Prepare For Abduction!
The Aliens are a highly versatile faction that pairs well with most others.
Playing this faction requires some skill & familiarity with the deck to optimize its advantages. Many of its cards have the ability to “return a minion to its owner’s hand.” At 1st play, this ability seemed like a weaker version of the “destroy a minion” ability, until I became familiar with the ‘bouncing’ technique.
The Aliens’ deck contains 2 Invaders that award 1 VP instantly when played. If you are able to return these cards to your hand & play them multiple times, you can add VP without cracking a base. This is how to utilize the “return a minion to its owners hand” ability, because that owner can be yourself.
The dirtiest card in this deck & possibly the game is the Probe action. Probe allows you to look at an opponent’s entire hand & discard their most useful card. Having this done just leaves you feeling so violated, especially when your hand is returned slightly warm from somebody else’s body heat. This move almost shouldn’t be allowed in any game because it is so invasive, but it fits the theme of the faction so well that I will allow it.
Deck Composition - Standard (10 minions/ 10 actions) Low Power - No Power 4 Minions
Minions:
(1) Supreme Overload: Power 5: ability - Return a minion to its owner’s hand.
(3) Scout: Power 3: ability - Special, After its base scores, place it into your hand.
(2) Invader: Power 3: ability - Gain 1 VP!
(4) Collector: Power 2: ability - You may return a minion of power 3 or less to its owner’s hand.
Notable Actions:
Terraforming: Search for a base, swap it out with 1 in play (discarding all actions), then you may play an extra minion.
Crop Circles: Choose a base. Return each minion on that base to its owner’s hand.
Probe: Basically violate another player’s strategy
Alien Advantages: Bouncing & Domination
Minions often return to hand
Supreme base control
The Alien Faction’s play is focused on getting your 2 Invaders down as frequently as possible to collect VP without cracking bases. Their minion & action abilities allow you to bring those cards back into your hand to be played multiple times.
The 2 Notable Actions (Terraforming & Crop Circles) give ultimate control of base activity. Even the threat of these cards can freeze opponents from making power plays.
Alien Disadvantages:
No cards in this deck add extra power to minions.
No extra card draw.
No cards destroy other minions
Only 2 cards allow you to play an extra minion. No extra action play.
The lack of card draw can put you at a serious disadvantage if you don’t draw your Invaders early. The overall power level of this faction is low, so you will need these cards played multiple times since you can’t count on earning 1st place VP.
Using the bouncing technique to draw back your own Invaders also limits your abilities to crack bases.
SMATCH Made in Heaven:
The Best from the Base Game: Wizards
The Wizards faction compensate for the Aliens deficiencies in card draw & extra action play. Drawing those extra cards will help you find those Invaders quickly & playing those extra actions lets you keep them in your hand so they aren’t easy targets.
The Best from Expansions: Killer Plants
The Killer Plants faction favors a slower game that fits the Aliens tempo. The Aliens faction isn’t dependent on earning VP primarily from base rewards, so the slow creeping play of the Killer Plants compliments it well. The 3 Sprout minions will find your Invaders by allowing you to search your deck for them. This deck also has 3 minions with 5 power to add strength to your base cracking ability.
Toxic Team-Ups: Zombies & Dinosaurs
The Zombies are 1 of the most dangerous factions in the entire game, so it is tough to lose with them regardless of who they are paired with. These 2 factions just have contradicting styles that can get in each other’s way. The Aliens favor having minions returned to your hand, while the Zombies favor playing minions from the discard pile. If you can get both styles working, you can bring destroyed Invaders back from the grave. Overall this pairing is flawed & incompatible.
The Dinosaurs carry some of the most powerful cards in the Smash Up kingdom, but their deficiencies double what the Aliens already lack. Both decks are missing card draw & extra card play abilities. Dropping only 1 minion & 1 action every turn won’t give you enough power to compete against opponents that can stack their turns.