Loser
Alert
Combat
Control
Type
Power to Upset
Winner Loses and Loser Wins
As a leader, after arrival, you may use this power to declare an upset.
With an upset declared, both aliens must prime an attack pod. Then, after winner(s) and loser(s) are determined, the loser receives rewards and the winner receives penalties.
Legacy: For all encounters, after winners and losers are determined, the loser(s) receive rewards and the winner(s) receive penalties.
The Losers were designed by the evolutionary process to have their butts kicked. What the other aliens didn’t realize is that the same process also designed them to be reality-warping eldritch horrors capable of reversing the outcome of any encounter. They’ve unsuccessfully lobbied to have their official name changed for centuries.
Leader: Arrival
Optional
Wild Flare
As a leader, after arrival, you may discharge this flare to lose the encounter and destroy all ships in the opposing fleet.
Leader: Arrival
Super Flare
As a leader, after approach, you may discharge this flare to use your power. If you do, any encounter pods may be primed.
Leader: Approach
Modifications
- Made a fundamental change to how this power affects many rulings in Cosmic. Instead of making the winner lose and the loser win, the loser is still considered the loser during an upset, preventing it from clashing with aliens like Winner and Spiff. This also means Loser has to be more wary of win-based aliens like Cudgel and Void, as winning against them during an upset will trigger their powers.
- The original Loser restricts both sides from priming negotiate pods unless it has nothing else to use. This is to prevent Loser from just being Pacifist+. However, Loser came out before non-attack alternatives, so it doesn’t restrict escape pods, poison pods, etc. My version forces attack pods under the idea that Loser is goading the enemy into attacking. Since my version of Cosmic allows one to have an encounter without priming a pod, no one needs to be forced to negotiate simply because they have no attack pods.
- Changed from the power “of” upset to the power “to” upset. Appreciated the double-meaning of “causing an upset” and “upsetting” the opponent by taunting them. Both fit the moniker of “Loser” quite well.
- Made a minor change to the wild flare, which originally makes both sides of an encounter lose. My version makes the user lose and destroys all ships on the opposing side, thereby causing a major “upset.” While this effectively destroys all ships on both sides, it doesn’t automatically end the invader’s turn, and it’s not abusable by Tick-Tock for a free countdown.
- Loser’s legacy flips the script of encounters, making losing the desirable outcome in any circumstance. This incentivizes aliens to send as few ships as possible, draft weak pods, and invite no sponsors, making ship sniping effects very dangerous. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Unless super, Loser’s power activates before pods are primed, allowing the opponent to know if they need to play high or low. Unlike similarly structured aliens like Sorcerer and Mirror, there’s no guesswork or hedging that needs to be done here. Aliens are free to go all-out in whichever direction Loser chooses.
- One of the most ideal situations when an upset is declared is to have no valid encounter pods. This ensures you can attack with a might of 00, which can only be trumped by a negative attack pod since feint pods are off the table.
- As Loser, keep an eye out for the cache size of your opponent. The more pods the enemy has, the greater they can handle both regular encounters and your upset.
- In the same vein as Anti-Matter, be especially wary of Loser if your combat power makes you naturally powerful. As Loser, seek out situations that make your opponent as powerful as possible before upsetting them.
- Loser’s upsets shut down negotiation and compensation for both sides, meaning it should avoid declaring an upset if it wants to negotiate. The potential to be immune to compensation is a valuable tool when Loser has a strong cache.
Development Notes
- Despite not being one of the Eon 15 or the Prime 6, Loser remains as one of the most iconic alien designs in the series. It’s also considered one of the most powerful. With so many aliens specializing in combat power, Loser serves a similar function as Anti-Matter by making aliens want to play as low as possible. However, unlike Anti-Matter, Loser’s power is optional, granting it the versatility to use both its 40 pod and its -08 pod to great effect.
- Loser is most similar to Anti-Matter in terms of design, so it is very important that they avoid overlapping in design space. The primary differences between them are the optional factor and the advantage differential. Anti-Matter has a passive combat bonus by having its own ships help its side while the opponent’s ships harm, allowing up to a +8 advantage before pods are taken into account. Loser doesn’t have any advantage to speak of, meaning the advantage purely comes from the ability to choose when the upset occurs.
- Loser is one of the aliens that requires mandatory resupplies as a general rule. If Loser is capable of operating without having to prime a pod, it can wreak havoc on a match by always declaring an upset. Everyone else would have to put themselves in the same situation to hold their own, which would make for boring encounters.
- Loser’s power and legacy create an interesting synergy with Winner’s power. Winner still gets a base when acting as a leader and winning by +10, meaning the way to counter it is to make sure Winner wins by 9 or less. Similarly, Spiff can crashland after winning an encounter, resulting in losing more ships than necessary.