Understanding Slack, the Extensions of Mutants

Erisian St. Vinge

Illuminati

Group Cards

Plot Cards

Beginning

The Name is a bastardization of the title of Marshall McLuhan's book about the Media called Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. The best way to start out is usually with usually Madison Ave. or Big Media for their Media intensive bonuses. Or alternately any smaller group if you have the right power increase in your hand. Like pulling the Good Sex for Mutants Dating League and Self Esteem vs. Discordia. Don't weaken yourself quickly by trying to pull off too many takeovers because each turn you keep your activity to a minimum you'll just get more slack.

Midgame

Do most of your takeovers with minimal Illuminati action which is why the Media bonuses to control that Big Media and Madison Ave. offer are good. Using the weird alignment that most of the groups have is also good to keep the amount of Illuminati help down, combined with Fear and Loathing to double the bonuses. Apathy is a good cancellation NWO and it keeps everybody from ganging up against you and making you waste your slack. The combination of Media and Sub-G specific cards should keep your hand pretty useful. The Punk Rockers are their to ensure Discordian submission, while you captivate them with your Punk Rock tunes.

Endgame

Winning with this deck usually involves a bit of subterfuge since it's not very overpowering and is made to stick to itself. If you can get two Slack tokens and have 6 groups, not too threatening if people aren't paying attention to your special goal. You can win next turn without even attacking to control any groups. The sneaky way to do it is to help somebody else out with your Slack tokens and making them feel like your less of a threat then just pull out More Slack and send the Subgenius church a dollar via Jesus B. to pull up to three in one turn. The other approach towards winning is when everybody thinks they know what your up to with your Slack conservation methods, you just use up your slack and instead of getting more via cards just Hail Eris and win with cards like Jesus B. and the Dobbstown Town. That'll infuriate the Discordian Society

Potential problems

Some problems this deck can run into would probably be from anti media cards due to it's strong reliance on Media based groups. Also this deck isn't a total powerhouse so try not and make yourself look like a target or else you'll find your Slack resources going to defense really quickly.

Variants and Substitutions

If you find people messing with your Media Domination too much via cards like Mass Murder and Big Foot, or if you just feel like playing out the total apathetic slacker try switching out 2 of the Pulitzer Prizes for another Apathy NWO and Don't Touch That Dial. Put in the Frop Farms for Big Media and switch out Madison Ave. for Secret FisTemples, throw in Janor Hypercleats and drop Media Connections and you have a Frop Smoking non media reliant deck. The Secret then is that you have everybody convinced your a complete Subgenius slacker that doesn't care about winning  as you unmasque as The Society of Assassins and win from the Secret groups counting double. Ok, well that variant's totally untested but I thought I'd throw it in just as a possibility.
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First posted: November 7, 1998
Last modified: Sat Nov 7 19:26:47 EST 1998

Ralph Melton ralph@cs.cmu.edu