HIGHLANDER Card of The Week #9 Week of 10 January 1996 Copyright 1996, Jeff Barnes (barnejd@wkuvx1.wku.edu) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- THRUST Center Grid Attack "A thrust does an addition point of damage." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seattle, 1985 Our hate was born when our master died, sealed forever when I took his lover's head. It will not end until one of us is dead. After all, there can be only one. Looking at Taylor is like staring into the web of a fractured mirror. So much alike, and yet so twisted. Shattered. Flawed. And I know now that he is behind it all. Erickson. Cassandra. The Watchers who came after me. All the others. And now he stands revealed, proud of what he has done, gladto have caused so much pain. Happy to have destroyed my life here. And I will take his in return. Such is our way. Steel upon steel again -- how many times have I heard that sound? There are no words. Taylor and I are long past words. We hate. That is enough. I knock aside his clumsy attack and return a blow of my own. He parries with a grim smile. A deft flick of his wrist as he tries to disarm me. His mistake. Dodging his attempt to take away my blade, I spin, exposing my back to him for but a split second. The move takes him by surprise. I twirl my blade so that it is pointed backwards... ...and slam it into his chest. As I feel the blade grate against his ribs, I dig in with grim satisfaction. At last, it will be conluded. With disdain that would do even Hassan proud, I pull my sword from him. With his usal shortsightedness, he never thought something as obvious as a thrust could finish him. Taylor slumps to his knees in stunned amazement, his hand finding the hole in his chest. The blow was not as perfect as I'd hoped, I see now. Low and to the right of his heart. No matter. He is at my mercy now. I ready the killing blow. His eyes meet mine, and he smiles. "Very good," he croaks. "Better than expected." I do not reply. As I said, my hate has gone beyond words. And then, in the twinkling of an eye, he moves, flinging something at the ground in front of me. My world errupts in a blaze of light, and I am blinded. When my sight returns moments later, Taylor is nowhere to be found. No matter. He cannot run forever. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thrust seems like a nearly useless card at first glance. To be certain, it does an extra point of damage, but it has to get through to do that point. Of the six blocks, four catch the thrust; in addition, all the dodges and both guards stop it. What good is an extra point of damage if nearly everything stops it? In order to make maximum use of a thrust, then, you have to neutralize its disadvantage. The best way to do this is with Amanda's Seduce. Unfortunately, due to Amanda's disadvantage of less damage per blow, this only does two points of damage -- three if made into a power blow. Not exactly the most optimal strategy. Enter Richie. He can use one reserved card from each immortal, and there is little question that Seduce should always be his choice with regard to Amanda. Exerting to make the Seduce/Thrust combination a power blow does five points of unblockable damage. Playing a Carl or Xavier: Forethought the turn before will then neutralize the chance of your foe escaping via a Holy Ground (and Forethought will also ensure that Luther's Disappear can be cancelled as well). Alternatively, other immortals can use Darius to play with Seduce, though this is a three card combination and thus risky -- especially without Carl and/or Forethought. What else can be done with the lowly Thrust? Keeping in mind that it does an additional point if it does any damage, power blow thrusts can be dangerous to face. If only partially blocked, the blow does three points of damage -- the same as it would if it were an unblocked non-power blow. Slan can be particularly ugly with Thrust, provided you can strip your opponent of dodges (always a good Slan strategy). The best use of his Run Through card is in conjunction with Thrust. Take a hit from your oppponent, play Run Through, then Thrust and make it a power blow. While risky, it carries with it the possibility of dealing five points damage for taking two and only using two cards. Coupled with a dodge-draining deck (Watcher: Discard Dodge, Challenge, and so on). Slan can also get considerable use out of a Thrust when using it under Challenge; the Thrust becomes undodgeable, meaning that the target will have to have some way to power block or take three damage. Another strategy to use with Thrust is to use it to work defenses out of your opponent's hand. This is especially nasty when used to deplete upper defenses, thus setting your opponent up for a head shot later. Conversely, you can use Thrust late in the game, after your opponent's defenses are depleted. Many times the greatest use can be found in the most worthless- seeming cards. Thrust is no exception to this principle, presenting a nasty few surprises to the unwary novice who underestimates its value. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------