Shadow Stalker by
@Sir Heroscape
Shadow Wraith by
@Sir Heroscape
Is it a shadow that stalks? Or does it stalk shadows? Perhaps we'll never know...
Oh, and insert obligatory comment about a wraith here too.
First things first
I'm just going to start by ripping off the band-aid and saying that the Stalker isn't going to make it for me. I think that at this point many players are familiar with the Azazel + Xundar + Shadows army. It's strong and, even worse, extremely annoying. I tested the Stalker in this army first off since that was definitely the biggest concern, and a few games in it became obvious that it pushed that army too far. I do like the idea of a defensive shadow figure like the Stalker, but I cut its testing short because its boost to the AX Shadows army was too much for me.
I vote
Nay to induct Shadow Stalker into the Soldiers of Valhalla.
With that, the rest of this review will focus on the Shadow Wraith.
Balance
Obviously the best comparison for defense-boosting figures is going to be Raelin (RotV, naturally). The Shadow Wraith is just under 1/3 of Raelin's point cost, which sets a bar for us. Their offense is the same at 3 attack each, but the Wraith is much more fragile with only 1L/2D compared to Raelin's 5L/3D, not quite 1/3 of the value there. For mobility, Raelin has the edge with 6 move flying, but the Wraith isn't shirking too much with Shadow Phase and Phantom Walk. But the Wraith is already in the hole with this comparison, so let's look at the auras. Raelin gives 2 defense to any figure you control in 4 spaces, while the Wraith gives 1 defense (1/2 value, not bad) to adjacent figures (1/10 value, less good) that are Shadows (value is tough to judge, but if we're looking game-wide for army-building potential I'll put that at 1/100). Obviously, we can easily see that the Wraith is underpowered, which probably means another downvote here...
Okay, Shadow Trolling aside, the Wraith does seem to be at an okay place with balance. It has strong mobility for the points (as long as you have other Shadows around, which you should), and decent offense for a defensive figure. But it's very fragile at 1L/2D, so it's not like you're just jumping and attacking anywhere with it. If anything, while building armies with the Wraith it seemed a touch on the weak side compared to the other shadow options I had.
Theme
The mini is a purple ghosty thing. The card is a shadow (because purple) ghosty thing. And it makes shadows stronger for its shadow allies. Not much more to say, but it definitely works, and simple is never a bad thing.
Creativity
Again, I do like the addition of more defensive figures to the shadow faction. The Binder was okay as a disruptor, but when testing the figures the first go around I always preferred more Hounds or Fiends as the points would allow. Having a defense-booster in the mix opens up what kinds of armies you can build, which I liked.
Playability
The Shadow Wraith does an alright job as a defensive piece for the shadows. With only 2 defense, you're not expecting it to take much focused fire before falling, but there's a decent amount that you can do with it until then. Hiding it out of range or behind an obstacle helps keep it alive and makes your opponent decide whether to go out of their way to attack it or go for the more-accessible shadows that it's boosting instead. The Shadow Phase power gives it some fun mobility too, and if it survives ranged attacks it can make a good part of a front wave as you start attacking with Hounds and Fiends. Again, its not going to survive long in that wave, but its other purpose aside from boosting defense is to draw fire, since even if it's an easy kill that's an attack made on a weaker part of your army and not on the core doggies/demons that come with it. At the end of the day, it's not a build-around piece for the shadow army like Hounds and Fiends, but its a 25-50 point filler for them, so you're not expecting it to be built around anyway.
What about armies with Azazel? Eh. Having Wraiths certainly doesn't hurt that army much, but it's not as much of a help with their 2 defense. Oh wait, that becomes 3 defense with other Wraiths! Yeah... you can get a natural 4 defense with Hounds and Binders, so some Wraiths to support isn't bad, but you probably shouldn't go full Wraiths (or maybe you should so your opponent feels better).
Summary
I went into my games with the Wraith almost expecting to downvote it for being too low on the power scale and not worth drafting. In my games, though, I found it to be a nice, versatile addition to the Shadow Faction. Yes, with only two defense it becomes an easy target, and I probably would have switched its attack and defense, but there were a lot of positioning plays that could be made with it to try to throw off an opponent. Using it as bait or even a surprise offensive piece with its decent attack was always satisfying.
I vote
Yea to induct Shadow Wraith into the Soldiers of Valhalla.
to review Nordlung. I'm with Scy on the power names, but like he said that's minor. I do have some concerns as I laid out earlier, but its all theoryscape now and I have to get him on my table to address those.
