New Card Etiquette:

So have you come accross this situation:

Im playing some against a team of new figures Ive
never faced before. I glance accross the table &
can clearly see the power card & discover some of
the powers "they have up their sleeve".

So should this be frowned upon?
Do I have the right to view card to verify Special Powers?

This seams a bit unfair to me. I personally wouldnt
want to show my card either since tactics can be
based upon powers that will show up later.

Example: Im facing Giant Man the other night &
I have him down to one of his weaker clicks :
click #6 with grounded, 8fist, 15bare shield &
Genius Power. I think about the Genius Power
only being able to perplex short range & not
too worried since he's far from his team,
but then I see Perplex on his card & think
twice about hitting him since I didnt want late
game Perplex to show up....not a game breaker,
but the THEIR card was used to MY advantage.

I think that if the opposing player asks to see the card, you should have to show it. If they want to understand how the power works, they should not have to have everything memorized for each piece.

However...

In my most recent game, I was using Molecule Man, and I pushed him until he got his item eliminating power, so I could blow up an object that a stealthed Wasp was hiding in.

After pushing to the click I needed, I did not announce that I had this new power. When I eliminated the object that my opponent's Wasp was standing on, he was surprised and upset with me for not having announced that I had this new power.

Personally, I do not think that I have an obligation to announce special powers when my pieces have them activated. If an opponent asks what they are, I am more than happy to explain how the power works, but I would not announce any other power changes on my pieces, why should I announce the special powers?

Am I wrong with this?

I dont think you were wrong to not announce. Really,
that is their resonsibility to view dials during game. I do
this often also. Im sure your oponent wouldnt do
you the same 'favor.

totally agree with the above. if someone doesn't look at your dial and doesn't realize you have running shot it isn't up to you to tell him, that's his responsibility.

instead, ask politely if your opponent's figures have any special powers and then ask to see the cards so you can see them for yourself. just be prepared to show your cards back. that's only fair and in good sportsmanship

I will allow my opponent to look at my cards if they request to.

I have no problem with it.

I treat them just like feats. Some figs qualify for Brilliant Tactician but they don't have perplex showing on their opening click. Same thing.

... seeing your opponents cards and possibly seeing a glimpse of powers that are further down the dial is an advantage... while the set is new... after a while... we're all going to know these guys up and down...

I would show my cards

If my oponent wants to cover the rest of the powers up and only show me the special power text, that's fine too...

Id just show them the darn thing, but that's just me

The way I see it, as long as they have a white power its ok to see the card so they could understand it.

If they dont ahve a white power then the only reason they need the card is for theme. So if you announce NO WHITE POWER then no need for the card.

When I play I don't go out of my way to look at my opponents character cards. Unless I need a clarification on a special power.

This was actually my biggest concern when they announced these cards. The "up the sleeve" aspect of the strategy is huge. I build a team with R Vision because of his late-dial Imperv. My opponent doesn't see it coming. That would be true if he were made today.

I believe that while you should not have to announce when a piece gets a special power (just as you should not have to announce if a piece changes powers), you should make the character card readily available to your opponent if they ask to read it.

As for surprise aspect, I think that an experienced player will generally know the dials and powers of pieces anyways, so I do not really see that as much of a benefit.

Agreed. I played with Lorelei last week, and my opponents not knowing that she 1) had a ridiculously long dial for her points and 2) would pick up both outwit and perplex late in the dial played heavily into my victories. They would go after her thinking she was a soft target and end up providing me the keys to defeating them.

It'll be interesting to see if the character cards affect that dynamic.

I only bring the cards for characters with Special Powers. I prefer keeping my opponents in the dark about the regular powers my figures may have later in the dial. But I keep cards with Special Powers around in case my opponent needs to read about the Special Power.

If a character doesn't have a special power, and doesn't contribute to your theme (or you don't have a theme), then you don't have any obligation to even have the character card with you.


The way I'm going to play it is that my opponent can see a character card to read a special power. If the character doesn't have a special power, then my opponent may not see the card.

If my opponent want's to see my special power, I'll hold the card up for him with my fingers covering over the rest of the card, problem solved.

If you do not have the card available to show your opponent and judge

- you may not make use of the keywords
- you may not make use of the Special Powers