Is the Psylok a viable creature?

[Werekingdom]

Is the Psylok a viable creature?

[mwcard=FWC12]Psylok[/mwcard]

The Psylok's stats
Mana 8
Life 8
Flying
Pest
Attack: Full action, psychic  type atk, 2 dice, +9 daze, Ethereal, Unavoidable, Critical damage.

So I've been looking if the Psylok is a viable creature for competitive games (Thunderdome, GenCon, ect).

Psylok traits.
-I tend to think of the Psylok as a Thoughtspore with a weak attack spell attached, leaving all the mana you would have used on a thoughtspore for a Fireball or other card.
-It has low attack dice, but those dice can go straight though armor.
-8 Life means you stand a chance of staying alive after a fireball
-Low priority target. If someone have a limit amount of reach / attack spells then the psylok seems to be ignored / last longer then you would expect. This is not to say enemy mages will not target the psylok, just that you can usually get ok value if you play him right.
-Daze: a +9 daze is not the best, but it can work. I like Tanglevining the opponent mage when I use Galvitar, so having a Psylok in the zone has been useful.
Full Action: The Psylok's attack is a full action, so you will need to pin the enemy mage down or use "pull".

Please tell me your thoughts.
How can you make the Psylok work?
Has anyone used a Psylok in a competitive game?

[Biblofilter]

Short answer: No

[Biblofilter]

Etheral, Unavoiadable and Critical Damage is pretty nice.

With Minds Eye and Force Pull (Push) you might do a bit better.

I might consider it adding one or more, if spellbook points were not so tight*.

*That might have changed already.

[Halewijn]

Long answer:
- I would never want to spend additional actions to protect (enchantments) or position this weak blob. Even if it is critical damage, 2 dice is not that scary.
- It can't attack psychic immune creatures, so he is useless against a necromancer, golems,  red helm knight, ...
- He is a full action to cast thus slows down the forcemaster too much.
- 8 mana is far from "cheap"
- A 0-0 ranged full action for is attack is probably the worst thing about him. He needs to be in the same zone before the attack and can't mvoe and attack. He's squishy so you'd think that it would be best to let him fight from a distance but you can't.

conclusion:

Short answer: No

It is in my opinion the worst creature in the entire mage wars universe. (Yes, worse than Sardonyx and [mwcard=MW1C27]Moonglow Faerie[/mwcard])

[Squirrelmaster]

He is awful, his critical, ethreal and unavoidable looks pretty good, but his attcak is just terrible. Although he is slightly better than unstable fire imp, who is probably the worst creature in the game.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Long answer:
- I would never want to spend additional actions to protect (enchantments) or position this weak blob. Even if it is critical damage, 2 dice is not that scary.
- It can't attack psychic immune creatures, so he is useless against a necromancer, golems,  red helm knight, ...
- He is a full action to cast thus slows down the forcemaster too much.
- 8 mana is far from "cheap"
- A 0-0 ranged full action for is attack is probably the worst thing about him. He needs to be in the same zone before the attack and can't mvoe and attack. He's squishy so you'd think that it would be best to let him fight from a distance but you can't.

conclusion:

Short answer: No

It is in my opinion the worst creature in the entire mage wars universe. (Yes, worse than Sardonyx and [mwcard=MW1C27]Moonglow Faerie[/mwcard])

Can anyone imagine any kind of card support that could make psylok viable if it was released?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk

[Arkdeniz]

If it is so bad how did it end up in the game?

Can any playtester shed any light on that? What was the thinking behind it, or expected strategies for its use?

[Grimstringer]

maybe if you enchant it with bear strenght? 4 dice unavoidable and critical damage.. yeah it's pretty bad creature though

[Kharhaz]

maybe if you enchant it with bear strenght? 4 dice unavoidable and critical damage.. yeah it's pretty bad creature though

Worse than you even thought!

[mwcard=FWC12]Psylok[/mwcard]

It actually does not have a melee attack so the bear strength does not empower that attack.

[Halewijn]

If it is so bad how did it end up in the game?

Can any playtester shed any light on that? What was the thinking behind it, or expected strategies for its use?

Not many playtesters from that time are still active on the forum. I think they simply overestimated 'critical damage' power and nerfed him a little too much fearing abuse of him. Also, remember that this is from the first expansion after the core set, meaning that after that set only [mwcard=FWC09]Iron Golem[/mwcard], [mwcard=MW1C24]Mana Leech[/mwcard] and [mwcard=MW1C32]Skeletal Sentry[/mwcard] had psychic immunity. Back in the day this used to be a very rare trait.

[Beldin]

If it is so bad how did it end up in the game?

Can any playtester shed any light on that? What was the thinking behind it, or expected strategies for its use?

Not many playtesters from that time are still active on the forum. I think they simply overestimated 'critical damage' power and nerfed him a little too much fearing abuse of him. Also, remember that this is from the first expansion after the core set, meaning that after that set only [mwcard=FWC09]Iron Golem[/mwcard], [mwcard=MW1C24]Mana Leech[/mwcard] and [mwcard=MW1C32]Skeletal Sentry[/mwcard] had psychic immunity. Back in the day this used to be a very rare trait.

Yes and necromancer came after this. By which time the card was printed and I am sure the interaction with undead was tested and seen as not game breaking. Not every card is viable, some are more for causal players.