The Luck of the Draw

Today's topic is the Good Fortune trio of events, which can make you feel very lucky, indeed!

1 - Good Fortune (4th Edition, 120/500)

This event is a staple of any Spellfire deck. The only acceptable reason not to run this card in one of your 10 event slots is that you don't own one. At any time, Good fortune lets you draw five cards. Since this happens at event speed, it can be used even before spells or powers take effect. Be warned, however: Good Fortune is always the target of event-countering cards, especially in a multi-player game. But if it goes off, you'll be feeling the luck of the Irish as you peruse your fat, fat hand.

 

2 - Unusually Good Fortune (Forgotten Realms chase, 11/25)

This event is even better than Good Fortune. When played on any player's event (except your own), it grants you three free cards. Not bad...and not many opponents will waste a Limited Wish or Intercession on this card. When played on Good Fortune, however, this event becomes truly brutal. The opponent who played Good Fortune draws no cards, and you get five instead. Talk about a counterspell! Now, with such a narrow effect, Unusually Good Fortune would be relegated to a Caravan Raiders-like level of uselessness, but that three-card draw first power makes it primo instead. I run one of these babies in my tournament deck, and I've never regretted it. As I always say, card advantage is everything in Spellfire.

3 - Insanely Good Fortune (Millenium, 47/99)

This brings us to the last member of this little triumverate, Insanely Good Fortune. This card is awesome, and not just because I co-created it for the Millenium sticker set (though that's definitely part of the reason I love it). Insanely Good Fortune can be used at any time to negate an opponent's helpful event (like the original Good Fortune, for example). Not a bad counter, as Spellfire players can always use another card that stops events. The second power rarely sees play, but when it does, it's a doozy. If an opponent plays Unusually Good Fortune, and you have Insanely Good Fortune in your hand, the effect is dramatic. The UGF is cancelled, and instead both players draw six cards. So far, so good...but then your opponent has to discard down to two cards, while you get to keep all six! You now have the fattest hand imaginable, and your opponent is about ready to pack it in and concede.

I have to admit that I've never seen the second power of the IGF go off. Have you? If so, tell me about it in the comments.

Next Time: The top 3 clerics.

Two More Overrated Cards

Now when I say "overrated", I mean just that. Re-target (4th Edition, 389/500) and Deflection (Artifacts, 54/100) are in no way bad cards. But they do tend to get way too much press among Spellfire fans.

Of the two, Re-target is clearly better. The ability to redirect any offensive or defensive spell can be primo, especially when said spell does not need to be specifically targeting you. Deflection has a more restrictive usage, in that you can only target events that are specifically aimed at you. Then again, events by and large are tougher to counter than cleric or wizard spells, so there is an argument to be made for Deflection's worth.

What it boils down to for me is this: in the Antigonish variant, you're going to be exposed to a ton of instant-kill and realm-destroying cards. Everyone has Cataclysm and Disintegrate, Wish and Ancient Curse. The problem with the cards above, as opposed to alternatives like Calm and Dispel, is that they are too restrictive for TAV. Deflection, for example, will sit uselessly in your hand as a Slave Revolt or Bribery hits the table (those events don't specifically target one player). It can't stop a Caravan and has no effect on Black Bess.

Similarly, Re-target can't help against a Black Tentacles or a Forbiddance.

I'd rather put the more general cards Dispel Magic, Dispel, Intercession, and Calm into my deck. I get nearly the same effect (minus the neat "hit 'em with their own pimp" stuff)...but without having to worry about nightmare scenarios - like when someone slaps down The Avatar and I've got a Deflection instead of a Calm in my undead deck. Whoops!

Next Time: Touch my hand again and you DIE!

When Disaster Strikes!

Cataclysm (3rd Edition, 99/400) is an event that you need in just about every deck. I have one deck (heroes) with no events, but that's more of a gimmick  that I use to make a deck-construction point. In a serious game, you should have a Cataclysm in one of your 10 event slots.

Cataclysm has three distinct, separate uses.

1) It keeps your opponent from getting too close to having six unrazed realms. This is self-explanatory I would think.

2) It can be used to remove from play a land that you yourself have in your hand, allowing you to place it into your formation. Because the Rule of the Cosmos forbids two of the same realm from being in play simultaneously, and razing it doesn't get around this, the Cataclysm comes in handy.

3) It can be used to remove a land with a particularly onerous movement restriction or other power. Don't like the look of that Raurin out front in your opponent's formation? POW! All gone.

Events are as a rule harder to stop than spells, so Cataclysm has a leg up on cards like Disintegrate and Raze. Cataclysm works on lands that are razed or unrazed, which puts it ahead of Dissolution and Creeping Doom. Estate Transference is arguably better, since it places the enemy realm in the more inaccessible Abyss instead of the easier-to-retrieve-it-from Discard pile, but Estate Transference can also be Dispelled easier.

For my money, the best way to cause your opponent to feel the wrath of a natural disaster is still Cataclysm.

Next Time: Retarget and Deflection...overrated cards?

If you can Dodge a knife, you can Dodge an ally!

Watch out, it's a poorly-aimed knife strike!

I have a Dodge (Runes & Ruins chase, 12/25) in four of my decks. Yes, it's that much of a monster card. I call it the cheese killer.

Worried about a Loup-Garou? Hang on to that Dodge! Nervous about your opponent slapping down a Fighting Dirty? Yup, better have a Dodge. Inellect Devourer? Dodge. Haymaker? Noble Djinn? That's right - Dodge.

When playing TAV, you will undoubtedly find yourself at the center of a cheese-storm of epic proportions. Luckily, most of the cheese can be cut by this nifty little event. In fact, if you use it to counter an unarmed combat card, you actually get to draw two cards for free! Nice.

But if you only get 10 events (and forget the rule book, every good TAV deck runs the maximum 10 events), why give a prized slot to Dodge, a card that will sit in your hand for turns while you wait for just the right opportunity to use it?

The answer is, the payoff is worth it. Sooner or later you *will* get the chance to use it. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. Let's say you are enjoying a nice, peaceful three-person game. That's 3 Loup-Garous, guaranteed. A Haymaker or two. Maybe 3 Djinns. A Fighting Dirty? An Athasian Sloth? More than one? Everyone runs these cards in TAV. Trust me, that Dodge in your deck is going to be put to good use in short order.

Please note that Dodge can't stop the level-up of an opposing ally, just the power. But relax - that's not much of a downside. How many times has anyone lost a battle because of the Intellect Devourer's +1? I'll answer that for you: it's not happening.

If it does, however, please drop me a line. I'm sure that story would be interesting! :)

Next time: Life in the Ruins.