In my previous article, I had discussed half the Pirate characters that I had designed for a crossover promotion with the Hands on Deck VR game. Today, we’ll be covering theBlue Allure Crew. This crew is represented by the Anglerfish and are all about luring your opponent into their doom. They prefer to exhaust the opponent’s options and force them into an execute rather than winning by brute force! As a reminder, I had designed the crew’s Captain to be a simpler character designed to teach the game, the First Mate to be a more intermediate character, and the crew’s Monster to be an expert-level character. Let’s dive in! —Brian McKay
Malakos, the Mad Captain
Much like the Burgundy Captain Mari’s ultimate Walk the Plank, Shipwrecked doesn’t need to be complex to be very powerful. Getting to Shipwreck your opponent can drop their hand size suddenly, and it can’t be blocked by a Defend! If your opponent starts the round with 4 cards in their hand, by the end of the ground, they will only have rest, setting up a guaranteed execute. Of course, if your opponent is aware of that, then they’re going to want to play Rest earlier than they normally would. The threat of Shipwrecked is part of its power, so if your opponent is resting early to avoid it, take advantage of that!
Elles Tehra, the Enticer
Elles is more than a little crazy, and using her seemingly-fair Parley passive can strip away your opponent’s options when they need them the most. Enemy hanging on to a powerful ability? Take it away! Worried about getting executed? Trade your weapon for your opponent’s weapon so you can Rest safely. You can hold its power for when your enemy is getting low on cards, or use it early to remove their powerful options! Elles’s main three abilities work similarly. They read “Hit: If your enemy plays [symbol] next round, deal 4 unblockable damage”. This is a huge amount of control. The more you limit their choices, the easier it is to predict what cards they’ll play and end up playing right into your hands. Because Elles wants to play the long game and has a lot of defensive options too. For example, her Weapon blocks all damage to you.
Obninsk, the Deepsea Lure
Blue Allure crew’s Kaiju is Obninsk, a massive Anglerfish that can lure your enemy into showing their hand and guaranteeing you get to outplay them in a critical moment! You essentially do nothing the round you play it, but you have plenty of tools to punish your opponent next round. This character has powerful twists on the Pierce, Vicious, and Stun keywords. Super versions! For example,The coup de grace is Swallow Whole, which can just casually bite your opponent for 6 damage off of the tripling power of Super ViciousFor example Super Vicious deals x3 damage if you land a counter! These cards make for tremendous punishes even if you just catch your opponent during normal play, so always be looking for counters, as they’re your primary path to victory!
These Pirates were originally only intended for use in the Hands on Deck VR game, but we decided to produce a small print run to use as a promotional tool for the game. These promo cards are available in the Solis Game Studio Web Store while supplies last!