General description:
I’m certain that the usefulness of the limit/ransom crew has been discussed to death so bear with me as I now take my turn to talk it even farther underground. By including Li Quin, Wizkids has made the Jade Rebellion the most well rounded of the flavor-of-the-expansion new nationalities. I wasn’t on the tournament/booster draft scene when South China Seas came out but Li Quin and American crew Commodore Matthew Perry must have been huge difference makers.
Uses:
Even a novice Pirates player can see the benefit of having 5 points at their disposal post-setup. The possibilities are narrowed down since your purchase will be made based on what you can gather from your opponent’s build. Choose wisely, my son. Purchasing one of the 5 point “bounty” ships (HMS Cumberland, El Chico, Treachery, L’Intrepide) where your opponent does not have a ship of the chosen nationality might be one way to go but as with anything, experience will be your best guide. Play and learn.
Strategies and game play:
Don’t put this kind of crew aboard a slow ship unable to defend itself. One can only tempt fate for so long before it sees fit to use a pair of tongs to pluck Li Quin from the buffet steam table and place him next to the basmati rice. 
Once his safety has been seen to, there’s not much else to do since Li Quin can do nothing more for you.
Combos with other miniatures:
Li Quin can assist any fleet with a Jade Rebellion ship but when a fleet is made up of only one ship and that ship is a Jade Rebellion ship, namely, the Baochuan, he is absolutely essential. Li Quin is the only crew that makes a 40 point game with Baochuan even plausible. My build would go something like this:
Baochuan (30)
Admiral Zheng He (6)
Helmsman (2)
Favor of the Gods (2)
Li Quin (0)
Warlord Cavendish (5)
Favor of the Gods is a must to get rid of a possible Mermaids. My contribution to the treasure pool would be:
Castaway (which I would use to fetch Lady Baptiste for rerolling those additional action rolls and perhaps rerolling Firepot Specialist fire mast rolls)
Abandoned Captain
Abandoned Shipwright
Trees
Three 4 gold coins and one 3 gold coin.
With any luck, the Baochuan can pin, shoot at and derelict a Pirate gunship and can “borrow” its Pirate crew (one of which will be a Captain) which will pledge their loyalty to the Baochuan thanks to Warlord Cavendish. Pirates are a popular nationality. Yup yup.
Ways to counteract it:
Once Li Quin has done his thing, it’s too late to do anything, really. Capturing him won’t remove what was bought from the game.
Strengths/Pros:
You can’t get more for less than from this type of Ransom crew. The other Ransom crew that links with another crew of its nationality and allows a reroll is not half bad but rerolling is becoming more common as a natural ship ability while being given 5 extra points will most likely never become a ship ability.
Weaknesses/Cons:
This kind of crew’s weakness is its Ransom keyword but since it takes some work to wrest from you and a higher reward might be waiting on a wild island, you might not have to worry about it much. Even if it does become treasure, you could snatch it back with the appropriate ship ability should it be worth your while to do so. Overall, its weakness does not even come close to outweighing the advantage it grants.
Artwork and aesthetics:
The art for Li Quin appears to be above average but he was given the Administrator Scott Bratley treatment in that he does not have a full card all his own (The Hag of Tortuga, Contessa Anita Amore, Vicomte Jules De Cissey and Commodore Matthew Perry all receiving a full card for enlarged artwork).
Overall rating:
Li Quin’s ability is a one-shot deal that can’t be stopped, can’t be canceled and has a drawback which, personally, I can live with and if I can live with it, so can you! 
Additionally, it just gets better with time since new ships, crew and events within the 5 point range are bound to come out, making for only more possibilities. I give Li Quin and all other crew like it an 8 out of 10.
Miniature Trading
