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Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Cáo Zhí 曹植

Posted by Ricky Chua On 10:58 PM 45 comments
Translated Description:
Eight-Tenths of the world's Talent 八斗之才 (bā doù zhī cái)

Who is he:
Brother, or adulterer? Feeble poet, or crouching usurper? Genius, or drunkard? Cao Zhi is a contradiction that has romanticized the entire Three Kingdoms era. Wikipedia would sing his praises for his famed poetic ability, while on the same page hark on his lack of sobriety as if it were tabloid news. Cao Zhi was never much of a military person, and is usually belittled in comparison to his elder brother, Cao Pi 曹丕. Yet Cao Zhi has left his mark in ways that Cao Pi could never equal. If you love the vagabond wanderer without a care in the world, or the merry-making hippie culture that spun off incredible lyrical literature, you would probably fall in love with Cao Zhi. Maybe you would even grin understandably when Cao Zhi flirted with his elder brother's wife. Merry-making, eh?

Character ability 1: "Falling Bloom 落英 (luò yīng)"
When other players discard or flip judgement cards with "clubs" into the discard pile, you can take possession of these cards.

Character ability 2: "Drunken Quatrain 酒诗 (jiǔ shī)"
When your character card is facing up, you can choose to flip over your character card and this will be considered as having used WINE 酒 (under reasonable situations only).

When you suffer damage while your character card is facing down, you can choose to flip over your character card such that is faces up after the damage you received is concluded.

Ability's relation to story:
Brilliant!!! Cao Zhi's abilities are so well linked to the story that his first ability actually has double meaning! The chinese words for "Falling Bloom" is an olden way of describing the falling of spring flowers from the trees. This can be seen to describe Cao Zhi's youthful and care-free nature in his young adult days. On the flip side, the chinese words 落英 is actually a word play on Zhen Ji 甄姬's nickname 洛神, where 英 here can refer to 英雄 or hero. In other words, Cao Zhi is secretly Zhen Ji's hero and lover, a rumour that does seem to carry some weight historically. Notice how beautifully this ability pairs up Zhen Ji's "Goddess Luo 洛神" ability?

"Drunken Quatrain" is also deeply based on the story. In his later years, Cao Zhi became a drunken wreck. In fact he was so drunk that he did not attend his own father, Cao Cao 曹操's, funeral. Living in a perpetual state of despair, Cao Zhi continued to write poems that sank deeper and deeper into misery mongering.

Additional info based on story:
1. Most famous achievement - The Seven Step Quatrain (fictional). In the ROTK story, Cao Pi was furious at Cao Zhi for being so drunk he did not attend Cao Cao's funeral. At the same time, Cao Pi had been plotting for sometime to remove his younger brother so that there would be no more threat to his throne. Cao Pi gave Cao Zhi one final chance to demonstrate his ability: Come up with a poem within 7 paces, or die. Cao Zhi came up with not one, but two poems. The second poem made no direct reference to the two brothers, speaking of a pot of beans boiling atop a fire fueled by beanstalks, however the inference behind the poem moved Cao Pi sufficiently to pardon the execution of his younger brother.

2. Cause of death - Illness, probably brought about by depression and alcoholism. After Cao Pi's death, Cao Zhi argued valiantly to be re-instated in the court of Wei Kingdom 魏国, but the new emperor, Cao Rui 曹睿, would still view Cao Zhi as a threat to the throne. Cao Zhi never got to fulfill his desire to contribute to the Wei Kingdom, and he died as a depressed loner with little fanfare.

Wiki Link:
Cao Zhi Wiki

45 comments:

  1. Thanks for your translations.
    With his first skill, can he discard his club cards for discard phase and take them right back?

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  2. Thanks for question. I missed out the "for other players" in the first ability. I have made the amendments.

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  3. Can you explain how does his Falling Bloom 落英 ability get to pair with Zhen Ji 甄姬's 洛神 ability? Because Zhen Ji will be keeping whatever club cards she opens for her Luo Shen, so she doesn't discard them, so Cao Zhi still can't get them.

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  4. This is because after Zhen Ji uses Luo Shen and has a high chance of drawing a big bunch of club cards (compared to other characters).

    If the event that she draws a large string of cards with Luo Shen. she would not be able to store all the cards past her round, and would have to discard at the end of her turn.

    That is where Cao Zhi can acquire which ever club cards she discards. And Zhen Ji is probably the only character that can give Cao Zhi a big advantage.

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  5. There really should be three abilities instead of two. The flipping up the character card technically is another ability and has little relation to his "wine" ability (sort of).

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  6. In which of the following cases can Cao Zhi take the discarded card (assuming all d/c cards are clubs)?
    1. Diao Chan d/c a card to force two males to DUEL
    2. Yuan Shao d/c 2 cards to use as RAINING ARROWS
    3. Yu Ji's card gets called & revealed; since it is clubs, it has no effect
    4. Da Qiao d/c a card to redirect an ATTACK
    5. Sun Shang Xiang d/c 2 cards to heal
    6. Sun Jiang forces some one to draw and d/c
    7. Xiao Qiao d/c a card to deflect damage
    8. Lu Su d/c cards to make two players exchange hands
    9. Cards used in a Points Duel
    10. Card used to cause BLAZE damage
    11. ATTACKs used in a DUEL
    12. ATTACKs or DODGEs used to avoid BARBARIAN or RAINING ARROWS damage
    13. Card d/c from Gender Double Swords or Frost Blade
    14. Cards d/c to force a hit with Rock Cleaving Sword
    15. D/c 2 cards as an attack with Serpent Halberd
    16. Any card is DISMANTLED
    17. An equipment card is discarded after being replaced with another or from Qi Lin Bow
    18. IRON SHACKLE is used for RE-DRAW function
    19. GRAND HARVEST is used, but NEGATED or does not affect a player, so the remaining cards are d/c
    20. Any card that is played but has no effect
    21. Unofficial card: Some one tries to pass a card via Robotic Ox (my understanding is that the card goes into d/c pile before passing on, so Cao Zhi should have the rights to it)

    Thank you!

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  7. The thing is to define whether a card was used or discarded. With this in mind he can get the card(s) in all the situations exept for:
    11,12 - the cards are used, not discarded.
    15 - the cards are used as an ATTACK.
    19 - the remaining card(s) belong(s) to nobody, so it`s not considered discarded by any player.
    20 - though ineffective, the card was still used.
    21 - probably not. Just like Cao Zhi cannot get Guo Jia`s judgement card, because it did not go into the discard pile.

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  8. Additional point as follow:
    2-Yuan Shao uses 2 cards as RAINING ARROW, not discard cards.
    3-Yu Ji uses the card for it's ability, even if it has no effect it still considered used.
    7-Xiao Qiao cannot use club to deflect.
    9-Point Duel cards are considered being used.
    16-The card is being dismantled, not considered as being discarded.
    17-QiLinBow is ok, but replacing equipment card is not. Because you are not discarding it, you replacing it.
    Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.

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  9. The official FAQ states that dismantled cards are considered discarded, as well as replaced equipment, so Cao Zhi can take them. And yes, in this case his DISMANTLE becomes STEAL without distance limits when used on a club card :)
    About Yu Ji - his abillity states that the doubted fake card is considered useless and discarded. In this case Cao Zhi also takes the card. But if nobody doubts the card, then it`s considred used, not discarded.

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  10. Oops, my bad. Yu Ji`s ineffective cards belong to nobody, so CZ won`t take them :)

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  11. so if cao zhi is on the brink of death, he can choose to flip his character card face down and rescue himself? but if his character card is face down he cannot use his wine ability?

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  12. "As long as your skills are outside your turn (such as Xiao Qiao's skill), it can be used. The only thing that is skipped is your turn, all abilities and cards remain." - Ricky

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  13. Even on your turn, Cao Zhi still can use wine ability to WINE KILL other player.

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. If he is on the brink of death, and your character is facing up, you can choose to flip over to face down and considered as being used WINE.

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  16. Um... i guess to clear it up, its all cards during the Discard Phases that other players discard that Cao Zhi can take, not during action phase etc.

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  17. It's all discarded cards, not just during the discard phase.

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  18. Hi,

    If 曹植 flip over his card and face down, does it mean he also miss a turn as per the general game ruled?

    When 孙权use his ability to exchange cards from the deck, do 曹植also take the spade cards that 孙权discarded?

    Regards,

    Jeff

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  19. Hello Jeff:
    1) Yes, whenever an ability refers to turning the general card face down (be careful not to reveal your identity card while flipping), it means the general game rule of missing a turn referenced here: http://sanguoshaenglish.blogspot.com/2010/09/game-rules-part-6-flip-character-card.html

    2) Yes, Cao Zhi can take the discarded CLUB (not SPADE) cards.

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  20. Does cao zhi get to draw 2 cards during his missed turn?

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  21. No, he skips his entire turn including Judgement and Discard Phases.

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  22. when his card is facing down, can he still receive damage or attack? or does he consider out of the game skipping a turn?

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  23. He is considered in-game for all purposes.

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  24. Can he flip his character twice ? Considering he use wine twice using his ability.

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  25. ^ No. He can flip his character card as using WINE only when his character card is face-up. So, if he is face-up and he flips his character card to use a WINE, he becomes face-down and cannot flip to use another WINE.

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  26. In that case, his second ability is not that useful, or is there any way to make it useful ? (e.g combo with another character)

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  27. ^ For combo, the best combination is, ironically, his brother Cao Pi. Cao Pi can flips back Cao Zhi's character card, allowing you to use "Drunken Quatrain" again. Xu Sheng is also a good partner.

    However, "Drunken Quatrain" is, as a matter of fact, a very powerful ability. You can save yourself from the Brink of Death even if you have no on-hand cards. When you are face-up, damage that deals one damage only CANNOT kill you.

    Or you can deal additional damage once you confirm that your victim has no DODGE. This is more fearsome if you have ROCK CLEAVING AXE, so that you can discard the excess cards of clubs to crush your enemy.

    He is extremely powerful if he has a PEACH or WINE on-hand. Assuming that you are face-up, you can flip your character card to face-down to save yourself once, use the PEACH or WINE to save you when you receives damage at face-down state, and flip back for another damage...a peach for 3 health!

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  28. If Xia Hou Yuan discards (be it on hand or equipped) an equipment card which is a clubs to activate Godspeed 2, can Cao Zhi obtain the card?

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  29. reply to Kojiroh on Aug 29:
    Actually there is something I would like to point out, Cao Zhi's second ability is very good not just for saving himself, but also by dealing out damage. Please be noticed that, Cao Zhi is the only person who would get his card flipped back up as he receives damage. Some characters like Cao Ren has to skip his following turn no matter what...same as people who are flipped by Cao Pi's ability, but Cao Pi is different, so what makes him so special is that..he could use his ability every single turn and dish out additional damage, and assume players don't damage you, you are pretty safe from attacks, and if people does damage you, you can then flip back up and once again use your skill..which is really powerful imo...
    basically...all the characters of Wei are blood selling, and each of the characters have their special way of selling blood...so think about it.

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  30. reply to anonymous on Jun 21, 2011 01:42 PM:
    I realize the post is quite a while ago, but still I would like to point out one tiny mistake.
    The author did a good job at reviewing his material and did some research.
    Iron Shackles if used as re-draw function...Cao Zhi cannot get that card.
    also, Cao Zhi can also get Pang Tong's clubs card when he dies and resurrects.
    one more thing to AnonymousDec 18, 2011 09:28 AM
    yes he can

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  31. Hmm. I am wondering. When i read the iron shackles card to perform a re-draw, the card is "discarded" 弃. So i would think think Cao Zhi can take any iron shackles that is "discarded" for a re-draw. Maybe there is something i am missing ?

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  32. Why can't Cao Zhi get the discarded shackles?

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  33. ^because official FAQ states that Cao Pi cannot get shackles.
    I know that this is a bit contradictory to what the card says, but if official FAQ says that, I think that you can't

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  34. ^prove
    [Q]其他角色重铸梅花【铁索连环】以及用梅花手牌拼点后放进弃牌堆的牌,曹植是否可以发动【落英】获得?

    [A]不可以。重铸、拼点都是不同于”弃牌”的处理牌的方式。

    So basically...in english, its saying that Shackles and Points Duel Cards are not considered as discarded.

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  35. Can his first ability acquire leftover cards from dead players if they are club suited?

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  36. In the case of one player dies, or RULER killed his LOYALIST, can CZ collect the discarded club cards? -.-

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  37. Can cao pi still take the discarded 'club' cards when his character card is being flipped over?

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    Replies
    1. Whenever a player is in "Flipped Over" state, it does not affect his/her abilities, that player just have to skip a turn -.-

      Delete
  38. The joke with this guy is that he is a homeless bum picking up other peoples crap and drinking wine (often bottles other people have thrown out or he found lying on the street from a judgement card).

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  39. In the case of other characters that keep their judgement cards such as Guo Jia, do they have priority over Cao Zhi?
    Who gets a dead players cards if there are both Cao Zhi and Cao Pi in play?

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    Replies
    1. Cao Zhi can only acquire the cards of clubs when it enters the discard pile.

      Since Guo Jia, Lady Zhen and the Dual Heroes acquire the judgement card without allowing it entering the discard pile, Cao Zhi cannot acquire the judgement cards of Guo Jia, nor those generated by "Goddess Luo" and "Dual Heroes".

      Cao Pi acquires the cards of the dead character, so Cao Pi acquires the cards first. BTW, he is the one who succeeds the dead Cao Cao, not Cao Zhi ;)

      Delete
  40. Zhang hong vs Cao zhi? Who take discard first?

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  41. Zhang hong vs Cao zhi? Who take discard first?

    ReplyDelete

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