Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

Today, we’re going to take a look at Red Dragon: Greater Dragon from the Dungeons and Dragons Battle for Faerûn set.

Ruling – Keyword and Ability



Red Dragon has the Breath Weapon Keyword. Breath Weapons have a number with them, like the Breath Weapon 2 on Red Dragon: Greater Dragon. When you attack with any number of Red Dragon dice, you can pay two energy (any type of energy) to have your Red Dragon deal two damage to your opponent and each of their dice in the Field Zone.

You can’t use a Breath Weapon for each individual Red Dragon die because Breath Weapon acts as a While Active ability. While Active abilities act like a light – either they’re on, or they’re off. Breath Weapons are also once per turn, per character abilities. If you have three Red Dragons, two Blue Dragons, and one Green Dragon, you will only be able to activate each Breath Weapon once for a total of three Breath Weapons.

Breath Weapons are activated when the die attacks, so the damage will happen before blockers are assigned. If a character is KO’d from Breath Weapon damage, they go to the Prep Area before the Assign Blockers part of the Attack Step, meaning they can’t be assigned as a blocker.

Red Dragon has an additional effect and this particular one relates to his Breath Weapon. It says that you can pay two life instead of paying two energy to activate your Red Dragon’s Breath Weapon. Paying life is not the same as taking damage, so any abilities on other characters that redirect damage or reduce damage will not have any interaction with this ability.

Ruling – Global

Red Dragon has a Global ability that says, once per turn, you can pay a Bolt energy and when you purchase your next Action Die, it costs two less and you deal one damage to your opponent.

Red Dragon’s Global does not limit you to only Basic Action Dice. You may use this ability to reduce the cost of Non-Basic Action Dice as well. When you reduce the cost of any die, unless the card specifically says so, you must always pay at least one energy to buy it.

The damage part of the Global only happens if you purchase an Action Die after using the Global. You must purchase the Action Die in order to deal the damage, and the damage is not optional. If you purchase the Action Die, you must do the damage.

This type of Global allows you to pay a Bolt energy for the effect, which you can choose to use at any time during your turn, but you are not required to purchase an Action Die.

Red Dragon’s Global says that you may only use it once per turn. If you and your opponent both have a Red Dragon on your teams, you can use each of the Globals because they are considered to be different Globals.

Affiliations and Types



Red Dragon: Greater Dragon is a Bolt Character and has the Monster and Evil affiliations.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario.

Example One:

Red Dragon Breath Weapon use.



~ I have two level one Red Dragon dice (5/5) and one level three Red Dragon die (8/8) in the Field Zone and two Fist energy in my Reserve Pool.

~ (Attack Step – Assign Attackers) I assign all three Red Dragon dice to attack. I must use my Red Dragon’s Breath Weapon when I assign them to attack.

~ (Attack Step – Assign Attackers) I spend the two Fist energy (moving them Out of Play) for Red Dragon’s Breath Weapon. Red Dragon deals two damage to all my opponent’s characters in the Field Zone and any that are KO’d go to the Prep Area. My opponent takes two damage from the Breath Weapon.

~ (Attack Step – Assign Blockers) My opponent can now assign blockers if they have any characters in the Field Zone after the Breath Weapon damage is dealt. My opponent uses a level three Oracle (2/5) to block a level three Red Dragon dice.

~ (Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage) My blocked Red Dragon deals eight damage to Oracle, who only has three defense left, which will KO her and send her to the Prep Area. My other two Red Dragon dice deal their total of ten damage directly to my opponent.



Example Two:

Red Dragon Global normal use.



~ (Main Step) I have a Bolt energy and a Wild energy in my Reserve Pool.

~ (Main Step) I spend a Bolt energy (placing it Out of Play) to use Red Dragon’s Global.

~ (Main Step) I can now purchase an Action Die at any time during my Main Step for two less, and deal one damage to my opponent when I do.

~ (Main Step) I spend the Wild energy (placing it Out of Play) to purchase one of my Polymorph dice (placing it in the Used Pile) and my opponent takes one damage.



Example Three:

Red Dragon Global on both teams.



~ (Main Step) I have two Bolt energy and two Wild energy in my Reserve Pool.

~ (Main Step) I spend one Bolt energy (placing it Out of Play) to use my opponent’s Red Dragon Global.

~ (Main Step) I can now purchase an Action Die at any time during my Main Step for two less, and deal one damage to my opponent when I do.

~ (Main Step) I spend one Wild energy (placing it Out of Play) to purchase one of my Polymorph dice (placing it in the Used Pile) and my opponent takes one damage.

~ (Main Step) I spend my last Bolt energy (placing it Out of Play) to use my Red Dragon’s Global.

~ (Main Step) I can now purchase an Action Die at any time during my Main Step for two less, and deal one damage to my opponent when I do.

~ (Main Step) I spend my last Wild energy (placing it Out of Play) to purchase one of my Kryptonite: Green Death dice (placing it in the Used Pile) and my opponent takes one damage.

Example Four:

Red Dragon Global without purchasing an Action Die.



~ (Main Step) I have a Bolt energy and a Wild energy in my Reserve Pool.

~ (Main Step) I spend a Bolt energy (placing it Out of Play) to use Red Dragon’s Global.

~ (Main Step) I can now purchase an Action Die at any time during my Main Step for two less, and deal one damage to my opponent when I do.

~ (Main Step) I pass priority to my opponent. They don’t have anything they want to do, so they pass priority back. I decide not to do anything else during my Main Step, which will advance my turn into my Attack Step if I choose to attack. If not, my turn skips my Attack Step and advances into the Clean Up Step.

~ (Clean Up Step) I decide not to attack, so my turn enters the Clean Up Step. Because I didn’t buy an Action Die, my opponent will not take damage.

Official Sources

The official ruling for using the same Once Per Turn Globals can be found here.

The official ruling on Red Dragon’s Global damage can be found here.

Page 17 of the Battle For Faerûn rulebook – Shorthand Card Abilities under the Breath Weapon X, it explains in detail about Breath Weapon abilities.

Page 26 of the Faerun Under Siege rulebook – Lexicon under Breath Weapon, it gives a brief description of Breath Weapon.

Competitive Play Rating This card is a key component for any competitive team that uses Action Dice as major parts of the team. This isn’t a die you want to purchase, unless something weird happens; this is a card that you bring for the Global. Even if your team isn’t Action heavy, you may want to add Red Dragon to help you get that Polymorph or Big Entrance while getting an extra point of damage in too. It’s particularly useful if you’re playing Vicious Struggle and get to go first. That dishes out two damage total and gets you two Vicious Struggle dice on your first turn, which is just ridiculous (provided you and your opponent both have the Global). Red Dragon: Greater Dragon gets a competitive play rating of four out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating I love any of the Red Dragon versions for casual play. Casual play actually sees more purchases of high cost characters like these, and they’re all unique to play style. I really like that they all have something different that they can do, but I love that they all offer the same awesome Global. That’s a major plus for me. Sure, the fielding costs are a little on the beefy side, but it’s not a huge deal for casual play where you’re buying dudes like this. The Global is a great teaching tool for Once per Turn Globals when you both have the Global. I love this card for both competitive and casual play and recommend it for any team that would possibly purchase Action Dice. Red Dragon: Greater Dragon gets a casual play rating of four out of five stars.



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