Luther - by Steve Crow You may block Power Blows without an Exertion. You may have up to five Master cards. Overview Well, it's putz boy. Few people seem to consider Luther a worthy Persona. And upon first glance, he's not. His Persona ability seems a mere shadow of Slan's, and he originally only had three Persona-specific card. One, Intimidate, is a duplicate of Luther's "older brother," Slan. But with the coming release of Watcher's Chronicles, and the potential card errata and new restriction numbers, let's take a new look at him. While Luther's Persona ability is only half that of Slan's . . . it's at least the equal of the Kurgan's. Not having to worry about Exerting for Power Blocks, or relying on Power Block-related Specials (Ancestral Blade, Stamina, Master Swordsman, the Luther Quickening) can free up space in your deck for other things. It saves you several turns worth of Special play that can better be used elsewhere. Simply put, a Persona ability can _not_ be lost. Yes, Slan can do both Power Blows and Blocks. However, his lack of Persona-specific cards is downright depressing. Persona-Specific Cards Among the non-Reserved cards, Luther has most of the typical ones: Back Away, Combination, Continuity (more on _that_ in a moment), Disarm, Dodge, Power Blow, and Trip. Oddly, he lacks the "standard" Extra Shot. Luther has three Persona-specific Reserved cards. They include: Disappear: known and feared, but most commonly in a Richie deck, or Darius'd in elsewhere. This card remains _the_ way to get out of any number of tricky situations. It avoids Head Shots, unlike damage "preventers" like Dr. Sonny Jackson, Dr. Anne Lindsey, and Khan's Helmet. Holy Ground will avoid Head Shots, but does nothing against damage. Disappear combines the best aspects of Holy Ground and multiple Police/Counter Damage cards. It's immune to the various cards that prevent those cards' usage (Carl, Disguise). And it even prevents damage from non-Events, like Battlefield. Intimidate: the same as Slan's. With the release of Watcher's Chronicles, Luther actually has a way to make Exertion-less Power Blows and still play a Special (due to Master Swordsman). Since he probably won't need Master Swordsman for defense, a combination of Master Swordsman and Intimidate gives him precision placement of Power Blows and relative immunity to Hidden attacks as a result thanks to Disappear and Endure Pain. Taunt: a "slow-down" card, which keeps Luther's opponent from playing as many attacks as they might wish to. This can actually be as effective as attack-depletion strategies using Cat and Mouse/Attack or Caught in the Act/SE. Unlike those cards, which let non-attackers cycle out their attacks, Taunt requires that they make an attack to get rid of an attack. It can also slow down multi-attack decks. It's not an absolute preventative, but it shouldn't be overlooked, either. With Watcher's Chronicles comes Endure Pain, an Edge card. This card can be played if Luther has a Continuity in play, and prevents all damage from one attack. As an Edge card, any number can be played per turn, and it does not use up the Continuity. Endure Pain looks to be the first of several cards that work in conjunction with Luther's "useless" Continuity. Endure Pain is also not dissimilar to a Master's Block. If Luther's opponent makes an attack, Luther can simply use Endure Pain, then attack to any area(s). This gives him more freedom to attack that any SE or ME Persona lacking Master's Block. Endure Pain has the benefits of not counting against Master slots, and not being Restricted. And finally, Luther can either play Endure Pain the same turn he plays Continuity, or on any subsequent turn before it is removed. He can ignore any damaging attack by playing this Edge card, attack to any area, and if Continuity is still in play he can play a Special that turn! Generic Cards Luther, like Khan, is in many ways one step up from a Generic. As such, this gives him a wide range of strategies to pursue. Potentially, he can follow practically any strategy he wishes. Also like Khan, he has high defensive capabilities, and a good element of surprise because of their very unpredictability. Lunge and Flashing Blade are good cards to supplement Trip and Combination, respectively. A successful Luther deck can apply aggressive pressure by using Trip/Lunge and Intimidate/Master Swordsman. Holy Ground is a good safety net, but Luther is the only Persona who can afford to go without it. Two Disappears and six Endure Pains let him ignore Carl and any future anti-Holy Ground cards, as well as avoiding Kalas' game- ending Stalk/Head Shot combo. These same factors let Luther survive without a Watcher/Treatment. He should still play with the two allowed, but if he loses them to Amnesia or Watcher/Counter, he s better able to survive without them. Why? Because he is less likely to take damage, meaning he need only worry about the five Ability loss from an Endurance burn. As noted above, Luther can do without Ancestral Blade, or Stamina, or even his own Continuity if a player lacks Endure Pains. This is important if Ancestral Blade is officially restricted to one, as has been proposed. While other players must rely on the more vulnerable Continuity, Luther may continue on his merry way. And compared to Personas who have a different, non-Power Block version of Continuity such as Fitzcairn, Kalas, or Annie Devlin, Luther looks even better. Essentially, any Generic card can potentially help Luther, and he can ignore several that are important to other Personas. Location Cards As a near-Generic, Luther has no Location that specifically aids him. This well-rounded nature gives him the freedom to use almost any Locations. While the Kurgan might be foolish to use Dead-End Alley, or Duncan to use the Catwalk, Luther can use either (or both) with equal aplomb. His anti-attack cards let him fight well in the Mountain Cave, unleashing Hidden attacks of his own while ignoring his opponent's successful ones. Lighthouse, which defensively restricts an attacker if he misses even one attack, can also be partially ignored by Luther's attack-avoidance cards. Since he needs a few less defenses, Battlefield also helps Luther since he can afford to lose them. Disappear is also one of two cards (the other being Dr. Sonny Jackson) that prevents damage from a Battlefield. Luther has no great dependence on Pedestrians, so a Rooftop might be to his liking. Or he could add a few Watcher Situations and benefit from the Watcher Regional HQ. Probably the only Locations that Luther should avoid are Desert and Ruins. The former makes him go past cards that he'd be better off keeping. Ruins costs him the use of Continuity (and subsequently, Endure Pain). How to Win Luther's Persona ability lets him make tighter decks then nearly any other Persona. This is a key to building winning Luther decks. Put in two Disappear, six Continuity, six Endure Pain, and the fifteen basic attacks (for a total of 29 cards), and you have the freedom to devote space in your deck to your strategy rather then filling up more slots with defensive items like Holy Ground, Police/Counter Damage, and Ancestral Blade. For lean and mean decks, you need heavy firepower. This is a weakness of Luther's, although the introduction of Lunge and Master Swordsman in WC helps. One tactic is to deprive your opponent of his sword. Use Disarm, Parking Garage as your Location, and toss in Forged Steel. Add Guards (since they don't restrict Disarm), and a few Misfortune, Iron Will and Practice Practice. Once your opponent loses his weapon, he'll be at your mercy for a well-placed Head Shot or two. A barrage of Hidden attacks, thanks to Lunge, Trip, Flashing Blade, and Combination, also works well. This won't bother Connor much, but you can skewer most other Personas. Power Blow plus Lunge is also handy, particularly if backed up by Master's Advance and an Intimidate/Master Swordsman combo. Even Event damage is a good strategy for Luther, since he can Disappear away from damage reversal cards like Unexpected Assistance and Do It Yourself. How to Defeat Luther has no inherent heavy-hitting strategy. No Dr. Sonny/Run Through/Lunge, or Darius/Seduce/Power Blow, or Master's Block/Master's Lunge. He can, of course, use Darius to grab some useful cards from other Personas. James Horton is a good card to counter this, and is useful against almost any other opponent. Luther's dependency on Continuity for extra attack- prevention leaves him with a vulnerability to Standing Defense removers like Dirty Trick/Shove, Trip, Ruins, Rush, and lesser-seen cards like Battle Priest, Dangerous Ground, Collapse, and Slippery Footing. Hammer Blow may not help the Kurgan remove Luther's Continuity, but it can force him to use an Endure Pain to avoid the attack. Direct damage can overwhelm Luther's Disappear. Cards like Amnesia (CotW #22) and Psyche (#29) can also be used to neutralize. Psyche Luther into playing Disappear, then refuse to attack. Watch him play it and gain nothing. If all else fails, watch Luther's play of cards and time your heavy-hitting attacks accordingly. If it's the fifteenth turn of the game and Luther hasn't played Disappear, it's a probably a bad time to use Bloodlust. Overall Luther is a nice, well-rounded character, nothing outstanding. He can build almost any strategy while avoiding heavy-hitting opponents. He has some weakness to direct damage, but most Personas have far more. His Persona ability, although seemingly inconsequential, can actually spare him having to play certain Specials, allowing him to use more attack-oriented Specials. Overall, Steve gives Luther a _6_. You'd be surprised what you can do from him, particularly if Ancestral Blade is phased out and Power Blows become a far more potent strategy with Watcher's Chronicles. What Our Other Raters Say: Jim - In the past, Luther has been one of the weaker Immortals. However, he has gotten stronger with Watcher's Chronicles. Endure Pain finally lets him use his Continuity, and he does so with a vengeance. Luther is one of the better Personas to use to play a Disarm deck since he has no need of Ancestral Blade, and he rarely needs to play Back Away. Disappear is an excellent card and it is one that is good enough to pregame Darius in an extra. Rick - Abstain Hank - What a waste of card space. Luther has one useful card, Disappear, and it's much more useful in Richie's hands than Luther's. His ability is a joke, Ancestral Blades are common for Power Blocks, and the only time I've played him is when I wanted a challenge. Alan -Luther is one of the weakest personas in the game, even with the addition of Endure Pain from Watcher's Chronicles. His Taunt is next to useless, and his Intimidate about the same. His only good card is Disappear, which I consider to be one of the 5 most powerful cards in the game. I have found only 2 viable strategies with Luther: Disarm (probably one of the best for a Disarm strategy), and as an anti-attack persona (i.e., prevent your opponent from attacking by locking his attacks in his hand). Jeff - Abstain Wayne - Luther probably lacks in Persona cards as much as anybody except Kahn. His ability to block Power Blows is nice, but with that you might as well play Slan and make free Power Blows as well. Luther has very little offensive ability, but can be a very strong defensive persona. Jared Strait placed second at Gencon with a Luther deck that basically was very difficult to do damage to and ended with a higher ability than his opponent. Overall, though, Luther is one of the weakest personas. Prodipto - Luther has always been the outcast of Highlander. His special power was half of what Slan's was, and his only potent card was Disappear, which Xavier could merrily Forethought away, or in a tournament, would often be the recipient of a TCG rip. With the release of Watcher's Chronicles, he received a much needed boost. While his ability to block Power Blows eliminates the need for Ancestral Blade, the addition of Endure Pain will make him a powerful attack-deck character. His ability to Dodge as well as Back Away puts him a step up on Slan with the increased use of Ranged Attacks as well. Allen - Luther's intrinsic strength is defense. The good news is that this almost allows your defense to take care of itself, and thus leaves you with more room in your deck for an offensive strategy. Luther can afford to utilize patient strategies, such as Disarming or weapon-breaking. Intrinsic Power Blocking, Endure Pain, and Disappear all help him avoid damage until the time is right for him to strike. Endure Pain is Luther's new playtoy from Watcher's Chronicles. A potent card, but one which requires you to use Continuity which does you no good in isolation. I also find Luther able to get good mileage out of Dugal, which provides him with a makeshift Master's Guard. (Mix with lots of Alertness/Block). Should your opponent manage to drop your Dugal Guard and attack you, Disappear will let you get away clean. Still, Luther's lack of offense can prove annoying and tends to limit your options. Ratings Overall: Steve 6 Jim 7 Rick N/A Hank 2 Alan 5 Jeff N/A Wayne 4 Prodipto 6 Allen 6 Average: 5.14 Highlander is a protected trademark of Gaumont Television, used under license by Thunder Castle Games. The card text is copyright 1996 by Thunder Castle Games. All rights reserved.