While Prince Yriel may be a familiar face in Combat Cards, this week we’re introducing his Warlord incarnation. Much with other Warlords with a bodyguard card, both will not be playable in the same deck. 

Aeldari Corsairs are definitely an under-represented sub faction in the game and we’ve got 6 Corsair bodyguards coming with him in the following week!

Corsairs are a wild element in Aeldari and Drukhari culture, not as conservative as the Aeldari, and not as self absorbed and malicious as the Drukhari. They bring both cultures together in a mixing point of peoples and technologies, and freely pillage and raid the stars. The excel in quick and decisive strikes, and can work with any combination of tools at their disposal, and Yriel’s special rule, Prince of Corsairs encapsulates this:

Warlord Rule: Prince of Corsairs

“Whenever a friendly card changes lane, or is destroyed, it readies at 200%. This does not affect initial deployment.”

At its core it’s a fusion of Darkstrider and Yarrick’s rule, focused around readying. It has the same restriction as Darkstrider, where moving lanes only provides a boost after initial deployment, so you can’t move cards around to build a massive alpha strike. And unlike Yarrick, the card that is destroyed is the one that readies. 

This means that Prince Yriel’s attacks are most threatening when new cards are added to the field, since a card would have died, and there will be an open slot to move your cards into.

One of the biggest strengths, and weaknesses, of the Aeldari is they share the common theme of the glass cannon playstyle, high damage, but low durability. Often a board wipe can mean a near impossible position to come back with. With Yriel, each setback can turn into an advantage as a new wave comes in firing on all cylinders.

Yriel himself is a powerful duelist in his own right with powerful attacks, buffed by Inspiring Presence, and protected with Shields. This allows him a small window of opportunity if his readies don’t get him through the opposition when he is deployed to get another hit in before being taken out.

From a deck building perspective, Yriel is incredibly flexible, being able to be built around any attack type. As well as the obvious Aeldari Ranged build, he’s very potent in a Melee deck, and brings a very viable, and much needed, additional playstyle for Aeldari Psykers. For the Psyker fans, keep your eyes out for Kharseth coming out next week who will be a must include for psychic decks going forward.