X-Nauts

## Overview

*“We X-Nauts aren't all rainbows and lollipops. I could assure you, we could be quite nasty.” The X-Nauts have arrived in Smash Up, and they're ready to conquer the world! Led by the diabolical Sir Grodus, these conquerors from beyond the stars come equipped with Crystal Stars, the latest in combat technology (circa 2004), and shadow magic to blow past their competition. Paper plumbers, beware!*

### Details

#### General

* **Name:** X-Nauts
* **Author:** AndIQuote
* **Complexity:** 1.5/5
* **Version:** 1.0
* **Last Updated:** June 12, 2023

#### Mechanics

* Temporary power
* Breakpoint manipulation

#### Special Details

Mama mia! If you get deja vu from some of these cards, don't worry! It's because this faction was created using the Hello World! prompt.

## Cards

   Download full-sized cards in .png format here!

### Breakdown

X-Nauts have the standard set of 10 minions and 10 actions. They have a total minion power of 30, or an average of 3 per minion. Among their actions, there are:

* 3 play-on-base actions: Deploy Forces (2x), TEC-XX
* 3 play-on-minion actions: Crystal Star (2x), Grodus-X
* 4 standard actions (3 that affect one or more minions, in **bold**): An Ideal, Perfect World!; **Crump-a-Bomb!**; **Kind of a Lot of Dudes, Huh?**; **X-Ship Attack!**
* 7 actions that directly increase a minion's power: Crump-a-Bomb!, Crystal Star (2x), Deploy Forces (2x), Grodus-X, Kind of a Lot of Dudes, Huh?

#### Minions

* **1x Shadow Queen (5):** Choose a base. Until the start of your next turn, reduce the power of all your minions there to their printed power to reduce the breakpoint of this base by the total amount of power reduced.
* **2x Grodus (4):** Talent: If the power of one of your minions here has increased this turn, give that minion +2 power until the end of the turn.
* **3x Shadow Sirens (3):** Ongoing: After this minion loses power at the end of a turn, place +1 power counters on it equal to the power lost.
* **4x Lord Crump (2):** Talent: Increase the breakpoint of this base by the power of this minion until the start of your next turn.

#### Actions

* **2x Crystal Star:** Play on a minion. Talent: This minion gains +2 power until the end of the turn.
* **2x Deploy Forces:** Play on a base. Talent: Give one of your minions here +1 power until the end of the turn. Move it to a base where you have less total power than you do here.
* **1x An Ideal, Perfect World!:** Special: Play after a base scores if you were the winner. If the total power of your minions here is at least 5 greater than their total printed power, gain 1 VP.
* **1x Crump-a-Bomb!:** Choose one of your minions. Destroy a minion of power 3 or less at its base to give it +3 power until the end of the turn.
* **1x Grodus-X:** Play on your minion. Ongoing: This minion cannot be affected by other players' minions. Talent: Destroy this action to cancel this minion's abilities and give it +4 power until the end of the turn.
* **1x Kind of a Lot of Dudes, Huh?:** Play an extra minion of power 3 or less. Give it +1 power until the end of the turn.
* **1x TEC-XX -** Play on a base. Talent: If one of your minions here has power greater than its printed power, draw a card.
* **1x X-Ship Attack!:** Choose a base. Destroy another player's minion there with power less than one of your minions there to reduce the breakpoint by the power of the destroyed minion until the end of the turn.

## Clarifications

* **Deploy Forces:** Determining an appropriate base to move to occurs after giving a minion +1 power. You can give a minion +1 power without moving it it only if there are no eligible bases or if the targeted minion cannot move due to another card (e.g., Moai, Little Bo Peep).

## Strategy

### General

In the style of the Hello World! template, the 10 premade cards (Grodus, Shadow Sirens, Crump-a-Bomb!, Crystal Star, Kind of a Lot of Dudes, and TEC-XX) focus primarily on increasing power for rewards (+1 power counters, card draw). X-Nauts distinguish themselves from other Hello World! factions by adding in cards that focus on manipulating breakpoints and rewarding a hyper-offensive play style. Lord Crump serves as an excellent staging minion due to his talent, allowing him to create presence on a base while also not making it any easier to break until the X-Nauts player is ready.

Shadow Queen's ability may seem complicated, but in execution her gameplan is fairly straightforward. She takes advantage of extra power you've already staged on one base (through the likes of Grodus, Crystal Stars, Shadow Sirens, etc.) and can siphon it into breakpoint damage on a completely different base, leading to sudden pivots onto bases your opponents may not have been anticipating. This also seemingly puts Shadow Queen at odds with the X-Nauts' lone special: An Ideal, Perfect World, which rewards excess power with an extra VP after winning a base. However, it is important to remember that despite only being able to play one action and minion per turn, X-Nauts have several cards they can set up beforehand with talents, allowing them to burst when you are ready. With Shadow Queen as your regular minion play and Grodus X as your regular action play (likely on her), all X-Nauts need is a Deploy Forces talent to move a minion over with +1 extra power to meet criteria for the extra VP.

### Partner Suggestions

#### Published

* **Mad Scientists**
* **Werewolves**
* **Mythic Greeks**
* **Tornados**
* **Disco Dancers**
* **Truckers**
* **Cowboys**
* **Mounties**

#### Custom

* **Hades:** The X-Nauts appreciate Hades' multiple power-boosting boons to activate their powerful breakpoint and destruction abilities. Zagreus can make excellent use of the two Crystal Stars, although Grodus-X may be better saved for a different minion as activating its talent causes Zagreus to lose his power boosting and recursive abilities.

## Author Notes

* This faction uses Pizzabot for its font.