One of the main tenets of TAV is that there is only one attack per turn. Either the attacker wins the round of combat, and the defender's realm is razed, or the attacker loses the round, and is discarded.
But certain champions have special powers that allow them to attack multiple times per turn. Such champions are nothing special in standard Spellfire, but become real beasts in the Antigonish variant. Let's take a look at a few of these multiple-attack maniacs.
The first champion I'd like to highlight is Darien Avan (Birthright, 86/100). He has the ability to attack twice, but only under certain specific circumstances. Firstly, he needs to win on his first attack. Secondly, he needs a realm to not have been razed after his win. In TAV this can happen in several ways. Maybe a Spirit of the Land (2nd Edition, 288/400) was played. Maybe Darien just finished attacking Nibenay (2nd Edition, 226/400). In any case, he won but the realm is still sitting there, mocking you. Darien can go ahead and attack again. He may even keep one ally he used in the previous battle. Excellent, re-use that Loup-Garou or Dreaded Ghost! Please note, however, that if Darien wins again and the realm is somehow not razed, he can't try a third time.
Rikus (2nd Edition, 258/400) is better than Darien, since he can attack twice regardless of whether or not a realm is razed by his first attack. Also, Darien can only ever raze one realm per turn, although he gets two cracks at doing so. Rikus, on the other hand, can raze a realm, granting his controller a spoils, then go right back at it and target a new realm! This is attacking multiple times, TAV style. The ability to raze two different realms with attacks in one turn makes champions like Rikus unbelievably primo in this format. Note that, unlike Darien above, Rikus cannot re-use any cards he used in his first battle.
Gorynych (Underdark, 84/100), like Rikus, enables you to target (and raze) two realms in the same turn. One thing that makes him better than Rikus is the fact that he flies. This enables him to attack lands with the movement restriction "can only be attacked by fliers" or realms in back of the formation, protected by more powerful front lands. The other trick this creature has up his sleeve is his Wishbone. Yes, you read that right. If Gorynych is attacking for the second time, and a Spirit of the Land or a Pit Trap hits the board, the realm will be automatically razed so long as Gorynych was winning the battle. Note that Gorynych has to be winning the battle when his Wishbone is activated, making him less primo than the Headless Horseman, who can choose to automatically win even when he's losing. Then again, the Horseman can't raze two realms for you in the same turn!
Here he is, the ultimate "more than one attack" champion. Zaknafein (Underdark, 94/100) is a powerful Drow who has the ability to attack three times per round. He can raze Nibenay and then target a second realm. He can even target three different realms in one turn. Can you imagine three spoils coming your way? This guy can break a TAV game wide open all by himself. Only problem? He can't re-use any cards, so you'd better have a fat hand before contemplating taking three swings at your opponent(s). The other minor flaw is that Zaknafein reduces in level with each attack. He goes from a robust 9 to a mediocre 6 to a wimpy 3 with each swing. A good strategy is to attempt to win the first battle with a level-up war, while saving your instant-kill cheese for the later two fights when Zaknafein is lower in level.
Be aware that all four of these dangerous champions have no immunities whatsoever, and all of them attract champion-killing cards like magnets. If used well, however, they can really tilt the gaming table in your direction!
Next time: The five best blood abilities.
