Rasputina

include page="inc_1.5rules" **Rasputina, Arcanist Master**

//"Rasputina draws upon the power of December, a Tyrant of Malifaux and an ancient entity. She is powerful enough to keep December from taking over her body (she banished him to inhabit Snow Storm instead!)."// toc

=Overview= The 'True' Caster of Malifaux. While Ramos is the 'Support Caster' of the faction, Rasputina is the 'All-out Caster' and the embodiment of an Avalanche - taking her time to move slowly and get herself and her crew into position before bringing the full weight of her magic on her enemies to freezing them into submission and slowing them down.

Though slow and fragile, Rasputina can make an excellent 'beginner' master for someone who likes the idea of a magic user. Like any Malifaux piece, there are elements of finesse which can make her more effective, but overall, it's very easy to get the hang of her basic mechanics, set the pieces down on a table, and start having some fun.

She is the leader of the December Cult which is a part of the Arcanist faction. Her closest equivalent is Sonnia Criid from the Guild faction with the difference that Sonnia is better in close combat and has better defensive qualities.

=Mobility= With an abysmal Wk 3" and no inherent movement tricks, Rasputina stands beside Nicodem and Ramos as one of the slowest Masters in the game. You shouldn't expect her to get even halfway across the table in an average game, unless you specifically dedicate one of the few minions able to move her around to do so. Generally she relies on her minions to do the running around for her.

=Offense= While awfully slow, Rasputina's impressive range and damage output makes up for it. She satisfies all the suit requirements for all her spells, meaning she only needs to meet the CC of any spell she casts (with her high Ca, this is quite easy for her). She has two damaging spells which she will usually employ on every activation she takes.

To further her damage output, both attacks use the **Overpower** Trigger - allowing her to immediately re-cast either offensive spell when they successfully deal damage. With a perfect setup and clear shot, Rasputina can target enemy models 16" away from her via her minions. Enemies will often seek shelter from the Snowstorm that Rasputina brings to the field.

**Biting Chill**
The first of Rasputina's two attacks, and one of her two (0) actions, **Biting Chill** is a powerful 'spike' designed to drain a single foe down to 1 Wd before finishing them off with **December's Curse**. More notable is that when this spell is successfully cast, it automatically triggers Overpower (regardless of Suit) making it possible for this spell to rapidly reduce a 12 Wd Master down to 1 Wd in a single action (provided Rasputina keeps flipping 9+ cards and her target keeps failing to resist it)! Unless there is reason to use **(0) Freeze Over**, Rasputina should be attempting to cast this spell every turn.

December's Curse
In a sense, this is the most powerful blast in the game. While Sonnia's **Flame Burst** can produce 3 Blast Templates and even begin the detonation away from the original target, Rasputina's **December'****s Curse** has no suit requirement to be cast and can trigger **Overpower** to be cast multiple times in a single action. **December's Curse** will often be the action Rasputina will take the most.

When **December's Curse** is cast with a 12+ card nearly no minion can meet the Rst total of this spell. It's not uncommon for this blast spell to inflict 10+ total damage (spread over multiple pieces) in a single casting. The 10" range on December's Curse does not seem very high to begin with, but once you start looking at the various options in Rasputina's choices for minions, it becomes quickly apparent why it's so powerful:
 * **Ice Mirror**: allows Rasputina to cast her spells through several of her minions, effectively increasing her range by another 6" at the cost of decreasing her Ca by 3. This penalty can be reduced should she use her Ice Mirror through a Silent One, (reducing the Ca penalty to -1), so she will usually have her crew include a few of these apprentices. Typically, you do not want to use Ice Mirror through an Ice Gamin or the Ice Golem unless you are trying to target a Minion with a relatively low Df anyways.
 * **North Wind**: an aura that the Silent Ones can create, which grants an additional 3" to any ranged abilities on models with Frozen Heart. This can allow Rasputina to cast December's Curse up to 13" away and, combined with Ice Mirror, up to 20" away (it appears from the wording of North Wind that the 3" range boost does not increase the range of Ice Mirror)!
 * **Bite of Winter**: An oft forgotten ability, but can be very helpful, especially considering that it pushes the damage for December's Curse up to 6 for Severe! Sometimes it is a wise idea to keep an Ice Gamin back near Rasputina just for giving her this bonus. The +1 Dg does not affect units hit with blasts or those hit by exploding Gamin as the Bite of Winter affects 'targeted unit' and blasts and pulses do not target.
 * **Essence of Power:** is a generic Arcanist Totem, but is quite obviously designed to work specifically with Rasputina. Its Empower ability allows Rasputina to get a positive twist on damage flips from spells, which makes it MUCH easier to hit enemies, and still get a neutral/positive flip in order to flip or cheat up to Severe damage for all sorts of destruction
 * **Soulstones**: Don't be afraid to use them. It is not uncommon to burn 2-3 Soulstones in one turn with Rasputina. Get that spell cast total up high, and make sure your opponent cannot resist it. Also, the extra card will give you a higher chance to get a Mask in the total, giving you more and more damage. You should have no reason to horde your Soulstones in Rasputina's crew, as it is not worth spending to boost her Df in most cases, and you have other options in the crew for healing your models.

//**Tip:** Rasputina has two triggers, so if you burn a Soulstone in hope of getting a Mask but do not get it, there is still a decent chance for you to get the Tome for the other trademark Arcanist Master trigger: Surge. Since Rasputina starts with one Tome in her casting total, you will get Surge fairly often. Don't forget about it! It will help you get more Masks and other high cards into your hand.//

An interesting tactic, though sometimes referred to as 'cheesy', is that Rasputina may target her own minions with December's Curse, and use them as a starting point for blast damage. You cheat down the defense of your minion so that Rasputina is getting a neutral or positive twist on the damage, and then, if necessary, cheat in a high card for Severe damage. Then let the Blast effects do the work. A helpful tip when using this tactic is to first cast December's Touch on your minion first, and then target them with December's Curse, that way they don't take as much damage from the spell. The final trick in this combo, is to use an Ice Gamin or Ice Golem as your target, since they have the Shatter ability, and if you end up killing them due to the spell damage, they will do further damage to any models near enough.

Cold Touch
While Rasputina prefers to blast her foes at range, she does have a weak melee attack which you will most likely never want to use. It does have a somewhat respectable Weak damage of 2 which might catch some opponents off-guard, and there is the nice advantage that enemies hit by it will automatically suffer **Slow** due to the **Chills** trigger. Bottom line though, you want to avoid getting into melee combat with Rasputina whenever possible, as that typically means she will be dying soon after.

=Resilience= The Ice queen is one of the most frail Masters when considering her stat line. Rasputina is generally better off attempting to avoid being targeted altogether. She may have a respectable 10 Wds, but her Df 3 and lack of any defensive tricks will often mean that once an opponent has her in sight, she will not last long. It's important to keep Rasputina safely behind cover and as far from the enemy as possible in most situations. Luckily, she has the exact tools that she needs to accomplish this - including creating her own Terrain.

Ice Mirror
Her most efficient tool for staying safe is her Ice Mirror ability, as it allows you to simply park her behind some cover while still blasting her spells away through her Frozen Heart minions. It's sort of like those spy movies where the guy has a mirror on the end of his gun that lets him shoot around corners. Do not let the -3 or -1 Ca from Ice Mirror scare you into exposing Rasputina earlier than necessary. A 6 Ca is still plenty high enough to hit almost any target. And if you have to cast through a Minion without Perfect Mirror (like the Silent Ones have), then you have Soulstones to help you out.

Bearskin Armor
This ability will not come into effect with Rasputina very much, but it definitely comes in handy if you have been keeping an Ice Gamin nearby for Bite of Winter, and your opponent manages to kill it. You will not have to worry about Rasputina bunching up too much with her other minions, and she will be relatively safe thanks to this ability.

**White Out**
An excellent ability for any strategies which require you to keep your crew alive, or to park your crew on an object of some sort, like Claim Jump. The best part about it is that she only needs a 3 of Masks or higher to cast it, so it is not terribly difficult to cast. It protects Rasputina, which is somewhat unusual for some auras. Be wary though, as since it is only 3", opponents will still be able to target Rasputina or others within the cloud, and they can use either Paired or Focused strikes to negate the cover bonus. So it is helpful, but it will not keep you 100% protected.

Freeze Over
While this ability is not inherently a defensive ability, it provides some much needed protection for your crew, and is often fantastic for stopping one of your opponent's big pieces dead in its tracks. The best method is to set up Rasputina and the rest of your crew with a fairly large piece of terrain between you and your opponent's main models. Then, if they try to cross that terrain, you can lock down the enemy model, and make sure they can't come any closer. The only downside to this ability is that it typically forces you to activate Rasputina early in the round in order to freeze the model before it has a chance to move. So be sure that some other piece won't be able to get to you later. NOTE: Only models touching the terrain //when you cast Freeze Over// are actually frozen to it. New models which try to cross the terrain later in the turn won't be affected.

Ice Pillars
Again, this is more of a terrain manipulation ability, but it bears mention here in terms of helping Rasputina defend herself. Combined with Freeze Over, this spell can give you some incredible control of the table. You can use it to block LOS to Rasputina herself or some of your minions. You can block the path of your opponent from reaching an objective. You can create a funnel so that your opponent has to walk right into your sights for December's Curse in order to approach you.

Frozen Heart
This ability also bears some mention under her Defensive abilities, as it is basically a weaker version of Immune to Influence. In particular, Frozen Heart protects from you from Terrifying, which can be incredibly helpful in some matchups, and will help against some spells or abilities which count as Morale Duels.

=Tricks and Tips= Rasputina's trigger for her spells is incredibly powerful, especially since not many other models in her typical crews will need cards with Masks. So save those and use them whenever necessary to continue casting Curse over and over again. Don't be afraid to end up with a negative twist (or even double negative twist!) on damage if you are going to get the Overpower trigger instead. Your opponent will quickly run out of cards or Soulstones attempting to resist the "avalanche" of damage.
 * Overpower**:

This is an easy ability to forget about, so be sure you are always drawing 1 extra card at the beginning of each turn. Combined with Surge (especially since the Silent Ones have Surge as well!), you can often craft an extremely helpful hand without too much trouble at all.
 * Arcane Reservoir**

During the first or second turn, you will often find that your opponents are too far out of range to use most of Rasputina's spells against them. That doesn't mean you should just pass your actions. Always try to use all of her actions, even if it is as simple as casting Ice Pillars or December's Touch. Go for those Surge triggers early on as much as possible, so you can have the best cards in your hand as possible by the time your first round of combat comes around. Also remember that Surge is dependent on whether you successfully cast the spell, and is not dependent on whether your opponent resists it or not.
 * Surge**

This is another ability that is easy to forget, especially in the midst of the situation when a Black Joker is flipped on Rasputina's turn, as you will likely be more focused on the failed action, than the fact that there is a silver lining to it. This is a good ability to keep in mind early in the game if you draw the Black Joker into your hand, but don't really need an ability to be activated, like if you are casting December's Touch just to try and get the Surge trigger. You can instead play the Black Joker from your hand, let the spell fail, but you still draw 2 cards.
 * December's Pawn**

=Strategies and Schemes for Rasputina= As mentioned at the top, Rasputina has one of the lowest Wk stats in the game, and her playstyle typically dictates that she stand still, or behind cover, and blast away with her spells. As such, she is an incredibly tough master to play if your Strategies or Schemes are set up to require a lot of movement. In those cases, it is likely best to re-flip your strategy, or choose a different master. In general, Rasputina is mostly good at killing things. However, some of the Rising Powers minions have helped to balance this out a little.

This is probably one of the most difficult for Rasputina to accomplish, as it requires a lot of movement, and many minions that work well with Rasputina are also relatively slow. In addition, any pieces which are faster, typically do not have any (+1) type actions, so they oftentimes have to spend their entire turn moving up to a Dynamite Marker and then Interacting with it. Snow Storm is highly recommended in this Strategy in order to get Minions close, and then use Snow Storm's abilities to move an unactivated piece into base contact with a Dynamite Marker so it can Interact with it on the next activation.
 * A Line in the Sand [Difficult]**

This strategy can be slightly tough since it requires moving the majority of your crew to a location at or across the center line of the table. However, with Rasputina's White Out spell, the ability to hit targets with long-range attacks long before they close in, plus Ice Pillars to help build a defensive fortress, Rasputina's crew can do quite well at creating a bunker and surviving to the end.
 * Claim Jump [Moderate]**

The ease of this Strategy mostly comes down to what Crew your opponent ends up running. Oftentimes though, this can be quite simple for Rasputina, as she can utilize her 20+ inch reach to spam December's Curse on the opponent's Master. Be wary if your opponent chooses Sonnia though, as her Counterspell will make this nearly impossible. If your opponent chooses a Master which you think you will have a hard time getting to stand still so you can blast them, you might try choosing specific schemes to encourage your opponent to come to you.
 * Contain Power [Easy to Moderate]**

Again, due to the somewhat slow nature of Rasputina and her crew, this strategy can be a bit difficult to achieve. However, it's a great feeling when one of your minions gets close enough to the opponent's Master to accomplish this scheme, and then Rasputina activates next and uses December's Curse on that same minion, to hit the Master with Splash Damage. Use the Ice Gamin's Ht 1 on this Strategy to try and keep them completely out of LOS until they can move up next to the enemy Master, or use Snow Storm to put a Minion like an Ice Gamin into position. The Master (or one of their Minions) may likely get to activate first and try to kill the Gamin, but they'll pay the penalty in Shatter damage if they do so. Win-win.
 * Deliver a Message [Moderate to Difficult]**

Much like A Line in the Sand, this Strategy is pretty tough to complete. You almost certainly need to play Snow Storm in order to pull this one off, as you will need to get several models onto your opponent's half of the table.
 * Destroy the Evidence [Difficult]**

This strategy is an incredibly easy Strategy for Rasputina to complete, since she can typically reach almost anywhere on her half of the table thanks to Ice Mirror. Again, you can further punish your opponent by picking Schemes which complement this strategy.
 * Distract [Easy]**

Many of Rasputina's minions tend to be somewhat 'squishy' in that they don't have a lot of Wds. As long as you use a lot of Ice Pillars, and the Silent Ones keep up with Ice Wind every chance they can to heal your models, this one is not too tough to pull off. This is also a good Strategy to utilize Rasputina's White Out, or potentially Snow Storm for extra cover and protection for your models.
 * Escape and Survive [Easy to Moderate]**

See above for Destroy the Evidence, as this is basically the same thing.
 * Plant Evidence [Difficult]**

You need to use Significant models to pull this off, and luckily, the Ice Gamin are cheap, and they are Significant. So you want to try and set up Rasputina near the center (left-to-right) of your half of the table, with two minions to either side that she can Ice Mirror through. Then, advance your Ht 1 Gamins just over the centerline of the table to work on securing the Strategy requirements. If your opponent tries to close in and kill the Gamin, you have Rasputina and your other ranged pieces make them pay the price.
 * Reconnoiter [Easy to Moderate]**

This is Rasputina's favorite Strategy. It's pretty straightforward, but you simply use every trick she has at her disposal, and spam December's Curse at everything in sight. The Silent One is exceptionally helpful in this Strategy with a blast damage spell of their own, and Perfect Mirror for easy use of Rasputina's Ice Mirror.
 * Slaughter [Easy]**

This is another relatively simple Strategy for Rasputina, as she can use Ice Pillars to build protection around the center of the map, or the Supply Wagon's route. The Wagon also moves slow enough, that Rasputina or her minions can often keep up with it quite easily. Keep Rasputina a bit further back, and again, when any enemies get close enough to melee attack the Wagon, make them pay dearly for their poor decision. If your opponent has the Supply Wagon strategy, Rasputina can cause almost certain loss, as Ice Pillars are fantastic for blocking the Wagon's path, and keeping it from reaching the center of the table.
 * Supply Wagon [Easy]**

Once again, the slow speed of Rasputina and her crew can make this a tough one. However, Gamin are one of your best bets here, and again, you can make your opponent pay dearly for trying to kill a Gamin, once it has picked up a Treasure Counter. Use Ice Pillars to slow down your opponent from getting to the Counter in the first place, and then just work on slowly getting the Counter back to your deployment zone. You can expect to probably need all 6 turns to pull this one off, unless you play Snow Storm, in which case you can use your various tricks to reach the Counter on turn 1 and start bringing it home.
 * Treasure Hunt [Moderate to Difficult]**

This Strategy will oftentimes devolve into Slaughter when you are playing Rasputina. As with many other strategies, utilize your Ice Mirror options to punish any of your opponent's pieces brave enough to cross the center line of the table.
 * Turf War [Easy to Moderate]**

Honestly, picking Slaughter is almost always your best option with Rasputina, especially since, if you use the trick of targeting your own pieces with December's Curse and you happen to kill them yourself, it will not count against you.
 * Player's Choice**

=Rasputina in Brawls= Unfortunately, Rasputina does not have any specifically good synergy in Brawls. As such, she tends to work well as a second master of sorts, and can provide the means to boost whatever else you decide to play. She's a strong spell caster no matter what the rest of the crew consists of, so she is always worth considering for your Brawls.

One of the best things about pairing Rasputina with Ramos is that you can include the Mobile Toolkit in the crew, and thus have access to Surge every single time Rasputina casts a spell. Other than this, December's Touch can be quite nice for granting further resilience to some of Ramos' classic minions. One other nice aspect is that Ramos typically does not use his Soulstones very much, so Rasputina can mostly use all of the cache for herself.
 * With Ramos**

There is almost no direct synergy between Marcus and Rasputina, unfortunately. About the only good thing with pairing them together is that Marcus' speed can very nicely offset Rasputina's lack of it. They work together like an opposed pair, with Rasputina doing all the ranged activity, and Marcus doing all the melee work. One fun trick is to use Ice Pillars toward the end of the turn to help the Sabertooth Cerberus utilize its Stalker ability. Also, Molemen can make excellent targets for December's Curse trickery, with their easy access to a high Armor rating.
 * With Marcus**

This pairing can work well overall, but you will find Rasputina and Colette fighting each other for Soulstones. You can, however, run the crew with Rasputina and her typical minions being the primary pieces, and Colette simply just a Soulstone factory to keep Rasputina spamming December's Curse at high, nearly impossible to resist, casting totals. If you include the Coryphee and cast December's Touch on them, they can be much harder to kill than they already are.
 * With Colette Du Bois**

This is another Brawl pairing where both Masters will somewhat fight each other for the limited Soulstone pool, especially with the extra 5 SS penalty for the Viktorias. One nice thing in this crew though, is that Rasputina could cast December's Touch on one Viktoria, and it would affect both thanks to Fates Entwined.
 * With Viktorias**

=Building a Crew= A full list of models available to a Rasputina crew is shown here.

Rasputina works incredibly well on her own, but it is almost a given to include at least one Silent One in any of her crews. Beyond that, her crews really have to be tailored to the specific Strategy. Ice Gamin are a good choice in general, and it is usually good to include at least one or two. Overall, it is typically good to include no more than 1 character in a Rasputina crew with a cost of 8 or more (unless playing more than 35 SS), as it severely limits your options for any other minions. Besides, Rasputina will do most of the heavy lifting in terms of killing your opponent's pieces, so the other things you add to the crew should be more for specific uses or certain types of utility.

=Starting Rasputina= The box set for Rasputina is an excellent start, as it gives you three Ice Gamin, which are perfect for many of the Strategies. In addition, her box set gives a perfect crew to start out with for a 25 SS game, since the minions cost a combined total of 21, and Rasputina has a Soulstone Cache of 4 to start with, leaving with 8 total Soulstones in your cache for the game. It is a well-balanced box and for a beginning player, it is simple enough to be a great choice for someone who wants to play a spell-casting centered crew.

After the box set, the first things a player should consider buying would be the Essence of Power and at least one Silent One. While the Wendigo is a more thematic fit for a Totem for Rasputina, the Essence of Power has abilities which greatly augment Rasputina's spells, and can make her much more dangerous. Both totems are the same Soulstone cost though, and both have the same Ca to use for casting Magical Extension. So to some it will obviously come down to personal preference.

The Silent Ones are incredible additions to your crew as an all around utility piece, but they still have a bit of offensive capability. You should have at least one, in order to take advantage of its Perfect Mirror ability, making your Ice Mirror casting easier, as well as its North Wind spell to increase your range, and its Ice Wind spell to heal your models. The Silent One has many options beyond these, however, and are excellent models for their Soulstone cost.

Beyond those pieces, the rest of the crew greatly depends on your playstyle and particular Strategy for that game. If you need models to do a lot of damage, then there are good options like the Ice Golem, Hans, or Snow Storm. If you need high mobility, a popular choice is the Sabertooth Cerberus, or you could go with something like the Coryphee Duet, Snow Storm, or the Mechanical Rider. Beyond that, there are further fun options by including Von Schill and the Freikorps, other Mercenaries like the Convict Gunslinger or Desperate Mercenaries, or the Arcanists' own henchman, Kaeris. She gives you a nice Ice and Fire theme! While the December Acolyte is a popular thematic model as well, it has mostly been eclipsed by Book 2 options, unless something in a future release makes them viable again.

=Playing Against Rasputina= Obviously, the primary worry when facing Rasputina is her **December's Curse** spell. A slightly less (but only just) potent ability is Freeze Over. That one can seriously thwart your plans if you forget about it at a crucial moment. Pieces with Counterspells can obviously do quite well against her, but she will likely resort to the targeting an Ice Gamin trick instead, so that won't slow her down for long. Overall, the best bet is to use quick models and engage Rasputina in melee combat. At that point, she can only use her Biting Chill spell or Cold Touch melee attack (which is lousy, as mentioned above). With her abysmal defense, there's not much chance she will be able to disengage (although watch Snow Storm's tricks, as she can push Rasputina, and allow her to escape that way). So, large melee beatstick pieces with high movement will typically work very well, like Lilith, the Viktorias, Kirai, Lady Justice, the Dreamer, or minions like the Steamborg Executioner, Nephilim, Coryphee Duet, Warpigs, etc.

If you find yourself in a situation where you cannot close into melee range with her, your best chance will be to keep your models in cover, at the very least, and completely behind blocking terrain as much as possible. Aim for objectives and do your best to not expose yourself.

Also, lastly, Rasputina's crew can often take several activations to get all of their buffs activated, so if you can win initiative or do an alpha strike against her crew, it will greatly improve your chances. Losing initiative can sometimes mean you take a minimum of three December's Curse spells coming at you, plus however many times Rasputina manages to trigger Overpower. You can easily lose 1-2 models that //did// have full health in a situation like this.

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