Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/09/30 01:40All you need is a decent ship with ahremen on him, then warp to an enemy home region. Since your ship is in god-mode, at the end of the result step, no matter what kinda ships they have, it'll attack the starbase. The text should definitely read "prevent all damage as long as it stays in this region" so you can't use it as an invulnerability field while warping to an enemy home region.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
Snooby
User Cruiser
Posts: 116
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/09/30 02:58I'm not sure the card is as broken as it sounds as Ahremen can only activate this ability whilst in an Outer Region and that region would have to be under the player's control or uncontrolled.
Had the card NOT stated this condition, meaning it could be activated from a home region and, therefore, directly from spacedock, then I would have to say yes, it was broken.
As it stands, there are several options available to either delay a ship piloted by Ahremen from being deployed, prevent it from warping into an outer region, having it destroyed, returned to hand, you could have Usual Suspect negate the damage. You could even benefit from the attack (e.g. Insurance Fraud)
The administrator has disabled public write access.
twilight.lair
User Scout
Posts: 9
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/09/30 04:33it's not that much of a restriction...if you have like two isk, play a new outer region. warp there, activate ahremen, then procede onto the enemy home region.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
Buhallin
User Battlecruiser
Posts: 514
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/09/30 23:39It won't even cost that - save something like Bleak Lands, which only costs 1 to begin with, and the very same character makes it free.
I don't know that I'd consider it completely broken... Even if he can survive untouched, he can only pilot one ship. That would have to be a hefty ship to single-handedly take down what most starbases can easily do to their shields now. Plus it can still be stopped by any sort of non-damage trick - EMP Minefield, Veteran's Premature Retirement, etc.
He is certainly rather powerful, but we'll have to wait and see if he truly earns "broken" status.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
twilight.lair
User Scout
Posts: 9
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/10/01 01:00there are a lot of cards that let you fetch characters in your deck...it really isn't that hard to get multiple copies of him..play an outer region for free, and then procede in god-mode . Just because there are cards out there that can deal with it, doesn't mean it's fair...the card should definitely read prevent all damage while he remains in that region.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
Snooby
User Cruiser
Posts: 116
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/10/01 02:40Can you have multiple copies of the same character in play?
The administrator has disabled public write access.
Buhallin
User Battlecruiser
Posts: 514
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/10/01 02:58Yes - there are nothing restricting multiple copies of the same character.
I'm not arguing that I think it's NOT broken - I'm just saying that I'm not sure it IS. Many things that look powerful on paper don't work out so well in practice. There are currently only two cards that let you search for characters, and one is a news, so subject to all the normal counters there.
EMP Minefield still counters it handily, even with the potential for multiples. So would the Pirate Towers - make him spread before attacking you, and go after his distributed ships. You pop the ship, or you pop the character. Ship Computer Glitch can be quite amusing to use after he sacs Ahremen. Pirate Mercenary pops it just fine. Look for strange combos - Stubborn Mechanic or Hired Enforcers + Overload, for instance. Manufacturing Error is always fun, and makes it sputter.
Having a way to deal with turtle ships is important in any deck, and the same options should apply.
But I do beg to differ on one point - if there are cards out there to deal with it, then it IS fair. That's part of the metagame. If there is only ONE card that can deal with it, or two, then it could restrict the metagame too much, and that would be bad. But there are 6 options I just gave, and that was off the top of my head. I don't see it becoming overwhelming, but if I'm wrong I'll gladly join in calls for it to be dealt with.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
Snooby
User Cruiser
Posts: 116
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/10/01 04:24I feel I should mention that if you allow your opponent to deploy 4 honking great ships with Ahremen attached ready to warp into your home region, you pretty much deserve to get taken out.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
Buhallin
User Battlecruiser
Posts: 514
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/10/01 14:49I think his point was that you didn't need honking great ships - 4 Ahremen on 4 frigates will do just fine. I don't think that's a realistic concern, honestly, as there are a great many cards that 4 of, all used together, will end a game... But I think that's where he's coming from
The administrator has disabled public write access.
Ryuteki
User Battlecruiser
Posts: 679
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/10/02 00:25He should totally read: "PILOT Sacrifice: Prevent all damage dealt to Arkah’s ship until end of turn. Play this ability only in an outer region during a battle phase."-Ryuteki, Owner of the Rules! We're playing Monday evenings in IL, see www.games-plus.com for the address or email me at ryuteki AT gmail DOT com.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
Brootal
User Battlecruiser
Posts: 490
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/10/02 01:59Ryuteki wrote: He should totally read: "PILOT Sacrifice: Prevent all damage dealt to Arkah’s ship until end of turn. Play this ability only in an outer region during a battle phase."
Yep I'd agree thats how I think he should work.
I don't think he's overly broken even the way he works currently. Firstly you have to get 4 of him into play on 4 ships, Then your opponent has to have no solutions that don't involve damage. Is it worse than a kamikaze rush? I don't think so, 4 frigates, 4 copies of Arkah. compare that to 8 kamikaze frigates. Put him on big ships? no worse than having typhoons in play and requires an extra card.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
Buhallin
User Battlecruiser
Posts: 514
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/10/02 03:28I'm not entirely sure that's how he should work. With the current wording, you can use him to avoid direct damage cards like Adaster's or Vak'Atioth as well. That's a very useful ability, and valid for the cost of sacrificing him.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
stevetheone
User Battlecruiser
Posts: 540
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/10/02 10:16While I would agree that Ahremen is very powerful and potent I have to agree that the card is not broken. As previously stated there are a number of ways of dealing with him. Even direct damage cards can if played at the right time.We shall seed the stars with our scions and reap that harvest.
No expect the Spam, spam, spam, spam...
The administrator has disabled public write access.
Bombadidaloo
User Cruiser
Posts: 125
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/10/03 05:42I have a feeling he'll (I thought he was a she!) only be broken once there's a way to easily search out multiple copies and reuse them as well. Oh wait, there are
But in response to Buhally's point of him allowing your ship to dodge disaster, etc, don't forget that you can target the ship on it's warp to an outer region during the management phase, because after all, the ship has to first come home and pick up Akrah from the dock.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
DrVulcan
User Frigate
Posts: 24
Re:Ahremen Akrah is Broken - 2007/10/27 15:58I spent the time to make a good deck revolving around this card as well as played against a couple other decks with this as its central theme, and though it does make for a strong combo, its not broken.
The decks did average in our games. If they could pull it off they won the game, but as many times as not, there would be something there to easily counter it.
Of note was the card specialization. Two times in one game it was able to easily stop the attack from the 'invincible' ships coming in by reducing their weapons to less than troublesome.
Just because normal damage doesn't work for one turn in one battle doesn't make it broken.
Guardian in the core set is likewise immune to damage. You could bump up its weapons to kill a star base and have it go in without any worries to base defenders, yet you don't see it in every deck. It can even hold an outer region very very well, perhaps better than any single other ship out there and people can still deal with it.
There are a lot of counters to deal with things that aren't direct damage and there are counters to those counters, and on we go.
Overall, it is a great card, one with an obvious combo, but it does not guarantee you a win by any means, so no, I do not see it as broken.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
