SantoriniPowerJason

Introduction

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As the leader of the Argonauts, Jason can call in extra forces when needed. Though we know how mediocre three mortal workers are when against gods, summoning them anytime slightly changes the situation. However, does this make the situation better or worse?

Hero Power

Once per game instead of your normal turn, place an extra worker on an unoccupied ground-level perimeter space. This worker then builds.

Category

Player move

Game Strategies

Early Game

Although it depends on the matchup, Jason will usually want to activate his third worker in the first few moves. One good option is to wait for the opponent to build a level 1 and then spawn the new worker and move up to that square.

Jason might also hold on to his power for other purposes. For example, the opponent creates a corner attack and Jason ignores it, creating his own on an opposite corner. The opponent will be the first to make the winning threat, but Jason will have an extra worker ready with the single purpose to defend that threat.

Mid Game

If Jason already used his power, he is playing with three mortal workers and he should try to make different threats on different areas of the board. If Jason still has his power, he can use it to surprise the opponent. However, he must be careful because he might be running out of perimeter squares. In this kind of scenario, the best usage of Jason's ability is probably to defend.

Late Game

By this stage, it is better that Jason has already used his power. Otherwise, either he cannot use it anymore (because all perimeter squares are built or occupied), or if he decides to use it, it won't do him any good.

Specific Matchup

Adonis

Having more workers is usually good, but against Adonis it means more bait. For that reason, it will be hard for Jason to triumph in this matchup.

Aphrodite

Jason's extra worker can be spawned far away from Aphrodite, and this might just give Jason enough time to build a winning attack. Moreover, even if Jason is not successful, Aphrodite will not have an easy time keeping up with three workers.

Ares

Ares is quite good at defending, but can he keep up with three workers? This matchup turns out to be quite interesting and it will put your skills to the test. If you like Ares or Jason, give it a try.

Atalanta

Probably the best try for Atalanta is to try to get one of her workers into a good position early on. If the game progresses, Jason will be able to catch up and three workers is more than enough to cover most (if not all) of Atalanta's attacks.

Bellerophon

Having an extra worker isn't really all that helpful against Bellerophon so Jason is weaker in this matchup.

Charybdis

In this matchup, Jason should try to hold down to his power for as long as possible. While he has an extra worker in his pocket, Charybdis must be very careful with her whirlpool's position since almost any square can be accessed by Jason, especially when the board is underbuilt. However, a good Charybdis player will wait for the opportune moment and make sure Jason can't reach the whirlpool.

Dionysus

It is always tricky when a power with several workers faces Dionysus. On one hand, he can control more workers (whenever he uses his ability) but on the other, having more workers means more board control which makes it harder for him to use his ability.

Double builders

Although having three workers, Jason will have a tough time keeping up with these guys. A common strategy for a double builder is to build on two separate squares next to Jason's best positioned worker. Jason climbs to that build and says: "Thank you for that well positioned square". But there is a problem. The double builder climbs to the other square and since they can build faster, they will outpace Jason. This is also a common strategy when trying to defeat Morpheus (which is in the first few turns just a mortal).

Europa & Talus

Many times what is dangerous about Europa & Talus are her corner attacks. But fear not as Jason can span a worker just in time to defend. Even if E&T goes first (thus having a tempo advantage), Jason could span his extra worker right away and nullify the tempo advantage. He needs to play carefully, but it will still not be easy for E&T to create threats.

Graeae/Proteus

As you probably wondered, both these three worker gods are balanced against Jason. In these matchups, you can see the pros and cons with Graeae and Proteus when comparing their ability to a mortal (Jason). Hence I would recommend these matchups.

Heracles

One of Heracles' main options is trapping the opponent. However, against Jason I hardly doubt that will happen. Still, this will be a tricky matchup for both parts.

Maenads

Having more workers against Maenads is not necessarily a good thing since she has more ways to employ her winning condition. Since Jason can have up to three workers but nothing more (his workers don’t have a special ability), he will have a hard time in this matchup.

Harpies

If you ever played against Harpies, you know by now that they are no joke, especially when you face them without a strong power. This is exactly the case of Jason, who has an extra worker in his pocket but nothing more. This means that it will take a very experienced player to play this matchup on Jason’s side, otherwise Harpies will have an easy time.

Hippolyta

Having an extra worker against Hippolyta, although useful, can be tricky to use. In this matchup, Jason might want to hold on for a while to his power so that he can activate at the right time, choosing the best suited diagonal for the position.

Limus

Surprisingly there might be a chance for Jason in this one. Although he will have to be very careful and defend extra well, he can use the extra worker to block Limus’ movements and to get more attacking options. However, this is still a favorable matchup for Limus.

Odysseus

Sure, Jason might be able to use his extra worker to defend an attack right after Odysseus uses his power. However, Odysseus will be left with a much better position and will eventually win the game. It is not by chance that Odysseus is one of the strongest powers of the game, and it will not be Jason who challenges that fact.

Polyphemus

Having three workers is not going to help stopping Polyphemus’ dangerous attacks and the most likely outcome is a loss for Jason.

Siren

This is a nice example of a matchup where playing with Jason is much better than playing with three mortal workers. By not being present, Jason's additional worker is not susceptible to Siren's song and can be used as a defensive resource. It is common for Siren to build in the fifth row if the song is pointing south. In that case, Jason creates an attack in the first row and keeps the extra worker to defend the fifth row whenever the right time comes. See this perfect execution: https://boardgamearena.com/gamereview?table=286509618.

Theseus

Theseus will have to be a very good player to prove that this hero is just not straight up worse than Jason. Jason plays with three workers and Theseus can kill one (and only one) worker. After he kills Jason, this is a matchup between two mortals. The only difference is that Theseus had to take the trouble to kill one of Jason's workers. The only scenario I can see Theseus being better than Jason is when the square occupied by the killed worker is immediately occupied by Theseus.

Conclusion

Jason is slightly stronger than a three worker mortal. Playing with three mortal workers is not that bad, but it is also not that great, so this is the final verdict for Jason. It is cool to be able to spawn a new worker almost anywhere on the board, but this comes with a lot of restrictions, which makes Jason not that strong.

Tier ranking: B