Must have cards......

[Drexel]

Hey good folks, just thinking about cards and ones that folks think should be in every deck regardless of faction, build type etc.

I really like, illusionary fighter, soultrap, healing potion and time trap.

What cards do you always, or nearly always, have in your decks  ??

[Red_Zeke]

So far, sidestep and distraction.  Endless ways for these to be useful and they're almost never a "dead" draw, sitting and waiting for me to have a reason to play them.

[thoughttrauma]

daylight  robbery

[Biboune]

In an other hand; I am trying to build 4 decks for the 4 factions, so their is no auto included cards.

Ok, helpful whispers, demonic weapon, shard glass, sidestep, distraction etc... are cool. But with 4 decks, I have to chose and i am ( i hope) able to play one faction or another without playing the same cards, again and again.

[Drexel]

7 minutes ago, Biboune said:

In an other hand; I am trying to build 4 decks for the 4 factions, so their is no auto included cards.

Ok, helpful whispers, demonic weapon, shard glass, sidestep, distraction etc... are cool. But with 4 decks, I have to chose and i am ( i hope) able to play one faction or another without playing the same cards, again and again.

Nice idea, I have tried  to create 3 decks for 3 factions but I seem to want to use a few cards in all the decks, maybe I need to be a bit more creative with my stratz etc........more things to think about. Shadespire certainly gets me thinking, certainly falls into the "easy to learn hard to master" category

[ReynakZhen]

I always include, distraction, sidestep, illusory fighter,soultrap and healing potion for my Stormcast. Love those cards.

[ReynakZhen]

1 hour ago, thoughttrauma said:

daylight  robbery

I loathe this card, lol my buddy uses it against me to steal glory EVERY SINGLE TIME! ARRRGGGHHH!!

[Charles]

I dong think healing potion is any use to a Khorne Warband

[Killax]

4 minutes ago, Charles said:

I dong think healing potion is any use to a Khorne Warband

I completely agree, on the other hand I do think the same is true for Sepulchral Guard but On Your Feet does work really well for either of these two other Warbands as a replacement for Healing Potion. It does depend a bit on how players prefer to use their Warbands though. Garrek does get a little bit better with Healing Potion too but without the double Dodge defence Upgrade I still think Healing Potion might not be enough to validate his survival. Going deeper into the survival mode with Garrek's Reavers is quite suprising to many but at the same time can lead to anti-synergy with them Inspiring or scoring Khorne Cares Not...

Healing Potion is great for Orruks and Stormcast though. Here On Your Feet becomes a whole lot more situational I think. In addition there are multiple Objectives available to them who also want to keep their models around. 

9 hours ago, ReynakZhen said:

I always include, distraction, sidestep, illusory fighter,soultrap and healing potion for my Stormcast. Love those cards.

Pretty much the same here!

Mentioned it on the Facebook page too but I think my current Universal Ploy top 10 is:

1. Illusory Fighter  - essentially a free Move Action
2. Time Trap - essentially thaking another Activation (just charge with two different fighters in tandem)
3. Mighty Swing - essentially another Attack Action
4. Distraction - enemy pushes are great offensively and defensively
5. Confusion - can lead to enemy pushes aswell as it works on any fighter
6. Duel of Wits - not so much an auto include (top 5 is) but yes you gain more Power cards and this certainly allows you to pressure the board better, somehow can't find the space to include it often, which again boils down to play preforance
7. Sidestep - friendly pushes are good too
8. Healing Potion/On Your Feet/Daylight Robbery - they all have something in common and that's that they prevent your opponent from advancing in Glory, personally prefer the latter two before Daylight Robbery but I can see Daylight Robbery being multi-functional too as you can bait your opponent easier that way
9. Shattering Terrain - because additional damage can also be really good
10. Shardfall - creating a blocked hex (everywhere now) can be really good

I think it's not really difficult to defend the top 5 choices in any deck. Often they can be combined with some great exclusive Ploy cards that work very similar as the above and as long as no dice-rolls are involved and a certainty of Action is given it's also a very easy way to see which of the exclusives are auto-includes. 

For Universal Upgrades it would currently look something like this I guess:

1. Great Strength - it's the only way to consistantly obtain a damage 4 hit which still has the potential to one-hit-knock-out every model barring Gurzag or 4 Wound models with Great Fortitude
2. Shadeglass Darts - on first sight it might not seem to amazing but the fact that we're working with Range 3 and a 50/50 Crit chance really changes how this card can be evaluated. In many cases it allows for a fighter to preform multiple Attack actions from one place and have some really efficient effects, be it pushing or simply dealing 2 damage
3. Soultrap - quite a bit higher as say a Healing Potion because you can have it around up until it matters
4. Helpful Whispers - improving Attack actions is often very good, there is slightly less need for it in Warbands with 5+ fighters but still commonly effective there too
5. Daemonic Weapon/Shadeglass Sword - almost all Warbands have a reason to run either or both though in the future I wouldnt be suprised to rank them lower
6. Great Fortitude - perhaps suprisingly low to some but the thing here is that it does not win you the game by itself, it just prevents your opponent from scoring Glory quicker in certain scenario's. It's good but not always "good enough"
7. Cunning Duelist/Flickering Image - can be really fun as it can lead to confusion/sidestep like effects
8. Shardcaller - great for a Objective deck that is heavily focused on holding Objectives
9. Great Speed/Legendary Swiftness - perhaps again too low for some to like but the many movement based Ploys we have now often lead to not really needing this 
10. The Keys - I think that these will leave the top 10 eventually but they can be very good in combination with Shardcaller

So far I have to say that with the recent expansions more Ploys are awesome as there are awesome Upgrades. However I would not be suprised at all to see the Upgrades be much more amazing with the upcomming two expansions. Which isn't to say that this top 10 is the best top 10 to include. Many Warband exclusive ploys are fantastic and so far nothing really beats re-doing a failed Attack Action or getting another Attack Action on a specific trigger. For both lists though I do most commonly include the top 5's.

In the end though I think the beauty of the game is that we will have so many great inclusions that a lot of the cards boil down to a personal preforance. I do think Illusory Fighter should be in every deck and the simple reason for that is that in my mind it's the best Ploy we have right now. The card allows for great offensive and defensive strategies. To describe it in short it's getting the effect of a Move action and that's in it's "worst" scenario as in many cases you can cross a lot of hexes by simply using it to follow up on your plan. So far it has been my most victory rewarding card. Wether it is to protect a fighter who charged before (place him back), have another fighter adjacent to my key fighter (added defence/set up for On Your Feet) or to "catch" an oppossing model that tries to deny me my Denial and/or Containment. 

[Rhellion]

distraction, sidestep, time trap (timetrap for my khorne, maybe not as useful for SG)

[Killax]

Well I think Time Trap is good for all Maby harder to use for Stormcast but returning (warden) and charging with that fighter (harvester/champion) to set up for the Necromancer Commands or Ceaseless Attacks is a scary prospect in my opinion. 

[KillagoreFaceslasha]

Shardcaller and the keys combined can be a must have.  With smart positioning and strategy you can get a ton of points.

[Killax]

@KillagoreFaceslasha I agree! I think that currently going into the deep with Objectives for melee or holding Objectives leads to the most clear paths of victory. Mixes are allright too but most of the time it's easier to lean towards one or the other. I do think that Conquest might be the exception. It's a card I feel could be in every deck regardless of other focused cards for melee, by large because in the end it's a coinflip who ends up with 3 Glory but gaining 3 Glory at the end of the first round is still very good.

As is though I'm very eager to see more Objectives anyway. I feel very comfortable with the Ploys and Upgrades but even with the first two expansion going either route doesn't feel extremely stable yet. As others have also commented, things become a whole lot more difficult when you don't have 3 Objectives on your side.

I'm also looking forward to what some think the must haves are from particular Warbands!