Miniature Trading

General description:
When I was ranking the Top 5 Most Powerful Pieces in the new DPotC set, I listed Cursed Captain Jack as an honorable mention, and said that his ability may create more rules headaches than all the other abilities before (including firepots). The deafening outcry and vitriolic hair-pulling I predicted hasn't entirely come to pass, but that may be because he's a Super-Rare and a little difficult to get ahold of, or perhaps most people don't realize how powerful his ability is.

Uses, strategies and game play:
First, Cursed Captain Jack has Parley, which is generally worth 3 points, but on the whole I'm not entirely sure Parley is a worthwhile tactic. It's the second part that's particularly frightening: "Once at the beginning of each of your turns, roll a d6. On a result of 6, no abilities except Parley can be used until the beginning of your next turn."

This is a "Blanket Cancel", and it hits everything in play, including all keywords, ship abilities, crew abilities, and even UT abilities. Except for Parley, which is not a very common keyword and not likely to be in play all that much. If you manage to roll that 6, guess what happens?

1) All point-reducing crew, such as the Stump or Jonah, stop working, and crew assignments must immediately be adjusted so they are legal.

2) All ships with crew that "take up no cargo space" must immediately be adjusted so they are legal.

3) Titans, Sea Monsters, and Krakens revert to the basic Sea Creature rules. Titans immediately must remove all crew they are currently carrying. All submerged sea creatures immediately surface. Ships inside a Kraken may move out, and anyone can now shoot at a Kraken. "Eternal" Krakens that do not have any segments are removed from play.

4) Submarines also immediately surface.

5) Turtle Ships lose the benefit of shell panels, and can be rammed.

6) UTs which provide a bonus or ability to a ship stop working.

7) Human sacrifice, cats and dogs living together - mass hysteria!

Ok, maybe not the last one... but anyway, this is probably something that should have been playtested a bit more. The Kraken has a somewhat similar ability that works on a 5 or 6, but only affects crew abilities, which is at least a little more manageable. At 7 points, he's on the expensive side, and it's difficult to predict if or when his ability will come into play. A lot cheaper than The Kraken, though.

Another unusual consequence of this ability is that negative abilities also stop working. Ships that can't take the last treasure on island can now grab that last coin. Ships that can't carry crew or shoot while carrying cargo, now they can. Bad UTs also stop functioning, such as Plague, Runes of Death, Scurvy, Rats, Rotting Hull, etc.

So, how do we use this ability to our advantage? Pair up ol' Cap'n Skelly-Jack with a reroller, and put together a fleet with minimal or no crew, and hope the dice go your way.

Combos with other miniatures:
Cursed Captain Jack pairs up nicely with a reroller such as Elizabeth Swann or Lady Baptiste. This ups your odds from around 17% to 33%... not exactly something you can count on every turn.

Any ship which has a negative ability, such as the Longshanks or Princess, also combines well with Cursed Captain Jack. Most of the ships that will benefit from losing their abilities are small 1- or 2-masters, and the majority of them are Pirate ships: Banshee's Cry, Rover, Mermaid, Venture, Carrion Crow. One of the larger ships with a negative ability would be the Eagle, which would mean Spanish ships would no longer get a +1 when shooting at her.

For the rest of your ships, you need to look at the basic stats without any crew or abilities. Keep in mind most opponents rely heavily on their captains and helmsmen, and they'll lose those abilities when Cursed Captain Jack finally rolls a 6. You want to pick ships that move at least S+L. Without any move+shoot abilities, cannons may not be as important as ramming and boarding. Some ships with good basic stats: El Ballista, Neptune's Hoard, Deliverance, Sea Nymph, Feathered Hat, HMS London, HMS Oxford, La Vengeance, Providence, USS Hudson, Black Pearl (damaged), Freedom, La Santa Isabel, Saratoga (Rev), Golden Medusa, HMS Durham, La Espada de Dios, White Rose, HMS Swallow.

Ways to counteract it:
The best way to couter Cursed Captain Jack is with events, which are unaffected by Jack's ability. The cheapest is Cursed Zone for only 3 points, which reduces all rolls within L by -2, so Jack can't roll a 6. Even better, it remains in play, so if your opponent is keeping Jack docked at his HI, you can plop it down nearby and he has to move Jack out of the zone in order to use him. Cursed Zone is easily countered with Favor of the Gods, however, so you need to force your opponent to play that event early by dropping Mermaids on him first. After he plays FotG, you can hit him with Cursed Zone and you know he won't be able to get rid of it. However, I'm not sure what happens if Jack is lost in a fog bank, Cursed Zone might not have any effect in there.

If Jack is lost in a fog bank, the best way to get rid of him is with another event: Duel. Duel doesn't care where Jack is, whether he's lost in fog, protected by a canceler, submerged in a submarine, or docked at a home island. The only downside is it's expensive: 5 points to start with, and you need a pretty expensive crew to go up against Jack's 7 points if you want any hope of winning. Davy Jones or Emperor Blackheart would be best. A 12-point crew ensures he'll be removed. (Note: you may be able to combine Cursed Zone with Duel, so that Jack gets the -2 and you don't... I'll have to check with Woelf on that.)

If Jack's ability is currently in force, then the best way to get rid of him is ramming+boarding. Although this does work even when Jack's docked at his home island, you run the risk of pinning yourself there, and he gets to shoot back after the beginning of his next turn. So swarm him with multiple rams if need be, or use galleys/unpinnable ships that might be able to get away once Jack's ability expires. Any 4- or 5-masted ship with decent speed should work, but a swarm of small ships might allow you to derelict and then capture Jack's ship.

If Jack's ability isn't in force, then any crew/cargo-killing combo should work normally. Parking a canceler within S might also work, particularly on a "can't be shot within S" ship. Calchas + Tia Dalma is the cheapest at 14 points.

UTs that eliminate crew might also be effective, but if Jack's owner is playing defensively, he's unlikely to risk such an expensive piece on a treasure-runner, so you'll probably have to bring the UT to him. Plague would work nicely. Another unusual UT to prevent Jack from rolling a 6 would be Albatross (and I need to check with Woelf if that can be combined with Cursed Zone to keep it on that ship).

Another counter that goes a bit way beyond expensive: The Kraken (24 points), which I mentioned earlier, cancels all crew abilities (including Jack's) on a roll of 5 or 6.

Strengths/Pros:
"Blanket Cancel" hits everything except Parley (which is unlikely to be in play or useful). This can have a devastating effect on every ship in the game.

Super-Rare that doesn't get played much, so you can surprise an opponent that isn't expecting him.

Weaknesses/Cons:
Lousy odds. 17% without a reroll, 33% with a reroll.

Expensive. 7 points for something that can't count on working when you need it to work may not be a sound investment.

Parley is not very useful. Jack's either too expensive or too valuable to risk putting him on a treasure runner or a gunship.

Super-Rare, so can be difficult to get ahold of.

Artwork and aesthetics:
One word: Moisturizer!

Overall rating:
I don't know. On one hand, it looks like it's on the "broken" side of overpowered. On the other hand, it's difficult to use consistently. So I guess I'll hedge through the middle with 5 out of 10.