From the article review - http://www.cardgamed...view-crab-r2098

Benjoewoo â€“ 3/5
This is auto-include right now because it is one of two generic “sacrifice” targets for crab’s various sacrifice effects, but will likely be the first of the two to be phased out once better low cost sacrifice targets are released—the 0 cost does not make up for the 0/0 stats with 0 glory and no ability except for in a core only environment.

Kingsley - 3/5
This is one of the best cards in the game early on, acting both as a scout and as an enabler for cards like Way of the Crab. However, it unfortunately becomes near-dead when drawn in the late game, making it a somewhat marginal pick overall IMO.

nyxnyxnyx - 4/5
Anything that costs 0 is deserving of a closer look. He blocks UO, threatens very sneaky ring victories / province breaks with the help of conflict buffs, and works great with the various sacrifice effects Crab has. He even has the Bushi trait!

Grendel -3/5
I like getting him early game and scouting. I like getting him when I can way of the crab. I hate getting him when I have a holding out and I need relevant characters to kill my opponent or save me.

I Fight Dragons â€“ 4/5
There are a ton of uses for Eager Scout. For the whopping cost of 0, he gives you a guy who can attack to scout a province and threaten to break it with a Banzai! or a couple attachments if your opponent doesn’t defend. If they do defend, then you basically paid 0 to bow one of their characters. Even if he doesn’t attack, he’s easily a 1/1 for 0 fate on defense thanks to the Stronghold. He makes a great piece of fodder for sacrifice effects as well once he’s bowed and done, too.

If only he actually cost zero, eh? As it is, he actually costs 1 card. That makes him a breakeven deal for Funeral Pyre, though admittedly almost always a great deal for Way of the Crab.

Agree with Benjoewoo that it'll leave the meta quite fast.

Asklepios, I think you're confusing dynasty and conflict draws here.  With Funeral Pyre, you're trading a dynasty draw for a conflict draw (edit: well, and the province spot taken up by the Pyre, which is the bigger cost), which is not necessarily break even.  If you can't afford to pay for all of your dynasty cards in a given turn, the dynasty draw is essentially free.  And Fate is VERY tight in this game, tighter than card draws for either deck, in my experience.

Additionally, you can use him for a turn - he can scout out a province for you and probably won't die (it's generally not worth your opponent's resources to kill him), he can escort a bigger personality so that things that punish lone characters are blunted, and he can defend a province and get the +1 strength from the stronghold.  Then, after you're done using him, you sacrifice him for a conflict card.  He's much better than you give him credit for, though granted not as good as the Kaiu Envoy.

Yeah he's a Dynasty card and that makes all the difference.  The way I've been playing lately I don't come anywhere near close to buying out all my provinces since I'm usually stacking fate on my dudes.  I need to stack Fate on dudes to build up a character advantage.  That means I need some cheap dudes to makes sure I have sacrifice fodder around.  Having a free sacrifice fodder dude around is actually really nice because rarely is there nothing to sacrifice him for in this faction.  Also he's a 0/0 not a dash/dash.  That makes a huge difference.  You can scout out a province and then play attachments on him or Banzai him to even threaten a break.  If he's defending he still can get the Stronghold bonus (or receive Hida Guardian's bonus). You'd be surprised how useful this dude can be and that's not even getting into using him to fuel a cheap Way Of The Crab.  I put 2 in my deck currently.  I don't want to flop multiples of him, but I do want cheap dudes around and your 7 Fate a round goes away pretty quick if you are also spending it on Conflict cards.  I guess you could give up those slots for Otomo Courtiers or Seppun Guardsmen, but I've found those cards are actually pretty restrictive.  I like the flexibility Eager Scout gives you for 1 less Fate. 

He's not a 5/5 card, but I think he's pretty reasonable.  3/5 is probably fair, but I'm not so sure he'll be quickly replaced in everyone Crab deck a cycle from now.  We'll see. 

Damn, yeah, I missed that he was a Dynasty card. Saw the low cost and the style of the card and just kind of assumed. That does change his role a LOT.

Yeah he's a Dynasty card and that makes all the difference.  The way I've been playing lately I don't come anywhere near close to buying out all my provinces since I'm usually stacking fate on my dudes.  I need to stack Fate on dudes to build up a character advantage.  That means I need some cheap dudes to makes sure I have sacrifice fodder around.  Having a free sacrifice fodder dude around is actually really nice because rarely is there nothing to sacrifice him for in this faction.  Also he's a 0/0 not a dash/dash.  That makes a huge difference.  You can scout out a province and then play attachments on him or Banzai him to even threaten a break.  If he's defending he still can get the Stronghold bonus (or receive Hida Guardian's bonus). You'd be surprised how useful this dude can be and that's not even getting into using him to fuel a cheap Way Of The Crab.  I put 2 in my deck currently.  I don't want to flop multiples of him, but I do want cheap dudes around and your 7 Fate a round goes away pretty quick if you are also spending it on Conflict cards.  I guess you could give up those slots for Otomo Courtiers or Seppun Guardsmen, but I've found those cards are actually pretty restrictive.  I like the flexibility Eager Scout gives you for 1 less Fate. 

 

He's not a 5/5 card, but I think he's pretty reasonable.  3/5 is probably fair, but I'm not so sure he'll be quickly replaced in everyone Crab deck a cycle from now.  We'll see. 

Interesting, I currently play the otomo courtier instead of him. Yes, he is cheap but the courtier trait is very useful due to the "for shame"

That's a matter of deck strategy.  I'm not playing For Shame right now in Crab or any other card that requires a Courtier.  If you are going that route it does add value to the Otomo Courtier.  Crab is real starved for Courtiers.  I really dislike Otomo Courtier's dash stat and inability in some circumstances to attack.  I've found that a real draw back, but if you need that keyword to make your deck more consistent I can see trading out the Eager Scouts. The extra consistency might out weight the lack of flexibility.

Absolutely true. I have some problems against decks with more military skill on a singular peep like dragon. For shame is just a very very good battle action that also helps with dishonor. But I see your point. Atm I play 2 scouts again but kicked the hida guardians. 

Should be a 4/5 tbh. Too many uses out of Crab. Charge that Yojimbo in with him attacking, punish big mirumoto trains with Way of the Crab, Funeral Pyre/Steadfast Witchhunter. In general, stuff that cost 0 and can do stuff that things that don't cost 0 do, are worth a look.

An eager scout is a good scout