Madam Mim

> "*Want to fight? Want to have a Wizard's Duel?!*"
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**Madam Mim** is one of three playable Villains in the Villainous expansion, *Bigger and Badder*. She is from the movie *The Sword in the Stone*, released in 1963, in which she is voiced by Martha Wentworth and animated by Milt Kahl. She is illustrated in the game by Pix Smith.

Madam Mim has two separate Fate decks with different card backs: a traditional one that functions as expected, though with only eight cards, and a deck solely for Merlin's Transformations. Madam Mim starts with a random Merlin Transformation on her board in Dueling Ground, and whenever she defeats one, she plays another one to Dueling Ground. When a player performs a Fate action against Madam Mim, they do so from her traditional Fate deck.

Madam Mim has a unique card type, Transformation. Transformations in her Villain deck function identically to Allies (except all of them add an extra Vanquish action to their location), and Transformations from her Fate deck function identically to Heroes. This functionality includes triggering opponents' Conditions. In addition, each "Ally" Transformation can only be used to Vanquish a specific "Hero" Transformation.

## Objective

Madam Mim must defeat all of Merlin's Transformations. She can do so by either Vanquishing them with their corresponding Mim Transformations in her Villain deck, or by playing I'll Make the Rules.

The matchups for the Transformations are:

* Chicken Mim beats Caterpillar Merlin
* Crocodile Mim beats Turtle Merlin
* Elephant Mim beats Walrus Merlin
* Fox Mim beats Rabbit Merlin
* Purple Dragon Mim beats Goat Merlin
* Rattlesnake Mim or Tiger Mim beats Mouse Merlin
* Rhinoceros Mim beats Crab Merlin

## Realm

Madam Mim's Realm contains the following locations, from left to right:

* The Woods
	+ Gain 2 Power
	+ Play a Card | Fate | Move an Item or Ally
* Madam Mim's Cottage
	+ Play a Card
	+ Gain 2 Power | Move an Item or Ally | Move a Hero
* Dueling Ground
	+ *empty*
	+ Gain 1 Power | Discard Cards | Fate
* The Swamp
	+ Play a Card
	+ Gain 1 Power | Play a Card | Discard Cards

## Villain deck

The following cards are in Madam Mim's Villain deck:

* I'm Not Cheating (×4)
* A Sporting Chance (×3)
* As Big as a House (×3)
* Battle of Wits (×3)
* I'll Make the Rules (×3)
* Magnificent, Marvelous, Mad (×3)
* Wizard's Duel (×3)
* Chicken Mim
* Crocodile Mim
* Elephant Mim
* Fox Mim
* Purple Dragon Mim
* Rattlesnake Mim
* Rhinoceros Mim
* Tiger Mim

These include 6 total Conditions (A Sporting Chance; As Big as a House), 16 total Effects (I'm Not Cheating; Battle of Wits; I'll Make the Rules; Magnificent, Marvelous, Mad; Wizard's Duel), and 8 Transformations (Chicken Mim; Crocodile Mim; Elephant Mim; Fox Mim; Purple Dragon Mim; Rattlesnake Mim; Rhinoceros Mim; Tiger Mim).

## Fate deck

The following cards are in Madam Mim's Fate deck:

* Knowledge and Wisdom (×4)
* Archimedes
* Bird Arthur
* Germ Merlin
* Merlin

These are all Effects, with 8 total.

## Merlin Transformation deck

The following cards are in the Merlin Transformation deck:

* Caterpillar Merlin
* Crab Merlin
* Goat Merlin
* Mouse Merlin
* Rabbit Merlin
* Turtle Merlin
* Walrus Merlin

These are all Transformations, with 7 total.

## Strategy

   Madam Mim is a relatively straightforward Villain: just defeat every Merlin. She can also be very offensive, uniquely having both of her Fate actions on the bottom row. However, playing her well still requires thought, as a Mim just going through the motions will be outpaced by a more competent opponent.

To win, Madam Mim must play at least seven cards, and spend at least 13 Power, often more. However, she lacks a Gain 3 Power action, making As Big as a House her main way of accruing that resource, and if she can't draw into them, she can get a bit Power-starved. This encourages her to discard often, and make use of Battle of Wits.

Those seven cards she needs to play are, ideally, her Transformations, with one for each of Merlin's (though there is some redundancy for taking out Mouse Merlin). Absent incoming Fate, Mim wants to play every single one of her Transformations to Dueling Ground, then go there to Vanquish every Merlin in one "machine gun" turn. However, your opponent is not going to sit idly by and let you build up your forces, and will Fate you - this can result in Merlins moving to other locations, Mims getting discarded either from the Realm or your hand, and defeated Merlins getting shuffled back into their deck. This necessitates tactical deviation from the ideal, though the "machine gun" should still form the core of your strategy - even defeating two, three, or four Merlins in one go can speed your game up substantially.

If Merlins are moved out of Dueling Ground (which is most likely, given that Knowledge and Wisdom makes up half your Fate deck), you have a few options. If you have the corresponding Mim in hand, you can simply go to the new location, play the Mim, and defeat. If the Mim is already in play, Madam Mim's Cottage is a fantastic location, letting you move the Merlin and Mim toward each other for a defeat, unless the Merlin is in The Swamp, in which case you can move the Mim toward the Merlin and play a *different* Mim and use *her* Vanquish. The best candidates for these proxy Vanquishes are Rattlesnake and Tiger Mim, since they are redundant with each other, but you can also use a Mim whose Merlin you've already defeated.

If you lose one of your Transformations early, either to Germ Merlin or Bird Arthur, or if Merlin shuffles one of his defeated Transformations back into his deck, you still have options. Your most powerful and flexible tool is I'll Make the Rules, though it is also your most expensive (yet another reason to mill for As Big as a House). You can also play I'll Make the Rules early if you haven't drawn the right Mim yet; if you do then later draw into her, you can use her for proxy Vanquishes. Alternatively, provided your opponent even *can* Vanquish, you can use A Sporting Chance, which lets you fetch back the Mim you need, or even an I'll Make the Rules or As Big as a House, as needed.

The rest of your deck is various levels of discard fodder. The most useful is Wizard's Duel, which gives you more flexibility in defeating Merlins, letting you skip over one whose Mim you haven't drawn yet. Magnificent, Marvelous, Mad is more niche, though useful if you've lost too many Mims to get back with A Sporting Chance. I'm Not Cheating should really only be played if you've nothing better to do and are discarding it with other stuff anyway.

Choosing where to go each turn is the key to playing Madam Mim well. She doesn't really have a go-to "best location" like other Villains have; each location fills a specific need. If you want to play multiple cards, go to The Swamp. If you need to move around Mims and Merlins, go to Madam Mim's Cottage. If you need Power and want to Fate, go to The Woods. Dueling Ground should only be visited if you're either defeating Merlins (preferably multiple), or you have nothing in hand you actually want to play and want to discard. Madam Mim *can* bop between The Woods and Dueling Ground and oppressively Fate, but then she loses any possible control over Merlin positioning, and is reduced to playing one card every other turn. A smart Mim should be mostly visiting Madam Mim's Cottage and The Swamp, and only visiting her Fate locations when truly necessary. Remember: the object of the game is to win before your opponent does, not make both of you miserable.

Once you've defeated every Merlin, you've won! There are no other hoops to jump through, no locations to unlock or other checkpoints to reach, so just get through the Merlin Transformation deck as quickly as you can.

Countering Madam Mim is similarly straightforward. A lot of the time you'll draw double Knowledge and Wisdom, so the choice is simply where to throw Merlin. The Woods is a solid spot, as it discourages her from Fating, but The Swamp both discourages double card plays, and also is harder to undo from Madam Mim's Cottage. Merlin (the Effect) should always be picked whenever he's drawn, as should Germ Merlin (unless they're drawn together, in which case Merlin will likely still have the edge). Bird Arthur can be good, but keep an eye on whether Madam Mim is hoarding cards in hand or yeeting everything, to let you know whether you'd be helping or hindering her. Archimedes is very niche, and usually skippable.

However, the single best way to counter Madam Mim is to simply win faster. Mim is relatively inevitable, as she can usually defeat Merlins faster than you can put them back, but it still takes her time to do so. Putting on win condition pressure and forcing her to Fate *you* is the surest way to slow her down.

 **Villain deck**
*4 Copies:* I'm Not Cheating
*3 Copies:* A Sporting Chance • As Big as a House • Battle of Wits • I'll Make the Rules • Magnificent, Marvelous, Mad • Wizard's Duel
 **Fate deck**
*4 Copies:* Knowledge and Wisdom
 **Merlin Transformation deck**
 **Unique mechanics**
Transformation

 **Wicked to the Core**
 **Evil Comes Prepared**
 **Perfectly Wretched**
 **Despicable Plots**
 **Bigger and Badder**
 **Filled With Fright**
 **Sugar and Spite**
King Candy • Shere Khan