In the first preview of Marek's deck we saw her 9 different Event Abilities, and how they are placed under her units to grant them additional abilities. In the second preview we saw that several of her units, including Marek herself, can share their EAs with each other. Now we will see that the units aren't done with how they play with the EAs.

The Champion Bauble can sacrifice his Event Ability to protect himself completely from one attack. A rather different way of using EAs, and one that may be very useful at times. But I have saved the most exciting use of EAs for last:

The humble Scholar gives the Sand Cloaks the chance to recover, reuse, and relocate the Event Abilities, opening up their use for a much wider range of tactics. We can also notice other things about them: a) they show that Fink's apparent love of learning is not an aberration among the Sand Goblins; b) they have zero Summoning Cost; and c) they are the only Sand Cloak unit that does not have a ranged attack.

There is one more ability-related trick up the Sand Cloak sleeve. Tinkerers have the astonishing ability of nullifying all the abilities of a Champion or Common unit. Something that Abua Shi can only do with a Chant of Negation, Tinkerers can do every turn -- though only to 1 Unit at a time, and only within 3 spaces.

This is also the first SC ability that does not refer to Event Abilities, and hence that can be useful to the Cloak and Sand Goblin Summoners. There is also one other:

Barston's ability to give a nearby Common unit an extra move during the Attack Phase is unique among Marek's units in not having anything to do with Abilities. But it is no less valuable for that. And since both the Cloaks and the Sand Goblins have several movement-related tricks they can perform, Barston would fit quite well in any of their decks, too.

What's Next? You Tell Us

This is the end of the Sand Cloak previews. On Thursday we will see the end of the Fallen Phoenix previews. Which factions would you like to have previewed next? Here is a poll for you to vote. You may choose up to 2 factions.