How could something so cuddly … OH MY GOD GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! - AEG
Who could possibly come between you and your bear when you were little? Nothing. Because those bears had more up their sleeves than you ever knew. Just try looking at their owners the wrong way and you're in trouble. In the sweetest way possible!
- - What Were We Thinking? rulebook
The Teddy Bears are one of the 4 factions from the What Were We Thinking? set.
The Teddy Bears focus on getting power from other players' minions and messing with other players' minions.
Other factions from the same set: Explorers, Grannies, Rock Stars.
Name
This faction is called "Teddy Bears" in the rulebook and on the divider included in this set. However, AEG's product page for this set calls this faction "Teddybears".
Cards
The Teddy Bears have the usual 10 minions and 10 actions. The total minion base power (not counting any abilities) is unusually low at only 22 or an average of 2.2 per minion compared to the usual 30 and 3.
Minions
1x Sir Squeezes - power 5 - Play up to three minions of power 3 or less, whose total power is 5 or less, as extra minions here. FAQ
2x Fun Bear - power 2 - Ongoing: After another player plays or moves a minion to here, place a +1 power counter on this minion. FAQ
3x Lovey Bear - power 3 - Ongoing: This minion’s starting power is increased to the highest starting power of an opponent’s minion here. FAQ
4x Snuggly Bear - power 1 - Special: After you play your first minion in a turn, you may immediately play this minion there as an extra minion. FAQ
Actions
1x Bear Picnic - Play on a base. Ongoing: Other players cannot play minions they own of power 2 or less on other bases. FAQ
2x Care Package - Draw a card and play an extra minion. FAQ
2x Cuddle - Play on a minion. Ongoing: This minion’s abilities are cancelled. FAQ
1x Group Hug - Give one of your minions +1 power for each other minion at the same base until the end of the turn. FAQ
1x Love Overload - Special: Before a base scores, destroy the minion there with the most power. If tied, destroy all tied minions. FAQ
1x Square Deal - Draw cards until at least one player has fewer cards in their hand than you. FAQ
1x Tea Party - Play on a base. Talent: If there are two or more minions here and at least one is yours, draw a card. FAQ
1x Too Cute - Play on a base. Ongoing: Your minions here cannot be destroyed by other player’s cards. FAQ
Bases
Clarifications
Here are the official clarifications as they appear in the What Were We Thinking? rulebook:
Bear Picnic: This does not affect monster play since no one owns a monster. It doesn’t stop play of other players’ minions (e.g. from Trade).
Cuddle: This does not cancel the abilities of actions on the minion, but it does cancel abilities granted by an action (e.g. Flighterizer). It does not cancel the treasure granted by monsters.
Group Hug: The power boost is calculated once and does not change when more minions are there, or the minion moves.
Lovey Bear: If the highest opposing starting power is less than Lovey Bear’s, no change happens.
Snuggly Bear: Multiple Snuggly Bears can be triggered by the same first minion and played.
Mechanics
Teddy Bears have a wide array of abilities that can mess with most minion-focused factions. For example, some cards are deterrent or give you an advantage againt swarm-type factions (Fun Bear, Group Hug, Bear Picnic), some cards give you advantage over high-power minions (Lovey Bear, Love Overload), and some cards help you counter minions with strong abilities (Cuddle).
Additionally, Teddy Bears have extra minion plays, usually allowing you to play groups of minions on the same base.
External Strategy Guides
FAQ
Questions on Sir Squeezes
Q: How does Sir Squeezes's ability work?
A: When you play Sir Squeezes, you get three extra minion plays with the following restrictions:
- Each minion must have a printed power of 3 or less.
- The sum of their printed powers cannot exceed 5.
Also, depending on when Sir Squeezes is played, the extra plays are either banked, or to be used immediately:
- If you played Sir Squeezes outside your Play Cards phase, then you must play the extra minions immediately or not at all.
- Otherwise, the extra minions are not played immediately, but are actually "banked" to be used later on your current Play Cards phase.
Rule 1: If it's not in play, a minion's power is equal to its printed power.
Rule 2: Extra cards gained outside the Play Cards phase must be played immediately or not at all.
Rule 3: An extra card isn't played right away, unless it was gained by a Special ability or outside the Play Cards phase.
Q: Can I play a Howler as one of the extra minions even though it becomes power 4?
A: Sure, playing a Howler is treated as playing a minion of power 2 (its printed power), so it is eligible for Sir Squeezes's ability. As for the remaining two extra minions, their total power cannot exceed 3, because Howler used up 2 power out of 5 (and not 4 out of 5).
Rule: If it's not in play, a minion's power is equal to its printed power.
Q: Can I play a Weed Eater as one of the extra minions? It's power 3 when it is played.
A: No, playing a Weed Eater is treated as playing a minion of power 5 (its printed power), so it is not eligible for Sir Squeezes's ability.
Rule: If it's not in play, a minion's power is equal to its printed power.
Questions on Fun Bear
Q: Is the restriction "to here" only for moving a minion or also for playing it?
A: It's for both, Fun Bear triggers either from minions being played on its base by the other players, or from minions on other bases being moved to its base by the other players.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: If this minion and some other minions are moved at the same time by another player's ability (e.g. You're Pretty Much Borscht) to the same base, does Fun Bear ability trigger after and how many counters will it receive?
A: Fun Bear definitely triggers for itself, similar to how Imperial Dragon triggers if another player moves it. What's unclear is if Fun Bear triggers for the other minions too. This situation is the same as Felicia Day moving Cub Scout and a bunch of other minions and has yet to receive any official confirmation. TBD
Rule: TBD
Q: If Fun Bear's ability is cancelled, are the +1 power counters placed on it by its own ability removed?
A: No. When you place a +1 power counter, it's a definitive effect, so the +1 power counters remain even if the card that placed them has its ability cancelled (like drawing cards, if you play Enchantress, you're not going to discard the card you drew if Enchantress's ability is cancelled). Besides, how are you going to keep track of which +1 power counters were added by Fun Bear's ability and which ones were not (e.g. if you're playing Teddy Bears Giant Ants or Teddy Bears Mad Scientists)? That would be very cumbersome.
Rule: Cancelling an effect does not necessarily undo what it did.
Q: An opponent's Fun Bear is currently at power 2. I use Great White's talent to move it to Fun Bear's base. Can I destroy the Fun Bear or does it get a +1 power counter keeping it safe?
A: You first need to finish resolving Great White's ability entirely before resolving "After" abilities that were triggered. So you can indeed destroy Fun Bear because it will only get a +1 power counter after you finish resolving Great White's talent.
Rule: Resolve the played card's ability completely, then resolve any card reactions.
Questions on Lovey Bear
Q: How does Lovey Bear's ability work?
A: For as long Lovey is in play, you must constantly check the starting power of all the opponent's minions on the same base as Lovey Bear and determine what the highest value is. Their starting power is nearly always equal to their printed power, unless your opponent has a Lovey Bear too. (As of the What Were We Thinking? expansion, Lovey Bear is the only minion that can change its starting power) Once you've determined that, compare it with Lovey Bear's printed power (either 3 as printed on the card, or 5 if it was modified by Matrix of Bossiness)
- If Lovey Bear's printed power is higher or the same as that value, then Lovey Bear's starting power is its printed power (like any regular minion!).
- If Lovey Bear's printed power is lower, then Lovey Bear's starting power becomes that value.
When you need to determine Lovey Bear's total power, you calculate it by applying any power modifiers on its starting power.
Rule 1: A minion's starting power is the power of a minion before being modified by other abilities.
Rule 2: In play, a minion's power includes all modifiers.
Q: Once Lovey Bear's starting power has been increased, what happens if the opponent's minion with the highest starting power there is removed from the base?
A: Lovey Bear's starting power is readjusted accordingly. Check which opponent's minion has the highest starting power now. If it's higher than Lovey Bear's default starting power (either its printed power of 3, or 5 if it has Matrix of Bossiness), then Lovey Bear's starting power is now equal to that new highest starting power. If the highest starting power of all the opponents' minions is lower than that, then Lovey Bear's starting power is reverted back to its default one.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: Lovey Bear is in play. An opponent plays a Howler on the same base. Howler always has a power of 4 when it comes into play, so Lovey Bear becomes power 4, right?
A: No. A starting power is a minion's power before any modifications are taken into account. Howler's "starting" power is 2. 4 is actually Howler's "modified" power (even though it was modified by its own ability). So Lovey Bear remains at a starting power of 3.
Rule: A minion's starting power is the power of a minion before being modified by other abilities.
Q: Lovey Bear is in play. An opponent plays a Weed Eater on the same base. Weed Eater always has a power of 3 when it comes into play, so Lovey Bear remains at power 3, right?
A: No. A starting power is a minion's power before any modifications are taken into account. Weed Eater's "starting" power is 5. 3 is actually Weed Eater's "modified" power (even though it was modified by its own ability). So Lovey Bear gets a starting power of 5.
Rule: A minion's starting power is the power of a minion before being modified by other abilities.
Questions on Snuggly Bear
Q: I play my first minion of a turn. Can I play more than one Snuggly Bear with their special abilities?
A: Yes.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says. Except when the rulebook clearly addresses the issue.
Questions on Bear Picnic
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so since they are another player from my point of view, they must also abide to Bear Picnic's ability, 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 "other players" means "their opponents".
Rule: "You" on a minion or action means the controller of the card.
Q: An opponent plays Bear Picnic. What does "minions they own" mean from my point of view?
A: It means any minions that come from the two factions you chose at the start of the game. If you play a card that allows you to play a monster, then you are not restricted by Bear Picnic because monsters are not owned by anyone. If you play a treasure minion, you are not restricted by Bear Picnic either, because, while you gain control of the treasure, you are not its owner (treasures have no owners after all). Finally, if you manage to play a minion owned by another player (e.g. you got it from Trade), you are also not restricted by Bear Picnic, because you are not playing a minion you own.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Questions on Care Package
Q:
A:
Rule:
Questions on Cuddle
Q:
A:
Rule:
Questions on Group Hug
Q: I play Group Hug and boost one of my minions. What happens if the number of minions on that base changes?
A: The power boost remains the same, it's not adjusted to match the new number of minions.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: Do I also get power from other players' minions there?
A: Yes.
Rule: "A minion" means "any minion in play".
Questions on Love Overload
Q: Are my Lovey Bears immune to Love Overload?
A: No. If your Lovey Bear's power (i.e. its modified power, not its starting power) is the highest, then you must destroy it.
Rule: "A minion" means "any minion in play".
Questions on Square Deal
Q: How do I resolve this card's ability?
A: First, you check how many cards each player has (don't count Square Deal, because it is no longer in your hand when you play it). If no other player has strictly fewer cards in their hand than you, draw a card from your deck. Then, check again. If it is still the case, keep drawing. As soon as at least one player has fewer cards than you, you must stop. For short, determine which one of your opponent has the fewest number of cards in their hand, then draw until you have the same number of cards in hand plus one more.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Q: If another player already has fewer cards in hand than me, do I draw one card then stop?
A: No, you don't draw any card because the condition for stopping is already met.
Rule: Do exactly what the card says.
Questions on Tea Party
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so on my turn I can also use its talent, right?
A: No. Your opponent played the action, so they control it, and therefore only they can use its talent on their turns.
Rule: A talent can be activated on each of its controller's turns.
Q: Does it work if there is a minion there that I own but don't control (e.g. Sneaky Squire, Betrothed)?
A: No. You must have a minion there that you control, whether or not you own it.
Rule: "Your minion" means "a minion that you control".
Questions on Too Cute
Q: An opponent plays this card on a base, so if I have a minion there, it also cannot be destroyed by my opponents' cards, 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: An opponent plays Bear Hug (or Unfathomable Goals, Griefer), forcing me to destroy one of my minions. Can I choose one of my minions on the same base as Too Cute? If so, does Too Cute 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, Too Cute protects your minion from destruction.
Rule: The card you target may be immune to the effects of the ability you are performing, but it is still a valid target.
Trivia
- The artist is Alberto Tavira, who also designed the art of many other factions.
- Fun Bear is a reference to Care Bears.
- Square Deal is a reference to Theodore Roosevelt.
- A Snuggly Bear is cuddling The Count on the Cuddle card.
- A Laseratops can be seen on the Bear Picnic card.
- A Great White is being attacked on the Love Overload card.
- A Betrothed, a Sneaky Squire and a Foot of the King are present on the Square Deal card.