Welcome to Sentinels Spotlight! This series’ goal is to explore each of the unique decks available for play in Greater Than Games’ cooperative superhero card game, Sentinels of the Multiverse. This series will strive to introduce you to the hero, and then give you an overview on their deck – what it is made up of and some basic strategies so that you may sit down at the table and choose the deck that is the best fit for your play style.
It fell from the sky.
Hugh Lowsley loved to watch the stars with his brother, Nigel. And then one night, they watched as a mysterious purple light fell from the night sky, crashing into a nearby hillside. Of course, they ran to the crater to check out what had fallen from the sky, only to be barraged with energy by a glowing crystal, knocking the men out. When Hugh came to, he found himself all alone. Nigel had simply vanished. But that wasn’t all. Hugh had gained powers of energy manipulation and could create and control “hard-light constructs” that shined gold. He has since adopted the name “Captain Cosmic” and fights with the Sentinels of the Multiverse while he continues to look for his brother.
Captain Cosmic is a Complexity 2 hero from the Wrath of the Cosmos expansion that was released in January 2015 as one of the two new heroes introduced in that set. His deck revolves around 8 “Construct” cards that are unique to him. These hard-light constructs give him and his allies new and unique capabilities to use as they fight the forces of evil. At 27 hit points, Captain Cosmic sits pretty much right in the middle – not too squishy, but also not capable of taking blow after blow like heroes like Legacy or Haka. Captain Cosmic is a support deck. He isn’t going to lead the charge by any stretch, but he is able to play on his allies’ strengths and shore up their weaknesses by manipulating the constructs in play. His base power Fabrication allows him to reveal the top card of his deck and either play the card or put it into his hand, which can get constructs into play or possibly allow him an additional play of a one-shot or ongoing each turn. He doesn’t have much else in the way of powers, so you’ll be drawing through your deck at a fairly steady pace.
Captain Cosmic has eight different construct cards. Each of these construct cards has 4 hit points, making them viable targets on the battlefield to potentially draw enemy attacks. Some of them might even make for juicy targets from a properly timed attack from an ally. Only one of these constructs, the Cosmic Crest, is “Limited.” Cosmic Crest can only be played in front of Captain Cosmic and makes himself and all construct cards immune to energy damage. Additionally, it gives him an additional power that he can use to restore 2 hit points to up to 3 constructs on the table. Six points of healing isn’t bad, considering that each construct only has 4 hit points to begin with. Augmented Ally allows the affected hero to discard a card at the beginning of their turn in order to immediately use a power. This could be played next to Bunker to give him a potential 4 powers a turn while in Turret Mode if he also has the Auxiliary Power Unit in place. (as we talked about last time). Any other hero that has crazy draw power and a multitude of powers can also benefit from this.
Autonomous Blade is better suited for allies that deal damage. The first time the affected hero deals damage a turn, the blade deals 1 target 2 energy damage. Not much, but it can be great for chipping away at minions, or even ping another heroes construct (provided the Cosmic Crest isn’t out) without having to sacrifice any other damage output. Cosmic Weapon gives the affected hero an additional power that lets them deal 1 target 3 energy damage. Damage dealing heroes can probably do better with their own deck, but it gives nice damage potential to support heroes or those with smaller damage outputs. Dynamic Siphon allows the affected hero to use a power whenever the construct is dealt damage. This is a great construct to deal damage to intentionally in order to give a support hero like the Argent Adept an extra power a turn. Energy Bracer reduces damage to the affected hero by 1 as long as it’s up. This is useful to everyone. Vitality Conduit is another great card to intentionally target with an attack. Whenever it is dealt damage, the affected hero regains 2 hp. It doesn’t matter how much damage – just as long as it takes damage. That’s a potential 8 points of healing from the card if you can ping it for 1 point of damage 4 times. You can make it last even longer if the Cosmic Crest is out. Wounding Buffer deals 2 points of energy damage to the first target that deals damage to the affected hero each turn. This construct is situational at best since you don’t get to target who takes the damage.
Captain Cosmic has several ongoing effects that allow him to manipulate the use of his constructs and keep them in play. Sustained Influence allows him to sacrifice the ongoing to put a construct card back in play when it is destroyed. Unflagging Animation on the other hand allows him to move 1 construct card from your trash into play at the end of his turn. Then you may or may not destroy Unflagging Animation. The only catch is that as long as it is in play, Captain Cosmic takes 1 irreducible point of psychic damage at the start of his turn. If you have a healer on the field, this can be pretty easily mitigated. Destructive Response gives Captain Cosmic some small damage potential, letting him deal up to 3 targets 1 energy damage apiece the first time a construct is destroyed each turn. Both Unflagging Animation and Destructive Response are “Limited” so only one of each card is allowed on the table at a time.
Finally, Captain Cosmic has four one-shots that again allow him to manipulate his constructs. Conservation of Energy allows him to destroy “x” construct cards in order to draw or play a number of cards equal to “x+1.” This card is great for resetting the field – clearing out constructs that are about to be destroyed and putting out fresh ones. As an added bonus, constructs destroyed this way can be brought back into play with Unflagging Animation or by sacrificing Sustained Influence. The remaining three give him some more offensive capabilities. Construct Cataclysm allows him to destroy every construct card on the table in order to deal 1 target “x” irreducible energy damage or up to “x” targets 3 energy damage apiece. “X” in this case is the number of construct cards destroyed. This card has multiple uses and can be used to help clear the field by weakening or destroying a large number of minions or as a final blow against a villain character. Again, Sustained Influence and Unflagging Animation can be used to mitigate the loss of cards and get some back on the table. Harsh Offense is a gamble of a card. He reveals the top 3 cards of his deck, and deals “2x” energy damage to 1 target where “x” is the number of construct cards that were revealed. All 3 cards then go into the trash, where again, he can bring them back with Unflagging Animation. Finally, Potent Disruption allows him to destroy 1 construct card to deal 1 target energy damage equal to the construct’s current hit points +1. Not necessarily great for constructs that are about to be destroyed, but with Sustained Influence on the table, you can destroy a brand new construct and immediately put it back into play.
Unfortunately, Captain Cosmic is going to run out of ongoing cards before he runs out of construct cards that can be destroyed. But with Fabrication going and steady drawing tactics, he can cycle through his deck fairly quickly, especially if he holds on to any one-shots he draws for the opportune time. Unlike a lot of other heroes, his one-shots are not always immediately useful, but instead require certain timing in order to be dramatically effective, some only coming into great effectiveness several turns into a game when there is a steady supply of constructs in play or in hand to replace them as they are destroyed.
When defeated, Captain Cosmic can on his turn let one player play a card, use a power, or reduce all damage dealt by 1 until the start of his next turn. So even when he is taken out of the fight, he still continues to be a very powerful support character.
As a support deck, Captain Cosmic doesn’t necessarily benefit from another hero on the field, but any hero that can let him draw through his deck faster could help. Omnitron-X for example can get him additional constructs out per turn with Timeshift. Also, any hero who can heal multiple targets a turn can help to keep his constructs alive or mitigate the damage from Unflagging Animation. His great strength is in assigning the appropriate construct to the hero that has the most to benefit from it. Have a hero who has several powers and a lot of draw power? Augmented Ally is a no-brainer. A character that takes a lot of damage can always benefit from an Energy Bracer or a Vitality Conduit. I called out several of these pairings when discussing the constructs themselves.
Infinitor, found in the Wrath of the Cosmos expansion is the nemesis to Captain Cosmic. His identity will remain a secret until we discuss him in his own article, but I’m sure fans of comics have already deduced who it might be.
Captain Cosmic Deck List
Augmented Ally x3
Autonomous Blade x3
Conservation of Energy x2
Construct Cataclysm x2
Cosmic Crest x2
Cosmic Weapon x3
Destructive Response x2
Dynamic Siphon x3
Energy Bracer x3
Harsh Offense x3
Potent Disruption x3
Sustained Influence x3
Unflagging Animation x2
Vitality Conduit x3
Wounding Buffer x3
And that is Captain Cosmic! Next time we’ll cover the Western-inspired Chrono-Ranger!
Ben Erickson
