Smash Up: Faction Rankings + Expansion Guide

[@RollforCrit]

Skip to 11:25 for the faction rankings. And let us know which faction is your favorite!

[@burntpoet4376]

Best factions as a pair: Kaiju & Wizards! Guaranteed win, and usually quick ones. Kaiju deck has point values on the action cards as well as their minion cards. And the Wizard deck allows you to play multiple actions and cycles through your deck extremely quickly. My personal favorites are Aliens, Zombies, Bear Cav, Sharks, & Killer Plants.

[@TREYTYLER-ls9us]

my favorit is knights of the round table i like to move all the actions around in order to use them as much as possible

[@MichaelHaneline]

Wow, I don’t think I could disagree with an experienced Smash Up fan more. 😂

[@Gashnaw]

15 points? Forgot about that, my buddies and I play to 20. (Or 25 if we play with 3 factions, we don't do 3 factions too often.) Im still missing a few expansions, plan to eventually get them. We also have a weird draft system We roll to see who picks first, second third..., you get it. Anyway the last person to pick their faction get to ban a faction, then the next person goes and this continued until it time to draft. Everyone drafts, then it goes in reverse, but first there is another banning. This is to encourage new pairings, When i had the base and over 9000, i would always go aliens & plants (Very powerful combo) so while i already try to stay away from that, they still ban them, I also have the Cthulhu sets, which before we even roll, we decide if they are all banned right off the bat or if they are legal to play. If they are legal to play, i usually Ban Elder beings, as I am not gonna get to play them if they are still on the table (Unless I am drafting first) when drafting begins.

[@Bundeskaiser]

It's a pity that Munchkin is a) out of print and b) so underrated. There are very cool combos when you mix Munchkin with the other expansions (like Ghost or Sumo Mages, Halfling Elder Things, Orcs work quite well with everything, Clerics do as well). However, I would not recommend to buy these expansions first which have completely new or different mechanics like Madness, Monsters/Treasures, Dueling and Burying. All the mechanics I wouldn't use when playing this game the first time with new players. Awesome Level 9000 would be the first auto-buy for me, followed by Sci-Fi, Pretty Pretty and It's your Fault, continuing with World Tour 1 + 2, the 70's, Monster Smash and then all the others. About the ranking: I would disagree with most of them. I wouldn't say this is a tier list when your ranking is mostly subjective and based on your fun factor. Greek - either like them or not - are clearly one of the most powerful factions there. When it comes to my personal preferences and style, I like similar factions as you, I'm the type of troll / disruptive player. I don't like Robots however, even when they are pretty straightforward to play, but they feel to "cheap" for me.

[@Gashnaw]

Munchkin was a direct pass for me, i had no intent on getting it when i learned about treasure and Monsters. Cluttering was a problem when i saw it getting played and i just did not feel the charm that the original had. I will not say it is horrible but it was not as appealing. I would probably save my pennies than purchase that set. (I sorta regret purchasing Cthulhu since my friends and I usually ban those before game even starts)

[@williamburrows6215]

My top 10 that I enjoy consistantly 1. Disco Dancers 2. Dragons 3. Innsmouth 4. Explorers 5. Elder Things 6. Bear Calvery 7. Teddy Bears. 8. Polynesian 9. Anansi Tales 10. Kiju

[@williamburrows6215]

Some Honorable mentions: Tornadoes, Incas, Truckers, Ghosts, Sumos, Princesses, Sheep, Shapeshifters, Changerbots, Mounties, Kung Fu Fighters, Super Spies

[@burritoking2826]

I usually play Smash up with a lot of people the real limit is the amount of factions

[@xEppy033x]

I got into Smash Up through a friend of mine nearly a year ago now. Now I have the base set +3 expansions and the bigger geekier box (I am planning on getting everything down the road). I absolutely love this game, and find it a ton of fun with 3 or 4 players. I do 2 player with my wife quite often, but I don't find it as fun. 3 or 4 players make the bases less predictable (also making my brain hurt more, haha). Interesting selection of factions in the video.

[@isaiahflannery9262]

Dude everyone hates on ghosts but they are BROKEN with zombies. You discard down to get your cards stronger and you play those cards you discarded almost immediately. It also gives you a better selection of what you want to play in that moment, and it's easy to win a game without having more than 4 cards in your hand for long periods of time.

[@jean-marcromano8526]

1st rule of smash up club: If you play zombie/ghosts or Robot Unicorns you get kicked out of smash up club

[@isaiahflannery9262]

@@jean-marcromano8526 I haven't played that combo for months, I was just excited to talk about ghosts' potential. Today I tried Anansi Tales and Minions of Cthulhu, much more fun

[@burntpoet4376]

Playing Kaiju with Wizards will also get you kicked out. Lol.

[@isaiahflannery9262]

Kaiju Dragons is busted

[@jean-marcromano8526]

@@isaiahflannery9262 we don't have that deck... Our banned decks are Zombie Ghosts, Robot Unicorns, Elder Things Time Travellers and Mad Scientists Giant Ants

[@FatherTime89]

You are the only person I have ever seen to put Mythic Greeks below average, let alone bottom tier. Their game plan is simple, outside of the Argonauts all of their minions gain power in one form or another when you play an action (sometimes it’s only once per turn but still). So set up some of those minions and then try to play actions/Argonauts even turn. The Spartans slowly build so try to put them in places that aren’t going to be fought over very hard. Also Odysseus is amazing and you want him around as long as possible.

[@noxbot1]

How does the munchkin set mix with the The Obligatory Cthulhu Set

[@rileydaily5426]

About the anasi tales madness Dosent acully work with them because on the smash up wiki it says that whoever plays the madness card owns it. For example if you have Vikings steal a madness card form someone else and play it it would go to you discard pile because as soon as you play it you own it. It was literally the first thing I searched up when I saw the faction for the first time because I knew Cthulhu would just be an amazing combo with them.

[@waffals1]

Any suggestions on where to look for a playmat? Or a company you would recommend for a custom made one?

[@skidawg22]

My Top 10 Smash Up factions: 1. Geeks 2. Ninja 3. Minions of Cthulhu* 4. Teddy Bears 5. Kung Fu Fighters 6. Samurai 7. Aliens 8. Truckers 9. Orcs 10. (tie) Fairies*, Wizards* Honorable mentions: Bear Cavalry* Elder Things Giant Ants* Innsmouth* Mythic Greeks Russian Fairy Tales Shapeshifters Star Roamers (Edit: Sumo Wrestlers) Absolute least favorite faction: Time Travelers* * indicates a faction with a Titan - and I always play with Titans Favorite card: Wil Wheaton (Geeks) Funniest card - Minion: Topper Chopper (Orcs - the one with the ability "Talent: Do nothing.") Funniest card - Action: Wood for Sheep (Sheep) Favorite Titan: Cthulhu (Minions of Cthulhu - the one Titan in the Titans kit that needed to be there and is)

[@williamburrows6215]

Wheaton is so brutal lol; I have a strong repect for the Geeks but dont really use them myself.

[@williamburrows6215]

Topple Chopper is hysterical XD especially with that werewolf Titan; *Do Nothing*. Twice. For absolutley no reason.

[@Fearlol01]

How did he get that playmat

[@alhuda8652]

My pov that a faction without a titan can almost never win against a faction with a titan. And besides that i dont see for example ninjas against monsters. No way

[@skidawg22]

@@alhuda8652 I would think the fact that the faction I view as the absolute worst has a Titan (that is the only existing Titan that doesn't improve its faction) kind of disproves your theory.

[@Oncus2]

I really wanted to see the recommended expansions, but I found it weird to start off with promos/boxed and then continue on with what not to get. It would've been better just go say which ones to get first then which to avoid. For those wondering on forums people mostly recommend (after base game) to get Awesome Level 9000, It's Your Fault and Pretty Pretty. It's Your Fault is probably the best to get as it has 5 factions instead of 4.

[@owenaspinall2046]

I´d also put in SFDF

[@scorpiowolf9732]

I played this game once and I was close to winning but my friend got me with dragons wich I was going to get but the killer plants were there and I got dinosaurs so I went with the killer plants and that made me lose thow I was close made it in second place 12 points not bad for a newbie am I right.

[@philosophyispicklerick8981]

aww man i would love to play smash up with you nobody is here with me to play :(

[@TREYTYLER-ls9us]

me too i have no freinds 😢

[@StMargorach]

some of your rankings are weird. I mean some of the oen you ranked low are uber powerfull witht he right 2nd faction. I eman pirates with mad scientists or giant ants kick ass ( jsut 1 example). Also there is 1 factiont hat if u pair them with muskateers, they just break the game ( just cant remember it right now XD)

[@RollforCrit]

A specific pairing can really help make certain factions shine! However, I often don't go for the most efficient pairing, rather feel this game becomes a lot more fun with one personal pick (usually whatever group I haven't seen played in a while) and a random choice. Most rankings are based just on my experience playing them, not just power but how fun I found to play them. I know for example the Mythic Greeks are often considered very strong, but I just never enjoyed them whenever I used them.

[@lavarhenry]

What are the top 2 from the 1st set? Zombie, bots, aliens, wizards?

[@lavarhenry]

I see zombies and bots. Didn't think dragon and that madness Deck was on that list but good to know...

[@NoneNullAnd0]

I wish these decks were cheaper. I'm used to buying a full game for $5 off of steam instead of the $70 I'll probably end up spending on Smashup within a month.

[@Gashnaw]

3 things 1) I am happy that BiGB gave us reprints of the titans for big in japan (i leave the tiants to teh side, so i have dividers and titans to the side) 2) I know this video is older but there are also Goblins and Knights of the round table 3) As number two, there is also Smash up Marvel, which has 8 factions but sadly the print quality was considered poor and the lack of parody turned me off the set. The Disney set coming out this summer will once again have to not be a serious set and hopefully be more comical for me to make the purchase.

[@RollforCrit]

Luckily we did cover Marvel and Goblins in a later video! Will probably update the list again when Disney drops, and like Goblins I will probably combine Knights of the Round Table in that video too.

[@xandercostas1190]

Isn’t group hug a teddy bear card?

[@jacobblecha8781]

My favorite groups together are wizards and princess cats and teddy bears and robots and ignobles

[@RedBird77]

I felt like I was getting a tonsillectomy in the opening minute. ;-)

[@uplift-yourdailypickup6424]

Came to see if people are actually playing this in the comments. I see this selling all the time on craigslist. Think I’m going to sell my copy

[@lavarhenry]

Yes. I am one of those that likes Greeks. They are strong

[@falconashek8913]

I feel if you use a Munchkin, (Teen)Titan (Go!) and Cthulhu sets, each player has to use at least one for there combos. I bought the Munchkin set, pun then in my Big Geeky box and use it for my real Munchkin cards. You could buy multiple sets and have factions against itself. You are not allowed to combine the same factions. That's boring! Use different color sleeves to sort out later. I Passed on Cthulhu, if I want Madness, I would play an Arkham game or Elder Sign. "Will" likely play, nice play on words. The Titan pack "booster" only had a few factions, unless I missed something with all factions get a Titan. Nice list Will. I have the same notions on the tears you have. Sometime I just take two and "Smash" them together to see what is fun.

[@Gashnaw]

I use penny sleeves, different color would be advantageous to you or an opponent knowing what faction was coming) And Sleeving and desleeving takes too long. So just learn the set symbols and you can usually sort pretty quickly. (PLus we know what factions we are playing so we know where they go in the box.

[@falconashek8913]

@@Gashnaw When I used penny sleeves the cards were slipping out all the time. My nephews always fiddle with the cards sleeves of my games, more if they are not snug I have upgraded to Ultra Pro Standard. My friends don't like the sharp edges, but I know the cards will stay in. I used different colors when I got my Magic Jump/ Start booster box. Once i sleeve a game, most of the games, they don't come off. Sorting the factions back to the box if a fun part for my as well. Symbol and colors are key. All the faction cards are clear sleeves , but the Base are colored. Thanks for the advice.

[@Gashnaw]

@@falconashek8913 Slipping is an issue that i just deal with I don;t have the money to buy several hundred of the the good quality sleeves. Nor do i plan to put a lot of money into a game like smash up (Beyond buying sets) The penny sleeves work for the people i play with and we just suck it up for the slipping aspect. If i had a larger income i may have ended up purchasing matte sleeve, but it is not a priority. had i thought of different color sleeves though, Munchkin may not have seemed as bad. Still do not plan to get it (Plus it is kinda expensive now anyway)

[@unskeptable]

Greeks in the lowest rank? Weird choices all ove

[@ManuelLopez8a]

Unfortunately for me, this game wasn't enjoyable for my gaming group. 2 player is not so much fun, and 4 player can be a little too long. I think I will change it for 5 tribes with a friend of mine.

[@philipjohnson935]

Too late but 3 player is the exact best number IMO. But still I think the game SOUNDS amazing, but then in practice is much weaker

[@danielclaw13]

why is the camera up your nose!!