Rules of the Game
SITUATION
While this card is in play, any player that plays a
Ranged Attack loses 1 Ability. Discard this card any
time another Rules of the Game is played. (restricted
to 3)
Rules of the Game
SITUATION
While this card is in play, any player that plays an Ally
loses 1 Ability. Discard this card any time another
Rules of the Game is played. (restricted to 3)
Rules of the Game
SITUATION
While this card is in play, any player that plays an
Event that does damage loses 2 Ability. Discard this
card any time another Rules of the Game is played. (no
restriction)
Here we have three cards that come down to the very core
of at least two of the most common sources of "cheese" in
the Highlander CCG: ranged attacks and direct damage.
Game mechanics questions first, as always. If a Rules of
the Game is Focused, it is not removed if another RotG is
played. Why? Because the text on the first RotG is
nullified, so there is nothing to require its removal.
However, if you manage to get down two RotG, they are
_both_ removed by the play of a third one. Unless those
two are Focused the turn you play the third one. Then,
all three are removed by the play of a four, unless,
etc., etc.
All three Rules of the Game cards inflict Ability loss,
not damage. Cards that prevent damage, such as Dr. Sonny
Jackson, will not aid against them. Ability lost may, as
normal, be healed back normally.
As always, an Event that causes Ability loss (Boom Boom,
Bassett & Hotchkiss, etc.) is not considered to be an
Event that does damage.
The particular Rules of the Game must be in play when the
card in question _is played_ for the Ability loss to
occur. Playing it the turn after the relevant type of
card is played has no effect.
Rules of the Game/Event damage talks about "an Event that
does damage." This does not mean that the Event in
question actually has to inflict damage: only its
capability to play damage. So if someone plays a Street
Punk when Greenfield Hobby is out, they will still lose 2
Ability.
So that's how they work? Why should you use them?
The most obvious answer is if you want to keep the game
in the realm of swordfighting. Rules of the Game/Event
damage won't help against every cheese-type card (see the
exceptions for Boom Boom and B&H noted above), but it
will help thwart quite a few. Or at least make sure that
the person playing cards like Angry Mob/Careful Planning,
Watcher/Hunter, and Toadies will share some or all of
your pain.
Rules of the Game/Event damage can also lock their hand a
bit, since as noted above, if they play an Event damage
card even if Greenfield Hobby is in play, they will still
lose Ability.
Rules of the Game/Ranged Attacks counters a threat that
is perhaps not so obviously cheesey. However, if you're
one of the seven current Persona who only have Back Away,
you might disagree. A Kalas deck using Trip, Pistols,
and the Kurgan Q, or a Slan deck with Challenge/SE and
Shooting Blade, is in many ways just as cheesey, if not
more so. This particular RotG puts a stop to that in
most cases.
The main problem with this version is that, thanks to the
Kurgan Q, currently someone can basically inflict two
damage on you, at the cost of only 1 Ability loss. Corda
& Reno and Kern can do four damage by playing Thrust,
Equalizer or Musket, and using the Kurgan Q. A one
Ability loss is pretty trivial compared to this.
Still, if you can Divine Intervention that bothersome
Kurgan Q, Personas that use Pistols, or Kinman, may soon
come to realize that playing Ranged Attacks against you
is a bad idea. After all, you can always play Holy
Ground or Dr. Sonny Jackson to avoid the damage from
their attacks. There's nothing they can do to avoid the
Ability loss caused by Rules of the Game.
The third Rules of the Game deals with Allies. Although
many cards in Highlander only deal with Situation/Allies,
Rules of the Game/Ally is a bit stronger. Why? Because
it works on Event and Edge Allies as well. This means
that it is an excellent punishment card against opponents
relying heavily on Renee Delaney or Darius. It even
works against Det. Bedsoe.
Obviously, if you are going to use one or more of these
three strategies (Event damage, Ranged Attacks, Allies),
you shouldn't include that particular Rules of the Game
in your deck. That's not to say that you can't include
one or both of the others. A Kalas deck relying on Event
damage might still be well off to include three
RotG/Ranged Attack.
But this brings us to the question of who should include
Rules of the Game, and which version(s).
If you're one of the current seven Immortals (Slan, the
Kurgan, Kern, Kalas, Corda & Reno, Kane, Yung Dol Kim)
who have no dodge-type defense against Ranged Attacks,
Rules of the Game/RA is something you should seriously
consider adding to your deck. Personas with limited
defense against Ranged Attacks (Fitzcairn, Hyde,
Ceirdwyn, Kanis, and Kanwulf) might also wish to consider
the addition of this RotG.
This brings us to an interesting consideration: if
you're someone who plans on _using_ Ranged Attacks, you
may want to include Rules of the Game. Obviously, not
the Ranged Attack version, but one or both of the other
two. Why? Because if you play your Rules of the Game,
it will remove your opponent's. This means you can
devote your Situation-removal to other cards.
So Personas who are heavily into Ranged Attacks (the
Kurgan on some occasions, Corda & Reno, Kinman, and Kern)
may want to include one or both of the other two Rules of
the Game.
Almost anyone might include Rules of the Game/Event
damage in their deck, since anyone with a few Angry
Mob/Careful Planning combos can be dangerous. However,
Personas with an emphasis on Event damage, such as Xavier
(Alliance), Katana (Toadies), Ceirdwyn (Retribution),
Amanda (Surprise Attack), and Nefertiri (Temptress) might
wish to consider using different Rules of the Games to
counter and remove.
The only Persona that is currently specifically Ally-
reliant is Ceirdwyn. Since she is vulnerable to Ranged
Attacks, and tends to use Event damage and Allies
herself, Rules of the Game/Ranged Attacks is her best
choice.
You still might run into an Ally-reliant deck, of course.
The key here is to not use Allies yourself. If you have
no intention of using Renee Delaney or Darius, and are
concerned about running into decks using either (or
both!), Rules of the Game/Ally may be an excellent choice
for you. Even more so if you have reason to want to
remove from play either of the other two versions.
Some Personas may wish to rely on their own superior
abilities. Connor, for instance, can handle Ranged
attacks (due to his dodges) and Event damage (It's a Kind
of Magic, plus generic means). Kane may wish to rely on
stealing his opponent's Allies.
And if you're going to use all three aspects that Rules
of the Game opposes, you also don't want to use them.
For obvious reasons, don't include them in your Kalas
Pistol/Angry Mob deck, particularly if you're going to
Darius in a Seduce or four.
So overall, Steve gives Rules of the Game/Ranged Attack a
3, Rules of the Game/Ally a 5, and Rules of the
Game/Event Damage a 6. RotG/Ranged Attack just isn't a
strong enough disincentive against the Ranged Attack
decks out there that can use the Kurgan Q to get a
minimum of 2 damage. If the Ranged Attack rules are ever
altered so that they cannot have their damage boosted,
this rating could change.
Rules of the Game/Ally is useful in nearly any deck, and
can cripple Ceirdwyn. However, it requires that you not
use Allies yourself, or be willing to Focus RotG to play
them. For those who don't use Renee Delaney or Darius in
their decks, that may not be a problem.
And finally, we come back to Rules of the Game/Event
damage. This card is an excellent anti-damage card,
since it hurts your opponent for playing Event damage
cards and you still have your options open for dealing
with the Event damage on your turn.
What Our Other Raters Say:
Jeff - Rules of the Game is an interesting set of cards.
The Ranged Attack one is almost useful... if you're
playing an Immortal without access to Dodges. The Ally
one is mostly useful as a Ceirdwyn Nemesis. The direct
damage one is absolutely beautiful, though. The fact you
can Focus one to keep it in play when playing another is
really nice...especially when you consider that these
Situations stack due to them adjusting Ability.
Hank - The Rules Of The Game cards are great. They
_strongly_ penalize particular strategies, but another
ROTG will remove one in play. I could see people putting
in ROTG in decks like they do Locations, to either
protect their strategy or prevent another. I think
they're a cool idea.
Alan -
Prodipto - These cards make it a little painful to use
less savory tactics in play. An opponent would have to
seriously consider whether it's worth playing that Ranged
Attack/Ally/Damaging Event with the appropriate RotG out.
However, more often than not, the 1 Ability Loss is worth
the cost of playing an Angry Mob or a Callum or
Musketed/Equalized Thrust. In the end, the satisfaction
of sticking it to your opponent for "breaking the rules"
is tremendously diminished by the fact that they're
usually willing to eat a little Ability loss early in
order to hammer you later. Another major drawback is the
fact that each RotG is discarded when another is played.
If they could come out in multiples, or stack, then they
would be much more powerful. Of course, with Focuses,
multiple, stacking RotG's can make life very unpleasant
for your opponent more quickly.
Allen - Generally, the three Rules of the Game are a
solid addition to Highlander that should prove useful to
a wide number of decks. RotG/Allies is the weakest of
the three, since a large number of your opponents will
use no Allies. Dr. Sonny and Renee (annoying) decks will
be hurt, however. Hit them with a Twist of Fate whenever
you can so they can't Focus past you. As the game
continues to devolve into a John Woosian melodrama,
RotG/Ranged will become more and more useful. If you are
playing a Back Away-only Immortal you already need to
strongly consider including RotG/Ranged in your deck.
Cheese RotG has good effect, but lacks the response
ability of Greenfield. It's completely useless against
Xavier, but then so is Greenfield.
Bruce - (In general) As long as Rules of the Game
continue to reflect the actual rules of the game and
penalize non-genre type game play, they are good for
Highlander as a game and will cause people to think
before playing un-Highlander like decks. (Ranged
Attacks) With the large number of Ranged Attacks that
have suddenly hit the game, this card should be a staple
in most toolbox decks. You can always Focus to play your
own Ranged Attack so it really only targets Ranged Attack
abusers. Too bad it doesn't stay in play for First Blood.
(Ally) There are a lot of Allies out there now that can
cause you serious harm. How many Renees are they going to
play knowing that they will lose a point each
and every time they do. (Event Damage) Events that do
damage, by definition, hurt. Most of them also fall
outside the rules of the games, making this card very
appropriate. It can provide significant protection from
other Events that only do damage as a side effect as
well.
Stealth Dave - Collectively, the Rules of the Game cards,
when in play, penalize players for using "unsavory"
tactics. However, you have to get them in play and
_keep_ them in play to do any good, and Simple Mind is
becoming a better and better option to defend against all
these nasty Situations out there. These cards are also
completely reactive, meaning you have to stop playing
your own strategy and take time to play RotG. (RotG
Ally) Most effective against Ceirdwyn. (Come on, baby!
Play those Allies!) Also helps against those nasty Avery
decks (though not much), and stops Dr. Sonny in his
tracks! (RotG Event Damage) The latest attempt by TCG to
kill all cheese. Good or bad, it's becoming harder to
play any Event damage. Not only does it cause 2 Ability
Loss instead of 1, but it is the only RotG that is
restricted to 6 instead of 3. Of course, it doesn't
affect healing or Ability Loss, but if you're worried
about cheese, this is a good card for the job. But you'd
better pack some Greenfield any way. (RotG Ranged
Attacks) Stop those !@#%ing Pistols!!! Shooting Blade
users aren't as worried (you still gain 3 points on
them), but Equalizer and Musket users might think twice
about it.
Jonathan - I feel like the Rules of the Game cards are a
nice addition to the game as a whole, and sealed deck in
particular, but not necessarily highly competitive play.
If your deck has a particular fear or weakness, you can
compensate for it a little with these cards. Generally, I
think the Ranged Attack version is the most useful, with
the profuse spread of dangerous Ranged Attacks in the
game (will everyone play with Shield? I think not). The
Ally version could also be useful against those Ceirdwyn
types. The one big problem I see with these cards is lack
of versatility. You could put them in your deck if you
fear Ranged Attacks or cheese, but they might just be
wasted space. If you fear Ranged Attacks or cheese, you
could always add Dr. Sonny. In any event, I would attempt
to add more versatile cards to my deck instead of cards
that might not have any function. However, these are good
cards for newer players who don't have access to some of
those rarer cards, and need a card for protection against
some of the more troublesome aspects of the game.
Charles - I like the idea of penalizing a player for
deviating from the "Rules of the Game". A Kurgan deck
that loads up on these might have a chance against a
Kinman 9mm Deck; unfortunately, these cards are of little
use against a deck that is not playing a strategy that is
affected by the "Rules...".
Ratings Overall (Ranged, Ally, Event Damage)
Steve 3/5/6
Jeff 5/4/7
Hank 7/7/7
Alan N/A
Prodipto 3/5/3
Allen 7/4/5
Bruce 8/6/7
Sdave 5/3/5
Jonathan 4/4/4
Charles 6/4/4
Average: 5.33 (Ranged)
4.67 (Ally)
5.33 (Event)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Maurice
Event
Turn over cards in your Endurance and discard them until
you find the one you would like to keep. Then put that
card in your hand.
Maurice is a Rare that, like a number of the older Allies
like Brenda Wyatt and Louise Marcus, haven't been so much
dismissed as simply overlooked.
Game mechanic questions first. In the case of Maurice
they're pretty straightforward. Maurice is a Special,
and if you play him he counts as your Special for the
turn. So if you use him to grab a Special, you can't
play it that turn (unless you use Chessex - see below).
And...that's it. Pretty simple, eh?
So other than target practice on your dart board
(apologies to the legions of Michel Modo fans out there),
what can you do with Maurice?
Obviously, he's of little or no use in a small deck.
There's enough "vapor" out there that as long as you
actually want to play a non-Edge card rather than Exert,
you can do so. Why use Maurice to cycle through your
deck when you can use Patience, Lean & Mean, A Master's
Focus, Desperation, Martin Hyde, the Nef Qs, etc.?
So that means Maurice goes into the larger decks.
Fortunately, these have gotten somewhat of a boost with
the release of Big & Bad in the Arms & Tactics edition.
The use of Maurice in such a larger deck is obviously.
Even with Big & Bad, you may not have the defense or
attack you need. Or in anticipation of a combo you want
to play next turn, you don't have the one card you need.
In either case, play Maurice and prepare to start
digging.
Big & Bad can be used in much the same manner. However,
it is both limited to and required that you draw ten
cards. With Maurice, you can keep on going past ten
cards. Alternately, if the card you needed was the first
one you drew, you can stop then and there.
Big & Bad also has the disadvantage that it raises your
deck size minimum. Maurice has no such limitation. You
can put him in a 60-, 70-, or 80-card deck.
With Maurice, you also don't need to keep going until you
get the card you need. If the Kurgan played an attack
and you're looking for the proper block, but you draw
Holy Ground instead and suspect he's going to use a
Bloodlust in a turn or two...keeping the HG might be the
better option.
This brings out another interesting point. Don't forget
that you can Exert after playing Maurice. If you get a
Special that you'd rather keep while looking for a
defense, keep the Special and then Exert.
For Edges this is also a pretty good deal since unlike
Specials, you can play the Edge the same turn you use
Maurice. For those who can make multiple attacks without
playing a Special (Amanda, Kern, Kim, Rapier and Katana
users), drawing that Flashing Blade at the critical
moment may be just what you need to put your opponent in
a bind.
One final use for Maurice is in a Chessex-based deck.
Play Maurice as your first card, look for the Event that
you need, and play it as the second card. Direct damage
cards can get at useful stuff like Angry Mob/SEs and
Careful Planning that much quicker, _and_ play it. This
gives the opponent less time to slap down The
Gathering/Promo (if they're using it) and lock you.
The main problem with Maurice is that...you may have to
some digging to get what you want. This can be good in a
while. It means you can get rid of some garbage, as you
toss those Upper Center Attacks and Evades that you've
realized you don't need.
It's bad in that, with each card you draw you're that
much closer to an Endurance burn. You may also have to
go past some cards that _might_ prove useful in return
for a card that you need that will prove useful _now_.
So to use Maurice, you have to both have discipline and
be flexible. If the card you need is down deep, get used
to the idea that you're going to have to toss some other
stuff to get to it. But you need to be flexible in that
you may have to change your plans depending on what cards
come up.
Since Maurice does increase your chances of Endurance
burn, Khan or someone using his Quickening get best use
out of him so the Ability loss is minimized when you do
take the burn.
Tower decks, particularly those who use larger numbers of
certain cards to make up for critical cards being lost in
the shuffle, can also benefit from Maurice. Such tower
decks typically feature the following Personas: Duncan,
Connor, and Kern, but practically anyone else under the
right circumstances.
If you're not playing at least a 60 card deck, you
otherwise probably won't find much use for Maurice. This
does mean that if the Big & Bad tournament format becomes
popular, Maurice may see much more use.
So overall, Steve gives Maurice a _5_ rating. It can
prove vital under the right circumstances, particularly
if you favor large decks. I do, so I tend to rate it a
little higher. If this format becomes more popular, the
5 rating will also be more warranted.
What Our Other Raters Say:
Jeff - Not a card you see very often... and for good
reason. Maybe it would have some use in sealed or in a
huge deck as a Luck. Even then, I think I'd rather build
without Maurice.
Hank - Maurice has some uses (defending against that
Master's Head Shot, for instance), but I've never really
used him much. The cost of going through a lot of cards
I've always seen as a last-ditch kind of thing, so I've
never found a good offensive need for him... and, as
defense, there are lots of other Events less costly (Live
Forever, anyone?)...
Alan - Abstain
Prodipto - Maurice is best suited for novice players.
Until good deckbuilding strategies have been learned,
Maurice is a nice failsafe to get a card you need for
your strategy to work. The drawback is the high card
turnover, but he allows players to cycle cards much more
readily. He has no place, however, in a well-built deck.
Allen - Abstain
Bruce - An interesting and fun card that actually works.
With six of these and some decent cycling, you can make a
big deck that may not win a lot of tournaments, but will
at least win some games. While the fact that he uses your
Special for the turn limits his emergency use, you can
use Maurice to make a toolbox extrordinaire, to stack for
First Blood, to commit suicide, and to get to cards in an
Exhaustion deck. Most tournament decks are small and
will find little use for him, but if Big & Bad changes
that, I see Maurice seeing a lot more use.
Stealth Dave - Not much I can really say about Maurice.
I've never really had much use for him. He's more of a
desperation card than anything essential to a strategy.
If you _have_ to get to one particular card, you're
better off going with a 44-card vapor deck. He might
have some use in a tool-box deck, but there you're better
off playing as Methos (ack!). Unless you need lots of
Allies in play (Ceirdwyn, Clan MacLeod), there's not much
call for this romantic Frenchman.
Jonathan - Generally, a card with more risk than reward.
Unless that card you're searching for is so integral to
your strategy, or could win you the game at that very
instant, Maurice will be an effort in futility. Even if
you could guarantee not having to go very far through
your deck, attempting to cycle to the card would be a
fonder fate than using Maurice. Probably a fun card at
times, but just not worth the space. His place is in a
Big and Bad deck (perhaps) but is better played in a Cull
the Weak deck, helping Khan (or a user of his Q) get to
dual-player exhaustion quicker. Not a card I'd expect to
see in high-level play.
Charles - Great if you have a massive deck, are fishing
for an Edge, or if you are playing a deck that relies on
getting specific cards quickly. Maurice is, however, the
poor man's Desperation/Nefertiri and if you are going to
use it, then I highly recommend replacing Maurice with
Desperation and switching your persona to Nefertiri.
Ratings Overall
Steve 5
Jeff 4
Hank 4
Alan N/A
Prodipto 5
Allen N/A
Bruce 7
Sdave 2
Jonathan 3
Charles 3
Average: 4.13
------------------------------------------------------------------
Reporter
Event
REPORTER: Each player gains 2 Ability. May not exceed
maximum. (errata'd text)
Here's another Series Edition classic. Unlike last
issue's Maurice, though, this one is a Common, and one
that folks were initially probably pretty sick of seeing
in all of those booster packs.
Reporter's popularity has waned and risen as the
Highlander CCG rules have changed. initially it's use
was somewhat limited. Then folks figured out how to make
stall decks work, and Reporter became much more valuable.
who cared how much Ability your opponent had, as long as
you had even more and could time the game out after 30
minutes.
Now, with stall- and supra-Ability decks on the wane
again, now seems like a good time to take a look at
Reporter.
Game mechanic questions first. DUEL IS DELAYED on the
original text is flavor text, has no impact on the game,
and has since been errata'd out. Reporter is, needless
to say, a Reporter card. This makes it vulnerable to
cards such as Sovereign Media, Trench Coat, Scare/Kurgan,
and Casual Killer/Corda & Reno.
Reporter works just like Angry Mob/SE, except in reverse.
The person playing it gains the two Ability on the
Ability Adjustment phase of the turn he plays it. The
opponent gains the two Ability at the end of _their_ turn
during their Ability Adjustment phase. Thus, if the
opponent is Nefertiri, they don't get to draw up to their
new +2 Ability until after their Ability Adjustment
phase.
Regardless of when you play Reporter, your opponent is
considered to gain the +2 Ability during _her_ turn, not
yours. So this means they will subsequently be a legal
target for Kate. Since they didn't play the Special
themselves, Stalk/Hyde will have no special effect.
So what can you do with Reporter? The only real use for
it is if you have less Ability then your opponent.
Optimally, you want to play it when your opponent is
already at his maximum Ability, so that they gain no
benefit from it whatsoever.
Of course, nothing is as easy as that. First of all, you
do not _want_ to have lower Ability than your opponent,
and strategies that you know will cost you Ability should
(hopefully) zap your opponent for an equal amount or
more.
Thus, the Kurgan packing Reporters to handle the four
Ability loss he knows he's going to take from playing a
Bloodlust won't do much good, because hopefully he'll
inflict even more damage on his opponent. In which case
Reporter is useless to him. Ditto for Battle Rage or
Bassett & Hotchkiss.
So Reporter is really more of an emergency precaution,
for when your opponent nails you on that first turn with
a Power Blow/Seduce and you failed to draw that Live
Forever? You can take 12 points of damage, each pass
through your Endurance, and recover it with six
Reporters. This still leaves your Watcher/Treatments for
other stuff.
Of course, if you're that poor a player, or having that
much bad luck, you're probably in trouble anyway. Still,
this demonstrates Reporter's use as a beginner's tool.
Most starting players will have it due to their Common
status, and it can help to assure they aren't totally
crushed by an unlucky draw.
Still, if you're up against an Angry Mob/SE + Careful
Planning type of opponent, Reporter can prove useful in
avoiding a loss. Greenfield Hobby and Spiritual Center
might be a bit better...but you also have to have those
particular cards. Remember that Reporter is a Common.
We mentioned Kate above, but healing them for two so that
you can subsequently inflict two damage on them isn't
really of much benefit.
One overlooked facet of Reporter is that it is the only
card that lets you heal your opponent. If you don't want
them to escape a battle due to 0 Ability, this can prove
remarkably useful.
Of course, it's only useful if you want to take their
heads instead. With careful use of Reporter, you can
whittle down an opponent to near-zero with normal
attacks. Keep attacking them to use up your non-Head
Shot attacks, get them down to 0, then bring them back up
again, while boosting yourself up if you're down in
Ability. This requires a bit of careful timing, but
means that your opponent can't throw himself on to your
non-Head Shots so that he can get to 0 and exit the
battle.
Another use for Reporter is to force a game into First
Blood, by keeping both players from winning. Again, you
shouldn't play Reporter and extend the game out to 30
minutes if it looks like you can win before then.
However, if you can't, or if you want to rely on a Head
Shot after 30 minutes is over (through the use of the new
A&T pre-game, or the Kurgan/Duncan Master's Head Shots),
Reporter will prove useful to you.
Otherwise, Reporter's primary use is as an emergency
card. However, it's an emergency card that's only good
if you're losing What do you do with it if you're not?
Card cycling is the key. Methos is the master of such
things. If he's ahead on Ability and doesn't anticipate
a need for Reporter, he can dump it and redraw.
The other Persona who can dump unneeded Reporters
is...Nakano. Don't need that Special? Discard it to
duplicate your opponent's Event. Heck, if Nakano is
using Master's Maneuver, make a Hidden attack the same
turn as you duplicate your opponent's Watcher/Treatment,
or Seduce, or Live Forever?
If you're going to use the Methos Q or Master's
Stratagem, you can also cycle out unneeded Reporters as
fast as you draw them. However, that depends on you
keeping those cards out. An inherent ability to ditch
Reporters will ultimately prove more useful.
So overall, Steve gives Reporter a _5_. It may not be an
incredibly useful card in competitive play (except to
Methos and Nakano), but it can prove extremely valuable
to beginners, in sealed deck, and as a defense against
certain stuff like Angry Mob/Careful Planning if you
don't have other preventatives.
What Our Other Raters Say:
Jeff - Formerly the card of choice for heal decks,
Reporter seems to have fallen into disfavor since the
advent of Trench Coat and the new First Blood rules.
Still a nasty card to prolong a game.
Hank - Each player gains 2 Ability... as useful as
Watcher/Treatment for you, and not limited to 2, but
useful to your opponent as well. You can undo the
benefit with Kate, but it's using another Special to do
so. I've used it in heal/stall decks, and in decks that
rely on other ways to win (Head Shot decks, for
instance).
Alan - Abstain
Prodipto - Reporter should be used when your opponent is
at full Ability, or down only 1 to minimize the amount of
benefit they get from the healing. Generally, it is best
used when you are losing. As a result, the card is
fairly unappealing to me, since it implies an expectation
to lose. For a healing-heavy deck, however, it's fairly
decent. Just watch out for Hyde and Kate.
Allen - Abstain
Bruce - On its face, this is a fairly balanced card,
deserving of an average rating, but its lack of a
restriction makes Healing far too easy. If you want to
force First Blood or keep your opponent alive to take
your Head Shot, this is a fairly effective way to do it.
I have seen this card used to great effectiveness despite
the current countermeasures.
Stealth Dave - One of the many Healing cards in the game.
Back in the old First Blood days, this card was a staple
in Healer/Stall decks. While it still makes its way into
a few of the newer Stall decks, its use has seen a huge
decline. Since you now have to actually win the game or
go to First Blood, Reporter can hurt you as much if not
more than it can help you. That and the existence of
Trench Coat can severely inhibit your ability to play
Reporters. All that adds up to little place for Reporter
in today's decks.
Jonathan - Reporter is one of my favorite sealed deck
cards, mainly because it's easy to get in your Series
Edition boosters, and is a great way to help yourself out
early in the game if you get behind. In Standard
Constructed, it's much less useful. There aren't many
reasons to use Reporter in place of Watcher/Treatment. In
fact, with Hyde Stalking away, it's less likely that
we'll see huge healing decks, using any more than a
couple Watcher/Treatment. It seems to me that Reporter
will be relegated to being a nice sealed deck card, and
that's about it.
Charles - In spite of the anti-Reporter cards that have
been released, this card proves to be quite useful in
small quantities (1-3). It can aid you in staying alive
until time is called. It can also annoy your opponent
whenever he manages to score a hit and still not do any
permanent damage.
Ratings Overall
Steve 5
Jeff 6
Hank 6
Alan N/A
Prodipto 5
Allen N/A
Bruce 7
Sdave 3
Jonathan 3
Charles 4
Average: 4.88