By Tom Kassel.
Multi-player Shadowfist has always suffered from a turtle syndrome from time to time. Once a few strong characters make their appearance, no one can see a way past defenders without opening the field for the next player, so everyone just puts more characters in play, making it even harder to achieve anything - until a Neutron Bomb clears the field. A game without Architects present can last a long time with eventual attacks motivated more by boredom than strategy. Aggressive play is further discouraged by the host of character killing events and special feng shui sites which lie in wait for anyone taking the initiative. Many games are won by the second or third player to make an attempt after everyone's defences have been exhausted by the first attempts. Not much incentive to try first.
Flashpoint has changed all this in several ways. The number of cards an opponent has in play can now be turned against him/her: Plasma Trooper, Pod Trooper, Who's the Big Man Now, Rainforest Grove, Cop on Vacation and We Know Where You Live all feed off the number of an opponent's cards. What was a strength has now become a source of potential weakness.
There are now many penalties for playing events on your opponent's turn. From Let's Book/Invincible Chi which cancel/negate them to Rain of Fury/Night Market/Stunt Man/Red Monk/Too Much Monkey Business/Old Hermit's Gambit which all profit in various ways, it has become more dangerous to play events on the opponent's turn. Leaving your Nerve Gas to the last minute may be leaving it too late when the response is Fortuitous Chi dropped on the target. It may be safer to just pick the most dangerous target on your own turn and use it immediately.
Kinoshita House/Fox Pass/City Square have stalled games for a long time. The Whirlpools deal with this to some extent, but Smart Missiles really sort them out. These sites may fade from popularity fast (along with Proving Grounds). Cave Networks could still be good though, with the arrival of more useful three cost characters. With your own Smart Missile cocked, the danger of losing the site is removed.
A whole bunch of cards are just plain good at attacking. The defensive Hand get two of the best: Blood of the Valiant and Laughter of the Wind. Either of these could end a game quick.
A slightly more subtle effect is the way that weapon/vehicle states have been enhanced. States have always given the attacker a lot of flexibility by their ability to be played after interceptors have been assigned. The down side has been that investing many cards in a character often just means a lot lost when the character is cheaply killed by Nerve Gas or whatever. They can be nice but not quite worth the cost. For Dragons Both Guns Blazing both increases the value and removes the card cost for (subsequent) weapon states, while Slo Mo Vengeance re-cycles them back from the smoked pile - ON ANY TURN. This card is one of the few defensive cards in Flashpoint. The Spirit Pole gets any state back, while Tank Warfare re-cycles tanks at reduced cost. Any deck piling in the states must now worry about a few Shaolin Surprises, but what would Shadowfist be without surprise?
I'm very impressed with Flashpoint. It looks to me like a great game has become even better. I expect to see more games won at the first rather than the last attempt. (Yes, I know that all games are won at the last attempt but you know what I mean).
Last modified: June 18, 1997.
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