Deck design by Doug Ingram.
This deck is designed using the following "house rules": - No Duplicates. - Auto-takeovers are allowed. - Play to 12 groups. If you want to play with duplicates, then there is certainly room in the plot deck for some fine tuning, but I wouldn't touch the groups or resources myself. In a two-player game or multi-player game without automatic takeovers, I would probably scrap this deck. In fact, I'm not convinced Bermuda's Illuminated goal is competitive in a game without auto-takeovers, but I'm sure someone will prove me wrong eventually. The title of the deck is a combination of perhaps the most famous quotes of your two media personalities, Bjorne and Ronald Reagan. I wish I could think of a better one off the top of my head. Of the 10 Rare cards in the deck, I consider only Texas and Messiah to be critically important. Savings and Loans is also important because it is the only Corporate and Criminal group (maybe Assassins will have another such card) and it has such nice special powers. Replacing it is difficult and left as an exercise to the reader. S&L's is such a good card, especially for the Gnomes, that you should get your hands on a copy. Subliminals is also an important Rare group, but you can get by without it (makes the deck a bit weaker, though). This deck is designed to win with Bermuda's Illuminated goal: Control 10 alignments and a total of 35 power, including Bermuda's own power. It uses a variety of media and personality bonuses to reach such a high power level. Lead ---- Madison Avenue -- Probably my favorite lead because it misleads the opposition. You get a +10 for direct control of Media groups, and with Bermuda's special power, such groups fit naturally. You have nice high rolls to attack to control any of the media groups in your hand (especially Recording Industry), and you'll need all the global power you can get your hands on. Reformed Church of Satan -- This is an excellent lead if, among your first three plot cards, you draw Messiah or Crop Circles. You can use the Magic action on the first draw to find the most useful plot card in the deck if you have Crop Circles. Alternatively, having the Church in play will help boost whichever personality you choose to make the Messiah. Remember, too, that Madison Avenue isn't all THAT great, since in the end, your other Corporate group (Recording Industry) is easy to take over and very useful for the power boost. Early Game ---------- Use your plots to guide you to a choice of which groups to play. For example, if you've got Terrorist Nuke, go ahead and get Texas or Professional Sports (in that order) out first. Of the Fanatic groups, the Church of Satan is more useful to you. Get the Orbital Mind Control Lasers out as soon as possible. You can use them for defense (turning groups straight, which, coupled with the presence of the Church of Satan, makes you immune any one group that you choose to turn Straight with the Lasers) or for a quick alignment change at the end to give you the win (nice hole card in case both of your "foo" groups happen to be at the bottom of the deck). Be cautious about playing Hollywood and/or California if there is a Cthulhu player in the game. If you do play them, keep them close to the center for the additional disaster protection and hope you draw Early Warning. Hollywood is easier to relieve (with 3 printed power) but also easier to destroy (being a small place). With luck, though, you'll draw some of your plot-cancelling cards for defense. If there is a Gnomes player in the game, you'd be better off keeping Savings & Loans in your hand as a hidden agent (Gnomes will have huge plusses to take it away from you if he's got a typical Gnomes power deck). That means the Telephone Psychics are your only Criminal group. Go ahead and get them out early if you can, since they have nice bonuses to take over your low-power Media groups (particularly Bjorne). If no Gnomes player is in the game, get out the S&L's as quickly as possible and forget about the Telephone Psychics. S&L's is a much more useful Criminal group. Offense and Defense ------------------- There are several nice offensive media cards in the deck that you shouldn't hesitate to use to slow others down. Nuclear Accident and Giant Kudzu are also useful monkey wrenches. Against an Adepts player, you'll probably find Subliminals to be very useful (all that Global power that can affect Secret groups). In spite of the Subliminals lack of alignments, you should get them out by the 2nd or 3rd turn. This strongly reinforces the illusion that you'll be playing a Media deck for some other goal, and it lets you put your finger in a lot of pies. Be ready and willing to cut deals with other players. With all your global power and your different alignments that will eventually come out, you'll be in a position to generate a lot of good (and bad) feelings. Depending upon how unscrupulous your group is, you should be able to guarantee yourself freedom from interference for a turn or two from some of the others. This is especially true given your ability (with either of the two appropriate plot cards) to get rid of New World Orders. You can always offer to use your media to power the NWO-killing plot cards of others...for a price. The only NWO that can really hurt you is "Don't Forget to Smash the State", but it tends to hurt so many others that you can be sure someone will act to squash it if you don't get to it first. Your own NWO is relatively useful for protecting your own groups from destruction, especially against your typical Cthulhu deck that relies on alignment bonuses for such things. Thanks to Aaron Curtis for suggesting this card for inclusion and correcting my initial misinterpretation. Use your +10 power cards for defense. Save your global power for defense as well. Keep your personalities close to the middle, and protect Bjorne exceptionally well (he's such a nice target for all those plot cards). Use Immortality Serum as an easy way to take over one of the two personalities (preferably Bjorne, especially if Cthulhu is in the game). General Strategy ---------------- Don't rely on any particular plot card to get you out of a jam. The plot deck is 30 cards deep, and you have no way (besides Crop Circles) of getting through it quickly. With luck, you'll pick up either Messiah or Crop Circles early since Messiah is the most useful plot card for you. As I said before, this deck has three places, so be especially prepared for disasters. Save your Hoax, Murphy's Law and Secrets... cards for these emergencies. By the very fact of your many different alignments, you'll find your power structure a little difficult to defend, so don't overextend yourself early in the game. You'll be able to start threatening the win by the end of around turn 4 or 5, unless the game is a real bloodbath. In fact, I've playtested scenarios where I reach my victory condition at the end of turn four having rolled only once (10 or less with power to spare) the whole time with BOTH resources in play! Keep a close eye on which alignments you have covered. Don't play both of the Fanatic groups (too hard to fit them in to your power structure) unless you really have nothing better to do. It's a good idea in general to focus on attaining Media groups early since it hides your true goal AND generates quite a bit of power for you (both regular and global). If you draw Media Connections early, USE IT! Definitely take advantage of Bermuda's special ability to reorganize, but use some foresight when rearranging your power structure at the end of a turn. Leave your structure defensible but also don't trap yourself without any useful open arrows for attacks to control on your following turn. If you can get away with it, sneak a media group below Bjorne to give him an extra action tokens, though this isn't important unless and until he gets his power increased. Bjorne is a fat target already...don't make him fatter by putting an important media group under him unless you know Bjorne's defense is solid. Other Options ------------- If you're really paranoid of either Adepts or Cthulhu, consider replacing Telephone Psychics and Madison Avenue (or Recording Industry) with Junk Mail and Red Cross. You keep your aligment balance the same, and you get more power against both Secret groups and Disasters. In fact, the Junk Mail/Subliminals/Media deck combination is probably the subject of a future Deck of the Week...