Unlike just about every card game in history, Ghosts benefit from having less cards in your hand. Can you be immaterial? - AEG
In that darkest night at the old mansion an eerie light shone through the attic windows... even though no one was home. Ethereal ghosts gain power by having less of the tangible world. The faster you empty your hand, the stronger these spooks become!
- - Awesome Level 9000 rulebook
The Ghosts are one of the 4 factions from the Awesome Level 9000 set.
Ghosts welcome you into their world with power and diverse abilities as your hands and body fade away.
Other factions from the same set: Bear Cavalry, Killer Plants, Steampunks.
Cards[]
The Ghosts have the usual 10 minions and 10 actions. The total minion base power (not counting any abilities) is unusually low at only 28 or an average of 2.8 per minion compared to the usual 30 and 3. They are also one of the rare factions to have received a titan from the TITANS Event Kit.
Among their actions, there are:
- 3 play-on-minion actions: Incorporeal (2x), Make Contact,
- 1 play-on-base action: Door to the Beyond,
- 6 standard actions (none of them affect minions): Across the Divide, Ghostly Arrival (2x), Séance, Shady Deal, The Dead Rise,
- 1 action that directly increases a minion's power: Door to the Beyond.
Minions[]
1x Spectre - power 5 - Special: If you have 2 or fewer cards in your hand, any time you can play a minion, you can play this card from your discard pile instead. FAQ
2x Haunting - power 3 - Ongoing: If you have two or fewer cards in your hand, this minion has +3 power and is not affected by other players’ cards. FAQ
3x Spirit - power 3 - Choose a minion. You may discard cards equal to its power to destroy it. FAQ
4x Ghost - power 2 - You may discard a card from your hand. FAQ
Actions[]
1x Across the Divide - Choose a card name. Place any number of minions with that name from your discard pile into your hand. FAQ
1x Door to the Beyond - Play on a base. Ongoing: If you have two or fewer cards in your hand, each of your minions here has +2 power. FAQ
2x Ghostly Arrival - You may play an extra minion and/or an extra action. FAQ
2x Incorporeal - Play on one of your minions. Ongoing: This minion is not affected by other players’ cards. FAQ
1x Make Contact - You can only play this card if it is the last card in your hand. Play on a minion. Ongoing: Treat this minion as yours while it and this card are in play. FAQ
1x Séance - If you have 2 or fewer cards in your hand, draw until you have 5 cards. FAQ
1x Shady Deal - If you have two or fewer cards in your hand, gain 1 VP. FAQ
1x The Dead Rise - Discard any number of cards. Play an extra minion from your discard pile with power less than the number of cards you discarded. FAQ
Titan[]
- (available in each Smash Up TITANS pack released with the TITANS Event Kit)
1x Creampuff Man - Special: On your turn, you may play this titan if you have no cards in your hand. Ongoing: You have +5 power here minus the number of cards in your hand (minimum 0). Talent: Discard a card to play a standard action from your discard pile as an extra action. Place it on the bottom of your deck instead of the discard pile. FAQ
Bases[]
Clarifications[]
Here are the official clarifications as they appear in The Bigger Geekier Box rulebook:
Creampuff Man: A standard action is one that is not played on a base or on a minion, but simply played, resolved, and discarded.
Haunting: Since it is Ongoing, this ability does not activate while it’s in your hand.
Séance: When playing Séance, do not count it toward the cards in your hand.
Spectre: This can substitute for playing a generic extra minion (c.f., Hidden Ninja, Commission), but not for playing a specific extra minion (c.f., Hoverbot, Sprout, Tenacious Z). You cannot play Spectre if it does not meet the extra minion’s conditions (c.f. Homeworld, Secret Grove).
Mechanics[]
Just about every faction wants you to have as many cards in your hand as you can get. Not always so with the Ghosts. They reward you with a wide array of abilities for emptying out your hand, and offer several ways to make that happen fast, at the expense of options you would have had with a full hand.
Like the Back of Your Hand[]
All players start the game with a hand of 5 cards. In an ideal turn, you play 2 cards, 1 minion and 1 action, leaving you at 3 cards, then draw 2 cards, keeping your hand size at 5. This is very significant for Ghosts, and may leave you in a quandary, because several Ghost abilities require that you have 2 or fewer cards left in your hand. If you want to use one of them right away you must burn off an extra card from your starting hand.
Understanding and keeping pace with this cadence is vital to success with Ghosts. Over the long term, your hand size doesn't change unless you discard cards, play extra cards, draw extra cards, return cards to your hand, or do nothing during your turn. You are strongest during your turn and weakest during other player's turns. You must plan ahead and reexamine your cards every turn to hit that 2-card threshold to activate the Ghosts' best abilities.
Discarding Cards[]
Spirit and The Dead Rise power up based on how many cards you discard with their abilities. Counterintuitively, they make drawing extra cards advantageous for you (on top of the normal benefits) by cutting down on the time you might otherwise waste building your hand by doing nothing. You can accumulate quite a lot of fuel, but if you get carried away you may have trouble triggering other Ghost abilities.
If you are not able to fulfill your cards' conditions, it is better to discard them than keep them around. You can't even play Make Contact unless it's your last card in hand with an action play to spend.
In general, emptying your hand by playing extra cards benefits you much more than discarding them. That's why Ghostly Arrival is the Ghosts' best action.
Strategy[]
Because Ghosts are capable of dumping several cards in one turn, they tend towards a boom and bust play pattern, just like ghost towns and jump scare tactics of the horror genre. After spending your hand on a big play, you'll probably find yourself with no choices left but to do little or nothing for a few turns. That makes breaking bases on your turn even more important than usual. Experienced Ghost players carefully play and manage their cards to have a combo ready for opportune moments.
You can keep your hand small all the time if you guarantee access to the cards you need, by doing such things as stacking your deck and playing from your discard pile. Normally, keeping your hand small is very risky due to the random nature of decks and unequal distribution of card abilities.
Optional Titan: Creampuff Man[]
Creampuff Man features a bizarre miscellany of abilities that together abet and magnify Ghosts' unusual abilities and needs. You can only play him after doing the very Ghost thing of entirely emptying your hand, whereupon he immediately adds 5 power to what was probably a large drop. Thus he encourages you to go all the way with the Ghosts' unusual playstyle, not just stopping at 2 cards in your hand.
Contrary to his play requirement, to use his talent you must have a card in your hand to discard. This talent solves the strange fact that Ghosts can recover minions from their discard pile but not actions. By placing the action on the bottom of your deck, Creampuff Man extends the pattern of benefiting from a small hand to benefiting from a small deck. If your deck is so small and stacked that it's filled with only standard actions, you will only draw standard actions, only have standard actions to discard, and place standard actions into your deck sustaining its composition.
Synergy[]
Ghosts have extra power and utility when you manage your hand well, so factions that help with that do best with Ghosts. Very few factions discard cards to empty your hand the same way Ghosts do, but extra card plays and draws help, the more speed and control the better. Factions that can still function on an empty hand also fit well with Ghosts. Sometimes your opponents' abilities that make you discard cards become advantageous.
- Zombies: You may have immediately thought of this faction. They complement Ghosts very well, but not flawlessly: Zombies aren't of any help emptying your hand, only discarding cards from your deck, and even bring them back to your hand! Ghosts support Zombies better than Zombies support Ghosts, so Ghosts end up playing subordinate to the Zombies. This is one of the factions that can still function on an empty hand.
- Wizards: The quintessential support faction supports Ghosts better than usual since you get fine control over a huge number of extra card plays and draws, easily fulfilling Ghost's conditions.
- Killer Plants: These two factions synergize in numerous small ways, adding up to one of the best combinations. Sprouts can "grow" into Haunting. A Water Lily granting an extra card at the start of your turn is much more valuable than drawing it at the end of your turn, and Plants offer extra minion plays to empty your hand. Additionally, the Sprouts and Venus Man Trap continue to bring more minions to the field independent from how many cards you have left in hand.
- Magical Girls: Thanks to Lunar Captain and some actions, discarding Magical Girl minions doesn't bother them much. With a good team in play, the Girls get a lot done even if your hand is empty.
External Strategy Guides[]
- Ghosts - Tactical Quickie - Smash Up: Awesome Level 9000
- The Smash Up Faction Series #4: Ghosts
- Action Awareness #2: Make Contact
- Calling All Titans: Creampuff Man
- Smash Up KOTH #36: Spectre
FAQ[]
Questions on Spectre[]
Q: How do you actually play Spectre's special ability?
A: Whenever you have a minion play you can spend (either your free minion play, or an extra minion play), and if you have two or fewer cards in hand and Spectre in your discard pile, you can spend a minion play to play Spectre from the discard pile. Note that Spectre must still fit the conditions for playing the minion. (e.g. power restriction, having the same name as another minion, etc.)[1]
Q: Before a base scores, I activate my Shinobi's Special and jump on the base. Can I use Spectre's Special instead of the Shinobi's? Like, I'll show my Shinobi to the opponents and then, "I'll play my Spectre from the discard pile instead"?
A: No. You can only use Spectre's ability if you can play "a" minion, i.e. any minion under normal circumstances. You cannot play Spectre if an ability refers to a specific minion (here "this minion", i.e. Shinobi) because Spectre isn't that minion (Spectre still needs to fit the conditions for the minion play) and because Shinobi doesn't give you an extra minion to play, rather it tells you to play it while counting itself as an extra minion; the extra minion play is never "banked" or "saved" for you to use.[1]
Q: I activate my Tenacious Z's Special from the discard pile. Can I use Spectre's Special instead of the Tenacious Z's?
A: No. Like Shinobi, you can only use Spectre's ability if you can play "a" minion, that is any minion under normal circumstances. You cannot play Spectre if an ability refers to a specific minion (here "this minion", i.e. Tenacious Z) because Spectre isn't "that" minion and because Tenacious Z doesn't give you an extra minion to play, rather it tells you to play it while counting itself as an extra minion; the extra minion play is never "banked" or "saved" for you to use.[1]
Q: How about The Dead Rise? If you discard a card, you can theoretically play a minion of power 0. Could you play Spectre this way?
A: No. Spectre's ability changes the source of your minion play to the discard pile, but it doesn't change any restrictions for playing the minion. With the way you use The Dead Rise, the minion you play must be of power 0. Spectre doesn't fit this condition, therefore, you cannot play Spectre this way.[1]
Q: When they say "any" minion play, do you have to have a minion to play? If a base says play an extra minion of power two or less (e.g. The Homeworld), and you have no cards, can you play Spectre, even though you can't play a minion otherwise?[1]
A: When they say "any time you can play a minion", it means whenever you have a minion play to spend to play any minion (either your free minion, or an extra minion), you can spend it and play Spectre from your discard pile. You don't have to have a minion card in your hand to play, just a minion play you can spend. It's been officially confirmed that while the card says "any time", Spectre must still fit the requirements to play the minion, so in your example, you cannot play Spectre this way, because the minion you play must be of power 2 or less.[1]
Q: I play a Zapbot. Can I spend its extra minion play to play Spectre from my discard pile?
A: No. It's been confirmed that Spectre must still fit the requirements for playing the minion, here a minion of power 2 or less.[1]
Q: If I have not played a minion, have 2 cards in my hand, and Spectre is in my discard pile, but, I don't have a minion in my hand, can I play Spectre?
A: Yes. Whether or not, you have a minion in your hand, since you have a free minion play you can spend, you can spend it to play Spectre.
Q: I interpret this card to only be playable if it is either the first minion played on your turn, or an ability on another minion or action allowed you to play this minion. Opponent argues that merely having 2 or fewer cards allows the card to be played, even if a minion was already played. Who is right?
A: You are right. On Spectre's card, it clearly says "any time you can play a minion". If you've used up all your minion plays, you cannot play a minion anymore, so Spectre's ability cannot be activated.
Q: I play Hoverbot and reveal a minion from the top of my deck, so I can play a minion. Can I not play it and play Spectre from my discard pile instead?
A: No. Here, the minion play is restricted to the minion you revealed ("play it as an extra minion"). Spectre's ability cannot be used because the minion play is about a specific minion, and because Hoverbot doesn't give you an extra minion play. (if you don't play the revealed minion, the minion play isn't saved for another card)[1]
Q: So the rulebook says Copycat can copy any type of abilities, including Special. So if another plays Spectre as a Special, I can copy Spectre's ability and play Copycat (from hand or discard pile), right? Same question about Wil Wheaton, Snuggly Bear, 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 Haunting[]
Q: When does the ability of Haunting kick in?
A: Any time you have two cards or fewer in hand. Likewise, they turn off as soon as you have three or more cards in hand. This is checked constantly.
Q: I currently have two cards or fewer in hand. An opponent plays Bear Hug (or Unfathomable Goals, Griefer, Out of Sight), forcing me to affect one of my minions. Can I choose Haunting? If so, is Haunting protected?
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, Haunting is protected.
Q: I currently have two cards or fewer in hand. I play a standard action in order to affect an opponent's minion on Haunting's base. An opponent uses their Dancing King to copy that effect and have Haunting be affected as well, but Haunting is protected, right?
A: No. Haunting is protected from being affected by other players' cards. Firstly, what Dancing King does is copy the effect onto Haunting, which itself doesn't count as affecting the minion. Secondly, Haunting is now considered as indirectly affected by your action, which Haunting isn't protected against.
Rule: Check Diva, Dancing King, We Are Family's clarification.
Questions on Spirit[]
Q: Can I choose to destroy a minion in my hand?
A: No. The minion you choose must be on a base.
Q: Can I choose a minion in stasis? And since cards in stasis cannot be affected unless stated, I'll still discard cards but not destroy the minion, correct?
A: No, cards in stasis cannot be chosen by cards that do not explicitly state cards in stasis can be chosen.
Q: I play a Spirit. I want to discard two cards with its ability but there are no minions of power 2 to destroy. May I still discard the two cards?
A: No, you have to actually follow the card's intructions exactly. Before deciding to discard cards, you must choose minion on a base so it's impossible for you to not have a minion to select (and your Spirit IS a valid choice if it's the only minion on a base!).
Q: With the Spirit minion's ability, can I discard minions/actions that are already in play? If not, why does Ghost specify "a card from your hand" and not Spirit?
A: No. When a card tells you to discard a card, it comes from your hand unless it says otherwise. The Ghost's text is actually redundant; it could just say "You may discard a card", but then you would also be left wondering if you could discard a card in play using Ghost's ability.
Rule: Unless otherwise specified, discarding cards refers to cards in your hand.
Q: When the Spirit's ability resolves, does it refer to the number of cards I discard, or the total power worth of cards I discard?
A: It refers to the number of cards you discard, regardless of their power or whether they are minion/action cards. To destroy a minion with a power of 2, you will need to discard two cards from your hand.
Q: Can the Spirit card target any minion regardless of what base I play it on?
A: Yes. It doesn't matter where the targeted minion is.
Q: Can "Spirit" choose a minion and discard fewer cards than the minion's power, because I do not have the same number of cards in my hand? For example, I choose a minion of power 3, but I have only two cards in my hand. Can I discard the two cards, even without being able to destroy the 3 power minion?
A: No. If you can't discard enough cards, then you can't discard any.
Q: Can I play a Spirit and discard three cards to "destroy" a 3-power minion even though it won't actually be destroyed?
A: Yes. You've discarded the required number of cards, so the destruction can happen, but then the destruction fails.
Q: Can Spirit target itself? My thinking was it doesn't say 'any other minion' or 'opponent's minion'
A: You're right. Spirit can target itself.
Questions on Ghost[]
Q:
A:
Rule:
Questions on Across the Divide[]
Q: I played the Across the Divide action card and choose the card name "Microbot" and then picked up all the card names with Microbot from the discard pile. Am I allowed to do that?
A: Actually, no card is named "Microbot". Some cards have "Microbot" in their name, but that's not their name.
Q: After playing this card, I 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.
Questions on Door to the Beyond[]
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I have two cards or fewer in my hand, my minions there get +2 power, 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 this ability should be interpreted as "If they have two or fewer cards in their hand, each of their minions here has +2 power."
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.
Q: When does the ability of Door to the Beyond kick in?
A: Any time you have two cards or less in hand. Likewise, they turn off as soon as you have three or more cards in hand. This is checked constantly.
Q: It gives +2 power to "each of my minions". Does it also give +2 power to 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: 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 Ghostly Arrival[]
Q: What are the choices available when you play Ghostly Arrival?
A: You can play one extra minion, or one extra action, or both, or none at all.
Q: Say I play a minion and then this action. Am I entitled to then play another action and another minion or just one or the other?
A: You can play both an extra action and an extra minion.
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. Note that merely playing a minion doesn't count as affecting it.
Questions on Incorporeal[]
Q: It says to play it on "one of my minions". Can I play it on a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it is "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: 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: An opponent plays Bear Hug (or Unfathomable Goals, Griefer, Out of Sight), forcing me to affect one of my minions. Can I choose my minion with Incorporeal on it? If so, does Incorporeal 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, Incorporeal protects your minion.
Q: I have a minion with Incorporeal attached to it. Can an opponent play the Poison action card on it?
A: No. The first part of Poison is to play it on the minion, which Incorporeal prevents as part of the definition of affect, so if you try to do it, Poison will be discarded without effect.
Rule: Definition of "affect".
Rule: If conditions prohibit playing a chosen card, discard it instead.
Q: I have a minion with Incorporeal attached to it. An opponent has Steam Queen, can they play the Poison action card on it (Steam Queen would protect it from Incorporeal)?
A: No. Preventing an action from being played doesn't count as affecting that action, so Steam Queen doesn't protect against this.
Rule: Definition of "affect".
Q: I gain control of an opponent's minion with Make Contact. I then play Incorporeal on that minion. Later, someone destroys Make Contact with an ability, like Disenchant. Does Incorporeal "fall off" as it is no longer attached to a minion controlled by the controller? If Incorporeal doesn't "fall off," who are the "other players" that can't affect the minion now?
A: Incorporeal remains attached. "Play on one of your minions" is only a restriction for when you play the action. Also, while the minion changes controller, Incorporeal doesn't change controller. Incorporeal's controller remains the one who played it and anyone else will be treated as another player for Incorporeal's ability. So the minion cannot be affected by any player's card (including the minion itself), except by Incorporeal's controller's cards.
Rule: When you take control of a minion, you don't take control of the actions played on it.
Q: Can an action be transferred away from a minion that cannot be affected? I would say that yes, it can, since un-attaching actions is still not included. This would mean that I can use Tinx to steal an Incorporeal, or another action on a minion protected by Incorporeal.
A: You're right. Transferring an action away from a minion doesn't count as affecting that minion, so you can steal actions from a minion that cannot be affected. BUT, while you can steal Incorporeal from another player's minion with Tinx, Incorporeal won't change controller. Tinx then becomes unaffectable "by other player's cards", "other players" being players that are not Incorporeal's controller (including you), and so it will also make Tinx unaffectable by your own cards.
Rule: Definition of "affect". Transferring an action away from a minion doesn't count as affecting the minion.
Rule: When you transfer an action, it doesn't change controller.
Rule: "Other players" on a minion, action or titan means everyone except the controller of the card.
Q: I have a minion with Incorporeal on a base with an opponent's minion and Entangled (so my minion cannot be moved or returned). Can I still play a card to move or return my minion and have Incorporeal protect it against Entangled?
A: You can play a card to move or return your minion, but Entangled would prevent it. Incorporeal cannot do anything about it because preventing a minion from moving or returning doesn't count as affecting it.
Rule: Definition of "affect".
Q: I have a First Mate with Incorporeal on it. An opponent plays Entangled and a minion on First Mate's base (so First Mate cannot be moved or returned). They then proceed to break the base with First Mate. Because Incorporeal doesn't protect against Entangled, the First Mate would have to be discarded. Would I be correct in that?
A: Actually, no, the First Mate can be moved. The reason is, while you activate its ability during the after-scoring step, it's only resolved when all the cards are discarded from the base. At that moment, Entangled doesn't have any effect on First Mate anymore.[2]
Q: If I move my minion with Incorporeal a base with Sleep Spores on it, the Incorporeal would also not protect it from Sleep Spores because it is not affecting it by the definition of affect. Again is that fair to say?
A: The definition of "affect" has been updated to include "change of power". So, Incorporeal would now protect your minion from Sleep Spores.
Rule: Definition of "affect".
Q: Can an Incorporeal minion be put on the bottom of its owner's deck using Disintegrator? Putting something on the bottom of a deck isn't under affect as well so I would assume yes.
A: The definition of "affect" has been updated to include "place". So, Incorporeal would now protect your minion from Disintegrator.
Rule: Definition of "affect".
Q: Can my minion with Incorporeal be moved to the Mushroom Kingdom? Incorporeal says that your minion isn't affected by other players' cards but Mushroom Kingdom isn't another player's card so I would assume it can be moved.
A: Yes. Incorporeal protects against other players' cards, which doesn't include the bases.
Q: My opponent plays Sleep Spores on a base with my Ghost. My Ghost now has -1 power. On my turn, I play Incorporeal on it. Under my understanding of what affect means, the Incorporeal will not retroactively prevent the -1 power from the Sleep Spores. It already happened. Incorporeal will block further changes in power. Is that correct?
A: No. Before you play Incorporeal, Sleep Spores is considered as already "affecting" your minion (its power is being changed), so once you play Incorporeal, it can block it and restore your minion's power.
Rule: Definition of "affect".
Q: If my minion already has an action on it played by another player, would playing Incorporeal on it remove their action?
A: Yes. Since the action is currently affecting the minion ("having an action attached" is considered as affecting), Incorporeal prevents that action from affecting your minion any longer. So it can't remain attached to it and is therefore discarded.
Q: I'm given control of another player's minion because of their cards. (e.g. Sneaky Squire, Flower Child) If I play Incorporeal on it, does it retroactively give them back control of their minion? As "affected" includes "changed in controller" and because control was changed because of another player's card, Incorporeal should restore control of this minion to their original controller, right?
A: No. Those cards did a "punctual" change of controller and are no longer "maintaining" it. This is different from Make Contact which actively maintain the change as long as it remains in play, but cards like Flower Child, Repaying Debts, etc. changed the control and then no matter what happens to those cards, the change of control still remains. For example, if Flower Child is destroyed or has its ability cancelled, the minions don't go back to their previous controllers, Repaying Debts is even discarded after use and the control change isn't undone. So, a change of controller (except for Make Contact) isn't a continuous "affection", and playing Incorporeal doesn't retroactively undo that like it does with continuous effects, e.g. Sleep Spores or an action attached to the minion.
Rule: On-play abilities are resolved only once and have no further effect.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: - If you're asking about when Incorporeal is played, it doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on one of your minions", which means that it is not a standard action.
- If you're asking about when you copy an effect onto an opponent's minion with Incorporeal protecting it, then the minion isn't affected. Note that Incorporeal only protects against other player's cards, so if Incorporeal's controller plays a standard action, you can copy it with Dancing King and have it affect the minion with Incorporeal, bypassing its protection because the minion is considered as being affected by its own controller's action and what Dancing King does is copy the effect onto it, which itself doesn't count as affecting the minion.
- If you're asking about when an opponent's minion with Incorporeal protecting it is directly affected by your standard action and you want to copy that, then it's not possible because the minion isn't affected 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 Incorporeal 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".
Questions on Make Contact[]
Q: If I have only two action cards in my hand (no other cards), one of which is Make Contact and I play the other action card first, I now have only Make Contact in my hand (the last card), can I play it?
A: Only if you still have an action play left to spend (either your free action, or an extra action). If you've spent your last action play to play the other action, or if you only had one action play to begin with (your free action), then you cannot play Make Contact.
Rule: You must have an action play to play a non-Special action.
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: If I control another player's minion with Make Contact, and the minion gets destroyed or returned to hand or deck, to which player's discard pile/hand/deck does the minion go back to?
A: It goes back to the original owner.
Q: So basically Make Contact makes me the owner of the minion, right?
A: No, it makes you the minion's controller. The owner of a card is the one who chose the faction at the start of the game and thus never changes.
Q: When using the action Make Contact, do you also take the target minion's ability? If I used it on General Ivan, are my minions safe from being destroyed as long as General Ivan and the card are in play?
A: Yes, the minion is now considered yours and so are its abilities. You can use its Ongoing, Talent or Special abilities normally, though you can't use their on-play abilities.
Q: Could I have used either Banner Call or Foot of the King to permanently regain control of my former minion, despite an opponent's Make Contact being connected to it?
A: No. You can use a card to take control of it, but Make Contact would prevent it because its ability allows the player to take control and keep control of it.
Q: Ghost player plays Make Contact on a minion controlled by a Pirate player, for the sake of argument... Saucy Wench. Pirate Player plays Sea Dogs. Now, if they played it with the intent of moving Saucy Wench, now controlled by the Ghost player, could they say "Pirate"?
A: Sure. Sea Dogs has no restriction on which faction you can name. You can name one of your own factions or a faction that isn't used in this game.
Q: I played Make Contact on a Ninja Acolyte. If I trigger Ninja Acolyte, it goes back to its original owner's hand, right? But I get to use the "play an extra minion" since I was the one that triggered the effect, right?
A: Yes to both. You're the one who controlled it, so you get to use its ability as written.
Rule: "You" on a minion, action or titan means the controller of the card.
Q : What if Make Contact is buried? What happens when it's uncovered?
A: When you uncover it, you'll run into a problem: Its requirement for play is to be in your hand and the last card there. So whether or not not your hand is actually empty, Make Contact isn't in your hand, which makes it "illegal" to play. In this situation, Make Contact must be discarded without effect.
Rule: If conditions prohibit playing a chosen card, discard it instead.
Q: Make Contact is in play. I have Cellular Bonding in my hand. Can I play Cellular Bonding and copy Make Contact even if Cellular Bonding isn't the last card in my hand?
A: Yes. Make Contact's restriction is only for playing the card. When Cellular Bonding is used to copy Make Contact, Cellular Bonding is already in play, so the restriction can be ignored.
Rule: N/A
Q: I played Make Contact onto a minion. Then, another player plays Cellular Bonding onto the same minion and copies my Make Contact. Who controls the minion?
A: TBD
Rule: TBD
Q: I played Make Contact onto a minion. Before a base scores, another player plays The Base Is Not Enough and targets the same minion. Who controls the minion?
A: The player who played Make Contact. Make Contact allows you to take and keep control of the minion. The Base is Not Enough only allows you to take control of a minion, if someone else plays a card to take control of it, The Base is Not Enough is not enough (pun intended) to keep it.
Q: What happens when a Jumper with Make Contact is discarded?
A: The player who played Make Contact is the one under control of the Jumper's ability, so they decide whether to discard it or to have it returned to its owner's hand. It says "your hand", but the rule is that it will be returned to its owner's hand, not yours, if you choose that option.
Rule: "You" on a minion, action or titan means the controller of the card.
Q: I play Make Contact on another player's G.E.L.F. What happens when I use its talent?
A: You're G.E.L.F.'s controller, so its ability applies to you. You first search your deck for a non-G.E.L.F. minion of power 4 or less. G.E.L.F is shuffled into its owner's deck, not yours! Because G.E.L.F. left play, you must discard Make Contact. Then, you play the minion you searched for on G.E.L.F.'s former base. And finally, while it's not stated on the card, you must shuffle your deck because you searched through it.
Rule: "You" on a minion, action or titan means the controller of the card.
Q: I play Mass Enchantment, and another player reveals Make Contact. Can I ignore Make Contact's restriction and play it?
A: No, if you consider Make Contact's wording, it must be in your hand and be the last card in your hand to be played.
Rule: "Can't" trumps "can".
Q: I play It’s Astounding. Can I use it to play Make Contact from my discard pile?
A: No, if you consider Make Contact's wording, it must be in your hand and be the last card in your hand to be played.
Rule: "Can't" trumps "can".
Q: I play Make Contact. If someone plays Wil Wheaton to interrupt me, can I take control of Wil Wheaton with Make Contact or is it discarded?
A: If someone plays Wil Wheaton, then you must resolve it entirely before being able to do anything. So Will Wheaton discards Make Contact without any effect, so you can't take control of Wil Wheaton with Make Contact, or any other minions for that matter.
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 Séance[]
Q: I have three cards in my hand, and I play Séance... do I have two cards in hand now, or is the played card "still in my hand?"
A: Once you play a card, it is no longer in your hand. You play the action, then check if you have two cards or less then.
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 Shady Deal[]
Q: I have three cards in my hand, and I play Shady Deal... do I have two cards in hand now, or is the played card "still in my hand?"
A: Once you play a card, it is no longer in your hand. You play the action, then check if you have two cards or less then.
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 The Dead Rise[]
Q: If I discard say 4 cards, can I play a minion of power 4 or less from my discard pile?
A: No. The minion must have strictly less power than the number of discarded cards, so it would be power 3 or less, not 4 or less.
Q: Can the extra minion be among the discarded cards?
A: Yes. When you play the extra minion, it would already be in your discard pile and therefore be eligible.
Q: Can I discard one card and play a power-0 minion from my discard pile?
A: Yes.
Q: Can I discard zero card and still play an extra minion?
A: No. If you discard 0 cards, the extra minion must have a power (strictly) less than 0, and there are currently no such minion.
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. Note that merely playing a minion doesn't count as affecting it.
Questions on Creampuff Man[]
- Main article: Titans
Q: The card says "Special" so I can use it outside of my turn, but why does the card also say "on your turn"? Aren't Special playable at any time?
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 Creampuff Man, the condition is "on your turn", which already restricts its usage during your Play Cards phase, not at any other times. Note that it's restricted to your Play Cards phase only, not any other phases of your turn either.
Rule: "On your turn" means "during the Play Cards (phase 2) of each of your turns".
Q: Séance is my last card in hand. I play it, therefore bringing my hand to zero card. Can I play Creampuff Man before drawing five cards?
A: No. When playing Séance, you have to immediately resolve its ability and resolve it entirely. You also cannot interrupt it with Creampuff Man's ability because it is not an interruptive ability, but an "On your turn" ability, which means you have to be "free to act", i.e. not in the middle of resolving something else, in order to be able to invoke it.
Q: What is a standard action exactly? I suppose it's the official name for an on-play action. Or does it simply mean non-Special actions?
A: It's an action that doesn't remain in play after being played. Actions remain in play by being played on a base, played on a minion, or buried on a base, so if none of those normally occur when an action is played, then it's a standard action. On-play actions (ones that don't have any Ongoing/Talent/Special labels) are indeed standard actions, but standard actions are not exclusively on-play actions. "Pure" Special actions (ones that immediately start with "Special:...") are standard as well, because they aren't played on any card. Hybrids between on-play and Special actions (e.g. Full Sail or Dogpile) that aren't played on any card are mostly standard actions as well, but counter-examples are actions that can bury themselves (e.g. Tomb Trap or Blessing of Anubis) as those aren't standard when played from the hand/deck/discard pile, and become standard when uncovered.
Q: Can I still use its talent if I have no cards in hand, for example when I play Creampuff Man?
A: Technically, you can use its talent, but you won't be able to do anything with it. When you resolve its talent, you'll be asked to discard a card to play a standard action from your discard pile. Since you have no cards to discard, you won't be able to discard one, nor play a standard action from your discard pile since it's dependent on you discarding a card. As for the rest of the ability, it only applies to the standard action that you were supposed to have played in the first part, so nothing happens either.
Q: I use its talent, can I play a Special action from my discard pile even one that normally can't be played right now (e.g. if it says "Before a base scores")?
A: You can choose a Special action as long as it's a standard action as well, but if its ability isn't applicable, playing it will only lead to it being discarded[probably]. However, the rest of Creampuff Man's talent still applies so instead of discarding the action, you must place it on the bottom of your deck.
Rule: If a Special must be played when its conditions don’t allow it, it is discarded instead.
Q: With its talent, can I discard a standard action and play it immediately from the discard pile?
A: Yes, you do everything in order, so you first discard the card, then you play a standard action from your discard pile and the card you just discarded is indeed in the discard pile and therefore a valid target.
Q: I use its talent and play Favor of Dionysus or Friendship Power. Favor of Dionysus says "You may place this card on top of your deck instead of the discard pile", Friendship Power says "You may place this action into your hand instead of the discard pile" and Creampuff Man says "Place it on the bottom of your deck instead of the discard pile.". So which one takes precedence?
A: Creampuff Man replaces "discard the action" with "place it on the bottom of your deck", while Non-Favor of Dionysus and Friendship Power both replace "discard the action" with something else. Both "fates" are equally possible, so the current player decides.[3]
Rule: The current player decides the order of events that are supposed to happen simultaneously.
Q: I don't get its Ongoing ability. How much power do I have when it's out?
A: At any moment of the game, if you have zero cards in hand, you have +5 power on Creampuff Man's base; if you have one card in hand, you have +4 power on its base; if you have two cards in hand, you have +3 power on its base; if you have three cards in hand, you have +2 power on its base; if you have four cards in hand, you have +1 power on its base; and if you have five or more cards in hand, you have +0 power on its base.
Q: What is the +5 power added to? Does it increase one of my minions power?
A: It is added to your total power on the base. It doesn't increase any of your minions' power. You just calculate your total power on the base normally, then add +5 power (or less, depending on the number of cards in your hand) from Creampuff Man.
Q: A base is chosen to score. I have no minions there, but I have Creampuff Man there. It is similar to a minion, right? So I can still get VPs from the base if 0 is among the top three total power, right?
A: No and no. Creampuff Man is a titan, not a minion. To be eligible to receive VPs, you must have at least one minion or at least 1 total power on the base. If you have no minions and your total power there is 0, then you can't receive any VPs from the base. Now, if Creampuff Man had any +1 power counters on it and/or gave you any total power (e.g. from its Ongoing ability or on Kaiju Island), then you would have at least 1 total power and be eligible. Otherwise, no.
Q: An opponent is playing with the Ghosts with their titan. Their Creampuff Man isn't in play. It's my Play Cards phase and I have no cards in hand, I can then invoke Creampuff Man through its Special ability and play it, right?
A: No, only the player who has it next to their deck can play it.
Rule: Playable Special cards can only be played by their current possessor.
Trivia[]
- The artist is Yating Sun.
- The artist for the titan (which was released after Awesome Level 9000) is Alberto Tavira, who also designed the art of many other factions.
- Their divider (available in The Big Geeky Box and The Bigger Geekier Box) features Ghost.
- The Dread Gazebo is a reference to "The Tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo".
- Creampuff Man is a reference to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from the Ghostbusters franchise.
- Make Contact is the first card that can change the control of a minion in play.
- The rat in the lower right on Incorporeal looks identical to Remy from the Disney/Pixar film Ratatouille, and may well be a reference or cameo.
In other languages[]
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 鬼魂 |
| French | Fantômes |
| German | Geister |
| Greek | Φαντάσματα |
| Italian | Fantasmi |
| Polish | Duchy |
| Portuguese | Fantasmas |
| Russian | Призраки |
| Spanish | Fantasmas |
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