Sorcerer
Alert
Control
Combat
Type
Power of Magic
Can Switch Encounter Pods
As a leader, after approach, you may use this power to swap your primed pod with your opponent’s. The encounter continues with the swapped pods.
Legacy: After encounter pods are primed, they are swapped before being discharged.
With the advent of space travel and advanced technology, the magical arts became a dying trend among most alien races. Determined to keep their ancient traditions alive, the Sorcerers chose to bring the world of wizards to the Cosmos.
Leader: Approach
Optional
Wild Flare
As a bystander, after contact, you may use this flare to force the leaders to swap powers. Swapped powers remain swapped after the encounter ends. Burnout.
Bystander: Contact
Super Flare
As a sponsor, after approach, you may use this flare to use your power, swapping the leaders’ primed encounter pods.
Sponsor: Approach
Modifications
- Sorcerer’s legacy forces leaders to play their opponent’s encounter pod, meaning they likely will want to play their weakest pod if they want to win. Playing negotiate pods is effective as a means of guaranteeing victory, at the cost of compensation, but this can often result in negotiation if everyone does this. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- A typical Sorcerer strategy is to play an N and swap, ensuring that Sorcerer will not lose the encounter through combat, as the opponent will not have a viable brigade to fight with. The only effective counter to this strategy is to play an N, resulting in a negotiation, but this can backfire if Sorcerer does not swap. The effect is strong, but Sorcerer has to pay compensation to successfully use it, which can limit Sorcerer’s options in the future.
- Sorcerer’s power only affects the encounter pod, so the best method to weaken Sorcerer’s power is to make encounter pods matter as little as possible. This cannot be done if Sorcerer makes use of negotiate pods, but getting plenty of ships, reinforcements, and other brigade-boosting effects.
- Sorcerer cannot do anything against a morph pod. As with most non-combat aliens, playing a morph pod with a larger fleet than Sorcerer can put it in a no-win scenario (though it can still force a deal by playing an N).
Development Notes
- Sorcerer’s power is similar to Loser’s in concept and function. Nevertheless, Sorcerer maintains its own identity in the finer details of the power. Loser cannot employ Sorcerer’s N-based strategy unless it has no attack pods, but neither can Loser’s opponent. Loser’s power affects every aspect of the encounter, while Sorcerer’s only affects the encounter pod itself. In addition, the timing of the two powers are different. Loser’s power activates before selection, meaning players don’t have to guess whether Loser will declare an upset, whereas it is the entire premise of Sorcerer’s power.
- Even though Cosmic later released a power called Magician, I do like that Sorcerer is the one that maintains the power of “magic.” It creates the subtle amount of lore that Sorcerer is the one with actual magic powers, while Magician is more like a stage magician with sleight of hand and misdirection.