I am a long-time Centauri fan. They are my favorite race in the Series, and when the CCG came out, they were naturally the first race I took to playing. Back when premiere just came out, I was able to build a pretty mean Centauri/Shadow deck. It had is flaws, but it was overall a good deck. One day, I was playing a game with some friends, when the Narn player did the following: Used a border raid the first turn, played a fleet, and won the conflict against me. Not a big deal, I figured, until he declared war the next turn. I was then pummeled with war conflicts for the rest of the game and did not get past 4 influence for the rest of the game.

Of the many Centauri players I’ve spoken to, this is the biggest problem many are faced with. With the entrance of the Shadows onto the scene, declaring war is not the biggest problem, but getting a strong military out fast with tensions high bodes doom for the Centauri. I have put much study into this matter and I’ve developed a few strategies to prevent the Narn from picking on the Centauri in the early stages of the game.

The first few strategies are made specifically to counter the Narn early war strategy. The first and most obvious way to counter this strategy is to expect it. Use a Military Buildup for a starting agenda and have a fleet in-hand with an influence cost of 8. That way, when he puts out a large fleet, you can counter. You may also want to have a really nasty lost aftermath in your hand too (to round it out) to punish those Narn for attempting to do that to you! The biggest problem with this strategy is that you are forced to wait for the Narn to attack. If you are playing against a player who does not use the Narn/Early War strategy, you have wasted your starting hand. It does not work well at all for theme decks. I recommend only using this strategy if you know that there is a really nasty Narn player out there who uses it and you want to teach him a lesson. Instead of an aftermath, you may want a border raid or something a conflict of your own in place of the agenda.

The next strategy I’ve developed is kinda cheezy, but it is VERY effective. Put "For my People" in your starting hand. It is only 1 card and it will completely prevent the Narn from completing a very early conflict that will raise tensions or start a war (or both). Since the very first initiative order has the Narn going just after the Centauri, this gives the Centauri the advantage. If the Narn player plays a conflict on the first turn, simply use "For my People" on your first action. This will cause the conflict to fail as well as immobilize G’Kar for this turn and the next (while he un-neutralizes). The Narn never did rely on destiny too much, so giving then a Destiny Mark won’t hurt your cause too much. If the Narn player gives you reason to believe that he may do a nasty type of conflict soon, make sure that you stay behind the Narn player in initiative. The biggest problem with this strategy is that if the Narn player doesn’t make a move or waits to long to do it, then you could be in trouble. Once he has another character in his inner circle, then this strategy won’t work. Plus, some players may think that what you’ve done is very cheap and may get upset with you. I’ve run into this problem once or twice. My reasoning is that if it were really that cheezy, they would’ve put a restriction in the card, so enjoy J

Lastly for the War-Strategy, and quite possible the most useful, is to keep a "Not meant to be" in your starting hand. By doing this, you can prevent a multitude of things from happening. First and foremost, it stops a Declaration of War. One of the biggest benefits of this strategy, is that is doesn’t blow up in your face. If the Narn happen to be passive, so be it. The card is useful in stopping any of the following, which also tend to be early game strategies to get ahead: Long Term Investment, Short Term Goals, Meditation, and Any Shadow or Vorlon mark cards.

This last strategy is quite possibly the most useful I’ve devised to date. It can take care of a multitude or problems. Keep a "Forced Impairment" in your starting hand. This can stop 9 out of 10 starting or long-term strategies. I also recommend that you keep a cheap character with good intrigue (Centauri Agent, for instance) in your hand just in case anyone gets someone with intrigue out there soon. Using Building Infrastructure as a Starting Agenda is also wise, that way you can use Londo and the Agent the same turn for the conflict. If you keep the initiative order right, you can stop just about anything. I recommend this starting hand: Forced Impairment, Building Infrastructure, Centauri Agent, and Londo. This combination can be devastating to early game strategies. The Narn play a nasty conflict to boost tensions or go to war? Play Forced Impairment on it via Secret Strike. If you can maintain the Initiative Order where you go before the Narn, Forced Impairment will resolve first and their conflict card will be blank. I’m still awaiting an official ruling on this from Precedence, but the judges in the Tourney’s I’ve been too have no problems with it. It can also stop any of the following: Sleeping Za’ha’dum, Vorlon Space, and potentially dangerous agendas, etc. Take your pick J

I’m sure I’ll have some more strategies for the Centauri soon, I’m always coming up with some. If I get anymore, I’ll send them along. Happy Playing!