Chrysalis

Alert

Type

Power of Metamorphosis

Transforms Into Another Alien

Setup: Manifest 8 random flares. Shroud the flares in your nexus as your “cocoon.”

After each warpfall, use this power to scrap a flare from your cocoon.

When you only have one flare remaining in your cocoon, add that flare to your cache. Transform into the tethered alien.

Legacy: Every alien manifests a new main power.

The mysterious Chrysalises are born in a state of development. With their nondeterministic genetic code, they possess the option to influence what they become based on their environment, allowing them to adapt to their own challenges. By the time they mature, they’re ready to conquer the Cosmos.

Any: Warpfall

Mandatory

Wild Flare

As an actor, after arrival, you may discharge this flare to manifest a flare and transform into the tethered alien until the end of upkeep. You may choose not to transform after seeing the manifested flare. The flare is immediately scrapped regardless.

Actor: Arrival

Super Flare

When using your power, you may discharge this flare to scrap two flares instead of one.

Any: Regroup

Modifications

Chrysalis’s power is originally the power to “Change Form.” I went with “metamorphosis” to match the theme of a hatching pupa. Clashes with a later alien that also has “metamorphosis” as a power, so that one will also be modified.
Chrysalis’s original discards tokens instead of flares. The flares are drawn all at once after discarding all the tokens (originally 8/6 for 5/4 alien match respectively), and then 10 flares are drawn, allowing the player to choose one. I modified it so that the number of flares corresponds with the number of tokens, making the two equivalent. The numbers were increased by one since the effect happens when only one remains instead of zero.
Chrysalis’s super flare is the same, only discarding two tokens instead of two flares.
Chrysalis’s legacy forces all aliens to immediately obtain a new power, resulting in a mass metamorphosis across the board. Could be a huge upset in terms of threat level, or could be incredibly insignificant. Chrysalis can use it to threaten enemies from wiping it out. Original Cosmic has no legacies.

Tips

Chrysalis enjoys stalling the early game so it can get its power, as it won’t have a power until after the first 8 invasions. As a trade-off, it becomes the super version immediately upon transforming, giving it a great chance to catch up if the game isn’t over yet.
Assisting the defense can help prolong the game until the effect comes into play.
Consider which of the flares in your nexus will be most valuable against the current alien lineup. Scrap the least valuable first in case the situation changes and your first pick doesn’t seem as useful. Perhaps by the time you transform, you will be more in need of ships than cards, making Zombie more useful than Clone.
After transforming, be wary of compensation and card snatchers looking to take your super flare from you, as it is your primary advantage over other aliens that simply start with a power.
The scrapped flares from Chrysalis go into the Forge and add additional flares that can be drafted. Chrysalis has to weigh this into consideration when determining the order to scrap them.
Other aliens will not know which alien you are becoming until you become it. If you are planning to transform into something sneaking like Disease or Locust, you may be able to catch unsuspecting aliens by surprise after transforming.

Development Notes

Chrysalis is a very interesting meta power in relation to the simpler ones like Reincarnator and Plant. It’s a power that starts the game without a power in exchange for being able to choose the power and gain the super flare. Unless the power is zapped or deactivated, it will take 8 invasions for it to get its power, which is an entire max-length rotation in a 4-alien match. The game might end before Chrysalis gets a chance to use its true power, or the power might come into play right at the climax to give Chrysalis the ability to win the game. In either case, Chrysalis is incentivized to help the defenders to stall out its power manifesting.
I really like the additional ongoing choice that comes from having the flares get discarded instead of tokens. Instead of one big decision that happens when all tokens are discarded, Chrysalis spends a good portion of the game thinking about what it wants to become. It could be an easy choice that makes the discarding a formality, or it could be a tough choice that allows for an interesting game of elimination, narrowing it down by cutting out what you don’t want the most each regroup. It creates this feeling of an evolving being adapting to its environment as it develops and settling on its final form, making the choice aspect seem much more natural than a creature randomly deciding its powers and appearance as it hatches.
I also like the theming of Chrysalis taking on its “true form” with the super flare as it hatches. By putting in the extra effort to develop into a creature, it takes on the perfected form of it.
As with other meta powers, Chrysalis has its own tier list when it comes to which sorts of powers are valuable for it to choose. Powers that take time to build up like Warrior and Villain are not as useful as ones that can get immediate benefit. Powers that allow recovery like Zombie and Sniveler would be more useful if Chrysalis is behind, while aliens that help push a victory like Disease or Virus could be great picks if Chrysalis is ahead. Persistent powers could also be valuable if Chrysalis is low on home bases, to avoid losing the power shortly after obtaining it.