Purchase the Backtimers Faction on Forgefire! (link coming soon)
Are you ready to feel the power of love? Then get ready to doubleback in time with the Backtimers! A teenager, his scientist friend, and their new time machine can prepare for the future by delaying things so they appear at just the right time. This faction is heavy...
Backtimers are from the Excellent Movies, Dudes! set and do or do not have a Titan card.
Complexity Level: HIGH
Mechanics
- Stasis
Backtimers use the stasis mechanic, letting them set up cards to be played for free on a later turn.
Strategy
Stasis sets up future extra plays in a manner not unlike burying. However, where you can only uncover one buried card at the start of your turn by default, you can play any number of cards from stasis provided they have no stasis counters left on them. An additional benefit of stasis is that the cards are not present on any base and thus do not contribute power (thereby avoiding power creep), nor are they in danger of a premature base score sending them to the discard pile. The biggest danger with stasis is that, once the last counter is removed, you must either play the card that turn, find a way to get more counters on it, or put it in the discard pile. This is less of a concern for minions as most bases allow minions to be played on them (looking at you, Ice Palace), but some actions are highly situational in their use and may fizzle if they run out of stasis counters at the wrong time. Furthermore, other players can see which cards are in stasis and prepare for them ahead of time, such as by setting up traps on bases where you would most want to play your minions.
Internally, Backtimers have few cards to put into stasis that don't just put more cards into stasis. Sidelined Girlfriends are the most obvious target, as placing more stasis counters on them means they can produce more +1 power counters, and Future Almanac? can yield more card draw. Ultimately though, the Backtimers faction itself is just playing some extra power with a bit of timing manipulation. Where they really shine is how they help other factions. Factions with high power but few extra plays, like Dinosaurs, will appreciate the ability to swarm bases and set up combos without leaving much power on a base beforehand. Factions that love action combos such as Musketeers and Mythic Greeks will likewise enjoy setting up bursts. Even swarm factions (Robots, Innsmouth, Magical Girls, Mythic Horses) can appreciate the opportunity to set up multiple minion plays on a future turn, beyond what their usual suite of extra minion plays offer. Factions that focus on playing lots of play-on-base actions (Steampunks, Ancient Incas, and Kaiju) benefit in a manner similar to swarm factions.
The factions that work the least well with Backtimers are those that like surprise plays (Mega Troopers, Ninjas), traps (Dragons, Tricksters), return to hand combos (Aliens, Star Roamers), burying (Ancient Egyptians, Skeletons), or playing from discard (Zombies) as their playstyles don't gel as well with delayed extra plays. Other support factions such as Time Travelers and Wizards also tend to not fare well due to the lack of base-breaking power plays between them. Killer Plants and Superheroes already have to wait a turn for their key minions, the Sprouts and Mild-Mannered Citizens, to trigger, defeating the point of setting them up with Stasis. Dueling factions (Cowboys, Samurai) won't much care for delayed extra plays, as a power boost you get to play in two turns does precious little when you're in a duel now. Factions that care about minions being destroyed (Samurai, Sharks, Vampires) won't get as much value here either as Backtimers offer neither destruction nor ideal minions to destroy.
Synergy
- Dinosaurs: Dinosaurs appreciate the value of extra plays to augment their formidable power. It's easy to set up a King Rex + Rampage combo, or a War Raptor swarm, without comitting to one base.
- Mad Scientists: Backtimers produce +1 power counters with Alex P. McGlide, Sidelined Girlfriend, and Will Have to Do, which Mad Scientists can use as a resource for The Monster and Blitzed.
- Giant Ants: GIant Ants love having lots of +1 power counters to move around and spend.
- Mythic Greeks: Mythic Greeks love them some extra actions, and Backtimers help them set up bursts on future turns.
- Big Hero 6: Baymax, Fred Fredrickson IV, Go Go Tomago, Hiro, Hamada, Honey Lemon, and Wasabi all gain benefits from having +1 power counters on them, and Version 2.0 can be a powerful burst with just a handful of characters.
- Mulan: Mulan's talent can be used if you placed a +1 power counter on her during the same turn, and Chien Po, Ling, and Yao all have a card draw ability that triggers off of you placing +1 power counters on them.
Cards - Minions
1x Alex P. McGlide
Power 5 - You may place two stasis counters on a card from your hand. Talent: If a card had its last stasis counter removed this turn, you may place a +1 power counter one of your minions.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
2x Zany Prof
Power 4 - Ongoing: At the start of your turn, you may remove a stasis counter from, or add one to, one of your cards in stasis.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
3x Lifelong Bully
Power 3 - Add a stasis counter to one of your cards in stasis, OR look at the top two cards of your deck, you may place two stasis counters on one of them, and return the rest in any order.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
4x Sidelined Girlfriend
Power 2 - You may place a stasis counter on this card. Special: After a stasis counter is removed from this card, you may place a +1 power counter on one of your minions on a base. When you play this card from stasis, play it as an extra minion and place a +1 power counter on it.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
- For cards with a trigger for their effect – e.g. “After X happens” – the effect is done each time X happens, even if multiple Xs happen at the same time.
Cards - Actions
2x 99 MPH
Place two stasis counters on a card from your hand. Draw a card.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
2x Back From the Future
Reveal the top three cards of your deck. You may place two stasis counters on one of them. Return the rest in any order.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
1x Disrupt the Space-Time Continuum
Choose up to two cards from your hand. Place a number of stasis counters on each of them equal to the number of cards you chose.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
1x Future Almanac?
Place three stasis counters on this card. Special: After you remove a stasis counter from this card, draw a card. When you play this card from stasis, discard it.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
- For cards with a trigger for their effect – e.g. “After X happens” – the effect is done each time X happens, even if multiple Xs happen at the same time.
1x Help From the Past
Place three stasis counters on this card. Special: When this card enters stasis, store a card from your discard pile under it. When you play this card from stasis, discard it, and you may play a card stored under it as an extra card.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
1x Letter From Another Time
Place three stasis counters on this card. Special: When this card enters stasis, search your deck for a card and store it under this card. When you play this card from stasis, discard it, and you may play a card stored under it as an extra card.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
- Whenever you search for a card, you must reveal it, even if there are no restrictions on the card you search for.
1x Lightning Strike
Place two stasis counters on this card. Special: When you remove stasis counters from other cards you may place them on this card. On your turn you may use an action play to reduce the breakpoint of a base by one for each stasis counter on this card (up to 5) until the end of the turn and discard this card. When you play this card from stasis, discard it.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
- Abilities that have an effect “until Y” only affect cards currently in play, but their effect lasts until Y even if the card that caused it leaves play or moves away, or even if any precondition stops being true.
1x Will Have to Do
Place up to two +1 power counters total on your minions, OR remove up to two stasis counters total from your cards in stasis.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
Cards - Bases
1x Alternate Present
Breakpoint 20 - VPs: 4 2 2 - After the first time you play a minion here each turn, you may place two stasis counters on a card from your hand.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
1x Time-Traveling Car
Breakpoint 22 - VPs: 3 2 1 - The winner may place two stasis counters on one of their cards here.
Errata? Yes/No
Clarifications:
- “Cards here” includes actions played on minions there.
