Conjure EVENT Play this card to look through your Endurance for any Object. Put that Object directly into play. Reshuffle your Endurance. Well, the long-awaited "official" version of this card comes to light, with its release in The Gathering edition. So what does it do, and how well does it do it? But first, game mechanic questions. Currently, the ruling appears to be that if you use Conjure (or Alex Johnson) to put an Object directly into play, you are still considered to be playing it. Thus, it is subject to the delayed discard-to-use rule. So if you play Conjure to recover an Extra Weapon or The Equalizer, you still have to wait until your opponent has a chance to play one card before discarding to use it. You have to be able to legally play the card when you play Conjure. This is important in the case of Darius. Conjure is therefore useless if you wish to play a Darius-added Object in your deck (typically Hogg, but Flying Machine/Wings as well). Why? You are still required to play Darius when you play the Object, which you can't do if you play Conjure, your (typically) one Special for the turn. Since Corda and Reno can't legally play Objects when Grounded is out, they can't play Conjure in this case either. You can play Conjure even if you do not have any Objects in your Endurance. I'm not clear at this time if it is now legal to play the early, illegal version of Conjure. There is no difference in text between the two versions, so the older version would now seem legal. So that's it for Conjure and how it works. What can you do with it? To a great degree, Conjure is the opposite-yet-equivalent of Alex Johnson (CotW #49). Alex recovers from your discard pile - Conjure from your Endurance. Between these two cards, you've pretty much covered Object recovery. If it ain't in your hand, one of these two cards will let you grab it (unless Kane "borrowed" it, of course). The advantage Conjure has over Alex Johnson is speed. If you start with one in your hand, you can play it and put that Object right into play. If it's not a discard-to-use Object, you can use it right away. Thus, Annie Devlin could play Conjure, put Parrying Blade into play, and then immediately use her Master's Attack to block any blockable attack played against her. Like Master's Domain (CotW #28, not the Seinfeld version), Conjure essentially means you have an extra copy of a particular Object in your deck. This may not mean much when it comes to Quality Blade: you can only have one in play, and it is unrestricted. However, when it comes to Restricted cards like Ancestral Blade, Parrying Blade, Hogg, The Equalizer, Flying Machine, and Armor, having "extra" copies can be quite useful. Conjure is also a bit more flexible than actually having an extra copy. Thus, Khan could play Conjure to recover Breastplate. If he already has a Breastplate, then he can use Conjure to grab a Helmet. If he has both, he can grab an Ancestral Blade or Greaves. As we noted with Alex Johnson, eventually you're going to have more cards in your discard pile than your Endurance. And there's lots of things that help to make your discard pile larger (Desert, Counterfeit, Dirty Trick/Pummel, Improvised Weapon/Attack). Also, some Objects such as The Equalizer and Extra Weapon are discard-to-use, so you yourself are going to put them in your discard pile. And finally, your opponent is going to be Misfortuning your cards. So Conjure is hardly going to make Alex Johnson obsolete. In fact, Alex Johnson is probably a better choice overall. However, that doesn't mean Conjure doesn't have its place. It essentially counts as an extra "copy." Use Conjure to get your copy into play faster, than Alex Johnson to put it back into play when it is removed. I usually prefer a 3-to-2 mix of Alex Johnsons to Conjures, since Misfortune is becoming a bit more popular since Hogg (and now Flying Machine/Wings) was released. You could probably get by with even less, however, depending on your deck size. In a lean and mean deck, I'd go as low as 3-to-1 if there are important cards like Hogg or FM/Wings I want to get into play and keep in play. So who should use Conjure? Anybody who uses Objects, obviously. The Personas here are Khan, Kern, the Kurgan, Richie, and Corda and Reno. Khan's use for Conjure is self-evident. Conjure, Armor. Armor, Conjure. Enjoy. Even with recent errata, Hogg is far too useful to be restricted to two. Use Conjure to get the second one down and immediately Exert to avoid a major attack. You might lose a couple of points of Ability after your opponent Misfortunes it the first two times you play it. But then use Alex Johnson to get it back into play a third time. The Ability loss is still better than being pounded by a Seduced Power Blow. Kern decks tend to be larger, to support Exerting. Conjure lets Kern grab Hogg and Bowie Knife that much quicker. Despite Grounded, (who uses Nemesis cards?), Corda and Reno will undoubtedly want to use Conjure. Get that Flying Machine/Wings out early. Use a previously-played Equalizer and play Conjure to grab a new one out the same turn, to use next turn. It's a cheesy strategy, but one that will chew up the low-agility Immortals. Thanks to a new Object, the Kurgan can also use Conjure. Skull Helmet lets the big guy set up an attack without having to worry about pesky opponents forcing him to block to awkward locations and mess up his counterattack. If Richie uses Conjure to grab a Flying Machine/Wings or Hogg, that's one less card he needs to waste using his Luck on. Another Persona, one without Persona-specific Objects, who seriously needs Conjure is Amanda. Ancestral Blade remains a better choice for her than Continuity. All she needs to do is get it out faster and keep it in play. Conjure helps her to grab it quicker, while Security Guard/Object lets her keep it out and Alex Johnson puts it back into play. Other Personas who lack the "standard" Power Block Continuity might also want Conjure to get Ancestral Blade quickly. This currently includes Kane, Kalas, Xavier, Katana, Annie and Fitzcairn. So overall, Steve gives Conjure a _8_. As more Objects are added into the game this card will continue to grow in usefulness. It's a useful component for making larger decks more competitive, since otherwise Restricted Objects tend to get lost in the shuffle. What Our Other Raters Say: Jeff - An extremely nice card for those decks that rely on heavily-restricted Objects (Ancestral Blade, Hogg, The Equalizer, etc.). Couple it with Alex Johnson/Archaic Collection to show why Thief should have been left unerrata'd -- because objects are the easiest Specials in the game to get into play and recover. Hank - Since everyone's playing with Hogg nowadays, and Ancestral Blade has been limited to one/deck, Conjure and Alex Johnson work together to make it quicker to get to your Objects and harder to keep them gone. I like Conjure, and I'm glad it's back. Alan - Finally! A card which will prove useful to any and all decks that use and/or rely on Objects. Effectively increases the number of a particular Objects you have in your deck by up to six. Jim - A wonderful card for Object heavy decks. A definite must-have for Khan decks and it will certainly enhance Corda and Reno decks. Mix well with Alex Johnson and Archaic Collection and you can get your Objects out quickly and keep them in play. Conjure can also be very useful in Kern decks. Conjure probably should have been a card reserved to Nakano (and perhaps Kane), but I guess everyone in the Highlander mythos has a "kind of magic". Prodipto - Conjure is most useful for Khan and Kern and, in fact, my decks will definitely include them. It's a great way to get a restricted Object into play quickly. Of course any Object-heavy deck could use Conjure. Being able to put a Parrying Blade into play more readily is a great asset. Overall, a very playable card. Allen - Conjure is a very straightforward card that works well with decks that need an object in play. It's the perfect complimentary card to Alex Johnson since it gets cards out of your deck rather than your discard. You can also use it after Archaic Collection to help you get those recovered objects more quickly. But mass object removal just got a lot harder with the new reprint/errata of Thief, so you're probably still better off with Alex. Get the Objects you need, then keep them in play. Conjure will see use for some time to come. And it's finally legal! Bruce - Before it was banned, this was one of my favorite cards. It is very hard to not include this in an Object- heavy deck or in decks that rely on an Object with a low restriction. Ratings Overall: Steve 8 Jeff 6 Hank 7 Alan 8 Jim 6 Prodipto 7 Allen 7 Bruce 7 Average: 7.00 ------------------------------------------------------------------
Head Hunter SITUATION-PLOT/Part 1 - Clues SITUATION-PLOT/Part 2 - Research EVENT-PLOT/Part 3 - Arrest (Movie Edition Version): To play this card you must have Clues and Research in play. Discard all 3 cards. Your opponent may not attack or block for the next three turns. (The Gathering Version): To play this card you must have Clues and Research in play. Discard all 3 cards. Your opponent is now considered Disarmed and may not roll to regain their Weapon for the next 5 turns. At long last Card of the Week takes a look at the regular plots, the kind you can pick up in an expansion. I still retain a fondness for Plots, which have had their ups and downs throughout the history of the Highlander CCG. They were initially not particularly viable except for Xavier, who could play with twice the restriction #. There were not that many Situations, so Police could easily be spared to remove parts 1 and 2. Then Katana was introduced in ME, and it became practically impossible to complete a plot, even with Schemer introduced in the same expansion. Recent errata to Katana has made three-parter Plots a little easier to complete. At the very least, they require that Katana devote a bit more effort to removing them. Meanwhile, the two promotional Director's Cut cards are floating around out there somewhere, making Plots more viable...if you can get them. So now seems like a good time to look over the plots. For Head Hunter, there is also the question of game mechanics. For the ME version, you cannot play blocks or attacks. Discipline/Attack should let you bypass this effect. Alertness/Block, however, will not. Alertness/Block only works against attacks that have been modified as to be unblockable. This is not what Head Hunter/ME does. Rather, it prevents you from playing blocks from your hand (just as Challenge/SE does against dodges). For the ME2 version, your opponent is disarmed. Since Forged Steel refers to Disarming as an action, not as a card, anything that disarms an opponent will break their weapon while FS is in play. So this Plot will effectively break their weapon if completed. After five turns expire, your opponent is _still_ disarmed, but she may now begin rolling to recover his weapon (assuming it wasn't broken, Parking Garage is in play, etc.). For both plots, when the card says for the next 3/5 turns, it is referring to your opponent's turns, and only her turns. Yours don't count. So that's what Head Hunter does. But it's a Plot. How do you complete the darn thing? Start with the realization if you're up against Katana or his Quickening, you're not going to finish the plot. However, you can still keep them busy. With the Katana errata, you're keeping them from playing a Special _and_ they have to Exert to stop you. Not a bad trade-off. If you can't succeed with a Plot, at least you can make them pay heavily to stop you. Once past that, we have Police. Bedsoe does not affect multiple Plots, but Precinct does. Simple Mind has no effect on Plots either. Police prevention _is_ available, in the form of Disguise/Kurgan and Escape/Annie. The effects of Head Hunter/ME1, in the current anti-dodge environment, are crippling. If your opponent can't block or attack, play Lunge. Or Challenge/SE. Or Trip/Kalas. Or have a few Master's Advances in play. If they attacked you the turn before you complete Head Hunter/ME1 and you have Lighthouse down, complete the plot, defend, then make a Power Blow. You don't also have to worry about counter-attacks, so Power Blowing is a bit more risk-free. Since the opponent isn't technically "disarmed," they can't play Dirty Tricks and Pistols. Head Hunter/ME2 disarms an opponent, which does basically the same thing. However, its effects last two turns longer. Your opponent can't "recover" his weapon by die rolling. Since he's probably not playing with Recover Weapon, that means you've essentially broken his weapon. Is this better than Forged Steel? Yes and no. You're not dependent on Forged Steel when you use Head Hunter. This means if you're good at Plots, your odds are better that you'll succeed. And Head Hunter/ME2, used in conjunction with Forged Steel, _will_ break their weapon for good. Once they're disarmed, well...see previous columns such as Sheathe Weapon (CotW #64) for what to do then. So who should use Head Hunter? Well, folks who are good Plotters, for starters. That's basically Xavier and Kalas due to their Persona ability and Forgery, respectively. Both have anti-dodge abilities. Once Kalas has completed either Head Hunter, his version of Trip keeps them from dodging. Meanwhile, if Xavier has stacked a few Cat and Mouse cards, he can play Cat and Mouse/Defense and take out their dodges. The target will discard his blocks first, of course. However, if Xavier has seven CMs down, the eighth one will probably get their dodges as well. Since these two Personas are good Plot types, Head Hunter/ME2 could be a more reliable way to break a weapon. Thanks to the use of Schemer and Dr. Sonny Jackson, Xavier can slap down all three parts of Head Hunter in record time. For non-plotters, the ME2 probably isn't a whole lot faster than a simple disarm strategy. It suffers from the same vulnerabilities of rearming (particularly Watcher/Fair Fight). The Kurgan and Annie have anti-Police cards (Disguise and Escape, respectively). This can let them keep those Plots down a little longer, making them a little better Plotters. Once they've Head Hunted an opponent, a Bloodlust/Kurgan or Combination/Annie will do considerable amounts of damage. The Kurgan can even use Simple Mind, since it won't impact either Disguise or the Head Hunter plot itself. Since Slan gets "free" Power Blows, a successful Head Hunter can give him a serious advantage. Ditto for other Power Blow types (Connor and Duncan). So overall, Steve gives Head Hunter/ME a _5_ and Head Hunter/Gathering a _4_. The real issue here is how much faith you want to put in three-part Plots, and how many Director's Cuts you have. If you decide to go with Plots, Head Hunter is, along with Destruction and Unholy Alliance, one of your better choices. The extra two-turn duration of the ME2 version tends to balance out against the more powerful ME1 version. What Our Other Raters Say: Jeff - (ME) Eh. This never really inspired much awe from me, and (like Duncan Macleod) I'm not alone. Perhaps it could be made more useful with Lunge, but I'd much rather just use a well-built Disarm deck, myself. [Gathering] Marginally more useful than the original version, this plot is still inferior to most other ways of disarming the opponent (particularly Fasil's Master's Disarm). Not really worth the hassle, though, since it's still not much of a heart for a "head hunter" deck. Hank - The first ending was okay when it came out, and made better with Lunge. The second is easier to squelch (_everyone_ has anti-Disarm cards in their decks) but lasts longer, so it's a wash. I like Head Hunter as a Plot. Alan - Although the two different plot endings have the same effect, more or less (i.e., being unable to block or attack), the new ending is inferior in that your opponent can still play any of the various "re-arming" cards during those five turns. Given a choice, I would always use the original plot ending, myself. There are much easier and better ways to Disarm my opponent. Jim - [ME] A good plot for beheading decks, especially vs. attack decks. I prefer Destruction (ME1 version) to Head Hunter for building Head Hunting decks. Head Hunter is better for mixed decks that strike a balance between attacking and using direct damage. Head Hunter takes away your opponent's ability to attack (for the most part) and his ability to block. This is a good Plot sequence to use for disarming decks to give them extended time where the opponent can't attack or block. [Gathering] This plot sequence is useful, but you'd probably do better just to use a mix of Disarm, Iron Will, Parking Garage and Forged Steel. You can probably be more effective with the same number of cards (you needn't use all the suggested cards). Prodipto - As with most plots, Head Hunter needs to really serve your strategy to make it worthwhile to include. A very nice strategy with the alternate endings is to use Director's Cuts to serve as Parts 1 and 2, and include 2 or 3 of each ending, giving you a lot of versatility in your deck. Generally I recommend avoiding Plots, however, so I rate this card somewhat lower. Allen - In either form, you're basically disarming your opponent. (Though the older form is more restrictive now that there are attacks you can play even while disarmed. And Dragon might get used someday...) However, generally speaking there are simpler ways to disarm your opponent than trying to complete a three part plot. If you want to try either of these, be sure to include Director's Cuts, Schemers, etc. in your deck as well. I have used the older version on occasion. However, look carefully at what you are trying to accomplish and see if Disarm/Forged Steel might not work better. Bruce - Plots are hard to pull off and disarm is not a particularly effective strategy. The tradeoff between quality and quantity in the different endings creates a toss up on which one to use. It just depends on what you want to accomplish and the other cards in your deck. Stealth Dave - While the ME2 version lasts an astounding five turns, it is still vulnerable to all sorts of easy- access disarm defense, including Master's Disarm (Connor and Nakano) and Watcher/Fair Fight, whose existence makes Disarm decks in general difficult to compete with. You're better off with Disarm/Iron Wills or PP... and Parking Garage; it's a quicker combo that can be repeated even quicker if necessary. In contrast, the original ME version is much more potent for the three turns it affects your opponent by not being prone to Disarm defense. Combine liberally with Challenge/SE, Lunge/Head Shot, Master's Lunge, etc. and you can do some serious damage in those three turns, even taking some heads. If Plots were more viable, I'd give it a higher rating. Ratings Overall: Steve 5/4 Jeff 3/4 Hank 7/7 Alan 7/4 Jim 6/5 Prodipto 4/5 Allen 4/4 Bruce 3/3 SDave 7/4 Average: 5.11/4.44 ------------------------------------------------------------------
Destruction SITUATION-PLOT/Part 1 - Duel SITUATION-PLOT/Part 2 - Defeat EVENT-PLOT/Part 3 - "Tonight You Sleep in Hell!" (Movie Edition Version): To play this card you must have Duel and Defeat in play. Discard all 3 cards. For your next 3 turns, any Upper Left, Upper Center, or Upper Right attack may be a Head Shot. This counts as a Power Blow. (The Gathering Version): To play this card you must have Duel and Defeat in play. Discard all 3 cards. For your opponent's next 5 turns, they may not play Holy Ground. Here's another Plot. Anybody on the receiving end of the original ME version can testify how unpleasant it is. Whether that's because people haven't put enough of the appropriate defenses in their deck, or because people prefer the straight-forward game-winning nature of Destruction to, say, Head Hunter (see CotW #66) is something we'll take a look at. Game-mechanic questions first. Concerning the original ME version, it is optional whether you make the attack a Head Shot or not. If you do, it is also a Power Blow. As such, any upper or partially-upper attacks that you play that can _not_ be a Power Blow (Slash/Upper, cross-corner Slashes) do not benefit from this Plot. You can use Master Swordsman to make an Upper Attack a Head Shot, since you are permitted to make it a Power Blow. When Destruction/ME states its effects last for three turns, that includes the turn you complete the Plot, and the subsequent two turns as well. If you make more than one Upper attack while Destruction/ME is in effect, you have to state which attack is the Head Shot/Power Blow as you make it. You cannot wait to see which attack(s) you make that are successful. You are still limited by the rule that prevents you from making more than one attack per turn a Power Blow. So Amanda cannot play two Upper attacks and make them both Power Blow. Unless, of course, she uses a card like Annie's Battle Rage, Kern's Rage, or Scotland the Brave to do so. If you play Underworld Contact, the effects of Destruction/ME are negated. However, this does not retroactively effect any Upper Attack/Head Shots that were made prior to the play of UC. The effects of the "new" ME2 Destruction are fairly straightforward by comparison. Your opponent's next turn, after you complete the plot, is the first of the five turns. He cannot play any card with the title Holy Ground: the various SE and ME Retreat versions, the Event/Forfeit version, or the Location/forfeit version. The effects of Destruction/ME2 are an absolute preventative. It is not that they play a Holy Ground and it is countered: they simply cannot play it. So that's how the two versions of Destruction work. What can you do with them? The effects of Destruction/ME are straightforward. For the two turns after you complete the Plot, you can play another Special and still make a Head Shot. There is no other way to do this in the game. This means that Destruction lends itself well to cards that make the attack harder to defend against. Amanda's Seduce and Fitzcairn's Fast Talk are the two obvious cards to use in conjunction with the Destruction-enhanced upper attacks that you'll be making. Cards that make it difficult or impossible for an opponent to dodge are also useful to use in conjunction with Destruction/ME. These include the second attack of a Kurgan/Follow-Up, Kalas' Trip, and Lunge, to name but a few. In fact, an often-overlooked aspect of Destruction/ME is that it also lets you make Upper Attacks "free" Power Blows (i.e., Power Blows without an Exertion or playing a Special) for two turns. Even on the turn you complete the Plot, you can play an Upper Attack/Lunge. This may not sound like much to Slan, but for some Personas it can be very useful. In this case, the Head Shot is a handy side effect, but incidental to the fact you're making Power Blows. The alternative ME2 Destruction has its uses as well. Our reviewers below note that this effect is inferior to several anti-Holy Ground effects listed below. And that there are now other means of avoiding attacks. However, consider this: You cannot Focus past the effects of Destruction/ME2, unlike Carl, Turn of Events, or The Gathering. Unlike The Gathering or Turn of Events, Destruction/ME2 does not affect you. Unlike Carl, Destruction/ME2 is not vulnerable to anti-Ally cards such as Seduce/Fitzcairn. And unlike _all_ of the Situations mentioned above, Destruction/ME2 is immune to the effects of Simple Mind and Det. Bedsoe. Does this outweigh the fact that Destruction/ME2 is a three-part plot? Perhaps. Certainly, cards like Forgery/Kalas, Director's Cut, Schemer, and Plot Twist help to ensure Plot completion. In fact, Director's Cut/Situation, if you can find it, is probably the most useful way to employ Destruction. How? By using the extra Plot-playing power to complete _both_ Destruction plots. Use one Part 1, one Part 2, two Part 3/MEs, and two Part 2/ME2s. And...six Director's Cut. Complete Destruction/ME2 first (since it lasts longer), than complete Destruction/ME the next turn. You've now got two turns where you can play a Special, a "free" Head Shot, and they can't play Holy Ground to escape. So who should use Destruction? As noted above, Amanda's Seduce and Fitz's Fast Talk are the best ways to use Destruction. The ME2 version will keep a Seduced opponent from escaping to Holy Ground. And they can't play HG (or much of anything else) from their hand against Fast Talk anyway. Don't forget Connor and his Master's Block/Lunge combo. He can block an attack, complete the Plot, and launch a unblockable, dodge-from-an-Exertion-only Head Shot. Better still, if he completed Destruction on one of the previous two turns, he can play a Special with this combination. Slap down a Carl, or one of those other anti-Holy Ground cards mentioned. For real fun, play a Darius'd Intimidate/Kalas and then they can't Exert for a dodge, either. Or a Darius'd Trip/Kalas and then they can't dodge from their hand or an Exertion. Mix the Trip/Kalas with the Lunge, and they can only dodge from an Exertion _if_ they play Alertness/Dodge. And Katana, although sometimes overlooked post-errata, can use his Taunt and get nearly the same results as Fitzcairn using Fast Talk when using Destruction/ME. As noted before, the Kurgan's Disguise and Annie's Escape tend to minimize Plot-removal (or at least make those Katana Q users work for it). For the Kurgan, a mix of six Head Hunter/ME plots, six Destruction/ME plots, and six Director's Cuts (while keeping a Simple Mind out, since it doesn't interfere with his Plot/Situations) can be an unpleasant combination. Complete the Head Hunter, complete the Destruction, and start launching Lunge/Head Shots for a couple of turns. If you're inclined towards using a Xavier combat deck, you could do worse than Destruction/ME. Use the ME2 version to stop the from playing Holy Ground (also good for your Stalk(s)). Have Alertness/Hidden on hand to handle those Hidden counter-attacks. Add Cat and Mouse/Defense Depletion to play on those two turns after you completed the ME version, and enjoy. Pretty much anybody else can do the same thing using the Katana Q. Still, Xavier has Forethought to assure that they won't be using other means of escaping (Disappear, Live Forever). Destruction/ME2 can actually backfire against Kalas, since he wants them to play Holy Ground and unleash his own Stalk. However, the ME version gives him the same benefits as Connor's Master's Block/Lunge combo mentioned above. If he completed Destruction/ME on a previous turn, and they were foolish enough to escape to Holy Ground, he can now launch an unblockable/undodgeable Head Shot _and_ play a new Special. For instance, he can play Forgery to put one of the Destruction parts he just discarded, back into play to gear up for the next sequence. Or Intimidate to keep them from Exertion/Power Blocking if they play Alertness/Block and don't have other means of Power Blocking. Don't forget Disarming strategy. If you don't have enough Head Shot Events in your deck, or would like some more, use this Plot. It'll keep them busy playing Sit-removal Specials rather than slapping down those Extra Weapons and Fair Fights. Disarm them, then next turn complete the Destruction/ME and Lunge/Upper Attack next turn (and next turn, and next turn). Kalas' Trip and Katana's Taunt are useful here. Personas that are good at disarming (Fasil, Amanda and Kim since they can Disarm _and_ launch a second attack in the same turn without playing a second Special) are even better. So overall, Steve gives Destruction/ME a _7_ and Destruction/ME2 a _3_. The ME version isn't quite as reliable or universally versatile as, say, Unholy Alliance, but it's a very close second among the Plots strength-wise. The ME2 version is considerably weaker, but if you can complete it, it does what you need it to do, with minimum backlash or countering. Mix the two Plot endings together, or mix with Head Hunter (either version) or Cat and Mouse/Defense, and you can start head hunting with the best of them. What Our Other Raters Say: Jeff - Easily the best of the three-part plots, the original Destruction is still only of marginal use in trick decks (or decks to make your opponent nervous), using it with Amanda's Seduce, for example. Katana's Taunt or Fitz's Fast Talk are other possibilities. Even so, I believe that it won't have much use in serious decks. [Gathering] Whee. What a great plot. Ranks somewhere below Sea Witch in my estimation. I'd much rather use a Carl, even with the existence of Focus and A Master's Focus. Hank - The first ending was fun, it let you play Fast Talk or Seduce with Head Shots, which is pretty gross... The second ending is pretty weak, with the plethora of alternatives (Kind of Magic, Disappear, Live Forever) to Holy Ground (and with Carl around as a better anti-HG card). Alan - I Still find the original plot ending much more superior... it's definitely one of my favorite Plots. I'd rather use Carl to prevent the play of Holy Ground, although, if you combine the two plot endings, and complete the two Destruction plots simultaneously, this can be quite effective, especially with the relative ease of being able to make unblockable/undodgeable attacks now. Jim - (ME) An excellent plot especially for Amanda and Sedarius users. Kalas, Xavier, and Xavier Q. users can also use this to excellent advantage. The plot of choice for Head Hunting decks. Be sure to use Schemer to speed completion. Director's Cut and Plot Twist are also excellent complementary cards. [Gathering] A decent plot if you find your opponent using lots of Holy Grounds. You're probably better off using The Gathering though. Prodipto - Destruction is the only plot I play with regularly, and typically I use it only with Amanda decks, although it may sneak into my Fitzcairn decks as well. Both endings are useful, but I prefer the original version with the very nasty Seduce/Head Shot that Amanda can pull off. The first version is also useful to Kalas to use with his Stalk card. Allen - The ME version can be quite powerful when completed. Amanda with her Seduce has gotten excellent use out of it before, and now Fasil should get a lot of mileage out of it as well. Teach your opponent to use Alertness. (Or, better yet, use Twist of Fate.) The ME2 version seems weak in comparison. You've completed a three card plot in order to ..... play a Gathering. (Granted it can't be Focussed, or removed for 5 turns if completed.) Stick to the oldy-but-goody. Bruce - There are legitimate uses for this Plot with either ending. The original Destruction can be very effective with the correct follow-up. The new ending just takes too much effort for its effect. Except under special circumstances I suggest you just use The Gathering, Turn of Events, or Carl. Stealth Dave - The new ending for Destruction just isn't powerful enough to warrant its use as a Plot. There are far more efficient ways to avoid attacks than HG (Disappear, It's a Kind of Magic, Live Forever) which the new Destruction does not stop, and there are other, quicker ways to prevent people from playing Holy Ground; Carl, The Gathering, Forethought, etc., several of which also stop IKOM, Disappear, et al. As for the original, there's nothing like a Seduce/Head Shot to brighten Amanda's day. You are limited to one HS per turn (unless you use a card that allows multiple PBs like Annie: Battle Rage or Scotland the Brave), but you can play a Special and still make an attack a Head Shot. Definitely worth the effort. Ratings Overall: Steve 7/3 Jeff 5/2 Hank 8/3 Alan 8/5 Jim 7/5 Prodipto 5/3 Allen 6/3 Bruce 6/2 SDave 7/2 Average: 6.56/3.11