rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad

Strike with Conviction

13 messages from 6 participants · 17 May 2006 – 18 May 2006
original thread on Google Groups

Joshua Duffin

Name: Strike with Conviction [NoR:C] Cardtype: Conviction Burn to make a hand or weapon strike against a monster at +1 damage. Burn to bleed at +1 bleed as a (D) action. If Strike with Conviction is used to attempt a hand or weapon strike in combat, is it burned on declaration, or on resolution? I figure probably declaration. Last night, my group had another 'unintuitive experience' with the "bleed at +1 bleed" part of SwC - I think this is because the effect sounds just like an action card, and action cards are normally always burned when announced. The interpretation that it is merely a card in play that *allows* an action, with a cost of burning itself, and therefore isn't burned unless the action succeeds, seems unnatural in comparison to "regular" actions - it reads as if it allowed the *declaration* of an action by burning itself, just as actions played from hand do (and strike cards from hand, for that matter). It has also seemed overpowered to us, incidentally, that the card doesn't burn if the action is blocked, since that lets you effectively use the same copy of the card a second time in the same action, for an additional damage in the resulting combat. The efficiency advantage over a weenie-vampire deck with Computer Hackings and Lucky Blows is impressive. Josh the empire strikes back

LSJ

Joshua Duffin wrote: > Name: Strike with Conviction > [NoR:C] > Cardtype: Conviction > Burn to make a hand or weapon strike against a monster at +1 damage. > Burn to bleed at +1 bleed as a (D) action. > > If Strike with Conviction is used to attempt a hand or weapon strike in > combat, is it burned on declaration, or on resolution? I figure probably > declaration. Resolution. Like a Grenade. > Last night, my group had another 'unintuitive experience' with the "bleed at > +1 bleed" part of SwC - I think this is because the effect sounds just like > an action card, and action cards are normally always burned when announced. Action cards are "normally always" played from hand when announced. Army of Rats in play is not burned when someone announces the action to burn it, for example.

Joshua Duffin

"LSJ" <vte...@white-wolf.com> wrote in message news:1147876201.4...@j55g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... > Joshua Duffin wrote: >> Name: Strike with Conviction >> [NoR:C] >> Cardtype: Conviction >> Burn to make a hand or weapon strike against a monster at +1 damage. >> Burn to bleed at +1 bleed as a (D) action. >> >> If Strike with Conviction is used to attempt a hand or weapon strike in >> combat, is it burned on declaration, or on resolution? I figure probably >> declaration. > > Resolution. Like a Grenade. You're the boss, of course, but it would make more sense to me the other way. Grenade is written "burn after use" rather than "burn to strike" for this very reason (clarity), isn't it? >> Last night, my group had another 'unintuitive experience' with the "bleed >> at >> +1 bleed" part of SwC - I think this is because the effect sounds just >> like >> an action card, and action cards are normally always burned when >> announced. > > Action cards are "normally always" played from hand when announced. Well yeah. > Army of Rats in play is not burned when someone announces the action to > burn it, for example. Sure, but Army of Rats doesn't say "burn this card to take an action to burn this card", either. Yes, it is typical for actions provided by cards in play to not have their cost paid until resolution. But those cards don't normally allow themselves to be used twice, whereas Strike with Conviction can be used both to attempt a bleed at +1 and to strike for +1 with the same card in the same action. And computer hackings don't reappear out of the ash heap during the untap phase either. Josh clear like a scientologist

LSJ

Joshua Duffin wrote: > Grenade is written "burn after use" rather than "burn to strike" for > this very reason (clarity), isn't it? I couldn't say. I didn't write it. It seems clearer, yes. > Yes, it is typical for actions provided by cards in play to not have their > cost paid until resolution. But those cards don't normally allow themselves > to be used twice, whereas Strike with Conviction can be used both to attempt > a bleed at +1 and to strike for +1 with the same card in the same action. You mean like Bomb? > And computer hackings don't reappear out of the ash heap during the untap > phase either. Not seeing the connection to the current point, sorry.

Joshua Duffin

"LSJ" <vte...@white-wolf.com> wrote in message news:1147877362....@38g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... > Joshua Duffin wrote: >> Grenade is written "burn after use" rather than "burn to strike" for >> this very reason (clarity), isn't it? > > I couldn't say. I didn't write it. It seems clearer, yes. > >> Yes, it is typical for actions provided by cards in play to not have >> their >> cost paid until resolution. But those cards don't normally allow >> themselves >> to be used twice, whereas Strike with Conviction can be used both to >> attempt >> a bleed at +1 and to strike for +1 with the same card in the same action. > > You mean like Bomb? Exactly. Bomb costs a pool and takes an action to put in play, and doesn't come back after you use it, whereas Strike with Conviction takes no action to put in play and comes back once per turn per Imbued. >> And computer hackings don't reappear out of the ash heap during the untap >> phase either. > > Not seeing the connection to the current point, sorry. That's on the 'balance' point. Comparing Strike with Conviction to Computer Hacking and Lucky Blow, it is something like twice as good as they are card-for-card. And Computer Hacking is a benchmark strong card. In other words, balance is another reason (IMO) that Strike with Conviction ought to burn on declaration rather than resolution. Josh tried, sentenced, and hanged

LSJ

Joshua Duffin wrote: > "LSJ" <vte...@white-wolf.com> wrote in message > > Joshua Duffin wrote: > >> But those cards don't normally allow > >> themselves > >> to be used twice, whereas Strike with Conviction can be used both to > >> attempt > >> a bleed at +1 and to strike for +1 with the same card in the same action. > > > > You mean like Bomb? > > Exactly. Bomb costs a pool and takes an action to put in play, and doesn't > come back after you use it, whereas Strike with Conviction takes no action > to put in play and comes back once per turn per Imbued. How does that make it impossible to conceive a card that allows itself to be "used" twice, both to attempt an action and to strike with the same card in the same action? > >> And computer hackings don't reappear out of the ash heap during the untap > >> phase either. > > > > Not seeing the connection to the current point, sorry. > > That's on the 'balance' point. Comparing Strike with Conviction to Computer > Hacking and Lucky Blow, it is something like twice as good as they are > card-for-card. And Computer Hacking is a benchmark strong card. In other > words, balance is another reason (IMO) that Strike with Conviction ought to > burn on declaration rather than resolution. Oh. OK. I was just addressing the mechanics issue. I'm not arguing balance in general, and especially this early in the exposure to the set.

Joshua Duffin

"LSJ" <vte...@white-wolf.com> wrote in message news:1147878072.7...@g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com... > Joshua Duffin wrote: > >> Exactly. Bomb costs a pool and takes an action to put in play, and >> doesn't >> come back after you use it, whereas Strike with Conviction takes no >> action >> to put in play and comes back once per turn per Imbued. > > How does that make it impossible to conceive a card that allows itself > to be "used" twice, both to attempt an action and to strike with the > same card in the same action? It's not impossible, obviously. Just unintuitive that it works this way, given the wording. >> That's on the 'balance' point. Comparing Strike with Conviction to >> Computer >> Hacking and Lucky Blow, it is something like twice as good as they are >> card-for-card. And Computer Hacking is a benchmark strong card. In >> other >> words, balance is another reason (IMO) that Strike with Conviction ought >> to >> burn on declaration rather than resolution. > > Oh. OK. I was just addressing the mechanics issue. I'm not arguing > balance in general, and especially this early in the exposure to the > set. Fair enough. Submitted for your future consideration, then. :-) Josh it might be early, but for my taste, it already seems too long by half

pd...@lightlink.com

Joshua Duffin wrote: > Fair enough. Submitted for your future consideration, then. :-) So as I'm too lazy to actually find the answer by reading the whole thread, have we determined that you do not burn Strike with Conviction for the +1 bleed until the action resolves, so if the bleed is blocked, you don't burn the Strike with Conviction? Thanks, -Peter

Joshua Duffin

<pd...@lightlink.com> wrote in message news:1147881182.1...@y43g2000cwc.googlegroups.com... [ quoted text not captured ] That is correct. In addition, if you use Strike with Conviction for the +1 damage with a hand or weapon strike, you don't burn SwC until resolution in that case either (like Grenade). Which matters if your opponent uses Strike: Combat Ends or something. Josh drive down the cost

pd...@lightlink.com

Joshua Duffin wrote: > That is correct. In addition, if you use Strike with Conviction for the +1 > damage with a hand or weapon strike, you don't burn SwC until resolution in > that case either (like Grenade). Which matters if your opponent uses > Strike: Combat Ends or something. I would now like to be on record as saying "Holy crap. That is really powerful. And more so than I originally thought..." Ok then. -Peter

Brett

[ quoted text not captured ] Sweet. This exact situation occured in casual play last weekend, and we thought about both points of view. We decided (for that game) that conviction acts like a cost. - Brett

tzimisce_dragon

[ quoted text not captured ] well, it is and IT SHOULD BE.... as Imbued base their game development on convictions. They burn a lot of them for taking actions, playing cards, e.t.c. So, it is nice that SwC is handled as cost for the action, its text is quite clear and i see no problems with it. And if you think SwC is powerful take a closer look to Champion and Determine. Imbued with Edge Explosion in play, can bleed at +1 bleed and give monsters -1 intercept every single turn if they are successful, as they gain 1 of the convictions they used from Edge Explosion and 1 during the untap phase of the next round. This is their big advantage, along with the fact that if you do not or can't burn them they keep coming out of incap region like crazy :) If it wasn't for these strengths, then they would be unplayable, given the big variety of good cards that vamps have access to. So, you need some time to set up, get project, Signet of King Saul, Tasha, J.S., maybe a laptop, a vigilance and then, when the time is right, you can start bleeding with 4-5 minions for 2+, while giving monsters -1 intercept. If everything turned up well, then it is likely that you'll have 5 imbued out, so Last Stand works very well, i am using it and it has proved to be very helpful :) The catch is, that your prey is not stupid, he knows what to expect of an imbued deck, so no surprises, if he has a good deck he can prepare himself adequately, so you may have to forget about "setting up" and begin franticaly to bleed him since turn 2. Some other times you may want to leave him a few turns and "hit" when the time is right, it depends on the kind of deck your prey is playing and on the kind of player he/she is. Imbued look powerful to the common eye, because you need to put permanent things on them, so people may become to be afraid of them and try to kill you... it has happened to me in a 4-players game, when all decided to turn against me, lucky for me they were quite weak at that time and i managed to sweep. You can't surprise your opponents and this is a weakness. Anyway, what i am trying to say is that imbued are not all-mighty, you just have to block them, kick the hell out of them and leave their predator to do the burning. I swept the table the 2 times i have played my imbued deck, but this only happened because i managed to influence 5 minions, while my predator (Assamite combat) influenced 3. he had to keep 1 untapped to block his predator, so he managed to send me to incap region a lot of times, but he never managed to burn one of my imbued. So, i was keep going into incap region, leaving it, getting powers and other nice permanent cards and this lasted for 10-11 turns, then he had 1 of his minions diablerized, the other ones were left with just a few blood on them, so he gave me some "space" and i swept the table... Sending Imbued to incap and not being able to burn them is the worst thing you can do, you slow them down, but practicaly you don't do them any real harm and youi waste your cards. They are not all mighty, but they are good when opposing decks which have only a few actions/turn using big fat minions and when they hunt decks without a lot of poolgaining. I would like to see some more cards for the imbued in the future, that are going to give them access to different strategies and kinds of play...

Shade

Joshua Duffin wrote: > That is correct. In addition, if you use Strike with Conviction for the +1 > damage with a hand or weapon strike, you don't burn SwC until resolution in > that case either (like Grenade). Which matters if your opponent uses > Strike: Combat Ends or something. That's similar to wolf claws etc... as well though. In saying that, would have to agree with you that a card that is a lucky blow and a computer hacking in one is very good by itself, not having to use them until successful is pretty strong. I haven't seen enough imbued decks to say whether it's balanced or otherwise though.