ASCERTAIN 知己知彼 (zhī jǐ zhī bǐ)

Description:
"Sun Tzu" would be proud. Straight out of the Art-of War textbook, ASCERTAIN allows you an all-access pass behind enemy lines. Take a leisurely read of all your opponents on-hand cards, or grab a peek at his hidden character card, no amount of mind games can stand up to this cards ability to make your enemy feel more naked than Paris Hilton at a drunken party.

What it does:
The name and the illustration of this card is explicit enough to tell its usage. ASCERTAIN allows you to peek either 1 hidden character card or a whole set of on-hand cards. By doing so, you know the identity and/or the intention of any player.

By choosing to execute RE-DRAW instead of ASCERTAIN, you get a 1-for-1 exchange immediately by drawing a new card from the deck.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use ASCERTAIN on another player. You choose 1 of 2 options:
1. View one of his/her hidden character cards.
2. View the whole set of his/her on-hand cards.

Note that if both character cards of the target player are exposed, you can only choose option 2, even if he/she does not have on-hand cards.

Re-draw: Place this card into the discard pile and draw a card. Note that re-draw is not using nor discarding, so abilities activated by using (“Assembling Wisdom” of Huang Yueying) or discarding (“Comity” of Kong Rong) cannot be activated.

Historical basis:
“Know yourself and know your foe, and you can win hundreds of battles without a single defeat. 知己知彼，百战不殆”. A well-known sentence of The Art of War, military intelligence is always recognized as one of the most essential part of ancient Chinese warfare. In the tumultuous Three Kingdom Era, good generals and strategists are able collect information from the slightest evidence. Guo Jia郭嘉, “The Short-lived Oracle”, can foretell the death of Sun Ce 孙策 from his daily behaviour. The omniscient Zhuge Liang诸葛亮 can even predict weather and fate by astrology.

Intelligence plays an important part in battles, too. At the Battle of Guandu 官渡之战, Cao Cao曹操 was initially at a disadvantaged position against Yuan Shao 袁绍. However, Xu You 许攸 defected from Yuan Shao’s forces, and leaked the location of their supply depot, Wuchao乌巢, to Cao Cao. With this information in hand, Cao Cao raided Wuchao and decisively won the battle.

ALLIANCE 远交近攻 (yuǎn jiāo jìn gōng)

Description:
Bro fists!! The 36 Stratagems 三十六计 exhibits its brilliance again with this beautifully thoughtful tool card for Kingdom Wars. In a fast-changing landscape with multiple stakeholders vying for dominance, alliances could be your only option to ensure victory... or survival! Embodying the true spirit of the Three Kingdoms era, ALLIANCE allows you to gain an advantage over your immediate enemy while also benefiting a distant ally. You can immediately see the effects of what 36 Stratagems call "Befriend a distant state while attacking a neighbor".

What it does:
To use this card, you must find another player that is from a different kingdom, and allow him/her to draw a card. Afterwards, you get an enormous prize for your generosity... you draw three cards! If used properly, this card can be more powerful than DRAW2 无中生有. If your kingdom is currently forming a strategic alliance with another kingdom, you can use it on your new brethren, reinforcing both sides. But never forget: your objective is to eliminate all other kingdoms, so your temporary ally would eventually point their blades against you.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use ALLIANCE on a player of another kingdom that has exposed character cards. The target player draws one card, and then you draw three cards.

Note that there is only one target of this card, that is, the player of another kingdom. Therefore, this card is neutralized completely by one NEGATE无懈可击, and both players cannot draw cards. Also, it is impossible to prevent drawing of one player only.

Historical basis:
Warlords in the Three Kingdoms Era utilize diplomacy for their own benefits, and exploitation was not uncommon. The most significant success in diplomacy is the alliance between Shu Kingdom and Wu Kingdom. Since Cao Cao 曹操 conquered Northern China and became the strongest allegiance, his next step was to wipe out Liu Bei 刘备 and Sun Quan 孙权. Zhuge Liang 诸葛亮 managed to forge an alliance between Shu Kingdom and Wu Kingdom. Under the command of Zhou Yu 周瑜, the united force was able to defeat Wei forces at the Battle of Red Cliffs 赤壁之战. However, Zhuge Liang exploited this chance to take over the majority of Jing Province 荆州, before Wu Kingdom could react. In the story, Zhuge Liang’s cunning action enraged Zhou Yu, and Zhou Yu eventually died of frustration.

Trivia:
远交近攻 literally means “befriend a distant state while attacking a neighbour”. This ploy originated from Fan Ju 范雎, a diplomat living at the Warring States Period 战国时代 (300 years before Three Kingdoms Era). He served Qin Kingdom, which later united the whole China by diplomacy, espionage and military forces.

AMASS 以逸待劳 (yǐ yì dài láo)

Description:
One of the smartest military tactics ever conjured from the human mind, AMASS is the translation for the ancient Chinese phrase 以逸待劳, which means to "wait at leisure while the enemy labours". Sound familiar? This is actually one of the famous 36 Stratagems 三十六计. Unfortunately, it is impossible to re-create the conditions for this tactic in SanGuoSha. After all, nobody needs to do any long marching just to reach you. Therefore the game creators decided to produce a similar effect by allowing your team to amass useful cards, giving the same effect as a "fresh army". Nice one!

What it does:
AMASS is a kingdom-based tool card that boosts the quality of you and 1 of your teammate's on-hand cards. By drawing two new cards and subsequently discarding two which you do not prefer, your kingdom maintains a high quality of cards for both offense and defense.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use AMASS on yourself and all players in the same kingdom as you. You are the first to draw 2 cards, followed by your teammates in the usual anti-clockwise order. Once everyone of your kingdom has drawn 2 cards, you are the first to discard 2 cards, followed by your teammates in the usual anti-clockwise order. 

[Edited on 23 Sept 2012] During your action phase, you can use AMASS on yourself and all players in the same kingdom as you. You are the first to draw 2 cards, and then you discard 2 cards (on-hand or equipped). After that, the next teammate in the usual anti-clockwise order gets to draw 2 cards and discard 2 cards. This process continues until everyone of your kingdom has drawn and discarded.

Historical basis:
Literally “wait at leisure while the enemy labors”, this card is designed for Lu Xun 陆逊 and his victory at the Battle of Yiling 夷陵之战. The illustration of this card even features him. Enraged by the murder of his sworn brothers, Liu Bei 刘备 led a massive force to invade the Wu Kingdom. Lu Xun was assigned Commander-in-Chief by Sun Quan himself. Despite the susception and rejection from the veteran generals, Lu Xun employed a defensive strategy to await for the Shu troops. Liu Bei's troops wore themselves down over the arduous march. Once the Shu troops became intolerant of the summer heat and moved into the woods, Lu Xun ordered a mixture of BLAZE 火计 and encirclement to devastate the Shu troops, thus saving the Wu Kingdom and dealing Liu Bei a psychologically fatal blow.

NEGATE [Kingdom] 无懈可击[国] (wú xiè kě jī)

Description:
The all-important card! NEGATE is arguably one of the most useful cards in the entire game. If you are familiar with the card game "Monopoly Deal", you would quickly see the similarities between NEGATE and "JUST SAY NO". Every tool card can be negated, including NEGATE itself! NEGATE can be used by any player at any time. You don't have to use it during your turn!

What it does:
It renders the tool card or its effects useless. Where the tool card affects only 1 player, using NEGATE renders the tool card useless. Where the tool card is a "Multi-player effect" tool card such as RAINING ARROWS 万箭齐发 or HARVEST 五谷丰登, using NEGATE only renders the effect of the tool card useless on 1 player.

NEGATE [Kingdom] works the same way with the exception that the effects of NEGATE affect all players that belong to the kingdom being negated. Effectively, you can negate up to 6 players in a 12 person game with just this one card!

How to use it:
Before a tool card takes effect on a player, you can use NEGATE on that tool card. If that tool card is not NEGATE, the effect of that tool card on a player is neutralized. If that tool card is NEGATE, neutralize it completely.

Trivia:
The phrase 无懈可击 is also not from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In fact it dates even further back to what is known as the "Spring and Autumn Era 春秋时代" in the Eastern Zhou dynasty 东周朝代, pieced together within the writings of the famous Sun Zi 孙子. Yes, the dude who wrote "Sun Tsu's Art of War 孙子兵法". The literal meaning of 无懈可击 is "to have no weakness, no carelessness, such that the enemy cannot exploit us".

DUEL 决斗 (jué dòu)

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:
During your action phase, you can use DUEL on another player. Starting from the target player, each of the participants of DUEL need to play an ATTACK杀 (elemental ATTACK can also be played) in turns. The first player refuses/unable to play an ATTACK suffers 1 unit of damage from another participant.

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.

LIGHTNING 闪电 (shǎn diàn)

Description:
Be afraid of this card. Be very afraid. When LIGHTNING appears, either a particular player has become desperate and suicidal, or the "judgement tinkerers" Sima Yi 司马懿 and Zhang Jiao 张角 have reared their ugly head. Typical exclaimations by players when LIGHTNING is used range from "Oh maaaaaaan~" to "Oh f******k~" to "WAH LAO EH~!" Strangely, more often than not the player who activates the LIGHTNING card ends up regretting it.

What it does:
Three units of lightning attribute damage! During the "judgement phase", if the judgement card happens to fall between 2 to 9 of "spades", you get struck by lightning. Immediately lose 3 units of health.

Here's the messed up part: If you happened to be shackled by IRON SHACKLES 铁索连环, every player that is also shackled will also lose 3 units of health since lightning damage can be transmitted!

Here's the super messed up part: The "judgement tinkerers" Sima Yi and Zhang Jiao can manipulate the outcome of judgements. Thus when either of these 2 characters are around, they can literally control who gets struck by lightning! "Oh maaaaaaan~"

Here's the insanely messed up part: LIGHTNING does not go away despite not striking the player or using NEGATE 无懈可击. The LIGHTNING card simply moves on to the subsequent player, and the next, and the next, until somebody eventually gets hit! There are only 2 ways to get rid of LIGHTNING without it striking a player. Either use DISMANTLE 过河拆桥 or STEAL 顺手牵羊. Russian roulette anyone?

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use LIGHTNING by placing it into your own pending area. It would be cancelled if you possess “Behind the Curtain”.

During the coming judgement phase of the target player, he/she needs to make a judgement. If the judgement result is 2-9 of spades, the target player receives 3 units of lightning damage, and the LIGHTNING is placed into the discard pile; or else, place the LIGHTNING to the player on the right.

Note that NEGATE against time-delay tool cards are used just before the judgement. If LIGHTNING is negated, place it into the pending area of the player on the right.

Trivia:
In traditional Chinese culture, it was said that people of unforgivable guilty would be struck by lightning. Dong Zhuo董卓, the step-father of Lu Bu吕布, was one of them, though not struck when he was alive. In the story, after he was killed by Lu Bu, he was dissembled by the angry officials and citizens. His remains were collected and buried by his supporters, but lightning struck his coffin thrice to prevent the burial. Wow!

RATIONS DEPLETED 兵粮寸断 (bīng liáng cùn duàn)

Description:
The literal translation of 兵粮寸断 means "breaking every inch of military rations". The RATIONS DEPLETED card simulates starvation, helplessness, and even the feeling of despair in battle by preventing the target player from drawing any cards during his round! Falling victim to this card is a royal pain-in-the-behind. Somewhat the harbinger of doom, players who are on the receiving end of RATIONS DEPLETED often get eliminated within the coming round. Thank goodness there are only 2 of these cards in the entire deck!

What it does:
It prevents the target player from drawing any cards. For this card to take effect, judgement needs to be passed during the start of the target player's turn. If the judgement is any suit other than "clubs", the player fails the judgement. He or she cannot draw any cards from the deck for this round. Players using Zhang Liao 张辽 cannot use his special ability “Surprise Attack” either. Simply put, the target player cannot gain any cards during the "resupply" phase for that round. That is where the card's effect ends though. The player can use any of the other tool cards such as HARVEST 五谷丰登 or DRAW2 无中生有 to add more cards to his hand.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use RATIONS DEPLETED by placing it into the pending area of another player at physical distance 1 from you. It would be cancelled if the target player possesses “Behind the Curtain”.

During the coming judgement phase of the target player, he/she needs to make a judgement. If the judgement result is not clubs, the target player needs to skip his/her draw phase.

Note that NEGATE against time-delay tool cards are used just before the judgement.

Historical Basis:
Although there are numerous mentions in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" of military tactics aimed at destroying rations and logistics, there was no particular military action event that led to widespread starvation of troops (to my knowledge anyways, feel free to contribute!). The basis for 兵粮寸断 is more likely referring to the locust plague in 194AD that caused widespread famine across all of China. This became the basis for Cao Cao 曹操's emphasis on agriculture in his leadership.

STEAL 顺手牵羊 (shùn shǒu qiān yáng)

Description:
Fancy that beautiful RATTAN AMOUR 藤甲 equipped by your neighbouring player? Wish you had that GREEN DRAGON CRESCENT BLADE 青龙偃月刀 for yourself? Now you can! With STEAL, any card from an adjacent player (physical distance 1) can be yours!

What it does:
Allows the user to pick 1 card (either on-hand or equipped) from a player at physical distance 1 from you. The stolen card is added to your cards on-hand, and you can equip it in the same action phase. This is also one of the only 2 ways to remove LIGHTNING 闪电 from the playing field.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use STEAL on another character at physical distance 1 from you. He/she must have at least one card in at least one of his/her areas (hand, equipped item area or pending area). You acquire a card in one of his/her areas.

Note that when you use DISMANTLE, you cannot state which card of whom to dismantle at once. Instead, you state who is your target player (e.g. “I want to use STEAL on Liu Bei”). If it is not neutralized by NEGATE 无懈可击, you can state which card to acquire (“I acquire a card in your hand”, “I acquire your ZHUGE CROSSBOW 诸葛连弩”).

When you intend to acquire someone’s on-hand cards, you pick a card randomly. When you intend to acquire a card in someone’s equipped item area/judgement area, you pick one yourself.

Historical basis:
At the height of the rivalry between the three kingdoms, the strategist Zhou Yu 周瑜 of the kingdom of Sun Wu 孙吴 launched a huge attack on the city of Nan Jun 南郡. General Cao Ren 曹仁 of the kingdom of Cao Wei 曹魏was tasked to defend Nan Jun. He deceived Zhou Yu by faking a full-scale retreat, but secretly leaving at ambush behind. During the ambush, Zhou Yu was shot by an arrow and the attack on Nan Jun was aborted. Not to be outdone, Zhou Yu counter-deceived Cao Ren into thinking he died from the arrow wound. Thus, Cao Ren let his guard down and haughtily launched an attack on Zhou Yu's base camp, only to realize he was tricked!

By this time Cao Ren has suffered massive losses and decided he did not have enough troops to defend Nan Jun. Zhou Yu, on the other hand, thought he could easily march into Nan Jun and take over. Alas he was shocked to find that Zhu Ge Liang 诸葛亮 had capitalized on the chaos and stolen the poorly defended Nan Jun from right under both Zhou Yu 周瑜 and Cao Ren's noses! So infuriated was Zhou Yu that he vomited blood, fell off his horse and fainted. Days later, Zhou Yu died. Thus was the infamous end of Zhou Yu, death by frustration in the hands of Zhu Ge Liang.

ACEDIA 乐不思蜀 (lè bù sī shǔ)

Description:
If you read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", you would know very clearly which historical figure is guilty of acedia (neglecting to take care of something that one should do). I am referring, of course, to Liu Shan 刘禅, son of Liu Bei 刘备, the wimpy ruler of the Kingdom of Shu 蜀国 in the dying days of the Three Kingdoms era. The game-makers ingenuously simulated the consequences of acedia with this ACEDIA card. When you fall victim to ACEDIA, remember to sing, dance and smile gleefully like you were high on crack.

What it does:
The ACEDIA card causes the target player to be unable to take any action during his turn. At the "judgement phase" of the target player's turn, if the judgement card is any suit other than "hearts", the target player has failed the judgement. He or she can proceed with the "drawing phase" and draw 2 cards from the deck, but is prohibited from doing anything else. The turn immediately proceeds to the "discard phase" where the target player will have to discard as many cards as necessary.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use ACEDIA by placing it into the pending area of another player. It would be cancelled if the target player possesses “Humility” or “Behind the Curtain (for black ACEDIA)”.
During the coming judgement phase of the target player, he/she needs to make a judgement. If the judgement result is not hearts, the target player needs to skip his/her action phase.
Note that NEGATE against time-delay tool cards are used just before the judgement.

Historical Basis:
In the closing decades of the Three Kingdom era, Liu Shan became the emperor of the Kingdom of Shu Han. His incompetence led to the collapse of Shu Han and he ultimately surrendered to Si Ma Zhao 司马昭. Years later, as a powerless figurehead Duke in soft-captivity, a banquet was thrown by Si Ma Zhao where Liu Shan said "I enjoy it here and I do not think of Shu at all." Liu Shan is thus commonly remembered throughout history as an incompetent ruler who only knows enjoyment.

IRON SHACKLES 铁索连环 (tié suǒ lián huán)

Description:
Another rare dual-purpose card (to be very anal about it, it is actually tri-purpose). The phrase "killing 2 birds with 1 stone" is taken to the extreme with the IRON SHACKLES card. Use this card to shackle players together, then watch them all fry when any 1 of them receives Fire attribute or Lightning attribute damage. Technically, you can shackle every goddamned mofo that is in play if you have enough of this card. What benefit would that bring, you ask? Well, read on to find out!

Assuming you have no wish to shackle people together, then you can choose to use "RE-DRAW 重铸" to exchange for another card from the deck.

What it does:
This card shackles together 2 players of the user's choice. In order to differentiate the players that have been shackled from those that haven't, the character card (the one with the character name such as "Liu Bei 刘备" etc.) of those who have been shackled will be placed in the "landscape" orientation instead of the usual "portrait" orientation.

When any 1 of the players shackled receives either fire or lightning damage, all the shackled players receive the same amount of damage of that element. Note that damage (not an attack or a tool card effect) is transmitted, therefore the incoming transmitted damage cannot be avoided by DODGE 闪 or NEGATE 无懈可击. However the damage can be deflected if you are using the appropriate character (such as Xiao Qiao 小乔). All shackles are broken immediately after any elemental damage has been transmitted.

Shackles can be broken between 2 players by using another IRON SHACKLES card or using the NEGATE 无懈可击 card.

As there have been many questions regarding IRON SHACKLES, a separate section has been dedicated to the disambiguation of this card in the "Disambiguation" section below.

By choosing to execute RE-DRAW instead of IRON SHACKLES, you get a 1-for-1 exchange immediately by drawing a new card from the deck.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use IRON SHACKLES on one to two players.
If the target player is not shackled (“portrait orientation”), shackle him/her by turning his/her character card to the “landscape orientation”.
If the target player is shackled (“landscape orientation”), shackle him/her by turning his/her character card to the “portrait orientation”.

Re-draw: Place this card into the discard pile and draw a card. Note that re-draw is not using nor discarding, so abilities activated by using (“Assembling Wisdom” of Huang Yueying) or discarding (“Comity” of Kong Rong) cannot be activated.

Disambiguation (FAQ) according to Yoka games FAQ in chinese:
1. If more than 1 IRON SHACKLE card was used to shackle 2 different pairs of players, does it matter which pair of players were shackled for damage transmission and unshackling? For example there are 4 players A, B, C and D. A was shackled with B, and C was shackled with D. If A receives fire damage, will C and D also receive damage? What about unshackling? Must we unshackle only the pairs A-B or C-D? Can we unshackle A-C or B-D?

Ans: There are only 2 status of players: those that are shackled and those that are not. All players that are victims of IRON SHACKLES belong to the shackled status. When fire or lightning damage is received, all players that are in the shackled status will receive damage as well. It does matter specifically whom was shackled with whom.

Therefore to answer the scenario listed above, when A receives fire damage, all 4 players A, B, C and D will receive fire damage since all are in the shackled status. Similarly, any 2 players in the shackled status can be unshackled. Therefore the pairs A-C or B-D can be unshackled.

2. If player A has equipped RATTAN ARMOUR 藤甲 and received fire damage, will all shackled players receive 2 units of damage? Or does player A receive 2 units of damage only?

Ans: All shackled players receive 2 units of damage since the shackles transmit the same elemental damage and the same magnitude as was received by the victim.

3. What if player A has equipped RATTAN ARMOUR and is shackled with player B (who does not have RATTAN ARMOUR equipped), and this time player B receives 1 unit of fire damage?

Ans: Player B receives 1 unit of fire damage while player A receives 2 unit of fire damage. This is because the element and magnitude being transmitted to all is solely determined by the victim (player B). Thus everyone shackled receives 1 unit of fire damage. Player A first receives 1 unit of fire damage, then the damage is increased up to 2 units only for player A because of the RATTAN ARMOUR equipped.

4. Assume player A has SILVER HELMET equipped, and is shackled to player B who does not have any armour equipped. If player B is struck by LIGHTNING 闪电, will player A receive 3 units of damage or only 1?

Ans: Player B receives 3 units of damage while player A receives only 1 unit. However if player A was the one struck by LIGHTNING, all players shackled receive only 1 unit of damage. The logic is similar to question 3.

Shackling yourself to another player:
Now why in the world would you want to do something as crazy as making yourself victim to shackling? Here are two scenarios for you to consider.

1. If there is a LIGHTNING out there in play and your opponent is way too strong, it can be a pretty good idea to shackle yourself to an opponent. Here's why. Whenever the LIGHTNING reaches you, the your opponent would not want him/herself to suffer 3 units of lightning damage if you get struck! There is a chance their team may NEGATE the LIGHTNING for you at your turn, just so as to protect that team mate.

2. This 2nd scenario involves protecting yourself from Zhang Jiao 张角 and his Lightning Bolt attack (2 units of lightning damage if Zhang Jiao uses DODGE and judgement is "spades"). By shackling yourself to him, he would not use Lightning Bolt against you since he would also receive 2 units of damage.

Historical basis:
The story behind IRON SHACKLES is a significant part of the Battle of Red Cliffs 赤壁之战. Pang Tong 庞统 is a widely known as someone as brilliant as Zhu Ge Liang 诸葛亮 in that era, and when Cao Cao 曹操 happens to "bump" into him, Cao Cao suspected no trickery and quickly sought Pang Tong's council. After surveying Cao Cao's army, Pang Tong notices that the army was ill-trained for battle on the water. Numerous soldiers became sea-sick and, thus, had poor morale for battle. He advises Cao Cao to chain all his ships together using iron shackles. This way all the ships would be as stable as solid ground and his soldiers would regain their morale and confidence. Cao Cao agrees to chain his ships together, praising Pang Tong for his intelligence.

What Cao Cao didn't know was that the shackling of his ships was a ploy by Zhou Yu 周瑜. With all of Cao Cao's ships chained together while at sea, there was no way to break away if a fire broke out. That was exactly what Zhou Yu had in mind. By sending small boats filled with flammable materials towards Cao Cao, a huge fire broke out that practically wiped out Cao Cao's army. Of course, this is a very short summary of a very epic battle.

BLAZE 火攻 (huǒ gōng)

Description:
One of the more complicated cards to use, BLAZE can be very useful... if you know what you are doing. It is an inefficient tool for causing damage to an opponent since it needs to expend 2 on-hand cards, though that might be well worth it if your opponents are under the effects of IRON SHACKLES 铁索连环 or has equipped RATTAN ARMOUR 藤甲 or both! You can also just use it to glimpse one of your opponent's on-hand cards, especially if it is the only card left in his or her hand. Peek-a-boo!

What it does:
If damage is dealt, the victim receives 1 unit of fire attribute damage. Since it is fire attribute damage, all players shackled to the victim also receive 1 unit of fire attribute damage. Accordingly, victims equipped with RATTAN ARMOUR receive 2 units of damage.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use BLAZE on another player with on-hand card(s). The target player needs to reveal an on-hand card (the entire card should be visible to all players in play). If you can discard an on-hand card with the same suit of the revealed card, you deal 1 unit of fire damage to that player.

Historical basis:
There are numerous instances in Romance of the Three Kingdoms where fire is used in sieges and attacks, the most famous being the Battle of Red Cliffs 赤壁之战. Cao Cao 曹操's ships were shackled together after being tricked by Pang Tong 庞统. When his ships were set on fire by Huang Gai 黄盖, Cao Cao's entire fleet was engulfed in flames and, thus, suffered a severe loss. This also forms the historical basis for fire damage being able to transmit via IRON SHACKLES.

HARVEST 五谷丰登 (wǔ gǔ fēng dēng)

Description:
Share the joy, give everyone in play an extra card! When HARVEST is used, everyone is happy... everyone except the player whose turn is just before yours. Though this is usually seen as a defensive tool card, expert players know how to use this card as an offensive against certain characters. Read on to find out more!

What it does:
When this card is used, cards from the deck are flipped around for every player to see. Flip open as many cards as there are players still in play (5 players still alive, flip 5 cards). The player who used HARVEST gets to choose which card he or she wants first. This is followed by the player after him or her, and so on until the final card is taken by the player whose turn was just before the user. In this way, the user has the most cards to choose from, and the player to his left (if play is anticlockwise) has no choice since only 1 card is left.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use HARVEST on all players. Reveal as many cards as there are players still in play. Each target player chooses one revealed card and acquire it. The user chooses his/her card first, then the player on the user’s right, and so on.

Offensive strategy:
Since the HARVEST card is a tool card, it is subject to NEGATE 无懈可击. One option that works is to use NEGATE to deny an opponent a chance to pick up a card. Toss in NEGATE when its your opponent's turn and there is a chance he or she will pick up DODGE. This way your teammates may have picked up ATTACK and your opponent will be one DODGE short.

The other option is to force a player to take a card, and by doing so it puts that player in a disadvantage. For example, a player using Elder Zhu Ge Liang 暮年诸葛亮 is impervious to ATTACK and DUEL when he or she has no cards on hand (the "Empty City 空城" ability). Using HARVEST forces the player to pick up a card, thus the Empty City ability is not longer in effect.

Trivia:
The phrase 五谷丰登 does not come from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It simply symbolizes a bountiful harvest. The first 2 words 五谷 refers to the 5 basic types of crop in ancient times. The 5 crops are as follows:

1. 黍 (shu) - Proso Millet or Broomcorn (used in birdseed)
2. 稷 (ji) - Foxtail Millet, also referred to as "yellow rice".
3. 麦 (mai) - Wheat
4. 菽 (shu) - Soybean
5. 稻 (dao) - Rice

DRAW2 无中生有 (wú zhōng shēng yǒu)

Description:
Hallelujah!! You would seldom see anyone be unhappy to get this card. DRAW2 is one of those cards that gives you a benefit without any side effects (such as HARVEST since others get cards too). Besides, very rarely do players NOT want cards. Even if they were using Elder Zhu Ge Liang 暮年诸葛亮 and planning to use the "Empty City 空城" ability, it is always prudent to draw more cards first to hurl some damage at opponents.

What it does:
DRAW2 allows the user to draw another 2 cards from the deck. Duh.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use DRAW2 on yourself. Draw two cards.

Trivia:
The actual meaning and the literal translation of 无中生有 is "to have something borne out of nothing". Unlike most other chinese phrases, 无中生有 has no deeper meaning. It can be used to describe a magic trick such as pulling a rabbit out of a hat. It can also mean a sudden storm appearing amidst a sunny day. This phrase is unrelated to Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is said to be referenced from the philosopher Lao Zi 老子 from the 6th century BC.

RAINING ARROWS 万箭齐发 (wàn jiàn qí fā)

Description:
There was a scene from Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers, where Aragorn commands the elven archers to release their arrows against the orcs attacking Helm's Deep. Arrows rain from the sky, instantly impaling hundreds of orcs. This enactment is pretty much the same in the era of the Three Kingdoms. Use RAINING ARROWS to release arrows against every player. Players must play DODGE 闪 or NEGATE 无懈可击, or suffer 1 unit of health damage.

What it does:
A multi-player attack where every player must play DODGE or lose 1 unit of health. NEGATE can also be used to neutralize this tool card. Rules of engagement is identical to BARBARIANS 南蛮入侵 where it is recommended to have players play DODGE in an orderly manner starting from the user's right.

Note that since DODGE is required, a player that has equipped the EIGHT TRIGRAMS 八卦阵 can choose to play auto-DODGE (judgement required).

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use RAINING ARROWS on all other players. Each target player needs to play a DODGE, or else he/she suffers 1 unit of damage from the user. Players should play their DODGE cards consecutively one after another, starting from the player on the user's right.

Historical basis:
Too many battles in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms made use of raining arrows on their enemy. In fact it is expected to be part of assault and defense, just like tanks are to ground battles in today's wars. However there are 2 special-mentions in Romance of the Three Kingdoms concerning arrows.

The first is the warlord Yuan Shao 袁绍 and his choice of using arrows heavily. In his attacks against Gong Sun Zan 公孙瓒 and Cao Cao 曹操, there is an abnormally large number of mentions of Yuan Shao using arrows against his enemies. This is likely the reason Yuan Shao's character in this card game has the ability to use RAINING ARROWS easily.

The second is the story of Zhu Ge Liang 诸葛亮 using straw figurines to borrow arrows. Zhou Yu 周瑜 wants Zhu Ge Liang dead because he is too intelligent and will be a threat after the alliance between the kingdoms of Shu Han 蜀汉 and Sun Wu 孙吴 is over. Zhou Yu challenges Zhu Ge Liang to produce 100,000 arrows in 10 days or be executed. Zhu Ge Liang audaciously proposes to shorten the duration to 3 days. He then sends 20 boats filled with straw figurines into enemy waters on a foggy day (Cao Cao's camp). The enemy saw a huge attack imminent, but is unable to clearly see that the figurines were straw and not real warriors. Thus they unleashed volley after volley of arrows, which Zhu Ge Liang gladly accepted. By such, he was able to produce 100,000 arrows within 3 days.

PEACH GARDEN 桃园结义 (táo yuán jié yì)

Description:
The first two words 桃园 means "garden of peaches", so make a guess what the PEACH GARDEN card does? When this card is used, every player that is still alive in the game recoups 1 unit of health. Everybody happy? Not necessarily. In fact most players that draw this card either uses it with care or choose to discard it altogether. That is because it also heals the bugger whom you wanna kill. Therefore this card usually brings more headache than smiles.

What it does:
Heals 1 unit of health for every player still alive. Note: this card cannot be used to rescue a player at the brink of death. Plus, this card is a tool card and, therefore, is susceptible to NEGATE 无懈可击.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use PEACH GARDEN on all players (including yourself). All injured target players regain 1 unit of health each. The effect is resolved one by one, starting from the user, and then the player on the user's right, and so on.

Historical basis:
Right at the beginning chapters of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the story of how Liu Bei 刘备, Guan Yu 关羽 and Zhang Fei 张飞 met by chance. Seeing that all three have the same goal of accomplishing something great for their country, the three of them decided to become sworn brothers. Thus a ceremony was performed in Zhang Fei 张飞's backyard, which so happens to be a peach garden. It is at this ceremony that the famous phrase was spoken:

"不求同年同月同日生，但求同年同月同日死"
"We seek not to be born in the same day, month, year. We merely hope to die in the same day, month, year."

This phrase is often used today in soap operas/dramas in the Chinese society.

Though this oath-taking is a very small part in the entire Romance of Three Kingdoms story, nonetheless the brotherhood of the 3 characters play a very pivotal part in as the story progresses.

BARBARIANS 南蛮入侵 (nán mán rù qīn)

Description:
The "world" is suddenly overrun by barbarians who appeared from the South! The literal translation of 南蛮入侵 is "under siege from the southern barbarians". The barbarians don't give two hoots about taking sides, they simply slaughter everyone. Every player needs to play an ATTACK card to fend them off or suffer 1 unit of health damage.

What it does:
Delivers 1 unit of health damage to every player (except the user) unless they play an ATTACK card.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use BARBARIANS on all other players. Each target player needs to play an ATTACK杀 (elemental ATTACKS can also be played), or else he/she suffers 1 unit of damage from the user. Players should play their ATTACK cards consecutively one after another, starting from the player on the user's right.

Historical basis:
After the death of Liu Bei 刘备 and Cao Cao 曹操, Cao Pi 曹丕 (Cao Cao's son) induced the barbarian forces in the South to invade Liu Bei's kingdom of Shu Han 蜀汉. The barbarians were led by their leader Meng Huo 孟获. Though Meng Huo was a skilled warrior and leader, he was no match for the strategy and mindgames of Zhu Ge Liang 诸葛亮, who captured him seven times! More astonishing was the fact that Zhu Ge Liang released Meng Huo seven times, knowing that to truly quell the rebellion in the south he needed the southerners to respect and admire the Kingdom of Shu Han.

Incidentally, the southern barbarians were the people who invented the RATTAN ARMOR 藤甲.

DURESS 借刀杀人 (jiè dāo shā rén)

Description:
Out of ATTACK 杀 cards to use? Your target opponent out of range? Want to hold a member of the opposite team hostage? This is the tool card to use. Although DURESS can be used on any player, it is most effective when used on your opponents from enemy kingdoms. The only requirement, though, is that the target player must have a weapon equipped to become susceptible to DURESS. Now sit back, have a cup of tea and enjoy being evil.

What it does:
DURESS forces the target player to use an ATTACK card on another player of the user's choice. Note that the intended recipient of the ATTACK must be within attacking range of the player held under DURESS. If the target player refuses to use an ATTACK card, he or she must give up the equipped weapon to the user. The user then keeps the unethically acquired weapon as an on-hand card. The weapon can also be equipped in the same action phase.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use DURESS on another player equipped with a weapon (referred to as "Player A"), then you choose a player within the attack range “Player A” (referred to as “PLAYER B”).
“Player A” needs to use an ATTACK杀 (it can be an elemental ATTACK) on “Player B”. If “Player A” refuses to use an ATTACK, he/she must give his/her equipped weapon to you.

Trivia:
The literal meaning of 借刀杀人 "jie dao sha ren" is to kill someone using a borrowed knife, hence the requirement for the target player to have a weapon equipped before DURESS can be used. However the true meaning of 借刀杀人 actually means making use of a third party to carry out an unethical deed. The third party usually already has intentions to carry out the deed anyway. This diverts significantly from the meaning of duress since the true meaning of 借刀杀人 does not carry any implied threat or penalty if the third party refuses. Nonetheless, I decided to translate this card as DURESS because of the obvious tactical play involved and the penalty of losing an equipped weapon.

Historical basis:
In the early days of the Three Kingdoms era, Cao Cao 曹操 had the misfortune to be insulted by a somewhat-prominent scholar called Mi Heng 祢衡. Mi Heng is quite the antagonist (and probably a little tired of living), verbally insulting many generals while carrying an air of elitism. Much as he would love to kill Mi Heng with his bare hands, Cao Cao does not want to be seen as a petty leader. Neither does he want to be known as a leader who does not treasure talent, especially since he wants to convene the best generals and strategists under his leadership.

Cao Cao, therefore, does the next best thing. He sends Mi Heng on an impossible mission to convince a rival ruler, Liu Biao 刘表, to surrender. Liu Biao is enraged by Mi Heng's audacity, but quickly realizes it is a ploy by Cao Cao to have Mi Heng murdered. Liu Biao sends Mi Heng to visit his general Huang Zhu, where Mi Heng again sarcastically criticizes Huang Zhu. Huang Zhu gets pissed and kills Mi Heng, but the son-of-a-gun deserved it anyway. In this way Cao Cao and Liu Biao were both vindicated of killing a talent, while still happy that they got rid of that uppity little fart.

DISMANTLE 过河拆桥 (guò hé chāi qiáo)

Description:
The saviour! There are too many instances where players are left completely helpless, restricted by their opponent's +1 horse or armour. Many can only wish to draw this card. Most never do. Probably the most reliable way (and sometimes the ONLY way) to tear down an opponent's defense, DISMANTLE should always be among your most treasured tool cards on hand! Between DISMANTLE and STEAL 顺手牵羊, DISMANTLE is probably the stronger tool card since it is not limited by range.

What it does:
As the name implies, it dismantles ANY card from ANY player. It can be used on equipped weapons, armour, horses or cards in the hand. Heck, it can even be used to remove TIME-DELAY TOOL CARDS 延时类锦囊. It is also one of the only 2 ways to remove LIGHTNING into the discard pile after it has been used.

How to use it:
During your action phase, you can use DISMANTLE on another character with at least one card in at least one of his/her areas (hand, equipped item area or pending area). You discard a card in one of his/her areas.
Note that when you use DISMANTLE, you cannot state which card of whom to dismantle at once. Instead, you state who is your target player (e.g. “I want to use DISMANTLE on Zhao Yun”). If it is not neutralized by NEGATE无懈可击, you can state which card to discard (“I discard a card in your hand”, “I discard your ZHUGE CROSSBOW诸葛连弩”).
When you intend to discard someone’s on-hand cards, you pick a card randomly. When you intend to discard a card in someone’s equipped item area/judgement area, you pick one yourself.

Special abilities:
Be extra careful when any of your opponents is playing the character Gan Ning 甘宁. All black-suited cards can be used as DISMANTLE. That may not seem very terrifying to the uninitiated, but that ability makes Gan Ning an extremely useful character to play! Not convinced? Just wait till he dismantles all your equipped items and cards on hand. Not fun... unless you love that naked feeling.

Historical basis:
One of the hallmark stories from the Romance of Three Kingdoms is that of Zhang Fei 张飞 and the battle of Chang Ban 长板. The other superstar character of this battle is Zhao Yun 赵云, though he will not be mentioned here. Zhang Fei stood on Chang Ban bridge alone and faced the army of Cao Cao as they pursued Liu Bei 刘备. To buy time for Liu Bei's escape, Zhang Fei yelled out "I am Zhang Fei! Who dares to fight me?!" Apparently the yell was so loud that Cao Cao's army was scared shitless. One of Cao Cao's generals was so shocked that he fell off his horse and died. Fearing an ambush awaiting, Cao Cao ordered a full retreat. Zhang Fei took the opportunity and destroyed the bridge, buying time for Liu Bei's escape.

Trivia:
The modern-day meaning of the phrase 过河拆桥 actually means to take advantage of someone or something to obtain an objective, then destroying it so that others cannot obtain it also.