CE alien survey #5: SPIFF

First appearance: Mayfair, More Cosmic Encounter (1992)

Plain-English power: Gain a colony if your total is 10 (or more) lower than the defense's total.

Loved by: Calvin & Hobbes readers; test pilots; suicide jockeys; players who like Loser but don't want to declare their intentions.

Loathed by: Those who enjoy red-ass beatdowns.

Three ways to win as Spiff:

1. Always send one ship. At worst (narrow loss), you lose that ship to the warp; otherwise, you gain a colony without detriment!
2. Attack with 6s or less; defend with high cards.
3. Attack the biggest defensive positions. Go after monstrosities such as Macron and Virus, who can't help but bring large totals on defense.

Three ways to win against Spiff:

1. Save your high cards for offense.
2. If you're not sure you can barely beat Spiff, pursue another option (such as playing Negotiate to grab cards, or self-quashing a deal).
3. Since Spiff will be light with his attack ships, Plague him constantly to punish his frugality.

At CE Online? Not at this time.

Anything else? The text on the FFG version requires that the total specifically be lower; the original Mayfair text states that you merely lose by 10 or more. This makes Spiff less powerful against negation/math-flipping powers such as Anti-Matter. Perhaps something to be included in the FFG FAQ?

— Submitted by Zach Gaskins