Team Site master page Inheritance

I have a root site collection that is a team site and I set the master page in SPD, using the Set as Default and Set as Custom buttons. When I create a new site under the root team site it doesn't use the custom master page.

My understanding is that feature stapling no longer works in 2013.

I created a template site, set the master page by manually navigating to {site}/_layouts/15/ChangeSiteMasterPage.aspx. Saved the site as a template. Created a new site using the saved template, still no dice, its using OOB site template.

The behavior I would like to see would be similar to Publishing Site, that any site created under a given site would inherit its Master Page look and feel. Any advice or lit on how to distribute and default a custom master page would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.