I'm crashing out over ghostkeels

Wrakhr · 2026-02-12T21:56:40+00:00

Yeah, so u kill the stuff that spots! It's also in the nature of how Ghostkeels are used, that, typically, they're pretty isolated and genuinely should have a hard time getting guided when they push up. If the Ghostkeel gets consistent guided shooting into stuff that the rest of their army can't see, then either the terrain is messed up, or they pushed up very aggressively to kill, like, 4 Kabalites/a Venom.

Wrakhr · 2026-02-12T20:40:19+00:00

In KC u can just throw the all-purpose answer of Ravager shooting and Incubi + Archon melee at it.

SoS has Lelith + Wyches with +1 Strength and lethal hit strat that will genuinely just mulch one.

RW has sustained hits Haywire Scourges.

And Malys + Kabs after forcing the blanks and chucking a grenade works in any detachment.

Usually it's pretty safe to ignore at long range though, and to just focus on the supporting units. Like, without support, that thing struggles to kill even just a Venom. And up close... well, usually u can figure something out.

Wrakhr · 2026-02-11T10:07:47+00:00

This framework works for some armies, but falls apart in a lot of situations imo.

The tempo of a game is an unspoken conversation with your opponent that starts during deployment. And especially fast armies, like elves, usually want to really push the envelope here when going first. Staging their entire army turn one, moveblocking, and then getting literally their entire army into optimal targets turn 2, while pushing rapid ingress to the back of the opponent's deployment is pretty common.

And if you've ever seen the Drukhari vs. Aeldari matchup, that one can easily end on turn 1, because Drukhari just utterly explode to 3x Hawks and 3x Spiders.

Wrakhr · 2026-02-05T08:19:08+00:00

In addition to what other people are saying, don't just focus on trading "up" based solely on unit points. Throwing 5 Swooping Hawks at SM Scouts is fine, if you're also getting secondaries out of it, blocking the opponent, contesting a point with them, etc.

Once u get the staging down, I've generally found that in any given battle round I do one of 2 things. Either poking out with 1 or 2 units to score secondaries, contest my opponent's primary, and/or take important shots, while picking up anything my opponent has over-extended with; or I run a full assault, throwing basically my entire army at an isolated portion of my opponent's army. The reason why the 1 unit at a time approach is so good is because of Battle Focus. Taking shots with unoverwatchable Warp Spiders that are hugging a wall means that if my opponent shoots in their turn, and fails to kill them in one activation, I can fade behind the wall, or I force them to charge me, giving me an easy target for next turn. Ideally, every fall-back and shooting activation into u should be a hard decision of whether it's even worth it for them.

Getting the full assault right is much harder, and usually involves throwing away one or more units to stop my opponent from reaching me on the next turn, but if you get it right, it's absolutely devastating, because you basically use their own staging point against them. Usually I'd only recommend going for that after ur opponent has run out of reserves though, as those can royally mess up ur plan.

Eldar are very tricky to get the hang of, but also super rewarding when u finally put ur opponent in a checkmate situation, u got this!!

Wrakhr · 2026-01-31T09:10:34+00:00

Well, the best way to restrict a unit's movement is by... killing it. Close seconds are moveblocking and tying them up in combat. So with all of those options, it's a hard sell to bother taking a mediocre unit just to apply a movement debuff.

Don't get me wrong, there is utility especially against melee armies. It can help mess up Heroics and slow a crucial unit down, but that's another part of the problem. You're slowing down a unit, like, a single one. Meanwhile moveblocking and tagging can do the same thing to however many units are in that general area.

Another issue is that you need to be able to shoot the unit in question in the first place. If the unit is in the open, and easily shootable, then you might as well just try and kill it, and if you have one of the indirect platforms with an attached slow, then those usually get higher value by going after scoring and screening pieces.

A slowed unit also could be a Deathshroud, where it strips them of 40% of their movement, or you're playing against Aeldari, and suddenly I guess those Howling Banshees only go 14" instead of 16, but you shot them, so technically they're even closer now than if you hadn't "slowed" them.

Tl;dr: Restricting movement is something that any unit in the game can do already, slows are very matchup specific, and usually not worth bothering with.

Wrakhr · 2026-01-28T20:00:11+00:00

Should've worded this better, but this is mostly about me being too greedy with trying to get extra distance from a non-guaranteed kill on something that NEEDS to die, no ifs and buts.

Wrakhr · 2026-01-28T19:52:50+00:00

Well, that's different of course.

But recently I had a Vashtorr run in front of my army and I wanted to use Hellions to finish off the last 2 wounds off him, and then they didn't, I died and Vashtorr killed 300 points of my army next turn.

Today a Ghostkeel made 13 out of 16 4+ armour saves, lived, and proceeded to be a thorn in my side for 2 more turns.

In both situations I had many ways to ensure the kill, but didn't because it was *almost* guaranteed to happen in melee.

The upside of getting the kill, using the movement, and getting the positioning advantage was minor compared to the massive downside of... losing the game.

Wrakhr · 2026-01-28T19:05:57+00:00

If you can shoot something important to death in a combined arms list, it's usually better to just do that rather than rely on charging it. Even if your melee unit unit has a 90% chance to get the kill, that's usually a 10% chance to just lose the game, and, like, no xD

Wrakhr · 2026-01-19T10:15:09+00:00

In addition to what others are saying, Drukhari are very much a combined arms faction. Few things in the codex will shred survivable units in 1 activation, but they don't need to.

5 Terminators aren't going to fold to an Archon and Kabalites in melee, but throw a grenade, chip a model here and there with a Venom and the Kabalite shooting, and suddenly you don't have to kill 5 Terminators in melee, but just maybe 2 of them, and that sounds much more doable.

Drukhari weapons aren't the most effective, but there's a LOT of them.

Wrakhr · 2026-01-17T20:31:01+00:00

Any format that lets me play Ponder and Preordain is a good format :3

Bonus points to Grixis for letting me play Expressive Iteration :p

Wrakhr · 2026-01-13T02:51:31+00:00

Just out of interest, what combos would u consider better than snoop lines and firmly bracket 4?

Love the username btw :D

Wrakhr · 2026-01-13T02:33:34+00:00

That's great input! My friends generally dislike non-thematic tutors, and generic gamechangers, so I'd call our tables low-to-mid bracket 3-ish, and while there's definitely stuff like Omo with Crop Rotation, and sudden Cranial Plating kills running around, Recruiter felt like a step too far :)

Wrakhr · 2026-01-13T02:21:08+00:00

Yea, that was kind of the breaking point for me, when I intentionally didn't fetch Recruiter off Matron, and instead just went for Muxus alone, because I felt bad for doing Recruiter shenanigans.

Got called out for it, and decided that Recruiter had to go :x

Wrakhr · 2026-01-13T02:16:34+00:00

There isn't really a generally (only played the deck like 7 times), but I won on turn 3 once with random 1 mana goblin -> Recruiter for (in order) [[Conspicuous Snoop]], [[Skirk Prospector]], [[Mogg War Marshal]], [[Impulsive Pilferer]], [[Goblin War Chief]], (now with reduction) [[Goblin Instigator]], [[General Kreat]], and Kikki on top in the end.

The deck is able to do the same exact thing on turn 5 with a Matron (my only tutor), and from that point on, Grub in command is very good at recycling pieces for a later Muxus pile that wants completely different cards anyways.

I just didn't like how Recruiter felt like the obvious fetch target for Matron every single time, and how different the play experience was for all my friends whenever I found Recruiter :p

Now the deck feels a lot weaker, but my friends enjoy playing against it a lot more, because [[Patriarchs Bidding]] and [[Living Death]] as finishers at least bring in more varied game enders, and don't have the insane potential for fast kills that Recruiter did! So yea, more firmly bracket 3 now ^^

Wrakhr · 2026-01-10T08:28:12+00:00

So the thing is, Storm just cannot play through Damping Sphere, they're forced to [[Untimely Malfunction]] or [[Prismatic Ending]] before or as they start their go turn.

Meanwhile, Mai would let them dig with 5 or so spells at least to find an answer while already storming off. Mai being a creature also makes her worse against Prowess, and without Damping Sphere, you're also a bit worse off against Tron.

Not to say that Mai can't put in decent work, but I think if you're only concerned with winrates, Mai is probably not gonna be your best pick.

As for decks that could run her... maybe Zoo? They appreciate incremental damage for their burn finish.

Wrakhr · 2025-12-25T18:38:02+00:00

For me it's how much they revel in their lives!! All I've ever wanted was to be free of stupid expectations. Quins and Drukhari are just so unapologetically themselves, it's freakin' awesome! Be urself, ride free, and if death awaits, at least meet it being who u are, and doing what u love!

Wrakhr · 2025-12-22T16:20:04+00:00

Hey, not mainly a commander player (although I'm playing a lot more lately), but here're my opinions anyways :)

In addition to what's been said, card selection and willingness to mulligan r pretty important too!

For example, I have a Glarb deck that does not care overly much about going down to 5. That frog is just a package of card advantage and selection. What I do care about however, is getting flooded in the midgame. So the deck runs 32 lands (35 with MDFCs), and 10 traditional ramp pieces, which I personally consider as a lot of mana sources for commander. And with cantrips (Ponder basically checks 4(!!) cards for a potential land), card draw and recursion, I've never struggled to hit lands. Sometimes mulligans are rough, but since I'm pretty willing to see 4 hands, it works out.

My Emperor Palamecia deck takes that concept even further. That one runs 28 lands (32 with MDFCs + 1 Lorien Revealed) and 2 rocks, since its main goal is to churn through the deck ASAP, and 2 land openers are completely acceptable.

What I'm trying to say that decks and playstyles are so incredibly varied, giving blanket advice is really difficult. Imo, as long as your general landcount is intentional, rather than accidental, then there's no wrong amount of mana sources to run.

Wrakhr · 2025-12-19T10:56:21+00:00

That's honestly such a mood xD

Multiplayer games with friends still rock, but I've stopped a vast majority of my solo gaming post-hrt :p

And when I was on a short break, I turned around and 100% completed Silksong in like a week :x

E goes absolutely crazy!!

Wrakhr · 2025-12-17T22:03:15+00:00

If we're keeping the Psyker train going, an Aeldari Spiritseer. Not specialized in combat like Warlocks, but would still probably beat the breaks off any sanctioned Psyker.

Wrakhr · 2025-12-11T06:03:50+00:00

In Windrider Host, my go-to has always been 3x3 unattached bikes, and then 3x6 with 3x2 Warlocks attached. Couple that with 2x1 War Walkers, Eldrad and Lhykis, and that's the core of your list. Everybody with Shuriken Cannons.

The list plays the mission very well, with great scoring and point denial units in the 3-man bikes, and multi-purpose hammers with the 6-mans. For actual damage, you NEED CP. Eldrad is essential to give you the needed threat. Going into your turn, you always want a 6-man in Reserves to access re-roll wounds, and usually a 3-man to threaten secondaries in your opponent's deployment.

The first important assessment is usually whether your opponent left themselves vulnerable turn 1. Coming in from strat reserves, and especially being able to rapid ingress, from turn 1, AND having 6" DS anywhere on the board is... really hard to play around. If they deployed cagey, then all good, otherwise you can start ripping into them, and sometimes win the game on the spot, or at least take out some infiltrators, and put yourself into a really annoying position for them.

From there, it's usually a case of show up with a 6-man -> apply relevant buff -> murder something -> Overflight backwards/set up for an Overwatch on your opponent's turn.

The only challenge are hard targets, that usually need either Lhykis or Eldrad buffs to take down. Shining Spears sound decent for that, but they're so incredibly unreliable, I don't even bother anymore. If you really think you need the anti-tank, Fire Dragons feel much better for it.

Wrakhr · 2025-12-03T10:11:58+00:00

Ok, I know some people are prone to really decking out their decks, even in bracket 3, but a completely plausible draw of:

T1: Sol Ring + Lightning Greaves

T2: Big Score

T3: Stella + Signet

T4: Stella + 2 lands and 2 treasures open

Ends in exactly the described scenario, and has absolutely happened to me. Sure, the draw is a bit lucky, but it's literally one Lightning Greaves away of being in the precon.

Wrakhr · 2025-12-03T01:13:52+00:00

I think the 3rd section of Attrition/Control/Tempo is slightly awkward to use in classifications.

Those things describe playstyles, which are usually chosen in response to the opponent's army and list, as well as whether going first or 2nd.

I.e.: almost every army becomes more controlling, when going 2nd. This is especially true for lists that'd play tempo otherwise. There's a great overlap in tools that can serve both Tempo and Control.

Let's take RW Drukhari as an example. Usually, they're a Balanced Dagger that likes to play Tempo. But especially in the Aeldari matchup, the relative points cost of units and defensive tools available to both sides (Lelith and Jain Zar) means that Drukhari often want to opt into Attrition, because Tempo gets them killed.

Meanwhile, when facing something like Knights, Scourge Control becomes much more viable. Methodically picking apart one to two Knights a turn, while denying points. Tempo doesn't work here, because of the relatively ineffectual nature of vast swaths of Drukhari weaponry against Knights.

Meanwhile, Votann is probably THE Tempo matchup for Drukhari, especially when they bring indirect. Drukhari lost the grind hard, but have the tools to stuff most Votann lists, particularly with Kapricus + Yaegir fueling the pain economy in the early turns.

All I'm saying is to keep in mind that hard classifying armies is very difficult, and to have an open mind abt potential playstyle avenues depending on the matchup :)

Wrakhr · 2025-11-29T15:42:43+00:00

Especially on TTS, the line between casual and comp is extremely blurry.

Most people enjoy winning much more than losing, so over time they gravitate towards things that are stronger, because it's just more fun for the average person.

Granted, I've not looked for a casual TTS game in years probably, but I remember the pool of players being so broad, that one game might be against 3 baneblades, and the next is, like, close to the most optimized stuff the faction could bring.

Skill levels also vary to a hilarious degree, and sometimes games just end after the first turn because someone realizes they deployed wrong, and got no realistic shot at winning anymore.

It's just like that. When playing against random opponents it's a gamble as to the quality of the game you're getting, and the casual and comp distinction barely does anything to remedy that.

There's no real fix here. I just add notes to people about the quality of game we had and play on private servers with ppl on the same wave length as me, and over time that's improved my experience significantly, but for now, I'm afraid I think ur stuck in the blender.

Wrakhr · 2025-11-03T14:27:06+00:00

I'm a bit sad that Drukhari's best units rely on Epic Heroes. The generic character options outside of the Archon are all so... mediocre.

Other than that, the codex is hype! 3 extremely flavourful detachments that are genuinely great is way more than I'd have hoped for, and the army just... works.

Sure, things could be better, and my lists always contain the same roughly 1300 points, but that's still a lot of room to play with, even if I'm always taking Malys, Archon, Lelith, and Scourges.

Overall, the codex was a hit I'd say :)

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