A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and a lot of knowledge is also dangerous . . . to your opponents. This deck uses Plots and Group special abilities to prove once and for all that Knowledge *is* Power.
If someone gets off to a roaring start, expose their plots, look at their groups, and tell the other players about the terrible things you find. Remember to make deals. If you have the Post Office, N.S.A. and Phone Company out, you can look at up to seven cards held by other players *without spending a single action token or using a single plot card!* Use that power, and cut deals with other players who want to know what *you* know. Don't use the discarding powers you have (from the Society for Creative Anarchism, Templars, Agent in Place, The Auditor From Hell, etc.) too early. You'll tick people off and make yourself a target. Early on, you're just nosey. Check out the lay of the land. Size up your opponents.
In the middle game, pick and choose among your opponents for the plots and groups you want to steal, or at least that you don't want *them* to have. See below for some Dirty Tricks to infuriate your enemies and delight your allies. And make sure you *do* have allies. Afflict the powerful, and aid the powerless. If you steal a plot that would help weak Player A defend her power structure against strong Player B, hand it over. Besides the joy of giving, you also make Player B miserable, and score points with Player A. Later, Player A may help you out of a jam, or at least Player B won't be as strong.
The Fast and Easy Power Win: N.S.A., the Phone Company and the Post Office all count double for the Network. If you get all three out, you are half way or more to a basic win in an 11 or 12 group game. Use Power Grab to get two in one turn and seize the win early, if possible.
Editor's note: According to current rulings, you may not declare victory on a turn when you use Power Grab. Therefore, if you try to Power Grab your victory, other players may pound you. Caveat player. RLM 1/31/97
The Switcheroo Win: Get your Magic Artifacts out and use Unmasked! to become the Adepts.
The Through the Looking Glass Win: *Start* as the Adepts, then when you have N.S.A., the Phone Company and the Post Office out use Unmasked! to become the Network. This sacrifices the extra plot per turn, but you gain some security in group take overs from your hand. And finally...
The Ugly Win: Use your plot killing and espionage powers to hamper your opponents so they can't win. Expose Goals and discard them. Steal key plots and throw them away, or use them on the players you stole them from.
* Eliza and the Book of Kells are almost as good as two Perpetual Motion Machines. Use Eliza to keep an extra action for defense on the Network. With the Book of Kells, you can boost your Illuminati's power or link it to a Magic group for an extra action token. If you link Sufficiently Advanced Technology to one of your Science groups, the Book of Kells will work for it, too.
* Don't forget to use your powers on your own decks to see what you have coming up and act accordingly.
* The NWO: The Magic Goes Away can really hurt you if you have your Magic Resources out. Keep NWO: Gun Control back to make *it* go away. Then turn the incident to your advantage by using Assertiveness Training on the N.S.A. or the Post Office.
* Mutual Betrayal needn't be all that mutual. If you don't expose any of your rival's plots, none of yours are exposed, but you still get to see his yourself. And the other players will want to know what you saw.
Dirty Trick: That Flushing Sound You Hear....
Link the Book of Kells to the Templars. Use the Cattle Mutilators or a Plot to expose the plots in a rivals hand. Force her to discard *two* of them.
Dirty Trick: Oh, No You Don't!
When a rival announces a win using a Goal Card, play NWO: Interesting Times to make only the Basic Goal valid. Then use the Templars to discard his exposed Goal before another Blue NWO is played.
Dirty Trick: Fish Finder
Although Go Fish can't be used on the victim the same turn you look at his or her plot deck, you can use Bar Codes to look at an opponent's *entire* plot deck, and next turn Go Fish for the ones you want. In any event, using this deck you should know more about your rival's decks than they do themselves after a few turns.
Editor's note: Bar Codes specifically says 'the Group deck of a rival'. You can't use Bar Codes to look through a Plot deck. RLM 1/25/97
Dirty Trick: Don't You Wish *You* Knew?
Only use this if you *really* want to aggravate someone. Use the N.S.A. or X-Ray Specs to look at the top three cards in a rival's plot deck. Then play The Internet Worm to force her to discard the plots without looking at them. *Then* offer to tell her what they were if the price is right.
Last Modified: January 31, 1997