Smash Up: Bandit's Top 10 Factions (2023 Edition)

[@connormako1987]

The critter champion as the world champs leader would’ve been awesome. I can only imagine what having 2 critter champs out would be like.

[@b1gpapan3cr04]

The new action heroes are so much fun with super heroes. What are some recommendations for the exomorphs? Besides robots/penguins

[@fredgerd5811]

My top ten is probably coming from a different place than yours philosophically. The things that make me really enjoy a faction are having unusual strategies that make my brain work to find a fit for them (even some factions many people would call "bad") and having great theme and artwork. 1. Megatroopers: My long standing favorite. They do a lot of what I love about ninjas better and if I'm honest, every new faction has me thinking "Can I make this work with megatroopers" and if yes, I'm excited. 2. Russian Fairy Tales: Love how weird these are and I love that none of my friends know how to play against them. Another one thats very fun to theory craft new decks with. 3. Mermaids: So much fun and potential. I think you said it well in the video so I won't say more. 4. Knights of the Round Table: I really liked aliens and their alternative gameplay when I first started, but quickly got bored due to how non-interactive they can be, and how droll bouncing for victory points becomes after a few turns. KotRT really makes alternative VP interesting while also still making you play the game, so a much better design all and all. I only wish they had a few more combos that work 5. Musketeers: Like you said, this faction really makes you think hard, and I love that. Also just some of the most epic single turns I've ever played came from this faction. 6. Vikings: Variety is the spice of life for me and what gives a better guarantee of variety than stealing random cards. Also, its big fun to partner them with super spies or anansi. 7. Itty Critters: They just do so many interesting things and work with so many factions, but it always feels like an Itty Critters deck. A lot of other versatile factions like Wizards tend to feel vanilla. 8. Penguins: I hate swarm with a passion and this is the swarm faction thats so fun I can't hate them. 9. Princesses: I love them as a faction to teach new players the game, especially combined with Wizards, but there are a number of other good teaching combos. 10. Ninjas: My original favorite faction. Full of problems but so fun when you can make them work.

[@dustinburlet7249]

Love your videos, as always - thoroughly appreciate the caliber of your game and the quality of your material I know that each of your choices are fraught with background and chosen with care - well done! I honestly gotta say, though, that I still love Robots, Mad Scientists, Mythic Horses, and, especially, Grimms' Fairy Tales My family also still loves Mythic Greeks which (in my opinion) do still give most players a run for their money 🙂 Looking forward to more great content in the future

[@CrankItUp]

I was really hoping Mad Scientists would crack the top ten. Grimm also made a run for it

[@RyanHamiltonBaker]

Such a great list. I love these factions.

[@spitfire4209]

Nice list. 1. Kaiju 2. Ghosts 3. Anansi Tales 4. Dinosaurs 5. Ancient Incas 6. Frozen 7. Halflings 8. Innsmouth 9. Superheroes 10. Dragons - Granted Ancient Incas and Frozen score so well because of how well they pair for me with Kaiju but I think they work well with other pairings as well. Ghosts are kind of my faction to unlock potential with and they pay off a lot. I just play Dinosaurs a lot and Augmentation and King Rex is a great pay off for many faction pairings.

[@CrankItUp]

There are some absolutely terrifying combos to be made among your top 10

[@xPopCultureX]

1. Anansi- love the card draw and baiting. 2. Luchadors- love reversal and capa roja 3. Tornadoes-specials and movement 4. Elder things- my favorite of the madness decks 5. Ghosts- like the burst gameplay 6. Explorers- base manipulation and solo base opportunities 7. Spiderman- specials galore 8. Star roamers- fun to set up engine 9. Big hero 6- just like saying Fred Fredrickson the fourth. 10. Mermaids Any mixture of these 10 I’m having a good time and like my chances of winning.

[@Karakehayov]

I'd add Zombies and Skeletons but most of all, Beauty and the Beast.

[@StarkMaximum]

I just want to point out, the chapters on the time bar that have the names of the factions have Anansi Tales listed as Nazi Tales. That should probably be fixed, if you can.

[@CrankItUp]

Thank you for pointing this out. I didn't realize KZbin was automatically adding those so I went and added them myself to correct it. That word has no place on this channel.

[@StarkMaximum]

@@CrankItUp It did feel like some automatic KZbin error, given that usually if they're manually set, they're in the description.

[@person3848]

1. Zombies. First faction I ever played and instantly loved the play style. I just love a repeatable value engine 2. Cowboys. Duels are my favorite limited mechanic and I like cowboys version much better than samurai. 3. Ghosts. Cream puff man is my favorite titan and frankly I don’t think they needed him. Would have been top ten anyway. 4. Wizards. I just love drawing cards and searching the deck. Was also with zombies my first pair 5. Itty critters. Basically everything he said. I feel like I still will be playing a random faction and mid game think oh hey this would be good with itty critters and critter champion 6. Sumo wrestlers. I have a love hate relationship with the play style where it’s so straight forward and net positive it feels like there’s no wrong way to play them. Yokozuna may be my all time favorite boss minion 7. Sharks. My favorite hate deck. Just never let the opponent get rolling. Destroy every minion on sight 8. Ancient Greeks. Well I was a Percy Jackson kid rather than a Harry Potter or hunger games kid. Plus spartan is a top 5 minion for me 9. Ignobles. Sort of the same way he talks about musketeers where I just sorta feel like my friend group mostly plays them wrong except me 10. Vampires. Ancient lord really makes the deck. Only reason they make the list. But he does make basically any +1 power counter deck at least decent on his own

[@CrankItUp]

There are some really interesting choices in this list. I would love to know what it is about dueling that you enjoy so much

[@person3848]

@@CrankItUp I like how it’s direct player interaction, so as the cowboy player you have to consider what decks your opponents are playing and what cards they have left in they’re deck, if it’s to risky to initiate a duel. It gives you access to non power restricted destruction and extra actions so long as you can weigh what resources your opponent has left. I understand that certain enemy decks just don’t have any meaningful actions for duels but I don’t hold that against cowboys

[@julesmorin2227]

Alr alr waiting for the 2024 one 😂

[@JuddBrown]

1. Shapeshifters 2. Vikings 3. Itty Critters 4. Cyborg Apes 5. Lion King 6. Rock Stars 7. Ghosts 8. Beauty and the Beast 9. Kung Fu Fighters 10. Truckers Three new ones from my 2021 list: Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Itty Critters. Favorite expansion: Disney has overtaken Oops!

[@CrankItUp]

You like many of the things I don't. Why are we friends?

[@JuddBrown]

@@CrankItUp I continue to question that everyday...come on we do share 4 of the same top 10. And I do believe you had ghosts on your top 10 at some point.

[@josiekitter8595]

Two from science fiction but only one from marvel + Disney. Interesting

[@CrankItUp]

top contender from Marvel - Ultimates top contender from Disney - Nightmare

[@josiekitter8595]

@@CrankItUp both quality factions! I love movement so Ultimates interested me right away. I’d put them in my top ten but not top five