The Book of Jason Blood

[fret_gurglo]

OK, just checking. That can be a very powerful turn.

[Ericth74]

Agreed, but you still need to get the roll to happen so it's not something that you can really plan for.

[IAmBatman]

Sounds fun, though!

[Karat]

Another fun combo was Jason, Etrigan, Scareglow. Jason brings in Scareglow and becomes Etrigan for a big walloping hit. Could be made better with Wong too.

[IAmBatman]

Nice!

[Yodaking]

Originally Posted by Ericth74

We both like how Jason Blood played but both had the same thought, that 440 is a lot to pay if Jason or Etrigan goes down early. We both felt like if Etrigan goes down that Jason Blood should be placed back on the map. If Jason goes down it makes sense that Etrigan goes away though.

Just wanted to say I support this idea. I think it would help even out the value of drafting both.

[Karat]

I recommended that Shifty drop him to 80 to make them an even 400 point block after our games as well and we discussed a change along those lines so I'm fairly certain we'll see some changes before more tests here.

[Shiftrex]

Playtest results from Shiftrex and Karat

C3G STANDARD PLAYTEST FEEDBACK FORM

NAME OF THE PLAYTEST UNIT: Jason Blood

Version tested:

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = Jason Blood
SECRET IDENTITY = N/A

SPECIES = Human
UNIQUENESS = Unique Hero
CLASS = Investigator
PERSONALITY = Conflicted

SIZE/HEIGHT = Medium 5

LIFE = 4

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 3
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 3

POINTS = 120

ARISE THE DEMON ETRIGAN!
If you have a figure named Etrigan in your Army, it does not start the game on the battlefield. If Jason Blood would be chosen for a special power at the start of the game, Etrigan is also considered to be chosen or have any markers that are on Jason's card. After taking a turn with Jason Blood, you may replace his figure with a figure named Etrigan in your Army. After placing Etrigan, you may make an immediate attack with him. If Etrigan is not engaged at the end of any round, replace his figure with Jason's.

EXORCISM WARDING
If an enemy figure begins their turn adjacent to Jason Blood, immediately roll 1 unblockable attack die against them. If a blank is rolled then you may remove an Order Marker from that figure's Army Card.

MAGICAL DEFENSE
When Jason is attacked by an opponent's figure that does not have the Magical Defense special power, the most wounds Jason can take for this attack is one.

Army Test
Map: Royal Forest
Units: 1100 pts

Jason Blood
Etrigan
Scareglow
Zatarra
Magic
70 pts in Spells VS 1100 pts

John Constantine
Baron Zemo
Deadshot
Two-Gun Kid
Luke Cage
Wolverine

Spoiler Alert!

Early. I decided to lead with Luke Cage and the fighters while Zatarra came up close to get the magical alliance power. Magik rolled low on the teleport rolls and only got to move 2 or 3 spaces at a time. Zatarra got merc'ed early by two-gun who called him as the bounty. The focus on Zatarra allowed Jason to get into into a good place and use some spells though, by the time I was ready to engage him with Luke I deferred and just shot at him with two-gun because I'd rather not take the exorcism warding wound or chance at losing an OM.

Mid. Etrigan came out and tried to chip away at Luke, scareglow also came out before Jason turned while made Etrigan really dangerous even with the tree of life nearby. My defenses held but when Luke got down to about 2 life I started switching markers onto Zemo more and using Wolverine to move around and kill things. Luke finally took down scareglow and through their combined efforts (luke and logan) were able to put down etrigan.

Late. There was clean-up work for Luke and Logan to fight Magik but it wasn't bad. Logan had three wounds on him lategame so he went wild and put the required one wound on her per attack which made things difficult. Etrigan went down at an bad time for this test, surrounded by fighters and my defense held really, really well. The demon was mostly focused on trying to take out luke cage so I was able to weather this one though I expected everything to fold pretty quickly if Luke went down.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Constantine (no wounds), Zemo (no wounds), Deadshot (no wounds), 2-Gun (1 life remaining), Luke Cage (1 life remaining), Wolverine (4 life remaining).

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Royal Forest
Units: 1000 pts

John Constantine
Batman (Occult)
Detective Chimp
Jason Blood
Etrigan VS 1000 pts

Doctor Octopus (Sinister 6)
Bulture
Kraven
Radioactive Man
Shocker
Wizard

Spoiler Alert!

Early. This combo is legitimately crazy, Chimp support to know what an order marker is exactly was helpful, I found the 2 quite often which let me have the flexibility of taking a garunteed two turned with my X OM if I didn't feel like using Occult Batman's roll. I led with Jason and Batman for this, Shocker extended a bit too far so he got hit with two ranged attacks and fell, Kraven had Batman picked as his target for the hunt so he easily caught up to him and I took Batman off the board with his special power. Etrigan got into the thick of things immediately, it was nice to have the option to use a spell with Jason (Mystical flames) and then use hellfire burst to try and hit things. When Batman came back from his card he dropped next to Otto and dealt some damage. I was able to make use of a full turn of options by rolling 2 skulls and a shield to get a turn with Batman, Jason, and then Etrigan.

Mid. I got only one change back to Jason this game, it's an interesting choice to try and figure out if you want to be Jason to weather some attacks. Etrigan was able to take out Vulture but eventually fell to Radioactive Man and Kraven despite putting some wounds on him, which made me lose access to 2 common spells and 2 life on Jason (not bad really). Chimp joined the fray but picked an X OM for his investigator ability which made him much more ineffective. Batman vanished again, coming down near wizard while Constantine made his way up the center of the board and took out Kraven after removing an order marker from him (spell).

Late. Wizard fell to Batman, it broke down to John and Batman vs a full health radio active man. John engaged radioactive man next to the tree of life while Batman threw attacks and unblockables from afar, the Synchronicity allowed John to survive almost anything. Constantine eventually dropped to 1 life and the duo finished Radioactive man off.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Constantine (1 life remaining), Batman (1 life remaining).

___________________________________________________________

Army Test
Map: Royal Forest
Units: 900 pts

Baron Zemo
Deadshot
Jason Blood
Etrigan
Talia Al Ghul VS 1000 pts

Amanda Waller
Rick Flag
Parasite
Multiplex
Duploids
Weather Wizard

Spoiler Alert!

Early. Etrigan not being a turn is helpful to being in a generalist build as well because the Etrigan/Jason combo is still able to put out a lot of damage. I led with Jason and put Deadshot on height, mostly I waited for things to get closer and then used Deadshot or Jason's spells to do damage. Things really kicked off when Weather Wizard and a Duploid advanced along the north path and the other Dupoids and Multi-plex advanced from the south path. Jason hit weather wizard and killed 1 duploid with mystical flames before getting double engaged. The next couple of turns involved Jason/Etrigan dealing with the duploids that engaged him and then going after multi-plex where a crazy series of events allowed me to wipe out 3 life on multiplex, kill his remaining duploid and then drop a tree on multi-plex to end him by using Hellfire burst on Etrigan. Etrigan was integral in dealing with the turn efficiency that Multi-plex and the duploid brought.

Mid. Game shifted against me hard when Parasite and Rick Flag moved up, they were able to bring down Etrigan in about two turns which left me on the back foot. Deadshot took down Weather Wizard and Rick Flag from afar while Parasite walked toward my start zone. Parasite rolled to heal himself up on Baron Zemo and then whiffed an attack on Talia. Zemo ran away cackling and dropped a tree on Parasite's head, the adhesive trap kept him engaged with Taliyah while Deadshoot took his time in bringing the monster down.

Late. Clean-up involved Deadshot shooting at Amanda Waller (and the terrain she hid behind) for about three rounds because he refused to finish the job. I think this game showed that Jason/Etrigan is a fire cracker of a play, he can deal with a lot of things but he goes down to heavy hitters just as easily. At times I am trying to figure out if I need to be Jason to weather big hits with Magical Defense instead of the 6 defense from Etrigan but auto-wound and d20 powers make it a tough decision.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Zemo (1 life remaining), Deadshot (3 life remaining), Talia Al Ghul (2 life remaining).

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: All three games were played with Shiftrex (used twice) and Karat (used once). I like how Jason and Etrigan can be sort of a turn extender in the right circumstances. This is most evident with Occult Batman and feels really fun to do when the dice line up. The extra attack with Etrigan means that the opponent has to spread out if they see that Jason can join the battle on the next turn unless they want to weather a spell and a special with three figures. Jason does prove to be the weak link for Etrigan but he gets a decent amount of freedom on the board, no one really wants to engage him because of Exorcism warding and magical defense lets him weather ranged attacks just fine (even multi-attacks). His offense is completely limited to spells because of how low his stats are, though that makes him a utility pick that is trying to get a full health Etrigan into position. I don't think there is a reason to play Jason without Etrigan but there are still reasons to play Etrigan without Jason (even though it's more effective with them both in your army).

From Karat: Jason brings some neat things to the table. Exorcism Warding never came up but I can see it being useful and deadly too. I do think that Jason can come down a bit as he is the weak link of the pair. He has some neat tricks and implications for Etrigan. He also pairs really well with Scareglow as Jason can summon Scareglow and then switch to Etrigan and capitalize on Scareglow's defense reduction. This seems like it could be made even better by including Wong to bond with Jason and Etrigan. I think I'd reduce him to 80 and have this combo tested but otherwise he seems solid, just needs his cost narrowed in on and his strong combos tested. I really like how they interact with Occult Batman too.

[Shiftrex]

It looks like we have two suggestions on the table.

One is to figure out how to get Jason back on the board if Etrigan dies in combat, the other is to drop Jason down to 80 points and make the duo a 400 point block to draft together. I think I'm in favor of the price drop on Jason.

Open for discussion!

[MrNobody]

I like the point drop!

[Yodaking]

I kind of favor the lower total points for the combo, makes it easier to build fun armies around. That assumes the testing supports that prince point.

[Ericth74]

I'm fine with the price drop too