Cactus Game Design Message Boards

How often have you lost a game, mostly because your opponent went first and then played Mayhem after the draw 3 on your turn? 

Because you don't get a chance to play most card types before Mayhem hits we're pretty limited to what can be used for a counter.  Here are a couple ideas for cards that would help bring balance to the impact of a first turn Mayhem.  I'd love to hear other players ideas.  Bonus points for thinking outside the box!

ANB counters first turn Mayhem. Everybody should just start playing that!

Love the lost soul, not exactly sure how Eye for an Eye would work with it's wording. It'd be worse than Mayhem though...play every thing down, you have one card in your hand with tons of heroes. Their turn, they D3, you Eye For An Eye, and both of you have zero cards in hand, except you have characters.

Let's take care of another problem simultaneously!

Protection of God (fortress)
Plays to set aside area.  Regardless of protection, search deck or discard pile for Thaddeus and place here to protect your hand and deck (hehe) from shuffle for any reason.  If your opponent has played Mayhem this game, you may draw six.  Thaddeus may not be removed from Protection of God.

Chaos
[Black Curse | Isaiah 34:11]
Each time a deck is shuffled, its owner reveals the top 2 cards. You may add one revealed card to your hand. Limit once per turn and twice per game.

Non-Dominant, please. We don't need another way to steal Soggy.

I'm not really sure how the repeat part works on the dominant. Wouldn't everyone's hands be the same size after the first shuffle and, thus, cause nothing else to be shuffled?

...not exactly sure how Eye for an Eye would work with it's wording. It'd be worse than Mayhem though...play every thing down, you have one card in your hand with tons of heroes. Their turn, they D3, you Eye For An Eye, and both of you have zero cards in hand, except you have characters.

The idea for Eye for an Eye is to counter the massive card advantage gained by Mayhem.  If they fill their territory (or set-aside area) with the cards from their hand (Forts, Sites, Arts, Characters, etc) then play Mayhem, they have a massive card advantage based on the cards they retain on the table.  

When you play E4aE it brings everyone's hand to the same size as the player who has the least cards.  Then you repeat the process (do the same thing) for each card type in play.  Do they have 2 Heroes and you have none?  They shuffle those 2 back into their deck.  Did they activate an Artifact but you have none?  They shuffle it into their deck.  Same for any other card type they put down trying to gain an advantage on you.

I like the LS, though shouldn't it be opponents' not opponent's?

Good catch!

Did browarod just call Mayhem overly powerful? I guess we're rubbing off on him. 

I'd play Goshen/Kerith Ravine + E4aE then...

Oh, right. Well, there goes me trying to break it. Great card!

Excellent cards! An intro-prep would be better than a Mayhem cold-counter, but these are good cards nonetheless. AEfAE, besides having an awesome acronym, would also make a good Disciples counter as well. I somehow doubt anyone not using Disciples is going to have 11 Heroes in play.

Well, for fake cards I do. I'd prefer to let it slide into the next set and then try to break it. 

*Note to self* - make sure they never let Andrew become a play tester.

Yeah... Eye for an Eye is a bit much. As smokey said, play it when you have no evil cards out and you get an instant win.

*EDIT*

Idea for the lost soul:

"While in play, restrict opponents from playing evil dominants except during the battle phase."

I personally like the lost soul more then the Dom. there are enough ways to rescue or negate the lost soul SA that it makes it not op'd.

The LS is far more useful. 

Evil Dominant
Eye for an Eye
If opponent used mayhem immediately after your draw phase this game you search opponent's deck for 6 cards and discard them.

Cards that don't say Mayhem specifically are good. Cards that say Mayhem specifically are as good as Achan.

That's my thinking, too, lol.