I loved the Couatl back when I originally played.  It is one of the prettier minis in the DDM line.  Like many commanders (such as Cleric of Sune and Guardian Naga in our previous warbands) in the 40-50 point range, the Couatl brings a lot of utility to the table, if not much damage.  His Commander 0 is really bad, and will often cost the team some important rolls. In this upcoming matchup however (Feeling Blue vs. Lightning Arms), Couatl’s commander effect becomes very relevant (Followers gain Resist 10 Acid, Cold, Electricity, Fire, Sonic); this hurts both the secondary hitters in Lightning Arms, the Bluespawn Stormlizard and the Red Hand War Sorcerer.  Her spell selection is good…for the first 2 rounds she casts, Snake’s Swiftness on the Skullcrusher Ogre will likely be the play.  Then she definitely needs to hit the Marilith with both uses of Empowered Lesser Sonic Orb, as it’s the warbands most reliable damage.  Legion’s Undeniable Gravity is often a wasted spell, and I wonder how many of Couatl’s 42 points they costed it at.

Feeling Blue has almost no magic damage (Catfolk Wilder’s 5 Magic Damage is underwhelming) and this is the first time we’ve really seen that in our sealed drafts.  Thus, killing the Marilith will be very challenging.  To make matters worse, the Large Blue Dragon’s breath weapon is Lightning and both the Stormlizard and Marilith are immune, so the Dragon might end up being a 68 point paperweight.  Flanking and picking off weaker members of Lightning Arms will more than likely be his play, though if that can even help secure a win remains to be seen.

 

Booster 1	Points	Rarity	Booster 2	Points	Rarity
Large Blue Dragon	68	R	Couatl	42	R
Skullcrusher Ogre	31	U	Renegade Warlock	30	U
Grell	26	U	Catfolk Wilder	28	U
Deathlock	12	U	Soldier of Thrane	20	U
Dolgrim	10	C	Deathlock	12	C
Celestial Dire Badger	9	C	Kruthik Hatchling	10	C
Orc Savage	7	C	Orc Savage	7	C
Bullywug Thug	4	C	Skeletal Dwarf	6	C
Team	Points
Large Blue Dragon	68
Couatl	42
Skullcrusher Ogre	31
Catfolk Wilder	28
Celestial Dire Badger	9
Orc Savage	7
Orc Savage	7
Skeletal Dwarf	4

Other Picks: I always want to like Renegade Warlock for his automatic damage, however at 30 points I wonder if he’ll get enough uses out of it to make him worth it.  Once he’s based he has to take an AOO to use his Eldritch Spear.  Even with Conceal 6 his low 45 HP will get chewed through pretty quickly by most creatures.  I decided to leave the Warlock out, and in that point range both the Catfolk Wilder and the Skullcrusher Ogre made the cut.  The Ogre is the best we have available for a 2nd tier bruiser, with respectable AC, HP and Attacks/Damage.  The Catfolk is the wildcard of this band.  In a couple of turns Mind Thrust can put out a LOT of damage if creatures fail their saves…however, I am tentative to use him because if a creature saves all damage is negated.

Everyone else is fodder, though if the Orc Savages can get a charge off and activate their Savage Frenzy, they can do still be a threat for low-point critters.

Prediction:  Without a reliable source of magic damage I don’t think Feeling Blue will be able to put out enough damage vs. the Marilith.  It may end up being like last match, with basically Marilith vs. 4 creatures at the end, with her tying up too many points to win via Victory Points, and too hard to kill.  My guess is Lightning Arms 200, Feeling Blue 140.  Feeling Blue definitely needs an open map to give the dragon some breathing room.  The Tomb map most battles have been fought on so far favors the Marilith team as it allows her to abuse the enemies inability to close by using fodder to block and her mobility to get off full attacks.