| May 03, 1999 | |||||||||||||||||
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Power: 18
Used properly, this Gift can be brutal. In fact, it can almost achieve the level of power of the WW version of this card. Basically, you invalidate combat cards of a certain Rage cost. One way to use this is to just make educated guesses (ie, if fighting a character of 2 Rage, picking the number 5 would not make sense). The other, and more effective, way is to use it in conjunction with cards that either manipulate your opponent's combat hand or let you see what he's holding. If you know what he's holding, you can pick a number appropriately. What's even better is that each round you can alternate the number. So, if your opponent has cards of one Rage cost to attack and another to defend, switch off the numbers appropriately.
Usability: 16
You can basically fit this into all of the Tribe decks by including a Galliard intended for combat. Auspice decks are a little limited due to the requirement, so only the Galliard tribe card will get use from this card. Perhaps the most use, since everyone will be able to attach it.
Limitations: 14
There's a reasonable amount of balance in this card. First, it is limited to only Galliard characters who are themselves in the combat. The single point of Gnosis required doesn't do much to limit who can use it. There's also the discard factor to consider, but with a reasonably large Sept deck, this can be mitigated. However, even though multiple uses require multiple discards, with a working knowledge of an opponent's Combat hand, this can actually be rather potent in that the number selected can fluctuate through combat. Rather powerful for the small limitations.
Decks: 19
Well, pretty much any Galliard deck can put this to good use to mess up an opponent's combat strategy. Even better, this card works well in any card denial deck that includes cards like Curse of Hatred, especially when the flexible nature of Distractions is taken into account. This card also works nice in a Bone Gnawer deck with Hunts-by-Neon and Banana Split. Build a combat deck based on one Rage cost for attacks, and another for defenses. Switch, and then just shut down the appropriate cost each round. If you discard anything useful, use the tribe card ability to get it back. This card is also rather powerful in a Cub Wars environment. When dealing with cubs, the range of Rage costs is much narrower. Even picking randomly will be effective in this arena.
Flavor: 15
I wish I could give higher flavor marks for this card, but one thing jars me: the censorship. Bleah. Not that I have some perverse need to see nudity in my Rage cards, but rather that it detracts from the card itself. If this was a problem, why not have an art rework? Heck, I'm not an artist, so I might be off base, but there are cloudy bits floating around that could be used to cover the offending body parts. This is used in the upper right hand corner of the artwork. Oddly, this part is not censored, even though careful examination will find the offending bits clear enough to identify. However, this black bar is just messy. (Note: I am aware that FRPG has art guidelines regarding nudity. My issue is that art was altered in such an obvious and jarring manner.)
Okay, enough of that soapbox. Otherwise, the art is appropriate, depicting a confused Garou with distracting images floating around. The card title fits both art and effect, so points scored there. The quote matches as well, and also serves to do some setting for the three phases in the Wild West. Overall, the card fits in nicely - good effect matches pretty good flavor.
But that damnable black bar!