Learning to Play - Latari List Building Update

Welcome back to Impact 3! Today I will be continuing the discussion on my current Latari list that I plan to play at Regionals on June 16. If you live anywhere within driving distance of San Antonio, TX, you should come on out and join us for a day of Runewars and great games! With that aside, I have now played the Latari list previously discussed here five or six times, and it is now time to make a few changes to the list. I don't have too much room to move things around in the list due to already being at 200pts, but there are some key changes I think can help with the consistency of the list. So, with that said, let's jump into it!

First, the original list:

"Impacts All Around 1.0" (200pts)
Aliana of Summersong
- Packleaders Spear
- Ambush Predator

2x Leonx Riders (2x2)
- Bull Pennon

Deepwood Archers (3x2)
- Maegan Cyndewin
- Support Aymhelin Scion

2x Aymhelin Scion (1x1)
- Vicious Roots

In looking at the list above, and having played it a handful of times, I have come to realize a few things. First, I like the build overall and the units included in it. Second, this build does not put out a crazy amount of damage. I can weather most storms through consistent damage each round and the ability to dodge my opponents, but I am not going to have those turns where a single units pumps out 15-20 damage, so I need to do everything I can to keep my damage output as consistent as possible. Third, because of how tight the points are, I need every upgrade to be as beneficial in as many situations as possible. If there is an upgrade that is not being used every single game, I either need to find a replacement or have a really good reason to keep it in the list.

With these thoughts in mind, the very first change I made was to drop Packleader's Spear for Malcorne's Bequest.

This change was driven by two key factors. First off, Packleader's Spear was essentially an 8pt upgrade for a one time use Lethal 3. This is probably more due to my play style with Aliana than anything else, but I have yet to ever use the upgrade more than once, so it ends up just being too expensive for what it does in my list. Second, I was having issues with the runes more often than I would have liked. When running Maegan in the Archer block, I am really relying on getting unstable runes out on the table, and not having a way to manipulate the runes was really hurting the consistency of the damage the Archers were able to put out. Because the Archers are my primary damage source in this list, anything I can do to increase their consistency is greatly appreciated. The fact that Malcorne's Bequest was 2pts cheaper than Packleader's Spear was just icing on the cake.

The second change I wanted to make was to somehow increase the consistency or damage output of the Leonx Riders. I am really enjoying both units in the list, but I am finding that as soon as a unit loses a single tray, their consistency in damage output tanks really hard without access full rerolls. With this in mind, I first considered increasing the size of one of the units, but this would have forced me to drop the second unit of Riders which I did not want to do. I really think the two units together are a key part of this list due to Aliana's ability to redeploy one unit which has proven to be a huge benefit in almost every game (I could probably write a full article on this single ability combined with two units of Leonx Riders and the difficult position it puts your opponent in having to answer for both units and knowing one of them won't be where it currently is deployed by the time the game starts). With all of that said though, I realized I was not going to be able to necessarily increase the amount of damage either unit was putting out, so I started looking for a way to make both units more consistent in the damage they were putting out which led me to my second change in the list.

After looking at the other upgrades I had in the list, I decided to drop Vicious Roots from both Scions and add Ranked Discipline to both units of Leonx Riders with the 8pts now freed up between the swap to Malcorne's Bequest and dropping Vicious Roots. While Vicious Roots is a great upgrade, I was having trouble using it as effectively as I would like. On top of that, the Scions are in the list to act as speed bumps and die, so any upgrades I include on them feel like I am giving away unnecessary points to my opponent. Further, by adding Ranked Discipline to my list, I will hopefully have more consistent damage output from the Leonx Riders even as they begin to lose trays.

I considered a few other changes to the list including trying to find a way to fit Lay of the Land onto the Archers or both units of Leonx Riders, but I decided to stick with just the changes above and see how the list performs before making any further changes. So, after all of that, it leaves us with the following list:

"Impacts All Around 2.0" (200pts)
Aliana of Summersong
- Malcorne's Bequest
- Ambush Predator

2x Leonx Riders (2x2)
- Bull Pennon
- Ranked Discipline

Deepwood Archers (3x2)
- Maegan Cyndewin
- Support Aymhelin Scion

2x Aymhelin Scion (1x1)

After finalizing the list above, I went back and took a look at the terrain I plan to use with this list. While I am hopeful that I can find two Stronghold/Temple Ruins to include in this list (if you have extra you are willing to sell, hit me up!), I am not going to bank on this. So with that in mind, the current terrain deck I am using is as follows:

2x Latari Memorial/Dimoran Fissure
1x Sacred Font/Fae-Infested Glade
1x Crumbling Wall/Swamp

The thought process behind taking this terrain has not changed from when it was previously discussed here. I am really enjoying the lower capacity terrain and the Latari Memorial/Dimoran Fissure has proven to be useful every time it has come up.

So, with my new list set, I am hoping to get another game or two in this week and will hopefully have at least one battle report sometime next week. Additionally, for those interested, a local player (Greg) has volunteered to write a Battle Report and/or his thoughts on a particular Waiqar list that he thinks performs very well into the current Karithorne list that some have been struggling with. I am not positive when that will go up, but it should be a very good read as Greg is an excellent player and has quite a bit of experience with Waiqar after taking them to Worlds last year so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for when that article goes up! And until next time, may the Morale deck always flip in your favor!