Card Game DB
Sign In
Create Account
Welcome to Card Game DB
Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!
Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!
0
Great Devourer Set Review - Events, Supports and Attachments
Aug 21 2015 12:00 AM |
steinerp
in Warhammer 40k: Conquest
conquest great devourer warpack review
Before I get started I would like to thank like to thank the reviewers that submitted their initial reviews in an extremely timely fashion. This was a huge set to review and I really appreciate the effort people put into formatting it correctly. I had minimal editing that needed to be done. If you are interested in submitting a review in the future let me know.Also because of the size of this set, I will be releasing it in four articles. The first will focus on the warlords, their squads, and the synapse creatures. The second will be the units, the third will cover the rest of the nid cards and the final will be the non-nid cards.
I will take a minute to get on my soapbox and encourage everyone to report all the games you play at 40kconquest.blogspot.com. The more people we have reporting games, the more accurate it is. You can also go there to see stats on games others have reported to see if anything we say in these reviews turn out to be true or not.
Ratings
The rating scale as follows was offered to reviewers:
1- Very poor - Very bad for the foreseeable future, but may become a usable card one day in the meta.
2- Bad - Not a good card to play generally, but may have its role in some very specific deck builds. Not likely to be seen in a tourney winning deck.
3- Average - Will make some tourney winning decks, but not in every deck it is eligible for. Think hard before including.
4- Strong - Almost certainly a strong include for almost every deck that is eligible to include it.
5- Excellent - A definite auto-include of exceptional strength.
Also note, that in terms of multiples included, a card does not have to be a 3x to be a 5/5 auto-include. Some cards are clearly designed to be included fewer times, and cannot be rated less strong because of this.
Synopsis
I’ll do the synopsis in the final article
Reviews
Clogged with Corpses
Steinerp - 5/5
0 cost destroying supports using tokens deployed at useless planets, Sold.
Asklepios - 4/5
Probably a card to include, though the meta will say whether its 1x, 2x or 3x. Support-hate is pretty rare in this game at present, and losing Termagants is no great deal for a Swarmlord deck. Spend the gaunts that are at your HQ, for minimum wastage, and do so as a deploy action for a much needed 0-cost deploy delay.
I Fight Dragons – 3/5
Almost every deck has some support you will want to blow up. Shrine of Warpflame, Archon’s Palace, Khymera Den, Orbital City, Sicarius’s Stronghold, Catachan Outpost, the list goes on and on. If you are running a token deck, then it’s probably worth slotting a few of these. At worst, they are still shield icons.
Kingsley - 5/5.
Clogged with Corpses is the only support destruction card in the game that is competitively priced, and given the recent influx of strong supports it couldn’t come soon enough. Every Swarmlord deck wants to play this card in my view, and Old One Eye decks playing Termagant synergy should strongly consider it as well.
Corvus – 3/5
A slight improvement over the borderline playable Squig Bombin', since losing your 0-3 least relevant Termagants is usually worth a lot less to you than 2 resources. As a situational 1 shield event, it's tough to say whether it will merit a deck slot.
Predation
Steinerp - 3/5
Maybe OOE has a card slot for infesting a planet and nothing else, but Swarmlord doesn’t and I don’t think Theory does. Still 0 cost for a deploy phase infestation could be useful.
Asklepios - 2/5
The ability here isn't grand, as it’s a setup for future combos rather than a direct benefit. On the upside, being 0 cost and playable in any phase makes it a deploy delay or combat surprise. As we see more cards in the pool that interact with infestation, this card may grow in includability.
I Fight Dragons – 2/5
There’s not a whole lot of benefit to mass infesting planets at the moment, and a lot of units you will probably use also just infest the planet they are at as a side effect. If there’s ever a benefit to having lots of planets infested or more infested effects, then this card will get better; but at the moment, it’s just not quite there.
Kingsley - 3/5.
Surprise Infest on a planet where an important battle is taking place? Deployment stall while preparing another planet to use your Digestion Pool? Sounds good to me, though of course it requires other cards to really pay off.
Corvus – 2/5
Most of the payoffs for having an infested planet seem a lot worse if you know that it cost you a whole card. If your deck absolutely needs many infested planets to work you may have to run this, but you shouldn't be happy about doing so.
Spawn Termagants
Steinerp - 3/5
You get an extra token compared to Snotling Attacks but they are spread out over 5 planets. Of course the tokens are better than snotlings as well and can always become corpses to destroy enemy supports.
Asklepios - 3/5
2 resources for 5 tokens as a deploy action. That sounds more efficient than Snotling Attack, but being forced to go 1 per planet is a big disadvantage, and once the game goes to round 4, efficiency diminishes. However, termagants are better than snotlings, so I expect this card to see some play, at least till the card pool improves. Call it 2x in Swarmlord, 0x in Old One Eye.
I Fight Dragons – 3/5
This on an early turn usually pays for itself over the course of the game, but later on it is often just a shield icon for me. It does have some combo with Consumption, which is nice as well. If you find yourself not consistently hitting the token cap in your Swarmlord deck, then this may be a card you want to run.
Kingsley - 3/5.
This card can be a real doozy in a long setup. Compare to Snotling Attack and it should be pretty clear that this is a valuable card, especially since Termagants are better than Snotlings. However, note that this doesn’t allow for the same level of flexibility as Snotling Attack does.
Corvus – 3/5
With your Warlord (and possibly Synapse unit) already spawning Termagants, it's not clear how often you'll really need more. The flexibility you lose compared to Snotling Attack is compensated for by the potential added synergy of Hive Mind effects, but the card still seems middling.
Spore Burst
Steinerp - 3/5
Gift of Isha with more choice as it can be anywhere in discard pile will never be bad. However it a A) a deploy action not a combat trick
limited to 3 cost units and C)only at infested planets. The limitations drop it from an easy five to either a 3 or 4. Will still be common as it is decent with 2 shields.Asklepios - 5/5
A weird biotech reflection ofGift of Isha, let's compare:
Upsides: Delays deployment, can freely pick unit from discard.
Downsides: Cost limitation, no combat surprise, needs infestation.
So basically, not nearly as good as Gift of Isha. However, this is still a 5/5 card, because it’s the better of the two 2-shielders in the Tyranid faction, and compared to many Tyranid event and attachment cards, it’s of good quality. Expect every Tyranid deck to have 3x of these for a while, even if it is the penniless cousin of Isha.
I Fight Dragons – 5/5
The best infest benefiting card in the box, in my opinion. The flexibility here is bonkers for recurring Pyrovore’s, Swarm Guard, Stranglers, Spikers, anything that has been killed this game. This card translates to a second copy of whatever unit you need at the moment and there’s enough infest effects on units that you usually don’t even need to go out of your way to fulfill that requirement. This is even before adding on that it has two shield icons.
Kingsley - 3/5.
This card would be much stronger - probably too strong - if it were a general action or a combat action. As it stands, it’s a good way to recur and potentially discount key units (Swarm Guard, Volatile Pyrovore, etc.) while also providing two shields.
Corvus – 4/5
Mostly just the Tyranid's stock 2 shield card. The rare occasions where there's a unit worth bringing back and a relevant infested planet will be a nice added bonus.
Dark Cunning
Steinerp - 4/5
The cost 2 gain 1 cost dynamic will be interesting but is a minor drawback compared to just reduced cost. The flexibility of being able to target a non-infested is appreciated.
Asklepios - 4/5
Readying units is a decent effect (anyone who has played against a Shadowsun Gunline with for the Tau'va can attest to that), and can upset combat math. Not as good an event card as the gold standard 5/5s in this game (you know, Barrage, Terror and so on), and weakened by lack of easy access to big spike damage attack values out of Tyranids, but good enough for inclusion in the early meta.
I Fight Dragons – 4/5
Great card if you have a solid unit that you can swing with again. Costs 1, effectively, at infested planets too which is pretty awesome. Sometimes this card just wins you battles, making it definitely worth the slot, especially in Old One Eye or if you run the Savage Warrior Primes as your synapse unit.
Kingsley - 3/5.
This is a solid combat trick with bonus Infest synergy. It works especially well with Shrieking Harpy coming to a planet with your warlord.
Corvus – 2/5
Tyranids don't have enough affordable high-attack units to really take advantage of a readying effect like this, so unless you're really getting mileage out of Ferocious Strength you probably shouldn't run it.
Consumption
Steinerp - 2/5
I sort of get why people like this card and has some potential turn 1 if you go second and can delay long enough to have them put out most there stuff, but that will be difficult with only 2 other resources.
Asklepios - 2/5
This is the sort of card that gets a certain type of player very excited, but in my mind it’s a bit like Calamity: ruined by timing. Unlike that other card, you can at least play it in the Deploy Phase, but at 4 cost in a 6/6 Warlord, you have to expect that at best it’s going to kill a couple of units.
I Fight Dragons – 3/5
This card is extreme in the sense that it is either a win-more card or a comeback card. I rarely wanted to play this in games where me and my opponent were relatively even, mostly because of the high cost hurting my tempo more than that of my opponent. It is a fantastic way to even the playing field if you are getting tabled, though; as you often get 3-4 units for none of your own.
Kingsley - 4/5.
Among the scariest of the “big wipeâ€/“nuke†cards. This rating is more in terms of potential power than from what I’ve actually seen it do, so it’s possible this one won’t turn out to do all that much, but I really like the idea of an aggro deck that focuses almost all forces on the first planet, snipes two commands with Warlord + Lictor, and then plays this to wipe the board of enemy cappers.
Corvus – 2/5
This card probably won't amount to much for the same reasons Doom and Exterminatus are tough to fit into decks. Games are often won and lost with small skirmishes in the first few turns, where expensive deploy actions like this aren't effective. Opponents will play around them if they become common, and this card will rarely be as one-sided as you might hope.
Regeneration
Steinerp - 3/5
It gives 1 less HP than Hostile Enviromental Gear but as long as you aren’t killed in 1 shot it will give you 1 more HP than the AM version and potentially even more. However things like Fury of Sicarius and Klaviex will continue to make this a hard card to include
Asklepios - 4/5
One shield and an attachment: something of a running theme on a whole bunch of weak tyranid cards. However, as that card selection goes, I like this better than most, as its almost as good as +4 HP in a single card. What makes this card a lot stronger is that the Action is any phase, which again makes for a possible source of deploy delay.
I Fight Dragons – 4/5
Fantastic. Two health is quite a boost and unless your opponent kills the unit in one go, you can use it as a retroactive 2 shields. All of that is well worth 1 resource. It is worth noting that if your opponent has initiative, they can still kill your unit with a burn effect or a Klaivex Warleader.
Kingsley - 4/5.
This attachment is a great way to protect a key unit, providing it with both an HP boost and a means of recovering damage. I expect to see this played a lot, especially on lynchpins like Strangler Brood or Swarm Guard.
Corvus – 4/5
You may not want to deploy this against certain factions, but on the occasions where you can get away with it, forcing your opponent to deal 9 damage to a Swarm Guard before he can even get started on your swarm – or other shenanigans along those lines – seems amazing.
Noxious Fleshborer
Steinerp - 3/5
I want this to be good, +1/+1 is useful as is infesting the planet. However the infestation happens to late for most of the infestation bonuses and if at planet 1 it won’t matter for next turn. Not a horrible card but not a great one.
Asklepios - 2/5
Attachments, even 1-cost ones, have to be pretty good to justify inclusion. A command capper with this attachment is just asking to be sniped by an opposing warlord. More pertinently, beating Tyranids at a given planet on command is likely not going to be too arduous.
I Fight Dragons – 3/5
This is a solid attachment, if maybe a little weak. One attack and One health is just shy of being worth the cost, but if you need more infest effects then you can probably justify running this.
Kingsley - 3/5.
This is a strong attachment in an Infest-focused deck, helping you infest more planets and then giving you a bonus for doing so.
Corvus – 1/5
Godwyn Pattern Bolter was never playable, so you'll need to consistently infest planets with this to make it worthwhile. The fact that it's potentially a recurring effect is neat, but the fact that this card does absolutely nothing if your opponent beats you on command at an uninfested planet makes it bad.
Pincer Tail
Steinerp -2/5
+1/+0 is not as good at the fleshborer and a worse ability. It is the worst of the weapon biomorphs and they aren’t that good to start.
Asklepios - 2/5
I'm rapidly starting to think that Tyranids have way too many attachments in their starting card pool, and pincer tail looks to be one of the worst. 1 cost, 1 shield and just +1 attack already looks pretty appalling compared to some of the game's better attachments, and the ability text is just too situational to be useful.
I Fight Dragons – 1/5
This is actually a worse Banshee Power Blade, and that’s impressive. If you don’t want a unit to retreat, you can just kill it with another card instead of paying one resource for one stat and a rarely decent effect.
Kingsley - 1/5.
Preventing retreats is an extremely niche effect, as seen by the (un)popularity of cards like Umbral Preacher and Morkai Rune Priest, and it remains niche here. I wish this could attach to Synapse units, as it might see play then as a buff to your lynchpin - as it stands it’s just not worth it.
Corvus – 1/5
There's bad, and then there's this card. It's in a league with Guardian Mesh Armor; it just leaves me scratching my head wondering how even the most deluded optimist could ever fathom this card actually doing something useful for them.
Parasitic Infection
Steinerp - 3/5
Tokens and damaging units. Good deal, maybe even worth the 2 cost. One good thing is this happens after the Plaguebeast wipes out all your other gaunts.
Asklepios - 3/5
2-cost attachments are generally risky, but a lot of the card advantage downsides of attachments are mitigated when you're playing on an enemy unit rather than your own. This is a card to consider for Swarmlord, I think, but not by any means a strong card.
I Fight Dragons – 2/5
This is a very fun effect but it’s expensive and you want your opponent to play something with high health and also won’t be fighting at planets to get value from this; which means you are likely attaching this to a command unit and building up tokens away from the battles, which is subpar. If this cost less or did more damage it would probably be too strong, so it’s hard to say what’s wrong with it other than it doesn’t do enough for the cost.
Kingsley - 2/5.
This card is a great way to set up for a battle later on, but that’s relatively situational and the card itself is expensive. Often this reads “Pay 2 for 1 damage and 1 Termagant tokenâ€, which isn’t really all that great.
Corvus – 3/5
Inevitably killing units while getting value in the process seems great. In practice, big units tend to be at early planets, where you'll only get a few triggers before the opponent can throw them away in battle, and units at late planets almost always have 1 or 2 HP, which puts an upper bound on the value you can squeeze out of your infection.
Heavy Venom Cannon
Steinerp - 3/5
3 cost is a lot but +2 attack and a very good ability can’t be ignored. Only for elite heavy decks as synapse creatures aren’t army units.
Asklepios - 2/5
As it stands, this card is appalling. 3 cost for an attachment? That’s bad already. Now limited targets to just Elite army units? GAH! Without the word "army" there, this would have been a decent card that could have made for very frightening synapse creatures. As it is, this is basically just 2-shields. However, as there are only two 2-shielders available in the Tyranid card pool at present, I expect this card may make the cut just for that reason, especially in Old One Eye decks, who really will be wanting those 2-shielders to reduce the risk of their combats.
I Fight Dragons – 3/5
There’s no doubt that this card is worth its cost in my mind, but it lost some value to me when I recognized you cannot attach it to your synapse unit. If you run elites then this is probably worth including just for the two shields and the off chance you get a massive benefit from it. I would pass, otherwise.
Kingsley - 3/5.
In a deck that runs the Elite units to support it this card is phenomenal, turning even meager units like the Haruspex into killing machines. It also provides two shields! I would probably play ~1 copy of this for every 2-3 Elite units in the deck. It also has an incredible combo with the upcoming Striking Ravener.
Corvus – 3/5
Oooh, look, 2 shields! As for the actual text, it would be amazing if you ever got to actually attack with the unit. The problem with Elites isn't that they aren't big enough, it's that at best they rarely get to attack and worst they're promptly murdered.
Brood Chamber
Steinerp - 3/5
Can’t copy mobile, but Ranged, Armourbane, Brutal and AE are all good, if you can find them. It is free as well. Worth testing but unreliable enough to probably not make a lot of decks. At some point I am going to copy the Bloodied keyword for the win! (thanks Asklepois)
Asklepios - 3/5
Its zero cost, with a decent effect, though control of whether you can use it or not is dependent on enemy plays, and only on the planet theyr'e at, and only printed keywords.
Useful Keywords to copy: Area Effect, Armorbane, Brutal, Flying, Immune, No Attachments, Ranged.
Useless ones to copy: Ambush, Bloodied, Limited, Mobile,
I think at this stage of the Tyranid card pool, it could well be included in some decks, but I expect it to be cut for more focused cards with time. Its no Twisted Laboratory, for sure!
I Fight Dragons – 2/5
I’m not sure there are enough keywords floating around at the moment for this card to be worth running. It has to be a printed keyword as well so you cannot steal keywords given by attachments. It is possibly worth keeping an eye on this card if in the future you see a lot of armorbane and area effect being run in decks.
Kingsley - 3/5.
This ability is sometimes awesome and sometimes useless. 0-cost supports are always good stalls, though. I would probably put one copy in my deck as a stall that also constitutes a serious threat under some situations. Copying someone’s AoE or Armorbane can be huge!
Corvus – 2/5
I love this card, but there just aren't enough relevant printed keywords on commonly played units at the moment. Keep this in your binder then spring it on your opponents when the meta winds change.
Digestion Pool
Steinerp - 4/5
A very good reducer if you have enough infestation in your deck. I wouldn’t infest for just this card but this is a good bonus for decks that are already infesting
Asklepios - 3/5
A 1-cost discount-for-2 is great value, but Scything Hormagaunts is the only way I can see that you could benefit from this discount on turn 1 of the game. As Digestion Pool is limited, its competing with Promotion and Ripper Swarm, both of which are better cards, and as its unique, multiples could clog the hand.
For me, this is therefore a 0-1x include in any tyranid deck, though 1x could also be argued for, but no more, no more for certain
I Fight Dragons – 2/5
Limited slots are tight with the Tyranids, as their light command icons means you want promotion and you also want to run Ripper Swarms for even more free command value. If you are running a high end Tyranid deck with consistent infest effects then you can run this over Ripper Swarms, at the cost of your opponent getting more command.
Kingsley - 4/5.
This is by far the best of the reducer supports, though it requires Infest synergy to really pay off. Still, you make a profit on this the turn you play it and it’s extremely strong every turn you trigger it. Infest decks should definitely play this one.
Corvus – 2/5
It's limited, it's unique, and it requires setup before it does anything. Its higher risk and rewards probably make it better than the existing faction reducers, but that's not saying much.
Mycetic Spores
Steinerp - 3/5
It is a combat action so they will still be exhausted coming from HQ but can they still have the hive mind ability when exhausted. Can also be used to move a hive mind creature off planet 1 right before you win your battle
Asklepios - 2/5
While repeatable movement abilities can never be disregarded, exhaustion of the support effectively makes this once per game round, and 2 cost is a lot to pay for something so limited in targets, and so obviously telegraphed. Early decks may include a copy or two, but expect this card to be dropepd quickly.
I Fight Dragons – 5/5
The Tyranid Orbital City. This card is insane in your token deck as you can easily chain your buff units down the planet line to bully the planets you want to win, or move them to the first planet after committing your warlord elsewhere, or go bully the enemy warlord for sniping your command. It’s good, run it.
Kingsley - 2/5.
This effect is good, but hampered by the fact that Hive Mind units have bad stats and in particular bad command, so you probably won’t really want to deploy them at late planets much, and readying them doesn’t mean a lot. The best use of this is probably to bring Hive Mind units from HQ (following a successful planet capture) to reinforce a later planet that the enemy is attacking, but that seems rather niche to me.
Corvus – 3/5
It's a little more versatile than Tellyporta Pad, since it lets you move your units both to and from fights. On the other hand, Hive Mind units will probably only account for 1/3 to 1/2 of your army. The fact that you can use it to send one combat unit from planet 1 further down the line every turn, Plannum-style, is what (sort of) sells me on it.
Spore Chimney
Steinerp - 3/5
It is reliable infest that can’t be removed by successful combat until the next turn. But I usually look for a little more out of my supports
Asklepios - 2/5
Delayed infestation is problematic, as if you play this on turn 1 that’s a third of your resources gone in one card with no combat or command advantage generated, and if you play it later in the game, you may not get many uses out of it. I can't rate this card lower than 2/5 though, as the card pool doesn't offer many choices, and in future we may see decks that focus on efficient infestation synergies.
I Fight Dragons – 2/5
You can pay 2 for a unit, or you can pay 2 for this and infest 1 planet a turn for all the good it does you in this box. There’s just not enough benefits to infesting for this to be worth it at the moment; and even then, it costs two which is probably too much for this effect. Find your infest elsewhere.
Kingsley - 2/5.
Relative to other Infest options, this card seems expensive and unfavorably timed. However, it’s one of the least conditional Infest cards out there, so it’s possible really Infest-centric decks will go to this as a way to ensure the planets are infested when they need them. On the plus side, this does have a great combo with Shrieking Harpy…
Corvus – 2/5
In some ways it's the best infest enabler, since your opponent can't block it with command and it's guaranteed to fire every turn. However I don't think there's any turn in the game where you want to set aside a card and 2 resources for this kind of minor, delayed effect. The timing couldn't be worse – after that turn's combat phase, where most infest benefits happen, but before the new planet is flipped and you draw cards to inform your next turn's actions.
Synaptic Link
Steinerp - 3/5
I do like drawing cards. Value really depends on who your synapse creature is and how long you can keep them standing.
Asklepios - 2/5
It’s a card drawn every turn, which sounds tempting, and the condition isn't too arduous. However, the comparison points here must be Ammo Depot and Homing Beacon, both of which are very different in character, but notably both cost 1 resource less.
In my mind, 1 card a turn basically isn't worth spending 2R1C on, especially when you'll be fighting uphill on command anyway.
I Fight Dragons – 2/5
This is bad in my mind for all the same reasons the Promethium Mine is bad. It’s only really good in the opening 2 turns and even though you are getting cards which are generally more valuable than resources, you also are paying an extra resource. If you lose your synapse unit, this is also a dead card. Meh.
Kingsley - 4/5.
This card provides excellent economy. It doesn’t hit 5/5 (unlike Ammo Depot) because it doesn’t double as a great deploy stall, but you should be hitting this every turn (unless the enemy kills your Synapse), and guaranteed draw is very good in this game. That said, I wouldn’t run this at 3x because losing your Synapse makes it completely dead. The safer your Synapse is and the more copies of Fall Back! you play, the better this card becomes.
Synaptic Link
Corvus – 2/5
Synapse units should be fairly easy to keep around thanks to Fall Back, but the effect isn't quite worth a 2 cost support. Even if Tyranids find themselves really struggling with command, I suspect that there are better alternatives.
5 Comments
Fun thought that occurred to me late on Brood Chamber only now:
If you get three of these out, and an opponent has AoE2, you could make your unit AoE6. I may have to try it out, just to see if I can make that happen.
Hell, the joy of being able to do that to a Bloodletter would be amazing: AoE9, thankee very much. Just don't archon's terror my khorne-inspired termagant!
I'm also with I fight Dragons on Mycetic Spores, I think outside of Orbital City they are the best 2 cost location in the game.
Otoh, Noxious Fleshborer isn't making any of my decks.
Bloodied can't be gained, "The Bloodied keyword cannot be removed from a card’s text by a blanking effect, its effects cannot be cancelled, and it cannot be gained by another ability."
Turns out Clogged with Corpses is so good in the right matchups that you'd be crazy not to run 2-3 in Swarmlord.
Regeneration is good in almost every situation.
In trying to find something of value in all the supports I rated Mycetic Spores too highly. The bulk of Swarmlord's army won't be Hive Mind units, and it turns out there's just no stage in the game when you want to spend your resources deploying a support like this.