ludd_gang
02/15/2003, 08:02
The WK claim that incapacitate is a misunderstood power got me to thinking.... it's been a while in the coming..... Forgive me.....
THE MISCONCEPTION: Incapacitate is meant to totally lock down an enemy. Any game designer worth his/her salt doen't want players to get frustrated. Incapacitate could easily be the monoblue-draw-go army of HC (mtg reference to a "counterspell" deck-very annoying), but its design prohibits such a function.
If you've used Incapacitate to push an opponent, you'll notice that your opponent removes their action tokens at the end of their next turn. This means if you need to move a non-charging, untaxied fig into place for an attack, that fig must push on your next turn to get a "free" hit on the incapacitated fig. If you do this, over the course of two turns you spend three actions and a push for a "free" hit- not a good trade. The inherent disadvantage is exasperated in lower point games.
With charging/taxi/running shot in the mix, the deal is slightly sweetened. It'll cost you 2 (3 with taxi) actions over the course of a single turn, but the hit is push-free. Furthermore, it buys you the option of pushing next turn with a single action for a second uncontested hit. Obviously, you're still investing several actions against a single figure, so this strategy is best late game when you have a fig advantage. In the last few minutes of the game though, this can quickly net some essential points.
Layering an army with multiple occurances of Incapacitate so you can force figs to push is similarly wasteful in points and actions. At the end of your opponent's next turn, you run into the whole short-lived lock down. Furthermore, since incapacitate is expensive, the figs you'd buy wouldn't be able to pull their weight- you'd be plagued with "bad luck" because the net value of their scores simply wouldn't measure up. (Kang laughs at your silly incapacitate figs that can't roll an 18. Ha! Ha! Batman cannot roll a 9. Oh wait, I cost 190.... And have RCE and can't fly.... And they keep Outwitting my Invulnerability.....*slinks off with a tear begging his eye*)
However, if you use Incapacitate on an opponent to give a fig its FIRST action token, at the very least you've created a conundrum for that fig. Coupled with high defense values, an attack that would be a no-brainer suddenly becomes probability intensive, and multiple attack options that would otherwise be desirable become a liability. For instance, Sabertooth has Wasp and Daredevil locked down BTB- he plans to take a shot at Daredevil then push next turn to either finish of DD, or rend Wasp. But after Wasp incapacitates, the odds of DD's Supersenses and Wasp's high defense become much more daunting.
Furthermore, if an fig has no immediate attack, its first incapacitate-inspired action token means you've neutralized that fig for 2 turns. For instance, if a fig like Logan isn't BTB, incapacitate means he's not doing anything aggressive for 2 complete turns, period. Okay, he might push to tie up a fig, but that's not exactly offensive inertia. Again, ONE action translates into an entire fig neutralized for TWO turns. This may seem like a limited application, but once taxis are beaten out of the picture, about 80% of the fig pool is susceptable to this application.
Last point is an obvious one- Incapacitate can help against damage reduction. It isn't truly a foil like Psychic Blast, but it can do the job. The main problem is that you'll often want to push to do so, otherwise Juggernaut can sit there all day laughing at you because you can't finish him off.
My point is that incapacitate isn't broken, and I'm glad for that. I can't imagine anything more boring than a game of total lock down. I hope this editorial might help dispel the "WK's R&D is staffed by the crack ward from Betty Ford" rumors. Even more so, I hope it doesn't start any rumors that I'm on crack...
THE MISCONCEPTION: Incapacitate is meant to totally lock down an enemy. Any game designer worth his/her salt doen't want players to get frustrated. Incapacitate could easily be the monoblue-draw-go army of HC (mtg reference to a "counterspell" deck-very annoying), but its design prohibits such a function.
If you've used Incapacitate to push an opponent, you'll notice that your opponent removes their action tokens at the end of their next turn. This means if you need to move a non-charging, untaxied fig into place for an attack, that fig must push on your next turn to get a "free" hit on the incapacitated fig. If you do this, over the course of two turns you spend three actions and a push for a "free" hit- not a good trade. The inherent disadvantage is exasperated in lower point games.
With charging/taxi/running shot in the mix, the deal is slightly sweetened. It'll cost you 2 (3 with taxi) actions over the course of a single turn, but the hit is push-free. Furthermore, it buys you the option of pushing next turn with a single action for a second uncontested hit. Obviously, you're still investing several actions against a single figure, so this strategy is best late game when you have a fig advantage. In the last few minutes of the game though, this can quickly net some essential points.
Layering an army with multiple occurances of Incapacitate so you can force figs to push is similarly wasteful in points and actions. At the end of your opponent's next turn, you run into the whole short-lived lock down. Furthermore, since incapacitate is expensive, the figs you'd buy wouldn't be able to pull their weight- you'd be plagued with "bad luck" because the net value of their scores simply wouldn't measure up. (Kang laughs at your silly incapacitate figs that can't roll an 18. Ha! Ha! Batman cannot roll a 9. Oh wait, I cost 190.... And have RCE and can't fly.... And they keep Outwitting my Invulnerability.....*slinks off with a tear begging his eye*)
However, if you use Incapacitate on an opponent to give a fig its FIRST action token, at the very least you've created a conundrum for that fig. Coupled with high defense values, an attack that would be a no-brainer suddenly becomes probability intensive, and multiple attack options that would otherwise be desirable become a liability. For instance, Sabertooth has Wasp and Daredevil locked down BTB- he plans to take a shot at Daredevil then push next turn to either finish of DD, or rend Wasp. But after Wasp incapacitates, the odds of DD's Supersenses and Wasp's high defense become much more daunting.
Furthermore, if an fig has no immediate attack, its first incapacitate-inspired action token means you've neutralized that fig for 2 turns. For instance, if a fig like Logan isn't BTB, incapacitate means he's not doing anything aggressive for 2 complete turns, period. Okay, he might push to tie up a fig, but that's not exactly offensive inertia. Again, ONE action translates into an entire fig neutralized for TWO turns. This may seem like a limited application, but once taxis are beaten out of the picture, about 80% of the fig pool is susceptable to this application.
Last point is an obvious one- Incapacitate can help against damage reduction. It isn't truly a foil like Psychic Blast, but it can do the job. The main problem is that you'll often want to push to do so, otherwise Juggernaut can sit there all day laughing at you because you can't finish him off.
My point is that incapacitate isn't broken, and I'm glad for that. I can't imagine anything more boring than a game of total lock down. I hope this editorial might help dispel the "WK's R&D is staffed by the crack ward from Betty Ford" rumors. Even more so, I hope it doesn't start any rumors that I'm on crack...