Changerbots can transmorph into various forms, with new abilities and strengths. They’re in disguise. And they’re robots. And possibly small electrical appliances. But whatever – they’re IN DISGUISE! - AEG
Quite a lot more than your eyes first perceive! The Changerbots hail from another world, but secretly move about ours in the form of everyday transportation. They change their form and abilities to fight a
never-endingneverending battle against their enemies, and protect the human race from their robotic shenanigans. They are also the subject ofan absolutely terriblea recent movie reboot, apparently.
- - Cease and Desist rulebook (updated in The Bigger Geekier Box rulebook)
The Changerbots are one of the 4 factions from the Cease and Desist set.
The Changerbots focus on talents allowing you to "switch" between having a strong minion or a weaker utility minion.
Other factions from the same set: Astroknights, Ignobles, Star Roamers.
Cards[]
The Changerbots have the usual 10 minions and 10 actions. The total minion base power (not counting any abilities) is unusually high at 32, or an average of 3.2 per minion. Additionally, there are several minions and actions that can increase or decrease the power of minions beyond their base value. They are also one of the rare factions to have received a titan from the TITANS Event Kit.
Among their actions, there are:
- 8 play-on-minion actions: Cesium Armor, Change Into A Gun (2x), Flighterizer, Matrix of Bossiness, Passengers, The Touch (2x)
- 0 play-on-base actions,
- 2 standard actions (all of them affect one or more minions): Change Up and Roll On, Form Mergacon,
- 3 actions that directly increase a minion's power: Cesium Armor, Form Mergacon, Matrix of Bossiness.
Minions[]
1x Leader Two - power 6 - Talent: One of your other minions gains +2 power until the end of the turn. FAQ
2x Solarshout - power 4 - Talent: Play an extra action. Give this minion -2 power until the end of the turn. FAQ
3x Bruiser - power 2 - Ongoing: This minion cannot be destroyed. Talent: This minion gains +2 power and loses its Ongoing ability and all other abilities until the start of your next turn. FAQ
4x Huffie - power 3 - Talent: Move this minion to another base and give it -1 power until the end of the turn. FAQ
Actions[]
1x Cesium Armor - Play on a minion. Ongoing: This minion has +1 power and cannot be destroyed. FAQ
2x Change Into A Gun - Play on one of your minions to destroy a minion of power 4 or less there. Ongoing: This minion has -2 power. Destroy this card at the start of your turn. FAQ
1x Change Up and Roll On - Special: Before a base scores you may move any number of your minions to there. They each get -1 power until the end of the turn. FAQ
1x Flighterizer - Play on one of your minions. Ongoing: This minion has the ability: “Talent: Move this minion to another base and give it -1 power until the end of the turn.” FAQ
1x Form Mergacon - Choose a base. Each of your minions there gains +1 power until the end of the turn. FAQ
1x Matrix of Bossiness - Play on one of your minions. Ongoing: This minion’s printed power is treated as if it were 5. FAQ
1x Passengers - Play on a minion. Ongoing: This minion has the ability: “Talent: If this minion moved this turn, move another one of your minions from the previous base to here.” FAQ
2x The Touch - Play on one of your minions. Ongoing: This minion has the ability: “Talent: This minion gains +3 power and loses all other abilities until the end of the turn.” FAQ
Titan[]
- (available in each Smash Up TITANS pack released with the TITANS Event Kit)
1x Mergacon - Special: At the start of your turn, if you have two or more minions on a base, you may play this titan there. Ongoing: You have +3 power here. Talent: Move this titan to another base. It loses its ongoing ability until the end of the turn. FAQ
Bases[]
Clarifications[]
Here are the official clarifications as they appear in the Cease and Desist rulebook:
Bruiser, The Touch: When the talent is used, the minion loses the abilities granted by actions (e.g., The Touch, Passengers, Flighterizer), but not the benefits of an action’s own abilities (e.g., Cesium Armor, Matrix of Bossiness). Abilities gained after the talent is used are not lost. (updated by The Bigger Geekier Box)
Solarshout: Once triggered, the -2 power lasts even if it loses its ability (e.g. from The Touch).
Form Mergacon: This does not affect minions played after this card. (added by The Bigger Geekier Box)
Mechanics[]
Changerbots specialize in minions with talents to switch between different status, either getting a high power boost, or getting a low power but with additional abilities, mainly movement, but also indestructibility, extra action plays, etc. They can also add additional talents to their minions for even more versatility. Take note that using their talents usually come with a side effect, such as lowering the minion's power or losing its other abilities. So be mindful of the order in which you activate their talents; while a minion with several talents can use each talent once on your turn, some talents prevent you from using that minion's remaining abilities.
External Strategy Guides[]
- Changerbots: The Best Smash Ups in Smash Up
- Calling All Titans: Mergacon
- Smash Up KOTH #39: Leader Two
- Smash Up Action Awareness #70: The Touch
FAQ[]
Questions on Leader Two[]
Q: It gives +2 power to "one of my other minions". Can I choose a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: Can you give +2 to a minion in stasis?
A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.
Questions on Solarshout[]
Q: It doesn't say that minions have a minimum power of 0 like other cards (e.g. Glymmer, Poison, Sleep Spores). So if this minion already has its power reduced by other cards, does it go negative?
A: No. Those other cards only reminded you of the general rule that "minion power is never reduced below zero". Even if the card doesn't remind you of it, it's still one of the rules of Smash Up that you must keep in mind.
Q: I use Solarshout's talent, so it gets -2 power until the end of the turn. Before the end of the turn, if I manage to cancel or make it lose that talent, does it regain +2 power?
A: No, the -2 power persists until the end of the turn even if the ability that caused it is lost or cancelled.
Rule: Cancelling (or losing) an effect does not necessarily undo what it did.
Questions on Bruiser[]
Q: What are the "other abilities"?
A: By itself, Bruiser has two abilities, its Ongoing and its Talent. If you play an action that gives it another ability (e.g. Potion of Redundancy Potion, Flighterizer, The Touch, Passengers), then Bruiser will have other abilities, besides its original two. Using its Talent would make it lose those other abilities until the start of your next turn.
Q: Does Bruiser also lose the abilities of actions on it?
A: No, a minion's abilities are the ones printed on the card and those given to it by certain abilities (e.g. Potion of Redundancy Potion, Flighterizer, The Touch, Passengers). The abilities of actions on it are separate from the minion's abilities.
Rule: A play-on-minion action doesn't give an ability to the minion it is attached to.
Q: I use Bruiser's talent, so it loses its other abilities until the start of my next turn. If I play an action on it that gives it another ability (e.g. Potion of Redundancy Potion, Flighterizer, The Touch, Passengers), does it immediately lose them or not?
A: No, Bruiser will only lose the abilities it had when the talent is used. Abilities gained after the activation of its talent are not lost.
Q: So Bruiser can only use its "natural" talent once, right? For example, if it's on Standing Stones, if the Changerbots player has Great Wolf Spirit in play or if they use Expert Timing and target Bruiser.
A: No, when you use Bruiser's talent, it loses all its abilities except the talent, so you can use its talent an extra time. Notice that Bruiser says that it loses its Ongoing ability and all its other abilities, which here means all its abilities besides the talent, so all that's left will be its talent. If it was really meant to lose its talent as well, saying that it loses "all its abilities" would have been enough.
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. Bear Hug), or a base's ability allows me to destroy one of my minions (e.g. R’lyeh), can I target my indestructible Bruiser? 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 Bruiser 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 targeted for destruction, Bruiser's own ability protects it, so it 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 Bruiser 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.
Questions on Huffie[]
Q: It doesn't say that minions have a minimum power of 0 like other cards (e.g. Glymmer, Poison, Sleep Spores). So if this minion already has its power reduced by other cards, does it go negative?
A: No. Those other cards only reminded you of the general rule that "minion power is never reduced below zero". Even if the card doesn't remind you of it, it's still one of the rules of Smash Up that you must keep in mind.
Q: I use Huffie's talent, so it gets -1 power until the end of the turn. Before the end of the turn, if I manage to cancel of make it lose that talent, does it regain +1 power?
A: No, the -1 power persists until the end of the turn even if the ability that caused it is lost or cancelled.
Rule: Cancelling (or losing) an effect does not necessarily undo what it did.
Questions on Cesium Armor[]
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. Bear Hug), or a base's ability allows me to destroy one of my minions (e.g. R’lyeh), can I target my minion with Cesium Armor played on it? 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 your minion 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 targeted for destruction, Cesium Armor's ability protects it, so your minion 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 your 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.
Q: Can you play it on a minion in stasis?
A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: - If you're asking about when Cesium Armor is played, it doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a minion", which means that it is not a standard action.
- If you're asking about when you copy a destroy effect onto an opponent's minion with Cesium Armor protecting it, then the minion isn't destroyed.
- If you're asking about when an opponent's minion with Cesium Armor protecting it is directly destroyed by a standard action and you want to copy that, then it's not possible because the minion can't be destroyed and because no minion was affected, you can't copy the effect.
Rule: "Can't" trumps "can".
Questions on Change Into A Gun[]
Q: When do you actually destroy this card? Does it remain until the player who played it chooses to destroy it or is it destroyed at the start of that person's next turn?
A: It's destroyed during the Start Turn phase of that player, and it is a mandatory destruction, so as soon as it's their Start Turn phase, they must destroy it. Even if it is played during their Start Turn phase, they must destroy it during that same phase.
Rule: "At the start of your turn" means "during the Start Turn (phase 1) of each of your turns".
Q: Why is it Ongoing if it eventually destroys itself?
A: It's an Ongoing, so its power reduction lasts for as long as the card is in play. But the power reduction only lasts until your next turn, so it needs to destroy itself to make itself stop.
Q: It doesn't say that minions have a minimum power of 0 like other cards (e.g. Glymmer, Poison, Sleep Spores). So a minion's power can go negative with this card, right?
A: No. Those other cards only reminded you of the general rule that "minion power is never reduced below zero". Even if the card doesn't remind you of it, it's still one of the rules of Smash Up that you must keep in mind.
Q: If my minion that I attach this to is a power 5, can I choose to destroy it? It has -2 power after all.
A: No. When you resolve a card, you must resolve it step by step. So first, you destroy a minion of power 4 or less (your minion, being a power 5, is not eligible at this point). Then, the Ongoing ability is activated and your minion gets -2.
Rule: Multiple parts of a card’s ability must be done in their stated order.
Q: It tells me to play it on "one of my minions". Can I play it on a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: An opponent plays this card on one of their minions. If I transfer it to one of my minions, e.g. with Tinx or Rules Lawyer, I have control of it, so I can destroy a minion of power 4 or less and the action will be destroyed at the start of my next turn, right? Or does the "Play on one of your minions" prevent me from transferring it to my minions?
A: No, transferring an action doesn't make you its controller and transferring it to a different player's minion doesn't grant that player control of the action. The action's controller simply doesn't change. Also, you can transfer it to your minions; "Play on one of your minions" is simply a restriction for when the action is played, and is no longer relevant once the action is in play and doesn't further restricts how the action can be transferred (because transferring is different than playing!). That also applies to the destruction ability. Since it's an on-play ability, it's only resolved when the card is played, not transferred. Anyway, the player who played it still controls it, and therefore the action only addresses them and the ability must be interpreted from their point of view. So "your turn" means "their turn". In summary, what you just did by transferring the action to your minion is give it -2 power (you can't destroy a minion of power 4 or less) and the action will be destroyed at the start of the action's controller's next turn anyway.
Rule: When you transfer an action, it doesn't change controller.
Q: Can you play it on a minion in stasis?
A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on one of your minions", which means that it is not a standard action.
Questions on Change Up and Roll On[]
Q: Does moving a minion to a base before it scores change anything at all? Don't we only get VPs based on the power we had at the start of scoring?
A: Actually, the amount of VPs each player gets is determined by the power each player currently has when you are handing out VPs, so any before-scoring abilities (including this one) that affect how much power you have on the base will affect the amount of VPs you'll eventually get.
Rule: VPs are awarded according to the current power totals.
Q: It doesn't say that minions have a minimum power of 0 like other cards (e.g. Glymmer, Poison, Sleep Spores). So a minion's power can go negative with this card, right?
A: No. Those other cards only reminded you of the general rule that "minion power is never reduced below zero". Even if the card doesn't remind you of it, it's still one of the rules of Smash Up that you must keep in mind.
Q: Can I choose minions that can't be moved (e.g. Entangled), just to give them -1 power for whatever reason?
A: Yes, moving the minion and giving it -1 power are independent. So, choose any number of your minions on any bases, they all move and get -1 power. If one of them can't move, it still gets -1 power.
Rule: "Can't" trumps "can".
Q: It tells me to move "any of my minions". Can I move a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: Can I play it from stasis before a base scores?
A: No, while in stasis, the only abilities that can do anything are the ones that explicitly state that they do something there.
Rule: Abilities of cards in stasis do not work unless they refer to stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: First of all, Change Up and Roll On affects minions twice, first by moving them and then by giving them -1 power. When you use any of the effect-copying cards, each one may only copy one of the two effects, either the move or the -1 power, not both. Of course, if you have several effect-copying cards that are triggered, you may have each one copy a different effect.
If you choose to copy the move:
- If Diva copies it, Diva is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is moved to the same base as the minion that was directly affected. Note that if Diva copies the move, it won't get -1 power, so that part is resolved as written, in that case "They each get -1 power until the end of the turn" should be understood as "the minions that were directly affected each get -1 power until the end of the turn."
- If Dancing King copies it onto a minion (it can be itself), that minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is moved to the same base as the minion that was directly affected. Note that if Dancing King copies the move, it won't copy the -1 power, so that part is resolved as written, in that case "They each get -1 power until the end of the turn" should be understood as "the minions that were directly affected each get -1 power until the end of the turn."
- If We are Family copies it, the minion it is on is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is moved to the same base as the minion that was directly affected. Note that if We are Family copies the move, it won't copy the -1 power, so that part is resolved as written, in that case "They each get -1 power until the end of the turn" should be understood as "the minions that were directly affected each get -1 power until the end of the turn."
- With Funky Town, you can only copy it if you're the one who played the action and if it moves one of your minions away from Funky Town, but if Funky Town does copy it, the minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and is moved to the same base as the minion that was directly affected. Note that if Funky Town copies the move, it won't copy the -1 power, so that part is resolved as written, in that case "They each get -1 power until the end of the turn" should be understood as "the minions that were directly affected each get -1 power until the end of the turn."
If you choose to copy the -1 power, the directly affected minion must end its move on a base with an effect-copying card for the effect to be copied:
- If Diva copies it, Diva is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets -1 power.
- If Dancing King copies it onto a minion (it can be itself), that minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets -1 power.
- If We are Family copies it, the minion it is on is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets -1 power.
- With Funky Town, you can only copy it if you're the one who played the action, but if Funky Town does copy it, the minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets -1 power.
Questions on Flighterizer[]
Q: It doesn't say that minions have a minimum power of 0 like other cards (e.g. Glymmer, Poison, Sleep Spores). So a minion's power can go negative with this card, right?
A: No. Those other cards only reminded you of the general rule that "minion power is never reduced below zero". Even if the card doesn't remind you of it, it's still one of the rules of Smash Up that you must keep in mind.
Q: When I play this card on a minion, does it overwrite the minion's original abilities?
A: No. The minion will keep its original abilities and will gain an additional one.
Q: If played on a minion with a talent, can you only use one of its talents per turn or can you trigger each talent separately?
A: If played on a minion with a talent, the minion will then have two talents. Each talent can be activated once per turn, independently from each other, unless one of the talents makes the minion lose its other abilities (e.g. Bruiser).
Rule: Each talent can be activated once on each of your turns.
Q: It tells me to play it on "one of my minions". Can I play it on a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: An opponent plays this card on one of their minions. If I transfer it to one of my minions, e.g. with Tinx or Rules Lawyer, I have control of it, so my minion gets the talent, right? Or does the "Play on one of your minions" prevent me from transferring it to my minions?
A: Be careful, transferring an action doesn't make you its controller and transferring it to a different player's minion doesn't grant that player control of the action. The action's controller simply doesn't change. Also, you can transfer it to your minions; "Play on one of your minions" is simply a restriction for when the action is played, and is no longer relevant once the action is in play and doesn't further restricts how the action can be transferred (because transferring is different than playing!) However, while the action is still under the control of the player who played it, the talent is an ability granted to the minion it is attached to, regardless of who controls the action, so only that minion's controller (that is you) can use this talent.
Rule: When you transfer an action, it doesn't change controller.
Rule: A card's talent can only be used by that card's controller.
Q: Can you play it on a minion in stasis?
A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on one of your minions", which means that it is not a standard action.
Questions on Form Mergacon[]
Q: If I play Form Mergacon and then play another minion there afterward, does the new minion get +1 power from Form Mergacon?
A: The official answer is yes[1].
A: UPDATE. The Bigger Geekier Box now rules that it only increases the power of minions currently in play at the time the card is played, and not the power of minions played afterwards.
Q: If I play Form Mergacon and then move one of my minions to the targeted base. Does the minion get +1 power from Form Mergacon?
A: Yes. Even though Form Mergacon is discarded, its effect still persists until the end of the turn, so any of your minions on the targeted base gets the boost.
A: UPDATE. The Bigger Geekier Box now rules that the power boost is granted as a definitive effect. The restriction to the base is only for when the card is played, so minions that didn't get the boost won't get it by later moving on the base.
Q: If I play Form Mergacon and then move one of my minions from the targeted base to another base. Does the minion lose the +1 power from Form Mergacon?
A: Yes. Even though Form Mergacon is discarded, its effect still persists until the end of the turn, so any of your minions on the targeted base gets the boost and any of them loses it when they are moved away from that base.
A: UPDATE. The Bigger Geekier Box now rules that the power boost is granted as a definitive effect. The restriction to the base is only for when the card is played, so minions that got the boost still keep it if they are moved to a different base.
Q: It gives +1 power to "each of my minions" on the base. Does it also give +1 power to minions there that I own but don't control? I don't control them but I "own" them, so they are "my" minions, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: - Diva can't copy it because it would already be directly affected by it.
- If Dancing King copies it onto a minion (it can be itself), that minion is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets +1 power.
- If We are Family copies it, the minion it is on is considered as indirectly affected by the action and gets +1 power.
- Funky Town can't copy it because you need to be the one who played the action and so all your minions are already directly affected by it.
Questions on Matrix of Bossiness[]
Q: It tells me to play it on "one of my minions". Can I play it on a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: The highest printed power in play is 6. What happens if you play Matrix of Bossiness on Mimic? Is its power 6 or 5?
A: 6. Despite the fact that it changes its "power" ("power" when in play always meant "modified power"), The Bigger Geekier Box rulebook clarifies that it's Mimic's "starting" power that gets modified.
Q: An opponent plays this card on one of their minions. If I transfer it to one of my minions, e.g. with Tinx or Rules Lawyer, my minion gets a printed power of 5, right? Or does the "Play on one of your minions" prevent me from transferring it to my minions?
A: Your minion does get a printed power of 5 and you can transfer it to your minions; "Play on one of your minions" is simply a restriction for when the action is played, and is no longer relevant once the action is in play and doesn't further restricts how the action can be transferred (because transferring is different than playing!)
Q: Can you play it on a minion in stasis?
A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on one of your minions", which means that it is not a standard action.
Questions on Passengers[]
Q: When I play this card on a minion, does it overwrite the minion's original abilities?
A: No. The minion will keep its original abilities and will gain an additional one.
Q: If played on a minion with a talent, can you only use one of its talents per turn or can you trigger each talent separately?
A: If played on a minion with a talent, the minion will then have two talents. Each talent can be activated once per turn, independently from each other, unless one of the talents makes the minion lose its other abilities (e.g. Bruiser).
Rule: Each talent can be activated once on each of your turns.
Q: If I play this on another player's minion, who can use this action's talent?
A: You're still the action's controller, but in that case, it's the minion that has the talent, not the action. This means that it's only the minion's controller who can use the new talent.
Rule: A card's talent can only be used by that card's controller.
Q: It tells me to move "one of my minions". Can I move a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: An opponent plays this card on one of their minions. If I transfer it to one of my minions, e.g. with Tinx or Rules Lawyer, I have control of it, so my minion gets the talent, right?
A: Be careful, transferring an action doesn't make you its controller and transferring it to a different player's minion doesn't grant that player control of the action. The action's controller simply doesn't change. However, while the action is still under the control of the player who played it, the talent is an ability granted to the minion it is attached to, regardless of who controls the action, so only that minion's controller (that is you) can use this talent.
Rule: When you transfer an action, it doesn't change controller.
Rule: A card's talent can only be used by that card's controller.
Q: Can you play it on a minion in stasis?
A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on a minion", which means that it is not a standard action.
Questions on The Touch[]
Q: When I play this card on a minion, does it overwrite the minion's original abilities?
A: No. The minion will keep its original abilities and will gain an additional one.
Q: If played on a minion with a talent, can you only use one of its talents per turn or can you trigger each talent separately?
A: If played on a minion with a talent, the minion will then have two talents. Each talent can be activated once per turn. However, if you use the talent from The Touch first, it will remove the other talent until the end of the turn and you won't be able to trigger the second talent.
Rule: Each talent can be activated once on each of your turns.
Q: So the minion with The Touch can only use its The Touch's talent once, right? For example, if it's on Standing Stones, if the Changerbots player has Great Wolf Spirit in play or if they use Expert Timing and target that minion.
A: No, when you use The Touch's talent, it loses all its abilities except The Touch's talent, so you can use its talent an extra time. Notice that The Touch says that the minion loses all its other abilities, which here means all its abilities besides the talent, so all that's left will be The Touch's talent. If it was really meant to lose The Touch's talent as well, saying that it loses "all its abilities" would have been enough.
Q: What are the "other abilities"?
A: A minion with The Touch has at least two abilities, the ones it originally had and the one added by The Touch. If you play another action that gives it another ability (e.g. Potion of Redundancy Potion, Flighterizer, Passengers), then the minion will have other abilities, besides its original ones and the one added by The Touch. Using the Talent added by The Touch would make it lose those other abilities until the end of the turn.
Q: Does the minion also lose the abilities of actions on it?
A: No, a minion's abilities are the ones printed on the card and those given to it by certain abilities (e.g. Potion of Redundancy Potion, Flighterizer, The Touch, Passengers). The abilities of actions on it are separate from the minion's abilities.
Rule: A play-on-minion action doesn't give an ability to the minion it is attached to.
Q: I use the talent added by The Touch, so it loses its other abilities until the end of the turn. If I play an action on it that gives it another ability (e.g. Potion of Redundancy Potion, Flighterizer, Passengers), does it immediately lose them or not?
A: No, the minion will only lose the abilities it had when the talent is used. Abilities gained after the activation of its talent are not lost.
Q: It tells me to play it on "one of my minions". Can I play it on a minion I own that I don't control? I don't control it but I "own" it, so it's "my" minion, right?
A: No. "Your minions" are minions you control, whether or not you own them. A minion you own but don't control isn't yours.
Q: An opponent plays this card on one of their minions. If I transfer it to one of my minions, e.g. with Tinx or Rules Lawyer, I have control of it, so my minion gets the talent, right? Or does the "Play on one of your minions" prevent me from transferring it to my minions?
A: Be careful, transferring an action doesn't make you its controller and transferring it to a different player's minion doesn't grant that player control of the action. The action's controller simply doesn't change. Also, you can transfer it to your minions; "Play on one of your minions" is simply a restriction for when the action is played, and is no longer relevant once the action is in play and doesn't further restricts how the action can be transferred (because transferring is different than playing!) However, while the action is still under the control of the player who played it, the talent is an ability granted to the minion it is attached to, regardless of who controls the action, so only that minion's controller (that is you) can use this talent.
Rule: When you transfer an action, it doesn't change controller.
Rule: A card's talent can only be used by that card's controller.
Q: Can you play it on a minion in stasis?
A: No, cards in stasis cannot be affected by cards that do not explicitly state they work on cards in stasis.
Q: How does this interact with the Disco Dancers' mechanic and Funky Town's ability?
A: It doesn't interact with them at all, because it says "Play on one of your minions", which means that it is not a standard action.
Questions on Mergacon[]
- Main article: Titans
Q: The card says "Special" so I can use it outside of my turn, but why does the card also say "at the start of your turn"? Aren't Special playable at any time?
A: "Special" does not mean the card can be played out of turn. "Special" simply means that it's an ability that can be used when its condition is met. Whether it can be used out of turn, activated straight from your hand/discard pile, or if it can only be used when it's already in play (essentially being a synonym of Ongoing), it entirely depends on the wording. In the case of Mergacon, the condition is "at the start of your turn", which already restricts its usage during your Start Turn phase, not at any other times. Note that it's restricted to your Start Turn phase only, not any other phases of your turn either.
Rule: "At the start of your turn" means "during the Start Turn (phase 1) of each of your turns".
Q: How much power do I have on its base when it's out? It says I "have 3 power", not I have +3 power, so does Mergacon's ability overrides whichever my total power on that base is?
A:
No, this is very likely a typo and should be read as "You have +3 power here".The actual copy does say "You have +3 power." The revealed teaser pictures just have a typo.
Rule: N/A
Q: If you have two minions but on different bases at the start of my turn, can I still play Mergacon?
A: No, the intention is that the minions must be on the same base. "A base" means one base, "bases" means 1 or more bases
Q: I need to "have two or more minions on a base". Do minions that I own but don't control also count? I don't control them but I "own" them, so I "have" them, right?
A: No. "Where you have a minion" means "where you control at least one minion (whether or not you own it)". Minions you just own but don't control don't count.
Q: What is the 3 power added to? Does it increase one of my minions power?
A: It is added to your total power on the base. It doesn't increase any of your minions' power. You just calculate your total power on the base normally, then add +3 power from Mergacon.
Q: A base is chosen to score. I have no minions there, but I have Mergacon there. It is similar to a minion, right? So I can still get VPs from the base if 0 is among the top three total power, right?
A: No and no. Mergacon is a titan, not a minion. To be eligible to receive VPs, you must have at least one minion or at least 1 total power on the base. If you have no minions and your total power there is 0, then you can't receive any VPs from the base. Now, if Mergacon had any +1 power counters on it and/or gave you any total power (e.g. from its Ongoing ability or on Kaiju Island), then you would have at least 1 total power and be eligible. Otherwise, no.
Q: An opponent is playing with the Changerbots with their titan. Their Mergacon isn't in play. It's my Star Turn phase and I have two or more minions on a base, I can then invoke Mergacon through its Special ability and play it, right?
A: No, only the player who has it next to their deck can play it.
Rule: Playable Special cards can only be played by their current possessor.
Q: If a player uses They Say He’s Got to Go to move Mergacon, does it also lose its Ongoing ability?
A: No, losing the Ongoing ability is only a part of its Talent. Put another way, to lose its Ongoing ability, its talent must be used. If you don't use its talent to move Mergacon, there's no reason for it to lose its ongoing ability.
Trivia[]
- The artist is Gong Studios, who also designed the art of many other factions.
- The artist for the titan (which was released after Cease and Desist) is Alberto Tavira, who also designed the art of many other factions.
- Their divider (updated in The Bigger Geekier Box) features Passengers.
- Leader Two's name is a reference to Leader One (Gobots and Transformers Armada).
- Leader Two's Robot form is a reference to Optimus Prime. Ironically, his color scheme resembles Nova Prime, one of Optimus's predecessors.
- Leader Two's RV form may be a reference to Breaking Bad. It is possibly a reference to Optimus Prime's successor, Rodimus Prime, whose futuristic semi truck form is referred to by the fandom as a Winnebago.
- Solarshout's name is a reference to Starscream.
- The Touch is a reference to the Transformers movie song.
- Unicrave is a reference to Unicron.
- The Matrix of Bossiness is a reference to the Matrix of Leadership.
- Change Up and Roll On is a reference to the common order in Transformers universe to "transform and roll out"
- Two humans can be seen inside Leader Two ion the Passengers card. Their skeletons can be seen in Matrix of Bossiness.
In other languages[]
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 變形機器人 |
| French | Changeformers |
| German | Wechslerbots |
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