Welcome back Champions! It is I, Tommy of Titan, back with another bite sized article. This time I’d like to join in on all the Klaw your way through May action, and talk about a specific element of the Klaw encounter set. That element is The “Immortal” Klaw Side scheme. Pretty fitting since we are the Side Scheme podcast right?
Ok, so the question we really need to answer is, what the heck should you do with this thing? There’s two options. First option is to ignore it, and deal with the acceleration icon as well as the additional 10 health. The second option is to remove that bad boy via Thwarting it. This decision isn’t a clear cut one though, and there are many variables to consider.
Going back to my previous article about scaling, we can see that this card is somewhat unique. In one sense, it scales to the number of players by increasing the amount of threat it comes into play with by 3 per player. On the other hand, it simply provides a static 10 health increase for the villain. That 10 health can be a much bigger deal when you are playing solo or even just a two player game. In a three or four player game 10 health isn’t really that hard to deal with. This is the first factor that must be considered when determining what to do with this side scheme.
Other factors that can impact your decision on what to do with it are what aspects are being played. A Justice player will often have no trouble whatsoever in just removing all the threat from a card like this. Indirectly that threat removal is converted to damage as Klaw will momentarily lose that health. An Aggression player, on the other hand, will probably have an easier time dealing with the health. Both of these factors are dependent on the number players in the game of course. Even though the health is a static 10 more players can chip away with actions to alleviate the load.
The last thing to consider when deciding what to do with this thing is the remaining number of cards in the encounter deck. It’s never a feel good situation when you defeat this side scheme and it comes right back out of the deck and onto the table. Ideally, you’d like to defeat it right after shuffling the encounter deck so that it doesn’t go back in the deck, at least for a while. What cards are in your hand at any given moment can also determine your course of action. If you see an opportunity to spike damage or thwart for a large amount, it’s sometimes best to capitalize on what your hand is best suited for that turn.
Now, I know that’s a lot to consider, and you might not be finding the easy answers you were looking for here. I think understanding why you make decisions in games is a better way to learn about the game though. These factors that we talked about here can be applied to a variety of situations in many encounter sets. The variables in this game are numerous, but that’s one of the reasons we love it so much! As always, if you are interested in more content please stay tuned here for more articles, as well as checking out The Side Scheme on FB, YouTube, Twitch, Patreon, and wherever you listen to Podcasts. I’m Tommy of Titan ominously drifting into the shadows.