Viceron the Blood Knight by
@
Ixe
What a difference a Life point makes.
I already
reviewed Viceron once before. This version has only small changes over that one, so many of my comments there are the same. The name change to "Blood Knight" makes me happy. The personality change from Merciless to Relentless is fine thematically, and notably allows him to bond with Death Knights.
Playability
In my prior review I called Viceron "suicidal." He really needs the multi-hit power of Bloodstorm Ritual to rack up kills, which was quite dangerous with only 4 Life. With 5 Life I no longer felt that same pressure. Quite the opposite; Viceron in this form feels like a powerhouse, with excellent stats, a healing power, and a massive multi-target special attack.
It's strange, even to me, that only a single Life point difference would make him go from "suicidal" to "devastating." But remember that Life point is hiding behind 5 Defense. It also gives him that much more buffer to use Bloodstorm and more damage to recover from with his Sanguine Sword. The Life/Defense combo along with the ability to recover a Life point every time he kills something with his excellent Attack makes him a serious brute to take down, even without Bloodstorm. If his defense dice hold up, he can blast off a Bloodstorm Ritual and often lay waste to his opponent, and still have enough Life to hold out and work on healing back up.
Obviously he's not nearly as good against hero-based armies. Still, his stats are pretty strong all around, so he can hold his own pretty well against most in a dice fest.
Bonding with Death Knights minimizes his other weakness, getting into position. A Move of 5 isn't bad, but you don't get a lot for your order markers just moving him into position. Bonding improves that order marker to activating three figures, increasing board control and offensive capability. Yes, Bloodstorm can hurt his bonding buddies, but the Death Knights have no need to be near him, so they tend to be off elsewhere doing damage or claiming glyphs.
Is Viceron overpowered then? I'm uncomfortable at the price tag, but I'm not going to call "broken." My issue with the unit comes from a different place. With powerful stats, self-healing, a devastating special attack, and bonding, the Blood Knight really doesn't have any weak points. Yes, Bloodstorm wounds him, but he can take one now and again and be ok, especially with Death Knights nearby to back him up. I'm not a fan of all-rounders in general, but one with such a potent and potentially game-changing special attack raises red flags for me. He's got it all--and that's too much.
Summary
The previous version of Viceron was turned down because he wasn't worth his point cost, noting that he didn't have enough Life to be effective. But for me it was that razor's edge that made him exciting to play. This version plays more as a straightforward powerhouse with no real downsides and devastating potential. I honestly expect my SoV brethren to disagree with me on this one, but for me,
I vote
to induct
Viceron the Blood Knight into the SoV.