Guild Ball: Mason's Guild and Hunter's Guild Teams Review

Jack of all trades, master of none is often used as a criticism. The implication is that it’s better to be great at one thing than good at many. The Mason’s Guild stands as strong evidence in the case against that idiom. In the game of Guild Ball, the Masons are an all-around team that allows you to choose your focus based on who you send out on the field.

More so than some of the other guilds, the Masons benefit from staying close to each other. Season 1 captain Honour can loan her stats to her sister, Harmony, so long as Harmony begins her turn nearby. Meanwhile, Mallet boosts the Kick stat of anyone within a few inches of him. Even Marbles, the simian mascot, gives everyone a boost if your opponent takes him out.

These team based benefits help the Masons remain flexible in the face of specialized opponents. The Masons are not going to draw more blood than the Butchers but they can dodge, push, and slide around them on the way to the goal. By remaining flexible, the Masons can bide their time and reward the coach who can learn to take advantage of changing conditions on the field. Need a goal? There’s a mason that can do that. Need to bust a skull, there’s a Mason that can do that too.

That flexibility is also reflected in their Playbooks. Every Mason except one can generate valuable momentum on a single hit. While their general lack of Momentous Plays might seem like vulnerability, it means they’re free to use that momentum to gain tactical advantages. Snap shots, counter attacks, and choosing turn order will come easily to a well-coached Mason team.

Defensively, the Mason Guild stands up to opponents pretty well. The same movement options they gain when attacking can be used defensively and even if they get pinned down, they’re a heavily armored team. They’re solid as the palaces and buildings they construct and the armor goes a long way towards preventing swingy turns from taking your plan away from you.

Featuring dynamic poses full of movement, they are a good looking team on your table as well. Most of the models are posed mid-advanced, with Hammer and Honour carefully balanced to remain standing even as they lean dramatically over their bases. Unfortunately, this means that some connections are tricky to glue. Nothing too bad, all the Guild Ball models are relatively simple to assemble, but I did have to reattach Honour’s hand a few times.

The Mason’s Guild is a strong all around team. They reward flexible thinking and will have a solution to most problems once the coach is adept at recognizing how to leverage their teamwork capabilities. They’re good for both new players and experienced players alike.

Emerging from the shadows and taking the pitch by storm, the Hunters have arrived in Season 2 bring a number of new twists. Not content to simply add a new mechanic in the form of persistant traps, they also bring a new condition: Snared. This devilish condition slows your opponents down, lowers their defenses, and lets some of your figures do more damage. Brutal.

Unlike the other guilds, the Hunter’s Guild Starter Box comes with a full 6 model team. It’s a great way to jump into this guild, though they’re trickier for a new player to master than a team like the Mason’s. Like the name might imply, the Hunter’s Guild is a very tactical guild that requires careful positioning and teamwork to succeed. On his own, big-man Hearne is slow and lumbering. However, careful use of the Theron’s ability to create a forest out of nowhere can allow Hearne to teleport around the board attacking from the shadows.

Egret, one of the Hunter’s strikers, is best when allowed to stalk up and down the sidelines. From there she can launch volleys of poisonous arrows or streak towards the goal with a respectable chance to score a goal. Unfortunately, if she gets pinned down she’s not going to stand up to much damage.

On the other side of the pitch, Jaecar wants to dart in and out of combat with anyone. Or everyone. Tactical movement is a theme among the hunters, but no one exemplifies that like Jaecar. He can charge into combat, dropping negative effects and traps or simply cutting everyone open, and dance back out leaving a tsunami of blood in his wake. His character plays are very powerful and easy to trigger with his strong TAC value. Expect to love this guy if he’s on your team, and hate him otherwise.

The rest of the Hunters employ similar hit and run tactics. They’re hard to pin down, but if you can they don’t stand up to heavy hits very well. They’re also ok at the soccer part. It makes them a tricky team to figure out. They deal a solid, but not great amount of damage. They play soccer well, but not great. Yet, they don’t seem like quite as flexible a team as the Mason’s. They want to beat you down in a game of attrition, constantly dancing just outside of range as they bury you in traps and negative effects.

Oh, and they have a bear. Not a mascot bear; every team has an animal mascot. The Hunters can field a giant, angry, rampaging bear as a full player. Seenah (The Great One) is a rubbish soccer player but he’s great at getting take-outs. He’s so popular with the fans that he can even score bonus points for gnawing someone out of the game.

The Hunter’s guild is tricky to master and beginners are liable to getting overwhelmed until they can crack their tactics. Once you do however, you have a powerful team under your control. They’re sneaky, flexible, and can take control of the field.