Rexon's Universal Robots

Deck Backstory

"Rossum's Universal Robots" (R.U.R.) is a Czech play/story written by Karel Čapek. Published in 1920, it represents the origin of the English word "robot," derived from the Czech "robota," which means forced labor. A social commentary on the effects of the Industrial Revolution, the play also represents the first instance of the "robots take over the world" plot, popularized and repeated by many future science fiction stories.

The robots in R.U.R. were actually made from a synthetic bio material, not metal, and were designed to look and function exactly like humans, but without emotion or self-awareness to replace us in every day tasks and better our lives. Of course it didn't end that way!

Because the deck shifts to more metal/electronic based robots, and introduces the idea of components as a gameplay mechanic to upgrade the robots with additional abilities, the deck name was changed slightly out of respect for the source material.

The deck symbol is a custom made humanoid head.

Deck Cards

Cards with more than 1 copy per deck appear with their number in parentheses (#).

(3) Produce & deploy

(2) A cheap Robot to upgrade

Gain a Component card

Gain a Factory card

Bye-bye valuable card

(2) Upgrade for more essence

Protect your Robots

Stop those instants

(2) Upgrade for more cards

(2) Upgrade for extra might

Stun those conditionals

(2) Move your Robots

Stack your Robots for more rooom and might

Make all Robots stronger

The ultimate Robot with every available upgrade, anywhere

Deck Strategy

Rexon’s Universal Robots is a Low Complexity deck that relies on building Factories, manufacturing Robots, and upgrading them with Components to make them more powerful.

Factory cards are valuable because every round they gain might, which can be spent like essence to deploy Robots. While this doesn't always gain more might immediately, it does get more Robots on the battlefield to benefit from the deployment of Components. Prioritize at least one Factory, if not two, and don't be afraid to spend the might.

All Robots have the Upgrade ability and gain might when you reveal Components on the same battlefield, but pairing them can yield extra bonuses. Primus gains all Component benefits no matter where it is, so deploy it ASAP.

Old Man Rexon and Young Man Rexon can help you acquire Factory and Component cards when your draft is not providing them quickly enough.

Deck Notes

Upgrade: If you reveal a Component on this battlefield, apply 1 might to this card.

A Robot must be deployed before a Component for Upgrade to resolve. Any Robot deployed after a Component will not be affected.

Primus does not have Upgrade, but Primus will gain a Move Token from Propulsion, gain 1 might from Sentience, and can stack using Collective if any/all of those Component card(s) are currently revealed on any battlefield. Primus has a Passive ability and therefore is indestructible, so it is not necessary to apply a Shield Token from Protection.

When 2 Robot cards stack using Collective, combine their might tokens, but 1 Robot becomes the top of the stack and only its Conditional ability is active. Remove any specialty tokens from the bottom Robot.

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