Rapier - Jonathan Halperyn "Do you still think you can make a Swordsman out of me Consone?" - Duncan MacLeod RAPIER You may play an additional non-Special attack during your turn. All Basic Attacks you play do 1 less damage. This will not reduce an attack's damage to less than 1. ONE HAND ICON Rapier Bleeding Wound 3 SITUATION Play in conjunction with a non-Special attack. If the attack is not successful, discard this card. While this card is in play, your opponent takes 1 damage during his turn for the next three turns. At the end of your opponent's third turn, discard this card. Rapier Quality Blade OBJECT While this card is in play, you may play Basic Attacks to an area you last blocked. Rapier Slice ATTACK (Red Grid: Upper Left and Middle Center) This attack cannot be a Power Blow. If the next attack you play this turn is Slice, that attack cannot be dodged. Rapier Slice ATTACK (Red Grid: Upper Right and Middle Center) This attack cannot be a Power Blow. If the next attack you play this turn is Slice, that attack cannot be dodged. Rapier Swashbuckler 2 SITUATION While this card is in play, you may play an additional non-Special attack during your turn for each dodge you play during your Defense Phase. Overview: Rapier is one of the best Weapon of Choice cards available, and offers a number of potent strategies to its user. Combined with a number of other offerings from Arms and Tactics, Highlander players should expect to see many Personas making use of Rapier's multi-attack benefits. In an increasingly attack-oriented game, Rapier provides greatly increased attacking power to many strategies. Rapier's benefits are fairly straightforward. You gain an extra non-Special attack each turn. This attack is in addition to any other attacks you have the ability to play on that turn. Although your additional attack may not be a Special Attack, you are in no way prevented from playing a Special Attack first, then playing your non-Special additional attack for Rapier. In fact, this tactic is often particularly useful, as you give your opponent a lot to chew on. Rapier's disadvantage is also simple, deducting one damage from any successful Basic Attack, to a minimum of one. Rapier is a one-handed weapon, making it compatible with both Shield and Parrying Blade. In both instances, use of two WoCs gives the Persona some disarm protection with little worry . For the most potent combos, Parrying Blade should be considered as the supplementary choice to Rapier. Weapon Specific Cards: Bleeding Wound is similar in function to the WC card Immortal Wound. Played in conjunction with a single non-Special Attack, the card remains in play if that attack is successful, causing a point of damage for the next three turns to your unfortunate opponent. Bleeding Wound need not be played in conjunction with an attack that does damage, as Dirty Tricks may become slightly more troublesome. It's restriction of three makes it less than brutally effective, but if you are playing many difficult-to-defend non-Special attacks (as one often does with the Rapier) it may be worth your time. Quality Blade will see little play, as it's amplification of your ability to effectively play Basic Attacks is less useful for Rapier users who play as few Basic Attacks as possible. Amanda might consider this card, as her Basic Attacks are as effective as ever. Slice (UL/UC and UR/UC) is Rapier's non-Special attack offering to your arsenal. If you have multiple attacks, and play a Slice following a Slice, the second Slice may not be dodged. Slices can be pulled from Exertions, but cannot be Power Blows. Though relatively easy to defend against, these attacks can definitely have an effect as the game goes on. Any attack that covers more than one grid area is a potentially effective attack. Finally, Swashbuckler allows the Rapier user an additional non-Special attack for each dodge they play. Considering that many Rapier users are heavy dodge Personas, this Situation could prove effective for those that can never have enough additional attacks. Who should use the Rapier? Quite a few Personas can make excellent use of the Rapier, depending on the chosen strategy. Even traditional Basic Attack users such as Slan can use it. Often, the most effective and deadly, uses of the Rapier are derived from its use in conjunction with Parrying Blade. Parrying Blade's usefulness in conjunction with Rapier can be chalked up to Parrying Blade's excellent Special and non-Special attacks, which give Rapier users even greater multi-attack capabilities. Here are some of the Personas that might wish to consider the Rapier for their slicing and dicing pleasures: Duncan MacLeod: Think "Duende" and you've got the idea. Duncan specializes in playing non-Basic Attacks, such as Slash, Leg Sweep, Killer Precision, Belligerent Attacks, and Master's Head Shot (add in Flurry Strike if you'd like). With the Rapier, he gets to initially play two of these a turn so long as he is careful to play his Special Attack first. A carefully-placed Leg Sweep can make life even more unpleasant for his victim. Once Duncan plays the Bagpipes, he can unleash all the Special and non-Special attacks he chooses. Use of the Parrying Blade is just a nice bonus, giving Duncan some Surprise Strikes in addition to everything else. Connor MacLeod: Effectively the same craziness applies to Connor with the Rapier, but to a lesser degree. He hasn't the same number of Special and non-Special Attacks as Duncan, but his Master's Block will add some trouble to the mix. Methos: With the number of Master's Attacks (particularly Richie's) he can use, Methos can send a number of difficult-to-defend attacks at his opponent, utilizing a second non-Special attack. Also, Methos can Live Forever, and then send multiple attacks back at his opponent. Annie Devlin: Since Annie normally prepares a multi-attack offense, the ability to produce multiple attacks without first being struck must seem an exciting option to those who frequently play Annie. Her Flashing Blade ability gives her a head start on aggravating her opponent with a difficult-to-defend string of attacks. Now, if she is struck by an attack, she is even tougher to handle. Hugh Fitzcairn: Hugh can set up a first turn kill, utilizing Rapier with Parrying Blade. His ability to play Fast Talk, and produce a number of attacks is extremely dangerous to those who are forced to exert for a defense. Katana: Though his Taunt does not prevent his opponent from escaping his attacks with a Special, he can Taunt six times each trip through his deck. Other than that, the same idea as Fitzcairn applies. Fasil: Not quite as blatantly powerful as some of the other combos, Fasil can still Backflip, then play his Special Attack, which will undoubtedly be unblockable and undodgable. Then he can add in another difficult to defend attack. Kurgan: More attacks mean more damage to the Warrior Eternal. With his Follow-Up, his opponent should be facing even more attacks that are not so easy to defend. Also, a Dirty Trick/Brawler deck using Bleeding Wound might be interesting. Richie Ryan: His ability to use his own Master's Attack, as well as other difficult-to-defend attacks could serve him well while using the Rapier. His ability to use a Seduce or Taunt to increase his chances of producing a deadly Flurry Strike attack. Who needs Battle Rage? Amanda: Amanda gets to make a base number of three attacks per turn while using the Rapier. She can even use the Basic Attacks if she wants, as they still do one damage, but will probably do more damage with difficult- to-defend, Seduced Flurry Strikes. Yung Dol Kim: With a deck full of attacks for multi-attacking, you should have no problem finding an attack to play as a block. Slan Well, Slan tends to use Basic Attacks a great deal, but making a second Flurry Strike a Power Blow without an Exertion is still a nice tactic. Add Flashing Blade, of course. Nefertiri: Seducing the second attack, if it' s a Flurry Strike, might be a viable option for her. Making it a Power Blow would certainly make it hurt. Kanwulf: Gaining an additional attack is never a bad thing. He could begin the game by throwing out three Flurry Strikes. That might get his opponent's attention. Ceirdwyn: Why wait until you have an Ally in play before laying down a string of attacks? Generic Immortal - The Generic that can play without the Basic Attacks (Anthony Gallen) could make particularly fine use of Rapier. What other cards should I include in my Rapier deck? Well, if you're playing a deck that includes Rapier, there are some essential cards you might wish to consider to augment your strategies. Firstly, including the Crystals in your Pre-Game repertoire is probably a good idea. Unless those Basic Attacks have any purpose for inclusion in your deck, you might as well include some attacks that do a little more damage or are tougher to defend. This tactic will save you space in your deck. Next, you might wish to consider adding Parrying Blade to your strategy. The Surprise Strikes that Parrying Blade offers are almost essential to any multi-attack deck. They're like free attacks to give your opponent even more trouble. Flashing Blade is also an essential Edge to be included in your Rapier deck. After all, you want to deplete those dodges and strike with your difficult-to-defend attacks. Masters Advance might also aid you in depleting your opponents dodges. Another Edge you might wish to consider playing is Patience. While playing a great number of cards, it might sometimes prove valuable to expand your options by drawing up to your full ability. In terms of attacking, Flurry Strikes should almost definitely be included in your deck. Never again will a Persona be forced to play a lone Flurry Strike with no benefits. Also, Dirty Tricks might be able to help further your goal. As a note, your deck will inevitably be susceptible to any forms of anti-attack. Safe Haven, Pedestrians, Bystanders, and the like will interfere with your ability to pummel your opponent. Thus, you might want to include the appropriate remedies to these attack-hosers. Location selection will be very important to users of Rapier. Do you want even more attacks, and the ability to ignore some attack-hosers? Try Dueling Grounds. Afraid of your opponent running away from you? Try Ring of Fire. Afraid of your opponent playing too many dodges against you? Try The Circle (but be prepared with Reconnaissance and some Evades of your own) or Catwalk/Dead End Alley depending on your own dodge capabilities. Playing Connor? Go with the Mountain Cave and really make them sweat while trying to defend your 3-4 attacks. Playing Nefertiri? Go with Battlefield or Factory. of course. Your opponent will be in trouble in either of those Locations most of the time. With most other Locations, the usual rules apply. Use a Location that compliments your strategy. What to expect out of a Rapier deck Ordinarily, this section would be entitled How to Defeat, but since the Rapier offers few weaknesses to its user, that's not the most helpful strategy discussion. A user of Rapier is going to be a dangerous opponent. The game has the potential to be very quick and very bloody (more so if both players are using Rapier). The user is going to be dangerous if they are able to attack freely, and dangerous in First Blood as well. If the Persona using Rapier runs out of attacks, is forced to discard them, or cannot attack, the game is in your favor. A Persona playing this type of deck may be susceptible to Direct Damage or Forced Discard. What Quickenings should I use? Some Quickenings will be inherently helpful to users of the Rapier. Here are some ideas: Slan: Adding extra punch to Flurry Strikes is a good thing. Kim: With so many attacks, you ll never run out of defenses. Katana: Exert to remove attack-hoser cards. Khan: After Hugh flies through his deck in two turns, he'll want to take less ability loss. Kurgan: Probably the most effective of the bunch, your multi-attack onslaught will be much more effective. We will see more first turn kills than ever before. Masters Advance: The faster they run out of dodges, the faster they will buckle under. Nefertiri Draw: Playing so many cards in a turn, you can increase your options by immediately drawing to replace each card played. Overall Overall, I assign Rapier a value of _10_. It is an invaluable card to many types of attack decks, and will potentially re-define the nature of the Highlander CCG. Games will become much quicker and bloodier. Many of the Personas can make use of it to create deadly combinations within the first few turns of play. Watch your heads! Let's see what the rest of my comrades and compatriots said... What Our Other Raters Say: Steve - The single best Weapon of Choice to date, primarily because its disadvantage is negligible. Stratagem away those Basic Attacks, or don't even bother with them if you can get your hands on those Crystals. Or use them as Power Blows - they only do 3/1 damage, as opposed to 4/2. That's still better than Amanda. Mix well with Annie's ability, or Taunt/Katana, or Amanda, whoever else you please. It's still doesn't make Basic Attacks obsolete (Lunge users, particularly those who Power Blow, take note), but it comes close. It's also a deadly weapon with Parrying Blade, since the latter gives more non-Basic Attacks (Surprise Strike). Some nice supplementary cards (except for Quality Blade *sigh). Jeff - Rapier is definitely the strongest of the Weapons of Choice in A&T. In conjunction with other strong pro-attack cards, it shifts the balance toward attacking and away from stall, cheese, and other such strategies. In conjunction with Parrying Blade, a huge number of attacks can be made in one turn... without adding in inherent abilities (Ceirdwyn, Amanda, YDK), Dueling Grounds, The Prize: Attack, etc. There are very few Immortals that it doesn't complement. Katana? Taunt/Flashing Blade with Rapier. Amanda or Annie? More attacks. Slan? Use Flashing Blade to make sure they don't get away from both attacks. Hank - The Rapier is one of my favorite of the new weapons. It give the benefit of Amanda (2 attacks per round) without as much of a penalty (-1 damage only to Basics). Combined with the "no Basics" Bob, or three Crystals (soon to be 6) to swap out Basics for Ripostes or Flurry Strikes, and you have a Weapon that gives a benefit with little to no penalty. It's a one-handed Weapon, so it works well with things like Pistols, the Shield and the Parrying Blade... it's got good cards (the Slices are nice without being abusive)... in my opinion, Rapier is the best of the WoCs, all positive and no negative. Alan - Prodipto - Definitely one of the most powerful, and arguably _the_ most powerful Weapon of Choice, the Rapier has a number of benefits going for it. The extra attack is far more valuable than the minor impediment (particularly with Crystals) of having to lose a point from your Basic Attacks. Other non-Special Attacks are not affected in any way, making Slashes much more efficient with Rapier in play (editor's note: only Upper, unless you're using the Kurgan Q). Additionally Slices allow for additional multi-area attacks. Quality Blade and Swashbuckler are nice support cards. While I'd never use Bleeding Wound myself, some people may find it appealing as well. Personae who should definitely consider the Rapier (aside from everyone) are Amanda, Annie, Ceirdwyn, Fasil, Kanis, Kastagir, Kern, Hyde and Methos. Allen - The Rapier is one of the best weapons of choice from Arms and Tactics. An extra attack is a very nice upside and makes playing slashes much easier. This is true even if you only play one attack per turn, but Rapier is most useful when you intend to throw several attacks in the same turn. If you aren't lucky enough to be Annie or Hyde, Rapier helps improve the quality of your attack patterns. Flashing Blade helps multi-attackers, but Twist of Fate can leave you swinging at a single dodge. Slice, however, is undodgeable when played in multiples. If you can play L. Slice, R. Slice, Lower Attack, then your opponent is likely forced into using multiple defenses. Rapier's main strength lies in the weapon itself. Quality Blade can let you use a basic attack after playing an inconvenient block, but if you build your deck well this shouldn't be an issue. Given Rapier's downside for basic attacks I usually skip Quality Blade. Likewise I usually skip Trap. With opponents casually throwing 3 or more attacks per turn, forcing them to lose one doesn't often seem like an efficient use of my special card. There are certainly easier ways to try and disarm you opponent, especially since I use so much dodge suppression already. Swashbuckler can be nice, but I prefer cards which give me a more constant and predictable number of attacks per turn. Bleeding Wound, however, especially when played with Dirty Tricks, can be a real coupe. Bruce - If you were only able to have one WoC in your collection, it would almost have to be either Rapier or War Axe. Rapier's "penalty" is minimal especially if you just cycle away the Basic Attacks or use any of the current methods to not play with them in the first place. The ability to play an additional non-Special attack during your turn not only provides obvious offensive potential, it creates an opportunity to cycle your hand and balance cards based on an opponent's strategy. While it doesn't have a clear power card like War Axe's Quality Blade, most of its cards compliment Rapier fairly well. Bleeding Wound can help you get your attacks through or waste their Situation defense. The Slices are, if nothing else, superior to most basic attacks. Swashbuckler gives you a reason to put dodges back into your deck. Only Quality Blade plays into Rapier's weak spot and even it could find a use in many Rapier decks. What Rapier has is versatility and the ability to fit into almost any deck strategy that does not rely on Basic Attacks or a specific WoC. What it lacks, if it really lacks anything, is a clear reason to build a deck entirely around it. Stealth Dave - Rapier is, IMO, one of the most powerful and useful Weapons of Choice currently available, second only to the War Axe by a slim margin. Rapier has arguably the least harmful "penalty" of all the Weapons. With the existence of A&T Remove 5 Cards and Crystals, you can build a deck with any Persona that has only one Basic Attack, and Rapier's penalty has no real effect on Amanda or the Bob that doesn't have to include Basic cards. While Rapier's cards aren't necessarily outstanding, they do provide very good support for the weapon. The best thing about Slice is really the fact that it is a non-basic attack since it can easily be blocked by Basic Blocks and Guards. Bleeding Wound is nice since there isn't much out there that stops Situation damage (even Methos has to take it ;), and Swashbuckler can really speed up those attacks. Quality Blade? Eh. Chances are you're trying to get away with as few Basic Attacks as possible any way, so I don't see a whole lot of use for that card. All in all, Rapier is a powerful contender as multiple attack strategies become more and more popular. Charles - Rapier is a pre-game that lets you play an additional attack and its only drawback is that Basic Attacks do 1 less damage...I think it is awesome! It should make its way into every multi-attack based deck as well as any deck that relies on finesse. Ditch that dragon-headed katana, Conner: the Rapier is a real man's weapon! The WoC cards that enhance this weapon provide a decent boost as well. Swashbuckler and Bleeding Wound will annoy any opponent that has run low on defenses, but Swashbuckler is, by far, the more annoying of the two. Pair this weapon with Fitz and his Fast Talks become ungodly powerful, pair it with Kanwulf and you have a great multi-attack deck (with or without a lot of Specials), pair it with a Battlefield deck... well you get the idea. I believe Rapier is the most powerful Pre- game since the creation of the TCG Rip. Ratings Overall Steve 9 Jeff 8 Hank 9 Prodipto 9 Allen 8 Bruce 8 Sdave 8 Jonathan 10 Charles 8 Average: 8.56 ------------------------------------------------------------------
Scorn/SE Situation While Scorn is in play, target player loses 2 Ability. At the end of target player's 2nd turn, discard Scorn. (errata'd text) Scorn/ME Situation At the beginning of each turn for the next 3 turns, target player loses 1 Ability. At the beginning of that player's fourth turn, remove Scorn from play. All lost Ability returns when Scorn leaves play. While catching up on old favorites (and some not-so- favorites), the two Scorn cards come up as some of the typical "almost-forgotten" cards that we've been reviewing recently. These cards never drew a great deal of attention on their initial release. Now, several Collections, Editions, and Expansions later, let's take another look at them. Game mechanic questions first. Both of these cards affect Ability, rather than inflicting damage. As such, this means that they can't be negated by cards that prevent damage. Most such cards only work against Events only. Even Dr. Sonny Jackson and Dr. Anne Lindsey won't work against Scorn, though. By the same token, Kalas gains no benefit from his Persona ability when using Scorn. Ability loss caused by either version of Scorn occurs during the target's first Ability Adjustment phase after it is played. Ability regained when Scorn leaves play is regained during the target player's next Ability Adjustment phase as well (the last sentence of Scorn/ME is somewhat misleading). So if Player A plays Scorn/SE on Player B on turn 2A, it will reduce his Ability by two at the end of 2B, during the target's next Ability Adjustment phase. It will be removed at the end of turn 3B, but Player B will not regain two Ability until the Ability Adjustment phase of 4B. When your lost Ability returns when Scorns leave play, you _are_ considered to "gain" Ability. Thus, you are now a legal target for cards such as Incense of Pain and Kate. Regaining Ability due to a discarded Scorn will _not_ make you a target for an "enhanced" Stalk/Martin Hyde, since you didn't play a card that let you gain Ability. If you Focus Scorn/ME, you do not lose Ability that turn. However, Scorn/ME is still "in play" and so you don't recover your lost Ability that turn. Scorn/ME will still know when the target's fourth turn is, and remove itself. You can heal your Ability up during the turns when you are under the effect of Scorn. However, Ability regained when Scorn leaves play will not raise you above your maximum. So that's how the Scorns work. When are they useful? The first thing to consider is the difference between the two. Scorn/SE has a somewhat lesser impact (-2 Ability instead of -3), but it occurs right away, rather than spread out over three turns. Scorn/SE's most immediate function will probably be to keep an opponent from drawing at the end of their next turn. Typically, they'll play roughly two cards. They lose 2 Ability, and thus draw nothing. After that, they'll be at two less Ability for the next two turns. This is probably not a substantial advantage to the Scorn-user unless it is late in the game, Scorn can still force the target player out of the game if it reduces his Ability such that he is at 0 at the beginning of an attack phase. Scorn/ME does much the same thing, but its effect is cumulative. This means you won't be able to restrict the drawing of his cards quite as much, since he'll still be able to draw at least one card each turn that his Ability drops by one. However, it also means at the end of three turns he'll be, however, briefly, -3 Ability. This also means that when its effect fades, your opponent regains 3 Ability. Why is that more important than regaining 2 Ability from Scorn/SE's removal? Incense of Pain. Which brings us to who should use Scorn? Because of Incense of Pain, Luther is an obvious choice. It is Reserved, so Richie can use it a little more easily, but not much better than anyone else using Darius. So what do you with Incense of Pain? Very simple. Play Scorn/SE on turn 1A, and on turns 2A and 3A play Incenses of Pain. Your opponent will lose 2 Ability on 1B, regain it at the end of 2B, and it will actually increase by two during his Ability Adjustment phase on 3B. He loses a big _12_ cards from the top of his Endurance. How many Cat & Mouse cards would Xavier have to play, in how many turns, to accomplish the same effect? And those two Incense of Pains are out there for you to play another Scorn/SE and make them lose another 12 cards. Get down three more for a total of five (the fifth from a pg Darius), and your opponent will be losing _18_ cards from his Endurance each time he "recovers" from your Scorn. Anybody have a problem with that? Play six Scorns, and that's a potential 126 cards each pass through Luther's Endurance. Even Khan is going to feel a bit weak in the knees after that. All your opponent can really do is Police the Scorn as soon as it hit the table, before his first Ability Adjustment phase. This costs him the use of a Special that turn, and makes him waste the Police on something other than your other Situations. Scorn/ME take a bit longer, but has a few minor advantages and one big one. The minor ones include the somewhat slower, but psychologically more grinding effect of having your Ability tick down. Never underestimate psychology in a game of Highlander. Another advantage is since you only have to play one Scorn/ME every three turns (although you _can_ play them quicker), you have more time to play other Specials like Disappear and Continuity (w/Endure Pain), and slow down those newly- minted multi-attacker types with Taunt. The really big advantage is that when they regain that Ability, they'll lose 9 cards, rather than the six from Scorn/SE. That ads up to a potential 24 cards lost per Scorn/ME, or a potential _144_ per pass through your Endurance. The other Ability-gaining related card is Kate. Since anti-Event damage is still a common phenomena, sight, this Ally isn't nearly as effective as Incense of Pain. But if you can use those extra turns granted by Scorn to Police those Greenfield Hobbies, you might be able to come out ahead. If Luther tries this stunt in conjunction with Incense of Pain, Disappear will give him some added protection if the opponent uses Do It Yourself/General Katana or Unexpected Assistance to "bounce" the damage back. So overall, Steve gives Scorn/SE a _3_ and Scorn/ME a 4. At best, they're a minor annoyance under most circumstances. However, their use with Incense of Pain is so painful if successful that I've got to bump it a point or two. What Our Other Raters Say: Jeff - Scorn/SE is by and large a waste of time unless you just happen to need an extra 2 points to take your opponent to zero. The ME Scorn is, perhaps, a bit better with its longer duration, but is really not that useful. The presence of Police, Focus, and Katana along with their transient nature suggests to me that the slots used for these cards could be better used. Hank - I've used these cards before, it's sometimes useful and sometimes forcing an opponent to gain Ability (when the Scorn leaves play) is also a good thing, sets up combos (Kate, Incense of Pain, etc). Neither card is all that powerful, though. I'd give a slight edge to the SE Scorn: it's over with more quickly and you can combine it more often because of that. Prodipto - Scorn is a fairly decent way to temporarily put your opponent at a disadvantage. The key is to take advantage of the 2-3 turns that Scorn is out to further your own strategy. Kane, Fitzcairn and Kastagir all come to mind as Personae who have support cards that further force your opponent to discard, putting them at a severe disadvantage. Kalas can also wreak havoc with the Scorn cards by damaging his opponent and leaving them holding few cards. Most importantly, Police/Counter Damage and Rules of the Game don't affect Scorn, although Focus does. So, in the end, for a narrow strategy, Scorn is decent, but generally of limited use. Allen - Neither Scorn seems very impressive on its own, but are beginning to have some effect in conjunction with other cards; but not a lot. They do guarantee you a use for Kate if your opponent doesn't heal otherwise, but that's two widely space Specials to do less than a Careful Mob or Careful Watcher+Watcher/Hunter+Horton. Several of Luther's Incense of Pain, however, can rob your opponent of _many_ cards after a good Scorn. Use in conjunction with Diane Terrin etc. and you're on to something. Scorn isn't much except for this one combo, however, and thus doesn't rate high in my book. Bruce - There is not a lot to say here. Temporarily reducing your opponent's ability can certainly be useful. If your opponent is not drawing cards, it can severely hamper their strategy. I have even seen some marginal strategies that use these cards as their core components. But, a permanent effect is usually what is called for if you want to win. Stealth Dave - Abstain Jonathan - Ability loss from a Situation is a nice idea, but the loss of these cards after a few turns makes them less than phenomenal. They (particularly ME version) are nice sealed deck cards, but very often do not find their way into competitive decks. They are helpful most specifically in the end game, but tend to work poorly early on in a game. For their Sealed Deck value, they have some value, but I'd never put them into a traditional deck. Charles - Temporary effects do not appeal to me. I much prefer to use Poison Gas because, even though it is temporary, I control when the effect will end, and if I am patient, and play the Gas at the right time, the effect can be permanent. Ratings Overall (SE/ME) Steve 3/4 Jeff 3/4 Hank 5/4 Prodipto 4/5 Allen 3/3 Bruce 4/4 Sdave N/A Jonathan 2/3 Charles 2/2 Average: 3.25 / 3.63 ------------------------------------------------------------------
Pedestrian/Delay-2 Situation: Pedestrian No attacks may be played until after your opponent's next 2 turns. Discard this card at that time. (errata'd text) Another oldie-but-goodie. A one-time favorite, but has it fallen on hard time? Let's take a look. Pedestrian/Delay-2 is...well, a Pedestrian card. If we weren't sure before, we have the errata to make that clear to us now. Whew. :) It is vulnerable to cards that target Situations _and_ Pedestrians. Ped-2 has no effect until it is played. Nor should it be implied that you cannot play an attack the turn you play it (unlike, say, Disappear). Feel free to play an attack, then play Ped-2. Ped-2 does prevent both players from playing attacks, and can be bypassed by the appropriate cards that let you ignore "prevent attack" effects. And...that's it. Pretty simple. So what do you do with it? In its best days, Ped-2 basically served as a substitute Intimidate/Slan or Luther. For non-attack types like Xavier, it gave you plenty of time to play those Unholy Alliances and Alliances, get out your Forethoughts, and then sneak in a Stalk that they couldn't Holy Ground away from. All and at the same time not have to worry about someone beating up on you. Ped-2 also expanded the ability of Slan to Power Blow and not have to worry about a Hidden attack next turn. In essence, it gave him twice as many Intimidates. Then we had Movie Edition, and the introduction of General Katana, Rooftop, and Focus. Katana's Exertion may have been a bit expensive to deal with the temporary delay of a Ped-2. Focus worked both ways. It let you attack if your opponent had it out...but it also let you attack if _you_ had it out. Rooftop was not one of the more common Locations in play even then, and was used more as a anti-Angry Mob/Careful Planning deterrent. The next big change in Ped-2's fortunes came with The Gathering, where we had Trenchcoat. Besides making Rooftop obsolete, Trenchcoat makes it extremely difficult to play any Pedestrians, as there is currently no cards to temporarily Focus or Recon past Objects, and Misfortune remains the only real Object-removal tool. Since Trenchcoat works against other, more dangerous cards as well, such as Angry Mob-SE/Careful Planning and Pedestrian/Hidden-Only, it's an Object that's likely to see continuing use in the years to come. So with all that in mind, is Ped-2 still worth using? In some cases, yes. With the new rise in multi-attack decks thanks to the release of Arms & Tactics, and the existence of Ceirdwyn and Rapier in particular, a Generic card that stops _all_ attacks, rather than simply causing the loss of a single attack (Bystander/Event, Parrying Blade's block effect, etc.), can still be a useful tool. While Ped-2 makes your opponent unable to attack for two rounds, if timed properly it only affects you for one turn. Ped-2 also has the benefit of letting you "set up" an attack. Again, Parrying Blade in the hands of your opponent, as well as the necessity to block against more and more attacks, can mean that it can be difficult to play that attack to the precise area you need it. Master Swordsman helps, but there are times when you still can only make one attack, and you want to play that Stalk/Xavier to one specific area. A Ped-2 can buy you that time. And Ped-2 still makes a useful augmentation to Slan when he doesn't have Intimidates handy. Cheese decks probably don't need Ped-2, not when Ped- Hidden, Safe Haven/Sit, FM/Wings, and Grapple are out there. Ped-2 is best used as an augmentation to a combat deck, not (as in the game's early days) as part of an anti-attack stall deck. The main problem with Ped-2, and what ultimately _does_ bring it down, is that you've got to get past Trenchcoat to do it. While Trenchcoat has put a end to a great many cheese strategies, it also tends to impair certain non- cheese cards, and Ped-2 is one of those. Given the prevalence of Hogg, Flying Machine/Wings, Equalizer, and anyone with a few Darii to spare, Misfortunes should be more and more a 4+ card staple in practically any but the leanest & meanest of decks. The problem is, you're probably going to find plenty to Misfortune because of those cards, without worrying about trying to keep the board clear of Trenchcoats. If you use a Disarm deck and have to worry about Extra Weapons as well...forget it. Assuming you even want to waste time playing a Ped-2 when you're trying to disarm and skewer your opponent ASAP. So overall, Steve gives Pedestrian/Delay-2 a _2_. Maybe the pendulum will swing back again, Trenchcoat will phase out as the more extreme cheese that it deals with dies away, and Ped-2 may become viable. But right now, there are just too many other better cards out there, wheter you want to stall a game entirely or stall an opponent's attack drive. What Our Other Raters Say: Jeff - Once a kinda-cool card, this Ped has fallen on hard times. Not only is it vulnerable to all the usual cards (Focus, Police, Katana, Rooftop, Trenchcoat), but it also has Discipline: Attacks and Dueling Grounds to get around now. Not useful outside sealed deck. Hank - A cheesy card, but it's seen use. I think it got eclipsed quite a bit by Ped/Hidden, because Ped/Hidden lasts indefinitely, but I've used it before to have a breather to get Specials out... Ped/Hidden has a lot more chance of backfiring. Prodipto - Need to buy some time from your opponent's attack deck? Need a chance to slough some defenses to cycle your hand? Then Ped-2 is your friend! With the implementation of the rule allowing you to drop a defense if your opponent didn't attack, you have two free turns of cycling in some cards that will help your strategy. I'm a great proponent of card cycling and, if it keeps your opponent from attacking, then great! Of course your opponent gets the same benefit, but in many cases that's worth the price. Allen - Ped: 2 Turn is a good 'breather' card for older Immortals who aren't up to today's five attacks per turn pace, or any deck which only wants to make carefully timed attacks, wants to conserve its defenses, buy time to play non-Attack oriented Specials (Change of Fortune, Lunge, Attack Weapon anyone?), or just not face a Hidden attack after a Power Blow. It does these jobs fairly well, and can augment such cards as Slan's Intimidate. Not much for flash, and easily abusable with cheese, but it can help you wind up for that one big swing. Bruce - When I first started playing Highlander, this card was in all of my decks! I could just count it as a defense card and everything worked out. But, it is a Pedestrian and a Situation and thus fairly easy to get around. You are probably far better off with other cards in today's environment. Stealth Dave - Abstain Jonathan - Despite the trend away from Pedestrian\Bystander strategies, this card has a number of productive uses. An intelligent player can use it to control the flow of the game, attacking without the fear of reprisal on Turn One, and finding some time to set up his next strategy on the off-turn. That said, the anti- Pedestrian nature of the game has hurt this card's potential rating. Situation removal has become quite commonplace as people need to remove Hounds and Allies at an alarming rate now. Most Situation-based strategies are doomed unless they really pile on the Situations each turn. Thus, I expect to see very little of Pedestrian-2 in the future. Charles - There are much more powerful cards capable of preventing an opponent from attacking such as Safe Haven and Duelist. There are also ways around Ped-2 that do not affect other anti-attack situations (Rooftop and Trenchcoat). Ratings Overall Steve 2 Jeff 3 Hank 6 Prodipto 6 Allen 6 Bruce 3 Sdave N/A Jonathan 4 Charles 2 Average: 4.00