5 Best Thief Skills

Here we go with my list of the five best thief skills for Spellfire: The Antigonish Variant.      

#5 - Use Poison (Night Stalkers, 63/100) 

Pure, instant-kill cheese! I always enjoy making my opponent "draw and discard a card". It could be their Menzoberranzan or their Good Fortune. Even better, with Use Poison if the last digit of said card is a 3, 2, 1, or 0, their champion is instantly defeated (and in TAV a realm is razed). Lastly, the poison sticks around if not successful the first time, allowing you to use it again next battle - if your champion manages to survive despite the failure of the poison. This is a great thief skill, that even gives you a +3 level-up just in case. The fact that it is only #5 on this list is sort of surprising, until you read the four cards below.

#4 - Broad Jump (Dungeons, 85/100)

Even better than a chance to kill an enemy champion in combat and raze a realm, here's a card that offers to let you skip that pesky "combat" thing. Just toss down this baby after defender has been chosen, and if it's a wizard, cleric, or psionicist, you slip around him and instantly raze a realm, earning yourself a juicy spoils in the process, while your opponent's defender stands around, wondering where that sneaky thief went. This card also gives you a +4 level up, but if you are using this against anything but a wizard, cleric, or psionicist, things probably aren't going very well for you.

#3 - Hijacking (Dungeons, 86/100)

Because it's so difficult to counter thief skills, cards like this one are uber-powerful. Let's say your opponent tosses out a Cold Cup of Calamity or a Good Fortune. Not only do you get the cards as well, but your opponent has to immediately discard his. Talk about card advantage! You simultaneously grant yourself a fat hand, while stripping up to five valuable cards from your enemy's deck and putting them straight into his discard pile. Even better, use Hijacking on a Treasure Fleet. All players draw three? Yup, except you get six, and the guy who played the Treasure Fleet gets none, after his three are discarded. Bam.

#2 - Framed (Conquest, 16/81)

Here come the sticker-set cards! Continuing the theme that these sets contain some truly primo cards is Framed. I'm choosing to go with the Brazilian version of the art since it's not stupid. Anyway, framed is a must in any deck containing thieves. As soon as any of your champions is targeted - by anything - this baby lets you redirect the spell, psionic power, blood ability, or whatever to any champion you want, regardless of immunities. For example, let's say one of your enemies tries to Ancient Curse your Bigby, who has the Star Gem of Martek: Clear Crystal attached. But you happen to have Julio, Master Thief, in your pool. Julio casts Framed, and the Ancient Curse is retargeted to your opponent's Gib Irod, who has The Throne of the Gods attached. But wait! Isn't Gib Irod immune to events? Not this event. She dies horribly, as your opponent chokes on his own bile.

Framed is truly primo, but it's only #2 on this list.

#1 - Assassination (Conquest, 14/81)

With Assassination, you don't have to wait for your opponent to target one of your champions. During phase 3, take a long look at your opponent's pool and pick the champion you'd least like to battle. Let's say a big, honking Gib Lhadsemlo. But he's immune to thief skills, right? Not this one. He goes off to the discard pile, and you attack with confidence knowing that big oaf isn't going to be available to your opponent. For pure champion removal, you can't beat this card. Plus there's what, two cards in the entire game that can cancel it? Primo. The small (very small) downside is that you have to discard the thief casting it. How will I ever get by without my Phostrek or Jamlin? :)

There's your best thief skill of all time.

Next time: The top 5 unarmed combat cards!                   

Dungeons and TAV

Dungeons. The last card type added to Spellfire before the game's cancelation in 1997. The card type that many Spellfire players still have a love/hate relationship with, all these years later.

Up above, you can see The Azure Tower of Onad the Fallen (Dungeons 24/100). This is the dungeon I use in my tournament deck today. Back when Hayden and I were putting together the rules alterations that eventually became the Antigonish Variant, dungeons were one of the main areas I wanted to change from standard Spellfire. This post will go over the rules regarding dungeon cards in TAV, and my rationale for altering them from standard.

Rule change #1 - Dungeons in Decks: Unlike in standard, you shuffle your dungeon into your deck in TAV. It's drawn just like any other card, and may be played during phase 2 of your turn. Rationale: To me, dungeons are personal rule cards. You don't start the game with your rule card in play, why should you start with your dungeon in play? Draw it as normal. As for the phase 2 rule, I'm not a big fan of the "play your rule card during phase 0" thing either. In fact I came within a hair's breadth of changing that rule as well in TAV. Ultimately it was left alone, but the dungeon is played at any time during phase 2, when you are placing realms and holdings into your formation. The playing of a dungeon does not affect your ability to play a realm or holding.

Rule change #2 - Attacking Dungeons: Just as in standard, you can choose to attack a dungeon instead of a realm in TAV. Unlike standard, however, there must be a "path" to the dungeon you wish to attack. This means there must be a way for your champion to walk there (no unrazed realms in the way). Rationale: This is very similar to the way a non-flying (or swimming, or earthwalking, etc) champion can't attack back realms. If there are unrazed realms "protecting" the dungeon, it cannot be attacked until those realms are either razed or discarded. A champion successfully attacking a dungeon is not removed from the game, nor do they suffer any type of penalty for winning the combat and discarding the dungeon. Play continues as if the champion had just razed a realm.

Rule change #3 - Dungeon Spoils: When a dungeon is successfully defended, the defender gets a spoils, which is playable in the same way as a spoils gained from razing or discarding a realm during combat. Similarly, when a dungeon is successfully discarded by an attacker, the attacking player gets a spoils. The differences between dungeon spoils and regular spoils that exist in standard have been erased in TAV. Rationale: A spoils is a spoils. Why confuse things with two different types? 

Rule change #4 - Discarding Dungeons Outside of Combat: There is no special requirements or rules when using a Wish, a Gib Kcir, or any other card to discard a dungeon. These cards function normally. The requirement to discard the casting champion when using Wish (or any other card) to destroy a dungeon is not in effect in TAV. Rationale: Why make a rule that affects two or three cards, total? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Rule change #5 - Where Do Dungeons Go?: Unlike in standard, there is no "special" pile to put a dungeon into when it is discarded. It simply goes to the discard pile. Have a way to get it back? Go for it. Play it normally during your next phase 2. Rationale: Why shouldn't you be able to retrieve your dungeon the same way you can retrieve your rule card? Dungeons are basically personal rule cards, and should be treated as such.

That's about it. I feel these rule changes make dungeons a more fun and less onerous part of the game of Spellfire. Be sure to send me your opinion about them or any TAV-related rule!

Next time: the Dirty Bird!                  

Ruins and...Ruins.

 

In TAV, attacks are difficult to defend against. It's a fast format, filled with instant-kill cheese. The best strategy is usually to prevent your opponents from attacking at all. That's where realms like these come in. The Ruins of Zhentil Keep (3rd Edition, 3/400) and the Ruins of Iolonia (Dungeons, 32/100) are two lands your enemies will struggle to visit.

Both have powerful movement restrictions, although both have weaknesses as well. First of all, they both attract realm-destroying cards like magnets. This goes without saying, since they are othwise tough to raze and/or discard. Secondly, they are both vulnerable to a popular category of attacking champion: Zhentil Keep allows clerics to attack, and most Avatars are clerics. Nothing like having Zhentil as your front realm when your opponent slaps down Istus. Whoops.

As for Iolonia, the undead are practically everywhere in Spellfire. They're cool and there are quite a few of them to choose from. Odds are you're going to face a few now and then.

Still, even with these vulnerabilties, I'll take these two lands over the typical "can only be attacked by flyers and swimmers" realms. In the right situation, if your opponent lacks the proper type of champion able to attack, Zhentil Keep and Iolonia can shut him or her down for turns at a time. You can concentrate on picking off the few champions that can attack, hopefully before they do their damage. With Zhentil or Iolonia up front, you get precious time to build your Formation and stock your hand. And if you are going to be hit with a land-destuction card like Cataclysm - at least you know where it's going to go. Your Avanil or Tyr is safe for now.

Sometimes hiding out in the Ruins can really pay off.

Next time: Dungeons.                      

Sucker Punch!

I have to admit it: I don't own a Fighting Dirty (Dungeons chase, 3/25). I traded the only one I had way back in 2001 to an unscrupulous scallywag. Actually, he's a good friend who just happened to make off like a bandit on the deal. This card is currently blazing on the online auction sites, hitting values north of $60 most times. 

An unarmed combat (UAC) card is by nature tough to counter. This particular UAC card is nastier than most. Once it hits the board, you must draw and discard a card (which hurts all by itself), noting the last digit. Say so-long to that many cards from your hand as they go bye-bye, straight to the discard pile.

Fighting Dirty also adds a bonus equal to the originally-drawn card's last digit to the employing champion.

There is no downside to this card. Nothing about it isn't awesome. You get a great bonus, force the opponent to draw and discard a card, and totally defenestrate his or her hand. Then combat continues. Good luck to your poor opponent. Most likely he or she is also razing a realm and giving up a spoils.

Standard, TAV, it doesn't matter what version of Spellfire you're playing. You want this card in your deck, and you want it in your hand.

The art adds another bit of awesome to Fighting Dirty. It's quite apt, as what the card does to the opponent when it hits the table is the metaphoric equivalent of the scene depicted in the art. Ouch! Amid all the cheese in TAV, Fighting Dirty still stands alone.

Next: duck, dip, dive, and DODGE!