Highlighting “the finishers” from the upcoming Faction!

The Vitawaasi faction is available for pre-order (we have a limited amount so don’t miss the chance to reserve your copy!) and will be here next month. We have been previewing some of the key strategies, new features, and new units with previous posts: (Vitawaasi Preview pt. 1) (Vitawaasi Preview pt. 2). We’ve got more previews today for the savannah squad.

Every faction has a unit or spell that can take over the game completely. I personally like to call these units “finishers” because they can score a big chunk of points and win you the battle. Maybe that’s a little misleading, because these are the types of units that you could have a major impact with at any point in the battle. The drawback to these super powerful units is that they are expensive, meaning that they can also potentially deplete your resources and limit your potential to recruit other units and use other spells. Of course, they also provide your opponent with lots of potential victory points if they can survive or figure out a way to eliminate your finisher. Nonetheless, they have game-breaking power.

Vitawaasi has 2 units that fit this description in very different ways… both come with a new ability. Let’s go!!

ABILITY PREVIEW: Mana Rot

UNIT PREVIEW: Owujo Warlocklord

The big, evil, magical owl beast that rules the savannah by night can also rule the battleground….in the right matchup. Mana Rot is capable of disrupting the entire battle plan of spell-heavy factions, especially Baazaria. The real strength of the Owujo is that after corrupting enemy spellcasters, it can follow up with Deteriorate, leading to a multi-round disintegration of enemy spellcasters. Don’t get too caught in trying to maximize the number of units you can hit with Mana Rot, as it has one use. If Deathstorm Lich, Zermano Battlemage, or Genie Khan are on the board, the Mana Rot-Deteriorate combo will put them on a shot clock. On top of that, the Owujo Warlocklord is a Captain with Flying and a capable melee fighter, meaning it can handle business if enemies put pressure on it. Mana Rot helps maximize the abilities we previewed in part 2. It’s an easy way to provide more wounded enemies and therefore more potential victory points.

Owujo Warlocklord is one of the most matchup dependent units in the game… against Zermano, Baazaria and Doom Sand it can be nothing less than dominant. Against Ihalaban and Moonshadow it isn’t too shabby either. But what about against Zyan or Kragg (or even Primus and Parada)? With barely any spellcasters (and the spells those units cast are very basic, single target damage spells) the Owujo is a melee heavy flying Captain, but for 8 gold?? Compare that to Sunfire Angel, Greater Wyvern or Greater Roc and you can see easily that’s a terrible value against the pure melee factions. I’d honestly consider leaving it out of the warband.

ABILITY PREVIEW: Pounce

UNIT PREVIEW: Rhezhulor Charger

Vitawaasi isn’t all sitting back, laying traps, and attacking from distance. Rhezhulor Charger is an offensive force, clocking in with a whopping 8 attack. Partnered with a 3 movement, the Rhezhulor is a turbo-charged point- scoring monstrosity. Pounce makes nothing in the air safe, save for Ihalaban’s Regal Minokawa, and the fact it ignores Skirmish is important against Sunfire Angel. Like Mana Rot, Pounce is a single use ability, so use it wisely on a worthwhile target. The Rhezhulor Charger is a “finisher” in the purest sense. It is ideal for taking down an enemy in order to score a large amount of victory points.

While being outstanding on the attack, the Rhezhulor Charger is relatively vulnerable defensively.. Menace is helpful, but for 8 points and with all that speed and attack, it will instantly become a prized target. Because it is so offensively slanted, it won’t really have a lot of help from other Vitawaasi frontline units as the majority of the faction prefers not to rush headfirst into battle. While it mostly covers some of the factions that Owujo Warlocklord isn’t dominant against, it isn’t necessarily the perfect “either/or” situation when building your warband. However, on a unit-by-unit level, it is great against the units the Warlocklord is not great against.

Overall, Vitawaasi has a couple of great finishers when the situation is right! Don’t worry- we will have more coming up as we get closer to Vitawaasi hitting the battleground!