The Pre-SoV Workshop

[Astroking112]

I'm looking for some feedback and impressions on Nure Onna, another Yokai that I've been testing pretty extensively as of late. @Captain Stupendous and I have redesigned her from her initial draft to fulfill a different niche within the Yokai army, with the dual purpose of also finally offering another 20-point filler than Marcu or Isamu+Bol.

Marcu obviously has more offensive power, mobility, and utility to absorb stuff like Wannok for your army, with Eternal Hatred (sometimes) keeping him in check. Nure Onna, by contrast, has difficulty going up terrain that's more than 2 levels tall, but provides some light utility as a defense debuff when set up well. On the right map with the right position, she can get 3 or 4 attack with -2D, which is situationally better than Marcu's 4 base attack. Her 7 move is also quite interesting when combined with Seimei's Shapeshift, since she can "lend" that extra movement to other figures in early rounds or you can place another Yokai near water to set up a potential trap.

To make her more engaging, she does have the potential of supporting other figures in your army as well with Paralyzing Trap, but I've found this to be difficult in standalone armies (and the Yokai themselves are mostly melee, which makes it difficult to protect her). Generally, your other figures are better bets for turns early on, and in the endgame, the -2D can still be unreliable when you're banking on a 3L/2D figure lasting multiple turns to get value out of the penalty. She kind of fulfills a similar purpose to Marcu, but in a more restrained way that hasn't been problematic in my testing. The fact that she also feels distinct from him has been pretty important to Captain Stupendous and me, too.

In a Yokai army, though, she basically becomes a Kyntela Gwyn. The Yokai really want to have as many Shapeshifting opportunities as possible thanks to their place-switching trickery, and Night of the Yokai/Divination make her Paralyzing Trap much easier to achieve. It's still a difficult choice, though, especially when you're juggling Ibaraki-doji, Masha Shingai, and something like the Kirin that also want revealed OMs each round. I've found that she really enhances the army overall while also standing out on her own. My primary concerns at this point are that fillers are generally regarded with apprehension due to the low cost often being a gimmick, along with concerns that she might still be perceived as being too similar to Marcu or worrisome for her point value.