Hungering Parasite
Welcome to our rundown of the Hungering Parasite universal Rivals deck. Make sure you catch our podcast coverage of the release. For everything out with this release window, follow these links:
Thanks go to GW for providing a review copy to make this content possible.
Introduction
[D]AVY & [P]HIL
P: Ready for a game of pass the parasite? Well you're getting one even if you are not! Billed as a true control deck, let's see if it lives up to the name.
D: So there's a lot to bear in mind as you work through this deck. Think of it as a mini-game about when and where the Bane of Heroes upgrade is at. There are a number of cards that refer to "one or more" Bane of Heroes upgrades. Don't get distracted- there's only one in the deck, but it's written in case both players are running this plot card.
There's going to be a lot of cards that break the Bane of Heroes Upgrade, so pay attention to how it gets re-applied (that last paragraph).
D: There it is! Imagine my surprise when I flipped the flavor text card over and found an upgrade. There's three key component's here:
1- Fighters are staggered while within 1 hex of this fighter... which must presumably include this fighter.
2- No inspire! Ooof.
3- One damage at the end of each action phase for someone within one hex... which might be this fighter if no one else is around.
P: Definitely going to be a push and pull of wanting to stay away from this guy and wanting to keep him corralled since your opponent will be playing to position him. Very interesting mechanic.
Objectives
D: This feels incredibly doable given the rules for reapplying the upgrade, though it may set you up with some unfavorable board states. Still, if you're running this deck, this seems up your alley.
P: I can imagine a number of scenarios where this is basically automatic and that is kind of terrifying. Feels like a staple for the deck for sure.
D: Reminiscent of Unceasing Imperatives from Voidcursed. Very achievable. Though it will need you to *have* the BoH upgrade, and not have pawned it off on the enemy.
P: I don't think that is necessarily true. But yeah, definitely easier if you have the BoH on your own fighter. Pretty simple objective for sure.
D: Ope, totally correct.
D: Kinda like Rippa's or Myari's objectives for 3 upgrades and those are absolutely rock solid. Very interested.
P: As long as you have the glory, this should be trivial. Very good.
D: I guess what helps with balance is that your opponent can see who’s got the Bane of Heroes upgrade and gun for that fighter to try to deny? But pretty reliable R2/3.
D: So... this is a little weird. Your Bane of Heroes upgrade already staggers the bearer, so... autoscore? Unless someone has to re-stagger you? Even if not, it's very much in your control. Take it.
P: Yeah I think I'll need to do some rule checking on this but first read it does feel like it auto scores...
D: Maybe this is asking if something staggered them, not if they are currently staggered?
D: Very modest ask, though you'll be using an uninspired profile to land the hit, obviously.
P: Given the right fighter, this is incredibly simple. Definitely taking this one.
D: Range 3+ fighters that get multiple chances will certainly enjoy.
D: Like Unwitting Guardians from Voidcursed, but with more upside. Harder to trigger, since you have to hold (sorry beasts) and you don't have Voidcursed advantage of no drive-back.
P: The two glory upside feels like a big deal here. I think using a really scary fighter like Mollog for your BoH could put your opponent in a serious bind. Let him stand around and score or try to fight and risk being bonked.
D: Mollog especially since he can't be driven back!
D: Super doable again! Just the timing to manage. Preventing your leader from inspiring must be the primary downside here.
P: Yeesh, some of these end phases feel so simple. Have to take this.
D: Very much in your control. May remove too much tempo to force two activations and prevent a charge, though.
P: Possibly, I like how simple this can be but you are right, taking an action off to move a second time may not be great.
D: Lots of power card support for this, and it'll just happen if the host dies.
P: Another auto include in my book.
D: To set this up, you just need to make sure the upgrade breaks while you're adjacent to the enemy. If you're running this deck, you're probably running this, especially to set up some nasty un-inspires. (Get rekt Snirk!)
P: The power card support makes this feel very easy. And, if you can guarantee a kill on the infected fighter getting it back should be easy too.
D: Good payoff, matchup dependent. If you wanna run this with a big warband, feels good.
P: First objective that feels a bit more niche. Good if you can set it up but not all bands will want this.
D: I mean, surges that score for power card play seem pretty tempting in general. I think I like it. Fairly controllable surge here.
P: There is a little set up involved but yeah should be pretty easy overall. There is a risk of your opponent not inspiring and your fighter not getting killed intentionally but I think if that happens you are probably winning anyway?
D: You can just give it to your own inspired fighter if your opponent isn’t playing nice.
Gambits
D: This card really reads: "Hand off the Bane of Heroes upgrade". Can think of it on it's own as an un-Inspire, and in context as fuel to score faction objectives.
P: I imagine this will be a pretty important card for the deck. Should give lots of control of the BoH.
D: Aw, Hungering Skaven. So happy. I'm sure that will last.
D: More likely to have to hand this off to your own warband. There's a few objectives where you'll be engineering this position anyways, though.
P: While we definitely want ways to break the BoH I'm not sure you need this one? Doesn't guarantee you can pass it off and will have only a few usable locations.
D: Whoa! Legit. But won't work unless you're already damaged (which might happen if your positioning wasn't great at the end of a previous round).
P: Seems really good to me as long as you can make your BoH fighter too big of a threat to ignore.
D: Likely to go off during a charge. But also... you're gonna need to stay where you're at if you're hoping to hand off the Bane. Maybe good for messing up someone who was counting on you being staggered?
P: Has some flexible applications. Pass it off during a charge as Davy mentions or pass it off as *you* charge. And finally, get it back from an enemy you gave it to by move next to them.
D: Errrr, they're already staggered within one hex, so... why? If you move away, I guess. Not a fan of the Hail Mary ping. Big candidate for cutting.
P: Yeah I don't get this one. Pass
D: Oh boy. I love this kind of card, and this will pretty much always be in play. So many tricks. Masks and Ephilim have similar and they always feel big brain when they land.
P: No range restriction on the swap is so crazy. This is a reeeeally good repositioning card.
D: That's a very tempting lure. You can charge a target you don't really care about, drag in a fighter who's hiding and attack that person instead. Or set up a juicier scything? I think this is deceptively good.
P: Oh wow, lots of applications with this card. Very strong positioning potential.
D: Sidestep and/or distraction. You already know we love this.
P: Always good. Never leave home without it.
D: Uh, yeah fine. It's to an uninspired attack, so.. y'know. More attractive in Nemesis than Champs.
P: God this is terrifying on some fighters. I can think of a number of options where this makes a 2 smash 4(!) damage attack or 3 smash 3 damage. Either way, no one will feel safe when this card comes out.
D: Ooo, a universal re-attack on your Host?! Wowsers. Good caveat for Large fighters there.
P: Yes, very good choice. Still extremely strong for 4 wound or less fighter warbands.
Upgrades
D: A little corner case if you ask me, but range agnostic accuracy boosts are a little hard to come by for good reason, so I suppose a modest one like this makes sense.
P: There will be at least a couple times throughout the game where you want to pass off the BoH but also want to get it back. This seems like it should make that much easier.
D: Now we're talking! The rare damage boost (in Nemesis). Very solid. Love it.
P: Super scary on fighters with scything like Keira here!
D: You actually raise a good point- running this deck on warbands that have an “alternate inspire” like Gnarlspirit Pack or Crimson Court sidesteps that problem with not getting to inspire.
D: So... the first half is fine. It could keep a Host from damaging themselves. But this reaction means you can engineer an early inspire on someone who struggles with it (Mollog? Jedran?). Huge ceiling on this.
P: Pretty scary that this could let you get a big fighter going right away... It does feel like a push and pull of wanting a strong fighter infected but also being able to be inspired when you need it.
D: Um, hm. Free push? Wouldn't normally stun with the Host because fighters within one are already stunned. I like this for maybe barging and then escaping to a safer spot?
P: Kind of a charge without a charge token too? I imagine there are some options where you can stagger one fighter then push away to attack someone else who was your intended target? Or to get one hex further on your "charge" by bouncing off another fighter.
D: Oh right, you can use this as part of a Barge activation. And you don’t care about getting staggered if you’re the Host because you’re already staggered!
D: More incentive to Barge. Finally the people get what they want. I always find Flying hard to rate. Sometimes it is absolutely amazing. Other times... who cares?
P: The reaction kind of lets this be a free move though which is kinda cool? Not sure about the action efficiency though.
D: Combine with Frenetic Efforts for infinite charges?
D: That's a scary deterrent indeed. Some warbands won’t care that much if they can swing at range. This will trigger even if you’re about to die since it happens before the out of action check.
P: Wow, way to put people in a serious bind about how to deal with your BoH fighter.
D: It’s pretty solid on non-Host fighters too, now that I think about it.
D: Removing a charge token feels good. But for it to be the second or subsequent activation, you'd need to have gotten charged out with your warband, or do something tame before your charge.
P: Ranged fighters could attack and then charge for their second activation and that feels pretty brutal...
D: Include this with some of the shenanigans from Frenetic Efforts and Fury Bound Leaps!
D: Two modes- an upgrade to relocate the parasite, *or* use a moving Host to generate some healing. Feels worth testing for sure.
P: Feels pretty useful, though not the kind of upgrade you probably want in an opening hand.
D: Set up a kill? Sure, especially if you're stuck taking kill surges.
P: Yikes, harkens back to Abasoth's withering which was pretty brutal. Can use this like a ping on fighters that are already wounded.
D: Whoa, super weird! Some attacks could really shine getting bumped to one more range. And works on non-Hosts too.
P: So strong. Glad they put the caveat to break it if you do a 4+ range attack.
Summary
P: So what do you think? Personally, I'm embracing our new Bane of Heros overlords. The need to balance keeping away from the infected fighter and quickly snuffing out the parasite should make for some very interesting push and pull in the game. Now I want to know what you think! What do you plan to do with this deck?