Sunhammer??? Sunhammer!!!

I play Makeda 3 a lot, and recently, I've been wondering if maybe I've been a little unfair in judging her spell list.  Specifically, I've been reconsidering the value of Sunhammer.

I know, I know.  But hear me out.


Sunhammer is definitely the weak spell on her card.  Vortex of Destruction is amazing, and does a huge amount of work.  I cast Eliminator every game, and it does plenty of work on its own, as well as getting Makeda into a better position to dominate zones or help out with Vortex.  Ground Zero is corner case, but when that case comes up, it's a great tool for the job.  Sunhammer does a mopey d3 damage per trigger, your opponent gets to choose when it triggers (although not advancing warbeasts to avoid d3 damage isn't going to come up much), and on top of all that, it competes with the incredible Vortex of Destruction for the upkeep slot on Makeda.

With all that going against it, I had been thinking that I might as well ignore it.  In fact, I think I've only ever cast it once.  Here's what's got me taking a second look.

First, one or two d3 damage can make a difference.  Often, that difference amounts to one attack against whatever Warbeast/Jack you're trying to kill.  One attack might not seem like such a big deal, but it is especially relevant on Makeda's Feat turn when you potentially have access to both a lot of extra attacks and a lot of extra movement via Train Wreck.  If you can polish off a target one attack earlier, you can get to the next target, finish it off a little faster, etc.  This also comes up in those situations where you leave a 'beast or 'jack alive on just a couple of boxes, and really need to finish it.  There are also a few lists that run a lot of light Warbeasts/Jacks, and this damage can really add up against them.

Second, the cost of switching Sunhammer out for Vortex of Destruction isn't that much more than upkeeping Vortex of Destruction.  Makeda certainly has plenty of uses for that extra Fury, but overall, that's something to plan ahead for rather than something that should always keep you away from Sunhammer.  It's also fairly obvious when you need to switch in for Vortex: it's when Makeda will be in melee with something!  I still need to play some games to see if spending that extra Fury to switch to Vortex and having those 1d3-2d3 extra damage is worth it over not having that damage, but being a Fury up.  I'm thinking that it probably will be worth it with decent planning.  You could also take the Arcane Wonder objective - I've been taking Bunker with Makeda 3 because I haven't had a better idea, but if I'm really going to try to swap out upkeeps, I might as well take the objective for it.

Third, there is a psychological quality to making your opponent do damage to their own beasts that might make them play more cautiously than they should.  This is also valuable against out-of-movement moves like Side Step.  It might prevent the opponent from going more than an inch, and it'll double down on the damage if they do.  It might also combine to be a huge headache for opponents when you combine it with things like Counter Charge, Defensive Strike, and denial tech like Agonies or Null Magic.

Finally, I just really want to make it work.  I want Makeda to be using all her spells, and I want to think there's value to Sunhammer beyond the cost of the ink.

Any thoughts or advice you readers have, including which faction I should switch to while I recover from this sun-induced madness, is super appreciated!

Thanks for reading, and may the sun shine on your Warnouns!