Mot's Useless Card Review #37: Rishon Uxbridge

Much of the argument against using Rishon stems from the fact that she is an Event, and as such counts as your card play for the turn. I for one feel that the protection she gives your important Events is often worth that card play. But if you disagree, there are certainly ways around this drawback, for example: play your Event, "hey, that was cool," "no it wasn't," play Parallax Arguers to allow the Rishon to be played for free.

The other argument against the use of Rishon is: "why use Rishon when I could just use another Q2 to stop my opponent's Kevin Uxbridges?" The answer to this lies in examining how such an Interrupt war would go in closer detail:

Example 1: You have The Traveller: Transcendence in play, and two counters (both Q2s) to protect. Your opponent has three counters in hand (a Kevin Uxbridge and two Amanda Rogers). He will be able to break your Traveller, by first using the Kevin Uxbridge, and then nullifying both of your Q2s with his Amanda Rogers.

Example 2: You have The Traveller: Transcendence in play, and two counters (one Q2 in hand and one Rishon Uxbridge on The Traveller) to protect. Your opponent has the same three counters in hand (a Kevin Uxbridge and two Amanda Rogers). His three counters cannot overcome your two - he could play the Kevin Uxbridge to nullify Rishon, and you wouldn't even have to Q2 it - he doesn't have another Kevin to target the Traveller itself.

This all is possible because of the way the troika of countering cards has been set up. Kevin nullifies Events, Amanda nullifies Interrupts (including the Q2), and Q2 nullifies the other two counters.

In example one, you have the burden in defending your Traveller. Once your opponent has played the initial Kevin Uxbridge, you can only respond with Q2s. He has the option of playing either an Amanda Rogers (to nullify the Q2) or a Kevin Uxbridge (re-targeting the Event) in response to that - either one will work. He has two options, where you have only one.

In example two, the fight is balanced - the burden is even somewhat placed on the opponent. You have a second Event protecting your primary Event. Since only Kevin Uxbridge can nullify Events, not Amanda Rogers, your opponent is the one with only one option in what card will work: Kevin Uxbridge. He can overpower your Q2s with Amanda Rogers, but no amount of Amandas will destroy Events.

Not to mention that Rishon will only grow more powerful as future expansions come out, bringing with them cards rumored to penalize excessive use of the countering troika. Rishon might even be enough to lock the Event of your choice into play for the entire game...