Duel 决斗

Description:

Mano-a-mano. Grunt and spit as two characters prepare to do battle one-on-one. Who can outlast the other? That depends on how well you judged the capability of your opponent. True to the meaning, there is a very possible likelihood of causing yourself damage if you take on someone much more able. Got the balls?

What it does:

1 unit of health damage to the loser of DUEL. A useful side-effect of DUEL is it usually wipes out all the ATTACK 杀 cards of one (if not both) of the players involved in DUEL.

How to use it:

“Me. You. Outside. Right now." Pick any target player (not limited by range) to challenge to DUEL, then toss the DUEL card into the discard pile. The target player has to use an ATTACK card, after which you have to use an ATTACK card as well. The first player to not use an ATTACK card receives 1 unit of health damage.

If the target player does not have a single ATTACK card to begin with, or chooses not to use any, he or she immediately receives 1 unit of health damage. In that way, the advantage is tilted in favor of the user.

Historical basis:

There seems to be some strange ritual to battles in the era of the Three Kingdoms. Heck, I think this ritual exists in Western medieval history as well. In the depiction of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when two armies meet on the battle-field, the two sides exchange curses and insults before sending out a general each. These two generals then duel feverishly as both armies bring out the popcorn and enjoy the show. Sometimes, other generals rush out to join the duel and the fight turns into an orgy. By playing on tactical morale, leaders then decide when to launch the main force, then all hell breaks loose.

It was a lot more fun back then wasn't it? Nowadays we fight wars sitting behind a computer by pressing a single red button with the words "Nuclear Warhead Launch" written on it. Ho-hum.