Fun with Lists: Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated

Faction: Cult of Yurei

Theme: Death & Decay

This list won the Benelux masters twice and caused some controversy in the Dutch and Belgian meta.

Kato the Puppet Master (22 Rice): Kato is probably the most powerful control caster in the game thanks to his accursed Marionette. He holds this list together and everything else is there to protect him.
Basic stats are ok, Ki 3 is really nice of course. Ivory Prison Attack(2) on a model with only Melee 2 is a bit strange at first glance, but it's such a powerful attack that it's worth setting it up, esp. when you consider the offensive options that Protected(Kairai) provides, i.e. trade a cheap Kairai for an Armoured Kairai if your opponent is careless.
Leech and Cultist are the reason we bring Yugio.
But we don't bring Kato for his combat ability, his Ki feats are what makes him shine.
Capture Soul, so Death and Decay gives you 1 Risen if a non-soulless model dies, not bad, but for 3 Ki Kato turns that Risen into an Armoured Kairai instead. Your opponent just lost a model, and your warband got a huge upgrade.
Craft Marionette scares everyone, your opponent will do everything to prevent Kato from creating that little bugger, and once you put 3-4 control markers on an enemy model, you just summon another one to repeat the process.
Prayer of Undeath: Kairai are a pain to kill with their Rise(4). Well for 2 Ki they now have Rise(2)...
Marionette: The scariest tiny model in this game. Agile, Durable, Soulless, Evasive, Jump Up, if it wants to get someone, it will get to its targets and when it gets there Kato rolls an Opposed Ki test and its Ki stat turns into an equal amount of Control Markers, or it sticks around for another try. It's Slow so it can't Charge or Run. Luckily it only has a Move of 3 but a Ki boost of 1. So it can be faster for less control.
Yugio (10 Rice): Yugio isn't that impressive but has a very important role in this list. He's a battery for Kato, but you don't want to bleed him dry too fast because of those Desecrated Shrines of his. Those Ki costs I mentioned above for Kato? Or those from the Kairai below? They all become 1 Ki cheaper within 3" of the shrine and enemy Ki feats become 1 Ki more expensive within 6".
Keep in mind that the Desecrated Shrines disappear when Yugio dies so don't bleed him dry too fast.
2x Kairai Militia w Ijimyo's Masks (8 rice x 2 + 2 Rice= 18 Rice): I gave these guys the masks because they have Reach. Fear(6) will help debuff your opponent and Reach will mitigate their Slow, meaning that they can be (even) more aggressive. Their Ki feat is strong but we have better use for our Ki (see Kato).
2x Kairai Farmer (7 rice x 2 = 14 rice): Again nice Ki feat, we may use it sometime after turn 3 if we have Ki to spare.
2x Kairai Villager (9 rice x 2 = 18 rice): Powerful Attack is nice, again nice Ki feat. Again maybe after turn 3 we will consider it (when Yugio bites the dust and upgrades to an Armoured Kairai).
Kairai general info: Their stats aren't too impressive. They are Slow, and slow with Move(3). But Fear(5),Soulless, Rise(4), Tough(1) makes them frustrating hard to get rid off. Especially with Kato's Prayer of Undeath.
2x Kusatta Kairai (7 Rice x 2 = 14 rice): So these Kairai can actually die, but they have a very strong Ki feat that you might consider using earlier and they hurt your opponent if they get hit. Also they are your first choice for Protected(Kairai). Why sacrifice a perfectly serviceable Kairai with Rise when you can remove one of these instead?
Bonus: Armoured Kairai (12 rice each): 3 melee, Fear(5), Armour(2), Soulless, Rice(4), Tough(1), potential for Terror. Nice package for 12 rice, but Kato gets them for the low low costs of nothing.
Breath of Yurei (2 rice): LoS of 2" for most models in the game, except most of yours? Not bad, your opponent wants to Run? 2" max distance. Charge? Same. Shoot at Kato? Nope. And the second round you can extend it for the low cost of losing the Tactical roll.
Drain Spirit (1 rice): Does your opponent have a lot of Ki and you're a little low? Time for them to share.

This list is a pain in the backside to play against. What works? A ton of movement control, Slam Attacks, Size tests, Move tests, ... Fire. Fire solves a lot of problems too. Especially Fire Kami to attack Kato. Steal his activations and force him to sacrifice Kairai to survive. Ranged Models with Deadeye so the Kairai can't prevent you from actually hitting Kato by jumping in front of the arrow.

Score early, score often, and keep the pressure on Kato, you will not win the long game against this list.