BQ Specials - Were they really too strong?

[steve2275]

HERE COMES THE CAVALRY! {R} Ghost Rider & Brood
Draw 3 additional cards. All duplicates must still be discarded
could be an 12(if placed) (11 from hand) to block

[The Dude]

Okaaay, but that seems like a lot of effort to go thru just to land a 5. Not to mention since both cards are OPD there's a 50-percent chance the Event is going to come up first and now I'm stuck with a bad card; or Amazon Might comes up first and I have to place a bad card and hold it for possibly 2 or 3 battles waiting for the event. Still not sold on it.

I don't think I'd hate the card as much if it wasn't a OPD. If it was like those 3's that populated Classic (Havok, Scorpion, Shiar, Mordo all have it) then I'd be like not the best card but for a non-opd it may have occassional use (although I think those 3's are better than this one). But for Wonder Woman it's her only numeric attack, which is already pretty shoddy to begin with and then on top of it considered a OPD, which just makes me go WTF.

Let's be realistic. In most situations the best you can hope for is a 9 if you place it and then keep all 8 the next battle. But this involves a) placing a bad card thus losing card advantage in the battle you draw it for a hopefully better attack next battle; and b) assuming you will keep all 8 cards which since this is a OPD half the time it will come up late, which means you may have a dead teammate (or two) plus the usual chance duplicating so you'll need a lot of luck even to pull it off.

But le'ts say you do pull the ideal hand for this card: well it's only a 9 if I play it may on my first attack. If I wait it shrinks. While on my first attack my opponent is at full strength so if he has even a half-way decent deck he probably has either a Spawn avoid or Negate or an Activator (and probably two of those three on his first turn) that can easily avoid it. So basically this card under ideal circumstances is a decoy to draw out a high level block for something better.  Now throw in Wonder Woman has a great grid with teammate defense and she may will be a high priority target for my opponent; do I really want to waste a unique-to-her spot in my deck for a decoy card?

Hell since to make Amazon Might a 9 I have to give up card advantage in the battle I draw it (by placing it for a future battle), Why don't I just use the Multi-5 Powercard with a Training card instead? I mean If I really want to throw a 9 that turns into a 5 that seems like a much safer way to go since: 1- all four members of my team can play it instead of just one, 2 - I can wait until my second or third turn to play it and it doesn't diminish in attack value, and 3 - If it goes through it's in a 4 skill multi instead of a two skill one.

So yea that's my thoughts on Amazon Might, it's inferior to a training card. To call it a OPD is just adding insult to injury since in the very same set there were several characters given true half-multi 9's (GL, Atom, Bane) so why are we wasting Wonder Woman's time with this half-assed version?

[breadmaster]

agreed 100%

stupid card

[BigBadHarve]

HERE COMES THE CAVALRY! {R} Ghost Rider & Brood
Draw 3 additional cards. All duplicates must still be discarded
could be an 12(if placed) (11 from hand) to block

That's a little excessive to max out this card. It could work, but isn't likely to and it's not worth that level of effort. While I argue that it's a good card, it's certainly not one you plan a deck around 

I don't believe in the philosophy that a card is worthless simply because it's not as good as some other cards. There are plenty of cards that don't necessarily measure up to similar counterparts... it doesn't make them worthless. From a tactical perspective it's almost always going to serve you well. It will only fail you when you try and maximize the bonus - but that's a trap. Treat the card as a fire and forget and move on.

Will it win you any games outright? Not at all. But to say it's not worth including in a deck is mind boggling. It's a handy tool in the toolbox. It's a multi-hit offsuit. Always an advantage. Your opponent will block this card. You fire it right off the top of the round, odds are it will be a 5 or 6 to block on average, maybe higher if you haven't placed much, and that's not bad. Great for sussing out your opponent's defense. If he takes the hit, you're up 5 points and he's taken a hit that could haunt him come time to spectrum KO. If he defends, you flush out one of his cards, and can often measure his ability to defend by that first action. That's a win-win scenario in a game where the strategy isn't just in hitting, but gauging what hits your opponent does or doesn't take.

Sure, it's not a 9 multi. Big deal. Hulk's 'Enraged' isn't Thing's 'Clobberin' time'... that doesn't make it any less useful. And to use the bonus on Enraged, you have to take a few hits, that can be a bit of a risk.

I agree with you on the OPD front. Amazon Might as a non-OPD would have been better served not being an OPD. Another edge for WW. And I have no doubt that had that card been designed post-IQ it would have been. At the time, multi-suit attacks were usually level 4, or they were OPD. JLA was a pre-IQ set, and if you look at it in that context, a card like Amazon might would have been very hard to block. So that was probably a consideration when designing the card.

The other thing I like about it - flaws and all - is that it's unique. It would have been very easy for them to come up with yet another dual 9, or something along those lines. But at least someone was thinking outside the box on that one.

-BBH

[Demacus]

I agree with you on the OPD front. Amazon Might as a non-OPD would have been better served not being an OPD. Another edge for WW. And I have no doubt that had that card been designed post-IQ it would have been. At the time, multi-suit attacks were usually level 4, or they were OPD. JLA was a pre-IQ set, and if you look at it in that context, a card like Amazon might would have been very hard to block. So that was probably a consideration when designing the card.
-BBH

The card WAS released Post-I.Q. as JLA came out between I.Q. and Monumental.  It might have been designed Pre-I.Q., but it was released Post-I.Q.

[BigBadHarve]

I agree with you on the OPD front. Amazon Might as a non-OPD would have been better served not being an OPD. Another edge for WW. And I have no doubt that had that card been designed post-IQ it would have been. At the time, multi-suit attacks were usually level 4, or they were OPD. JLA was a pre-IQ set, and if you look at it in that context, a card like Amazon might would have been very hard to block. So that was probably a consideration when designing the card.
-BBH

The card WAS released Post-I.Q. as JLA came out between I.Q. and Monumental.  It might have been designed Pre-I.Q., but it was released Post-I.Q.

Sorry, you're right - I was thinking post-Monumental.

-BBH

[chuu]

This is funny, I was currently trying to trade for blessed by the God's because it seemed so power i.e. play Zealot's warrior soul twice...dammit...

[thetrooper27]

The Taskmaster special only retrieves SPECIAL cards.  Still better than the other BQ's that fetch teamworks though.

[breadmaster]

i was looking at the BQs after the image inducer question about discards, and retrieving an event from the dead pile

if it's a character-specific BQ, it doesn't work because i assume an event is not playbable by a character, but by the player

if it's a tm BQ, it doesn't work because they are all restricted to grabbing a special card

[thetrooper27]

I think the event goes to the defeated characters pile, so it's not retrievable with a BQ.  I think.

[breadmaster]

they usually do, but with a card like image inducer, or a discard top 5 from draw pile to dead, they can end up there

moot anyways, unless i'm wrong about events being playable by a character

[thetrooper27]

Even if you could retrieve it from the dead pile with a BQ, wouldn't you be wasting the BQ?  Events happen before the battle takes place... draw phase, I think?

[Jack]

Events only take place immediately after the draw phase. If you drew one up during battle, say with a Draw 3, it is unusable.