Dodge 闪

Description:

Dodge! Duh!! When someone uses an ATTACK 杀 card on you, use this card to prevent suffering damage. Used to best effect by making a silly face at your attacker right after you use the card. Neh neh ni bu bu~

What it does:

Do you really need me to spell it out for you?! Dodge! Evade! Get out of the way!

How to use it:

When an ATTACK is used on you, use this card to dodge the attack immediately. In 99% of cases, you will not get to use this card during your turn. (Interested to know what is that special 1% scenario? Click here.) In certain cases, ATTACK can be dodged without the use of this card. This happens when you have equipped EIGHT TRIGRAMS 八卦阵 or when you play the role of RULER 主公 using Cao Cao 曹操. Follow the links for more details.

Special abilities:

Probably the only instance when the DODGE card can cause damage to a player is when Zhang Jiao 张角 uses it when he is attacked. Everytime Zhang Jiao uses DODGE, he can choose to use his "Lightning Bolt 雷击" attack to inflict 2 units of lightning damage to any player of his choice! Follow the link to read more about Zhang Jiao.

Miscellaneous:

Against conventional logic, the DODGE card might be the most frustrating card to draw from the deck! The reason is the more DODGE cards you draw, the less options you have in that turn. This happens because you cannot actively use DODGE during your turn since you are not under attack. This problem is compounded when you use a character that has an advantage with less or no cards on hand, such as Elder Zhu Ge Liang 诸葛亮, or Lu Xun 陆逊. Since you cannot choose to discard cards if your number of cards on hand is equal or less than your amount of life points at that moment, you will likely be stuck with DODGE cards at the end of your turn!

Attack 杀

Description:

Probably the most basic card in the game. As the name implies, the action is simple: ATTACK! Use this card to inflict damage on your opponent. The damage will have no elemental attributes to it. Plain ol' knuckle busting.

What it does:

In the simplest sense, using this card is equal to taking one stab/slash/chop/whatever-barbaric-attack-you-prefer at your opponent. Yes only ONE. Of course, your opponent can dodge the attack if he has the DODGE 闪card.

How to use it:

During your turn, you are allowed to use ATTACK only once. When using ATTACK, the attack range is critical. ATTACK can only reach the opponent within your attack range. 

There are some scenarios where ATTACK can be used multiple times to cause multiple consecutive damage. Some examples are: 

1. When you have equipped the Zhuge Crossbow 诸葛连弩

2. When you have equipped the Green Dragon Crescent Blade 青龙偃月刀

3. When your character is Zhang Fei 张飞

In scenarios 1 and 3, you can repeatedly use as many ATTACK cards as you fancy on as many opponents as you wish within your attack range (and thus incur the wrath of everyone. Be warned!). In scenario 2, you can use another ATTACK card on the same opponent only if your previous ATTACK was dodged.

Cài Wén Jī (Lady Cai) 蔡文姬 (SP009)

Translated Description
“Extraordinary Talent 金璧之才(jīn bì zhī cái)”

Who is she?
If you ask me who was the most beautiful lady during the whole Three Kingdoms era, I really can't name one. The beautiful ladies always leave their names in history (just like Da Qiao 大乔, Xiao Qiao 小乔, Diao Chan 貂蝉). But if you ask me who was the most talented lady at the time, I am sure that must be Lady Cai, who is also called Cai Wen Ji 蔡文姬 in history. The proof is that she did not only leave her family name but also her first name (蔡琰Cài Yǎn) in the history books. In ancient China, that was a special honor reserved for only the smartest of ladies such as Zhen Ji 甄姬 (whose real name was 甄宓Zhen Mi), and Huang Yue Ying 黄月英. Lady Cai was a poet, a composer and was famous for her incredible memory in literature. Want to know more about her? Just check out the previous write up!

Why is she an SP character?
Technically speaking, Lady Cai is indebted to Cao Cao 曹操. Though she was born in a noble family, she spent 12 years as a prisoner under the Huns, until Cao Cao paid a heavy sum for her freedom. In  return, she worked for Cao Cao and his Wei Kingdom. This special experience was really tragic, and also made her a special female character, both in history and SGS game. I guess the game-makers wanted to give her a sense of loyalty to her benefactor, thus this Wei version as the SP character.

Character ability1: “Dirge 悲歌 (bēi gē)”
Every instance a player suffers damage from an ATTACK, you can discard a card (on-hand or equipped), and the player who suffered the damage flips a judgement card.

If the judgement is “hearts”, the victim regains 1 unit of health.
If the judgement is “diamonds”, the victim draws 2 cards.
If the judgement is “clubs”, the attacker discards 2 cards.
If the judgement is “spades”, the attacker flips his/her character card over.

Character ability2: “Sorrow 断肠(duàn cháng)” [Enforced ability] 
The player who kills you loses all of his/her character abilities until the end of the game.

Additional info based on changes:
Nothing much has changed except her portrait (and the allegiance). It’s probably just due to the unpleasant players’ reviews about the original portrait. The original was indeed quite scary, yet according to history, Lady Cai was a beautiful woman. This version presents that quite well but the sorrow on her face has gone. Anyway, for the readers out there, which one do you prefer?

Ricky: Actually I prefer the old portrait, which had that abandoned vagabond psycho-killer look. The old version reminds me of The White-Haired Demon 白发魔女 while this new version looks like she's totally decked out from a shopping spree.

Wiki Links:
- Cai Wen Ji Wiki

How to obtain this character?
She is not available on SGS online so far. For obtaining a card, purchase ZYZ magazine
issue #10 (October 2011).

Contributing Writer:
- Cherry Cat

SP Character Cards on sale on Sino-Games.com

Dear Readers,

You probably already know how difficult it is to get your hands on the Zhuo You Zhi magazine, much less the Original SP cards themselves.

We've decided to bring in as many Zhuo You Zhi magazines as we can afford, so that we can get hold of the magazines AND the SP cards.

Extremely Rare copy of the March 2011 issue with SP Diao Chan

Truth is, most people just want the SP cards, and the magazine means little to them. Furthermore, the magazine weighs like a ton of bricks, so it really costs a bomb to mail them.

So we've decided to take out the SP card and sell it directly... which kinda means i'll have a big mountain of magazines without SP cards just waiting for the recyclers.

Left: Scanned image for SGS Blog. Right: Actual Diao Chan SP002 card (Original)

A word of warning though, these SP cards do not come cheap. We do our best to make sure that what we bring in is the Original stuff. So you can rest assured and order through us.

Click here to visit Sino-Games.com SP cards.

Thanks once again for all your support thus far. Have fun and Enjoy the SP cards! 杀!

Lǚ Bù 吕布 (SP008)

Who is he?

I guess you are already very familiar with him. Lǚ Bù 吕布, the strongest fighter during the whole Three Kingdoms era. There have already been two versions of him in SGS (Neutral Heroes and Demi-God), but they have really outdone themselves this time. These two SP versions are both Demi-Gods, and pretty much insane!


Why is he an SP character? 
Because it’s created for the SP mode: HuLao-Pass. HuLao-Pass Mode is designed according to the story of a famous battle in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. With regards to the HuLao-Pass mode, the game designers said: “Nowadays there are more and more expansions of SGS. People gradually concentrate more and more on the various and complicated abilities of new characters, and forget about the cultural background, the comprehension of the characters’ personalities, and enjoying the balance of the game. The design of HuLao-Pass Mode and this Demi-God version of Lu Bu are supposed to help players get back to the Three Kingdoms’ world and enjoy the simulated battle.”

Translated Description:
“The Myth of the Formidable 最强神话 (zuì qiáng shén huà)”

Character ability 1: “Horsemanship 马术 (mǎ shù)” [Enforced ability] 
You will always be at -1 distance in any range calculations.

(Note: Same ability as Ma Chao 马超)

Character ability 2: “Without Equal 无双(wú shuāng)” [Enforced ability] 
Whenever you use ATTACK杀, your target has to use 2 DODGE 闪 cards to successfully evade the attack. During a DUEL 决斗, your opponent needs to use 2 ATTACK cards for every one ATTACK card that you use.

(Note: Same ability as the original Lu Bu 吕布.)

When your health decreases to 4 units, your character card has to be changed immediately into this next character card.

Translated Description:
“The Furious God of Battle 暴怒的战神(bào nù de zhàn shén)”

Character ability 1: “Horsemanship 马术 (mǎ shù)” [Enforced ability] 
You will always be at -1 distance in any range calculation.

Character ability 2: “Without Equal 无双(wú shuāng)” [Enforced ability] 
Whenever you use ATTACK杀, your target has to use 2 DODGE 闪cards to successfully evade the attack. During a DUEL 决斗, your opponent needs to use 2 ATTACK cards for every one ATTACK card that you use.

Character ability 3: “Asura 修罗(xiū luó)” 
At the beginning of your turn, you can discard one on-hand card in order to discard one Time- Delay Tool Card that is in your Judgement Area. The card you discard must be of the same suit as the Time-Delay Tool Card.

Character ability 4: “Divine Aura 神威 (shén wēi)” [Enforced ability] 
During your drawing phase, you can draw an additional 2 cards. Your on-hand card limit is increased +2.

Character ability 5: “Divine Halberd 神戟 (shén jǐ)” 
When you have no weapon equipped, your ATTACK card can target up to 3 different players.


Tip:
There are no LIGHTNING 闪电 cards and no expansions SO FAR in HuLao-Pass Mode on SGS online. Since this character is designed for HuLao-Pass Mode, the Time- Delay Tool Cards would only refer to ACEDIA 乐不思蜀.


Ability's relation to story: 
Most of Demi-God Lu Bu’s abilities are extremely aggressive. They just represent his courage, bravery, and exceptional fighting prowess. Also, this Demi-God version of Lu Bu is designed for a battle with three other characters. That’s why he also has some efficient defensive abilities; for example, “Asura” can prevent him from being affected by ACEDIA, “Divinity” can let him have more cards to better defend himself during the game.


Additional info based on story: 
Since these character cards are designed for HuLao-Pass Mode, you really need to know what happened at HuLao-Pass then. Ricky has made an excellent write-up for this story, just check it out on Lu Bu’s page.


Links and resources: 
- Lu Bu Wiki
- Battle of HuLao Pass Wiki
- Asura Wiki


How to obtain this character? 
Those two cards are available in HuLao-Pass Mode on SGS online now! (Of course VIP only, and there is no way to see them in other modes) For obtaining the cards, purchase ZYZ magazine issue #8 (August 2011).


Contributing Writer:
Cherry Cat