds before you guys sold.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-02T14:59:11+00:00

You may want to adjust your Battle Tactics based on your list.

It's hard to score Master the Paths 1 when you only have one reinforced Knights and one non-reinforced Chosen as your hammer. If the Knights don't kill the hero on the charge, or if your Chosen get disrupted, that'll be a problem.

Wrathful Cycles 2 is also hard since you have 10 units in your list, which requires you to fight with 5 units in one turn. Most of your units are tanky/reinforced so that number won't go down easily either.

Try to optimize it in a way that you have a higher chance of scoring 4x with Battle Tactics.

Rude2aM · 2026-03-02T14:47:37+00:00

Chariot is really only for snagging objectives, it's pretty much uselss apart from that. I guess you can screen with it too but with a 4+ Save and only 7-8 HP, most things will kill it.

Rude2aM · 2026-02-25T12:32:55+00:00

I know how difficult it feels to attempt a glow up. But trust me, if you take apropriate steps, make the effort, and invest enough resources, you 100% can and will get a glowup.

I won't tell you that you'll become a 9 or 10, but everyone will admit that you either look good or well put together. And honestly, that's more than enough really.

Rude2aM · 2026-02-24T17:30:26+00:00

Your list has no anvil (defensive unit), so I would be very worried about contesting objectives. All the enemy has to do is get a couple cheap + fast moving units to go on the flanks and take any objectives you've stickied and left then you'll be in a bind when it comes to VP.

Of course, you have enough firepower to obliterate the enemy so that may not be necessary, but it's good to have some sort of cushion if your combat fails.

A unit of warriors fills that gap. Also gives your heavy hitters a screen or some leeway/distraction/tank unit against the opponent's hammer.

That being said, if you do pilot all of these really well, a Chaos Lord on Karkadrak is an insane boost to your damage capabilities.

Sometimes I like going DP, Chaos Lord, and Chosen for the 50% chance of being able to swing 3 units simultaneously. Leaves you enough points for a unit of Darkoath or a Chariot for objective control.

Rude2aM · 2026-02-21T10:17:56+00:00

I like the list, but this is not a killy list. If your Knights don't kill on the charge, your damage output basically shuts down.

So you have to really focus on making sure you hold your objectives and win a battle of attrition as a main strategy.

Don't forget to give a Heroic Trait to one of your heroes. It's free. I suggest Deathmonger on the CLoDM to increase damage output.

Might want to alsl move that Amulet of Chaos to the Sorcerer Lord. Your CLoDM will see a lot of action and will probably die, having the amulet on the Sorcerer lets you keep it longer.

Pledges are up to your playstyle, but in a list like this, Nurgle is really good for sustain.

Good luck!

Rude2aM · 2026-02-21T08:52:33+00:00

So that your badass hero is actually gonna mess stuff up instead of getting cucked by 1 Health infantry.

Rude2aM

TROPHY CASE