Avatar+Zoraida

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 * Zoraida, Neverborn Avatar of Fate**

=Overview= Zoraida's manipulation abilities get amplified when she Manifests, and she gets some nasty ranged attacks, but she loses some of her maneuverability and defense.

=Manifesting= You need a little luck to Manifest Zoraida quickly, but you should be able to Manifest her by Turn three or four reliably.

She has two **Manifest** requirements: Cast **Crystal Ball** twice, and cast **Obey** to make one model kill an enemy model.

Casting **Crystal Ball** twice is trickier than it looks.You can't attempt **Crystal Ball** on the same turn that you use **Raven,** since both are **(0) Actions**, and often you will want to use **Raven** on the first round with Zoraida to get her into a safe high spot, especially if you're planning to Manifest and lose Raven. Furthermore, it requires a 10 or higher Mask to cast, so casting Crystal Ball is hardly a certain success. But, if you've got a 10 of Mask, you don't need to fly anywhere, and your prospects for an **Obey** kill are not good, it may be worth casting Crystal Ball. It's a good way to manipulate your own deck, or another player's deck, and it sets you up for Manifesting.

Killing an enemy model with an **Obey** spell is something that Zoraida's trying to do anyway, so it's a more likely requirement, especially if you can get LoS on a distant opponent in the first turn to target it with a Voodoo Doll's **Conduit** ability. It may be worth killing off a weak or Insignificant enemy minion that you might leave alone otherwise, just to meet this Manifest requirement. Keep an eye out for good victims for an **Obey** attack. (And remember, you can use **Obey** to put a minion into possible death as long as it's not certain death, which would presumably meet the requirements if they're an enemy model.)

When you manifest, it may be worthwhile to manifest in a high, hard-to-reach spot that overlooks your enemies. Zoraida won't be able to get down safely, but she'll remain fairly safe there, and she gains additional ranged attacks when she Manifests.

It is often worthwhile to spend a turn with Raven and fly to the right vantage spot before you Manifest, even if this delayed your Manifestation by a round. Avatar Zoraida is much deadlier when she can see distant opponents.

=Mobility= After Manifesting, Zoraida loses her best mobility power, **Raven**. Her **Wk/Cg** goes up from **3/-** to **4/6**, but it's still a major loss of mobility. Get Zoraida where you want her to be before you Manifest.

=Offense=

Zoraida's direct offensive potential gets tougher when she Manifests. Also, because she gets a positive flip to Initiative (from **I Saw This In The Cards**), it's more likely that your crew will get a chance for an Alpha Strike at a key moment at the start of the round, which can make a world of difference.

Melee
Zoraida's melee attack of **Withering Touch** is fair, with an mediocre reach, a decent **Cb** score of 5, and a damage spread of **1/2/6**, which is weak until you get to Severe damage. It's also Magical and ignores Armor.

What's more, she has a very interesting trigger for it, **Ravaged by Time**. You need a Crow to get the trigger, but the results may be more powerful against some Crews. Instead of doing damage, reduce the defender's Wd stat until 2 for the rest of the Encounter. This is cumulative. Against a crew that can shrug off effects (like Perdita), this trigger isn't worth it. Against a crew that spends a lot of time healing a Master's Wds (like McMourning or Kirai), it could be devastating. If somehow you're stuck in melee combat range, look for opportunities to leverage this nasty power.

Ranged
Zoraida has a very strong spell usable at range, **Pins and Needles**. She needs a 5 or better of any suit to cast it. The damage spread is quite good: **1/2/5** plus **Poison 2**. The range is so-so at 8 inches. It's resisted by **Df**, so this may be a good spell to cast if an opponent is heavily resistant to Wp attacks. Remember that you can hit at any range with **Conduit**, though the target of Conduit is already being poisoned. **Pins and Needles** is also a spell, so Avatar Zoraida (as a Casting Master) can cast it up to four times a round. It's not a complex or manipulative attack, but it can do serious damage with unlimited range.


 * Pins and Needles** has a trigger as well, which requires a mask and lets you draw a card for each point of damage inflicted. That can add up to a lot of cards if you get this trigger off several times. If you have the masks for it, use this trigger!

Indirect
Often, Zoraida's best way of attacking is by having someone else attack for her. Zoraida has two big tricks for indirect combat: **Voodoo Doll** and **Obey**.

While Zoraida loses any Voodoo Doll she already had, she can create another one as a **(2) Action**. This leaves plenty of time for other spells, and gives the target Poison 2 at any range, so go ahead and do it. As with normal Zoraida, it's a great way to cast spells like **Obey** at a distance, or her new spell, **Pins and Needles**.


 * Obey** is still her mainstay. She can obey her **Conduit** target to do terrible things, or **Obey** her own units to get an extra move, attack, or charge. Note also that she can still do a trick to get three Obeys a turn: have a Voodoo Doll cast **Obey** on its turn, then have Zoraida cast **Obey**, then summon a new **Voodoo Doll** and have it cast **Obey** next. You can put enemy units in a terrible position with this, or put your own units exactly where you want them to be. Or just cause a lot of damage indirectly.

If Avatar Zoraida herself gets another Mask on **Obey**, she can cast it a second time with the **Master of Manipulation** Trigger! You should always try to get a Mask and use this Trigger. Two castings of **Obey** in a turn can really change the game to Zoraida's benefit.

=Manipulation=

Avatar Zoraida has so many ways of manipulating the cards that it really requires its own category to discuss.

Bayou Two-Card
Just like her normal version, Avatar Zoraida can play the top card on the discard pile instead of flipping a new card. What's more, any thanks to Mark of Fate, any friendly model can do so instead. Remember to play your big cards when you can use them twice!

Empowered by Fate
Avatar Zoraida can use this **(0) Action** to heal herself, but she can also use it to gain more cards. Discard a card, then make a Healing Flip to draw that many cards. Even if you only draw one card, that's still good hand-cycling, and if you draw two or three more cards, it's a great benefit. If you don't need to heal yourself, and you don't have a good target for **Tangled Threads**, then you should use this ability every time.


 * Reading the Cards**

This is a complicated one. When an enemy within 6 cheats or spends a **Soulstone**, you get a little card-cycling. Often you'll have something better to do with your actions than this, since it requires a **(1) Action** to start the aura, but if you're surrounded by enemies and flushed with bad cards, it may be worth using this ability to filter in some better cards.

Consume Fate
A trigger for Zoraida's **Pins and Needles** spell. She can draw one Card for each wound suffered. Handy!

Tangled Threads
A **(0) Spell**, so it's competing with **Empowered by Fate,** which makes it less appealing. A target model must driscard a Control Card when declaring any action and spending AP, or the Action immediately ends. If your opponent is out of cards (and some opponents, like Colette, often are), this can be a great way to shut down a key enemy model for a round. There's a **Wp** resist, but if they're out of cards, they'll probably lose.

Scrying
A **(1) spell**, so she can cast it several times in a round, but it's probably not worth casting very often unless you desperately need to know what's in an opponent's hand. No resistance, and no range limits. She can look at 2 or 3 cards in another player's hand.

Suppressed Destiny
A **(2) spell**. Within 6 of Avatar Zoraida, Enemy models lose the suits of cards they flip. If an enemy relies on non-automatic triggers, you can make sure they don't happen with this. No resistance. Depending on the context and how much your opponent needs their triggers, this can be useless or amazing.

=Resilience=

Zoraida's resistance stats get a little better when she **Manifests**. But don't get cocky. Her **Wp** goes from a redonkulous 10 down to a merely-awesome 8. Her **Df** goes up from 5 to 6. Her **Wd** go up from 10 to 11. Zoraida loses her **Proper Manners** Ability, so attackers don't have negative flips on attacks and can Cheat on attack flips. Also, she loses her **Regret** trigger, and the powerful **Repulsive** spell. However, she gains other abilities that help her resistance. She's no longer quite as hard to kill, but still very hard and in different ways.

Irresistable
Enemy models must win a **Wp -> Wp** duel to target her with any attack (not just a basic weapon strike) or the Action fails, and this may not be ignored by any Talent, so it affects Perdita too. With Avatar Zoraida's **Wp** of 8, you can fend off a lot of attacks the way. On a really vicious or strategically important attack, you may want to spend a Soulstone here instead of your Defense Flip, since Avatar Zoraida's Wp is so high.

Empowered by Fate
Avatar Zoraida can discard a Control Card to get a Healing Flip as a **(0) Action**. She'll miss out on some manipulation tricks if she does so, but a Healing Flip as a **(0) Action** is just excellent free healing and if you need to heal, you should always go for this.

A Servant's Rage
A **Df** trigger for Zoraida. It requires a Mask. A friendly **Beast,** **Construct**, or Doll model (which will probably be most of your models) within 4" gets a free Wk and melee Strike against the attacker after the attack is resolved. This won't stop the attack, but it may kill or at least discourage the attacker. You can only use the Trigger once per turn, though, so don't count on it as a way to keep Avatar Zoraida permanently safe.

=Soulstones=

Avatar Zoraida may have more uses for her Soulstones than she did before Manifesting. **Pins and Needles** and **Obey** both benefit from it, and defensively you may find yourself boosting Wp for an Irresistable duel more often. If you're going to Manifest her, save your Soulstones up a bit since you're likely to need them more.

On the other hand, Avatar Zoraida has so much excellent deck manipulation that you can count on a lot of good cards to Cheat in. Cheat before spending Soulstones when you can: you can always get more high cards (or reuse the one you just played!)

=Tricks and Tips=


 * Ideally, each turn Zoraida will cast **Obey** once (plus once more with the **Master of Manipulation** trigger), then cast **Pins and Needles** three more times (or four more times if you have an Arcane Effigy to give her another AP.) This provides a lot of damage and board control, and combined with the **Consume Fate** trigger and the action **(0) Tangled Threads**, a lot of card manipulation as well so your hand is always well-stocked. And remember these attack spells all have a positive twist if you're casting through **Conduit**!
 * On turns when she needs to switch targets, you'll spend a (2) Action to create a Voodoo Doll on a new target, then cast one **Obey** (plus one more with the **Master of Manipulation** trigger) and one **Pins and Needles** (or two with Arcane Effigy.)
 * You want to get Avatar Zoraida to a place where she can look over the action from a distance. This may mean you need to **Raven** on a Turn instead of using **Crystal Ball**.
 * Zoraida loses **Hex** when she manifests. If there's something you want to **Hex**, do it before Manifesting or you'll be too late.
 * Never forget **Bayou Two-Card**! It's better to use it every turn and then Cheat or Soulstone again later, than it is to save up Bayou Two-Card for the perfect moment and never use it.
 * Avatar Zoraida does well when she's manipulating your cards, and controlling other minions with **Obey**. She does well when she's making ranged attacks. She doesn't do well when she's in the middle of the fray. Don't let your opponent surround her!
 * Keep a defender around to help Avatar Zoraida if she gets in trouble.

=Avatar and their Crew=


 * Avatar Zoraida** loses her Totem when she **Manifests**, but she can summon up a new one later. Since she has **Casting Master**, she'll still have 2 AP for spells after she does so, so don't hesitate to call up a Voodoo Doll again.

If you're planning to Manifest Avatar Zoraida, hire an Arcane Effigy into your crew. It's a great defender, with some decent ranged attacks and the power to raise your hand size. More important, the Arcane Effigy also can give Avatar Zoraida a bonus AP for spellcasting, which gives her a simply overwhelming 5 AP per activation for spells. That's a lot of spells, but she's an Avatar of Fate, so it makes sense that she'd have a lot of spells.

Avatar Zoraida has some special synergy with **Dolls**, **Beasts**, and **Constructs**. Most of her traditional crew models fall into that category, including Collodi, Bad Juju, and Silurid. Consider keeping one nearby to defend her if it doesn't ruin your Strategies.

=Playing Against Avatar Zoraida= Avatar Zoraida isn't as invulnerable as she was before Manifesting! No negative flips, no turning into a Raven and getting away. You can start cheating your attacks against her! With concerted effort, you will probably be able to kill Zoraida with a few tough models, if you can reach her. Don't assume that Avatar Zoraida is as well-protected as pre-Manifesting Zoraida. You can gang up on Avatar Zoraida and take her down, especially if you do so quickly enough that she can't heal it back.

Beware of her deck manipulation powers! She'll probably have more cards, and maybe higher cards, than you do. Assume a bit of pessimism in every flip when you're facing Avatar Zoraida.

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