Unmatched
Jekyll & Hyde
Overview
First published in 1886, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells the story of the duality of human nature. Dr. Jekyll spent most of his life trying to repress the evil urges within that did not fit a man of his standing. In an attempt to separate this inner evil from himself, Dr. Jekyll creates a serum that transforms him into the cruel and remorseless Mr. Hyde. As time passes, Jekyll uses Hyde for the thrill of freedom, and Hyde uses Jekyll as a disguise to avoid the consequences of his crimes. In Unmatched, Jekyll and Hyde are one, using Jekyll’s mind to defend against the opposition and Hyde’s unrepressed cruelty to destroy all in his path.
Jekyll & Hyde are included in Unmatched: Cobble & Fog
Hero Stats
Health: 16 / Attack: Melee / Movement: 2
Special Ability
Start the game as Dr. Jekyll. At the start of your turn, you may transform into Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. While Mr. Hyde, after you maneuver, take 1 damage.
Strategies and Tips
Balancing the duality of Jekyll & Hyde requires planning in advance. You want to stay as Dr. Jekyll through most of the game and only switch to Mr. Hyde when you are ready to attack. Even by doing this, you may still find yourself in the position of defending as Hyde, which puts you at a disadvantage. The key to victory is to strike a balance between the two personalities.
Primary Strengths
Strong defenses with healing
Incredibly powerful attacks
Primary Weaknesses
Mr. Hyde takes damage when maneuvering
Character dependent attack and defense cards
Tip #1: Two Natures at War
The two personalities of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde directly contradict one another. Dr. Jekyll is the defender and schemer, while Mr. Hyde is the muscle. Instead of clashing these two playstyles, have them work together to build a stronger foundation.
Mr. Hyde is equipped with the card Forever Hyde. This card allows you to discard Dr. Jekyll cards and add +2 to its attack value for every Dr. Jekyll card discarded. This is the deadliest card in their deck, and it requires perfect synergy between the two. The issue with Forever Hyde is that Dr. Jekyll’s cards are what help keep you alive, so do not discard your hand too early in the game.
We recommend saving Succumb to Compulsion and Distracted Triage for boosting. Both cards have unreliable abilities, so we find that they are at their most useful when fed into Forever Hyde. It is the one card that fully embraces teamwork between the two, and is the ultimate “high risk, high reward” attack.
Tip #2: The Mad Scientist
Dr. Jekyll should be treated as the default state during your game. As Dr. Jekyll, your goal is to maneuver, defend, and set up Mr. Hyde for attacks.
With Haste! is a Dr. Jekyll only defense card that allows you to move up to four spaces after combat. With a defensive value of 4 it will block most of the damage thrown at you, and the maneuver effect is an excellent way to set up Mr. Hyde to attack during your next turn.
Scientific Method is the other Dr. Jekyll only defense card. It only has a defensive value of 2, but it allows you to draw a number of cards equal to the amount of damage you were dealt after combat. Having a high card draw helps support attacks like Forever Hyde that require discarding cards for more attack power. Additionally, since you are on the defensive, you can draw past your hand limit for even larger discard opportunities on your turn.
Finally, Dr. Jekyll is able to recover health with the scheme Calming Research. This card ability also lets you draw up to 3 cards, keep one, and put any others on the bottom of your deck in any order. We recommend simply drawing 1 card to avoid putting potentially good cards at the bottom of your deck.
Tip #3: The Criminal Mastermind
Once transformed into Mr. Hyde, your goal will be to attack as hard as you possibly can, then revert to Dr. Jekyll to avoid being punished. Thankfully, Mr. Hyde has two cards that allow him to revert to Dr. Jekyll after combat:
Madness Relents is a versatile card with a value of 4, so this is the best and only block card specifically for Hyde and allows him to revert to Dr. Jekyll in a pinch to avoid being double attacked.
Recoiling Blow is an attack with a value of 5 that allows you to place Mr. Hyde in any space in his zone, then revert to Dr. Jekyll.
As Mr. Hyde, your end goal is to play Forever Hyde and boost it as much as you can. You will need to play this card strategically to avoid cancel effects. An excellent way to bait out card effects that can cancel yours is by using the scheme card Pure Evil, which allows you to place Mr. Hyde in any space in his zone and deal 2 damage to all adjacent fighters. This will enable Hyde to maneuver and not take damage.
Since this sets you up nicely for an attack, your opponent may expect Forever Hyde. This is the best time to attack with something simple like Skirmish if you believe they can counter with a Feint. Pure Evil also pairs well with Recoiling Blow. As long as the effect isn’t canceled, you will get to revert to Dr. Jekyll and be ready for your opponent’s attack phase.
Since Mr. Hyde has very few defensive options, we recommend saving at least a couple of the Skirmish and Madness Relents cards to defend with in case of an emergency.
Final Thoughts
Jekyll & Hyde can be a complex character to figure out. If you can find a rhythm and synchronize both playstyles together, then Jekyll & Hyde are a force to be reckoned with. Even so, this hero is weak against early aggression, and being forced to play Dr. Jekyll’s defensive cards too early can leave fewer options for Forever Hyde. Additionally, the player is constantly presented with many decisions, and if the wrong one is made, it can easily lead to a loss. Jekyll & Hyde is best used by veteran players looking for more challenge and nuance in their gameplay experience.
