For this tournament I decided to go with a warlord that I have not yet used in a competitive environment; Urien Rakarth. He receives a lot of negativity in the online community (I am sure that some of you are already laughing at my choice of warlord) and whilst I freely admit that Packmaster Kith is a much stronger choice, leagues like this are a good opportunity to try out the less-used warlords, particularly as the stakes are quite low. Anyway, onto the decklist!
| Urien Rakarth w/Eldar by Tim Pickers | ||
| Units (26) | Events (13) | Attachments (7) |
| 2 x Twisted Wracks | 4 x Rakarth’s Experimentations | 1 x Ichor Gauntlet |
| 3 x Baleful Mandrake | 3 x Power from Pain | 3 x Hypex Injector |
| 3 x Incubus Warrior | 3 x Searing Brand | 3 x Suffering |
| 3 x Klaivex Warleader | 3 x Visions of Agony | |
| 3 x Rogue Trader | Support (4) | |
| 3 x Sslyth Mercenary | 1 x Urien’s Oubliette | |
| 3 x Syren Zythlex | 3 x Promethium Mine | |
| 3 x Void Pirate | ||
| 3 x Warlock Destructor | ||
Not much to say about my unit choices really, except perhaps the inclusion of three Syren Zythlex; she is so good that it’s worth putting a full playset in. A notable omission is Murder of Razorwings. Like most people, I see them as more of an event card than a unit, and I just did not have room for them.
Onto the events, the only Torture event I did not include was Soul Seizure. In some practice games I had this in the deck, but I changed it nearly last-minute for Suffering as I valued the extra shields, small synergy with Twisted Wracks and chance to neuter an enemy unit, more than I valued Soul Seizure. I am still on the fence about including Archon’s Terror, as it will cost three resources in a Urien deck.
I wanted to include Hypex Injector solely for it’s interaction with Baleful Mandrake. With Rakarth’s Experimentations costing zero, there is potential for some shenanigans in the Ranged Phase (i.e. keep readying it for multiple Ranged attacks in a row).
As for supports, I am probably going to take some heat for playing Promethium Mine, but since I am already using a much-maligned warlord, I think I have already passed the point of no-return with regards to credibility. All I am going to say on the matter is don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
Round One vs Aun’shi w/Eldar
During the first turn we were fairly even in command. He won the first planet but took three damage on his warlord. This was significant because next turn I sent Urien to a planet with no enemy while he had Ichor Gauntlet attached. I used Visions of Agony, which I doubled with Ichor Gauntlet, stripping his hand of shields and getting to see what he had left. Since the combat round was over (all units were exhausted), I readied Urien then did Rakarth’s Experimentations doubled, and again the following round. This bloodied Aun’shi, effectively neutering him.
Next turn I deployed a Baleful Mandrake with Hypex Injector to the first planet. My opponent already had a decent setup there, but I was banking on my Hypex-shenanigans to win the fight for me (I had several events in hand). Aun’shi committed there with a Vior’la Marksman with attached Ion Rifle, planning to use Aun’shi’s Sanctum to ready the Marksman and destroy the Mandrake. Before he had chance to do that I used Searing Brand to kill it (he did not have enough cards in hand to stop it). The Mandrake then went to town on Aun’shi, killing him.
Result: Win
Round Two vs Zarathur w/Orks
Zarathur is always a tough warlord to face as he can easily dish out loads of damage. I managed to get a good hold of the command phase in the first turn, but one worry was the Gleeful Plague Beast deployed to planet two, opposite my Incubus Warrior. I shielded the damage, but my opponent did not. Deciding that I may as well save myself more shields next turn, I ambushed in Klaivex Warleader, killing the Plague Beast, even though there was no battle there.
This way more of a crippling blow than I first anticipated. My opponent had used Splintered Path Acolyte and a Promise of Glory in the summoning of Gleeful Plague Beast, so this left me at a significant card advantage. The game ended on turn four with me winning the planet that I needed.
Result: Win
Round Three vs Cato w/Tau
On the second turn I deployed a Mandrake/Hypex and my opponent went for it with Cato and a Tactical Squad Cardinis. During the combat I used Visions of Agony to get rid of his Indomitable (and also saw that he had no more shields) and then bloodied Cato and killed the Tactical Squad.
On turn three I was lucky enough to draw into another Mandrake/Hypex combo, which I deployed to planet three. Going into the command phase I had a Mandrake/Hypex at planets one and three, and planet two was Plannum, where I already had several units. I sent Urien to Plannum with the idea that I would be able to trigger the ability and move a Mandrake assassin to wherever he sent Cato. This proved unnecessary as Cato went to planet one. I had at least five Torture cards in hand as well as a lot of resources, so needless to say Cato went down.
Result: Win
Round Four vs Eldorath w/Dark Eldar
This is the one game where I did not get any of my Promethium Mines, and it is the one game where I needed them the most. The planet lineup was punishing in terms of resources; neither of the two-resource planet were present.
I tried to get some easy wins at the first planet by deploying Syren Zythlex there, but my opponent was unfazed as he just sent Eldorath in and exhausted her, effectively nullifying the advantage she gets you. My opponent won the first two planets which meant that they could win any planet bar one of them and win the game.
I had to constantly commit to the first planet to try and stop him from winning, which meant that my forces were always exhausted. Inevitably this led to my eventual defeat, losing on the fifth turn.
Result: Loss
Final Standings
| Rank | Faction | Warlord | Ally | Points |
| 1st | Dark Eldar | Urien | Eldar | 15 |
| 2nd | Eldar | Eldorath | Dark Eldar | 15 |
| 3rd | Space Marines | Cato | Tau | 15 |
| 4th | Chaos | Zarathur | Orks | 10 |
| 5th | Dark Eldar | Kith | Eldar | 10 |
| 6th | Space Marines | Ragnar | Tau | 10 |
| 7th | Tau | Aun’shi | n/a | 10 |
| 8th | Tau | Shadowsun | Eldar | 5 |
| 9th | Eldar | Baharroth | Dark Eldar | 5 |
| 10th | Tau | Shadowsun | Eldar | 5 |
This week the tiebreakers went in my favour and I finished in first place (I had played against the 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed players, so I had good tiebreakers). Again the Tau players did not fare so well, but with this small a sample size I don’t think that is significant.
Summary
Quite pleased with my tournament win, particularly as I was using Urien. Going for the warlord kill was quite effective (the Baleful Mandrake & Hypex Injector combo is really strong!) and won me two games, though my MVP for the tournament would have to be Visions of Agony. The information it gives you as well as making your opponent discard a vital card is invaluable.
At the risk of sounding like a propaganda piece on behalf of Urien, I would recommend to anyone to give him a try. The same goes for any warlord really; there’s no harm in trying them out! Anyway, hope you enjoyed the report. Any questions or comments, please put them below.
Cheers,
Whingewood