Weekly One-Shot #244: Super Stories #3

In the kingdom of Mordengard, Heroic Luminary, vanilla Legacy, and Super Scientific Tachyon attempt to repel an invasion by Advanced Warlord Voss (reduced damage by heroes on one side, extra card plays on the other).  With Devices and Minions aplenty, what will happen?  In my case, an easy mint (26/21/21).  Just keep having Tachyon run Experiments on Luminary's deck either gets cards in play faster (and more devices feeds Luminary's Empowered Attack nicely) or fills the trash faster for the doomsday devices, so you win either way.  I'll definitely play this one again for fun!

I actually ended up losing to an overrun of Earth. D: I kept forgetting about the -1 damage and that led to poor calculations on my part as to what I could handle.

It honestly isn't too hard, but it's shaping up to be a very lengthy fight. Experiment got a lot of traction on Legacy, though, worth mentioning.

EDIT: Near Mint. Foreknowledge of how the Experiments will generally go helps a ton!

Yeah, I made some boneheaded plays that forgot about DR.

Replay was closer.  Remote Walking Tank aimed at Luminary, was redirected to Disposable Defender, was destroyed by some Backlash Generators, and played Forced Deployment.  Crap.  Survived Voss's turn, and Explosive Reconstructor set up the win, 5/3/7.

EZPZ mint, 23/21/19. Just experiment with Luminary until you can doomsday laser Voss, then perhaps Tachyon will find some good stuff at the bottom of her deck for the coup de grace.

Mint with heroes at 27/25/25.

I was worried about Voss' "Advanced" rules, especially when it took so long to clear out Voss's minions (stupid "Gene-Bound Guard").  But once the heroes got rolling, they were a steamroller.

I think Tachyon used her innate powers on Luminary almost every round.  I figured either:

- Luminary had two matching cards and she could play them (great!); or

- Luminary would grow her discard pile, powering up her "Orbital Death-Laser" (great!).

Legacy's play wasn't exciting, but it was critical.  His eventual +2 to damage for all hero targets really was significant, and he played "Take Down" twice on turns that Voss would play an extra card, canceling all of Voss' card plays.  His last turn I let Legacy punch Voss, but it was pro forma at that point.

Tachyon was a big help getting Luminary set up (see above), and got rid of some annoying environment cards and minions.  Oh, that reminds me: I took a gamble and left the environment's "Mobile Alert Platform" in play the entire game (minions and devices +1 damage sent out, -1 to incoming damage), hoping it would help the heroes more than hurt them.  I was right.

But the big hitter was Luminary.  I think in the last two rounds Luminary (and her devices) did over 70 points of damage to Voss.  Yes, she fired her "Orbital Death-Laser" into Voss on her last turn, and it was GLORIOUS!  She was also doing about 13 points of damage with her innate power as well.  I really through Tachyon would be the big damage-dealer this game (I was mining her deck for "Lightspeed Barrage" cards and was dumping "Burst" cards into her trash), but Tachyon can't hold a candle to Luminary in this game.

Oh, be warned that "TCF Stalwart" shows up around round 4, which made me swear, but the heroes were able to take it out before the end of that round.  I believe that was the last card Voss played.

Oh, oh, another thought: I don't like "Remote Walking Tank" in the Mordengrad deck for the free card play it gives the villain when you destroy it.  But realized that when Legacy has "Take Down" in play, that nulifies this extra card play.  Nice!

I have had fights with Luminary on the hero team in Mordengrad before, but the synergy never worked as well as it did here.

Fun match.  Would fight again.

My first time, I used Explosive Reconstructor first to get all of the devices in play.  Perhaps slower than the Orbital Death Laser, but so much fun!

First round: Luminary plays Disposable Defender; power is pointless. Legacy plays Bolster Allies, uses his power… Tachyon draws Synaptic Interruption, which she plays after HUD Goggles, then Experiments on Luminary. Gene-Bound Banshee targets Tachyon, who redirects it to the Guard.
Second round: Luminary plays Brilliant Inventor, which gives her a Regression Turret used to finish off the Guard. Done.

Leave “Device Assembly Line” in play, and it will discard the Stalwart for you.

Amazingly enough, those are exactly the moves I made in the first and second round. I guess I was just bummed that I couldn’t get rid of any minions the first round.

Oh, and also, I left “Device Assembly Line” in play the entire game, and “TCF Stalwart” still came out. Didn’t matter, since it burned up in orbit the same round it showed up. I must have done something else differently than you that modified Voss’ deck.

Oh, and oh, I played a second time, this time using Tachyon’s power on Luminary every turn (as opposed to almost every turn like I did in the first round). Surprisingly, the results were about the same (Luminary and Tachyon a bit healthier at the end, Legacy a bit worse for wear). But the first game seemed “better” (cards from bottom of Luminary’s deck lined up more nicely the first game).

But if you HAVE an Orbital Death-Laser, you should USE an Orbital Death-Laser…
(This card has one of my favorite fluff text on it:
“You all might want to step back. Further. Quite a bit further.”
My favorite is probably Mr. Fixer’s quote on “Explosive Wagon” from the “Silver Gulch” deck: “‘Why is there a cart full of explosives in the street?’ Nightmist asked in a concerned tone. Mr. Fixer put out his cigar. ‘Poor city planning.’”)

In hindsight, "Backlash Generator" is the better play first round, because it will actually survive and will zap somebody for you.

Regarding the Stalwart, I guess it's a timing difference in when Voss flips and when Take Down is played (with Device Assembly Line keeping his deck moving).  But you're right, it was easily taken care of.

There are occasionally times when the death laser isn't the best choice.  If The Explosive Reconstructor means that you end up with the other 17 devices in play, without any damage boosts, you get 2 fire damage from it, 17 damage from Empowered Attack (more if any environment devices are out), 3 instances of 1 melee damage from the Sabre Battle Drones, and possibly 3 more instances of 3 fire from them destroying devices, each of which can bring 1 toxic damage from "According to Plan".  And what bonuses do you have?  "According to Plan", "Inspiring Presence", "Galvanize", and "Mobile Alert Platform."  If my math is right, that's nearly 90 damage that round.  And unlike the laser, you'll get most of that next turn, too, if your devices survive.  And if things go on long enough (and you destroy enough devices), you may still get to use the laser anyway.  Maybe not the most efficient way to win, but certainly fun!

Yes, those cards are some of the best flavor text in the game -- or really, any game ;-)

I realized what makes this matchup so fun is the interplay of Luminary, Voss, and Mordengrad.  The minions in Mordengrad work to Voss's benefit (protecting him, damage from the Blade Battalion Commander, and and potentially being overrun -- boy, would that be embarrassing), but can also be used to keep him Voss from flipping (the Blade Battalion Platoon).  Mobile Alert Platform and All According to Plan can make the Remote Walking Tank more dangerous, but they also help Luminary's devices.  Fun interplay.