How could something so cuddly … OH MY GOD GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! - AEG
Who could possibly come between you and your bear when you were little? Nothing. Because those bears had more up their sleeves than you ever knew. Just try looking at their owners the wrong way and you’re in trouble. In the sweetest
wayways possible!
- - What Were We Thinking? rulebook (updated in The Bigger Geekier Box rulebook)
The Teddy Bears are one of the 4 factions from the What Were We Thinking? set.
The Teddy Bears focus on getting power from other players' minions and messing with other players' minions.
Other factions from the same set: Explorers, Grannies, Rock Stars.
Name[]
This faction is called "Teddy Bears" in the rulebook and on the divider included in this set. However, AEG's product page for this set calls this faction "Teddybears".
Cards[]
The Teddy Bears have the usual 10 minions and 10 actions. The total minion base power (not counting any abilities) is unusually low at only 22 or an average of 2.2 per minion compared to the usual 30 and 3.
Among their actions, there are:
- 2 play-on-minion actions: Cuddle (2x),
- 3 play-on-base actions: Bear Picnic, Tea Party, Too Cute
- 5 standard actions (2 that affect one or more minions, in bold): Care Package (2x), Group Hug, Love Overload, Square Deal,
- 1 action that directly increases a minion's power: Group Hug.
Minions[]
1x Sir Squeezes - power 5 - Play up to three minions of power 3 or less, whose total power is 5 or less, as extra minions here. FAQ
2x Fun Bear - power 2 - Ongoing: After another player plays or moves a minion to here, place a +1 power counter on this minion. FAQ
3x Lovey Bear - power 3 - Ongoing: This minion’s starting power is increased to the highest starting power of an opponent’s minion here. FAQ
4x Snuggly Bear - power 1 - Special: After you play your first minion in a turn, you may immediately play this minion there as an extra minion. FAQ
Actions[]
1x Bear Picnic - Play on a base. Ongoing: Other players cannot play minions they own of power 2 or less on other bases. FAQ
2x Care Package - Draw a card and play an extra minion. FAQ
2x Cuddle - Play on a minion. Ongoing: This minion’s abilities are cancelled. FAQ
1x Group Hug - Give one of your minions +1 power for each other minion at the same base until the end of the turn. FAQ
1x Love Overload - Special: Before a base scores, destroy the minion there with the most power. If tied, destroy all tied minions. FAQ
1x Square Deal - Draw cards until at least one player has fewer cards in their hand than you. FAQ
1x Tea Party - Play on a base. Talent: If there are two or more minions here and at least one is yours, draw a card. FAQ
1x Too Cute - Play on a base. Ongoing: Your minions here cannot be destroyed by other player’s cards. FAQ
Bases[]
Clarifications[]
Here are the official clarifications as they appear in the What Were We Thinking? rulebook:
Bear Picnic: This does not affect monster play since no one owns a monster. It doesn’t stop play of other players’ minions (e.g. from Trade).
Cuddle: This does not cancel the abilities of actions on the minion, but it does cancel abilities granted by an action (e.g. Flighterizer). It does not cancel the treasure granted by monsters.
Group Hug: The power boost is calculated once and does not change when more minions are there, or the minion moves.
Lovey Bear: If the highest opposing starting power is less than Lovey Bear’s, no change happens.
Snuggly Bear: Multiple Snuggly Bears can be triggered by the same first minion and played.
Mechanics[]
Teddy Bears have a wide array of abilities that can mess with most minion-focused factions. For example, some cards are deterrent or give you an advantage against swarm-type factions (Fun Bear, Group Hug, Bear Picnic), some cards give you advantage over high-power minions (Lovey Bear, Love Overload), and some cards help you counter minions with strong abilities (Cuddle).
Additionally, Teddy Bears have extra minion plays, usually allowing you to play groups of minions on the same base.
External Strategy Guides[]
- Teddy Bears: The Best Smash Ups in Smash Up
- KOTH #18: Sir Squeezes
- Smash Up Action Awareness #69: Love Overload
FAQ[]
Questions on Sir Squeezes[]
Q: How does Sir Squeezes's ability work?
A: When you play Sir Squeezes, you get three extra minion plays with the following restrictions:
- Each minion must have a printed power of 3 or less.
- The sum of their printed powers cannot exceed 5.
Also, depending on when Sir Squeezes is played, the extra plays can be banked, or has to be used immediately:
- If you played Sir Squeezes outside your Play Cards phase, then you must play the extra minions immediately or not at all.
- Otherwise, the extra minions can be either played immediately as part of resolving Sir Squeezes's ability (this can be useful if you want card reactions to be resolved after those minions are played), or "banked" to be used later on your current Play Cards phase.
Rule: If it's not in play, a minion's power is equal to its printed power.
Rule: Extra cards gained outside of your Play Cards phase must be played immediately or not at all.
Q: Can I play a Howler as one of the extra minions even though it becomes power 4?
A: Sure, playing a Howler is treated as playing a minion of power 2 (its printed power), so it is eligible for Sir Squeezes's ability. As for the remaining two extra minions, their total power cannot exceed 3, because Howler used up 2 power out of 5 (and not 4 out of 5).
Rule: If it's not in play, a minion's power is equal to its printed power.
Q: Can I play a Weed Eater as one of the extra minions? It's power 3 when it is played.
A: No, playing a Weed Eater is treated as playing a minion of power 5 (its printed power), so it is not eligible for Sir Squeezes's ability.
Rule: If it's not in play, a minion's power is equal to its printed power.
Questions on Fun Bear[]
Q: Is the restriction "to here" only for moving a minion or also for playing it?
A: It's for both, Fun Bear triggers either from minions being played on its base by the other players, or from minions on other bases being moved to its base by the other players.
Q: I play a Mind Lady on a base with an enemy Fun Bear. Can Mind Lady cancel Fun Bear's ability before it gets a +1 power counter?
A: No. When you play Mind Lady, you do resolve its abilities, but talents are never resolved immediately. So Fun Bear will get a counter before you can use Mind Lady's talent.
Rule: When you play a card, an ability that starts with "Talent:" is never resolved immediately.
Q: When I play Flower Child on a base with an enemy Fun Bear and choose to give it to that player (without taking control of Fun Bear), does Fun Bear still trigger?
A: Yes. Fun Bear is triggered when another player plays a minion, which you did, even if that card changed controller.
Q: I play Flower Child on a base with an enemy Fun Bear and take control of it. Is Fun Bear activated?
A: Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Fun Bear's ability is an "After X, do Y", which means that as soon as it "witnesses" X happening, it's triggered, and it will resolve if it is either still in play, or has been removed by the very same event that triggered it. In your scenario, Fun Bear did "see" Flower Child as a minion played on its base by another player, even though it's during that split-second after Flower Child enters play and before its ability is carried out, so Fun Bear is triggered and while it then changes controller, what caused it to change is also Flower Child, so it doesn't nullify its ability. After Flower Child's ability has been fully resolved, it's time to resolve card reactions, starting with triggered cards in play (e.g. Fun Bear), so you resolve it.
Q: If this minion and some other minions are moved at the same time by another player's ability (e.g. You’re Pretty Much Borscht, Felicia Day) to the same base, does Fun Bear's ability trigger after that and how many counters will it receive?
A: Short answer: Only one counter. Long answer: Let's break it down. Were there any minions played on Fun Bear's base? Since your question is only about movement, it depends on whether Fun Bear "witnessed" a minion being played on its base or not before it's moved. Were there any minions moved? Yes, Fun Bear and several others. In fact, Fun Bear triggers from it being moved by another player (check Imperial Dragon's clarification, those cards have a similar trigger), so you have one counter to place. But were any of the other minions moved to Fun Bear's base? No, those were moved to a different base and Fun Bear was moved there at the same time, so Fun Bear didn't "witness" the minions coming to it, it went along with them, so you don't place a counter for those minions. To sum it up, there is only one counter you can place, the one from Fun Bear being moved.
Q: If Fun Bear's ability is cancelled, are the +1 power counters placed on it by its own ability removed?
A: No. When you place a +1 power counter, it's a definitive effect, so the +1 power counters remain even if the card that placed them has its ability cancelled (like drawing cards, if you play Enchantress, you're not going to discard the card you drew if Enchantress's ability is cancelled). Besides, how are you going to keep track of which +1 power counters were added by Fun Bear's ability and which ones were not (e.g. if you're playing Teddy Bears Giant Ants or Teddy Bears Mad Scientists)? That would be very cumbersome.
Rule: Cancelling (or losing) an effect does not necessarily undo what it did.
Q: I move an enemy Fun Bear to another base. Is that Fun Bear activated?
A: Yes. After the move, Fun Bear's controller checks if another player just moved a minion to Fun Bear's base. The answer is yes: the Fun Bear itself! So it activates. And if you don't believe this answer, Fun Bear is just Imperial Dragon with a different ability but the exact same trigger and Imperial Dragon does trigger from it being moved by another player.
Q: An opponent has a Fun Bear. If I move one of that opponent's minion to Fun Bear's base, does Fun Bear get a +1 power counter?
A: Yes. After the move, Fun Bear's controller checks if another player just moved a minion to Fun Bear's base. The answer is obviously yes. So it activates. Fun Bear doesn't discriminate between moving a friendly minion and moving an enemy minion as long as another player (that is a player other than Fun Bear's controller) does the move.
Q: An opponent's Fun Bear is currently at power 2. I use Great White's talent to move it to Fun Bear's base. Can I destroy the Fun Bear or does it get a +1 power counter keeping it safe?
A: You first need to finish resolving Great White's ability entirely before resolving "After" abilities that were triggered. So you can indeed destroy Fun Bear because it will only get a +1 power counter after you finish resolving Great White's talent.
Q: If I play an Argonaut instead of an action on an opponent's Fun Bear's base, does Fun Bear still get a +1 power counter?
A: Yes. Playing an Argonaut, whether as a minion or instead of an action, still counts as playing a minion. It IS a minion after all.
Questions on Lovey Bear[]
Q: How does Lovey Bear's ability work?
A: For as long Lovey is in play, you must constantly check the starting power of all the opponent's minions on the same base as Lovey Bear and determine what the highest value is. Their starting power is nearly always equal to their printed power, unless your opponent has a Lovey Bear too. (As of the What Were We Thinking? expansion, Lovey Bear is the only minion that can change its starting power) Once you've determined that, compare it with Lovey Bear's printed power (either 3 as printed on the card, or 5 if it was modified by Matrix of Bossiness)
- If Lovey Bear's printed power is higher or the same as that value, then Lovey Bear's starting power is its printed power (like any regular minion!).
- If Lovey Bear's printed power is lower, then Lovey Bear's starting power becomes that value.
When you need to determine Lovey Bear's total power, you calculate it by applying any power modifiers on its starting power.
Q: Once Lovey Bear's starting power has been increased, what happens if the opponent's minion with the highest starting power there is removed from the base?
A: Lovey Bear's starting power is readjusted accordingly. Check which opponent's minion has the highest starting power now. If it's higher than Lovey Bear's default starting power (either its printed power of 3, or 5 if it has Matrix of Bossiness), then Lovey Bear's starting power is now equal to that new highest starting power. If the highest starting power of all the opponents' minions is lower than that, then Lovey Bear's starting power is reverted back to its default one.
Q: Lovey Bear is in play. An opponent plays a Howler on the same base. Howler always has a power of 4 when it comes into play, so Lovey Bear becomes power 4, right?
A: No. A starting power is a minion's power before any modifications are taken into account. Howler's "starting" power is 2. 4 is actually Howler's "modified" power (even though it was modified by its own ability). So Lovey Bear remains at a starting power of 3.
Q: Lovey Bear is in play. An opponent plays a Weed Eater on the same base. Weed Eater always has a power of 3 when it comes into play, so Lovey Bear remains at power 3, right?
A: No. A starting power is a minion's power before any modifications are taken into account. Weed Eater's "starting" power is 5. 3 is actually Weed Eater's "modified" power (even though it was modified by its own ability). So Lovey Bear gets a starting power of 5.
Questions on Snuggly Bear[]
Q: The card says "Special" so I can play it outside of my turn, right?
A: "Special" does not mean the card can be played out of turn. "Special" simply means that it's an ability that can be used when its condition is met. Whether it can be used out of turn, activated straight from your hand/discard pile, or if it can only be used when it's already in play (essentially being a synonym of Ongoing), it entirely depends on the wording. In the case of Snuggly Bear, the condition is "After you play your first minion in a turn", this means that you can only play it after playing your first minion on any player's turn. So Snuggly Bear can indeed be played on any turn, but only after you've managed to play your first minion on that turn.
Q: I play my first minion of a turn. Can I play more than one Snuggly Bear with their special abilities?
A: Yes.
Q: I haven't played any minions yet. If I play an Argonaut instead of an action, can I play Snuggly Bears as extra minions?
A: Yes. Playing an Argonaut, whether as a minion or instead of an action, still counts as playing a minion. It IS a minion after all. However, if you then play your regular minion, you can't put any more Snuggly Bears because it would then be your second minion of the turn.
Q: Can I play it from stasis after playing my first minion?
A: No, while in stasis, the only abilities that can do anything are the ones that explicitly state that they do something there.
Rule: Abilities of cards in stasis do not work unless they refer to stasis.
Q: So the rulebook says Copycat can copy any type of abilities, including Special. So after playing a first minion, if another player plays a Snuggly Bear as a Special, I can copy the Snuggly Bear's ability and play Copycat, right? Same question about Wil Wheaton, Green Trooper, Argonaut, Fan, Deputy, etc.
A: No, Copycat's ability is an on-play ability, which means you only resolve it if you play Copycat first. In your scenario, you invoke Copycat's ability while it's out of play and then use it to play Copycat, which isn't possible because you can only copy an ability by first playing Copycat. A Copycat's ability cannot be used to play the Copycat itself because playing it is required to invoke its copy ability in the first place.
Questions on Bear Picnic[]
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so since they are another player from my point of view, they must also abide to Bear Picnic's ability, right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "other players" means "their opponents".
Rule: A play-on-base action doesn't give an ability to the base that any player can use.
Rule: "Other players" on a minion, action or titan means everyone except the controller of the card.
Q: An opponent plays Bear Picnic. What does "minions they own" mean from my point of view?
A: It means any minions that come from the two factions you chose at the start of the game. If you play a card that allows you to play a monster, then you are not restricted by Bear Picnic because monsters are not owned by anyone. If you play a treasure minion, you are not restricted by Bear Picnic either, because, while you gain control of the treasure, you are not its owner (treasures have no owners after all). Finally, if you manage to play a minion owned by another player (e.g. you got it from Trade), you are also not restricted by Bear Picnic, because you are not playing a minion you own.
Q: Bear Picnic is in effect on a base. What happens if I play a minion of power 2 or less but with the restriction that it is played on another base? For example, I uncover such minion on another base, one of my minions on another base is transformed into a minion of power 2 or less, etc.
A: The minion of power 2 or less is then discarded without resolving any of its effects.
Rule: If conditions prohibit playing a chosen card, discard it instead.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a base", which means that it is not a standard action.
Questions on Care Package[]
Q: After playing this card, I (somehow) have more than 10 cards in hand, do I immediately discard down to 10?
A: You don't discard any card until your next Draw 2 Cards phase (so not any Draw 2 Cards phase!). At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play and so its effect can't be copied.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Questions on Cuddle[]
Q: Does it also cancel the abilities of actions on the minion?
A: No, a minion's abilities are the ones printed on the card and those given to it by certain abilities (e.g. Copycat, Potion of Redundancy Potion, Flighterizer, The Touch, Passengers). The abilities of actions on it are separate from the minion's abilities. Besides, if that was the case, Cuddle would also have its abilities cancelled, which would make it useless.
Rule: A play-on-minion action doesn't give an ability to the minion it is attached to.
Q: Can you play it on a minion in stasis?
A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a minion", which means that it is not a standard action.
Questions on Group Hug[]
Q: I play Group Hug and boost one of my minions. What happens if the number of minions on that base changes?
A: The power boost remains the same, it's not adjusted to match the new number of minions.
Rule: On-play abilities are resolved only once and have no further effect.
Q: I choose one of my minions, so does it get +1 power for each of my other minions on its base? It says "one of your minions" and then "for each other minion", so I suppose "other" refers to "my other minions", right?
A: No, "each other minion" just means "each of the other minion", regardless of the controllers. If it was supposed to be "each of your other minions", it would have just said that.
Q: Do I also get power from other players' minions there?
A: Yes.
Q: It gives power to "one of my minions". Can I choose a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: - If Diva copies it, Diva is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets the same amount of power.
- If Dancing King copies it onto a minion (it can be itself), that minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets the same amount of power.
- If We are Family copies it, the minion it is on is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets the same amount of power.
- With Funky Town, you can only copy it if you're the one who played the action and if it affects one of your minions, but if Funky Town does copy it, the minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets the same amount of power.
Questions on Love Overload[]
Q: Does having a minion destroyed before a base scores change anything at all? Don't we only get VPs based on the power we had at the start of scoring?
A: Actually, the amount of VPs each player gets is determined by the power each player currently has when you are handing out VPs, so any before-scoring abilities (including this one) that affect how much power you have on the base will affect the amount of VPs you'll eventually get.
Rule: VPs are awarded according to the current power totals.
Q: Before a base scores, I play this card and destroy one or more minions from that base, reducing the total power below the breakpoint. This ends the scoring, right?
A: You're mistaken here. Once a base has been chosen to score, you keep scoring it even if the total power on it drops below its breakpoint because of before-scoring abilities. (Only a couple of things can really prevent a base from scoring, but this isn't one of them.)
Q: Are my Lovey Bears immune to Love Overload?
A: No. If your Lovey Bear's power (i.e. its modified power, not its starting power) is the highest, then you must destroy it.
Q: Can I play it from stasis before a base scores?
A: No, while in stasis, the only abilities that can do anything are the ones that explicitly state that they do something there.
Rule: Abilities of cards in stasis do not work unless they refer to stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: - If Diva copies it, Diva is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is destroyed, regardless of Diva's power.
- If Dancing King copies it onto a minion (it can be itself), that minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is destroyed, regardless of the minion's power. Note that if several minions were directly destroyed, Dancing King only triggers once, not once per destroyed minions.
- If We are Family copies it, the minion it is on is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is destroyed, regardless of the minion's power.
- With Funky Town, you can only copy it if you're the one who played the action and if you destroy one of your minions, but if Funky Town does copy it, the minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is destroyed, regardless of the minion's power. Note that if several minions were directly destroyed, Funky Town only triggers once, not once per destroyed minions.
Questions on Square Deal[]
Q: How do I resolve this card's ability?
A: First, you check how many cards each player has (don't count Square Deal, because it is no longer in your hand when you play it). If no other player has strictly fewer cards in their hand than you, draw a card from your deck. Then, check again. If it is still the case, keep drawing. As soon as at least one player has fewer cards than you, you must stop. For short, determine which one of your opponent has the fewest number of cards in their hand, then draw until you have the same number of cards in hand plus one more.
Q: If another player already has fewer cards in hand than me, do I draw one card then stop?
A: No, you don't draw any card because the condition for stopping is already met.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it doesn't affect any minions in play and so its effect can't be copied.
Questions on Tea Party[]
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so on my turn I can also use its talent, right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore only they can use its talent on their turns.
Rule: A play-on-base action doesn't give an ability to the base that any player can use.
Rule: A card's talent can only be used by that card's controller.
Q: One of the minions needs to be "mine". Does a minion there that I own but don't control count? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: I already have ten cards in hand. What happens if I decide to use this talent? Do I draw a card and immediately discard a card?
A: You draw a card and don't discard any card until your upcoming Draw 2 Cards phase. At that point, you will indeed need to draw two cards and discard down to 10 if you have more than 10. That's the only moment where you must discard down to 10. At any other time, you keep your hand of cards.
Q: Does it work if there is a minion there that I own but don't control (e.g. Sneaky Squire, Betrothed) and no minion that I actually control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. You must have a minion there that you control, whether or not you own it.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a base", which means that it is not a standard action.
Questions on Too Cute[]
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I have a minion there, it also cannot be destroyed by my opponents' cards, right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "your minions" means "their minions" and "other players" means "their opponents".
Rule: A play-on-base action doesn't give an ability to the base that any player can use.
Rule: "You" on a minion, action or titan means the controller of the card.
Rule: "Other players" on a minion, action or titan means everyone except the controller of the card.
Q: It protects "my minions". Does it also protect minions I own that I don't control? I don't control them but I "own" them, so they are "my" minions, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: An opponent plays Bear Hug (or Unfathomable Goals, Griefer), forcing me to destroy one of my minions. Can I choose one of my minions on the same base as Too Cute? If so, does Too Cute protect it?
A: First of all, you can indeed choose any of your minions, but you must choose one if you have any in play. Secondly, since the cause of the affect is "another player's card", then yes, Too Cute protects your minion from destruction.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: - If you're asking about when Too Cute is played, it doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a base", which means that it is not a standard action.
- If you're asking about when you copy a destruction effect onto an opponent's minion with Too Cute protecting it, then the minion isn't affected. Note that Too Cute only protects against other player's cards, so if Too Cute's controller plays a standard action that destroys a minion, you can copy it with Dancing King and have it affect one of that player's minion, bypassing Too Cute's protection because the minion is considered as being affected by its own controller's action.
- If you're asking about when an opponent's minion with Too Cute protecting it is directly destroyed by your standard action and you want to copy that, then it's not possible because the minion isn't destroyed by your action and because no minion was affected, you can't copy the effect.
- If you're asking about when an opponent's minion with Too Cute protecting it is directly affected by that player's standard action and you want to copy that, then you can indeed copy it the same way.
Rule: "Can't" trumps "can".
Trivia[]
- The artist is Alberto Tavira, who also designed the art of many other factions.
- Their divider (updated in The Bigger Geekier Box) features Bear Picnic.
- The font used for the Teddy Bear cards is HennyPenny-Regular.
- Fun Bear is a reference to Care Bears.
- Square Deal is a reference to Theodore Roosevelt.
- A Snuggly Bear is cuddling The Count on the Cuddle card.
- A Laseratops can be seen on the Bear Picnic card.
- A Great White is being attacked on the Love Overload card.
- A Betrothed, a Sneaky Squire and a Foot of the King are present on the Square Deal card.
- Bear Picnic and Out in the Woods are references to the children's song Teddy Bears' Picnic.
In other languages[]
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| French | Oursons |
| German | Teddybären |
| Russian | Плюшевые мишки |
| ||||||