Contents Copyright Ricky Chua 2010. Powered by Blogger.

Blog Archive

Translate

Most Viewed

Latest SGS Questions

Monday, August 30, 2010

Diāo Chán 貂蝉

Posted by Ricky Chua On 11:35 AM 17 comments
Translated description:
"The Dancer with Unrivaled Beauty 绝世的舞姬 (jué shì dè wǔ jì)"

Wikipedia link: Diao Chan Wiki

Who is she:
Regarded as one of the 4 great beauties of ancient China, Diao Chan is one of the classic examples of the "Beautiful Maiden Ploy 美人计". The willing pawn of Wang Yun 王允 in his grand scheme to destroy the tyrannical Dong Zhuo 董卓, Diao Chan flirted with Lu Bu 吕布 while submitting herself to Dong Zhuo as his concubine. In doing so, she pitted godfather against godson, causing severe dissension and distrust amongst them. Dong Zhuo relents that he needs the incredible combat skills of Lu Bu to maintain his power, but the mercenarial Lu Bu had little to lose. Wang Yun further convinces Lu Bu to murder Dong Zhuo and take Diao Chan for himself, which he eventually does. In some versions of the story, Diao Chan is said to have truly loved Lu Bu but became distraught on knowing Wang Yun's scheme. The original version, however, seems to state that Diao Chan knowingly wanted to kill Dong Zhuo and participated actively in Wang Yun's ploy.

Character ability 1: "Seed of Animosity 离间 (lí jiān)"
During your action phase, you can discard one card (either on-hand or equipped) and select two male characters to undergo DUEL 决斗 with each other. This ability cannot be neutralized using NEGATE 无懈可击. Limited to one use per turn.

Note that Diao Chan must select one of the male characters to be the first to use ATTACK 杀 on the other male character. If this first character does not or is unable to use ATTACK, he will suffer 1 unit of damage and the ability ends (the other male character need not use ATTACK).

Character ability 2: "Envious Moon 闭月 (bì yuè)"
In the end of your turn, you can draw one additional card from the deck.

Ability's relation to story:
"Seed of Animosity" is one of the best matched ability to the story in the entire game. This ability completely embodies Diao Chan's persona in the story, which is simply using her beauty to cause two men to fight each other. "Envious Moon" comes from a longer proverb used to describe the 4 great beauties of ancient China.

"沉鱼落雁, 闭月羞花" which means the fish stare at them till they forget to swim and sink to the bottom, the geese forget to flap their wings and fall to earth, the moon hides behind the clouds in envy, and the flowers slink low and bow the petals in shame. Why does Diao Chan get to take one extra card for being beautiful? The same reason Zhou Yu 周瑜 gets one more card for being handsome!

Additional info based on story:
1. Most famous achievement - Causing Lu Bu to kill Dong Zhuo and, thus, ridding the world of a super tyrant. To be blunt, Diao Chan is hardly known for anything else other than this achievement and her beauty.

2. Cause of death - Unknown!! Many versions abound with regards to the fate of Diao Chan after Dong Zhuo's death. Some say she was killed while Lu Bu escaped, some said she died with Lu Bu after he was executed by Cao Cao 曹操. More extreme versions claim she was presented as a gift to Guan Yu 关羽 from Cao Cao for his temporary allegiance to the Wei Kingdom.

FAQ and Disambiguation

1. Would Diao Chan be a source of attack or is the player whom Diao Chan appointed to Duel with another player, the source?

Ans: The other player whom she appoints will become the source. Therefore it is very useful for pitting Ruler against Loyalist. Hopefully Loyalist die and Ruler discards everything.


2. Can Diao Chan make Zhu Ge Liang and somebody else Duel when Zhuge has no cards on hand?

Ans: Nope. Elder Zhu Ge Liang cannot become the target of Duel even if it is her ability.


3. If Diao Chan uses Seed of Animosity on Cao Cao and Cao Cao has no 'sha' (he is selected to attack first), then does Cao Cao takes the discard card as a source of damage?

Ans: The discard is simply to trigger the ability.It is not the source of damage so Cao Cao does not get the card.

17 comments:

  1. Would Diao Chan be the source of attack or is the player whom Diao Chan appointed to duel with another player the source?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The other player whom she appoints will become the source. Therefore its very useful for pitting Ruler against Loyalist. Hopefully Loyalist dies, then Ruler discards everything.

    ReplyDelete
  3. can diao chan make zhuge liang and somebody else duel when zhuge has no cards on hand?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nope. Elder Zhu Ge Liang cannot become the target of Duel even if it is her ability.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ricky,
    I am confused by your comments. Under Elder Zhū Gě Liàng 暮年诸葛亮 u stated that he can be targeted by Diāo Chán 貂蝉 for Seed of Animosity 离间 provided the other player plays a SHA 杀 first but here you state that Elder Zhū Gě Liàng 暮年诸葛亮 cannot be targetted

    ReplyDelete
  6. Apologies, the FAQ by YOKA has been updated. The latest confirmation is Zhu Ge Liang cannot be targeted by Diao Chan under her ability. I will make the changes in the Zhu Ge Liang page too!

    Thanks for bringing this up.

    ReplyDelete
  7. if Diao chan uses Seed of Animosity on Cao Cao and Cao Cao has no 'sha' (he is selected to Attack first), then does Cao Cao takes the discard card as the source of dmg?

    ReplyDelete
  8. The discard is simply to trigger the ability. It is not the source of the damage, so Cao Cao does not get the card.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have trouble with her dueling ability when playing SGS online.

    Say there is a prince, me a spy and the loyalist. Prince has 2 Shan, loyalist nothing and me a Sha and Shan, all on 1hp. I want to make them duel because that will make the prince lose his cards by killing the loyalist.
    I click on the skill, click on my Shan, click on prince and then the loyalist. To my understanding the first person you click on would have used an imaginary duel card against the second which means the second would have to use Sha first but to my surprise the prince takes damage and the game ends. Well I thought maybe the first person I click on has to use Sha first but testing the 2 ways always ended with unusual outcomes most of which are the person I don't want to hurt taking damage.

    Is it random who has to Sha first? Does clicking order do anything?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The one you click first has to play an ATTACK first. That is, it is viewed that the character you click last uses a DUEL on the character you click first.

      P.S. Plz delete the extra 3 posts.

      Delete
    2. Sorry for the multiple posts, it kept saying I got the authentication image wrong

      Delete
  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Recently I just played SGS online.

    I do not have any hand cards as Elder Zhuge Liang, and Diao Chan made Zhang Fei duel with me, making Zhang Fei the first to throw Sha.

    However, Zhang Fei took a damage. I do not know if he does not have a Sha or he is not able to make a move on me since I have 空城.


    How is this such that Zhuge Liang cannot be targeted.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When Diao Chan uses her ability, in essence it mirrors what happens when a DUEL card is played. In a DUEL, the player who played the DUEL card is the initiator, and the other person is the target. The target first plays the ATTACK, then the initiator, and so forth. Therefore, DUELs can only target one player, but involves two characters exchanging blows.

      In your scenario, Zhang Fei was able to engage in a DUEL with an empty Zhuge Liang, because of the way in which Diao Chan chose the two participants in the duel. As Zhang Fei played the first ATTACK, he must be the target, which means that Zhuge Liang was the initiator.
      His 'Empty City' ability states that he cannot be the TARGET of a DUEL with no hand cards, but doesn't say he is unable to initiate a DUEL in this condition. Since the target and initiator of DUELs are completely different concepts, Diao Chan's ability works because Zhuge Liang was chosen as the initiator, similar to him 'playing' the DUEL card.

      This is a very good question, something that would confuse many players.

      Delete
  14. Thanks for clarifying, I think this should be posted up into FAQs to clear the doubts on this.
    It is wonderfully explained, thank you.

    ReplyDelete

Site search