Valor toolkit:

Core Toolkit

Clawclan Scout (U, BW): 3V 2/4/5, @ skirmish – outclasses the Runetagged Brawler as fodder of choice. Skirmish is far better than an extra point of defense, and it’s Bloodcut, which allows you to take advantage of some lineage-based abilities (Steelborn Lion, Kitsune).  It's hard to overstate the power of skirmish, which can help you win early turns by maneuvering pieces into high-value scoring cells and late turns by moving your power pieces around for multiple strikes.

Pearlthorn Castle (U, BS): 3VV – being a location, it spawns wherever you have troops, and with a zero cost spawn ability, it can move one of your pieces the instant it spawns. Did you overextend to win an early turn? Spawn the castle and immediately pull your guy back into friendly territory. Ideal spots for the castle are the center cell and the cell in the center column between the key cell and your spawn row, where it can help move your pieces into action faster and allow you to dominate the vital center of the dreamscape.

Inspired Samurai (C, BS): 4V 1/5/8, bodyguard – about as survivable as it gets for this spawn cost, the samurai is key for making your other, high-value troops more survivable. His low power can be a tough sell, but he’s almost indispensable in a passion/valor band, where you’ll have other high power creatures who seriously need his protection.  And if your metagame likes the new Ooktolok, you'll be glad to have this guy around to shut down that crazy stray warpstrike 7.

Scarab Warcharm (R, BS): 4V 2/6/7, @ skirmish, @@@ advance – widely viewed as the best piece in the game, the warcharm is cheap to spawn and fills an important slot in the spawn curve. With skirmish and advance, it gives ultimate flexibility for maneuvering your own pieces. Though its power isn’t high, its survivability is excellent for its cost. Team it up with some power and quickly maneuver your troops into position. The downside is that the dollar cost of this figure on the secondary market precludes most players from having one (or 3).

Twilight Scout (C, BS): 5V 3/5/7, @ advance – while not as impressive as the cheaper Clawclan Scout, it does have pretty good stats for its cost, and the advance ability can sometimes be more important, especially in the early game, where you're trying to help your power pieces catch up, or your pieces with "defender" to get into a cell where they can strike. With power 3, you have a pretty decent chance for a blade when it strikes, too. The Bloodcut lineage is also worth noting.

Knight of Strife and Joy (U, BS): 5V 4/6/7, @ skirmish 2, defender – the ability to skirmish two pieces with one blade is enormously powerful, especially in a relatively cheap piece that has power 4. The defender ability makes him a tough sell, but with other movement abilities to get him into place (Pearlthorn Castle, Lunar Handmaiden, Scarab Warcharm, etc.) he can be very much worth including in a band.

Lunar Handmaiden (U, BS): 6VV 3/7/9, (1,Y) advance – the advance ability during spawn phase is usually well worth the spawn cost, especially with so many good pieces, now, that have spawn phase abilities that require them to be in a scoring cell.  On her own, or combined with a Pearlthorn Castle, she can give you tremendous capability to shape the battlefield at the beginning of a turn. Most opponents will go to significant lengths to neutralize this threat, and with good stats for her cost, she’s not so easy to neutralize.

Kitsune (U, BW): 7V 4/7/9, (0) pull bloodcut – Kitsune takes over the 7-spawn slot from the Hawk-eyed Instigator primarily because of the Brighthammer Avenger.  The piece is about as efficient stat-wise, and it allows you another way to throw those avengers around during the spawn phase.  Suddenly both end up in the core toolkit.

Brighthammer Avenger (R, BS): 8V 0/8/10, charge 6 – This guy was already worth considering, but because of the Kitsune, it now belongs in core.  He's probably best used in multiples, since a single power 6 attack isn’t enough to take out much except fodder pieces, and, since its attack comes when it moves, you generally can’t power blade abilities with his attack or pile on damage from other sources.  Also, you'll want some pieces with skirmish to keep him moving during your action phases, but that's really not a problem with the efficiency of the Clawclan Scout, among others.

Pearlthorn Gargoyle (R, BW): 10V 5/9/11, (Y) flux ward – while the straight-up stats aren’t that great (compare to Inscribed Axebeast at the same spawn cost), this guy becomes a beast once you move him into a scoring cell. The potential for having him be a 14/16 brute to squat in your 5-cell makes him almost an indispensable piece at the high end of the spawn curve.

Extended Toolkit

Arch of Triumph (U, BW): 4VV – pretty impressive ability – create a spawn location anywhere on the battlefield you like. The drawback that it shuts down with local enemies means you need to be able to control your opponents’ positioning (ideally during spawn phase), which means the arch probably works best with a Voodoo Manipulator and/or Thunder Sultan.�Tough to say, yet, how well it’ll play.

Steelborn Lion (U, BS): 4VV 3/4/5 – While its stats aren’t that impressive, they aren’t horrible, either. It’s the ability to reinforce your Clawclan and Twilight Scouts that makes him worth playing. If you start by spawning two scouts (or a scout and a warcharm) and then reinforce with this guy once they get into a fight, you’ll be rolling enough dice to not only thwack enemy fodder but also likely get some blades to move around the rest of your troops and take control of the dreamscape.

Virtuous Maiden (R, BW): 4VV 2/5/6, (1) enrage – you won’t include this piece for her stats, but for her spawn phase ability.�One weakness of valor is the relatively low power of its pieces.�The maiden fills that gap, which can be especially important not just for damage, but for powering blade abilities.�Because she needs to stick around to boost your pieces’ power, considering teaming her with a bodyguard (who, incidentally, has his most glaring weakness improved by her presence).�Also, don’t forget that you’re often going to need to save a spawn point to power her ability, so take that into account when considering your spawn curve.

Knight of Tomorrow (C, BS): 5V 2/7/8, @ skirmish – very survivable for his cost, he gives you an economical way to include skirmish in your warband, but I’d say he’s now overshadowed by the Clawclan Scout, and of course the Scarab Warcharm.�Still, he’s a viable alternative to the Twilight Scout in the 5-spawn slot.

Hawk-eyed Instigator (U, BS): 7VV 4/8/8, @@@ advance – more survivable than the warcharm, this guy also has enough power to take an accounting of himself and often power his own blade ability. Multi-blade advance is a very powerful ability for maneuvering your troops into position.

Whirlwind Dervish (R, BS): 8VV 4/8/9, (2) teleport self – if you have 10 spawn points, this figure can spawn and then move anywhere on the board during the spawn phase. That may amount to nothing more than a reinforce ability, but it can also be used for a surprise strike in an enemy-occupied cell or to disrupt your opponent’s move paths or score by moving into an otherwise unreachable empty cell. That flexibility, and the fact that the ability can be used every turn, makes it worth the cost.�Just keep in mind that you probably want it to fill the 10-spawn spot in the spawn curve, because you’re almost always going to want to use the spawn ability on the same turn you spawn it, if you want to get the most out of this piece.�(This might be a core piece, but I think it competes against the Pearlthorn Gargoyle.)

Loyal Scragglemaw (U, BS): 9V 4/11/12 – nothing special, but pretty decent stats for its cost if you need to fill its spot on the spawn curve.

Inscribed Axebeast (U, BS): 10V 6/11/13, vengeance 3 – nothing special, just excellent stats for its cost. The drawback means you can’t spawn him right away, and unlucky rolls might mean never spawning him. He also becomes a hard sell when the Pearlthorn Gargoyle occupies the same spot on the spawn curve.

Angel of Sunrise (R, BW): 11VVV 5/11/12, (*) haste gambit 2 – I’m not ready to call this piece core without trying it out.�The cost is quite high for the stats she brings to the table, so the haste gambit has to have big payoff for her to be worth playing.�Reshaping the battlefield, as she can do, can be huge in the late game, but the risk because of the granted victory point is also very high.

Noble Dragon (R, BS): 12V 6/11/12, @ payback – while his raw stats aren’t as good as valor’s biggest brute, the Inscribed Axebeast, the payback ability makes this guy tremendously powerful against your opponent’s high-value pieces, which probably makes the extra spawn cost worth it.�The high spawn cost, though, means you probably should spawn him as soon as you can rather than waiting for the opportune time.�That disadvantage makes me hesitant to call him a core piece.

Are we allowed to chime in for passion?  It looks like a lot of valor so far.

The Infernal Gothic belongs in the top five passion pieces.  I include 3 in a double HBT band.  They roll 5 dice, are moderately survivable, and have multiblade lure.  They play well with reapers and with the unsated Ragedrake.  I believe that they belong FIRMLY in the core toolkit.

Edit: I took some suggestions to heart.  Probably still some cutting to do.

Passion:

Core toolkit:

Hammerhead (R, BW): 3P 3/1/2, (Y,0) double stakes – this guy makes core despite being laughably fragile (he’s even easier to spank than the pathetic Boneclan Hunter) simply because double stakes is such a powerful, game-changing ability.  Passion bands generally have a hard time getting and keeping an early lead because the fragility of their pieces encourages cautious play until massive force can be brought to bear.�This guy can help you catch up by capitalizing on one or more turns where you have the advantage.�Be sure of your timing, though, because use of the double stakes ability at the wrong time will give away the game.�Since keeping him around until you’re ready to use double stakes can be a challenge, consider teaming him with spawn phase movement abilities, like the Pearlthorn Castle and Lunar Handmaiden, so that you don’t have to risk prepositioning him in a scoring cell only to find that the timing isn’t right for double stakes.

 
Heartsblood Temple (R, BS): 3PP – with passion, the reality is that you have to pay a lot of spawn to get an effective force on the table.�That’s where the temple comes in, as the most efficient way to generate extra spawn points.�I find that the best place for the temple is your opponent’s 4-cell.�If he wants to win, your opponent will have to occupy the significant scoring cells and thus activate the temple’s ability, giving you the bonus spawn you need.�Another reasonable place is the center cell, and some players advocate having a temple in each location to get up to +4 spawn each turn (I’m not quite convinced that’s the best strategy).�If you play the temple, build your band to take advantage of the skewed spawn curve.

Buzzclaw (U, BW): 5P 4/3/4, (*) spur – in play, he looks just like the Bloodthirsty Redcap, but the spur ability and lack of bloodthirsty make him a good fit in the 5-spawn slot for passion.�If you hold off a little before bringing this guy into play, chances are you’ll be able to drop at least a 6-power attack as soon as he spawns.�His ability could be vital to allow you survive a turn where you’ve lost initiative after your opponent closed with one or more of your fragile passion pieces.�The threat of this piece also helps to allow you to control the timing of engagements, which passion needs in order to stay in the game.

Infernal Gothic (C, BW): 7P 5/5/7, @@@ Lure – more expensive than the Alluring Succubus, he’s also much, much better.�Passion needs to fight to win, and to do that, you need to either move to the enemy or move the enemy to you to strike.�The Gothic does the latter for you with fairly good stats and multiblade lure.�Teamed with fear creatures, you’ll have total flexibility when pushing your opponent’s pieces around.�This guy makes an amazing friend (or foe) for a Fleshless Reaper.

Unsated Ragedrake (R, BW): 13PP 10/8/11, @ crit 3, @ trample – all I can say is, Holy Moly!�Sure, he suffers from the common passion problem of low defense/life for his cost, but power 10 with crit 3 and trample is fearsome in the extreme.�Just don’t let a Noble Dragon get a strike in against this guy.

Extended toolkit:

Bloodthirsty Redcap (U, BS): 3P 4/3/4, bloodthirsty – Bloodthirsty is quite a drawback, but power 4 goes a long way to make up for it.�Now that we have the Hammerhead and his game-changing double stakes ability, the redcap drops to extended because of bloodthirsty, which seriously hurts in a metagame with any significant Spellbound Scissors presence.�Were there an extremely efficient piece with ferocity the redcap might jump back to core, despite the risk of being neutered by scissors.

Rainforest Shaman (C, BS): 4P 2/3/5, (Y) energize 1 - okay, so his stats look more appropriate for a 2P piece.  Still he can give you bonus spawn starting turn 3, which helps to mitigate the pain of a bad spawn roll in this critical point in the game.  He might be the difference allowing you to spawn a Heartsblood Temple early without sacrificing too much in the muscle department.  And your opponent will probably make a special effort to eliminate (or otherwise neutralize) him, which you can play to your advantage.  If you do manage to keep him around to earn 2 or more spawn points, then he's most certainly paid his keep.

Shard Troll (R, BS): 4PPP 2/3/4, (X) assault X – for what he does, he’s painfully fragile (you can’t afford to leave him engaged with an enemy if you’ve gone first in a turn), but once you pay the aspect cost, he’s also cheap.�As with the Buzzclaw, the ability to do massive damage in the spawn phase can be a life saver for passion.�It sure can hurt, though, if you move him into position for an assault strike and then you miss a spawn phase.�Also, his ability should be used sparingly, because it may leave you at a disadvantage in numbers in the dreamscape.  So, why this guy and not the Flame Harrower, who can fire an assault 5 with fewer spawn?  Simply because assault 5 is generally not going to be enough for a significant effect.  The Shard Troll lets you dump as many spawn as you think you need for a decisive assault--overkill is less wasteful than an assault attack that fizzles because of poor rolls.

Boneblade Serpent (C, BS): 5P 3/3/5, @ ferocity – for the cost, this guy’s stats aren’t very good, and he has an uncharacteristically lower power for a passion creature.�He’s worth considering, though, until there’s a more efficient creature with ferocity.�A Bloodthirsty Redcap benefits significantly by being paired with this guy, especially versus madness.�Just watch out for the copious death blows if you went first in the turn.

Heart Thief (R, BW): 7P 4/4/6, (Y) energy feed – there are several pieces and a few passion strategies that are severely hamstrung if you miss a spawn phase during the wrong turn.�The Heart Thief can fix that problem, possibly turning a “no spawn” turn into a game winner for you.�Since she’s otherwise a less powerful Bladehound, though, I’m guessing she'll be too high-variance to be considered core.

Bloodhawk Barag (R, BW): 8P 6/5/7, @ crit 2, (Y,0) energy gambit – while the energy gambit might not often be worth using, the rest of his abilities are identical to the more expensive Savage Ogre, and so I think his spawn cost is where it needs to be to be worth playing.�The gambit can always be used in a round where it’s vital that you get one of the more expensive brutes into play.

Slaughter Boots (U, BS): 8P 6/4/6, @@ demolish – as the only piece in the game capable of removing locations from the dreamscape, it’s worth considering.�It’s definitely not a core tool, though, because you won’t always face opponents with locations worth destroying, in which case its nothing more than a less efficient Bladehound.�Also, since the Heartsblood Temple will often be used in passion bands, the Pearlthorn Castle will see use in a lot of passion/valor bands, and the demolish ability is not optional and not restricted to enemy locations, you have to watch out when including this and a location of your own in your warband.

Warlust Satyr (C, BW): 8P 6/5/6, @@@ battle energize 1 – not the greatest of stats, but about par for passion, and being able to turn blades into spawn points seems like a very useful ability.�It’s one I would consider, particularly in a bloodcut band.

Forgeblind Punisher (U, BS): 9P 8/4/6 – talk about a glass cannon, this guy is about as squishy as it gets for such an expensive piece, but boy does he pack a punch.�The punisher is worth considering for his ability to power the blade abilities of your other creatures.�He has to be protected, though, so seriously consider a bodyguard for him.�Also, play him with pieces that have the skirmish ability.�That way, after he lays down the punishment, you can skirmish him away so that he doesn’t become the target for death blows, and you can potentially use his power to blast another set of enemies.

Tlamixec Battlelord (R, BS): 9P 5/6/9, enrage bloodcut 1 – in an all bloodcut band, I can’t imagine not playing this guy.�He’s fairly survivable for his cost, for passion, and quite a few bloodcut pieces can really benefit from the enrage ability.

Axemorph Demon (R, BS): 12PP 6/8/11, @@ crit 10 – yes, he’s expensive, and yes he’s vulnerable (for a 12-spawn piece), but crit 10 is a beastly ability, even if it is a double blade ability.�You’ll want him to attack with at least one friend for a good chance to power that crit.�(Attacking alone, he only has about 1-in-4 chance to crit.)

Made some suggested changes.  Anyone actually played with the Hammerhead, yet, and made it work?  Granted, 1/2 defense/life isn't much worse than 2/3, but it is worse.  Another thing that makes me hesitate is that I don't have a feel for how much finesse is required to make double stakes work for you.

Okay, fear was next on my list.  Seems a bit sparse.  What am I missing?

Fear toolkit:

Core toolkit:

Cannibal Pariah (C, BS): 2F 2/3/4 – just great stats for a fodder piece.

Zombie Enforcer (C, BS): 3F 2/4/6 – good stats for fodder make this guy generally the best fear choice at the 3-spot in the spawn curve.

Jack of Blades (C, BS): 5F 3/4/7, @ expel – he lacks the flexibility of the poltergeist, but the fact that he’s cheaper to spawn in the early game makes him a little more valuable and thus a core tool.  There's simply no quicker way to get a creature with expel into play, which can be critical to winning early to mid-game turns (in the late game, you'll be relying instead on bigger pieces like the Dreadmorph Ogre, probably).  Expel is an extremely powerful ability, on par with skirmish, and should not be discounted.
 

Knight of Autumn Gate (C, BS): 6FF 5/7/11, appease – with amazing stats for his cost, this guy is worth playing even if you’re not trying to pump up your graveyard to power a Carrion Spiker or give Baxar “call” targets.�Appeasement might look like a drawback, but it actually allows you to get and keep an early lead because you can risk spreading yourself thin to win early turns by getting to the high-scoring cells.�If you do that with other bands, your opponent will have the opportunity to win points later by destroying the fodder you’ve hung out on a limb.�Appease lets you sacrifice the creature(s) first and remove a scoring opportunity for your opponent, in the process spawning a highly efficient fighter as his replacement.

Fleshless Reaper (R, BS): 8F 0/7/10, ambush – power 0 is certainly a drawback, but if you park this guy in the right place, you can control the battlefield by exploiting your opponent’s fear of the ambush ability.�Even tough opponents have to weigh the risk that ambush might take them out, and if you can power ambush with a Dearkheart Cottage, the reaper becomes fearsome in the extreme.�Friends with lure, scare or expel can feed targets to the reaper and expel can move the enemy survivors away again, where the 0 power would be a real liability.�Teaming with valor pieces also allows you to move the reaper back into position if your opponent has the ability to move him out of his favorite ambush spot (generally the key cell in the center of the dreamscape).

Thunder Sultan (U, BS): 8FFF 5/6/8, (2) expel – complement to the Voodoo Manipulator, the sultan grants additional flexibility to your ability to disrupt your opponent’s positioning during spawn phase.�His ability is important especially if you lose initiative, since you can disrupt potentially devastating strikes against your key pieces, such as a Fleshless Reaper.

Voodoo Manipulator (R, BS): 8FFF 4/7/9, (2) scare – scare in the spawn phase is hugely disruptive to opponents and allows you to maintain excellent control of the battlefield.�The high aspect cost assures he’s only efficient in a heavily fear band, but he’s well worth it once aspect cost is paid.

Baxar the Soulstitcher (R, BW): 10F 5/8/11, (Y,X) Call, @ deathboon – call is an ability that just makes you go “wow”.�While he’s in a scoring cell, your graveyard becomes your reserves, with the added bonus that called creatures get to reinforce Baxar.�The deathboon ability can actually be a bit of a drawback, since it removes targets for the call ability, but since Baxar probably won’t be able to stay in a scoring cell forever, recharging your reserves isn’t a bad idea.�A Baxar band could definitely benefit from extra spawn points, so consider ways to boost your spawn total.

Dreadmorph Ogre (R, BS):�11FF 6/10/13, @@@ expel – great stats and multiblade expel make this guy one of fear’s most efficient high-end pieces.�He teams especially well with a Fleshless Reaper, but multiblade expel is, in generaly, truly awesome.  Don't forget that as long as you don't disrupt a target, damage doesn't clear until the end of the phase.  That allows you to lay on some damage in one cell and then expel that damaged target into another combat during the same phase, where you can finish it off.

Extended toolkit:

Barbstrider (U, BS): 2F 3/2/4, inciter 1 – power 3 in a 2-spawn creature is impressive, but the barbstrider can become a liability if a clever opponent turns the inciter ability against you.�If you play this guy, have a plan to get him out of the way before that happens (appease, for example), because your opponent may not always indulge you.

Knight of Pain and Sorrow (U, BS): 4FF 2/4/7, nullify valor – if valor blade abilities weren’t so prevalent in winning bands, this gal wouldn’t even make the extended list, since the cheaper Zombie Enforcer is just about as good, otherwise.�If you need a 4-spawn piece, though, she’s worth considering as anti-scarab “tech”.

Acolyte of Loss (U, BS): 5F 2/6/8, nullify – you’re not going to play him for his stats, but a lot of bands rely on powerful blade abilities to control the game.�With this guy, you can shut that down if you play carefully.�Just watch out that you don’t nullify your own abilities.

Genteel Hust (R, BS): 5FFF 2/5/6, dominate – he’s a bit on the fragile side, with no power to speak of, but he doesn’t have to strike to win a cell.�He offers yet another way that fear can control the battlefield.�With a bodyguard, especially, he can be a very frustrating opponent.

Butcher (C, BW): 6F 4/7/10, (*) corpsebuilt - corpsebuilt seems like quite a drawback, so why play this guy?  Baxar, that's why.  With stats equivalent to the more expensive Blight Rat, he makes sense with Baxar, since corpsebuilt can actually then be an advantage.  Consider that Baxar doesn't have to pay aspect cost when he calls one of your creatures from the graveyard.  That lets you consider off-aspect combos that would otherwise be too expensive.