M2E+Asami+Tanaka


 * Asami Tanaka, Ten Thunders Master**

=__Overview__= The Master of Oni, Asami is the Ten Thunders dedicated summoning Master. Playing somewhere between Misaki and Molly in both aggression and support, Asami tends to play aggressively and has many ways to support an aggressive strategy by both buffing her summons and increasing the value of each kill. toc

=__Mobility__= Having only an average **Wk** of 5 and a **Cg** of 6 Asami's AP is best spent doing something else. Fortunately she has several methods of not only moving herself around the board but both your and your opponent's crew in the form of **Reaching Tendrils** which can pull another model 8" away into base contact with Asami and push away 6" on a Ram trigger. This allows her to move her crew around while re-positioning herself. It can also allow Asami to pull a key opposing model out of position and into the waiting arms of your beaters.

Asami also has an upgrade (**A Heavenly Design**) that grants her a 0ap action that requires a 6 of any suit to cast and allows her to place within 6", with the restriction that she cannot end in base contact with any marker or terrain piece. Given the situational use of her only other 0 action, this can be highly useful and will often be worth the 2ss cost.

=__Offense__= Like most summoners, her personal offense is underwhelming, but Asami offers a lot of utility and some surprising gimmicks.

Her only damaging attack, **Another Mouth to Feed,** is a fantastic attack made less impressive by her fragility. **Ml 6** with a built-in mask is great, the 1" range is unfortunate, and the 2/4/6 damage is solid. That built-in mask grants her **Hide in Shadow**, which lets her move 3" after succeeding, allowing her to attack, have a reasonable chance of hitting due to the Ml 6, and always get away unless something strips her of the suit somehow. On a crow, you can try for **Devoured Whole**, which is like assassinate or headshot, but not quite as good. The target must make a TN 11 **Ht** duel (!). If it fails, it must discard two cards or be sacrificed. The Ht duel is difficult, requiring a 9 for most models, and Sacrificing the model is often not as useful as killing it, but is occasionally great.

Her upgrade **Grasping Strands** gives **Reaching Tendrils** a new trigger, allowing her to attack the repositioned model with **Another Mouth to Feed** for free. Great for picking off weak models, or allowing her to bring in an enemy within range of her own beatsticks and then use the **Hide in Shadow** trigger to get out of melee range.


 * __Support__**

First, **Rush of Magic** gives Asami players better cards, either to summon with (you want those sweet, sweet masks) or for her crew's benefit. Her upgrade **Nefarious Pact** allows her to draw a card after her activation, encouraging her to go early, hand out buffs, summon, and let her crew run wild.

Oni within 4" of Asami can deal 1 damage to her to charge as a 1 ap action thanks to **Wrath of the Oni**. This can turn Yokai into capable fighters, allowing you to get some bang for your buck. It also turns Jorogumo into terrifying killers, and is generally where you want to focus your attention, due to Asami's poor wound count. After summoning, the model will have slow, so this circumvents that handicap, but relying on this too much can be costly (see resilience below).

She further supports her Oni (and other minions) with **Oni's Strength****.** This 1 ap action requires a 6 with a built-in mask, and gives Oni or Minions **Focused +2**. She wouldn't be a real Ten Thunders master without a little focus manipulation, after all! The ability to target non-oni minions allows her to include any of the monks, the archers, the snipers, the illuminated.... Let's just say she can take a very versatile crew as the schemes and strategy dictate, and still offer a fantastic offensive buff to them.

Finally, her actual summoning ability is a bit different than any other master. Again, you want those masks in hand, but soulstones are a great option if you have a high card of a non-mask variety. When the model enters play, it will be at full health (which is unusual) but will have **Slow** and **Flicker +1**. You can boost the summoned model's **Flicker** by spending scrap and corpse markers within 1" //of the summoned model//, to a max of **Flicker +3**.


 * Flicker** means your summon is on a time limit. It ticks down by one every turn, and when it reaches 0 (or is otherwise removed; curse you, Lady J!) the minion is sacrificed. This means without any scrap or corpses spent, the summoned model only lasts until the end of the turn, making **Wrath of the Oni** central to her success (How many turns does a Jorogumo really need to do its thing, anyway?). Note that Yokai come in with an extra **Flicker,** and can place corpses in base contact with enemies if they get a crow on their attacks. Ohaguro Bettari can do the same.


 * Nefarious Pact** is a must have if facing any condition removal, as it allows any model within 10" and line of sight of Asami to choose to not end conditions from external removal.



=__Resilience__= Asami's resilience is one of her drawbacks, but she does have some tricks up her (very wide) sleeves. For beginners, she has only 10 wounds, very much on the low-end for a Master, and her only defensive ability is **Hard to Kill**. Her **Df** of 7 is solid, but beatable, and her **Wp** of 5 is very much a liability.

Her **Hard to Kill** is augmented by two things, though. All **HtK** soulstone users have the advantage of trying to use stones to keep them above 1 wound for an additional hit. As well, Asami's 0 action **An Insatiable Hunger** allows her to remove all scheme markers within 2", both friendly and enemy, and heal 2 wounds per marker. An enemy can still focus on her and bring her down, but that self heal allows her to activate and get back above 1 wound so she can take at least a few more smacks.


 * The Grasping Strands** upgrade reduces enemy charge attacks by one within 4" of Asami, and her dedicated totem Amanjaku can give all ranged attacks targeting friendlies within 6" a negative twist. Amanjaku should always be considered.

Ohaguro Bettari can force a key model to walk towards her, and it prevents the model from charging, which can give Asami a lot of breathing room if the number of enemy melee combatants is low.

Tengu (one of her easiest summons) like to place scheme markers so that they can move around, as well as provide **Regeneration** to allies. A pair of Tengu commonly litter the board with scheme markers to leap frog around the table, so following their route with Asami can ensure a source of healing, at least enough to keep her above the **HtK** threshold.

=__Upgrades__=
 * A Heavenly Design**: Lets Asami place herself within 6", not in contact with terrain, markers, or other models. Also lets friendly Oni within 10" and LoS to drop scheme markers when sacrificed. When your Oni fade away from Flicker, they are sacrificed, and the scheme markers they drop can be useful for both schemes and healing. Plant Explosives and Spring the Trap benefit from this, as well as Line in the Sand.


 * Grasping Strands**: Enemy models ending a charge within 4" and LoS of Asami lose an attack from their charge. Also grants a trigger to Reaching Tendrils allowing her to attack a model she reeled in for free. This lets Asami shine as a mid-field support Master. Though still vulnerable to ranged attacks, she won't easily be focused down by an enemy melee beater (especially with **Hard to Kill**), and she can protect some of her crew as well. The bonus attack as discussed in the Offense section allows her to soften up targets, escape melee range (unless the enemy has at least 3" melee range) and set up Jorogumo, a Yokai squad, or what have you.


 * Nefarious Pact**: Lets Asami draw a card at the end of her activation, and prevents unwanted condition removal within 10" and LoS for all friendly models. Essential if facing condition removal, questionable if not. Card draw is always good, so something to consider nevertheless. Note that 10" and LoS is a recurring theme for the Oni upgrades, so positioning is key.


 * Feigned Weakness**: When the opponent scores a VP, if Asami has less than them she can summon an Oni with cost equal to the difference in VP + 3, giving them **Flicker +2**. This one is highly scheme dependent. You want your opponent to score points early, maybe off of the strategy or schemes like Cursed Object. Meanwhile, Asami wants to score later with end-game schemes such as Protect Territory, Power Ritual, Bodyguard, or even Assassinate. To do the math, your opponent would need 1 more point than you to summon Akaname or a Tengu, 2 more points to summon a Yokai (who would have an extra **Flicker**), 3 more points for an Obsidian Oni, and 6 more points for a Jorogumo. If you're getting a Jorogumo off of this, you're probably in a lot of trouble. Free Tengu, however, means an extra scheme runner to help in the next two turns. Nevertheless, this upgrade requires careful consideration of what schemes you think the opponent will take vs. what you want to take. It also has some synergy with **Equality** and **The Fate of Mortals** (see below).


 * The Fate of Mortals**: This can be taken by any Oni, but it provides card draw after a friendly Oni Minion within 10" and LoS kills or sacrifices a model. It also lets you boost a friendly Oni's Flicker by 1 when the opponent scores a VP, once per turn. Has synergy with **Equality** (see below) as well as **Feigned Weakness**, allowing your crew a suite of small buffs every time your opponent scores a VP. Again, best taken when the opponent's likely to take fast-scoring schemes or if they seem particularly good at the Strategy.


 * The Peaceful Waters**: If Asami takes Monks of Low River, taking this upgrade can help shore up her resilience problems. This grants Monks of Low River (within 12" and LoS of the model holding this upgrade) a **Rg 6** heal that requires a seven of any suit. If you get a tome or mask, you can place a scheme marker in base contact with the healed model. Not only will this provide Asami instant healing (perhaps to raise her above her **HtK** threshold) but the potential scheme marker can be consumed for later healing as well.


 * Equality**: Once per Turn, after the Enemy scores at least 1 VP, Asami can either draw a card, place a scheme marker in base contact with herself, or heal 2 damage. More cards are good, and the scheme marker can be used for schemes or saved for later healing. Good to consider with **Feigned Weakness** and **The Fate of Mortals**, and can be taken by someone else to free up Asami's slots. That way, they can drop markers for her to heal herself with.

Note that her totem Amanjaku becomes pretty dangerous when your opponent has at least 2 VP, and Yasunori can force Minions to attack with a ram trigger that grants bonus damage based on enemy VP, up to +3.

=__Tactics and Tips__= Asami's fragility is especially alarming when considering her on-field role; she is best suited as a frontline summoner, bringing in her hard-hitting Oni friends. While the models she summons have a built in shelf life, often lasting only until the end of that turn, she can circumvent their **Slow** via **An Oni's Wrath**. She therefore wants to be within striking distance of the enemy (9" for Yokai, her most common summoning option). This combination of fragility and dangerous areas means you must be careful with Asami. Using terrain and other models to block charge lanes, keeping her out of line of sight from the likes of Perdita and other strong shooters, and making sure to activate her at the right time. If she activates too early, your opponent can focus on her with any attacks that can reach, often being able to kill her. Monks of Low River combined with **The Peaceful Waters** upgrade can help with this problem. If she activates too late, you can be caught unaware by more damage than you may expect and she can die, or be forced to waste stones.

The best defense, as they say, is a good offense. Using her summoned models to pressure opponents can prevent them from shooting or charging her, and both the models she summons and her thematic crew are strong enough offensively that good target priority can eliminate these threats to her before they become overwhelming.

Use **An Insatiable Hunger**! Plan where Asami wants to be, and scout ahead with Tengu or Wandering River Monks to drop markers ahead of her in the early turns.

=__Leading a Crew__= Asami is a "summoner", but not in the traditional sense. Her summons do not require a marker of any sort to be present, and by default they self-sacrifice at the end of the round. For these reasons it may be better to think of her as an AP generator that uses summoning as the mechanism to generate AP. Here are some of the common uses of her summoned models.


 * Yokai (Summoned)** - Yokai are fantastic when summoned by Asami there are may games where she will summon nothing but Yokai. These guys can gain Flicker +1 when summoned, so then can live for two rounds if you wish, but more commonly they are used as cruise missiles that spend flicker are fuel. A common tactic is to summon a Yokai within 4" of Assami, this lets them charge for 1 AP (Wrath of the Oni) which is very handy since they are Slow when summoned. They get + on attacks generated due to a Charge. It is worth noting that according to the FAQ they only get this bonus to the two initial attacks, not from any attacks they gain from their Vital Strike Trigger. They have a built in Soul Burn trigger that gives them ++ to damage flips, but reduces their Flicker by 1 (the fuel) after the damage is done. After using Soul Burn on two attacks the Yokai's Flicker is reduced to 0 and sacrifices immediately. If they are within 10" and LoS of Asami with Heavenly Design they drop a Scheme Marker. Not a bad deal for a 9+ Masks and 1 Wd on Asami.


 * Tengu (Summoned)** - Tengu don't do much, but what they do can be game winning in the right circumstances. If you need some healing you can summon them in, they can put Regen on a model, not fantastic, but worth mentioning. What the do really well is remove enemy Scheme Markers. You can summon a Tengu (8+ Masks) within 6" of Asami. When the Tengu activates it may place in base contact with a Scheme marker within 5", it can place on the far side of the scheme marker, so this is a potential 6" of movement. Next the Tengu flies 5" and uses its (0) discard up to two Scheme Markers within a 3" pulse. That means Asami can potentially remove a Scheme Marker that is 20" away. I've had this create a 6 point swing in games. My opponent and I both needed 3 Scheme marker in the center of the board for 3 VP. Last turn of the game my opponent had 4 in the center and I had 1. I out activated him, so Asami activated last, summoned two Tengu who used their (0) to remove 2 enemy scheme markers, then sacraficed at the end of the turn dropping 2 scheme markers. My opponent then had 2 (0 VP) and I had 3 (3 VP).


 * Jorogumo (Summoned)** - Great tanks that are usually not worth summoning. A lot of a Jorogumo's cost is tied up in defensive abilities. If it is summoned in with Flicker +1 it will go a way at the end of the round, so all that defense is wasted. Most of the time there is a cheaper model that will get the job done, unless there are a couple of corps or scrap markers the can increase the Jorogumo's Flicker.


 * Low River Monks** - These guys are great with Asami with Peaceful Waters Upgrade which gives them a heal with a 6" range the also drops scheme markers on a Trigger. Each time an Oni charges for 1 AP from Asami's aura she takes a point of damage. That adds up, having a Low River Monk to heal up every round helps a lot. They can also remove conditions, so if an Oni is summoned within 1" of them then can remove Slow before the Oni activates.

Strategies and Schemes
(General overview, then maybe specifics on what strategies/schemes are good and bad)

Building a Crew
(What sort of minions might or might not work well with the master, overall advice.

=__Playing Against [Master]__= (How best to deal with the master, things to watch out for, etc.)

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