HIGHLANDER Card of The Week #4 Week of 27 November 1995 Copyright 1995, Jeff Barnes (barnejd@wkuvx1.wku.edu) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEINT Event "May only be played if your last attack was unsuccessful. You get your last attack card back." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seattle, 1983 He is good, this youngling. Strong, vigorous, agile. With the proper training he may be the One... A well-placed thrust from him snaps my attention back to the sparring session. Steel rings on steel as I parry his blow. Has it been three months since I found him, shivering and homeless on the streets? As I look at him now, there seems little similarity between that wretch and the young man he is now. His name is Erickson. Thomas Erickson, though he prefers "Eric." He came to Seattle from California when he was barely a teenager, though he has not told me why. I suspect he is running from someone, or something. Possibly an abusive parent. No matter; in time, he will tell me. The story is his to tell, not mine to surmise. I snap my sword toward a chink in his defenses. With effortless grace that would take most of our kind decades to develop, the hole closes, and my blow is sent wide. Quickly, I set up my guard, narrowly averting his return. I slash at his legs. He parries yet again. Yes, he is very good, this one. But not good enough yet. Before he can recover, I slash again and score a hit, knocking his legs from beneath him. In a flash, his sword is on the ground, and my padded blade is at his throat. Had this been a true duel, his head would be mine. I allow myself a wintry smile as I repeat the words of my mentor Hassan, while I lend Erickson a hand up. "Remember this lesson well, youngling. Anyone can make a mistake, but for our kind mistakes are fatal. Never underestimate the power of a feint..." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ideal for "hack" decks, FEINT allows the immortal to get around the six card limitation for each attack. In effect, adding six Feints to a deck increases the number of attacks by six. Its primary use is obviously for burning away your foe's defenses. Play an attack which fails, then the next turn play feint and attack again. Continue attacking to that same area using feint until your opponent runs out of valid defenses and either has to take the damage or exert for a defense. Of course, it helps if you also have multiples of the same attack. After the Feint/attack cycle strips away your opponent's defenses, employ another identical attack the next turn, combining it with a power blow or even a head shot. If your opponent has not drawn a valid defense in the last turn, he could be in trouble. Another way of employing the Feint (albeit with less chance of success) is to Feint for the previous attack, attack, then exert to make it a power blow. This tactic is especially good if you have a Master down and are playing a decentralized deck (one with many attacks and few specials you have to have). This "hack" tactic may work if given enough time, but may backfire on you -- especially if you are foolish enough to try it when not running either Duncan or Connor. It goes without saying that Feint should be in almost every "high hack" deck (which feature six each of all three upper attacks combined with head shots and power blows). Since they help to weaken the other immortal's defenses, they increase the chances your head shots will get through. What are the costs of playing a Feint? Obviously, you lose your special card for the turn when you play Feint. This can be costly when you have other cards that you may wish to play as well. Do you play the Feint and hold the other, or play the other and let the Feint clog up your hand? It can be a maddening decision, and many times Feint will remain in the immortal's hand for much of the battle, losing its spot to other, flashier specials. In short, as Ishmael said, never underestimate the power of a Feint. In many decks, it can prove the difference between defeat or taking the other immortal's head. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Highlander is a protected trademark of Gaumont Television, used under license by Thunder Castle Games. The card text is copyright 1995 by Thunder Castle Games. All rights reserved. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------