The Official TAV Rules

Hey folks. Here is the link to the brand-spanking-new Spellfire: The Antigonish Variant rules.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Although I have been playing this version of Spellfire since 2000, this is the first time the rules alterations and changes from standard Spellfire have been codified in an official document.

If you've been curious to try the format, now's the time! Tell me what you think.

-Marc D.

***UPDATE 1! Link to rules now actually works! :) ***

P.S. I have been asked about the Dungeon changes. I do have a post explaining my rationale for each change here. I think these changes make dungeons more fun and less confusing.

---> TAV dungeon rules have been endorsed by John Danovich himself, the person responsible for creating the Dungeon card in Spellfire.

***UPDATE 2! Link to the Spellfire Reference Guide, vol.3 is here. ***

***SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT***

Hey people, just a little blurb here to let you know that the OFFICIAL SPELLFIRE: THE ANTIGONISH VARIANT RULES will be posted here for the first time tomorrow morning!

This is something I've been asked about repeatedly, and I finally sat down and combined/adapted the standard Spellfire rules and tournament rules to create the first ever version of the TAV rule guide.

I will post the TAV rules as a downloadable Google document. Feedback is very welcome once you've read and gone over the rules document. Thanks!

-Marc D.

My Kings & Thieves Deck

Let's take a look at my spell-less "Kings & Thieves" deck:

Realms (12): Ancient Kalidnay, The Spinx, Mount Nevermind, The Gorgon's Crown, Menzoberranzan, Mintarn, Cities of the Sun, Richemulot, Avanil, Temple of Elemental Evil, The Vampire's Realm, the Spiderfell.

Champions (11): Roubhe Manslayer, the Gorgon, Julio, Krijeydif, Zaranda Star, the Skulker, the Noble Outlaw, the Vampire, Tasslehoff Burrfoot, the Pirate, the Pawnmaster.  

Avatar: Mask.

Magic Items (3): Armor of the High King, Tarokka Deck, Gauntlets of Dexterity.

Artifacts (2): Wintering, Cannon Ball.                

Allies (3): Loup-Garou, Cat Burglar, Guild Master.

Events (10): Cataclysm, Treasure Fleet, Calm, Slave Revolt, Good Fortune, Tyranthraxus, the Caravan, the Genie Bottle, Labor of Legend, Trapped.

Dungeon: Might of the Blood Right.

Rule Card: A Sure Thing.

Thief Skills (5): Backstab, Assassination, Use Poison, Framed, Broad Jump.

Blood Abilities (6): Death Touch, Create Minion, Melt Bone, Death Field, Divine Wrath, Battlewise.

Holding: The Heartland Outfitters.                                     

Total: 55 cards + 1 dungeon.

Notes: This deck works great against decks that have loaded up on counterspells or "lockdown" champions like the Arch-Druid, Midnight, or Sadira. Thief skills and blood abilities are difficult to counter and dispel, and some have very powerful effects. I created this deck sometime in 2000 and have been tinkering with it ever since. Before I made my Heroes deck (which I should post about one of these days), the Kings & Thieves deck used to have unarmed combat cards as well.

Tell me what you think in the comments.

Next time: The TAV rules are coming!              

What Can You Do With A Broken Arrow?

Broken Arrow (TU Chase, 24/25) is a great card in Standard Spellfire and an awesome one in TAV. It combines the effect of a fence (like Solid Fog) with the spoils-shifting power of the Noble Outlaw. The only downside is that you can only use it in a multi-player game. If you are facing a single opponent, it's useless.

When you slap this baby down, two of your enemies must be engaged in combat. Both champions return to their pools and combat is over. Because this is the Antigonish variant, you only get one attack per turn. Therefore Broken Arrow ends two opponents' chance to get spoils. Very useful if one of them is at five realms, looking to slap down that last land.

If it only stopped your enemies from gaining spoils, Broken Arrow would be a decent event. But its "only when you aren't involved in the combat" drawback might keep it out of most decks, where the 10 precious event slots are so important that a card that has no effect when you are engaged in battle probably doesn't make the cut.

But Broken Arrow does more. It actually gives YOU the spoils, instead of one of the two boneheads engaged in the battle. All of a sudden, it could be you slapping down realm number 6 and cruising to victory, on someone else's turn!

For it's fence-like combat ending ability, plus its awesome Noble Outlaw-like ability to mess with other people's spoils, plus its primo ability to give YOU said messed-with spoils card, Broken Arrow goes straight to the bullseye when talking about great event cards.

Next time: My Kings & Thieves deck.

P.S.: There is a rumor floating around the Spellfire-verse of NEW STICKER SETS to be soon released in Brazil. As soon as I have more information on these supposed new fan-made cards from the hotbed of Spellfire in South America, I will link to it here!

5 Best Psionic Power Cards

Let's take a look at the five best Psionic power cards, keeping in mind that this list is based on TAV play.     

#5 - Psionic Disintegration (Dungeons, 73/100)

Yes, it destroys a land. But at what cost? Well, you can't attack the turn you use it, which means no spoils for you. To my mind, getting an instantly-playable spoils card is one of the most powerful things you can do in Spellfire, especially when playing TAV games. Giving up your spoils puts you at a marked disadvantage. Mind you, blowing up one of the other guy's realms can be more useful than getting a spoils at times, and sometimes (like when faced with a land bearing a primo movement restricton) you simply can't launch an attack anyway. One thing is certain, this card is definitely better than Disintegrate, which is an easily-countered wizard spell. Let's slide Psionic Disintegration in at #5 on this list and move on. Next!

#4 - Magic Draining Field (Dungeons, 74/100)

They follow each other in the Dungeons expansion set, and they follow each other on this list! Weird. Magic Draining Field is an awesome card against any deck which is spell-based. It's still good even if the opponent has only a few spells mixed in. Against a deck with no spells (such as my Kings & Thieves deck), it's basically useless. So for every time you paralyze your opponent's wizard deck, you will be stuck with a cardboard clunker each time you face his psionic deck. Because of this big downside, I can only put MGF as #4 on this list. Still a great card, 75% of the time. The other 25% of the time, though? Ugh.

#3 - Destroy Thought (Conquest 18/81)

Oh, those crazy sticker sets! Destroy Thought is a truly awesome psionic power card. Not only does it cancel an attack on your realm, the champion who was about to attack can't attack or defend until Destroy Thought is dispelled. And since only a precious few cards can dispel psionic powers (4th edition Dispel, Wish, Dispel Psionics, umm...are there any others?), that means the affected champion will probably be sitting there doing nothing for quite awhile. Even better, when playing TAV you only get one attack per turn, so this card effectively ends your opponent's chance to get a spoils. Nice.

#2 - Domination  (Conquest, 19/81)

For card #2, We return to the Conquest sticker set, and to the awesome Domination card. It's sort of like Curse of the Azure bonds, except you get to keep the champion forever, so long as Domination is in play. It's like a Tyranthraxus that's twice as difficult to counter, and doesn't take up one of your precious 10 event slots. It works on avatars as well as ordinary champions. Very few champions are immune to psionic power cards. The downside? You can't use the stolen champion (except for sacrificing). Still...the ability to take your enemy's best weapon, with little chance of a counterspell ruining things, is primo.

#1 - Drain Will (Dungeons, 75/100)

Here it is, folks, my pick for the best psionic power card (I thought Powers was the set with all the psionic powers? Dungeons has it beat, hands down!). Drain Will kills any champion on the board of adjusted level 9 or less. Pretty sweet removal for Bigby, Midnight, Cyric, or whoever else is plaguing you. But Drain Will's second power is even better. No champion in that opponent's pool can attack until after their next turn. So you simultaneousy nuke a champion and potentially ruin your enemy's next turn. Even in a multi-player game, this puts a severe whammy on one opponent, who has to draw a good attacker (or have one sequestered in his hand), or else he's got a spoils-less turn coming up. Sweet.      

Well folks, that's it for this time. Hopefully my next post won't take...quite as long to happen as this one did!

Next time: What can you do with a broken arrow?

P.S. As of this writing, it looks like Spellfire.net is no more. Truly the end of an era, people. But this isn't the end of Spellfire, not by a long shot.

P.P.S. It's back up!

10 Best Sticker Set Cards

The sticker sets were created by Spellfire fans after the game had been discontinued by Wizards of the Coast in 1997. Four sets were produced in all, named Millennium, Inquisition, Chaos, and Conquest. Because they were fan-designed, some of the cards were amazingly primo and some were amazingly crappy. They were all meant to be printed on sticker paper (which you can get at any office supply company) and stuck onto unwanted Spellfire cards such as 1st edition "blanks", Ravenloft commons, and Dragonlance commons.

This time I'm picking the 10 best cards from these sticker sets. Later on I'll take a trip through the worst of the bunch, as well. As always, my choices are based on the needs of the Antigonish variant, not Standard Spellfire.

Without further ado, lets go!

#10 - Kiri Allavesse (Inquisition, 29/99)

Kiri Allavesse is sort of like a poor man's Remnis. She can retrieve a used non-land card for you once a turn, but unlike the "dirty bird", she can do it only after she's razed a realm. Plus, you lose your spoils. She gets bonus points for the fact that she is a cleric able to cast wizard spells, reducing your need to add freaks like Bengoukee to your deck. Still, Kiri barely squeezes into this list at #10.

#9 - Realm (Conquest, 66/81)

This land is immune to the Rule of the Cosmos. It can't be destroyed outside of phase 4, so no Disintegrates or Estate Transferences need apply. Realm does what it does quite nicely...it stays on the board like glue and contributes to your 6-land win. Realm is good enough for place #9 on this list.

#8 -Sacred Flame (Millennium, 37/99)

There is a lack of good cleric spells in the game, and this is the second-best cleric spell provided by the sticker sets. If only it could be used in combat, it might jump a few spots on this list. Unfortunately, Sacred Flame can only be used before (phase 3) or after (phase 5) combat. This limits its usefulness, but the ability to send any one card attached to a champion to the discard pile, regardless of its immunities, is still pretty awesome.

#7 - Bastion (Inquisition, 7/99)

This land can send any non-realm card to the void during phase zero. Sounds great, and it would be #1 or #2 on this list if it didn't have such large disadvantages. First of all, you have to also discard Bastion to the void. Secondly, you have to raze another realm in your formation at the same time. So you lose two unrazed realms, to get rid of one of your opponent's cards. Is this ever a good trade-off? Only in the most dire of situations. Because it is great as a last-ditch-effort card, I'll give Bastion the #7 position on this list.

#6 - Burned At The Stake (Chaos, 55/72)

Although there won't be tons of opportunities to use this nifty little event, when it does go off it's so sweet that it deserves spot #6 on the list. Just after Helm, Gib Reltub, Phridge, or some other loser champion casts a spell, you can slap this baby down. So long as the spellcasting champion isn't a wizard or cleric, Burned at the Stake will send them to the abyss, unless they want to discard three cards - at random, which probably isn't happening. Nice card!

#5 - Zakhata, the False God (Conquest, 63/81)

One of the best avatar-nuking cards in Spellfire. Zakhata comes into play with a level equal to the combined level of all avatars on the table, which, in a multi-player game, could give you a level 25+ false god. She also makes all avatars in play vanilla. If I were you, I'd find a place in my deck for this card, especially if you're plagued by avatars the way I am.

#4 - Domination (Conquest, 19/81)

This card is almost as good as Tyranthraxus, which is really saying something. Your opponent has a troublesome champion? Pow! He's yours. Only problem is, he becomes a useless, drooling idiot who can take no action. But...so what? At least your enemy is deprived of his services. Plus you can still sacrifice him to bring out an avatar. Domination gains extra points from me for being a psionic power, which are notoriously difficult to counter.

#3 - Dispel Evil (Millennium, 43/95)

Okay, here we go with the top 3 sticker set cards! At #3 we find Dispel Evil. Why's it so great? Well there are some really powerful, pain-in-the-butt monsters floating around out there. Gib Lhadsemlo, for example. The Gorgon. Maybe even The Living Wall. This handy spell gets rid of them all, regardless of their immunities. Quick, reliable removal like this rates highly in my book.

#2 - Kronos the Titan (Millennium, 62/99)

I've already written about this guy here, naming him the best monster champion ever printed. He can swim. He can earthwalk. He casts just about every sort of spell. Plus he shuts down all other monsters' special powers. Oh, and in case you forgot, he's level 11. Yeah, Kronos is pretty decent! In fact, only one card from the sticker sets can exceed his primo-ness...

#1 - Dispel Illusion (Inquisition, 83/99)

I've already written about this card here, naming it the best wizard spell of all time. Not only that, but it's the best sticker-set card, as well as my personal choice of the most powerful Spellfire card ever printed. It can be cast at any time, allowing you to stop one card - ANY card - from being played. It also keeps your opponent from playing that card again until his or her next turn. So that Menzo or Caer Alison they were about to use to win? No dice. The champion they were about to slap down? See you next turn. The counterspell you baited from their hand? Gone. The sixth realm? Not so fast! This card is incredible, and every deck that has wizard spellcasting needs one.

Well, I managed to do a top 10 sticker cards list without mentioning any of the three cards I designed or co-designed. Although The Forgotten Idol (Millennium, 34/99), Insanely Good Fortune (Millenium, 47/99), and Gib Cram (Chaos, 5/72) are decent cards and fun to play with (I hope), they just can't measure up to the awesomeness that is present in the top 10 cards above.

Next Time: ...er....Psionic Power cards! :)

5 Best Avatars

They're huge, they have incredible powers, and they are sometimes a pain in the butt to get onto the table. Yes folks, its time to run down the 5 best Avatars in Spellfire! Let's do it.

#5 (Tie) - Bonemaster (Powers, 41/100)

He can't be rated higher, because of his very narrow usage conditions. But in the right deck - an undead deck, obviously - he can make your champions almost unstoppable. The Bonemaster is easy to get out (discard any old cleric), and grants your undead a laundry list of immunities, including offensive spells and events. Bam.                          

#5 (Tie) - Kiri (Powers, 79/100)

I've already written about this guy here. He's overrated, but in the right situation he can be a game-breaker. The ability to take away all special powers of all champions is primo. Unfortunately, it also affects your own champions. I've seen him used well, but not often. The fact that Kiri can be summoned by simply discarding a cleric gains him a few points. He's good enough to be rated #5 on this list.

#4 - Iuz (4th Edition, 488/500)

Point 1 - any undead deck can summon this dude, he's easy to get out (simply discard 10 levels of undead). Point 2 - he casts wizard spells. Point 3 - Once per turn, you can raze one of your own lands to force an opponent to raze or discard one of their lands. A useful ability if someone is getting a tad too close to having six unrazed. For sheer versatility, Iuz is hard to beat.

#3 - Istus (Powers, 42/100)

I've written about this primo card here, and I can hardly believe she is only #3 on this list. This Avatar has plagued me more than any other over the years, as several of my arch-enemies use her routinely in their decks. Her discard effect is truly devastating, and that's based on rueful experience. Istus is also a breeze to summon: just discard a cleric and she pops into existence. You can't really go wrong by adding her to a deck. But the next two Avatars are even better.

#2 - Gib Drawsemaj (Nightstalkers chase, 22/25)

I've written about this guy here, in my "favorite cards" post. He's huge (level 20) and has one of the best powers in the game. When he appears, he gains the powers of any two non-avatar champions in play. Words can't describe how crazy that ability is...would you like to take on a champion with the special powers of The Living Wall and Shayira, for example? I thought not. The only downside to Gib Drawsemaj is his rather onerous summoning condition. He can only appear just after you cause an opponent's realm to be discarded. Keep those Dissolutions, Disintegrates, and Estate Transferences handy.

#1 - Remnis (4th Edition, 481/500)

I've written about this guy already as well! Here is the link. Remnis is number one on this list, and it's not close. While the other avatars are great, the "dirty bird" is flat-out phenomenal. Retrieve your used Wish, Estate Transference, Mindshatter, or Dispel Illusion over and over. This avatar is the very definition of the words "primo" and "game breaker". And while he's not the easiest champion to summon - you have to discard 16 levels of flyers - once he hits the table you are automatically on the fast track to a win.

Honorable Mention - Sirrion (Powers, 45/100)

Best looking art on a Spellfire card, bar none. Once I was playing a game and the Magic: The Gathering players at the next table came over to check out the "cool-looking demon". Some of those people eventually became Spellfire fans, all because of Sirrion's majesty. True story!

Next time: The 5 best - and 5 worst - cards from the Spellfire sticker sets.