Anti-Matter

Anti-Matter
Power of negation
Lower total wins
FFG
Wild As a main player or an ally, when another player tries to use a wild flare, you may prevent him or her from doing so. Use this against only one flare per encounter.
Super During each encounter, you may prevent one player from using a super or wild flare, stopping him or her when he or she tries to use the flare.

Anti-Matter is an alien with a math-based power: instead of the higher total winning an encounter, the lower total wins. Anti-Matter also causes its ships to subtract from the total, as well as allied ships on both sides, but the opponent's ships are still added as normal.

Text

Version: Fantasy Flight (Base game)

You have the power of Negation. As a main player, after both you and your opponent reveal attack cards, use this power to make the lower total win. Furthermore, when this power is used, your ships as well as any offensive and defensive allies' ships are subtracted from the appropriate side's card. Your opponent's total is otherwise figured normally, however.

"Spewed forth from a white hole, the worlds of the Anti-Matter careen through space negating whatever they encounter. Opposed to the very existence of gross matter, the Anti-Matter is dedicated to reducing all opposition to less than nothing."

Anti-Matter
Power of negation
Lower total wins
Eon
Reveal
Wild When you are a main player or an ally and another player tries to use a Wild Flare card, you may prevent him from doing so. Use this against only one Flare per challenge.
Super On each challenge you may prevent one player from using a Super Flare card, stopping him when he tries to use it.

Anti-Matter
Power of negation
Lower total wins
Mayfair
Wild As the defensive player, you may generate a burst of Anti-Matter that sends to the Warp one token from the offensive end of the cone for each token you have in the challenge. You choose which tokens to send to the warp. If the offensive player has no tokens remaining in the cone, the challenge ends immediately and any allies return home.
Super As a main player, you may discard any number of cards as long as you keep at least one Challenge Card. These cards act as Anti-Matter, consuming a like number from other players. You choose who loses how many.

Anti-Matter
Power of negation
Lower total wins
AH
Reveal

Anti-Matter
Power of negation
Lower total wins
CEO
Reveal

Version: Avalon Hill

You have the power of negation.
If you and your opponent both play Attack cards in an encounter, the lower total wins.
Furthermore, instead of your total being card plus your ships, it is the Attack Card minus ships (including allies). Your opponent's total is figured normally, except that allied ships are subtracted from his or her total.
You negate when both you and your opponent play Attack Cards.

"Spewed forth from a white hole, the worlds of the Anti-Matter careen through space negating whatever they encounter. Opposed to the very existence of gross matter, Anti-Matter is dedicated to reducing all opposition to less than nothing."

Version: Mayfair

You have the power of negation. If you and your opponent both play Attack Cards, the lower total wins. Furthermore, your tokens as well as any offensive and defensive allies are subtracted from the appropriate side's card. Your opponent's tokens are added to his card as usual.

"Spewed forth from a white hole, the worlds of the Anti-Matter careen through space negating whatever they encounter. Opposed to the very existence of gross mass, the Anti-Matter is dedicated to reducing all opposition to less than nothing."

Version: Eon

You have the power of negation. If both you and your opponent play Attack cards in a challenge, instead of your total being "card plus your tokens", it is card minus your tokens (including allies). Your opponent's total is figured normally except that allied tokens on his side are subtracted from his total. The player with the lower total wins.

"Spewed forth from a white hole, the worlds of Anti-Matter careen through space negating whatever they encounter. Opposed to the very existence of gross mass, the Anti-Matter is dedicated to reducing all opposition to less than nothing."

Version: Cosmic Encounter Online

You have the power of negation. If you and your opponent both launch Attack pods in an encounter, the lower total wins. Also, instead of your total being pod plus your ships, it is the attack pod minus ships (including allies). Your opponent's total is figured normally, except that allied ships are subtracted from its total. You negate when both you and your opponent launch attack pods.

"Spewed forth from a white hole, the worlds of the Anti-Matter careen through space negating whatever they encounter. Opposed to the very existence of gross matter, the Anti-Matter is dedicated to reducing all opposition to less than nothing."

Strategy

Strengths	Weaknesses
Attacking lots of ships with lots of ships Counters various combat aliens	Has little impact with few ships on either side Makes opponents' low cards useful

As Anti-Matter

Anti-Matter is at its best at the start of a game, where it can use its many negative ships to pulverize the enemy's many ships - simply sending four ships against a planet with four ships results in a difference of 8 before alliances are even formed. Often this natural advantage can allow Anti-Matter to get away with playing a less-than-stellar card (say a 08). This lets it keep its lower (better) cards for later, when the ship advantage won't be nearly so important. The natural ship advantage also makes the morph card very good for Anti-Matter, as it will often be in the lead before encounter cards are played. All this considered, Anti-Matter should try for a quick start, while it has ships to throw around and before its opponents can get ships off home planets.

Against Anti-Matter

Anti-Matter's primary weakness is that it makes its opponents' low cards useful, whereas its own high cards are junk. This translates into it being a good target for compensation - taking a low card makes the next encounter against it easier, while taking a high card will be useful against the other oppnents. Allies are important against Anti-Matter, since otherwise it is guarenteed to have an advantage in ships.

Matchups

Alongside Loser, Anti-Matter is a giant-killer. Powerhouse aliens such as Warpish and Warrior can get decimated in the late game simply because their encounter totals continuously rise, and others such as Macron and Virus have a very hard time attaining low totals. However, the 00 card is pure gold for Virus or Tripler, as multiplying by 0 makes encounters against Anti-Matter much easier.

Anti-Matter should try to avoid Cudgel, Guerrilla, and Void, as part of its strength comes from having a ship advantage.

Notes

• Anti-Matter's wording that explicitly states that ships are subtracted can cause various effects that are otherwise beneficial to become a problem. For example, the Prometheus tech card adds 3 to Anti-Matter's total, making it worthless for the Anti-Matter. This can be fixed by house-ruling that instead of being subtracted, Anti-Matter's ships (and all allies) are simply worth negtative.
• In all editions with flares, Anti-Matter's flare has very little (if anything) to do with its power - indeed, is is one of the very few aliens with this (unfortunate) distinction.