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In many of the articles I 've written about The Children of Blackcloud, I've written about an engine that Brennen utilizes to quickly take control of the game. Some of the pieces have already been revealed, like Chant of the Dead, Chant of Protection, and Brennen's own ability. Returning the Blackcloud Ninja allows you to exhaust an important spell when returned and the Crimson Bomber gives you a method to remove multiple small or wounded unit in one fell swoop! But today's ally serves an even more integral role in Brennen's unstopable juggernaut. And here it is...

Ambush, what a versatile ability! Every time you play this ally you get to choose a target unit or Phoenixborn to take one damage, and with The Children of Blackcloud you will be playing this ally often!

At only 1 you'll be able to play this ally at almost anytime. The Fire archer gives you the option to continue to use your engine of unstoppable damage even when your resources are low! And every time you play the archer, it will do something useful for you. At worst it's 1 magic to deal 1 damage to a Phoenixborn.

I want to point out a bit of synergy that might not have been apparent. You won't always roll the , but Ashes allows you to meditate and change any die to its power side, and one of the ways to meditate is to discard cards from the top of your deck. In a ceremonial deck with lots of allies, you can turn many into card draws because you can return the card you just discarded to your hand!

And let's not forget that after the Fire Archer has entered play, Brennen can sacrifice it to do 2 more damage to a unit or Phoenixborn, making the archer available to be returned to hand and played again.

I could go on and on about cheap but powerful ally, but I'll end on this: When Chant of the Dead is activated to gain 3 dice, you can leverage more effects and take more actions in a round, but unless you have something to spend those actions on, it's a waste. The Fire Archer gives you an avenue to put damage on your opponent's cards continually, and it's cheap! Remember that each time you play a Fire Archer, that's 2 damage (1 from ambush and 1 from its attack value) if your opponent can't respond to it!

I know I only revealed one card in this article but it was certainly exciting enough to make up for that, don't you think? Later this week we'll look at ways natural magic can deal with units without just blasting them to bits. And if you're interested in the same, but in the style of ceremonial magic, make sure you check out next Tuesday's article

Thanks for reading!

Bob

Click here to pre-order The Children of Blackcloud, The Frostdale Giants, and even extra dice! Get Lulu Firststone or Dimona Odinstar FREE with each Ashes deck purchase, or buy them separately!

Rin/Brennen Previews:

Brennen: Blackcloud Ninja, Crimson Bomber and Poison, Chant of Protection and Chant of the Dead

Rin: Rin's Fury, Frost Fang and Frostback Bear, Crystal Shield and Frozen Crown