Using Bjorn in Tournament Play

[asburygrad]

I am really curious to see if Bjorn can perform in competitive play. It has the highest average values of any assault Mech. It's effective for 13 clicks of its dial - more than any other piece except the Ares. And it starts out with both IT and Hardened Armor.

I figure that a smart opponent will know that Bjorn gets better down the dial. So they will try one of two approaches: mob Bjorn from the get-go and hope to knock him past his great clicks and straight into Salvage, OR ignore him (like most RD units) and kill the rest of the army while waiting for time to run out.

There are a couple of different strategies that might help Bjorn stay near the start of his dial, at least until the mid-game. I built the following army in an attempt to take hard-to-kill support, forcing an opponent to come after Bjorn:

Bjorn - 278
w/ Fernali - 54

NC Anubis - 106
w/ Graves (28) plus Decoy (21)

NC/RD SA - 40

73 points left for Bjorn's gear and support. The best options seem to me to be:

1. Coolant Pod + 2 NC Oni + 1 Elite NC T-Bird
2. Coolant Pod + 1 HK ATV + 2 NC ATV + 1 NC CBA (17 point type)
3. Improved Tracking + 3 NC Oni

Improved Tracking could make Bjorn's starting attack value a little more dangerous, and 3 Oni could be tough to kill with the SA card. I see a lot of SAs and FPs at my local venues, so starting off down on points doesn't worry me too much.

Another option would be the BR/RD SA, using a BR Vixen as support. With Graves and Decoy, Agility on the dial, plus the repair ability from the SA, the Vixen could last a long time.

Maybe Bjorn isn't as solid as I think it is. Maybe going with no SA and more support would work better. But I think it's worth a shot.

[baw]

The only issue with Bjorn is when he gets good he is almost dead! He has only a few minutes of goodness. I played RHD pure during sealed. (including him) People were afraid of messing with him in Sealed but I think in constructed that you want to do the damage.

I think the he only gets one or two attacks in before he gets mobbed!

[elite130]

I faced didnt know it was dangerous. Still not sure how it is dangerous.....

[baw]

The only other advantage to Bjorn is not a lot of repair markers.. Played right he could be a little worrisome. I can't live with being really good but only one shot from death!

[asburygrad]

I don't think this is a Mech that you want damaged, Baw. I think you want to keep it as close to it's starting values as long as possible, so that if an opponent does start do deal damage in the late game, your values go up and Bjorn can finish pieces off close to the end of the time limit.

I just don't see very many pieces with such high stat stability. Seka's Pride and Jack are both knocked out of competition by 5 damage. Even Solitude is much less frightening after 5 damage shears off his Hardened Armor and drops his ballistic damage value. But by playing Bjorn cautiously, you might actually want to take 5 clicks, provided your opponent does not have Pulse or Continuous Fire Mode.

I've seen too many games where a single shot knocks a key piece so far down the dial that it can't retaliate. I've had a lot of success lately with Paradise, since it actually has the ability to return fire after being hit, and I think Bjorn can be another piece in that mode.

Aside from the various versions of Pulse, Double Rate, and Rapid Strike, and pilot abilities that imitate those gears, it seems to me that Bjorn could hang with almost anything in the game. All he fears is massive damage in one turn - and really, doesn't everything in the game right now?