What's the deal with Vayl2?

She still lowers casters def by 2, strips off a defensive buff and then launches boosted pow 12s into the caster. If that isn't enough then that's why you have Angel guns,archangel or arching fire ravagores

For me it's that between Occultation, Admonition, a 16" control area and the ability to controbute from 22" away she is a very safe caster, and when you combine that with her assassination threat and versatile toolbox of options it makes her not only a good generalist but also a strong drop into Cygnar, which is normally the #1 faction the armour cracker in my pairing does not want to play against.

That's all great feedback thanks. What sort of list would you run with Vayl 2 then?

I do sometimes still take a Naga because sometimes that damage roll makes it harder to use yes, but I still feel like you can get away with it if you want to take that risk. Also it's only a 9 if you brought the BFS and Kiss it first (and if you're getting ready to strip buffs you're probably also going for the kill on it too; with 8 Fury it's not really a big issue to boost the damage roll either). It's probably more of a personal preference thing. I'd certainly never leave home without one or the other, and if I have to pick one of the two I'd probably pick the Naga first.

On the topic of list ideas, I feel like Vayl2 is pretty flexible. If you're playing out of any theme, I like to think about (in no particular order):

* Typhon
* Archangel
* Raptors (great Occultation target).
* Naga and/or BFS
* Hellmouth (duh - but specifically into Cygnar this makes them actually have a board presence since with Occulation a pair of Hunters can't just delete it from the board on Turn 1 if there's no good terrain)
* Bolt Thrower (makes her spell slinging so much safer)
* Seraphs are always good.

Honestly I feel like you can mix any of that stuff together and fill the rest of the points in with the usual support and some more beasts (your favorite Carnivean variant, etc) and have a capable Vayl2 list.

If you want to try Oracles, you can makes lists pretty similar to something she already likes but just get free stuff, pretty similarly to her old Machinations theme.

Legion Army - 75 / 75 points
[Theme] Oracles of Annihilation
(Vayl 2) Vayl, Consul of Everblight [+28]
- Carnivean [19]
- Angelius [17]
- Angelius [17]
- Seraph [14]
- Nephilim Bolt Thrower [11]
- Naga Nightlurker [8]
- Succubus [0]
Blackfrost Shard [9]
The Forsaken [4]
The Forsaken [4]
Sorceress & Hellion [0]
Sorceress & Hellion [0]

This is just sort of an off the cuff. It might to too bloated on support - you could turn the Angels into Neraphs and drop the BFS (or Naga depending on your preferences) for another 19 point heavy, though then your Neraphs may struggle. The Sorceresses might seem a bit redundant, but Boundless Charge costs Fury, and with wings and SPD7 and Reach, Angelii may not need the extra 2" every time, so they can give them free charges (same applies to Neraphs though they obviously lack that extra 1" of threat) and leave more Fury for camping/Wraithbane/Chasten/whatever. Can turn the Succubus into some extra filler and make a Forsaken free, but I do like the free upkeep and Blizzard on demand. Another thought would be turning the Bolt Thrower into a Bloodseer and really turning the Sorceress sprays on. Can always drop a Sorceress if 2 feels like too much and you can tweak some other stuff. I feel like one is always worth it - 6 free points, a decent spray (with reposition), and can shut down things like Assault and Gunfighter with the no shooting aura too.

If you want to bring Hex Hunters you can too, and there might be some merit to that. You can fidget with the beasts to fit them in and get Bayal for free, which is pretty reasonable. They're good targets for Occultation (so they dont have to worry about finding concealment for Prowl), get AD and Shadowbind with Bayal, and are okay chaff to jam or disrupt stuff. If you bring them and the BFS and a Sorceress, a Bloodseer makes a lot of sense:

Legion Army - 75 / 75 points
[Theme] Oracles of Annihilation
(Vayl 2) Vayl, Consul of Everblight [+28]
- Carnivean [19]
- Carnivean [19]
- Angelius [17]
- Seraph [14]
- Nephilim Bloodseer [8]
Blackfrost Shard [9]
Blighted Nyss Hex Hunters (max) [15]
-Bayal, Hound of Everblight [0]
The Forsaken [4]
Blighted Nyss Shepherd [1]
Blighted Nyss Shepherd [1]
Sorceress & Hellion [0]

If you want some ranged presence, the Carniveans are pretty interchangeable with Ravagores. The Sorceress isn't doing quite as much work here (though Bloodseer + her spray is still good infantry coverage imo), so if you want the Succubus that works as a trade off. Fury management might be a bit tight as well so you could make the Forsaken free instead. Min unit of Hex Hunters could free up some points if you want but I don't like min units of things usually. The Seraph feels much more necessary since you're relying on the Carniveans to do a lot of work and they need the Slipstream.

Unrelated to all of this, don't forget that Animi count as spells completely now, and thus can be casted for free on her feat, which is an extra little layer that makes her feat turn that much better depending on the beasts you bring.

Yep because her feat no longer says spells on her card. Animi are spells the warlock can cast, so she gets free reign on animi too.