A few days ago a conversation came up about Ten Thunders masters, at one stage GT finalist Graham "Blutac" Bursnell listed what the thought the masters were from best to worst.
He didn't include Shen Long or Brewmaster having zero experience with them but placed Lucas McCabe as number one and Mei Feng in at number two.
The following is a small back and forth between myself and Pete Wright:
I couldn't refuse to answer but I really did think twitter would give me much space to explain.
I told him I would write something later, so here I am.
As an aside, Blutac also answered mentioning specifically a certain list around Mei Feng and her best friend in the Thunders Toshiro. I will cover that a little bit later.
Basic Mei
The best place when looking at any model in the game is obviously it's reference card, having a good look at stats and then what the model can do.
The stat line is always important because before seeing any actions this will determine whether or not the model will handle certain things well or what should expect to see elsewhere.
When talking about the strongest pieces in game, the Masters, something like low wounds for example would then have you hope that Armour, Impossible to Wound or something the equivalent will be on the card or this Master does not want to get stuck in at all.
Bucky's Lovely Mei Feng
Going through Mei's stats:
- Df 6 - This is not the highest it can be but there are very little that go higher and a lot less 8+, in fact there is probably less than a handful of masters who have higher than Df 6 and in her factions there are no masters with higher than Df 6 so overall this is solid.
- Wp 6 - Again fairly high, not the highest in the game but sixes at the front end of a stat line usually indicate things that are good and 7+ are excellent. We see this a lot when it comes to the attacking stats of Ml/Sh/Ca, five is average, four or less is poor, seven plus is fantastic.
- Wd 12 - A dozen wounds are a fair few, again not the top end but no where the lowest.
- Wk 5 - This is alright, but not usually a stat I tend to use.
- Cg 7 - Seven is by no way the quickest of charges, eights and nines are prevalent, but "threat range" is really what matters, Cg + Melee range is the end of that equation.
- Ht 2 - She's a human, simple. No extra worries about Devour.
Now we all know that the constant comparison she has is to Misaki, who is actually the worst Ten Thunder master but this blog isn't about that.
It is also kind of irrelevant to compare her to Misaki alone as she also technically "rivals" Ironsides.
I will start by saying that if these are your basis for whether or not Mei Feng is a good master
- You are missing the point.
- You need to learn more about strategy.
Blunt. However my point is Mei Feng isn't the "combat master" archetype, at least that is not all she does.
Malifaux and most if not all of it's factions have masters that fit specifics archetypes, now where some are obvious such as Summoners or Beat sticks, there is definitely more than three places you can sit in.
It's like music genres, some are an amalgamation of others and become something unique.
Still to do the comparison
- Mei Feng - 6/ 6/ 12/ 5/ 7/ 2
- Misaki - 6/ 7/ 12/ 5/ 8/ 2
- Ironsides - 5/ 6/ 14/ 5/ 8/ 2
If you add the totals then both Misaki and Toni have +2 stats over Mei Feng, and that is a shame.
Misaki gains a point of Willpower Mei however doesn't particularly worry about Willpower tests so really the stat however useful is only so in half the situations.
Ironsides has a couple of extra wounds but a lower defense and no armour, her toughness comes from Hard to Kill and the fact she has a much larger Cache than either of the Ten Thunders girls (Mei with three and Misaki two).
The charge of Toni and Misaki does pip Mei Feng by a single inch, but unlike Mei Feng neither have a three inch range on there melee attacks meaning charge + melee range is the same anyway.
Let's look at why she is really good.
Now this stat line comparison nonsense I will admit is mostly a waste of time, Mei Feng holds up with both as we would expect, the front of the card though is about abilities, this is usually where a Master will have it's dirty tricks.
From now on most comparisons will be with Misaki, looking at Mei vs Toni is definitely worth doing but I have very little experience with the yet released Arcanist master and again the comparisons are a little stupid.
Also, no one else is making themselves vocal if they are saying Ironsides>Mei Feng.
My Mei Feng pre-snow.
I really need to take another photo.
Earlier I spoke about Mei doesn't care for Willpower duels too much and unless you are me in my first tournament facing off against Scott Porter, you probably remember than Mei Feng has an ability that makes her Immune to Paralyse and Slow, this is Unstoppable Industry.
Terrifying is for a lot of models in the game, even some masters a huge defense for them, the chance that your opponent may not have the cards to pass the test and lose an activation or at the very least they've essentially discarded.
Worst case for the Terrifying model is the opponent flips well and naturally passes, for Mei you hope to just flip an ace as nothing even happens.
Entire triggers are irrelevant against Mei Feng and always being able to have that full three AP is a huge deal and not something to forget.
Armor +1 shows on Mei Feng's card and this combined with Soulstones means that usually a dozen wounds is more than enough to keep Mei kicking for the entire game.
In fact, while we speak about stopping triggers, simply having armour is giving Mei a much higher chance of blanking anyone who has a "After damaging...".
Lastly (ignoring Infiltration for now) is Leap Aside.
Now this ability is not quite as good as what Gremlin masters are used to in some situations, but in others it's even better.
Df6 means that in a lot of cases you can have people miss. A high mask is always welcome in the hand for a Mei Feng player but I have been know to even Soulstone to get out of dodge.
A five inch push during one of your opponents activations is crazy.
Dodge the rest of a charge or a flurry, use it to engage more enemies, get into charge range, hide in cover even just spread some other annoying Aura about.
Leap Aside is brilliant.
It's not perfect, as being a push it can be blocked but I will tell you all, I am sure that a good Leap Aside has won me plenty of games in the past.
Before moving on.
Let's make those Misaki comparisons.
First off Bullet proof +1, ha ha, get out of here.
Risky Ventures, so you're saying if my master greedily strips my crew of a valuable resource she'll be slightly harder to hit and can trigger a Decapitation trigger a little easier. I'm not impressed. Go home Misaki.
Diving Charge, now even I know this is good, but wait, you need to walk up on your own to get these "clever" charges. First Lieutenant? Sound like a peasant to me love.
Baby got (interesting things on the) Back (of her card).
This is the real meaty important stuff of why Mei Feng is not just good but incredible, why Mei Feng is simply not just a "poor combat master".
RAILWALKER
VENT STEAM
Mei has two Tactical Actions, both of them are BIG GAME.
Earlier I spoke about threat range and any player worth anything knows that speed in Malifaux can be very important.
Mei is Speed.
As long as you have not built her a crew with no constructs or ways to create scrap Mei Feng is up there as one of the fastest Masters in the game.
I have read on the Wyrd boards and even on twitter "I don't use Railwalker that much".
If you are reading this, I suggest you visit your GP or at least get off the drugs you are on, this is what makes Mei Feng work.
What is powerful about it to elaborate a bit more seriously is that "place within 6"" will be giving you a "Walk" of seven to almost ten.
The thing is, this is very difficult for your opponent to interfere with, you need those constructs to bounce off of but if your opponent kills them with most models in the game all they are doing is placing a scrap marker which does exactly the same job.
Yes there are models that can remove scrap, even use it, but they tend to also be helping you by having constructs to kill and makes new rail points.
The only real way Railwalking gets ruined is by the player using Mei Feng either not planning how to build up and use their Fate hand correctly or simply getting unlucky.
Unlike 1.5 where Mei would need to flip Tomes, all you need is to flip sevens all day.
54% of your cards are going to be a successful flip for Rail Walk, even if you need to bounce off of three things to get to your destination you are pretty much a shoe in to make it if two of your cards in hand are sevens or better, in fact like Poker, Seven isn't typically a card you want in your hand in Malifaux.
Railwalk as an ability is highly versatile, for a start if Mei isn't the first to activate turn 1 it is very easy for her to charge something, against a shooting crew, a more defensive build or a crew with an annoying key piece you can fire Mei like a cannonball right at them, possibly before they ever activate.
If it does get to a stage where Mei is in a pickle, as long as a robotic friend gets close enough or scrap has been hitting the ground Mei has one of the best escape plans in the game.
Low on wounds with Assassinate in the pool, use your ticket to get a train to "I'm not dying today-ville".
Let us also not forget that the built in trigger allows for a kick, "walk" to and enemy within 4" of an enemy and Mei can get a free attack. Free melee actions are this girls thing.
For Pete:
I know that a key part of Mei Feng in 1.5 that we all loved was her ability to dive into a crowd.
It is still there, the Seismic Claw upgrade may give her a much less efficient version of what she had in the past due to her pushing the enemy and not bouncing about herself.
On the other hand, just like with not needing suits for Railwalker, no suits are needed to slap many small enemies with claws.
However Roiling Ground is the biggest deal and allows her to do something a lot better than she did before...
Taking out single targets off of Railwalking to where she needs to be something Miss Feng can excel at if you have taken the Seismic Claws upgrade as hitting tomes means that you are getting and extra AP off of each claw attack.
Even at distance this will mean, Kick, Claw, Kick. Her minimum damage is admittedly only two so you are not taking out huge tanks without a bit more dedication but think about how many things have six wound and also bear in mind that just a moderate from the claw will bounce this up to eight.
The pushing Roiling Ground does as well can also open up many different useful scenarios, pushing opponents out of helpful auras or away from giving them, sometimes even pinning the enemy so they have no real escape.
Now a big place where Mei Feng falls and people seem to think Misaki is better than her is due to the fact that both the melee attacks on the back of Mei's card are Ml6 not 7.
As I said before, this is good not excellent, both Tiger Claws and Jackhammer Kick also have very slightly worse damage spreads than Misaki, but the fact is Mei can get more chances to hit and be in a place where really the single point less of attack isn't as big a deal.
Mei is a pain in the backside.
More specifically Vent Steam, the other tactical action can turn off certain models, even entire crews and Vent Steam is genuinely one of the best abilities in game and hell I didn't know it was even as good as it is until after #M2GT when I was informed it can stack!
The fact Vent Steam isn't cover is a huge thing, anyone with an inherent ability to ignore cover will still get negatives if using Sh or Ca into the Steam, the fact that it doesn't block ranged specifically also means that using it up close is also an amazing factor.
In combat with Hungering Darkness, maybe Perdita Ortega, well they're on negatives to hit and if you have used the steam more than once (for example using the added trigger from the Vapormancy upgrade) focusing is still not really going to help too much.
Four inches for an Aura is also pretty large, many a game against shooty Gremlins or Guild crews I have kept all models in LoS within Steam, it sticks around until she activates so it even helps to allow her to hold back while the rest of her crew get in position.
What does your opponent do here? They have ways out, hopefully there crew is more balanced, so they can engage you at a different angle. One thing is for certain though Vent Steam has just become a huge hindrance on what they were hoping to do.
In conclusion these Tactical Actions are the answer to "what she do?", control the board, via aiding the crew, using the crew to be at times anywhere she needs to be and still be great at fighting.
Upgrades and Foundry
I've already covered Seismic claws and suffice to say, I pretty much look at it as an auto include.
Other upgrades worth taking and why:
- Vapormancy - This upgrade is fantastic on two levels, if you you want a Ca to fight Incorporeal enemies or just like the idea of Ca7 blasts then this alternative attack is great. The other great benefit is giving both claws and kick the extra tome trigger, allowing you to Vent Steam without using an AP, this is also the easiest way to stack a lot of the aura.
- Thunderous Smash - Oddly I haven't really used this much but it gives Mei Feng another job and that is clearing markers away. I can see this being great in specific match ups.
Arcanist wise:
- Arcane Reservoir - We all know my love for this, when it comes to Mei Feng specifically it's all about having another chance for that high mask or an extra seven+ for Railwalker.
- Imbued Protection - Df 7 pushes Mei over the top and makes Leap Aside incredible, the upgrade is a larger investment at two soulstones but if Assassination is in the scheme pool it usually makes it's cost.
Ten Thunders:
- Wings of Wind - The push helps with allowing Mei Feng to engage more models at the end of the turn, the big deal is giving her a (0) action as she doesn't have one, which essentially means she does even more actions in an activation.
- Recalled Training - Always a good one but here specifically to get over being only Ml 6 and also the big deal of hopefully being able to cheat damage on the Jackhammer Kick to get those six damage strikes in.
Foundry 4 Lyfe (or something)
Infiltration or in this case Kang
Another simple reason Mei Feng is good is because Kang is good.
This isn't relevant if you are playing Thunders because Kang is already and option but with Arcanists in this edition Mei Feng is the only one who allows him in.
I'm not sure I need to elaborate on why Kang is good, but his anti-constuct and undead aura tips certain match ups to be much more favourable for you. This on top of a Hard to Wound, Hard to Kill, Ml 7 beat stick makes Kang the man.
Also if we are a Misaki fan, what do we bring... Ototo...
...
Anyway, the other thing is not specifically Infiltration but Emberling.
I hear some people say this little guy is not worth it, and honestly, I do not take him in every single crew but he is one of the better Totems in the game.
Only three soulstones and isn't a Peon or Insignificant means he can score VP handily.
Wk 5 with Incorporeal means he can also get around to do so fairly well.
The Emberling is also a big reason why Toshiro may as well be Foundry.
Cool Down the Emberling's ability to place Scrap, typically for Mei to step on is an easy way to allow the Damiyo to summon Komainu.
A kind of "apples and oranges" comparison, but if you think that typically Ramos, the king of summoning Constructs spends four stones to have a model die to start the engines, Tosh sees the Emberling just take some wounds to start his.
This is also greatly pleases Mei as now she has more constructs to play with, possibly more scrap and cycle continues.
Toshiro, like Kang is not what this blog is about but his Warfan is very welcome in a Mei Feng crew.
In Conclusion
Mei Feng is fucking good.
Railwalker adds speed like nothing else and Vent Steam is a huge cramp on a lot of enemy crews plans.
She can kick the ass of small groups or individuals so as long as you the player are sensible and understand her triggers.
The only situation I am never keen on Mei Feng in is a game with Deliver the Message in the pool.
The fact is Mei is so useful at getting involved she tends to grab this letters from the enemy.
Anyway, go play Mei Feng. Win with Mei Feng.
- Ben (@psientologist)
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