Aristeia! - The Rivals - Señor Massacre

SEÑOR MASSACRE

THE BLOOD SPECTACLE

Mercenary and showman, Señor Massacre is as violent as he is chatty.

In his heyday, Señor Massacre led a brilliant career in the underground fighting ring of Corregidor. He was legitimately good, an agile, intuitive fighter and, for a long while, a safe bet in the ring. But fame went to his head and drugs quickly followed, and Señor Massacre lost his edge and, with it, one too many bets. To shake his debtors, he dropped the luchador persona and enlisted in the Nomad Military Force. He volunteered for a forward outpost, where he learned proper teamwork and regained his combat senses. During the NeoColonial Wars he was the only commando to survive the boarding of the Sun Jiao battle cruiser and the subsequent shipwreck. He lived, but not unscathed: radiation burns, and military-grade assault viruses disfigured him beyond the help of even the most experimental regenerative treatments Bakunin could offer.

Once discharged from the NMF, Señor Massacre became a freelance military contractor under his old pseudonym. Records show that he led a corsair boarding crew off Human Edge, worked for the Puños Rojos guerrilla on the jungles of Central America, acted as saboteur for the ecoterrorist group Eco-Aktion, and had a brief stint as a bodyguard for a Tien Shan drug lord. For a while he even went back to the fighting rings, but this time on the major leagues: Aristeia! Underground, where his bravado and showmanship earned him as much praise as his spec-ops brand of hard-boiled viciousness.

His team has performed so well this season that this year will be one of the best of Aristeia! His nerve and shamelessness in front of the cameras have earned him a lot of fans throughout the Human Sphere.

“You people don’t appreciate me at all! To you I’m just this ‘cool mercenary’ guy with a cute little butt and two sweet-ass katanas. Well, I can cook too, you know!”

Apart from slightly above average Defense and Brawn, the array of attributes which Señor Massacre brings to the Hexadome is fairly average. In particular his Agility is not great for a Melee oriented Aristo, although he does have some ways to bypass the challenges that can raise as we will see momentarily.

Massacre's generic Switch is easy to trigger, costing only one Special result, and puts out the Taunted State. This makes him one of the Aristos with the easiest Taunts to apply across a range of situations.

Headlining this DPS/Tank hybrid Aristo is his attack "Te Voy a Cascar" (or "I'm going to crack you"). At a cost of only two Action Points it's repeatable, and although it can only target Adjacent Aristos it has both an inbuilt dice pump (adding an Orange if your target is Taunted) and a Block nullification Switch for two Specials. All in all it's a solid offensive option.

"Hey, malparío"allows Massacre to put out his Taunt actively, and gives him an option for that fifth energy which otherwise might often go to waste. Thanks to the one Action Point cost it allows him to move, Taunt and attack, or Taunt and double attack in a single turn. Don't overlook the option to Taunt your own Allies, which can be useful (and won't hurt some at all, if like Gata or hEXx3r they don't use Attacks), especially when you remember that you can't have a Taunt from more than one Aristo at a time (sorry Prysm!).

Although it can seem expensive at two Action Points for its range and restrictions, "Tangana" can really offer Massacre a lot of mobility in the right circumstances. It certainly means that he synergizes well with other Aristos who can put out a Taunt, and helps him to mitigate his limited Agility. Once again, remember the synergy with your own Allies (if they are Taunted by your opponent, or your own use of "Hey, malparío").

Last, but certainly not least, we have his Automatic Ability Regeneration. Simply healing one damage at the beginning of your Activation might seem like little, but if he can stay up it quickly adds up over the course of a match. This ability can make for an already frustrating Aristo becoming a real thorn in your opponents side.

Señor Massacre is one of the original "selfish" Aristos. All of his Tactics cards are focused on himself, 'though at least one of them is so useful to the rest of the team that you probably won't care. In terms of the first option which he offers a team manager considering bringing him into the Hexadome, you need to pay careful attention to the timing. "After Señor Massacre receives Damage, but before sending him to the Infirmary" is inclusive, so you can play "Epic Regeneration" ONLY if Massacre is actually heading to the Infirmary due to the damage he has just taken. On the other hand, it's still a very good Tactic, especially if you are planning on using Massacre as a meaningful Tank.

The second option which Massacre brings to the table is
an enhancement to his "Tangana" Action. "Es Hora De Armar El Bonche" (or "It's time to put the party together") allows Massacre to take advantage of any States which your team are putting into play. You can even use States (like Focused) which your opponent has put out, but keep in mind that "Tangana" does require Line of Sight so you still can't Place yourself Adjacent to a Hidden Target (unless it is also Marked). On the other hand "Hey, malparío" already makes it fairly straightforward to get Taunted out and allows "Tangana" to be effective already, so this Tactic may not often be necessary.

Next we turn to one of the most effective game shaping Tactics which currently exists in Aristeia! "Kiss My Sexy Ass" can shut down an opponents entire turn when deployed at the right moment. Not only forcing your opponent to turn away from your more vulnerable Aristos, but also stealing their opportunity to finish off others who are about to go down. If they were relying on damage output and the Infirmary to clear the Scoring Zone then they are flat out of luck. Of course, Señor Massacre will catch a lot of heat if you don't get him out of dodge, so try to ensure that they can't just put down the big man to shortcut his mass Taunt!

Last, but not least, we have "Say it to my Face!". This also synergizes well with other Aristos who can Taunt, 'though Massacre can always use "Hey, malparío" and a couple of hexes of Movement to get the best out of it. Of course, given that this is most useful to pull opponents out of the Scoring Zone, you don't usually need to move them far and the base range of "Hey, malparío" likely works fine. Keep in mind that you DO still need LoS for this 'though, so if your opponent is buried in the middle of a scrum you may need to pick another target to pull out.

Check out the video above, from Shameless Mayhem. They have a range of videos available, including their introductory "Aristeia 99" series which are very helpful for newer players in particular. I also enjoy their weekly matches, which you can watch live on Twitch or catch the replay on YouTube.

Señor Massacre is primarily a melee Striker, who does some useful secondary work as a Tank with moderate Control. His Tactics, especially, allow you to lean more heavily into Tanking and Control elements and he's probably not strong enough as a Striker to play that role alone, at least not without substantial support.

In terms of his suitability for scenarios, the only thing to really keep in mind is that he's ultimately not that tough when considered against the large amounts of fire he often draws. This makes him a less than idea pick in scenarios where your opponent will pick up points for Frags. Otherwise he isn't the fastest, so might not be the first choice in highly mobile scenarios, but he's far from weak in terms of overall mobility so he'll run fine in the likes of Assault as long as you aren't leaning into him as your primary Scorer.

With help from Hannibal you can turn Massacre into a real murder machine and the synergy between these two Aristos shouldn't be overlooked. He otherwise benefits from some defensive support and can go well with other Aristos with Taunts. He particularly loves Focus on the offensive, and everyone should try the Soldiers of Fortune together (even if you swap out Valkyrie for a ranged Striker later) if only the once.

For more on Señor Massacre check out his "In Depth" article on the Aristeia! CB Blog page.

As always, let us know what you think.

Is Massacre an Aristo you use regularly?

How does he work in your Teams?

Let us know in the comments below, on Facebook or in the Corvus Belli Forums for Aristeia!