[{"text":"Hi again everyone!"},{"text":"The majority of my articles have centered around 3-player game strategy, and I realized there isn\u2019t much written about 4-player games.  Depending on the brackets, number of players, how many cubes you have, etc there are numerous reasons why you might find yourself in a 4-player game.  So today I want to talk about how to press an advantage when there is another player in the game.  Let\u2019s begin by evaluating some key differences in three and four player games."},{"header":"TIME LIMIT"},{"text":"3-player games utilize 45 minute rounds while 4-player games are allotted one hour.  This equates to 15 minutes per player, but typically moving from a three to four player game isn\u2019t quite as straight-forward as adding another player to the game.  There are going to be more interactions involved, more decisions to be made, and potentially more attacks coming your way.  If you think about it as &#34;you typically having 45 minutes to defeat two opponents&#34; then you suddenly have &#34;60 minutes to defeat three&#34;.  Your average time to defeat an opponent has gone from 22.5 minutes to 20.  Because it is not uncommon for 3-player games to not finish before the 45 minute time limit, you can expect 4-player games to conclude based on time rather than defeating the final Super Villain even more."},{"image":[{"src":"2-p958182.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"header":"ERRORS"},{"text":"Conversely, you can think of it as having 22.5 minutes per player to think about what they are doing, figure out how you should react to it, and using the remaining time to execute your plan.  You now have less time per player to do the same things you were doing in a three player game.  This means you will be more apt to make a mistake, and so will your opponents.  The information compounds in a nonlinear way, and you will notice people making more mistakes throughout the course of a game."},{"image":[{"src":"3-p3887483.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"The more mistakes that are made during the game typically has the effect of lowering the final VP counts across the board for all players.  When players start making mistakes they might buy the wrong card, fail to notice a card interaction, etc.  The extra information coming from a fourth player being at the table often has a noticeable impact on the game."},{"header":"ATTACK AND DEFENSE"},{"text":"I rate defense cards higher in four-player games than I do three-player.  Perhaps that\u2019s a wrong approach overall, but it does signal that I expect attacks to be generally more brutal overall with more players in the game.  In a 3-player game you have two opponents who can attack and defeat Super Villains (subjecting you to First Appearance Attacks), vs a 4-player game where there are three players doing this."},{"text":"Anyone can usually sustain one FAA per round, but with another player the chance go up significantly that another player will be able to defeat the Super Villain as well, leaving you facing two FAA\u2019s, basically back to back.  Being hit by two of those attacks is ruff, so for 4-player games I\u2019d recommend picking up a larger than normal mix of defense cards.  Defense cards that only need to be revealed are all-stars here, since they can be used to defense against a barrage of attacks from your opponents and Super Villains alike."},{"image":[{"src":"4-p499314.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"header":"WHERE DOES SWAMP THING FIT INTO ALL THIS"},{"text":"Now that we\u2019ve looked at some differences in three and four player games, lets see where Swamp Thing fits into all this."},{"text":"Something we haven\u2019t touched on yet is how much faster cards are moving through the line-up.  This is the key factor that makes Swamp Thing an all-star in four-player games.  Players tend to spend the early-mid turns of the game buying cards from the lineup.  Having an extra player at the table roughly equates to an influx of 25% more cards coming out in the line-up.  More cards coming through the line-up means that there is a higher than normal chance of having multiple locations to gain an advantage with via Swamp Thing."},{"header":"LEAVE THE LOCATIONS IN THE LINEUP"},{"text":"We aren\u2019t concerned with who ends up with those locations, as we will happily make use of them in the line-up if other players refuse to buy them.  This can lead to some optimal board states for you, where the lineup has 2-3 \u2018bad\u2019 locations in it.  Bad in the sense that you nobody really wants to draw that card, but we will happily take advantage of every location that comes up, no matter how bad it may be."},{"text":"When locations sit in the line-up it generally has the effect of reducing the overall card quality of the line-up for all players, but with Swamp Thing we get an immediate advantage from this.  You generally want to leave every location you can in the line-up, and buy up all the cards which let you destroy cards from the line-up.  Those cards can be dangerous to our strategy, so best to keep those cards in our deck to make sure the proper cards are destroyed while leaving \u2018our\u2019 locations intact."},{"image":[{"src":"5-p168835.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"header":"CARDS YOU DON&#39;T WANT TO SEE"},{"text":"Fortunately there are not many cards which interact with the line-up.  Some of the most dangerous cards to our strategy include the cycle of cards that destroy all cards that are not of a specific type.  Watch out for these, and try to destroy or replace them if you can.  As a last resort you can buy them, and then most likely not opt to play them unless doing so would allow you to defeat the last super villain."},{"image":[{"src":"6-p6894986.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Then there is always the one card in the deck that can just totally throw a wrench in your plans.  Hopefully this card is out early and you can pick it up, otherwise hope you it never comes out, as it spells certain doom for our location filled line-up."},{"header":"THE ONE CARD YOU MOST DON&#39;T WANT TO SEE"},{"image":[{"src":"7-p2628297.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"This is everyone\u2019s favorite line-up sweeper, and to make matters worse they don\u2019t even need to buy the card to use it.  As the Swamp Thing player you absolutely have to buy this.  One thing to note:  This card is actually a double edged sword.  On the one hand it can totally wreck havoc on a Location filled line-up.  On the other hand, as Swamp Thing if you can get this card early then use it every chance you get until a good location hits the line-up.  Some games can take a few turns before you see the first location, and this card helps dig five cards deeper every time you play it.  Swamp Thing has a very distraught love \/\/ hate relationship with the Time Sphere."},{"header":"ATTACKS WHICH PEOPLE THINK ARE GOOD AGAINST YOU"},{"text":"It's good to feign being worried about some cards, when in reality they really don\u2019t bother you much at all.  At least not as much as they\u2019ll bother the other players.  A few of them include:"},{"image":[{"src":"8-p383258.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Although annoying, you can survive these attacks.  Since we aren\u2019t really the players buying locations, we aren\u2019t directly hit with the card disadvantage.  What typically happens is that over the course of a game other players pick up some locations here and there, occasionally just because there is nothing better for them to buy, and these attacks will hit those locations."},{"text":"While it is annoying to lose access to a location, at least we didn\u2019t waste a draw to get it in our hand the first time.  Our opponent was happy to bear that price for us.  It's mostly inconvenient since we were planning on using those locations they had to put in the discard pile and now we can\u2019t until they draw them again."},{"header":"HOW TO TILT YOUR OPPONENT"},{"text":"Every now and then you\u2019ll find yourself in the enviable position of having access to numerous locations, the majority of which your opponents have in play.  If you want to send them to tilt city then first use their location for whatever it's benefit is (drawing a card, gaining a VP, etc) and then play Swamp Things favorite Equipment:"},{"image":[{"src":"sil467945silent-a.jpg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"<p>You get to use their Location and&nbsp;then make them discard it in order to give you a huge benefit!&nbsp; When you do this their Location will go to their discard pile due to the Swamp Thing ruling, but you still&nbsp;get what is otherwise considered a huge benefit -&gt;&nbsp;gaining the top card of the main deck for free!&nbsp; You also give your opponent a consolation prize of having to redraw their Location again later in the game, instead of having immediate access to it during their next turn.<\/p>"},{"image":[{"src":"20-45411220.jpg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Note: It's not as great to discard Locations from the line-up, since they are generally only benefiting you and no-one else.&nbsp; However, in the event you do decide to discard a Location from the Line-Up, keep in mind that the card will be removed from the game, and there is no way to ever get it back.  This is similar to using Insanity to defend against a Super Villain First Appearance Attack; the card is removed from the game permanently with no way for it to ever come back!"},{"header":"WHO TO PAIR SWAMP THING WITH"},{"text":"Once you commit to giving him a try, the next step is figuring out who to use with him.  Being as he\u2019s only a Tier 2 Main Character, we have 4 more Tiers worth of characters we can pair him with.  My favorite pairing for him is:"},{"image":[{"src":"11-58362711.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Blue Beetle and Weather Wizard are both Tier 2 characters, bringing your total with this trio to 6.  Weather Wizard is pulling the bulk of the weight here.  Early game you can burn through starters by pitching two to draw a new card.  As soon as any locations come out, his teamwork ability becomes more relevant by allowing you to reliably trigger Blue Beetle by giving out a single VP."},{"text":"If you play the five cards in your hand, teamwork a 6th card from another player, and then having one location (in the line-up or controlled by another player) easily makes your seventh card.  It gets better and better with each additional Location you control, as that leaves more and more cards you can discard to Weather Wizard to try and sculpt a good hand before drawing a free card with Blue Beetle."},{"text":"Make sure you pay attention to what players buy which locations also.  If you feel that a certain location will help them a bit too much then Teamwork them like crazy until either you hit that location or they draw it.  Hitting a location from Teamwork is sweet, as you basically deny them access to an expensive card (most locations cost around 5 power to buy, which is no joke) and you get to maintain control of it until it leaves play.  That means that you might be able to keep it the rest of the game (although it returns to them prior to counting VP), which is a huge considering they might have spent their whole turns worth of power buying it."},{"header":"BONUS SECTION: MORE WAYS TO TILT YOUR OPPONENTS OUT OF THE GAME"},{"image":[{"src":"12-573712.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Combo #1:  Buy Loot, gain 7 VP, and use your opponent\u2019s Atlantis to put the (now-useless to you) Loot on top of their deck.  Next, Teamwork them with Weather Wizard\u2019s ability and take some of their VP...now is a good time to move out of the way because the game table is about to get flipped!"},{"image":[{"src":"13-73059713.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Combo #2:  This isn\u2019t really a combo, but if any of your opponents are ever crazy enough to play the Clocktower against you, then find some way to rotate it so that it ends up being upright during your turn.  You get to take the free turn and Clocktower goes on the bottom of their deck.  This is far better than any other trick you can do.  Who doesn\u2019t love free turns at the opponent's expense!"},{"header":"CONCLUSION"},{"text":"Hopefully next time you\u2019re in a four player game you\u2019ll give Swamp Thing and his friends a shot.  If nothing else it\u2019ll be a frustrating game for your opponents!<br>"}]