Sunday, January 10, 2021

Know Your Enemy/Commander's Corner: Kyrsta Agate

Release day means that with everything caught up, it's time for the Wave 8 articles.  I'll start mine off with Kyrsta Agate, the newest commander and the first not featured in a movie somewhere!  Scourge of Ravager, destroyer of the Imperial Navy after Endor, hit the jump for the details!
It's the eye of the space tiger....
The Card and Discussion!
That's COMMODORE to you plebs. There's a theme here, but eye can't figure it out
So, a free defense token! Second redirect on your MC75 or LMC80! Second brace on your HMC80! Put a salvo token on a ship that doesn't start with one! The possibilities are wonderful, AND you get to choose situationally! Looks like my Expert Shield Techs HMC80 needs a THIRD redirect against your squadrons list, huh!  The token you choose should be crucial towards helping you survive.  If you're fighting an Onager, evade for the extreme range shots is a decent option.  If you're fighting a large base, another brace is a good idea.  A salvo granted on one ship that doesn't have it can be helpful in the right situation, as could a redirect.  You COULD add a contain, but most of the ships I'll suggest already have one of those.  IF you have a Damage Control Officer, I can see the thought process, but it's your call if that's as good as the other options I've mentioned.  The defense token you add should be one that reduces damage the best way for this matchup.  Find the best way to do that and you're using her right.

You also get the ability to "spend" it no matter what, without calling it a spend! Mon Karren getting you down? Well, you can "brace" anyways, and tank that shot.  Someone accuracy one defense token and Intel the other? Nah, I'll just "spend" the red one anyways.  (I'm no longer using the quotation marks, it's getting tiresome.)

The only downside is that she's only doing this for one ship.  You don't get this ability across your whole fleet, which means that the rest of it is going to need to be relatively self-reliant.  Those other ships don't get her benefit either, so accuracies lock down their tokens as usual.  She's one of the cheapest Rebel commanders, and she's definitely worth it, just realize the limitations of her.

In my opinion, anything smaller than an Assault Frigate with her isn't actually worth it.  You can put her on Admonition and build it for super killing, but that ends up being maximum 120 points or so, with an entire 280 points of your fleet NOT being helped by her (which means you made a bad Dodonna fleet).  It can work, but how much of that is you being "better" than your opponent?  She doesn't JUST replace Dodonna, as MSU or heavy bomber spam is something that might be better with him as opposed to just using her every time.  It's an offense versus defense choice, and if you're not taking FULL advantage of making ONE ship stronger/better able to survive, I don't think she's as good of a choice as you'd think.

The other thing to note is that she helps you survive.  She does not help you win.  You're still going to need damage dealers, good objectives, etc.  "Not losing" is not a plan for victory.  She's a good insurance policy against dying, but you need to be using that to your advantage to get a win out of it.

Common Ships
Much like Raddus, the main focus of the article is going to be the flagship.  You're taking her for her ability, and that's the point around having her in your fleet.

MC75: A solid choice, potentially giving you another redirect or another brace as needed.  A salvo token wouldn't be crazy, but their rear dice aren't as amazing.  An evade isn't a bad plan either, preventing damage on the way in.  They could really use a way of surviving a little better, and they appreciate the extra token to do so. 

LMC80: An extra redirect sure helps them survive a little more, though they can also use an evade (and then you add TRCs in one of your turbolaser slots).  A third brace isn't really necessary in my opinion, but if you hit a weird dual ISD fleet.... maybe?  Her ability, giving the Liberty a fake Electronic Countermeasures-esque ability definitely allows it to survive a lot longer than one would think.

HMC80: Take the tankiest ship in the Rebellion, then add an even tankier commander to it.  You can ensure that you're going to survive several shots and tank through them, just make sure you're putting out good damage.

Star Hawk: It comes with her, and her token-granting ability and the titles can make a 6 defense token ship.  That is one tanky large base, and I would suggest you go read up in that article about running it all.

Whatever ship you end up putting her on, you'll need to consider the rest of the ship's build.  I'd advise visiting each of those ships' individual articles for common builds, but the questions you'll need to ask are:

1) If not Walex Blissex as her officer, why and who else?
Walex gives you another defense token back, and since you're adding in a token that reduces damage, you're getting the ability to reduce even more damage.  There's viable options, like Expert Shield Techs or potentially Lando Calrissian, but you need a plan behind your build.

2) Do you take Electronic Countermeasures or a different defensive retrofit?
This isn't a concern with the Liberty or Starhawk, but for the MC75 or HMC80 you need to determine if you want ECM or if you'd rather use Advanced Projectors, Reinforced Blast Doors, or Early Warning System.  There's upsides and downsides to both.  The upside is that you can use the token without needing to discard it, the downside being that EWS or RBD can prevent/help survive even more damage.  Again, plan your build and do it right.

3) How am I doing damage with this ship to ensure using her is worth it?
Check the individual articles, but pairing the damage prevention you're adding with a way of killing opposing ships is the reason you're bringing her.  You're going to likely get in there and kill and then get out. She's your way out, make sure she's killing her way through your opponent.
Space Dad is wearing a matching outfit to Mom, that's how you know they're made for each other
Fleet Building
Agate helps one ship.  Which means the other ships you use should be relatively self sufficient.  This will usually end up being some flotillas, a CR90 or 2, an MC30, your standard Rebel good stuff.  I've played her in fleets with everything from as varied to a nearby Assault Frigate providing fire support to Salvation (I'll crack that code someday....) or a slew of Hammerheads as the anvil she and her large ship act as the hammer around it.  Realistically, as a 25 point commander, there isn't a "bad" ship to put in her fleet, so long as you can identify why she's there and not another commander, like Ackbar with a bunch of broadsiders, or Garm with several high command ones, or even Rieekan for your heavy squadron build.  She's not plug and play, and she's going to do her darnedest to keep her ONE ship alive.  The rest of your fleet should have answers for all the other common archetypes. How does that one ship staying alive help your others do what they need to in order to get the win?  Soon as you get that, you've got a good Agate fleet.

5 comments:

  1. Fingers crossed I can take down Louisville this Saturday with her! Running her on Mon Karren. If it works I'll see you guys with her at worlds ;)

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  2. If Agate is your Commander can she also be your officee?

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    1. No. Just like if Darth Vader is an officer/commander/TIE Advanced/boarding team in a fleet he can't be any of the others.

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. In Armada "you" and "your" refer to the ship an upgrade is attached to, not the player or the card itself. So she gives the ship she is deployed with the defense token. She is the only commander in the game that only works on the flagship and does nothing else for the rest of the fleet.

      If it helps our bonafides any, John and I were part of the playtesting group for wave 8.

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