January 2023 FAR and Errata Analysis (Part 1: Universals)

We finally got a new FAR and errata!

First, I will review each new restricted, forsaken, and UNrestricted card. Then, I will check over the errata. I’ll give everything a letter grade ranging from A+ to F, depending on how good I think the restriction is.

This is an opinion article, so my opinion might differ from yours!

Sidenote: I will ignore the new FAQs in this article, but those are also worth a read!

RESTRICTED CARDS

Objectives

Pure Carnage – This card was a staple in many warbands, like Hexbane’s Hunters or Zarbag’s Gits. On one hand, restricting it reduces the viability of Hexbane (by a lot), but on the other hand, it reduces the viability of some lesser-played warbands (Thorns of the Briar Queen and Zarbag’s Gitz).
Grade: B+

Sudden Demise – A lot of warbands can score this card easily. I think this is a good restriction, as you can potentially get 3 OR MORE glory for 1 kill! This will also hopefully reduce the number of pings being used in decks.
Grade: A

Power Cards

Dark Command – One of the best pings available to Tooth and Claw players; I think this was a good restriction. It was too common to be charged by someone, survive on one wound, let them score Toyed With, and then get pinged to death in the power step. Another upside of this was it’s unlimited range. Yeah, it can only choose beasts or savage fighters, but it’s really easy to become a savage. (Phew! Deintalos moved away… oh wait Regulus is savage)
Grade: A

Dark Parasites – Personally, I do not like this restriction, but I think it’s a good choice. The card seemed very powerful, giving you a potential +2 damage at a ‘truly horrendous cost’ (which wasn’t very horrendous). This was a good restriction overall.
Grade: B+

Fighter’s Ferocity – I was surprised to see this restriction, but I think we can blame a certain witch hunter for it. The biggest advantage of this card was it having no range restriction, unlike other +1 damage upgrades, and the witch hunter in question had 3 dice meaning the chances of rolling a crit and proc’ing the grievous weren’t low. Overall, an unexpected and medium-tier restriction.
Grade: C

Gifted Bulk – Most people say that Weighty Blessing should have been restricted instead, and I agree, but this is still a nice restriction. It wasn’t an overplayed card, but it gave some warbands a lot more wound potential (Wurmspat, Dromm…) than others.
Grade: B-

Gifted Ferocity – More accuracy restrictions. I think this one was a really good restriction since it gave you +1 dice at no downside while at the same time having a chance to be given for free!
Grade: A

Internal Surrender – MORE accuracy restrictions. This one was really good for elite warbands, and it helped score Supreme Savagery. However, it did come at a pretty major debuff for most warbands who had 2 defense.
Grade: A-

Quickroots – The best card was saved for last (definitely not because of alphabetic order, no!). I think I have moving-vulnerable-fighters-while-playing-against-Daring-Delvers-o-phobia now. If my opponent didn’t play this card in a game yet, I would calculate each move with my vulnerable fighters more than NASA does at their rocket launches (I think). Restricting doesn’t make it go away but combined with the restriction of Sudden Demise, this nightmare-generating card will hopefully see less play.
Grade: A+

FORSAKEN CARDS

Ferocious Bite – A card everyone wanted forsaken (except GSP players and Coyl). This card was very powerful, especially for the GSP, who are almost always beasts with attack actions higher than 1 damage. It made them extremely accurate since they got 2 dice at no downside! But this is all a conspiracy theory. The REAL reason it was forsaken is cause Coyl from Exiled Dead used it along with Dark Parasites (not clickbait).
Grade: A

Lurking Horror – I don’t think lots of people expected this one! I didn’t. While the card did give you a ‘reroll, but you can choose to use what you roll or go back’ ability, it wasn’t THAT overpowered. The biggest advantage was, once again, the fact that it had no range restriction. I will miss this card, but I can see why it was banned.
Grade: B+

UNRESTRICTED CARDS

And that’s it! Tell me if you agree with my grades on Discord (VintroV2#0001) or Twitter. Overall, I think the community will support these decisions. Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you again soon!