Deck Guide: Velmorn's Visages
As promised on the podcast, we're posting a deck guide for Velmorn's Visages, Jerod's Sons of Velmorn + Malevolent Masks Nemesis deck.
See the deck on underworldsdb.com: https://www.underworldsdb.com/shared.php?deck=0,SV2,SV4,SV8,SV9,SV11,MM1,MM12,MM5,MM9,MM6,SV12,SV20,MM14,MM22,MM21,MM20,MM19,MM17,SV19,SV17,MM25,MM27,MM28,MM29,MM32,MM30,SV28,SV25,SV26,SV30,SV13,MM4&format=nemesis&deckname=Velmorn%27s%20Visages
Listen to the deck guide here: https://podcast.battle-mallet.com/e/episode-58-special-operation-mask-force/
Alright. First things first, I made this deck not because I think it's the most competitive but because I'm always looking for ways to play more Sons of Velmorn. I picked the pairing because it really pushes the warband into a flex (aggression + positioning) playstyle, which suits them well. Five relatively sturdy fighters means you usually have the bodies to be in the right place at the right time. The errata to Velmorn means that you start off with the supports for accuracy and defense, which is really nice. Without further ado, let's jump into the deck guide:
Top Objectives
(Reminder, these are the 3 objectives you want to see early in the game.)
- Relentless Unity - this card can be scored in your activation, or your opponent's, and helps get the seed glory early to start wearing Mask upgrades. Importantly, it doesn't require a kill!
- Feast of Violence - a controversial early choice, but your chances of having 3 fighters alive to do this are better early. It's a dead card if you get offset too hard or long-boarded, for sure. But it doesn't require successful attacks or kills or Glory to put on a Mask like the rest of the Surge objectives in the deck.
- Heredity Claims - A great end phase to net some glory for applying Mask upgrades going into turn 2. This also has a really good chance to set you up for the Malevolent Mask Objective token surges (Audacious Aspect and Vision of Success). If you have to choose between scoring Feast of Violence and Hereditary Claims, go for Hereditary Claims almost every time.
Top Gambits
- Deadly Maneouvre - an easy way to get some extra movement out of the Sons of Velmorn. Note that there are no restrictions on where the push ends up. So you can use this to set up supports to inspire or get a fighter into position for Hereditary Claims (or other position-based Objectives).
- Redoubled Fervour - critical for landing the attack for Relentless Unity and possibly inspiring!
- Shuddering Violence - another opportunity to trigger an inspiration or at least increase the chances of a successful attack. It's best to go second and use this right before your last activation, so the Stagger doesn't matter.
Top Upgrades
- Heirloom Weapon - If you've listened to us for any time, you know how much we love +1 Damage.
- Envy's Shroud - Again, we love a +1 Wounds card. Taking a Grave Guard from 3 to 4 wounds or Jedran from 5 to 6 can be a big deal.
- The Frostbitten Veil - The re-rolls can be critical for pushing the inspiration or landing attacks.
