I am a very bossy person. Although my bark is far, far worse than my bite I can still be a rather intimidating personality at times. So co-op games can be a bit of a challenge for me. I do not like steamrollering people, but I usually find that co-op games have not accounted for what happens when someone with that intense of a personality enters the space their game creates. I find Jason Lee Scott to be a perfect answer. If you have someone who is blunt and overpowering in personality (regardless of how softly they try to talk) then this is might be the character for them! Jason is simple and incredibly group oriented. Despite the loudness of the player Jason melts into the background, providing support where needed and helping the other players achieve a level of awesomeness they would not have otherwise. And, while Jason's cards are all great, I find that Team Tactics and Tyranno Slash are the ones that have served me best.
Jason's ability to provide a free reroll is flashy, useful, and walks into theatrics that are spectacular. There are very few abilities in the game that offer a reroll, and most of these are linked to individual cards, such as Kimberly's Take Aim. Jason's reroll is the only ability in the game that is sure to go off every battle and can be used to benefit anyone and everyone. It is the definition of flash, to the point to where other variants of MMPR Red, such as Dragonshield and Rocky, are a hard sell next to the possibility of a huge damage spike, but we'll get to those in their own time.
Team Tactics is the most valuable card in Jason's arsenal, flat. Granting an energy and then another player to play another card is the bread and butter for the "play another card" string that is so essential to HotG. All the of the other "generate energy" cards have some form of restriction on them, but Jason's is the most flexible of the bunch: play the card, someone else plays another card, with more energy! Inside the conversation of the game this usually plays as a "Hey, you play your *insert big attack here*! It costs less now and may let us play something else that costs energy in the future!" Team Tactics always gets priority during the Recover action, which is fortunate because it's only one shield, so there shouldn't be any problems with getting back at least one.
Now, contrary to popular guidance, Jason can go it alone. It's not his ideal state, but it is possible, and that's entirely because of Lead the Charge and Tyranno Slash. Tyranno Slash in particular I like, because it makes Jason reliable. If you pick your fights carefully you will find Jason to be reliable, if a bit more limited in his spread. But in the right situation Jason can pull his own weight. Now, if you're sending Jason to do a solo mission then you're in a particularly desperate situation, but sometimes you get to that point where everyone has to be spread as thinly as possible to avoid disaster. In those cases you can send Jason out and not be too worried.
This game has a lot of options that are very flashy, and many that are not. The Tyrannosaurus zord creates some of the flashiest moments in the game. You drop this zord on anyone and they are going to look good. This is definitely one of the least situational zords in the game and you are almost guaranteed fireworks with this zord. I love this sucker. It's awesome. Sure, if you whiff it nothing feels worse. But I never said fireworks were a nice thing, did I?
There is a very real satisfaction in not being the person who pulled off the clutch move, but being the one who made it possible. As loud as I am I generally dislike being in the spotlight and find as many ways as possible to stay out of it. Jason is simple but effective; he allows me to command my friends, without taking the spotlight. I can bark orders and sit back, satisfied at the job that we did. Instead of feeling bad for taking over the evening I feel a quiet confidence that we can handle anything. We all did our part. And that's really all I want from a coop game, in the end.
A special thanks to Jonathan Ying, who kindly answered my myriad questions. He was very gracious.
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