What’s scary? A bear. What’s really scary? A cossack riding a bear! Bear Cavalry will use fear to drive opposing minions away to other bases. - AEG
The Tsar wasn't satisfied with mere horses. So you're pretty much screwed. You can run away from them. Or you can get killed. Sometimes you get both. Just count yourself lucky that the bears aren't also riding sharks.
- - Awesome Level 9000 rulebook
The Bear Cavalry are one of the 4 factions from the Awesome Level 9000 set.
They specialize in moving opponent minions to destroy them, as well as immunity to opponent attacks.
Other factions from the same set: Ghosts, Killer Plants, Steampunks.
Cards
The Bear Cavalry have the usual 10 minions and 10 actions. The total minion base power (not counting any abilities) is unusually high at 35 or an average of 3.5 per minion compared to the usual 30 and 3.
Among their actions, there are:
- 0 play-on-minion actions,
- 2 play-on-base actions: High Ground, Superiority,
- 0 actions that directly increase a minion's power,
- 7 standard actions that affect one or more minions: Bear Hug, Bear Rides You, Commission (2x), You’re Pretty Much Borscht, You’re Screwed (2x).
Minions
1x General Ivan - power 6 - Ongoing: Your minions cannot be destroyed. FAQ
2x Polar Commando - power 4 - Ongoing: If this is your only minion on this base, it has +2 power and cannot be destroyed. FAQ
3x Bear Cavalry - power 3 - Move another player’s minion from here to another base. FAQ
4x Cub Scout - power 3 - Ongoing: After another player’s minion moves here, if it has less power than this minion, destroy it. FAQ
Actions
1x Bear Hug - Each other player destroys his or her minion with the least power (owner chooses in case of ties). FAQ
1x Bear Necessities - Destroy an action that has been played on a minion or base. FAQ
1x Bear Rides You - Move one of your minions to another base. FAQ
2x Commission - Play an extra minion. Then move another player’s minion from the extra minion’s base to another base. FAQ
1x High Ground - Play on a base. Ongoing: If you have a minion here, destroy any other player’s minion that moves here. FAQ
1x Superiority - Play on a base. Ongoing: Your minions here cannot be destroyed, moved, or returned to your hand or deck by other players’ cards. FAQ
1x You’re Pretty Much Borscht - Choose a base where you have a minion. Move all other players’ minions from there to one other base. FAQ
2x You’re Screwed - Choose a base where you have a minion. Move another player’s minion from there to another base. FAQ
Bases
Mechanics
Bears primary theme is a combination of movement and destruction. They create certain bases that kill opponent minions to be moved there, and use their other cards to move minions there (specifically "intimidating" minions at a base with themselves to make them leave). Bears are also very powerful, and destroying opponent minions often require them to be weaker than your own minions. To supplement this, bears also have a degree of extra minion playing and moving outside of that strategy.
Bears protect themselves, with multiple ways to be indestructible and negate other players power over them. On the whole Bears have a theme of "dominating" specific bases, which is assisted with a decent amount of base actions.
External Strategy Guides
FAQ
Questions on General Ivan
Q: Does General Ivan prevent all your minions, including himself, from being destroyed?
A: Yes. Any of your minions on any base (including General Ivan).
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: I have General Ivan in play. One of my cards tells me to destroy one of my minions (e.g. Sacrifice), or an opponent's card forces me to destroy one of my minions (e.g. Griefer), or a base's ability allows me to destroy one of my minions (e.g. R'lyeh). Since my minions can't be destroyed, I can just ignore those cards, right?
A: Nope, if it doesn't say "you may", you must still target one of them for destruction (don't worry, it won't be destroyed anyway). It doesn't matter in most cases, but some cards do things depending on which minion you targetted (e.g. Transmogrify, "... Really?") Moreover, even if your minion isn't destroyed, the rest of the card's ability may still happen. If the card was the kind of card that says "Destroy a minion to do Y" or "Destroy a minion. If you do, do Y", then the effect stated as "Y" can't be done at all, simply because in the end the targetted minion isn't destroyed. If the card says something else, such as "Destroy a minion. Do Y", "Destroy a minion and do Y", etc., the destruction isn't a pre-requisite so you resolve the rest of the card's ability.
Rule 1: The card you target may be immune to the effects of the ability you are performing, but it is still a valid target.
Rule 2: When a card says "Do X to do Y" or "You may do X to do Y", you need to completely do the effect stated as "X" before you do the effect stated as "Y".
Q: I have General Ivan and Sprout in play. Does General Ivan cancel Sprout's ability?
A: Sprout's destruction is not necessary to carry out the rest of its ability. At the start of your turn, you have to activate Sprout's ability and do as much as you can, while resolving it completely, even if some part of it can't be done. Firstly, you destroy it (problem: General Ivan forbids it, so you don't destroy it). Secondly, you search your deck for a minion of power 3 or less (no problem here). Thirdly, you play it on Sprout's former base (no problem here). Fourthly, you shuffle your deck (no problem here).
Rule 1: Cards are resolved entirely.
Rule 2: "Can't" trumps "can".
Q: I have General Ivan and Mild Mannered Citizen in play. Mild Mannered Citizen is essentially a better version of Sprout. So can I use Mild Mannered Citizen to play a power-5 minion without losing Mild Mannered Citizen?
A: Unfortunately, no. Mild Mannered Citizen has a major difference compared to Sprout: the wording makes its destruction necessary to carry out the rest of its ability. So, if you use Mild Mannered Citizen's ability, it won't destroyed because of General Ivan, and if it isn't destroyed, you can't do the rest of its ability.
Rule 1: When a card says "Do X to do Y" or "You may do X to do Y", you need to completely do the effect stated as "X" before you do the effect stated as "Y".
Rule 2: "Can't" trumps "can".
Q: I have General Ivan in play. I play Cat Fight or Sacrifice and choose one of my minions (either General Ivan or another one). Do I still draw cards?
A: Yes. The destruction isn't a condition for drawing cards. So you resolve the card completely, even if some part of it can't be done. Firstly, you choose a minion (you have at least one in play, so no problem here). Secondly, you draw the cards (no problem here). Thirdly, you destroy the chosen minion (problem: General Ivan forbids it, so you don't destroy it).
Rule 1: Cards are resolved entirely.
Rule 2: "Can't" trumps "can".
Q: I have General Ivan and Whiskers in play. What happens if I use Whiskers's talent?
A: Again, the destruction of the minion isn't a condition for gaining an extra action to play. So you resolve Whiskers's talent completely, even if some part of it can't be done. First, you bank an extra action to play (no problem here, just remember that it is not played immediately). Then, you destroy one of your minions (problem: General Ivan forbids it, so you don't destroy it).
Rule 1: Cards are resolved entirely.
Rule 2: "Can't" trumps "can".
Q: An opponent has General Ivan and another minion in play. I take control of that other minion. Is it still immune to destruction?
A: No. General Ivan makes all their minions immune to destruction. If you take control of one of their other minions, it is no longer one of their minions, so General Ivan's ability doesn't apply to it anymore.
Rule: "Your minion" means "a minion that you control".
Q: I have General Ivan in play and another minion on R'lyeh. At the start of my turn, can I use R'lyeh's ability?
A: Sure, but here's what will happen. You resolve R'lyeh's ability so you start by destroying your minion there, but General Ivan prevents it, so it isn't destroyed. Next, you resolve the second part that says that if you did destroy your minion, you gain 1 VP. You didn't, so you don't gain 1 VP.
Rule 1: Cards are resolved entirely.
Rule 2: "Can't" trumps "can".
Q: I have General Ivan in play. If another player plays a card to destroy my Gremlin or one of my minion on Cave of Shinies. I know that the destruction fails, but do I still get the benefits of Gremlin or Cave of Shinies?
A: No. Both cards have an ability that triggers after a minion is destroyed (itself in the case of Gremlin, a minion there in the case of Cave of Shinies). Since the minion isn't destroyed, you can't do the rest of the ability.
Rule: When a card says "After X, do Y", you need "X" to happen and be resolved completely before you do the effect stated as "Y".
Questions on Polar Commando
Q: One of my cards tells me to destroy one of my minions (e.g. Sacrifice), or an opponent's card forces me to destroy one of my minions (e.g. Griefer), or a base's ability allows me to destroy one of my minions (e.g. R'lyeh), can I target my lone Polar Commando? If so, is it destroyed? If not, does it stop the rest of the ability if there were more to it?
A: Short answer: Yes, no and it depends. Firstly, you can indeed choose any of your minions as long as it fits the card's requirement (e.g. if Polar Commando is on R'lyeh, you can target it with R'lyeh's ability, but you can't if it was on another base, obviously), but you must choose one if you have any in play and if it's a mandatory ability (i.e. there's no "you may"). Secondly, because it is targetted for destruction, Polar Commando's ability protects it, so Polar Commando will not be destroyed. Lastly, you must finish resolving the card that was originally invoked. If the card was the kind of card that says "Destroy a minion to do Y" or "Destroy a minion. If you do, do Y", then the effect stated as "Y" can't be done at all, simply because in the end Polar Commando isn't destroyed. If the card says something else, such as "Destroy a minion. Do Y", "Destroy a minion and do Y", etc., the destruction isn't a pre-requisite so you resolve the rest of the card's ability.
Rule 1: The card you target may be immune to the effects of the ability you are performing, but it is still a valid target.
Rule 2: When a card says "Do X to do Y" or "You may do X to do Y", you need to completely do the effect stated as "X" before you do the effect stated as "Y".
Q: I want to play Powderkeg with a polar, but the polar cannot be destroyed. Does this mean I cannot play the powderkeg?
A: No, even if you have a minion that can't be destroyed, it is still an eligible target for Powderkeg. In that case, it is not destroyed, but all other minions there with equal or less power are still destroyed. The destruction of the minions are not conditioned to the destruction of your minion.
Rule 1: The card you target may be immune to the effects of the ability you are performing, but it is still a valid target.
Rule 2: Cards are resolved entirely.
Q: I have two Polar Commandos on the same base as an enemy Nukebot. If Nukebot is destroyed, are the two Polar Commando destroyed or one survives because it becomes indestructible when it's alone?
A: They are both destroyed. After Nukebot is destroyed, the resulting destructions happen at the same time, not one after another.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Questions on Bear Cavalry
Q: If I play Bear Cavalry on a Leprechaun's base and move Leprechaun to another base, will Bear Cavalry be destroyed?
A: There's no consensus on this issue.
Rule: TBD
Questions on Cub Scout
Q: When does a Cub Scout check for opponent power? Does the moving minion keep their old power, text power, or new base power?
A: You check the minion's power after moving it and after applying all modifiers.
Rule: In play, a minion's power includes all modifiers.
Q: Can this minion kill more than one minion per turn? Like if I use Bear Calvary to move a minion and then use You're Screwed on another.
A: Sure, there's no limit to how many minions it can destroy.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: I move a War Raptor to a base where there's a Cub Scout. If there's no other War Raptor there, is it destroyed?
A: If Cub Scout's power is still 3, then no. War Raptor's Ongoing ability remains active and gives it +1 power by itself.
Rule: An Ongoing ability lasts for as long as the card is in play.
Q: A Cub Scout is on The Central Brain and has therefore 4 power. I move a power-3 minion there. Is it destroyed by the Cub Scout?
A: No. Cub Scout's ability is only resolved after the move has been completed. The Central Brain is active as soon as a minion is present, so it gives the minion +1 power before Cub Scout is activated, so the minion survives.
Rule 1: In play, a minion's power includes all modifiers.
Rule 2: When a card says "After X, do Y", you need "X" to happen and be resolved completely before you do the effect stated as "Y".
Q: I move a power-3 minion on a base where another player has a Cub Scout and a Hatchling. Is the minion destroyed?
A: It depends. Both Hatchling's and Cub Scout's abilities are activated after you're done moving the minion. According to the rules, it's the current player who decides the order in which these two cards are activated. If Hatchling is activated before Cub Scout, the minion's power will be lowered to 2 and it becomes vulnerable to Cub Scout. However, if Cub Scout is activated before Hatchling, the minion survives Cub Scout's destruction first and then has its power lowered by 1.
Rule 1: When a card says "After X, do Y", you need "X" to happen and be resolved completely before you do the effect stated as "Y".
Rule 2: The current player decides the order of events that are supposed to happen simultaneously.
Q: An opponent has a Cub Scout on Field of Honor. I move a power-2 minion there, so it's destroyed. Who gains the VP, me or my opponent? I caused it to move, so I should get the VP, right? If I didn't move it, it wouldn't have been destroyed.
A: Short answer: your opponent. In-depth answer: Just check the card where the destruction is mentioned. That card directly caused the destruction, you moving the minion only caused it indirectly. Cub Scout states that after an opponent's minion is moved there, Cub Scout's controller destroys it if it's eligible for destruction. So it's Cub Scout's controller who does the destruction, and therefore the one who gains the VP.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: I move Cub Scout and several power-2 minions to the same base (e.g. Felicia Day). Are they destroyed?
A: Yes, only if they are under two power and the card says it can.
Rule: Do as the card says.
Questions on Bear Hug
Q: An opponent plays Bear Hug, do I destroy my lowest-power minion in play or in my hand?
A: Only in play.
Rule: "Your minion" means "any minion you control". (and a minion is only controlled if it's in play)
Q: If I only have one minion in play and a player plays Bear Hug, do I have to destroy it?
A: Unfortunately, yes. It's a mandatory ability, so you have to do it.
Rule: If the ability doesn't say "you may", you must do it immediately.
Q: My lowest-power minions in play are a minion that can't be destroyed and a minion that can. Do I have to choose the destructible minion?
A: No, you don't have to. You can choose either one.
Rule: The card you target may be immune to the effects of the ability you are performing, but it is still a valid target.
Q: My lowest-power minions in play are a minion I own and a minion I don't own (e.g. Flower Child, Sneaky Squire, Halfling Hireling, Make Contact), so the owner chooses in case of a tie, but which owner? Me or the owner of the other minion?
A: This is most probably an error and the intention is for the controller to choose in case of a tie.
Rule: TBD
Q: I play Bear Hug and an opponent chooses to destroy their minion on Field of Honor. Who gets the VP?
A: Your card made another player destroy the minion, so it's that player who did the destruction. Therefore, your opponent gets the VP because Field of Honor rewards the player who destroys it.
Rule: If a card specifies another player to carry out an effect, that player gets the credit for the effect, not the card player.[1]
Q: I play Bear Hug and an opponent chooses to destroy their Elder Thing, claiming that it can't be destroyed by my card and therefore survives. Is that correct?
A: Yes. Elder Thing is immune to any effect caused by other players' cards, as long as the effect is included in the definition of "affect", such as a destruction.
Rule: Definition of "affect".
Q: I play Bear Hug and an opponent chooses to destroy their Awesome Guy, claiming that it can't be destroyed by my card and therefore survives. Is that correct?
A: No. There's a subtle nuance. When you play Bear Hug to make another player destroy a minion, the minion is considered both "destroyed by your card's ability" and "destroyed by that player". So the cause of the destruction is your card's ability, but the person who carried out the destruction is that player. A card that can't be destroyed by "other players' abilities" is only immune to destruction if the cause is another player's ability. However, a card that can't be destroyed by "other players" is only immune to destruction if the person who does the destruction is another player. So Awesome Guy is not immune to destruction if it's destroyed by its own controller, even if the destruction was caused by another player's card.
Rule: If a card specifies another player to carry out an effect, that player gets the credit for the effect, not the card player.[1]
Q: I play Bear Hug and other players are forced to destroy their own minion. Can I activate Mako's ability and play it?
A: No. Mako's ability can only be triggered after you destroy a minion. When you play Bear Hug, you make other players destroy their minions, so they are the ones who destroyed them, not you. On the other hand, if your opponent played a similar card as Bear Hug (e.g. Griefer) and made you destroy one of your minions, then you can activate Mako's ability.
Rule: If a card specifies another player to carry out an effect, that player gets the credit for the effect, not the card player.[1]
Questions on Bear Necessities
Q:
A:
Rule:
Questions on Bear Rides You
Q:
A:
Rule:
Questions on Commission
Q: Do I have to play the extra minion immediately or can I delay it until later and finish doing the rest of the card when I do it?
A: Normally, extra minions are banked for later, but in this case, you can't do the rest of the ability without playing the minion, so you may have to play it immediately. TBD
Rule: TBD
Q: When I play the extra minion, do I have to move another player's minion?
A: If another player has a minion there, yes, you have to do it.
Rule: If the ability doesn't say "you may", you must do it immediately.
Questions on High Ground
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I have a minion there and they don't, my opponents' minions that are moved to there are destroyed, right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "you" means "they" (i.e. your opponent) and "any other player" means "any of their opponents".
Rule: "You" on a minion or action means the controller of the card.
Q: I play a minion on a base where an opponent has a minion and High Ground. Is my minion destroyed?
A: High Ground destroyed minions that move to its base. It does nothing to minions that are played there.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: I have High Ground and a minion on Field of Honor. I play You're Pretty Much Borscht and move several minions there and destroy them. Do I gain 1 VP for each minion I destroyed?
A: No. You're Pretty Much Borscht moved all those minions simultaneously, so High Ground destroyed them simultaneously as well. No matter how many minions were destroyed simultaneously, it's still counted as one destruction event. So you only get 1 VP from that destruction.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: I have High Ground and a minion on Field of Honor. I play Commission to play a Bear Cavalry on a base and move two minions to Field of Honor (one because of Bear Cavalry and the other because of Commission). How many VP do I gain?
A: 2 VP. The reason is that the two minions are destroyed one after the other, so it's counted as two seperate destructions. First, you resolve Bear Cavalry's ability and immediately move a minion to Field of Honor, where it's destroyed (= 1 VP). Then, you finish resolving Commision and move a second minion to Field of Honor, where it's also destroyed (= 2 VP).
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: I have High Ground on a base, but no minion there. I move one of my minions and several of other players' minions to there (e.g. Hyperspeed 10). Are they destroyed?
A: TBD
Rule: TBD
Q: I have a minion and High Ground on Pony Land and another player already has a minion there too. If I move one of their other minions to Pony Land, is it destroyed?
A: No. Pony Land is applicable as soon as a player has two minions or more there. So it's already indestructible and High Ground has no effect on it.
Rule: "Can't" trumps "can".
Questions on Superiority
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I have a minion there, it's now protected from all those things, right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "your minions" means "their minions" and "other players" means "their opponents".
Rule: "You" on a minion or action means the controller of the card.
Q: Is there a card that "returns" a card in play to a deck?
A: Strictly speaking, no. No card "returns" (as in, actually uses the term "return") a card in play to a deck. [2]
Rule: N/A
Q: An opponent plays Unfathomable Goals (or Griefer, Out of Sight), forcing me to affect one of my minions. Can I choose one of my minions on the same base as Superiority? If so, does Superiority protect it?
A: First of all, you can indeed choose any of your minions, but you must choose one if you have any in play. Secondly, since the cause of the affect is "another player's card", then yes, Superiority protects it, even if the card makes you do the affect.
Rule: The card you target may be immune to the effects of the ability you are performing, but it is still a valid target.
Questions on You’re Pretty Much Borscht
Q: I play You're pretty much borscht on a base that has like 8 power-2 creatures and move them to a base where I have a cub scout. Do all the level 2 creatures die BEFORE the base scores, or does the base score THEN all the creatures die, and whatever is left is what determines the winner?
A: You only check if a base scores during phase 3 of a player's turn. If you've played You're Pretty Much Borscht during your Play Cards phase, then you don't check whether the base scores or not. So, in your scenario, the power-2 minions are all destroyed. Whether the base scores or not during phase 3 depends only on how much power is there when you check.
Rule: Before phase 3, it doesn't matter how much power each player has on each base, they will only score if they meet the requirement during phase 3, and phase 3 only.
Q: I have High Ground and a minion on Field of Honor. I play You're Pretty Much Borscht and move several minions there and destroy them. Do I gain 1 VP for each minion I destroyed?
A: No. You're Pretty Much Borscht moved all those minions simultaneously, so High Ground destroyed them simultaneously as well. No matter how many minions were destroyed simultaneously, it's still counted as one destruction event. So you only get 1 VP from that destruction.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: Do the moved minions all go to the same base?
A: Yes. The card text says to move all other players' minions from the chosen base to one other base.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Questions on You’re Screwed
Q:
A:
Rule:
Trivia
- The artist is Gong Studios, who also designed the art of many other factions.
- Although the official text never specifies a particular country of origin, it is implied that this faction comes from Russia. The term "Tsar" usually refers to Russian monarchs, and the card "Bear Rides You" is a fragment of a Russian reversal "In Soviet Russia, bear rides you!".
In other languages
| Language | Name | Translation (if different) |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 黑熊骑兵 | Black Bear Cavalry |
| French | Cavalerie ours | |
| German | Bärenreiter | Bear Riders |
| Italian | Cavalleria Ursina | |
| Portuguese | Cavalaria Ursina | |
| Russian | Медвежья кавалерия | |
| Spanish | Ejército del Oso | Army of the Bear |
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