Thanks to Genzoman for the art.
King Arthur and Merlin
by Restoration Games (Rob Daviau and Justin Jacobson)
King Arthur’s ability to BOOST his attacks makes him a tough customer, and Merlin is a pretty nasty sidekick with his ranged attacks. They are a bit slow and plodding, and using cards to BOOST their movement just robs Arthur of attack power, or makes him play an even lower card game than he already has to.
King Arthur
18 HP
Melee
Merlin
7 HP
Ranged
Move: 2
Special Ability: When King Arthur attacks, you may BOOST that attack. Play the BOOST card, face down, along with your attack card. If your opponent cancels the effects on your attack card, the BOOST is discarded without effect.
Arthur – 10 cards
3x NOBLE SACRIFICE
A2. DURING COMBAT: You may BOOST this attack. (This in addition to any boost from King Arthur’s special ability.)
BOOST: 3
2x DIVINE INTERVENTION
A3D3. AFTER COMBAT: Move King Arthur up to 5 spaces.
BOOST: 2
1x EXCALIBER
A6.
BOOST: 3
1x THE HOLY GRAIL
D1. AFTER COMBAT: If King Arthur has 4 or less health but is not defeated, set his health to 8.
BOOST: 2
1x THE LADY OF THE LAKE
Scheme
Search your deck and discard pile for the EXCALIBER card. Add it to your hand. If you searched your deck, reshuffle.
BOOST: 2
1x THE AID OF MORGANA
A4. AFTER COMBAT: Draw 2 cards.
BOOST: 2
Merlin – 7 cards
2x BEWILDERMENT
D0. DURING COMBAT: Prevent all damage.
AFTER COMBAT: You may place Merlin in any space.
BOOST: 2
2x COMMAND THE STORMS
Scheme
Move each fighter up to 3 spaces.
(This includes opposing fighters.)
BOOST: 2
1x AID THE CHOSEN ONE
A4. AFTER COMBAT: If you won the combat, draw 2 cards.
BOOST: 2
1x PROPHECY
Scheme
Look at the top 4 cards of your deck. Add 2 of them to your hand and put the other 2 back on top of your deck, in any order. (shades of FUTURE FORESEEN)
1x RESTLESS SPIRITS
Scheme
Choose any space in Merlin’s zone. Deal 2 damage to each opposing fighter in that space and in one adjacent space. If at least at least one fighter is defeated this way, draw 1 card.
BOOST: 2
Any – 2 cards
2x SWIFT STRIKE
A3. AFTER COMBAT: Move your fighter up to 4 spaces.
BOOST: 2
Basic – 12 cards
3x FEINT
A/A 2. IMMEDIATELY: Cancel all effects on your opponent’s card.
BOOST: 2
3x REGROUP
A/A 1. AFTER COMBAT: Draw 1 card. If you won the combat, draw 2 cards instead.
BOOST: 2
3x SKIRMISH
A/A 4. AFTER COMBAT: If you won the combat, choose one of the fighters in the combat and move them up to 2 spaces.
BOOST: 1
3x MOMENTOUS SHIFT
A/A 3. DURING COMBAT: If your fighter started this turn in a different space, this card’s value is 5 instead.
BOOST: 1
Notes:
– Arthur is really all about his special ability. Some decks struggle with attack strength but this isn’t one of them. Arthur’s special ability allows him to bring the lumber at all times. His cards are actually quite weak. He’s only got a single A6 plus a bunch of A4s and his bread-and-butter is an A2 so it’s not like his cards themselves have much attack power.
– SWIFT STRIKE could almost be considered a basic, but basics appear to always be Any/Any cards and this is an attack card. It is also unique to Arthur so far, and it works with what I believe is a 18-12 structure. So until I see it in another deck, I’m considering it a special card.
– Of course, everyone has 3x FEINT which can disrupt Arthur’s abilities. In one game against Bruce Lee, Arthur could have gone for it but chose not to, fearing the FEINT. So without using a boost, he took Bruce down to 1 hit point and would have ended the game had he made the gamble. He didn’t, and Bruce ended up finishing him off. At the same time, you can lose a game by going for it and having FEINT negate your attempt, leaving you exposed.
In my opinion, this is the deck that needs the most redesign. It suffers so badly from everyone’s Feints, and I’ve never won a game with him.
I pretty much feel the same way, maybe to a slightly lesser degree. I think I’ve seen him win but he has to get a lot out of Merlin. Even with his special ability, 4x A2 is a weak bread and butter.
Yeah, I got a taste of that last night while playing Arthur. I think FEINT would be less of a stumbling block if his special ability let him BOOST during combat instead of before; that way if you get FEINTed then at least you can keep your card.
Still, I like Arthur because he has (potentially) big attacks, the frequency of which, I miss from EDs.
I really like the game, but King Arthur is WEAK. No doubts about it.
Here are the tweaks I adopted to rebalance him.
EXCALIBUR: attack value is now 8
THE LADY OF THE LAKE: added “Gain 1 action.”
COMMAND THE STORMS: added “Draw 2 cards.”
SWIFT STRIKE and REGROUP: the Boost value on these cards is now 4
Tweaks motivations:
EXCALIBUR: well, it must be better represented. The magical sword should have had a unique, powerful ability in my opinion. Now, at least, it has a unique powerful value. 8 is a really high value in Unmatched, but considering that on average we will strike with EXCALIBUR once in the game, I think 2 more damage are acceptable. I know, it can be boosted too, but boosting it’s not so automatic with King Arthur as many of us has seen during play. In the end I consider EXCALIBUR a bit like Bowcaster for the Han-Chuby’s deck in Epic Duels, which also has a ‘tutor’ card to find it in the same way THE LADY OF THE LAKE does.
THE LADY OF THE LAKE: giving to this card the “Gain 1 action” ability will grant a half surprise effect. Half because the opponent will know that your next action will probably be an EXCALIBUR’s attack, but it’s now to you to bluff or not. Anyway the other half of the surprise effect resides in the fact that you can now strike with EXCALIBUR in the same turn you draw THE LADY OF THE LAKE, which is great in my opinion.
COMMAND THE STORMS: the deck has a terrible lack of drawing power, mostly considering King Arthur’s ability. So I checked all cards, trying to find the one to power up. I wanted a sure un-feintable draw effect, so I opted for a Scheme card. COMMAND THE STORMS is a so and so card by its own, so I found it perfect for the tweak. Now you move all characters 3 spaces and draw 2 cards. It’s strong as a defense, putting spaces between you and the opponent if you need it, for a breath moment; but it’s strong also in offense, shortening distances for an attack, if desired. To be honest I would liked most a King Arthur’s card, but Merlin is quite resilient and it shouldn’t be a great problem to rely on him.
SWIFT STRIKE and REGROUP: I wanted here some better Boost cards. I chose SWIFT STRIKE and REGROUP because they are not those great cards to play, so at least now they have a better, alternative use.
I don’t follow what you did with SWIFT STRIKE and REGROUP but I like the other tweaks, EXCALIBUR especially. Why should Excalibur be no better than an attack Big Foot has 3 of? Yes 8 is a high value but if there’s one card in the game that should be a higher attack than all of the others, it’s Excalibur.
I know, the Boost 4 for those cards may be very strong. It is the tweak I’m monitoring the most.
Alternatively I also considered to remove it and add the “DRAW 1 CARD.” text as the last sentence in Arthur’s ability (so he can draw when feinted).