Ghosts

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In that darkest night at the old mansion an eerie light shone through the attic windows... even though no one was home. Ethereal ghosts gain power by having less of the tangible world. The faster you empty your hand, the stronger these spooks become!

Ghosts are from the Awesome Level 9000 set and have a Titan card: the Creampuff Man

Mechanics

• Having Few Cards In Hand

Just about every faction wants you to have as many cards in your hand as you can get. Not always so with the Ghosts. They reward you with a wide array of abilities for emptying out your hand, and offer several ways to make that happen fast, at the expense of options you would have had with a full hand.

Like the Back of Your Hand

All players start the game with a hand of 5 cards. In an ideal turn, you play 2 cards, 1 minion and 1 action, leaving you at 3 cards, then draw 2 cards, keeping your hand size at 5. This is very significant for Ghosts, and may leave you in a quandary, because several Ghost abilities require that you have 2 or fewer cards left in your hand. If you want to use one of them right away you must burn off an extra card from your starting hand.

Understanding and keeping pace with this cadence is vital to success with Ghosts. Over the long term, your hand size doesn't change unless you discard cards, play extra cards, draw extra cards, return cards to your hand, or do nothing during your turn. You are strongest during your turn and weakest during other player's turns. You must plan ahead and reexamine your cards every turn to hit that 2-card threshold to activate the Ghosts' best abilities.

Discarding Cards

Spirit and The Dead Rise power up based on how many cards you discard with their abilities. Counterintuitively, they make drawing extra cards advantageous for you (on top of the normal benefits) by cutting down on the time you might otherwise waste building your hand by doing nothing. You can accumulate quite a lot of fuel, but if you get carried away you may have trouble triggering other Ghost abilities.

If you are not able to fulfill your cards' conditions, it is better to discard them than keep them around. You can't even play Make Contact unless it's your last card in hand with an action play to spend.

In general, emptying your hand by playing extra cards benefits you much more than discarding them. That's why Ghostly Arrival is the Ghosts' best action.

Strategy

Because Ghosts are capable of dumping several cards in one turn, they tend towards a boom and bust play pattern, just like ghost towns and jump scare tactics of the horror genre. After spending your hand on a big play, you'll probably find yourself with no choices left but to do little or nothing for a few turns. That makes breaking bases on your turn even more important than usual. Experienced Ghost players carefully play and manage their cards to have a combo ready for opportune moments.

You can keep your hand small all the time if you guarantee access to the cards you need, by doing such things as stacking your deck and playing from your discard pile. Normally, keeping your hand small is very risky due to the random nature of decks and unequal distribution of card abilities.

Synergy

Ghosts have extra power and utility when you manage your hand well, so factions that help with that do best with Ghosts. Very few factions discard cards to empty your hand the same way Ghosts do, but extra card plays and draws help, the more speed and control the better. Factions that can still function on an empty hand also fit well with Ghosts. Sometimes your opponents' abilities that make you discard cards become advantageous.

•  Zombies: You may have immediately thought of this faction. They complement Ghosts very well, but not flawlessly: Zombies aren't of any help emptying your hand, only discarding cards from your deck, and even bring them back to your hand! Ghosts support Zombies better than Zombies support Ghosts, so Ghosts end up playing subordinate to the Zombies. This is one of the factions that can still function on an empty hand.
• Wizards: The quintessential support faction supports Ghosts better than usual since you get fine control over a huge number of extra card plays and draws, easily fulfilling Ghost's conditions.
•  Killer Plants: These two factions synergize in numerous small ways, adding up to one of the best combinations. Sprouts can "grow" into Haunting. A Water Lily granting an extra card at the start of your turn is much more valuable than drawing it at the end of your turn, and Plants offer extra minion plays to empty your hand. Additionally, the Sprouts and Venus Man Trap continue to bring more minions to the field independent from how many cards you have left in hand.
• Magical Girls: Thanks to Lunar Captain and some actions, discarding Magical Girl minions doesn't bother them much. With a good team in play, the Girls get a lot done even if your hand is empty.

Cards - Minions

1x Spectre

Power 5 - Special: If you have 2 or fewer cards in your hand, any time you can play a minion, you can play this card from your discard pile instead.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

• This can substitute for playing a generic extra minion (c.f., Hidden Ninja, Commission), but not for playing a specific extra minion (c.f., Hoverbot, Sprout, Tenacious Z). You cannot play Spectre if it does not meet the extra minion’s conditions (c.f. Homeworld, Secret Grove).

2x Haunting

Power 3 - Ongoing: If you have two or fewer cards in your hand, this minion has +3 power and is not affected by other players’ cards.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

• Since it is Ongoing, this ability does not activate while it’s in your hand.

3x Spirit

Power 3 - Choose a minion. You may discard cards equal to its power to destroy it.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

4x Ghost

Power 2 - You may discard a card from your hand.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

Cards - Actions

1x Across the Divide

Choose a card name. Place any number of minions with that name from your discard pile into your hand.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

1x Door to the Beyond

Play on a base. Ongoing: If you have two or fewer cards in your hand, each of your minions here has +2 power.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

2x Ghostly Arrival

You may play an extra minion and/or an extra action.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

2x Incorporeal

Play on one of your minions. Ongoing: This minion is not affected by other players’ cards.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

1x Make Contact

You can only play this card if it is the last card in your hand. Play on a minion. Ongoing: Treat this minion as yours while it and this card are in play.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

1x Séance

If you have 2 or fewer cards in your hand, draw until you have 5 cards

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

• When playing Séance, do not count it toward the cards in your hand.

1x Shady Deal

If you have two or fewer cards in your hand, gain 1 VP.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

1x The Dead Rise

Discard any number of cards. Play an extra minion from your discard pile with power less than the number of cards you discarded

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

Cards - Bases

1x Haunted House

Breakpoint 18 - VPs: 4 3 2 - After a player plays a minion here, that player must discard a card.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

1x The Dread Gazebo

​Breakpoint 20 - VPs: 4 2 1 - Players cannot play actions on this base

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

Card - Titan

1x Creampuff Man

Special: On your turn, you may play this titan if you have no cards in your hand. Ongoing: You have +5 power here minus the number of cards in your hand (minimum 0). Talent: Discard a card to play a standard action from your discard pile as an extra action. Place it on the bottom of your deck instead of the discard pile.

Errata? Yes/No

Clarifications:

• A standard action is one that is not played on a base or on a minion, but simply played, resolved, and discarded.