It was one of the most expected things for the new future that AMG had not shown us during Ministrav 24 but yesterday they graced us with the list of affiliated Servants of the Apocalypse which two Horseman each can be.
And a reminder on what they do:
Now let’s go through the characters alphabetically and see how being a Horseman could change how they feel on the table and what they bring to the SotA as a faction.
Archangel (4)
Death: Archangel is already quite the “all gas no brakes” character and being the Horseman of Death increases this theme in making him even more deadly. You also don’t feel as bad when he goes down which is almost a given with his very pedestrian defensive stats.
Pestilence: While less thematic for the character I think it might be the better Horseman card for him overall. With his speed he can zoom around the table and hand out conditions where you need them.
While it feels wrong to have a SotA roster without him I feel like Archangel has tough competition in the 4 threat slot.
Made my first draft of a roster but has probably the least safe place on it. B-.
Beast (3)
Pestilence: The cheaper version of a fast delivery system for the conditions.
War: Beast is OK at best as a fighter. He’s really more of a speedy control character so you’d rarely want to give him War.
Being limited to only one reasonable choice makes Beast a hard character to quantify. I think he’s really good with Pestilence but is that enough for a Roster slot? C+
Cable (5)
Pestilence: Combines well with his spender but that’s not really where the money lies with Nathan.
War: Again an effect at a range Cable doesn’t usually want to operate at. But it makes his already incredible Builder even better if he happens to be in Range.
Overall Cable doesn’t gain a tonne from being a horseman. He’s already a very very good 5 threat so not going to overkill with him is probably a good thing for the overall state of the game.
Makes the roster purely because of his stat card. C as a Horseman but A as a character.
Cassandra Nova (5)
Death: As opposed to War this effect doesn’t care about range which is perfect for Cassandra’s superb long range attacks.
Famine: Gives Cassandra even more control than she already has in her kit.
Cassandra really gets a boost from being a Horse(wo)man. Sadly it isn’t enough to outperform Cable for the 5 threat slot for me personally but I’d fault noone for giving her a shot.
B.
Colossus (4)
Pestilence: Colossus is relatively fast but Archangel and Beast are both faster. Colossus is a lot tougher though.
War: Colossus is not a damage dealer in any sense of the word. He gets a little boost here but probably not enough to make him really threatening.
Colossus is probably not the first choice for a SotA roster which does lean more on the attrition side of archetypes apparently while he is best as a grab and live character. He also suffers a lot from Honey Badger being affiliated. Having another affiliated taunt for half the threat cost makes justifying the favourite mutant of my childhood sadly extremely hard.
C-.
Deadpool (3)
Famine: Wade can already place himself Range 2 and has Merc with a Mouth so this doubles down on things he can already do. Which isn’t a bad thing mind you.
War: OK, but Bang is so much better than Stab that you don’t get to use it too often.
I don’t like Deadpool as a character. He is a very good character in MCP since his update though. He’s a cheap carrier of Famine, which is probably always your first concern in a squad to get the superpower for Apoc himself.
A.( In the roster. )
Gambit (3)
Death: I can all but guarantee you that Gambit will die to trigger the innate. Now if he will actually live to kill someone himself is a totally different question.
Famine: Another cheap way to get the effect but on a much less cost effective character than Deadpool. This is probably the better effect for Gambit as he can use this in combination with his own reactive to keep enemies off his back. Giving him action economy is also pretty great as he lacks that very much.
Gambit needs all the help he can get and both effects are good for him with Famine really helping him have more effective activations. I think this is his new best home, especially as he can bring Dark Past with him here. But he still has a hard time beating out the other 3 threats for a roster spot.
C+. (Not in the roster)
Honey Badger (2)
Death: You use her to throw her under the bus. This rewards you for it. Probably the pick every time you bring her (unless squad composition makes it impossible).
War: Also decent for her, though not as rewarding as Death.
As mentioned above having an affiliated 2 threat with a taunt is incredibly valuable. Also means you can run 4 horseman at 16 threat.
A. (In the roster)
Iceman (3)
Death: The effect only working on one attack is really sad for Bobby with his beam.
Famine: This increases his action economy even more as he already has Hit and Run. This way you can always have his zone denial exactly where you want it.
A. (In the roster)
Magik (3)
Famine: Another 3 threat for the role. Magik can already place herself Range 1-3 for power so what this does for her is basically saving power for the spender when using Evolution tokens to place.
War: Her Spender is already very efficient and her Gainer is usually the better play for 0 cost attacks. She’ll rarely use this. But it’s OK for her if Famine is already taken.
Another new affiliation for Ilyana. But whereas she is the leader of the New Mutants I doubt she’ll play a core role in the Servants of the Apocalypse.
B-.
Mister Sinister (4)
Famine: Sinister already has very good superpowers but he’s always so power starved that gaining a place which he can pay for with Evolution tokens is very good for him. This makes him very fast overall, too.
Pestilence: Cheaper acces to handing out conditions is certainly something Sinister likes.
Both cards are very good for him, but he faces truly harsh competition in the 4 threat category. He is as fast as Archangel though and world’s tougher than Warren.
C+. (not in the roster, though I’d love it if he were…)
Psylocke (4)
Death: Psylocke is an assassin and this helps her be even more efficient at her job. She’s a very good candidate for the card.
Famine: Gives your assassin a place to get her in striking range. She already has good action economy but this can really help her get to where she needs to be. An excellent choice for her.
Psylocke is great in any attrition team and just gets better by being a horse(wo)man.
A. (in the roster)
Sabretooth (4):
Pestilence: Opens up a more control based play style for Victor which might be interesting to experiment with.
War: Makes his already good attacks more reliable.
Without facing the competition of his Apex form Sabretooth is an interesting choice. He’s fast and relatively tough with good attacks. Probably interesting if you want to run a more objective focused SotA list.
B. (Not in the roster).
The Blob (3)
Famine: Blob loves the place instead of using movement actions to get around the board. It not having to cost power saves up that resource for his incredible spender.
Pestilence: Definitely the weaker option for Fred as he has no way to trigger the innate himself outside of the horseman superpower.
B. (in the roster)
Toad (2)
Death: Toad is very far from being a damage dealer. If you give him Death you do it to trigger the innate off of him dying.
Pestilence: Handing out conditions with your fast 2 threat is pretty great. Probably the pick for Toad in every game you bring him in.
While there is a certain whiny man with Claws on his hands that claims to be the best at what he does Toad can actually back up that claim. He is the best objective based 2 threat in the game and having him affiliated makes him an absolute auto include.
A++. (Always the first pick after Apoc for the roster)
Wolverine (4)
Death: Can increase his output against already damaged targets greatly.
War: Makes Logan’s attacks more reliable. Also a good effect you happily put on him. But I think Death is probably a bit better for him.
He’s an unsubtle killing machine and gets better at his job with either Horseman Card you give him.
B+. (In the roster).
Which characters will you bring in your SotA lists?
Cheers from Germany 🍻
