I've never thought of using coolant blast, for some weird reason. in the rare occurrence you don't have Isothermic Transducer. That seems obvious now that you mention it. Thanks for that.
I knew I forgot one - but it's still 3 cards.
Also, for Coolant Blast : if you took no fire damage, it deals zero damage - that can be increased. If Legacy galvanizes you, it's a good card to play in your first round.
And there is the rare but wonderful case where you have both Thermal Shockwave and Coolant blast, and Fanatic Emboldens you.
Against the likes of The Ennead, Coolant Blast can be simply straight up better than Isothermic Transducer, because they've already hit you for fire damage. Isothermic Transducer doesn't reach into the past.
I would have really liked to see that discussion on Sub-Zero Atmosphere. I hardly see the point of playing it if the field isn't cleared, which AZ normally needs his play to either help do just that or continue his set-up.
Coolant Blast- This card really shines when you've been juggling around fire damage for the last round, be it from your own one-shots or outside sources like enemies or environments(or even your own team-mates). And if you can somehow use Thermal Shockwave beforehand outside your turn? Beautiful.
Smoke Bombs- To the person who's team almost got killed by these...How? This card can be great when you're trying to keep low hp hero targets alive(bots, constructs, other heroes...). Did you get hit by one of those 'Hit everything with 5 damage' cards? If that WAS the case, then yes, I can see the problem. I suppose that just means you got to think like the Wraith herself and be wary of tactics you know a villain will use beforehand.
Rhapsody of Vigor- Nobody doesn't like healing. And what's great is that it works on everything, not just heroes. Bolster the Explosive cart so it doesn't die as soon, heal up the Dreamer so Haka can safely rampage...
Prayer of Desperation- Even if it flat out ends your turn, this card is great if you're running low from having Divine Focus out or after playing a Wrathful Retribution, or any villain that loves to make you discard.
Polyphoric Flare- To be honest, yes I use this as discard fodder more often than I play it. But that doesn't mean it does not have its uses. This card is more designed for late game play I think. By that time an extra power usage is almost like cheating for AA. Not only will you already have enough of your instruments out to make it useful then(barring lots of equipment destruction), you should also have Supertonic out to heal yourself up from the damage it causes.
Drawn to the Flame- During those times when you're fighting villains that have tons of ongoings and you don't have any way to destroy them in hand, Drawn to the Flame can be the glowing silver lining of the situation. It's especially potent against Dawn, I find. ;)
Combat Stance- Yeah it's not projectile, but the Wraith does more than just throw stuff. This card is useful for when you need some retribution damage, especially from things that attack you once every turn like Treacherous Ape.
Inventory Barrage- Again, a card designed for late game. When the chips are down and you need a LOT of damage done to a target(2x damage for each equipment card) and you need to do it NOW,
Bounty Board- Great as a first play after you destroyed a target with three of your precious bounties on it or to get them back in your hand after an ongoing wipe from villains like Omnitron or Blade.
Robot Reclamation- A bunch of your bots go down last turn? Had to discard some bots to escape something deadly? Or do you REALLY need Bee-Bot back after using it last turn? Easily reclaim those robots with this card, and even put one in your hand!
I don't think any of the cards are really 'Bad', but some are very situational. You just gotta find the right time to play them. :)
Polyphoric Flare I use a decent bit, because it lets me chain instruments that might get left out, esp. lets me stack his damage mods, and usually it involves Supertonic healing me anyway. It is a late game card, and not as good as Silver Shadow, but it works.
Robot Reclamation more often than not is just to get that one golem I really want back in hand, usually Mr. Chomps, Bee Bot or Stealth Bot (but occasionally Cryo Bot). Used to just get one back it is better than Flash Forge in that it is a 1 for 1. If I have Stealth out and a reclamation in hand it means I can burn S. Bot and get it right back in play the next turn. It is amazing.
Excavation I also use a good bit. It allows me to stack the environment a bit, I love it in any env. that has nasty cards and good cards. Like in Atlantis once Hercules hits the trash I will put almost and card back in the deck to keep that card from cycling around again, and Font of Power is a serious Excavation target.
There are almost always cards you would have come out rather than others, and that's what Excavation is for. Even in short games I've had Font of Power or Bloogo come out twice because of excavation.
That's what I asked myself. All I can think is that it was against a villain who does a lot of irreducible damage, in which case Smoke Bombs aren't protecting your team so much as whittling it down from the top.
I used to say The Scholar's Know When to Turn Loose. Then I played a game against Advanced Progeny where I would not have been able to win if it weren't for that card.
Yeah, come to that, I avoid a lot of the 'finishing move' types of cards mainly because I'm enjoying the set-ups and tricks that I've got. Part of me would rather see how long I can string out the Argent Adept's combos or have everything pinging off Cosmic's constructs -- thus extending the game -- than just blow up the villain with a Haka of Battle or Inventory Barrage.
I think half the time I've used Haka of Battle, it was when Haka would've been able to finish the villain off with a normal Crush anyway and I just wanted to finish big.
I get Excavation's usage, just in a deck that has no avenue for extra card play I rarely find it to be a better play than his other cards. To be fair, I rarely play Ra because he is usually played by others that I play with (and he just dones't really do it for me) so I'd probably play it if I played his deck more