Gaston

> "*And don't I deserve the best?*"
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**Gaston** is one of three playable Villains in the Villainous expansion, *Despicable Plots*. He is from the movie *Beauty and the Beast*, released in 1991, in which he is voiced by Richard White and animated by Andreas Deja. He is illustrated in the game by Johnny Morrow.

Gaston has a special setup - he places eight Obstacle tokens on his board, two at each location, in specially marked positions. During play, those Obstacles will be removed and replaced, both by himself, and by his opponent(s). Whenever a card directs Gaston or a Fating opponent to remove or replace multiple Obstacles, they remove or replace as many as they can, up to the specified number, but a card cannot be played if it replaces Obstacles and all eight Obstacles are on his board.

## Objective

Gaston must remove all 8 Obstacles from his board. He does so by using Effects or Conditions like Temper or Beautiful as Me, by Activating Monsieur D'Arque, and by defeating Beast or Maurice. Belle, despite being the target of Gaston's affections, prevents Obstacle removal while she is in Gaston's Realm, so she will need to be defeated as well (if she is in play) before Gaston can continue progressing toward his Objective.

Obstacles can be replaced by several Fate Effects, such as It Is You, and Gaston can even replace Obstacles himself with Swoon, which is an extra Cost for the card, but can also strategically hide how close Gaston is to victory.

## Realm

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

* Belle's House
	+ Vanquish | Play a Card
	+ Discard Cards | Gain 1 Power
* The Tavern
	+ Activate | Gain 2 Power
	+ Play a Card | Vanquish
* The Woods
	+ Play a Card | Discard Cards
	+ Fate | Gain 2 Power
* Beast's Castle
	+ Play a Card | Fate
	+ Play a Card | Gain 1 Power

## Villain deck

The following cards are in Gaston's Villain deck:

* Wolves (×4)
* Beautiful as Me (×3)
* Swoon (×3)
* Belle Is Mine (×2)
* Come Into the Light (×2)
* Five Dozen Eggs (×2)
* Hunter's Instinct (×2)
* Intimidating (×2)
* Take Me Instead (×2)
* Time to Follow Me! (×2)
* Get Out!
* Lefou
* Monsieur D'Arque
* Show Me the Beast!
* Temper
* The Mob

These include 7 total Allies (Wolves; Lefou; Monsieur D'Arque; The Mob), 3 total Conditions (Beautiful as Me), 18 total Effects (Swoon; Belle Is Mine; Come Into the Light; Hunter's Instinct; Intimidating; Take Me Instead; Time to Follow Me!; Get Out!; Show Me the Beast!; Temper), and 2 total Items (Five Dozen Eggs).

## Fate deck

The following cards are in Gaston's Fate deck:

* Be Our Guest (×2)
* Beast
* Belle
* Cogsworth
* It Is You
* I've Never Seen So Many Books
* Lumiere
* Magic Mirror
* Massaging My Feet
* Maurice
* Maurice's Invention
* Mrs. Potts and Chip
* Saving My Life
* The Rose

These include 8 total Effects (Be Our Guest; It Is You; I've Never Seen So Many Books; Magic Mirror; Massaging My Feet; Saving My Life; The Rose), 6 Heroes (Beast; Belle; Cogsworth; Lumiere; Maurice; Mrs. Potts and Chip), and 1 Item (Maurice's Invention).

## Strategy

   Gaston is an odd Villain, with a rather unique Realm, a deceptively straightforward Objective, and a particularly punishing Fate deck. Playing as him can often be frustrating, it being quite possible for all of your progress to be completely undone, bringing you back to square one. He must thus be played aggressively, both in removing Obstacles faster than your opponent can replace them, and in Fating your opponent to minimize the damage they can do to you in the first place.

Gaston has one goal: remove all 8 Obstacles. There isn't really any step-by-step process you need to undertake to do this, or even any compelling multi-card combos to speed this up. All you can do is draw into the cards that remove Obstacles, and play them. You'll specifically want to be on the lookout for the big swing Effects (Temper, two copies of Come Into the Light, and Get Out!), Monsieur D'Arque, and your three copies of Beautiful as Me. Absent any Obstacle replacement, those four Effects will do the trick for you, but it's more than likely you'll need more than that. These cards should never be discarded, but should be played as soon as you can. Once Monsieur D'Arque is out, try to Activate him regularly; his presence and usage is the surest way for you to put non-Fate pressure on your opponent, and it can often divert them from their own Objective to Fating you.

For Beautiful as Me in particular, be very aware of your opponent's board, and which locations they'll want to use all four actions of. If you still have Conditions left to play, keep those locations clear of Heroes, even if it's a Fate location, to encourage your opponent to let you remove Obstacles for free. Once all three copies have passed by, feel free to start covering up those locations instead.

Show Me the Beast! is more niche, but if Beast is present, it functions as another copy of Temper, and can be treated as such; otherwise, feel free to discard it. Take Me Instead is perhaps Gaston's most strategically intensive card; covering up your top Fate is never a good idea, but if you know you're going to pull out Maurice or Mrs. Potts and Chip, or if it's for your eighth and final Obstacle, it can be worth it. But if Belle is still pending, just discard it.

There is some strategy as to the order in which to remove Obstacles. Since those at Belle's House and Beast's Castle can be removed by defeating specific Heroes, your other removal methods should focus on The Tavern and The Woods first. Be aware of which Obstacle replacing Fate cards have gone by so far - if you're waiting on It Is You, make sure to fully clear out a location before starting on another, to minimize the impact; if you're waiting on Saving My Life, spread out your removal a bit more, for the same reason.

Gaston's Allies boast high Strength for their costs, letting him typically take out any of his Heroes with one or two of them at most. However, he lacks a Move an Item or Ally action, so needs to be very careful about where he plays them. Thankfully, Wolves make each other stronger no matter where they are, so the locations of the first one or two don't matter too much. Gaston generally wants to aggressively remove his Heroes, whether with Vanquishes or Hunter's Instinct, though usually not to the point of ever playing Intimidating, which can skip over your much needed Obstacle removing Effects and Conditions. While Wolves should always be played and not discarded, Lefou should be treated with more caution, as while he lets you recycle your Allies, using him can clog up your hand, preventing you from drawing into more important cards.

As for which Heroes to defeat, prioritize Maurice and Beast, as getting rid of them actively progresses you to your win condition, as well as Belle, whose presence prevents any progress of any kind. The rest should be considered on a case by case basis, depending on how much you value the actions they're covering.

Gaston's main weakness is his fragility to overfating. If your opponent is able to Fate you turn after turn, you will very quickly get all of your Obstacles replaced, and your board will get swamped with Heroes that you have a limited capacity to remove. More than most Villains, Gaston needs to take the fight to his opponent, and cover up the top Fate spot to prevent any Fate spam. Unfortunately, this means going up against Villains who either aren't easily or can't be Fate locked, such as Prince John or post-Map Captain Hook, is a struggle for him, and in those cases he should focus more on removing Obstacles as quickly as he can, in the hopes of outracing them.

Once you've removed your last Obstacle, you've won! No need to wait for the start of your next turn. That does mean that, with Beautiful as Me, it is possible for Gaston to win during another player's turn!

Playing against Gaston is fairly straightforward: prioritize Belle, then Obstacle replacement, and never play Maurice if you can help it. Be aware that Gaston having 5 Power and 3 Obstacles remaining is win condition for him if he hasn't played Get Out! yet, so keep an eye on his Power and discard pile.

 **Villain deck**
*4 Copies:* Wolves
*3 Copies:* Beautiful as Me • Swoon
*2 Copies:* Belle Is Mine • Come Into the Light • Five Dozen Eggs • Hunter's Instinct • Intimidating • Take Me Instead • Time to Follow Me!
 **Fate deck**
*2 Copies:* Be Our Guest
*1 Copy:* Beast • Belle • Cogsworth • It Is You • I've Never Seen So Many Books • Lumiere • Magic Mirror • Massaging My Feet • Maurice • Maurice's Invention • Mrs. Potts and Chip • Saving My Life • The Rose

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