Two-Fisted Tales of the Secret War: Dragons and Hand

Part 4 of a Shadowfist set review

Overall score:

This is the fourth review; you can find the first here. For copyright reasons I won’t be printing the text of the cards, just the titles--it may help to have a second browser/tab with the spoiler in it--there’s one on the official site, www.shadowfist.com, in the spoilers/card lists section.

Dragons

The Dragons come off extremely well in Two-Fisted Tales. A few very useful states, some good hitters, a utility character which synergises with one of the hitters, and Golden Gunman’s Gambit providing easy access to the Magic resource. It’s a good time for the Dragons, and since they won the pulp juncture, this is rightfully so.

Booby Trap – A decent, fairly costed site defence: kill everything attacking you at the cost of site body. Best used either on high body sites like Inner Sanctum, or on a site when you know it’s going to be destroyed anyway to prevent the opponent from getting it.

Bullwhip – I really like this card. For one cost, you get a little combat bonus that you can give up to get rid of an interceptor. It’s flexible and useful.

Captain Jake Molloy – An excellent hitter with built-in protection to everything, so long as you have something the same in your hand to get rid of. I like it.

Cliffhanger – This card is very cool and really fun, but its high opportunity cost probably makes it not worth playing. You need to have it in your hand, and have a unique character get smoked, and then you might not even get anything good. That said, you might get something very good. Save it for cheesy junk decks.

Damsel in Distress – As designed by my friend Troy right here in Brisbane, though changed significantly in playtesting, Damsel in Distress is the Dragon’s first Faceoff, and is worth playing on that fact alone.

David Maxwell – The secret identity of The Nemesis, David Maxwell is a power-generating Utility Character who serves to make playing The Nemesis cheaper. Its a good and deliberate synergy, but be careful of using this card without basing it around the combo.

Dr. Amanda Snow – Another good hitter, with some cool abilities: defence from site effects and the ability to play states from other players' smoked piles. Worth a look for something different.

Heroic Agents – Midrange hitters with a drawback and the ability to steal power when they smoke. I’d be cautious with it, since the Dragons have a lot of good midrange hitters already, and stealing power is usually rare as players have a tendency to spend itbefore you get the chance.

Lair of the Nemesis – I liken this to the Hub for the Ascended. A very powerful site, but also fairly expensive. Your call, but I plan to play it from time to time.

Mask of the Nemesis – +2 Fighting and Stealth is pretty good. Costs 2, but the Stealth is a little out of Faction for the Dragons so the higher cost is justified. Consider it, though I tend to prefer one-cost states.

Running out of Time – Gives you a lot of power but slowly kills you. A gamble, but worth it in a lot of situations; fairly fun, in any case.

The Golden Gunman’s Gambit – My vote for best Dragons card in the set, The Golden Gunman’s Gambit gives a useful and affordable effect that’s easy to play, and gives you a magic resource for it. Just like tech and Dirk Wisely’s gambit, this makes a limited amount of Magic use in a Dragons deck very easy. Personally, this card is going to revolutionise the way I play Dragons, since cards like Pocket Demon and Discerning Fire are now relatively easy to use monofaction.

The Nemesis – A big hitter who is quite affordable and useful if you play him alongside David Maxwell. He has built-in mentor protection and Stealth, which is hard to come by for the Dragons. A good alternative to Stephan Wu that’s worth considering, but overall probably not as good (except for coolness factor).

Tom Donovan – A super-cool chrome alongside a very decent midrange hitter. Best in multiplayer games, and I plan to use him frequently, maybe as often as I use Master Bowman.

Tough as Nails – A card that gives you Toughness. In comparison to Brick House, Tough as Nails will probably give you more, but only for a turn whereas Brick House lasts as long as the state does. Of course, if you (like me) can uncannily flip the same thing eight times in a row, you can use this to harmlessly take out big hitters. I’d use it over Brick House, but that’s personal preference.

Hand

The Hand come off decently, but don’t get anything truly amazing in this set. Their most useful stuff is probably a few of the new events and states, but none of it truly excites me--it’s just the Hand doing typical Hand stuff.

Breath of the Dragon – Tank up a character for a turn, and I mean Tank. This is a nice card that I’d consider.

Carmen Zhou – A character in the league of Good Ol’ Boys, she’s a two-for-two hitter that pumps when Feng Shui Sites are revealed. She could be pretty powerful, but unless you have a good combo in mind it's a gamble.

Charge of the Righteous – A pretty useful edge that works best in a weenie deck.

Deadly Hands – A state that turns its subject into a Fatty Cho pumpable at any time. Would add an interesting twist to the Fatty Cho deck, and it’s also a good way to get rid of cards you don’t want.

Difficulty at the Beginning – A counter for everything against an opponent with no power, or an annoyance that makes everything cost more. Either way, it’s fun.

Jade Dragon Monk – Classic Hand style, this midrange hitter superleaps over things and cancel Edges and States when it does. Useful.

Kwan Lung-Wei – A big hitter who is affected by neither Events or States. That limits your options, but also protects him from almost every trick in the book.

Scales of the Dragon – An interesting free state that gives you Toughness: 2 without actually giving you Toughness: 2. Limited but powerful.

Swords of Heaven – These could be really powerful if used in the right deck. They pump with each state played on them, and heal when you do, so put them in a deck with a load of free states. Even better, increase your hand size so you can play even more on them.

Temple of the Jade Dragon – A site that lets you discard cards to get one of the same type back. Interesting and useful, though probably too weak for the cost.

The Jade Dragon – An expensive state that turns any site into a really powerful site that generates more power, has Toughness, and is incapable of being burned. Nice, but take into account the double cost of the state and the site, and the fact that one Realpolitik will destroy it regardless.

The Red Harvest – A free event that triggers when your own cards get smoked, and gives you power and makes you discard. A two-edged sword that can be very useful, but the unpredictability and opportunity cost make it a card worth careful consideration before use.

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Written by JamPaladin on March 11th, 2005