Misfits

## Overview

*Join this motley crew for a game of lacrosse as they show the world of Smash Up that they really are good cards… once they’re given the chance to shine! This benchwarming sequel to All-Stars and World Champs features 20 previously published cards that have historically been lambasted by others as “weak” or “bad fits”. Rebelling against their old factions, these cards have gained a new life of their own—and together, these Misfits make quite the (lacrosse) team!*

Download this faction on Imgur: https://imgur.com/gallery/nLnBP0R

## Details

### General

* **Name:** Misfits
* **Authors:** Bandit, Berryl, Lonan, Ludichrisness, Normieleon, SirErrant, Snakevin
* **Complexity:** 2/5
* **Version:** 1.0
* **Last Updated:** July 11, 2023

### Special Details

This faction is a community project conceptualized by Bandit and planned out by Ludichrisness and Berryl with assistance from other members; SirErrant was involved in this faction's art. (He also wrote the flavor text.)

*Note:* *This faction contains AI art produced by Midjourney.*

## Cards

### Breakdown

Misfits have 11 minions and 9 actions, an unusually high number of minions. They have a total minion power of 31, or an average of 2.82 per minion. Their actions feature:

* 2 play-on-base actions: Enshrouding Mist, Gold Strike
* 0 play-on-minion actions
* 7 standard actions (5 that affect one or more minions, in **bold**): **Howl**, Winds of Change, Lend a Hand, **Do Over!**, **Crack of Dusk**, **Coronet Attack**, **Convergence**
* 2 actions that directly increase a minion's power: Howl, Crack of Dusk

### Minions

* **1x "Venus Man Trap" (5) -** Talent: Search your deck for a minion of power 2 or less and play it here as an extra minion. *(Killer Plants)*
* **1x "Raider" (4) -** Talent: Place up to three cards from your hand on top of your deck. This minion gains +1 power for each one until the end of the turn. *(Vikings)*
* **1x "Mole" (4) -** Special: Before this base scores, play an extra action. *(Super Spies)*
* **1x "Cthulhu’s Chosen" (3) -** Special: Before a base scores, you may draw a Madness card to give this minion +2 power until the end of the turn. *(Minions of Cthulhu)*
* **1x "Pink Trooper" (3) -** Special: After this base scores, return one of your minions here of power 3 or less to your hand instead of the discard pile. *(Mega Troopers)*
* **1x "Rick Roll" (3) -** Move up to three of your minions from bases with lower breakpoints to here. *(Rock Stars)*
* **1x "Howler" (2) -** This minion gains +2 power until the end of the turn. *(Werewolves)*
* **1x "Pupoks" (2) -** Talent: Lose 1 VP to reveal the top three cards of your deck and draw them. You may play one of them as an extra card. *(Astroknights)*
* **1x "Regurgitating Penguin" (2) -** Reveal the top three cards of your deck. You may draw an action revealed. Return the rest in any order. *(Penguins)*
* **1x "Quir-Kee" (2) -** If you have another character here, you may play an extra character of power 3 or less. *(Mulan, definitely not Cri-Kee)*
* **1x "Snuggly Bear" (1) -** Special: After you play your first minion in a turn, you may immediately play this minion at its base as an extra minion. *(Teddy Bears)*

### Actions

* **1x Howl -** Each of your minions gains +1 power until the end of your turn. *(Dinosaurs)*
* **1x Enshrouding Mist -** Play on a base. Talent: Play an extra minion here. *(Tricksters)*
* **1x Winds of Change -** Shuffle your hand into your deck and draw five cards. You may play an extra action. *(Wizards)*
* **1x Lend a Hand -** Shuffle any number of cards from your discard pile into your deck. *(Zombies)*
* **1x Do-Over! -** Return one of your minions to your hand. You may play it as an extra minion. *(Time Travelers)*
* **1x Crack of Dusk -** Play a minion of power 2 or less from your discard pile as an extra minion. Place a +1 power counter on it. *(Vampires)*
* **1x Coronet Attack -** Destroy a minion you don’t control with power less than or equal to the number of your minions at the same base. *(Magical Girls)*
* **1x Gold Strike -** Play on a base. Ongoing: After you play a minion here, draw a card. *(Cowboys)*
* **1x Convergence -** Move one of your characters to another base. After it is moved, if you have four or more characters at that base, gain 1 VP. *(Masters of Evil)*

### Bases

* **Lacrosse Pitch (30, 5 3 3) -** This base's breakpoint is reduced by 1 for each minion here. *(Giant Turnip, Russian Fairy Tales)*
* **The Clubhouse (18, 3 1 1) -** When this base scores, if the total power here equals this base's breakpoint, the winner gains 1 VP. *(Deepreef Crag)*

## Clarifications

* **“Venus Man Trap”, “Mole”, Enshrouding Mist:** These are considered copies of their respective factions’ cards, even though their abilities are worded slightly differently.
* **“Raider":** You may place a card in your hand you don’t own on top of your deck safely, since no one sees what the card is.
* **“Cthulhu's Chosen”**: This ability triggers no matter which base is being scored. It triggers each time a base scores. You can draw no more than one Madness card per "Cthulhu’s Chosen" per trigger.
* **"Quir-Kee"**: While named differently, this is considered a copy of the Mulan card Cri-Kee.
* **"Snuggly Bear"**: Multiple "Snuggly Bears" can be triggered by the same first minion and played (if you have more than one, for some reason).
* **Do-Over!:** Play the extra minion immediately or not at all.
* **Howl:** If played during another player’s turn, the effects last until the end of your next turn. It only affects minions currently in play, not those played later in the turn.
* **Lend a Hand:** This does not get shuffled into the deck with the other cards.
* **“Quir-Kee”, Convergence**: For all intents and purposes, the word “character” is synonymous with “minion”.

## Strategy

### General

Misfits fall under the broad category of swarm factions. As such, they generally try to win bases through minion quantity rather than minion quality. Many of the cards in the faction either play more minions or can be played for free, although there are cards like Howl and Convergence which help make those high quantities more efficient. One notable thing about Misfits' style of swarm is that a substantial amount of it comes from outside your hand; Venus Man Trap slings 2's from your deck, and Crack of Dusk plays them from the discard pile.

Much of the deck is centered around drawing to, maximizing the value of, and recurring Venus Man Trap; with strong draw options like Gold Strike and the strongest recursion card in the game in Lend a Hand, your deck will be extremely well-stocked with Venus Man Trap and its targets. In fact, a couple of the other cards are aimed at getting 2's you draw back into the deck, such as Raider and Winds of Change. Venus Man Trap's targets come with a good amount of variety: Among the 2's, Howler is the best pure power output from a single card, Quir-Kee allows you to continue a chain of minions, Regurgitating Penguin lets you see what's coming (and is good for the first turn you play VMT), and Pupoks has the potential for massive bursts of power, especially if set up by cards like Raider.

With so many options to play the 2's as extras, try to avoid playing them as your regular minions. Good minions to lead a base off with are Pink Trooper, Cthulhu's Chosen, Raider, Mole, and Venus Man Trap. Raider can also be played on an off-base if you plan to use its talent for Venus Man Trap synergy. Both base modifiers (Enshrouding Mist and Gold Strike) are also excellent to lead a base off with. Misfits' terminal plays are extremely flexible, and generally most hands you can have will have a good terminal minion and a good terminal action. Howl, Do-Over, Crack of Dusk, Coronet Attack, and Convergence are all excellent actions to cap a base off with. If you expend your hand and get down to only a few cards left (especially if those few cards include power 2's), Winds of Change can be a surprisingly potent way to restock, even if you don't end up drawing an action worth playing.

A couple of Misfits' minions work best as engines left off to the side when initially played, in particular Cthulhu's Chosen and Raider. Raider can work in tandem with Venus Man Trap to play your 2's from hand instead of from your deck, and Cthulhu's Chosen can draw Madness to act as a subtly powerful draw ability. When the time comes, both minions can be moved with Rick Roll, Do-Over, or Convergence to break something with movement rather than a glut of plays; in this scenario, Raider's power boost comes in particularly handy, especially when Winds of Change can help recoup the cards placed on top of your deck. In general, Misfits have very good control of their exact power levels. A good number of their cards add power granularly, including Raider, Snuggly Bear, and Howl, which helps ensure that you never overpay for a base (Snuggly Bear in particular highlights this, existing in place of an action and being used entirely under your control).

Misfits' only phase 3 card is Mole, which has to be staged in advance, but Misfits by design have plenty of good targets for it to keep opponents guessing. Howl and Crack of Dusk can be a surprise burst of power (especially Crack of Dusk into Cri-Kee into Cthulhu's Chosen for a substantial 8-power swing), Do-Over or Convergence can both save somebody or move somebody on, and perhaps most powerfully Coronet Attack can destroy a rival's minion. Whatever base Mole lands on will be a threat that opponents need to pay careful attention to.

Even the oft-ignored Pupoks has a place in Misfits. With the strong draw power of the deck, you can quickly get to a state where you can be fairly certain what its talent will reveal. Venus Man Trap can grab Pupoks on demand, and Raider can stack the card you want to play on top of your deck while still drawing two new cards. There's even Convergence to refund the VP spent on the Talent! If there was ever a time for Pupoks to be useful, Misfits is the place for it.

### Partner Suggestions

Misfits appreciate but do not require a swarm partner. With their generally useful collection of abilities, they can pair well with almost anything. Be on the lookout for good 2's to sling with Venus Man Trap, good actions to play with Mole, and non-swarm factions who benefit from high minion quantities.

#### Published

* **Halflings:** This is a blisteringly fast faction combo that takes advantage of two Lunch Runs and a Gold Strike to draw as many cards as possible while they swarm on a base. Unlike other swarm-on-swarm combos, though, Halfling Misfits (or as some like to call them, Halfwits) is a quite flexible combo due to Misfits’ unique minions and actions. As Halflings love playing from behind, Mole is even more potent in this combo to trigger an extra minion cascade with Do-Over, Rude Awakening, or Crack of Dusk. Similarly, Pink Trooper becomes even more valuable, as it can save a Pestling or Quir-Kee to start an extra minion chain all over again. While they can burst repeatedly on bases provided they have enough card draw, and they can repeat the same strategy via Lend a Hand and Spoiled Brat recursion, Halfwits still suffer from classic Halfling problems. Make sure to take advantage of their burstiness and tendency to play from behind when playing against this combo.
* **Dinosaurs:** Dinosaurs are always enabled by extra plays of any sort, and Misfits are no exception. War Raptors can quickly appear out of nowhere, and with the right setup you can get all four on a base in one turn even if only one started in play. Mole and Do-Over to save King Rex and not replay him is actually a viable option if you can't get a double score out of it. Two extra copies of Howl mean you'll have no shortage of actions to cap off your scores.
* **Anansi Tales:** Misfits have a wide variety of standard actions for Anansi to sling, and while Hornets aren't readily accessible with VMT they do play very well with Gold Strike. Anansi also benefits from the same things as Venus Man Trap with regards to getting your targeted cards into your deck even if you accidentally draw into them. Lend a Hand will prove extremely useful since both factions have high draw potential.
* **Grimm Fairy Tales:** Venus Man Trap slinging the Grimm 2's has flavors of Itty Critter Grimms. Frog Prince to recur the strong Misfit candidates such as VMT and Mole is very potent. the Charming Couple (especially Prince Charming) also help tremendously, as Misfits greatly appreciate all of the extra actions. Grimm's Blessing has a much easier time getting to the two-minion requirement for Prince Charming alone if you're willing to use Snuggly Bear non-terminally.
* **Masters of Evil:** Misfits are usually able to keep a steady pace throughout the game, meaning they can reliably get to the strong MoE late game. Venus Man Trap providing ready access to Absorbing Man makes farming their VP (and keeping VMT out long-term while using the talent every turn) much easier. Baron Zemo has a high chance of being multiple times since so many of Misfits' cards shuffle the deck. VMT can sling Howler for an instant Acceptable Losses target. Mole receives a more powerful Coronet Attack in the form of Sonic Shockwave, which now has a chance to not only swing a base at the last minute, but get an extra VP for your trouble!
* **Killer Plants:** It's hard to pass up the chance at an additional copy of Venus Man Trap. Unlike in most Killer Plants decks, even slinging Sprouts becomes more viable since there are a wide variety of 3's for them to turn into after a Water Lily is out. Overgrowth has quite good synergy with Misfits' ability to exactly control their power output. Killer Kudzu really sends Misfits into absolute overdrive, having a high chance of recurring Venus Man Trap and queuing up 2's for it to sling all in one fell swoop.

#### Custom

* **Druids (Berryl):** Druids greatly appreciate the ability to quickly get Ents out, and the opportunity to play more cards in phase 3 with Mole shenanigans. Misfits in turn greatly appreciate the tight control package Druids offer, one of the few things that Misfits don't excel at (Coronet Attack notwithstanding). Goodberry is potent minion recursion to pair with Venus Man Trap.
* **Necrodancers (ludichrisness):** Hip Poppers are excellent minions to sling for with the variety of methods available to Misfits, as they can work for a stall or for an attack. In particular, having Hip Poppers and other Undead out will ensure that Venus Man Trap can stick around as an engine. Mole offers a lot of intrigue in Phase 3, which plays into the Necrodancer stealing tactics. Lend a Hand is a godsend for Necrodancers as it gets strong minions back into the deck after being destroyed by the Zumba Lord. The Heavy Flosser is also a great fit as it has a strong On-play for Do-Over! as well as benefiting from a wide assortment of 2-power minions in the discard pile to choose from.
* **Pop Stars (SirErrant)**: Pop Stars offer several cards in particular for Misfits to take advantage of. Not only is Rising Star a great target for Venus Man Trap, it also has many great Misfit minions to swap into, such as Mole, Cthulhu's Chosen, and Pink Trooper. In addition, Live in Concert meshes well with a swarm faction and can be triggered by Howl for a total +3 power per minion. Queen of Pop also has many great targets to move to another base, like Raider and Cthulhu's Chosen (which can both reach her power threshold easily), as well as Mole and Venus Man Trap. Finally, as a Hello World! faction, Mole has access to actions like Breakup Song and New Artist that become much more potent when played before a base scores.

## Author Notes

* This faction uses Jackport College NCV for its font.
* To parody All-Stars and World Champs, which has text at the bottom of each card referencing which faction it came from, SirErrant wrote flavor text mentioning how each card was abandoned by their respective faction as a "misfit".
* Fun fact: Misfits was originally half-jokingly conceived as a way to make Pupoks work.

**Berryl** - This faction was a really fun one to put together with the others. Both the high-level concept of "an All-Stars deck comprised of good cards in bad contexts" and the ultimate mechanical theme of "swarm via unconventional means" struck chords with me. I really hope you all enjoy the result of our collective work!

**Ludichrisness** - The concept for this faction had been tossed around several times in the custom community, and it was a lot of fun going through every faction looking for outlier cards. I feel like I learned a lot about internal synergy in helping to put this together, trying to find uses for unusual minions in a new context, and defending my picks to the others (I swear Pink Trooper is a misfit!). I love how it came together, and SirErrant did a great job bringing the faction to life with AI art.

**SirErrant** - I was late to the Misfits train, but I thought it would be a “nice challenge” to make art for this faction. Needless to say, it was definitely a challenge—not only did I need to create 20 unique images with Midjourney, but they had to match their respective source factions as much as possible. Try getting an AI to create an “anthropomorphic Disney movie cricket playing lacrosse;” the result isn’t pretty. Thankfully, I had a lot of help from other custom faction creators on the Discord. (Special shout-out to ludichrisness, whose Venus Man Trap art I ended up using since it was so good.) Nevertheless, this was a highly rewarding faction to make art for, and I’m glad I was a part of this community project. Not to mention, it was a blast to write the Misfits flavor text. They’re mostly a collection of inside jokes for long-time Smash Up players, but I hope the jokes still land without context.