Necrodancers

## Overview

*Can you feel the beat? The Necrodancers will jive again as they climb out of their raveyard crypts to thrill us with their killer moves. Necrodancers zombify their own minions and turn them into Undead, then sacrifice them to swing bases at the last minute. This motley collection of restless bones will terrify and astound as they skeletango their way across both the ballroom and the battlefield!*

The Necrodancers faction plays Undead monsters (from the Munchkin expansion) as shields for them to set up behind. They use a Specials-focused strategy where they can exploit Undead monsters for their benefit at the last second to steal a base from other players. They have a big focus on moving obstacles around, and can reposition Undead monsters to suppress breakpoints while they prepare for their own burst.

Image Album: https://imgur.com/a/9R7Ndhb

## Details

#### General

* Name: Necrodancers
* Author: ludichrisness
* Complexity: 3.5/5
* Version: 1.0
* Last updated: June 20, 2023

#### Mechanics

* Burying
* Monsters
* Storing
* Treasures

## Cards

#### Breakdown

Necrodancers have the normal 10 minions and 10 actions. They have a total minion power of 30, or an average of 3.0 per minion. Among their actions, there are:

* 3 play-on-base actions: Dead Beat, Ghast Dance, Restless Bones (self-burying)
* 3 play-on-minion actions: Curse of the Glampire, Curse of the Grim Rapper, Curse of the Mummy's Raps
* 4 standard actions (1 of which affects one or more minions, **in bold**): **Lay to Rest (2x)**, The Dead Jive (2x)
* No actions that directly increase a minion's power

#### Minions (10)

* **1x Zumba Lord (5)**: Ongoing: After you destroy a non-Undead minion, you may search the monster deck for an Undead monster of equal or lesser power and play it there. Talent: Destroy one of your minions. After it is destroyed, you may place a +1 power counter on an Undead monster on each base.
* **1x Rave Digger (4)**: Ongoing: When you would destroy an Undead monster, you may move it to another base, then choose not to destroy it. Special: Before this base scores, you may destroy an Undead monster here.
* **1x Grim Fandango (4)**: Ongoing: When you would destroy an Undead monster, you may take control of it until the end of your turn, then choose not to destroy it. Special: Before this base scores, you may destroy an Undead monster here.
* **3x Heavy Flosser (3)**: Reveal a card form your deck. You may discard it or return it. Destroy a minion of power 2 or less (printed power 2 or less if you discarded the card) OR play a minion here of power 2 or less (from your discard if you discarded a different card).
* **4x Hip Popper (2)**: Ongoing: At the start of each player's turn, this minion's owner must move it to another base. Talent: This minion becomes an uncontrolled Undead monster until the start of your turn.

#### Actions (10)

* **2x Lay to Rest**: Destroy an Undead monster. Play a minion of equal or lesser power at the same base from your discard pile. Special: You may play this before a base scores.
* **2x The Dead Jive**: Reveal two cards from your deck. For each, you may discard it to play an Undead monster off the top of the monster deck, or draw it.
* **1x Curse of the Glampire**: Play on a minion. Ongoing: This minion is considered an Undead monster for other abilities. At the end of your turn, place a +1 power counter on this card. Power counters on this card add to the breakpoint here. Talent: Remove any number of power counters from this card to play a minion here from your hand or discard pile with power less than or equal to that number.
* **1x Curse of the Grim Rapper**: Play on a minion. Store two cards under this card from your hand and/or the treasure deck. Ongoing: This minion is considered an Undead monster for other abilities. After this minion is destroyed, the player who destroyed it may draw the stored cards. Special: Before this base scores, you may play any treasures under this card and use any Talents on them or that they give.
* **1x Curse of the Mummy's Raps**: Play on a minion. Ongoing: This minion is considered an Undead monster for other abilities. Special: After a minion you do not control goes to the discard pile, you may place a +1 power counter on this minion.
* **1x Dead Beat**: Play on a base. Talent: Move an Undead monster to or from this base.
* **1x Ghast Dance**: Play on a base. Ongoing: Undead monsters here may not be affected by other players' minions. Special: Before this base scores, you may bury this card on another base with an Undead monster.
* **1x Restless Bones**: Bury this card. Special: When this card is uncovered, play it on this base. Ongoing: Undead monsters count against the breakpoint here instead of adding to it.

#### Bases

* **(13) The Mid Nightclub (3 1 1)**: 2 Monsters. At the start of your turn you may move one of your minions to this base and move another minion here to another base.

* **(20) Crypt of the Necrodancer (5 3 2)**: 3 Undead Monsters. Once per turn when you play a standard action which directly affects one or more minions here, you may choose an Undead monster here to be affected the same way.

## Clarifications

* **Crypt of the Necrodancer**: Undead monsters are played off the top of the monster deck when this base enters play. You may affect the same Undead monster twice with the same standard action. Otherwise, this ability works like similar Disco Dancer copying cards such as Dancing King.
* **Curse of the X**: The minion is considered an Undead monster for any abilities that interact with Undead monsters. It does not add to the breakpoint as if it were a monster (and hence does not interact with Restless Bones).
* **The Dead Jive**: You must choose which base to play the Undead monster on before you start revealing cards. You may play one Undead monster before deciding what to do with the second card. You may resolve both revealed cards in any order.
* **Grim Fandango, Rave Digger**: After you move or take control of the Undead minion, you can choose to either destroy it or not destroy it; the two effects are not linked.
* **Heavy Flosser:** You cannot play a minion from the discard which you discarded with the first part of the ability. If there was already a copy of that minion in your discard pile, you may play one of them. This is a violation of the normal rule that cards lose their memory as soon as they go to the discard pile.
* **Lay to Rest:** The destruction and the extra minion play are not linked; if the destruction is thwarted (e.g. with Grim Fandango), you still get the extra minion play based on the power of the Undead monster at the time that the destruction is attempted.
* **Zumba Lord:** You can place a +1 power counter on an Undead monster created from the destruction in the first part of the talent.

## Strategy

### General

Necrodancers are a minion-driven faction, and derive their power and persistent engine from their minions. They have several modifiers which can help to protect, move, and bolster their minions, but ultimately they depend on their minions to be able to accomplish their gameplan. Their minions can generall be split into three levels - the Hip Poppers, the Heavy Flossers, and the upper tier minions who form a triumverate.

The Hip Poppers are the backbone of the Necrodancer gameplan, which depends on having Undead minions to block bases while you set up in relative safety. Hip Poppers are forced to move every turn, making a fun minigame as you need to think several turns ahead to determine where you want your Hip Poppers to be in the future. In general they have three movement patterns - trading places to ensure coverage, moving as a pack, and scattering and converging. Each of the patterns has its advantages, and you will want to be very intentional with how you position them to take full advantage of their free movement potential. Putting a Hip Popper in "monster mode" (or "defense mode") is a powerful move, because it removes its own power contribution from a base and actively makes it harder to score. This is a double-edged sword, since if another player can overcome the Hip Popper's stall, then you don't get presence from the Hip Popper, putting you at high risk of losing out entirely on VP from a base. Powering up a Hip Popper with persistent power like power counters is extremely strong, since it strengthens the stall as well as the eventual power convergence play.

Heavy Flossers are the terminal Necrodancer minions and are extremely versatile in their usage. They basically allow you to "switch modes" between defense and offense and they take on new meaning based on which of the upper tier minions (described below) that you have in play. The destruction option can be effective vs other players' minions to create new monsters with Zumba Lord (stall) or can take out a Poultrygeist to pivot or burst with the 4-power minions. Alternatively, if there are no minions to destroy, you can play Heavy Flosser as an easy 5 power burst from hand or discard, or use it as a source of recursion for Hip Poppers to spread and stall. Each Heavy Flosser should be carefully considered for its usage, since while this faction does have a good amount of destruction and recursion, it's not infinite, and these three plays should be linchpins to your strategy.

The upper tier minions all recontextualize destruction in interesting ways and each enable a different mode of play. Zumba Lord turns destruction into a true stall tactic; instead of removing opponents' power, you can now actually increase the breakpoint further and use that monster in the future for your own agenda. Rave Digger and Grim Fandango both can destroy an Undead monster before their base scores, allowing you to pivot your monsters to another base or get a burst of power in Phase 3. They each turn Undead monster destruction into a more powerful effect, and they can work in tandem - these recontextualized abilities are also global, so once you get your key engine minions in play, you can take control of powerful bolstered Undead and send them to different bases for secondary scores with relative ease. These two minions are also crucially important with the linchpin action Lay To Rest, which allows you to destroy an Undead monster in Phase 3 - note that this does not need to be on the scoring base, and the destruction does not actually need to be completed to play a minion from your discard pile. If you play Rave Digger or Grim Fandango, they can also immediately trigger in Phase 3, allowing for some impressive swings in power at the last second.

In general, Necrodancers use a strategy sometimes referred to as "I'm Coming For You" (CFY). The idea of this tactic is to lay down a strong amount of power, but in a way which has the potential to be a trap or enable a come from behind swing. Necrodancers build up their power behind Undead monsters so that they add very little net power to a base, and threaten on their turn to be able to convert those monsters to their own ends. They essentially challenge other players to try to overtake them, and then still have the potential to swing things and steal things in Phase 3, or at least to convert a loss into a secondary base break elsewhere. Necrodancers force their player to try to anticipate several turns in advance and predict what other players will do, but the rewards and the pressure they apply can be tremendous as rivals know that they are preparing for *something*.

It's hard to overstate how much value Necrodancers get from having Undead monsters in play, as they have many different uses for them beyond simply enjoying the breakpoint increase. This makes their double feature action The Dead Jive a crucial action for them, and often an agonizing decision when good cards are revealed. Minions can often safely be discarded because of the recursion options available, but not always; actions are more tantalizing, but often it is worth sacrificing a more situational action for the immediate monster presence especially if you have a plan to make use of that monster. Some cards are so important to their strategy that they should never be discarded, such as Lay To Rest. There are also three important Curse actions which can convert any minion into an Undead, and provide CFY benefits (visible threats to steal) besides. These actions are interesting in that they can be played on yourself or on rivals, with pros and cons for both approaches.

The last piece of advice is to take some time before playing to review the Undead monsters in the game. Poultrygeists are especially significant, because they increase in power based on other Undead present, which the Necrodancers can easily provide, but Poultrygeists can also be dispatched with the Heavy Flosser. Ghouls stack themselves on top of the deck so that you have confidence about what could be revealed by The Dead Jive in the late game, and the Knight of the Living Dead can get very scarily strong very quickly. Don't neglect the treasure deck either, which has many interesting and useful tools to supplement the Necrodancer strategy - much like Warriors, they will be destroying a lot of monsters, meaning there will definitely be treasures in play. Those treasures can even be stored for use in Phase 3 with the Curse of the Grim Rapper, allowing for some really exciting last minute swings.

### Partner Suggestions

Necrodancers are a very versatile faction which can slide in to other gameplans, or which can drive strategy in its own right. They have some key intentional gaps which can be filled, such as action recursion, draw power, and searching. They also really benefit from having more sources of destruction, whether for rivals or with self-destruction. Both of these styles of abilities take on new meaning with the upper tier of Necrodancer minions, especially the Zumba Lord.

#### Published

* **Clerics:** Clerics are a fascinating pick either with or against Necrodancers - in a draft you may want to grab them first! Turner can be very effective as an OHKO vs any Undead monster, which supplements the Heavy Flosser well, who can only take out Poultrygeists (even if they get quite large). Clerics also have their own Curses which can be quite impactful on monsters, such as the Curse of Uselessness to instantly neutralize a strong Undead. With Necrodancers focusing on minion recursion, Clerics can focus on general purpose and action recursion, allowing you to safely throw away cards with Heavy Flosser and The Dead Jive knowing that you will have a good chance to get them back.
* **Hydra:** Hydra is probably the best self-destruction faction in the game, and takes on a powerful new context when combined with Zumba Lord who can turn every murdered Hydra Agent into an additional Poultrygeist. This combination gets a ton of mileage from the Hip Poppers, and the scatter and converge strategy can be extremely powerful when there is a Zola on the destination base.
* **Ninjas:** As another Specials-focused faction, it's natural to think about Ninjas as just swinging things at the last second, but there is actually a lot to like here aside from that. The 3-power plays of the Invisible Ninja combo very well with the Heavy Flosser as a terminal 3 power minion, and the Ninja destruction package fits perfectly with Zumba Lord, Rave Digger, and Grim Fandango's abilities. Ninja Master can be even more powerful with Hidden Ninja than ever, not just destroying a rival minion, but potentially taking control of it if it is Cursed and Grim Fandango is in play. Much like Mega Trooper Ninjas, this combination has so many things to do in Phase 3 that no lead is safe as long as there are Undead on the board.
* **Shapeshifters:** The headliner in this faction is the Mimic, enabled heavily by the Heavy Flosser and the Curse of the Glampire. You will be able to play and replay your Mimics many times over the course of the match, and the Shapeshifter self destruction and searching works perfectly with sending the Necrodancers into overdrive. This may be the strongest combo I tested with Necrodancers, and if they can get going especially with Zumba Lord, they can be extremely scary.
* **Tornados:** Tornados pick a different aspect of the Necrodancer strategy to lean into with the Hip Poppers, because they bring the Category Five titan, turning often redundant movement into power. As mobile monsters, Hip Poppers can easily bring the Cat Five into play whenever it leaves, and quickly accrue power counters off of it for a very strong mobile stall machine. The Tornado Specials complement the Necrodancer Specials perfectly, and they can create some powerful swings in Phase 3, whether it is booting someone off for a solo or saving one of their stolen monsters for a double score.
* **Warriors:** As the most natural have-have combo for this kind of gameplan, Warriors have to be in the discussion. It's a potent combination as between the two of them these factions can get a *lot* of monsters on the board. They will draw a ton of treasures and in general can really control the pace of the game. There isn't much to say about this combination other than that they amplify each other very strongly, and the Warrior monster destruction takes on much more meaning when you can save those monsters with Rave Digger, take control of them with Grim Fandango, or both for a surprise pivot. One big card for this faction is Restless Bones, which can absolutely shred the breakpoint of a base once you pile a bunch of monsters onto it.

#### Custom

* **Jellyfish:** Jellyfish have many weak 2-power minions that they can get into play, and have an ultimate goal of covering the world with jelly. This fits nicely into the Necrodancer goal of spreading their engine out and stalling for time while they prepare to swing things in a big way. Hip Poppers work really well with the Jellyfish gameplan as they can spread around to ensure presence everywhere, and have a "start of turn" trigger which can work perfectly with Not Ready For This Jelly to get them exactly where they need to go. Jelly Jam is also a surprisingly good fit as it can play Hip Poppers off the top of the deck; normally Jelly Jam strands those minions on future turns, but Hip Poppers can move and follow the Jelly Jam to protect it with breakpoint increase or to focus fire on its base to score. Lastly, the 4-power Jellyfish, Man O'War, is excellent to recycle the Necrodancer power actions like Lay To Rest.

## Author Notes

I love all my custom factions, but Necrodancers have a special place in my heart. I have always loved temporary breakpoint increase as a mechanic, with Warriors as my dark horse favourite faction - but it's hard to get past that Warriors just aren't that good a lot of the time. Although they have a great concept, they are let down by an unpredictable monster deck, overreliance on the treasure deck for utility, a lack of extra action plays for their midgame and terminal moves, and some unfortunate choices in their minion designs. Necrodancers are essentially my love letter not just to Crypt of the Necrodancer, a great game, but also to Warriors in general. I was fascinated by the idea of the "I'm Coming For You" strategy outlined by the channel Crank It Up, and wanted to try to explore how this concept could be made to work. It gelled together with the idea of the Zumba Lord giving new purpose and new relevance to destruction abilities - destruction is so often a counterproductive move, but being able to turn the victim deterministically into an Undead monster is a very powerful change in the distance to the breakpoint which can throw a wrench in many plans. Like all of my favourite factions, this one took novel minion ideas from multiple different ideas and tied them together into what I hope is an engaging, unique, and exciting faction for your enjoyment.

Most of the art for this faction was made with Midjourney v5.1