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Thursday, June 2, 2011

Zhāng Chūn Huá 张春华

Posted by Ricky Chua On 5:52 PM 31 comments
Translated Description:
Cold-blooded Empress 冷血皇后 (lěng xuè huáng hoù)

Who is she:
At first glance, you might probably think that this is one of Cao Cao 曹操's many wives who later became Empress of Wei Kingdom 魏国. Yet on closer scrutiny of history, her identity comes as a shock! Zhang Chun Hua is not wife of any within the Cao family. She is, in fact, the wife of Si Ma Yi 司马懿, the nemesis of Cao Cao! So why is she an Empress and given the colours of the Wei Kingdom in this character card? Since Zhang Chun Hua is the wife of Si Ma Yi, and Si Ma Yi was one of Cao Cao's most important advisors at the time, it is natural that her "allegiance" lies with the Wei Kingdom. However she never became Empress in her lifetime. It was only after her grandson, Si Ma Yan 司马炎, established the Jin Dynasty 晋朝 that she was posthumously honoured as Empress.

What about the "Cold-blooded" part of her description? Read on the find out!

[2011 Old version]
Character ability 1: "Ruthless 绝情 (jué qíng)" [Enforced ability]
All damage caused by you is viewed as "loss of health". (Character abilities or card abilities that are activated when damage is "caused by" or "received" will not activate).

Character ability 2: "Bereavement 伤逝 (shāng shī)"
With the exception of the discard phase, whenever your number of on-hand cards is less than the number of units of health loss thus far, you can immediately draw from the deck till your on-hand cards equal number of units of health loss.

Example of usage for "Bereavement" - When you have 1 unit of health left, the number of health loss thus far is 2 units. Suppose you have 2 on-hand cards, a WINE 酒 and an ATTACK 杀, and you use both simultaneously on another player, you will have zero on-hand cards left. You can thus immediately draw 2 cards from the deck.

[2012 New version]
Character ability 1: "Ruthless 绝情 (jué qíng)" [Enforced ability]
All damage you are about to inflict is converted to "loss of health".

Character ability 2: "Bereavement 伤逝 (shāng shī)" [Enforced ability]
With the exception of the discard phase, your minimum number of on-hand cards is X, X being the number of units of health you have loss and X has a maximum of 2.


Ability's relation to story:
The link to the story is more obtuse. "Ruthless" is supposed to describe her cold-blooded nature, however this ability does not intuitively describe cold-bloodedness. Instead the ability crafter mentioned that this ability was meant to counter her husband, Si Ma Yi's "Retaliation 反馈" ability. The aim was to demonstrate that Si Ma Yi was unable to outsmart his wife, which was what happened in the story. The mechanics of "Bereavement" has very little connection to the story. This ability apparently hints at the love that Si Ma Yi has lost for Zhang Chun Hua in her later years, especially after she was neglected in favour of Si Ma Yi's other love, Lady Bai 柏夫人.

Additional info based on story:
1. Most famous achievement - Cold-bloodedly murdering her own servant maid. When Si Ma Yi began plotting to overthrow the Cao family, he avoided going to battle by feinting illness. The malingering Si Ma Yi slacked away in his abode, so carefree that he put out his books to dry in the sun. Unfortunately, it began to rain and Si Ma Yi leapt out of bed to bring his books indoors. One of the maids saw his sudden burst of energy and was shocked that Si Ma Yi has recovered miraculously from his illness. The guileless maid informed Zhang Chun Hua that Si Ma Yi seems to have recovered overnight. Yet Zhang Chun Hua was no fool, she knew about Si Ma Yi's reasons for feinting illness. Fearing further complications if the maid were to speak of this to others, Zhang Chun Hua murder the maid there and then to ensure that Si Ma Yi's feint is safe from suspicion.

2. Cause of death - Old age, but probably suffering from disaffection before her death. Si Ma Yi once called her "old and ugly", whereupon Zhang Chun Hua decided to starve to death and take her own life. Upon hearing this, all of their children vowed to starve with their mother and die alongside her. Si Ma Yi then took back his words and his family did not go ahead with their suicide, but Si Ma Yi later told Zhang Chun Hua that he could not have cared less if she starved to death. He only took back his words to save his children.

Wiki Link:
Zhang Chun Hua Wiki

31 comments:

  1. Jue Qing also causes any abilities that are triggered by dealing 'damage' to be bypassed. For example, you cannot activate the ability of an Ice Sword you have equipped, nor can Cao Cao's Jian Xiong ability even if you do hurt him.

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  2. What happens if she was ruler, and she killed one of her loyalists by accident? Would she still lose all her on hand cards with her Ruthless ability, since the source was not her (assuming she has full health)?

    Also, what if she kills a rebel? Does she draw 3 cards bonus if she was not the source?

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  3. Assuming she has two health left and has one card on her hand, a 桃 Peach. She uses the Peach, so what happens next? She becomes 3 life, but in the midst of doing so, she becomes 0 cards. Will she get to draw a card first because of Bereavement 伤逝 (as she had 1 life loss before that), thus making the ability to be like 陆逊 Lu Xun's Bereavement 伤逝?

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Niwa: You're right! I have amended the post accordingly.

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. I would say she does not get to draw for killing a rebel or discarding for killing a loyalist.

    Since it works this way for Lu Xun, I'm thinking it works the same way for her as well.

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  8. Safe to say that her damage literally "came from nowhere" as well.

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  9. For her 2nd ability, if she has 1 health left, at the discard phase, she would discard down to 1 card. When can she draw back up to two? Immediately after discard, or does she have to use her remaining card first?

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  10. Immediately after her discard phase.

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  11. Offical FAQ: If she is on 1 health and and 2 cards, she must discard 1 card first (discard phase) and then USE her last card for her to be able to draw cards.

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  12. If it's not too much trouble, could you please copy and paste the original text of the official FAQ over here?

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  13. ^ While I don't know where the official FAQ comes from, it is stated explicitly in the description for "Bereavement" that it doesn't work during a normal discard phase, since allowing that would actually trigger an infinite loop:
    1. She has 1 health and two cards.
    2. She discards to one card.
    3. Hand is less than the health lost.
    4. Bereavement activates.
    5. Hand is more than health limit.
    6. Repeat 1.

    This is, of course, assuming that discard phase is NOT officially passed after she discards to one card and her ability activates after that, since her on-hand cards with her ability would obviously be more than is allowable by standard rule.

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  14. ^
    Discard phase is over as soon as you discard the required number of cards. Which means there won`t be any loop in your situation, since the order goes this way:

    1. She has 1 health and two cards.
    2. Discard phase: she discards to one card. Discard phase is over.
    3. End Phase: she activates Bereavement.
    4. Next player`s turn.

    When she activates Bereavement, her discard phase is already over, and it perfectly fits the description.

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  15. How does elemental damage work when Zhang Chun Hua is inflicting it? For example, when she lands a fire attack on a character using the wooden armor, does the attack do two units of damage, or simply one since the damage is losing health and not fire damage? Also, if Zhang Chun Hua uses an elemental attack on chained characters, do they all receive damage, or only the person who is hit by the attack?

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  16. It works as normal in all respects, except that the damage dealt has no player source. The rulings are similar to damage caused by Lightning. Does this answer all your questions? Let me know if there are exceptions not handled by this general rule.

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    Replies
    1. I think it works kind of differently. Zhang Chun Hua's ability acts in a similar way as Yu Ji's Bewilderment - when you do get hurt by it, you "lose" a health, but the losing of health is not attributed to any character. When Cao Cao's struck by lightning, he can still use Jian Xiong to gain that card, since that card is what dealt him the damage. His ability has no connection with the origin of the damage. In Zhang Chun Hua's case, the damage doesn't even have a card dealing it.

      Here's the comprehensive list of every ability that's bypassed by Zhang Chun Hua's ruthlessness:

      Weapons/Armors:
      -Frost Sword
      -Ancient Scimitar
      -Unicorn Bow
      -Rattan Armor's 2nd effect
      -Silver Lion Helmet's 2nd effect

      Character Abilities:
      -Cao Cao's [Villainous Hero]
      -Si Ma Yi's [Retaliation]
      -Xia Hou Dun's [An Eye for An Eye]
      -Guo Jia's [Bequeathed Strategy]
      -Xun Yu's [Eternal Loyalty]
      -Cao Pi's [Banish into Exile]
      -Cao Zhi's [Drunken Quatrain]'s 2nd effect
      -Fa Zheng's [Reciprocation]
      -Ma Su's [Tears of Reluctance]
      -Xiao Qiao's [Heavenly Scent]
      -Chen Gong's [Cerebral Delay]

      The above ones are listed in the official guide, but I think the following characters also apply:

      -Demi-god Guan Yu's [Warrior Spirit]
      -Demi-god Cao Cao's [Homage]
      -Demi-god Zhu Ge Liang's [Strong Gale] and [Heavy Shroud]
      -Demi-god Lu Bu's [Violent Rage] upon being hurt

      Also note that:

      -Zhang Chun Hua cannot cause Chain Effect to happen
      -When she kills a rebel, she can't draw cards (since it's counted that the rebel dies by losing a health out of nowhere). When she kills a loyalist and she's the lord, she doesn't have to discard all cards (same logic as above)

      I hope this clarifies you guys' questions

      Delete
  17. If she has 1 health and 2 cards, but takes 1 damage and drops to 0 health, can 1 card first before asking for peach?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, because the number of your on-hand cards (2) is smaller than your lost units of health (3).

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    2. Are you sure? I thought brink of death situations always have to be resolved first, before any ability from that character can be actvated.

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    3. I am sure, of course. Brink of Death is resolved prior to the event of "after suffering damage", not all abilities. That means damage-triggered abilities have to be resolved after Brink of Death is resolved, but other abilities like "One After Another" and "Bereavement" are resolved within in Brink of Death.

      BTW, think about it, if all character abilities can only be activated after BoD is resolved, what is the use of Hua Tuo, Lady Wu and Han Dang:)

      Delete
  18. Now that they changed her abilities, being ruler now seems undesirable.

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  19. When ZCH have 1 health point and 2 cards on hand (which one of it is PEACH). When she uses the PEACH, does she;

    A: Immediately draw a card, to fulfill the "Bereavement" ability, then only become 2 health points, OR
    B: Just add health point become 2

    Which one is true?

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    Replies
    1. She draws a card first, then she regains 1 unit of health.

      That is because 'using a card' requires you to target an appropriate target and toss it on the table ("Bereavement" takes effect at this moment), then the effect of that card is resolved (regain 1 unit of health).

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  20. I just read Yu Ji's post on how a player on the Brink of Death cannot doubt his cards because they have no life left to "lose". If XCH hits a character with one life left with a WINE ATTACK, do they need one Peach or two peaches to ressurect?

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    Replies
    1. Two PEACHES as that character loses two units of health. Yu Ji is a special (and odd) case.

      BTW, she is ZCH, not XCH.

      Delete
  21. I don't think Ruthless bypasses Xiao Qiao's Heavenly Scent, since it redirects damage; I think you meant Da Qiao's Displacement, which redirects Attack

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    Replies
    1. There is no "damage" dealt by Zhang Chunhua, as all damage before being dealt by ZCH is considered as loss of health, so Xiao Qiao cannot activate "Heavenly Scent".

      Delete
  22. Where did you take the "X has a maximum of 2." part from???

    I cannot read that in the Chinese version:

    每当你的手牌数小于你已损失的体力值时,你可以将手牌数补至等同于你已损失的体力值

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    Replies
    1. Its for the updated balanced version that came out in the 2012 pack I think.

      Delete
  23. Why can't i use this character in the online web.sanguosha.com? I've already bought it

    ReplyDelete

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