Mark Jelfo : Hola!
Welcome to the final card-based installment for The Khan’s Defiance previews. For this expansion set, we’re going to leave a couple cards unrevealed so that there’s some mystery left when attending your local Prerelease Tournament. Yes, I know, we’ve all grown accustomed to seeing the entirety of a set before it’s released, but since this set will not immediately affect the tournament scene (there’s adequate time to explore the cards before the first Kotei arrives), we’re going to keep a couple of cards under wraps for a change of pace… if just to add the element of surprise. Instead, we’ll start talking about other changes that are being made as we transition from one environment to another. These changes touch the packaging, card templating, and updates to existing rules and mechanics. Lastly, I think some Khan’s Defiance desktop screens are in order, so check in early next week for more pre-KD content!
Magistrate Support
Holding
High Courts
2G
Singular
Bow this card: Produce 2 Gold, or 3 Gold if you control a Magistrate.
Political Reaction: Even if this card is bowed, after a player loses Honor from his own card effect, target one of your Magistrates: Dishonor one of that player’s target Personalities.
Action
Restoring Order
0G
Political Battle: Target one of your unbowed Magistrates: Move home a target Personality opposing him with Personal Honor less than your Magistrate’s Chi. Bow the Personality if he moved. Destroy him if he is dishonorable.
“Kill only the rioters!” the magistrated ordered. “Indiscriminate killing only harms our cause!”
4FV
Action
Scouring the Village
0G
Magistrate Open: Bow one of your target Magistrates: Bow a target Personality with lower Personal Honor than your Magistrate’s Chi. If the Personality is dishonorable, he cannot straighten until after his controller’s next Straighten Phase.
“His name was Rosoku,” Masae said. “Did he pass through here?”
4FV
Follower
Imperial Magistrates
2F/0C
2HR, 2G, —PH
Imperial • Magistrate
Battle: Target a Personality opposing this card. Reduce the target’s Force by this Personality’s Chi. If this Personality is a Magistrate, dishonor the target.
If a criminal is known to be guilty, then a confession may be optained by whatever means necessary.
2FV
COMMENTS: One of the best mechanics introduced in Khan’s Defiance for the Magistrate support cards is the comparison of your Magistrate’s Chi to an opposing Personalty’s Personal Honor, rather than the Magistrate’s own Personal Honor. Since Mantis and Scorpion’s Magistrates are shackled to relatively low PH (1 or 2), moving to the amount of Chi allows these cards to target a much wider set of opponents. Both Restoring Order and Scouring the Village become immediately playable for Mantis and Scorpion alike, and also support Fate hands that require high Focus Values. Imperial Magistrates also help clans such as Mantis who might not normally pack dishonor tech to make their targets dishonorable (which pulls some high-Force Clans such as Crab and Shadowlands into their Ranged Attacks).
For Scorpion, Soshi Idaurin becomes more playable, as we have a Magistrate with 4 Chi who can easily use Restoring Order out of City of Lies effectively. Bayushi Adachi Exp., Bayushi Bokatsu Exp., Bayushi Kageki, and Shosuro Adeiko also have the magic number of 4 for their Chi, making this “send home” card almost equivocate to a Personality destruction card. Simply add Bayushi Takaharu to lower your opponent’s PH on his Personalities (which also combos with Shosuro Adeiko) and Bayushi Shun, and you have the basis for Scorpion Clan Magistrate military control deck. Dishonored Personalities will either be sent home, bowed, or just outright destroyed.
Of course, Mantis and Scorpion aren’t the only clans to put on your watch list for Magistrates now, we also have Crane to contend with. The recent additions of Doji Doukohito and Shizuka Toshi seem to work with Doji Ichita, Doji Koin, Doji Ranmaru, and Kakita Kaisei. Sure, it’s all jank, but there’s enough material there to try the Dishonor/Re-honor game on your opponent and Honor-out in the process. It sounds so stupid, I just gotta try it, and these new cards are going to help.
Booster Draft Cards
Action
Allies Become Enemies
0G
Battle: Target two Personalities in the current army, each with a Clan alignment the other does not have. The enemy leader chooses one of them, who is destroyed. Bow the other.
Kaneka shook his head. “Chagatai,” he said. “I knew this day would come.”
3FV
Action
Dissent
0G
Battle: For each different clan alignment on Personalities in the enemy army, target one card without attached Followers in that army. Bow all targets.
“Ryoko Owari wass only the beginning!” the peasant hissed. “The Empire shall burn while the clans play their games!”
1FV
Action
The Lesser Evil
0G
Open: Target another player. You may bow a number of his target Personalities up to the number of different clan alignments among his Personalities, minus one.
“What is more important?” Kuon demanded. “Principles or victory?”
3FV
COMMENTS: Being a big fan of Booster Draft, I almost dropped my jaw when I saw Allies Become Enemies. This is going to be the “bend over card” during Khan’s Defiance tournaments and is certain to be a first-round draft pick. Destroying one unit and bowing another is going to brick an opponent’s deck in a hurry, so while this card may not have much Constructed Deck appeal, it has oodles of Limited environment sexiness. Powerful stuff. Dissent is also quite attractive, since it is bound to bow at least one if not two Personalities or more. The Lesser Evil (“weevil?”) is also going to make draft and sealed quite fun, as the ability is scalable to at least some degree.
Tech Cards
Action
Doomed Intentions
0G
Reaction: After another player’s action resolves that dishonored any of his own Personalities: Destroy one of those target Personalities.
Battle: If there are enemy units at the current battlefield: Move one of your target units there. If it moved, straighten it. If you are the Defender, take an additional Battle action printed on a card in the unit.
2FV
Action
Flash of Steel
0G
Focus Effect: If your Personality was challenged to this duel, gain 4 Honor.
Battle: Target one of your opposed Personalities: Bow him. Move him home. Gain Honor equal to the number of units in the current enemy army, to a maximum of 5. Increase the current battlefield’s province’s Strength by the amount of Honor you gained.
2FV
Action
Impressive Resilience
0G
Battle: Target an opposed Personality. The target gains +2F and cannot bow or move during the current Combat Segment.
“History is filled with failed traitors. Let Chagatai join them.”
2FV
COMMENTS: Like any set, Khan’s Defiance has a couple of Tech cards that will likely fit only into certain types of decks, or perform better in Sealed and Draft play formats. It’s nice to see cards such as Flash of Steel that continue to see the use of an additional Focus Effect benefit to shore up a card that might not be used widely for its primary ability. Doomed Intentions this model by having a meta-game Reaction ability, which may or may not see play, depending on how the future environment shakes out.
EDIT:
Mis de l'ordre dans le post