Wave 5 - Swordfighter

So in this post I will cover one thing we are pretty sure about Wave 5. Wyrd has revealed Swordfighter, a Lady Justice upgrade. I`ll cover the rest when they come out and I get my hands on them.


Quick note: Lady Justice is the reason I started playing Malifaux. Her and the Death Marshals were the box I wanted to get so bad but it turned out it was the time where she wasn`t available anywhere, so I had to pick Sonnia (my second favourite master in Guild)

What the card does:

• Gives a (2) Acrobatic Assault action that allows a place, attack and another place. If you deal damage you get a defensive bonus.
• Gives a (0) Justice at the End of a Blade action which makes you discard 2 cards to get a Recalled Training like boost versus a specific enemy Master, Henchman or Enforcer.
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

First off lets start with the (0) Justice at the End of a Blade.

Pros: Significantly increases her damage output. She gets a positive to her damage which becomes a double positive if she didn`t charge. This is big because it will most likely allow cheating and bumps her damage by 1-2 points per attack on average. You also get a positive to attack so its more likely you will save your remaining hand and get that ram for extra critical strike damage. Furthermore it gives you pseudo defensive stance so you`re less likely to need the heal. With this action even things like Strongarm Suit can be dealt in in one activation (You need 2 Severe or 1 Severe, 1 Moderate and 1 Weak). 

Cons: It competes with Juggernaut which sometimes might require a tough choice but I won`t die if I kill you first. It also is pretty likely you will get a Black Joker in the middle of your attacks.

Now lets move to Acrobatic Assault

Pros: Lets you get out of engagement without risking disengaging strikes. Lets you get through impassable terrain and jump on some building to get those pesky snipers. Its worth remembering that when you make a place any part of your base has to be within X" of the starting position where X is the distance of the place which means you can get X" + base size each time you do it. Its also pretty cool because you can move and still get the positive to damage from the Greatsword. The buff of Riposte is also quite valuable and worth it, especially if you have the Francisco buff. Not many people will want to attack her when she has Protected by Francisco and Counterstance on.
Its also buffs Vendetta because it allows you to make the place, then swing with the Onslaught trigger and then place again giving you 2 attacks with positives to damage (or positives to everything with the (0)) and then another place.

Cons: it costs 2 AP which kind of dictates how your activation is going to look like. Combine the single swing with Justice at the End of a Blade and you get chunk someone pretty hard for 7-8 damage with a swing.

Summary:

Justice is not really a competitive master. That`s pretty much a fact. Its Malifaux so skill is pretty important which means you most likely won`t be stomped by a worse player just because you took her but you will struggle in areas that you could avoid by picking the Chief Editor of Malifaux Tattler. But this upgrade is a very good step in the right direction to make her see more playtime. I don`t think I`d ever pick a crew without it. Good Job Wyrd!

Verdict: 
10/10 (Gremlins have better upgrades!!!!!!1111oneone)