Let's talk about those Dark Watch promos...

Games Sentinels of the Multiverse
1

I just got my package from >G today (by the way, thanks guys!).  While Jules will be happy with the Mr. Chomps, I'm more interested in the Dark Watch promo cards.  So, I'm going to do a little thinking-out-loud...

Mister Fixer

Okay, I love Bitter Strike.  It gives Fixer a great boost in offensive capability, at the cost of keeping his stuff around.  I can see all sorts of combos with Scholar and Argent Adept, letting him get fully set up before unleashing massive damage all over the place.  

The front art reminds me of some of the 90s Daredevil or Iron Fist comics, which fits well.  I'm wondering where that golden skull-temple is in the SotM universe.  On the back, who is that?!?!  I don't recognize this fellow at all.  I thought he was Spite, at first, but the red mask isn't the same.  Maybe we're seeing how Fixer got that scar in the first place?

Nightmist

I like the look of the art on this one particularly:  Nightmist looks exotic and powerful on the front, while looking utterly hopeless on the back, alone against Gloomweaver.  I'm on the fence about her power:  it'll mean a genuine shift in the way I usually play her, which is pretty awesome.  I'll hopefully give her a shot within a week or so.

Expatriette and Setback

Oh, man!  These two have to be talked about together, given their incapacitated side.  Are we seeing the first ever in-team hookup?!  I think we are!  Also, is that Argent Adept on the back of Expatriette's incap side, fighting some flying villain (with red energy around his hands)?  It looks like AA just jumped off of a Mobile Defense Platform...  More details are necessary!

I like Expatriette's new power.  While it slows down her set-up time, it definitely increases her overall damage output and makes SMG so much more useful in the long-run.  Hollow Points + Aim + SMG?  Whooo....that's some pain.  I can't speak much to Setback's power, as I'm not a playtester, but it definitely seems more defensive than offensive, so that might be a thing...

Spite

This is definitely a neat take on Spite, with lots of opportunities for players to get the jump on him on the back, if you manage the risk-reward ratio well.  He hits like a Mack truck on his flipped side, made especially rougher for the fact that he goes after the lowest HP hero.  That definitely makes Wraith's Smoke Bombs useful in a fight with him!

Gloomweaver

Holy crap on a crutch!  People who are asking for a harder Gloomweaver, your prayers have been answered.  While his front side isn't hateful, you almost want to keep him there while you build up to deal with the utter devastation of his flip side!  H+2 damage per round!  H AND H-2 damage per round for everyone?!  Ow ow ow!  Very cool!

I've gotta say, though.  Both the art on Gloomweaver and Spite look decidedly creepy.  Spite looks like a combo of Ghost Rider and Solomon Grundy on his flip side, while "The Rotting God" looks suitably gruesome.  Awesome job on these!

2

Note that GloomWeaver end of turn H-2 on his flip side only his non-heroes.

3

Is it just me, or is it LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE to have MORE saved victims than drugs, barring cirumstances like Atlantis and Time Flies, unless some major changes to his deck have been made? He only plays 1 card a turn, and he flips a drug at the START of his turn, and checks for victims at the END of his turn, so it just can't be done.

4

Safe house makes him start with a victim in play, he could play a 2nd one for his 1st play.

5

yeah, but even if you save them both, he flips a drug face-up at the START of his turn, so on his second turn, even if you saved both victim, he'll have 2 drugs and 2 victims. That's not enough to flip a drug face-down.

6

To save the Good Samaritan, you PLAY the TOP card of the VILLAIN deck. Which COULD play a victim. If THAT victim is another Good Samaritan, you CAN then play the TOP card again and thus get MORE victims than drugs.

7

Yeah, and that is the ONLY way to do it. It's SUCH a rare thing, like, why even mention it?

8

You could Timeshift him.

9

Sub-Zero Atmosphere

Move the victim check forward and before the possible drug flip.

10

Ah, that's interesting to note.  I think someone once observed that original Spite was weird in listing his EOT trigger before his SOT one…SZA is a reason why this would be done.

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Also, there are environment cards that cause villain cards to be played. And who knows what shenanigans the newer heroes will add to the mix...

12

The playtesters?

13

But without outside deck manipulation, the double-Good Samaritan-flip is the ONLY way you can get it to work.

14

Bear in mind (with Spite) that you ditch all 5 drugs, so there are only 19 cards left (since the safe house makes 20). 

you are guaranteed 1 victim (because of the safe house), so that's 18 cards left.

 3 of the victims are Samaritans. It's not a given that you'll get one early on, but it's certainly possible to get ahead of the drugs.

 

15

Someone who has seen his backside...does he ever flip to the front again?

16

no.

17

So. Expat. She looks like she got blown up pretty hard. 

This is where the white doves come in right? Her power being finaly realized as being immortal? 

Or maybe she just draws from the power of love similar to how her mother does light.

/shrug

18

Dang, I haven't gotten my package yet (probably end of the list since it is just the errata and the promos) but it sounds epic...

19

Setback's incap art has been in my brain since I looked at it.

Is this the first Incap art with the hero incapped without a scratch on them?  Even Legacy, whose life falls apart after his daughter is killed shows him defeated on the back.

I have no clue the art on setback's primary card, but this could mean a couple of things:

1.  Setback doesn't lose.  This cat just never gets really taken down.

2.  Losing Amanda ruins him.  How many Incaps show the hero facing a temporary setback?  Almost all are either dead, captured or seriously injured or trapped in a way that doesn't give much hope for recovery.  For the incap of setback to be someone else taken out makes me think that he isn't able to handle it at all.  He's obviously out of the fight once she takes that damage, but I'd bet he's out longer than that.  He's gone from a positive outlook that really glosses over personal suffering, to caring for someone and having a reason to fight, to seeing first hand what can happen when your luck turns bad.

I could see him isolating himself from the world, vowing not to let his curse harm anyone else, and if he does act, refusing to work with others.  Eventually he'll come back, but not for a long while, and he definitely wouldn't be the same again.

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It doesn't make his narative any clearer. Tryin to figure it out my self. If the theory is that he finaly vows to not let his powers harm anyone else again after some catastrophy, I have a feeling that he goes through that phases quite a lot.