The workhorses of the guild are the apprentices. Let’s look at them and how much they need their master

Sledge

Sledge is the only apprentice with a natural 2″ Melee Zone, which is awesome. He does have Knockback as an awesome trait, and with Tutelage, his first attack every activation can have 3 more hits, or he can Long Bomb. Him having an effective Tackle-Push on 1 makes him good at getting the ball, too.

Downsides include his playbook length, which is 2 longer than his TAC, while other apprentices have a playbook that is only 1 longer. Also, 3 INF maximum for him.

I am sorry, Sledge, but I don’t see you making the team. The biggest Problem is only ever getting 3 INF and therefore 3 attacks out of Sledge. Also, his Momentous 2 is only on 3 hits, which other beaters in the Guild have on 2 hits, and with only TAC 5, he has difficulties hitting that sweet momentous 7 without Instruction, even with Piledriver on and he can even whiff hitting the Momentous 2 afterwards.

Dependance on the Master

Tutelage means that Sledge really wants Anvil nearby. In a perfect world, Sledge would hit a Singled out target while having Piledriver up to bring the hurt., making him even more dependant on his master.

Cinder

Cinder features a Playbook as long as her TAC, making her slightly more likely to wrap than other apprentices. Her best traits are Hot Shot, which with Instruction added, gives her a Tackle on 1 hit and with Kill the Ball, it means she can get the ball to the Team from 14″ away, unless it is parked on a Close Control model. As a little cherry on Top, she features Unpredictable Movement.

She does only have a 1″ Melee with her Unpredictable Movement though, and giving her “Use This” is usually a waste. She doesn’t feature a lot of Damage, but this is also not her main job. She does require the Setup from Hearth to do her thing, and her Tackle is non-momentous.

Cinder is a really good model for a footballing team. She is a bit like Siren in regards of getting the Ball back, and while Siren’s Seduced gets around Close Control, you can’t put the Ball on the ground against Cinder, and Cinder doesn’t care for your kick stat. While many looked into dropping her at first, after Hearth was revealed she has guaranteed herself a spot in almost all Rosters, and I agree with that decision

Dependance on the Master

Yeah, she doesn’t need Furnace at all. Having Burning Strike is a nice to have kind of situation, but it is by no means mandatory. Hearth is more important than Furnace for her.

Iron

Iron is the most resilient of our apprentices thanks to 14 HP and Tough Hide. He shares the defensive Statline of 2/2 with Hearth, but can go to a very annoying 3 ARM under Sentinel. He is deceptively fast with Impetus, and Battering Ram being both free and able to push both friendlies and enemies is very helpful. Also, what a counter attack he brings. Double push on 1 and a Tackle and Close Control on 2 with TAC 6? Yeah, don’t let him counterattack you.

Impetus does cost him 1, which can leave him a bit starved on INF and his 2 DEF means he is, again, very vulnerable to character plays.

Sledge, would you please look at this guy? He has one more TAC than you and his Momentous Damage is on 2, making this very reliable. With some setup, he can also hit his Momentous 4 pretty well, which makes him a good beatstick in addition to being a fantastic Ball holder and a great mid- to lategame goal threat.

Dependance on the master

Iron is pretty good, even without Ferrite. Ferrite can make him very fast or can let him dodge out of a bad situation, but he can work on his own pretty well.

Alloy

Alloy is the fastest player on the Blacksmith’s Team, getting up to Shark levels of MOV and Acrobatics on top. Ofcourse, he doesn’t have as many INF as Shark and misses Tidal Surge, but he des have early dodges in his playbook and “Back to the Shadows” lets him get out of overextension. Additionally, he can Debuff the opponents with Dirty Knives, which is also momentously on 3 and Arsenal is just a self-buff wishing well.

That all comes with the price of only having 12 HP and no real defensive tech, though.

Yeah, Alloy might as well be the best player on the team. He is a goalscoring monster, but he can also put out 3-4 Dirty Knives if he wants to and therefore poison a lot of the opposing team. Dirty Knives does Trigger Back to the Shadows, and if you manage to do any damage on a goal run, you can Run the Length + Back to the Shadows for 8″ after the goal or move 13″ with Knee Slider and Back to the Shadows.

Dependance on the Master

Play Hearth! Seriously, the wishing well alone is just so good. With Instruction up, he has a guaranteed Tackle and on a charge, the Tackle Double Dodge is very likely. He also likes Use This! and then use Anatomical Precision or the Kick Buff.

Cast

Cast has 2 pretty Good plays, one to Debuff the opponent and one to get the Ball off someone. It is always a bit of a gamble with the standard scatter, but it does get around close control. Other than that, a good amount of momentous damage results and Swift Strikes for added Mobility. She also features a great kickstat.

Cast is very vulnerable to Female and Animal beatsticks. She also requires some setup to really work and the opponent can deny Burning passion by clearing conditions.

Still, Cast is my favourite model to play at the moment. She can score 6 VP activations pretty well if she has the Ball and with the right setup, she kills pretty much any player. Also, Sledge: Look at that Momentous 2 Damage on 2, Would you?

Dependance on the Master

Cast does want Furnace or Burnish in the List and Burnish can set more people on fire than Furnace, but Furnaces Legendary, if he is captain, enables her to get Burning Passion up herself. In that regard, I’d say she is not very dependant on Burnish being present.

Bolt

Bolt also features Tutelage, but with other Character plays. Since you can use Shoemerang on friendly Models, even on himself, you can guarantee a Knockdown with it or use it on Low DEF enemies to Knock a High DEF one down. A free I’m Open in addition to Stamina and a 4/6 Kick gives him a good Goalrun, too.

On the other Hand, Bolts playbook is not that great and he also suffers from only being able to get 3 INF.

Bolt is still pretty good. Shoemerang is insanely good and he can go pretty far across the table. Also, Stamina can be a cheeky way to get around Unpredictable Movement.

Dependance on the Master

Tutelage is way too good to not play Farris with him. He also double downs on Quick Foot due to Stamina. If you want to play Bolt, play Farris, too.

So, what do you think? Spot on? Did I miss something? Or am I completely off in my evaluations? Feel free to comment!