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Current IssueArchives05/19/00 Issue
| Legalese: Genetic Anomalies, Chron X, and the GA and Chron X logos are TM & © 2002 Genetic Anomalies, Inc. |
Deck building hints, tips, and concepts
This week, a report from the Pacifica fast lane.
Got something to say about this column? Don't just sit there and stew, tell the author!
Copyright © 2002 Genetic Anomalies, Inc. Republication by permission only
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
by Synthoid
All players had to use Mobile HQ and announce their starting Headquarters locations.
On Sunday, May 15, Guide Aaron B. hosted a very fun tournament called Race Day. Although there were only eleven players, the format turned out to be refreshingly different and quite interesting.
In this new format, developed by Aaron B., all players had to use Mobile HQ and announce their starting Headquarters locations. You could only deploy a base in the city where your Headquarters was currently located, so the goal was to move your Headquarters all over the Pacifica map, dropping bases along the way. If at the end of your turn, you had a base in all the cities including TDEP, you "finished the race" and won the match. (Excavation Site 3, or ES3, was excluded because it's impossible to deploy a base there).
Blackout was banned, along with assets with more than Firepower 4. Also banned were the Underground bases, so finding enemy bases is not hard. Neither player could attack the enemy Headquarters. There was a 45 minute time limit on matches.
Wacky Racers
The main idea was to use Power Sink to slow the enemy Headquarters to a standstill.
When I was building my deck, I kept thinking of an old cartoon I used to watch where various characters drove around in colorful vehicles to compete in a race around the world. In the race, there would be the good guys (i.e. a hillbilly in a jalopy, a guy in a hot rod, a cave man, etc.) and the bad guys.
One particular bad guy was driving around sabotaging everybody else and cackling with glee as he did his dastardly deeds. For example, he would drive ahead and change the signs so people went the wrong way, or he would launch oil slicks or drop barrels of glue to slow everybody else down.
I decided I would try to emulate this maniacal mad genius. The main idea was to use Power Sink to slow the enemy Headquarters to a standstill. Mobile HQ requires 1 of each resource, so if I could sap enough cyber resources, the opponent would not be able to move! Meanwhile, my Headquarters would tear around the race course, dropping bases as fast as possible for a surprise speed win.
Pit Crew
To ensure I had resources to move my Headquarters, I used Arell Cartel Lieutenant.
To ensure I had resources to move my Headquarters, I used Arell Cartel Lieutenant. The Lieutenant sells a piece of your Headquarters on the black market for 1 of each resource. If your Headquarters has a structure on it, it is removed (sold), otherwise your Headquarters takes 1 Hit Point damage. Since the enemy cannot attack my Headquarters, I figured it would be safe to damage it a bit.
Unfortunately, Arell Cartel Lieutenant also provides a way for your opponent to ignore Power Sink. After the Power Sink drops you down to 0 cyber, you can always use the Lieutenant to generate enough to move the Mobile HQ. So, it ends up slowing down cyber resources, but doesn't entirely prevent your opponents from moving their Headquarters.
The Ruka Dogs and Sarkov Escorts (two-for-one) assets were mainly there to drop into ES3 to draw more bases. However, during actual game play, they also proved useful as base hunters and protectors. By destroying enemy bases, you slow down their resources, and also put them farther away from winning.
Once I got to TDEP, I dropped other bases, where I could take full benefit of the TDEP double resource generation.
To stop the opponent from doing that to me, I decided to use big beefy bases, such as PreFab Fortress and UN Bastion. Also, Build Site was very important, because it is Top Deck. I figured I would need four Build Sites because I wanted to move my Mobile HQ into TDEP as soon as possible. Once I got to TDEP, I dropped other bases, where I could take full benefit of the TDEP double resource generation. This really got me ahead of the resource track, allowing me to move my Mobile HQ just about every turn, and also launch an attack or two as well.
Scavenger Gang had to be included, because it could wipe out enemy Build Sites in a blink, and give enough resources to move the HQ three times, to boot.
I included Eminent Domain to use against stubborn bases, such as Hi Flux Nuke or Hisho Fortress. However, during the tourney, it turned out to be less useful than I thought.
Performance Trials
Synthoid's Racing Deck
Assets
4 Arell Cartel Lieutenant
4 Ruka Dogs
4 Sarkov Combine Escort
Enhancements
4 Power Sink
Interventions
4 Eminent Domain
4 Scavenger Gang
Bases
1 Mobile HQ
4 Build Site
3 PreFab Fortress
4 T'am Line
4 UN Bastion
4 Wiring Factory
Here's the deck I used during the tourney.
Here's how the deck played out. It turned out that Power Sink was not as all-powerful as I had thought. Once I tagged an enemy asset with the Sink, they headed immediately for ES3. Power Sink works best when you put it on an asset that requires cyber to move. Unfortunately, many of the low stealth cyber assets were banned because their firepower exceeded the 4 Firepower limit. Thus, most of the enemy cyber assets were invisible to me.
However, because the enemy was in a hurry to get rid of Power Sink, I could remove an enemy asset that way, and perhaps drain a little cyber, too.
Lap One
It is very easy to fall into the habit of dropping a base into TDEP on Pacifica.
I won my first match handily. The format was such a radical departure from most tournaments, that a lot of folks had difficulty adjusting to. In fact, my opponent disqualified himself by playing a base into TDEP when his Headquarters was not there. It is very easy to fall into the habit of dropping a base into TDEP on Pacifica, such that you might even do it by mistake.
We decided to continue play despite the faux pas, and I ended up winning anyway. I simply raced my Headquarters around the board before the other guy, and won the race with a friendly base dropped into each city. Actually, I was glad we kept playing, because I learned a couple of valuable lessons about what order to play bases from the extra practice.
Lap Two
The next match, I was able to play a Power Sink onto an enemy Arell Cartel Lieutenant, but he promptly marched him into ES3, minimizing the effects. This turned out to be a fatal mistake, however, because he moved his Headquarters into TDEP and played a regular resource base there.
Unfortunately, he did not have enough resources to move the Headquarters out, and he already lost his Arell Cartel Lieutenant. Also, he could not play Build Site, because he was already producing a resource that Build Site produces. Actually, I can see how you might make this kind of mistake. When you drop a Build Site into TDEP, it does not get any resource doubling bonus, because it only produces resources for one turn. So, it would be tempting to drop a regular base.
I ended up winning that match, although with a little more difficulty. That is to be expected, because in tournament play you usually play against tougher opponents as you progress. When your opponent is stuck in the mud ditch of TDEP, it's just a matter of time before you win the race.
Lap Three
The third match of the day for me was much tougher. I played Crookie Maunster, and he had a very interesting strategy. Basically, in the early game, I didn't see much of any resistance, although he did drop several covert bases. I was kept guessing as to what all that covert was for.
Meanwhile, Crookie dropped a Comforce Attack Squad into TDEP. This asset is perfect for the format. It's fairly beefy with 10/4/6/1/1/1 stats, and is still legal with Firepower 4. The best part is that its special ability prevents it from being blocked when it base hunts.
However, I was able to slap a Power Sink onto him and he promptly disappeared into ES3. My Mobile HQ was making the rounds and was just one turn away from winning, when the unexpected happened...
One of my Build Sites was Scavenger Ganged out from under the two Ruka Dogs protecting it. The diabolical part was that it was in the opposite corner of the map. It can take 3 or 4 turns to move your Mobile HQ over to fill the gap.
Build Sites and UN Bastions are both ready targets of enemy Gangs.
Unfortunately, when I finally got near the last empty city, yet another base was scavenged out from under me. This was annoying, as Build Sites and UN Bastions are both ready targets of enemy Gangs. Well, I thought, surely after the enemy runs out of Scavenger Gangs, I would have my win.
After a few more fool's errands running around futilely plugging leaks, Crookie sprang his big surprise on me. He started using Buyout to take over my remaining bases. Not only can this reduce your city count, but it increases his! Fortunately, Crookie didn't have enough bases to win yet.
At this point, we ran into the 45 minute time limit and had to declare the match a draw. The "drawback" (no pun intended) of using a purely defensive deck is that you might not have enough time to win outright and have to either hope for a concession, or settle for a draw.
The Finish Line
The ace up Kosh's sleeve was a little played card called Chthonic Embrace.
In my final match, I ran into the toughest opponent yet. Kosh had what also appeared to be a defensive deck. However, I was in for a rude awakening. The ace up Kosh's sleeve was a little played card called Chthonic Embrace. Kosh waited until I was one city away from the win, before he ran his Embrace on my Mobile HQ. The Embrace kept pulling my Mobile HQ away from the last city. To compound matters, I didn't include high perception assets that could root out the enemy programmer and launch an attack. I could not win!
I felt like the handlebar-moustached villain in the cartoon race, who was foiled at the last leg, with the finish line in sight but no way to win. However, my sincere congratulations go out to Kosh, who deserved the win. It demonstrates that originality and a well thought out deck can really pay off.
The Checkered Flag
Aaron B. said that he might use this format again. If so, Frozen came up with a great idea. If you're not allowed to directly attack the enemy Headquarters, perhaps you could destroy it by using missiles, programs, or interventions. Personally, I would have liked to just be able to attack it directly. Otherwise, it can be used to shield a valuable asset, such as the programmer who ran Cthonic Embrace.
It's interesting how seldom used cards such as Chthonic Embrace and Buyout suddenly become extremely useful.
Some other useful cards for this format are Emergency Funds and Warehouse to provide resources, and Meme Reset to wipe out your opponent's hand. Relovan Enforcer becomes a monster base killer in this format. Also useful might be Holic Intuitive, especially if your opponent uses many copies of the same common base. Of course, resource generation assets, such as Tobi Wong and B&E Perp are as useful as ever. It's interesting how seldom used cards such as Chthonic Embrace and Buyout suddenly become extremely useful.
The Race Day format shows how a little imagination can put a whole new spin on the game of Chron X.
