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As a CSM player I am very intrigued by Cypher. I am unsure if he really is that competitive but only time will tell. However, I am interested in trying him out to see if he actually helps out the 20 man CSM blob that had a lot of hype when it came out but unfortunately never worked. Anyways, here is what I am thinking of running him in:
20x CSM - Mark of Khorne, 2 MG (for blowing transports, plus flamers could put your target way out of range if charging something flamers are good against), Icon of Wrath (for FC and fleet for the whole squad, and possibly VotLW.
This is a pricey unit, but one I feel can work very well with other threats, or as a backfield disruptor.

The question is whether to infiltrate or to outflank. However, I understand there is a rules debate on whether or not Infiltrate can be conferred.

If infiltrating this squad it can pretty much always get the opportunity to start with a 3+ cover save or a 2+ if in ruins. This would make them a very tough nut to crack and I would probably opt for this if ruins were around. Also, with an army with multiple charging threats (I love to run double 5 man spawn units with a Juggerlord and Black Mace Nurgle Lord) this unit can help with target saturation.

Another choice is outflanking, which I feel would work best alongside gunline style armies like Noise Marines. 20 angry CSM charging in with S5 will make short work of most army's backlines. This unit would be perfect for wrecking those annoying Tau Aegis hunker deployments. They are also shrouded so still get a 5+ cover save on open ground, which is gravy.

I'm interested to see everybody else's thoughts on this, but I am excited to see if Cypher can finally make the 20 man CSM blob viable without requiring the less than stellar Master of Deception characters.

I think he will help the khorne blob pretty well but when you brought up noise marines, oooohhhhh boy that might get interesting haha

He give the unit shrouded too right? if so the NM idea is looking pretty tasty

Khorne makes the most sense to me, as hit and run can give you absurd amounts of attacks. Getting stuck in melee is easily MoK's biggest weakness (as they just become regular marines)

Solosam47 wrote:I think he will help the khorne blob pretty well but when you brought up noise marines, oooohhhhh boy that might get interesting haha

He give the unit shrouded too right? if so the NM idea is looking pretty tasty

Yeah he does give the unit shrouded. What are you thinking of?

McGibs wrote:Khorne makes the most sense to me, as hit and run can give you absurd amounts of attacks. Getting stuck in melee is easily MoK's biggest weakness (as they just become regular marines)

Exactly. He can just hit and run out on the opponent's turn (if they somehow didn't destroy what they charged, which could easily happen against tough things like centurions), which would allow them to run rampant in the opponent's lines.

Unfortunatley joining a squad happens after infiltrate I believe.

 Orock wrote:
Unfortunatley joining a squad happens after infiltrate I believe.

While that's true, a lot of the major tournaments are ruling it that an IC with infiltrate can give it to the unit he joins. For example, many of the people in the West Coast (USA) play it as you can because the Bay Area Open, Las Vegas Open and Feast of Blades tournament FAQ's allow you to do so. We tend to follow their FAQ's here.

So I recommend discussing it with your opponent pre-game to see how you guys should play the infiltrating part.